AN: I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update! Hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Still a slow moving Faberry fic but I added bits here and there. Primarily a Rachel-centric chapter. This adds some missing scenes to Purple Piano Project. I really wanted Rachel to show some growth from previous years and this was how it turned out

As always, please read and review!

The Rachel Berry Show:

Act 1: Part 2

But First be a Person Who Needs People

People
People who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world,
We're children, needing other children
And yet letting our grown-up pride
Hide all the need inside,
Acting more like children
Than children.

Lovers are very special people,
They're the luckiest people
In the world.
With one person, one very special person
A feeling deep in your soul
Says you were half,
Now you're whole.
No more hunger and thirst
But first be a person
Who needs people.
People who need people
Are the luckiest people
In the world!

With one person, one very special person
A feeling deep in your soul
Says you were half,
Now you're whole.
No more hunger and thirst
But first be a person
Who needs people.

People who need people
Are the luckiest people
In the world!

- "People" Funny Girl

Rachel Berry was sure of many things, like how she will be the youngest person ever to be EGOT winner in the shortest amount of time. How she will have a luxury penthouse in the tallest condo in New York, a fabulous classic Hollywood mansion in California and a quant flat in London. She was sure that Kurt would be right there on Broadway with her and Blaine would follow. She was absolutely certain that Mr. Schuester had a different sweater vest for every day of the year... For two years.

Yet there was one thing she was never quite so sure of: where she stood with Quinn Fabray. Their fated encounter outside the convenience store never had a repeat performance and while she had spent the week jogging past Lima Heights (NOT STALKING), the former Head Cheerleader didn't make it easy for her to approach her again. The tiny brunette didn't tell anybody that she saw Quinn, as she didn't think anyone would believe her and was forced to stop jogging in the area once she found out Brittany and Santana were back in town. As far as she knew, Santana was still quite bitter about the National's "kiss" incident.

So now instead of jogging in an effort to see the new Quinn and to coax, Rachel was at home once again reorganizing her priceless CD collection. It was part of her ritual for the new school year. A new year meant new traumas, heartbreaks and dramas and although Rachel prided herself in maintaining an optimistic outlook, she wanted to be prepared for any situation that required teen angst music. Of course, it was excellent preparation for the soundtrack for her future biographical movie and E! True Hollywood Story.

Sitting alone in her room, the isolation reminded her of summers past when she didn't have the friends she did now. This year, Rachel had barely spent time in her room alone during the summer, but the weekend before school Finn, Kurt and their parents family-bonding trip and now her access to the other glee members was basically non-existent. Tina and Mike were in Asian Couple Honeymoon mode and she doubted she would even want to see the two before school started. Mercedes was busy with her new boyfriend too, recovering quickly after losing Sam. Rachel wasn't as comfortable hanging out with Mercedes sans Kurt anyways because while the two divas got along better than they had before, a surprising amount of tension still bubbled under the surface. The short diva thought maybe it was her newfound best friend status with Kurt that unleashed some bitterness in the other girl, but it wasn't too large of an issue as of yet so she refused to dwell on it.

Rachel then thought of her fellow Jewish member and let out another heavy sigh. Since the "Need You Now" mess and almost slaughter of the football jerks, Noah stayed away from Rachel and her house unless absolutely necessary (because according to the boy, a party the following month with alcohol was completely necessary). The Barbravention was the only other time that reminded her that they were even still friends.

The realization that the only friendships she had now were because of Finn and Kurt made Rachel sad. In her mind that meant she had no choice but to rely on their presence for her to feel like she was included outside of glee. What did that mean for her and Finn? For her and Kurt? What if ambition got in the way of the Hummelberry like it did before? Would their diva battles tear down the closest friendship she had in years? And what about Finn? Should 'Finchel' ever go their separate ways again would she be able to keep her precious friendships with everybody else? She wasn't naïve enough to believe that everybody suddenly liked her and irrational thoughts plagued her mind at the hypothetical situation.

The logical part of her mind reasoned that Kurt would not want to stop being friends even if his step-brother did break up with her, but Rachel could never allow herself to come between the brothers. Another reason to stay with Finn, she thought jokingly. Rachel ignored the voice in the back of her head that scolded her for the comment. She didn't just stay with Finn to avoid being alone did she? No of course not, she loved him because he loved her and they loved each other… It was meant to be, she thought, paying no heed to how weak the justification sounded in her head.

