Chapter 4

Shelby Corcoran's world had been considerably rocked. As if it wasn't enough to find and lose her teenage daughter in the span of a few months, now her mother and presumably the rest of her family knew about everything. Everything that she had kept carefully hidden for sixteen years. She could not even imagine what her father would think. Thoughts of being disowned flashed through her mind. He was a very old fashioned man and her choice to have a baby for a gay couple was quite modern. Her worries might've stopped there, but no, she had run into a very insistent Will Schuester two days before. He had spoken of a situation with Rachel and Shelby was dying to know what was wrong.

Shelby's recent method of coping had included quitting her job, lying on the couch, and the occasional bottle of wine. That had been fine and well for a while, but now there were just too many unknowns. Shelby Corcoran valued being in control and she was ready to regain control of her life. She got out of bed before eleven for the first time in months, showered, and dressed to impress. No more sweatshirts and leggings for this lady. She brewed herself a cup of coffee and plotted her actions. There was no way that she could fix the situation with her family, so in pure Shelby fashion she pushed it to the back of her mind. She conceded that the next step was to call Will. Perhaps he was right, she could use a friend.

Thirty minutes later she found herself sitting across from Will at a small coffee shop in downtown Carmel. She didn't dare meet him in Lima.

"Will, I know you didn't meet me to talk about Glee club." Shelby said, taking a sip of her latte.

"You're right." He said lamely. "Are you sure you're up to it today? You look a little, uh tired." He said wincing.

"Why thank you Will." She said sarcastically. "You were going to tell me something about Rachel." She prompted.

"It's not that big of a deal, okay? I mean, for her it is, but—"

"Just tell me."

"She quit Glee." He said simply. "I'm almost 90 percent sure that it has nothing to do with losing Regionals."

"You're sure?" She asked weakly.

"I tried to talk to her after class the other day and she hardly had anything to say. Believe me, if this was about Regionals she would have talked my ear off."

"So it's my fault."

"No, no I didn't tell you so you would blame yourself."

"Come on Will. How could it not be my fault? Rachel didn't ask me to disrupt her life. I did that on my own, with nearly no regard for how it would affect her…I should have waited." She trailed off.

"Shelby, no. She's a teenage girl. I'm sure she's dreamt of meeting you her entire life."

"Well, I'm sure I'm just a dream come true." She snorted.

"I think you were Shelby. Before, well, before everything happened Rachel was happier than I've ever seen her—when she walked in wearing the costume you made her." Will smiled. "She was so proud."

"You're the one who told me I was hard, that this whole thing was a bad idea." She said quietly.

"I know." He said, running a hand through his hair. "I didn't mean for you to cut ties completely. I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting yourself into. Even then I knew it wasn't really my place…"

"Why are you telling me all this?'

"I think she needs you in her life." He admitted. "And I think you need her in yours."

"What am I supposed to do? Just waltz back into her life like nothing happened? Even I know that would be a horrible idea."

"No, you're right you can't just pick things up back at Lady Gaga." He said knowingly. "I think maybe you could write her? Maybe instead of distancing yourselves completely you could get to know each other through letters."

"I feel like any intrusion from me would set her back even more." Shelby confessed.

"You could be right, but maybe you both need to break a little more in order to fix things. She's still young Shelby, you still have time."

"You're not just doing this to get her to rejoin Glee?" She asked with a small smirk.

"I can see how it might look that way." He smiled. "But Glee was the one thing at school that Rachel really loved and I think you can help give that back to her."

"I'll write a letter." She said. "I trust that you'll get it to her for me?"

"Of course."

"Thank you Will." She placed her hand on his. "I really do appreciate your help." She said letting her guard down.

"No problem Shelby. Just trying to return the favor."

She looked at him questioningly.

"That night you, uh came to my apartment," he began, blushing. "You were honest with me about my whole disastrous relationship situation. I really needed to hear that."

"Well, I'm happy I could help." She said, sliding her hand out of his own, as though she was reminded of his unavailability.

"Emma has a new boyfriend." He blurted out at the loss of contact.

"Oh no Will. I'm not going to be some sort of stand in for your perfect girlfriend while you wait for her." Shelby said, sensing the direction the conversation was taking.

"I'd never," he cleared his throat. "What I mean is I'd never ask you to be a stand in Shelby. Just friends, right?" He said, his smile fading a bit.

"Right, just friends." She mimicked, quite uncomfortable with the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"So how are the New Directions?" Shelby asked, changing the subject.

"Morale is a little low with Rachel gone, but of course the more solo-hungry members of the group are thriving." He explained, rolling his eyes.

"Well, if you ever need any help with choreography." She offered nonchalantly.

"You, Shelby Corcoran would be willing to help the McKinley High Glee Club with choreography. Is this real life?" He asked, laughing.

"It's not as though I'm coaching VA anymore. Plus I couldn't help but notice that your choreography, or lack thereof at Regionals, was struggling a bit. I could be your secret weapon." She winked.

"That would be awesome. I admit that vocal arrangements are more my area of expertise…and if I recall correctly, you took Nationals with a routine where the kids danced completely on their hands?" He said laughing.

"That would be correct Mr. Schuester." She said playfully.

"Oh then, I'll definitely be taking you up on that offer."

"Good." She smiled, glancing at her watch. "Oh, it's almost one, didn't you mention a meeting with your principal?"

"Already? Oh wow, I've got to run." He said, standing quickly. "Shelby, please call me if you need anything, okay?" He grabbed her hand and made her look him in the eye.

"I will." She said quietly, unused to the attention. "And I'll get that letter to you soon." She said louder.

"Great. Everything's going to work out, okay?" He said, his eyes twinkling.

"Whatever you say." She mumbled, standing and pulling her Coach purse over her shoulder.

Shelby waved again before getting into her Range Rover and heading towards home. She found herself sitting at her desk, staring at a blank piece of paper. Yes, Shelby Corcoran finally had a plan, but she found that she had absolutely no clue what she was going to write.

Next chapter is Rachel's POV, I promise!

Lux thebarbarionwarrior, marinka4- Thank you guys for reviewing!

Jasper'sFavorite- Thank you as usual :) Rachel/Shelby interaction to come soon!

Phases of Obsession- NY guy will definitely pop up again...definitely some unresolved issues there...

MarlisaKristine- Yup, Shelby always has some sort of crazy past, doesn't she? Glad you liked it :)

RosalietheBeautyQueen- Thank you, glad you like the story idea!

Drama Queen Sunnibunn- No way! More gold stars? I'm so lucky :))

AshMichele- Love the showface! Some Rachel/Shelby coming soon to a chapter near you!

DZR- Agreeeed. Midterms are lame, but they're done for a while. Huzzah! Glad you like the story!