A doorbell interrupted her thought process though, and as she made her way downstairs she wondered whom it could be, tuning out her mind's whispers that hoped it was a certain pink-haired girl waiting at the door. Rachel opened the door and before she could see who was behind it, a pair of arms surrounded her and pulled the small girl in a tight hug.

"RACHEL!"

The sight of blonde hair tied in a ponytail and the shouted joyful greeting clued the small diva in on the identity of her unexpected visitor.

"Brittany?" This was definitely a surprise. Rachel did a quick look around to see if Santana was nearby as well. Seeing no sign of Brittany's other, bitchier half she sighed in relief with the knowledge that she was going to stay alive for a little longer.

The petite brunette let go of the affectionate girl, and she noticed a car in the driveway with an older woman who appeared to Brittany's mom and a younger blonde child in the rear. Her little sister, Rachel guessed. The older blonde caught Rachel's eye and gave a suspiciously sympathetic glance before driving off.

Finally curiosity made her speak up. "Umm Brittany? What are you doing here?"

"You're my new tutor for English Rachel! Isn't that super awesome?"

It's not very often that Rachel Barbra Berry was rendered speechless, but Brittany's sudden news did the job very effectively.

"Uhh Rach? That's a cool fish face you're making… is that a new voice exercise thingie? Cuz I don't think it's working. You're not really talking. Unless you're trying to speak to me in your mind like you're telepathetic. I've tried that before but nobody really answers my calls."

The normally loud diva recovered slightly from the shock as Brittany rambled. "What do you mean Brittany? How did- when did I-?"

"Well my mom said that if I wanted to pass English this year, I needed a tutor and you're like, the only person I know who could talk dictionary so… I told her you'd tutor me."

"But I thought Santana helped you with your classes?" Rachel was fearful of the brunette cheerleader's reaction if and when she learned that "Man Hands" Berry was tutoring the blonde.

Brittany pouted and shifted her eyes downwards. "Well she did, but besides math, we'd always get so bored of like school and just make out the rest of the time. But that won't be a problem with you cuz you're clothes really gross me out and make me not want to give you my sweet lady kisses."

"Oh, well…" Rachel looked down at her own outfit and frowned. "Look I'm sorry Brittany but it's our senior year. I need to focus on me and my future as a Broadway star and EGOT winner."

"Please? I tried asking Q but she wasn't answering and San told me she went to a wall. Artie called me stupid so I don't want to ask him… Besides I don't think Santana would have liked it very much if I asked him."

"I don't think Santana would want me tutoring you either Brittany… Besides I'm already in a lot of the clubs at school in addition to the dance and vocal lessons I take on the weekends. That along with school and glee? I just- I don't know. Mr. Schue even told me I needed to work on my dancing this year so I'll have to take part in supplementary lessons from him sometime." Being told that her dancing wasn't quite up to par with her voice was a blow to her ego and swore that she would improve.

"Oh! I can totally tutor you with dancing! And maybe I can tutor you dressing better too! You'll look not gross anymore. Come on Ray! We're a family aren't we? I need you…" Brittany brought out the heavy artillery and aimed a puppy-dog pout straight at Rachel's heart… bang! She was gone.

The glee club co-captain melted and gave in quickly. "Okay Brittany, I'll do it. You're right. We are a family, and providing aid when one member requires it is a sacred duty that I as co-"

"Sweet!" Brittany nodded her head while interrupting Rachel's rambles, "Awesome… thanks Rachel, you're a good friend!" The blonde practically tackled the smaller girl to the floor with her unbridled joy. "I'm so excited! I'm an awesome teacher you'll see! You'll be able to this before you can teach me how to read the dictionary!" Brittany jumped straight up off of the smaller girl and performed a complicated spin before landing in a split.

Rachel gaped and highly doubted she would be able to pull off that particular move but the blonde's enthusiasm was infectious. More importantly, the other girl thought that they were friends! Rachel quickly followed the other girl off the floor. "Well we might as well begin our tutoring session now. How much time can you spare?"

"Well I have to help teach a pewee dance lesson at St. Cecile's Dance Academy in a couple of hours. My mom said that those things look good on college afflictions."

"Applications Brittany… Your extra-curricular activities look good on College applications."

Brittany grinned in response. "See you're doing great! I'm learning new stuff already!"

Rachel could tell it was going to be a long weekend but looking at her- her friend as she danced up the stairs, she didn't think she would mind at all.

That day Rachel forgot all about Finn, Kurt and rearranging her CD's. Tutoring Brittany was definitely a challenging task but getting a look at how the blonde saw the world, Rachel quickly adapted and planned to try alternate methods. Relating words to different cat species, putting words on flashcards, comparing themes of novels to Teen dramas. Most of the time after she implemented her new tactics, the session didn't feel like tutoring, they were having fun. Rachel even drove the other girl to the dance studio for her assistant teaching job and continued to hang out afterwards. They worked on their dancing until Santana had called the blonde asking to hang out for the night.

Brittany wanted to invite the petite brunette but Rachel opted out citing that telling Santana about their newfound friendship would be hazardous to her wellbeing.

"But that's just silly Rach! Santana's not even mad anymore! She got rid of the doll she had of you that had needles in it before school ended! For real though, I think she blames Finn now cuz he t-rexed you and you're just itty-bitty so you couldn't really fight him off."

Somehow knowing that Santana "Satan" Lopez used to have a voodoo doll in her image didn't make her feel any better and left the academy in a rush but not before promising the other girl that they would get together the next day to do some last minute back-to-school clothes shopping.

The poor girl didn't even know that she promised Brittany total control of what she would buy; Rachel just had to get out of the studio before Santana saw her…

Rachel was exhausted come Monday, the shopping trip the previous day took more out of her than any dance lesson or glee routine ever could. Thankfully her animated shopping partner allowed for some input. Brittany now approved of Rachel's 'naughty school girl' look, as she liked to call it. Rachel observed her chosen outfit for the day and didn't quite understand how it could be naughty. She sighed, failing to find any flaw but the lack of animal prints on her clothes. A loud honk from outside reminded Rachel that Finn was picking her up with Kurt earlier than usual and she rushed outside as to not keep the waiting.

Finn had early football practice for the first day and Rachel and Kurt decided it would be a good opportunity to get some vocal practice in before glee started. Armed with their life-plans and the best sets of voices (in their humble opinions) at McKinley, they marched up to the choir room and hijacked the piano once they saw that Brad was weirdly absent.

"So Rachel, where were you yesterday? I called you when the Hummel-Hudson weekend getaway ended and your dad said you went out shopping with a friend…" Kurt asked during their break between scales and warm-up songs. "Is this where this little ensemble came from? Because I approve, it is a definite improvement from the animal sweaters… but to go clothes shopping without me?" The boy clicked his tongue and shook his finger in a condescending 'no-no' manner.

Rachel looked slightly ashamed at her friend's scandalized question. Of course she felt guilty about ignoring Kurt and Finn the previous day but Rachel still wanted to keep her blossoming new friendship with Brittany to herself. Kurt's interrogation was put to a close once Jacob Ben Israel marched awkwardly into the room with What's-his-name behind the camera for an interview.

"So Rachel how does it feel to be on the top of my list of the Most Wankiest Women at McKinley?"

Rachel winced and wondered what was worse, getting interviewed by Jacob or interrogated by Kurt.

The first morning back at school flew by quickly and thankfully for Rachel, surviving Jacob's vile and lewd questions proved to be an easier task than before with Kurt's presence there with her. For once she had managed to escape the choir room without feeling the need to wash herself clean after being the subject of the perverse blogger's gaze for too long. Jacob's interview about the future also managed to make Kurt forget, momentarily at least, about his own questions for Rachel and made her strangely grateful for his interruption.

As she walked purposely to find Finn after lunch, Rachel briefly wondered why she was slushee facial free thus far. Usually the slushee would have hit her face by now but her spare outfit was still unused in her locker. Catching a glimpse of the neon blue ice in a cup that was being held by someone in the Titan Letterman, Rachel had a slight panic attack. Instead of freezing up in anticipation for once she decided it would be less hazardous to her new wardrobe if she merely fled the halls of McKinley for the remainder of her lunch hour. Rushing out to the field and the bleachers she mentally noted how she would apologize properly to Finn at glee practice. Perhaps Rachel would also make her famous "I'm sorry" cookies to make it up to him.

The sun was shining brightly and Rachel decided to enjoy the pleasant weather by sitting at the bleachers. She caught a familiar mop of pink hair behind the metal seating area with the other 'Skanks' but somehow resisted the overwhelming urge to talk to the girl. Having already decided that she wouldn't overwhelm Quinn by begging her to come back, Rachel would wait and see if she would show up to practice that day. After taking a few moments to ignore the compulsion that was Quinn Fabray, Rachel rushed past the Skanks to reach the bleachers. In her haste she never noticed the pair of hazel eyes that followed her every movement.

A familiar scene greeted her once she reached her destination, as Rachel's mind was suddenly flooded with memories from her sophomore year.

"Noah?"

Noah 'Puck' Puckerman, her fellow Jewish comrade in glee club was sitting at the bleachers and he was, dare she even think it, moping? Perplexed at Puck's state, Rachel sat down nearby. He didn't say a word and for once neither did Rachel. They just sat there together, Rachel's critical mind noting that the way they were sitting paralleled their breakup almost two years prior.

Finally Puck couldn't take it anymore, a silent Rachel was a lot weirder than the crazy non-stop talking one. "Lauren broke up with me. She said something about me and glee bringing down her rep or some shit like that."

Rachel wanted to comment on his obviously poor sense of grammar, as well as his use of language but held herself back. Noah was hurting right now and he needed someone to listen not critique him on his speech patterns. So instead she rested a hand on his back rubbing it comfortingly.

"You know what? Screw her. She doesn't know what she's missing. And you know what's the best part? Now the Puckasaurus Rex is back in business. These guns aren't meant to keep just one woman on them. They're just too badass for this monogamous shit."

They stayed silent after Puck's proclamation. Neither thought that the other believed what was just said but they didn't want to say anything.

"You know what I'm thinking Rach?"

"That it's been almost fifteen minutes and in that elapsed time you've talked more than me?" The jab was enough to break Puck's melancholy and he cracked a smile.

"Shit seriously? I'm turning into a chick. You contagious or something?" Puck nudged her jokingly and Rachel lightened as she saw him genuinely joke around and laugh.

"AHH! Stop it Noah!" The silly boy began to tickle Rachel and she struggled to get away from his fingers. "Ahhahaha… No stop! Tell me what you were thinking- hahaha STOP IT NOAH!"

Puck stopped his merciless assault on her funny bone when tears started falling from the tiny laughing brunette and turned slightly more serious. "I was thinking that… I miss you Jew-Jew Bee."

"Noah…" She rolled her eyes at the nickname but was touched by the heartfelt confession.

"Uh not in a whole I wanna make out with you kind of way cuz that kind of back-fired last time but it's not like I don't want to –not want- I mean it's not like you're not hot cuz you are - really hot. I mean easily top five at McKinley I swear, but it's just that I almost lost my Bro for good when we did that duet together and I really tried to keep away but…" Puck dropped his head in embarrassment, "… but I really miss being your friend."

Rachel smiled softly. "Wow, I must be contagious." Puck let out a nervous chuckle but it died once Rachel frowned in realization. She met the taller boy's gaze. "Noah what did you mean you tried to keep away? Why did you even have to?" Rachel pulled out the weapon of mass destruction, one that she learned from Brittany the previous day, and she began to pout. "Noah… why did you stop being my friend?"

The muscular boy, often considered the biggest and most badass juvenile delinquent at McKinley, wilted under the intensity of Rachel's sad broken puppy pout. "The BRO-CODE! I-I couldn't hang out with you without breaking the Bro-Code. So after our duet and with Coach forcing the team to man-up and be buds again, I thought I had to give you up to get Finn to trust me again…" He didn't mention his conversation with Finn. There were limits on how much of the Bro-Code that you could spill after all.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Rachel attempted to follow Puck's logic. "So… you thought that you had to end our friendship to keep Finn from thinking that we were hooking up? Noah you do realize that right after that incident you began to woo Lauren for the rest of the year in order to be in a monogamous relationship with her… Not to mention the fact that not even a few weeks after Finn broke up with me, he led Quinn to cheat on Sam and they reunited in secret?"

Now Puck was really glad he didn't mention Finn's conversation with him. Rachel was just on the edge of being extremely pissed off. "Yeah well… the Bro-Code you know?"

"No I don't know… I just know that you're being stupid for thinking that I would let Finn get in the way of us being friends. You should give me a copy of your stupid Bro-Code, maybe I could find a loophole."

"Uh Rach? The Bro-Code isn't an actual book… You gotta be a Bro to-"

The slightly befuddled boy was interrupted once the metaphorical light bulb flashed in Rachel's head. "That's it! Noah you're a genius!"

"Wait, what? I am?" Puck shook his head, talking with Rachel always made him really confused but he tried to keep up with her thought process.

"Of course! Noah, you're concerned that being my friend will cause a break in your 'Bro-ship' with Finn correct?" When Puck nodded his head Rachel continued, "Well it wouldn't be breaking your ridiculous 'Bro-Code' if we were 'Bros,' would it?"

Finally getting where Rachel was going, he nodded. "I guess so… but would Finn really go for it?"

Rachel huffed in annoyance. "Finn is just going to have to deal with it. It's official now. Noah Puckerman, you and I are officially 'Bros.'"

Puck laughed and then got a mischievous look in his eyes. "You know the first rule of the Bro-Code is to shake on it."

The tiny brunette nodded, taking Noah quite seriously then she noticed the boy spit into his hand offering it out. Disgusted and worried for the sanitary condition she would be in for being Noah's 'Bro,' she glanced at the proffered hand then shifted her gaze to Noah who was looking at her expectantly. Taking in a deep breath and closing her eyes she quickly spit into her hand and grasped Noah's hand tightly, while quietly voicing her disgust.

"Eww Noah this is digusting!"

Puck let go of her hand laughing while wiping off the spit on his pants. "Yeah I know. I can't believe you actually believed me!"

"You're such a jerk Noah Puckerman!" Once she realized Noah's prank she left the bleachers to run after him.

They spent the rest of their break chasing each other around the field and laughing. Their play fight made Rachel feel lighter than she had in weeks. She really did miss her friend Noah, but she never dreamed that he had missed her just as much.

Glee club practice had just finished for the day and once Finn was reassured that Rachel had another ride home, she went to the library to meet Brittany. The second tutoring session with the child-like blonde was a lot more productive than the first one, now that Rachel had an idea of the other girl's learning habits it was easier to get her started on the concepts. Brittany was now trying to work through her own questions in the library while the tiny brunette beside her arranged the proposed song performance for recruiting, using the time in between tutoring to get some of her own work done. She felt that "We Got the Beat" was fun, upbeat and classic enough to attract music lovers and performers. All she had to do now was figure out who would get the solo verses for the song.

"The Go-Go's? Cool! Santana loves the Go-Go's! You should ask S to do the song with you… It would sound totally hot."

Rachel winced at the suggestion. She still feared Santana's 'Lima Heights Adjacent' threats and was reluctant to ask her anything. Brittany saw the hesitance in her smaller friend's eyes.

"Come on Rachel, Santana's not that bad. If you just ask her without using too many words I think she'll say yes."

"That's easy for you to say Brittany, Santana doesn't hate your guts." In fact, Rachel thought, it was just the opposite in the blonde's case.

Brittany looked confused at the retort. "But Santana doesn't hate you Ray. She just tries really hard to pretend that she does. I think she pretends so much that she believes it." At Rachel's disbelieving look, Brittany paused to think of a different way of explaining how S felt. "Okay, um, you don't hate Q right? Even after everything that she did?"

"Of course I don't." Rachel didn't hesitate with her answer. Just the thought of any hatred towards Quinn Fabray was pure ludicrous in Rachel's mind. Unfathomable.

"Q doesn't hate you either. She just feels like she has to. So she pretends like S does." The smaller girl nodded in agreement, having already come to that conclusion a long time ago. "Well Q and S are like super close in the alphabet and that means they're a lot alike. They're always doing stuff that hurts other people. They don't really want to but they think it's a way to keep themselves from getting hurt. I don't think they know it just hurts them more…."

Brittany trailed off and started working on another question, determined to figure it out herself. Rachel sat speechless once again beside her. The girl's perceptive outlook on life was always there but the smaller brunette never took the time to realize just how amazing Brittany was.

"You're a genius you know that Brittany?"

The girl in question smiled. "Yeah I know… I'm amazing." Rachel enjoyed the other girl's lack of a filter or modesty, it reminded her that she wasn't alone in realizing one's own gifts.

They continued to work in silence before Rachel noticed Brittany frowning. "What's wrong Brittany? Did you not understand something?" Looking over Brittany's shoulder she saw the alphabet written on a sheet of paper.

"Look Rachel…" She pointed at the Q R S in the alphabet "You guys are all close together." Then Brittany moved her finger to the beginning of the alphabet on the sheet. "And there I am with A. And A called me stupid so I don't really want to be beside him even though I'm not mad at him anymore. Besides you guys are like so much more fun than he is."

Brittany was really sad about her placement in the alphabet and Rachel wanted nothing more than to make her friend joyful once more. "Look at what comes before Q Brittany."

"P?" The taller girl questioned.

Rachel nodded. "Yeah and what's your last name?"

The blonde brightened at the question, realizing where Rachel was going. "Pierce!"

"See you're there too. You don't have to worry."

The solution didn't last for too long in Brittany's mind. "But what about Puck? I mean he can't be Noah because he's only Noah with you so that doesn't count."

Rachel was stumped at her friend's logic. Focusing her gaze back and forth between B and Q R S on the sheet of paper, she finally found a Brittany-esque answer to the girl's inquiry.

"Brittany! Look at B and R. Don't they look similar to each other?" Brittany nodded uncertainly and Rachel resumed her tirade. "Well I think it means that they're really related… therefore B is really in the wrong place and should instead be situated right beside R making you a part of our little alphabet group."

"So we're like… alphabet sisters?" Brittany asked, going along with Rachel's idea. "And I should be beside R and S right?"

Rachel nodded enthusiastically; she really did enjoy looking at the world from a different perspective and was quite proud of her own imagination for coming up with this solution.

"Yey! You know what that means Rach? It's Q, R, B and S! We're like the Fantastic Four or the Fab Four or the Unholy Quadrinity. And you and Q are still beside each other like how it's supposed to be. Isn't that great?"

Both girls began to giggle at their own silliness before the old librarian kicked them out. Rachel refused to acknowledge what Brittany said about Q and R but it kept on slipping back into her mind. As they walked to their respective lockers Rachel reconsidered the arrangement for song.

"Hey Brittany? Do you think you and Santana would like to join me in singing the solo verses for our recruitment song?" Her answer was a loud yelp of excitement and a hug that was strong enough to knock her down once again. Why did Rachel get the feeling that if Brittany was to continue being her friend, she would have to invest in a butt pillow or some elbow pads?

The next morning, Rachel surprised them all by suggesting the shared solo song and asking Santana to sing with her. Like expected, the taller brunette scoffed.

"Whatever Hobbs McGee, I guess you'll need me to make people even listen to the song before lobbing objects at you guys." The weak backhanded acceptance gave Rachel hope that perhaps Brittany was right.

As they worked a little on the vocals and choreography, Rachel watched her friend's bestie look more alive and happy than ever before. It was then that she knew that she made the right decision. Everybody started getting really involved in the process but Rachel couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing or rather someone. Staring at the door, the tiny brunette waited in vain for the final missing member of New Directions.

The song would've sounded even better if a quartette had lead vocals.

AN: hope this was worth the wait. I had to add the customary Puckleberry bromance that is a staple to Faberry fics everywhere. The Britberry friendship was planned as well. If you've read my other story "This Was Supposed to Be Our Year," their friendship has already been mentioned. But now you know how it began. (Actually it began in my head as Brittany sang "My Strongest Suit" to Rachel while teaching her how to dress fashionably.)

Anyways next chapter will be Quinn-centric again. I'm actually running out of Quinn chapter titles so if you have any suggestions feel free to leave some.