DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE OR ITS CHARACTERS! THAT'S ALL FOR RYAN MURPHY!
A/N: Oh my goodness, thank you guys so much for the reviews! Some of you say the sweetest things and it really means the world to me! Please, please keep doing so. There's four more chapters, so enjoy!
16. Refresh My Memory
They made it back to Ohio at midnight. Luckily they were able to get the seven o' clock flight and made it on a no-stop trip, so they got there fairly fast. During the flight Rachel had found out that Finn had gotten punched by his roommate Mindy's boyfriend Joey, Rachel called and informed Adam that he had better get his belongings out of her apartment by the time she got back from Ohio, and Finn had made arrangements with Puck and Sam to get them to drive Finn's truck out to the airport.
Sure enough, when they got to the parking lot, there his old baby was. They hop into the cab and Rachel specifically tells him where to go. She snuggles close against him and he wraps his arm around her, his one hand on the steering wheel.
Just like it used to be.
They pull into the all too familiar driveway and Rachel jumps out, running up the path to the deck and then looking around in the flower pot for the key.
"It's got to be in here somewhere," She mutters to herself, digging in the dirt a little bit more.
She pulls out the shiny key and shakes it off before putting it into the door handle, unlocking the grand glass door and opening it up.
She immediately steps in, Finn behind her, and takes in a very long, slow deep breath. Still smells the same, like fresh linen and sweet lemonade. She takes her shoes off and pads across the wood floor, going out of the foyer and into the kitchen. She goes into each room and just looks at everything.
Finn follows her around but doesn't speak. He's giving her this moment to just reflect and he doesn't need to let his word vomit get in the way. Although, he's pretty proud of how he acted earlier today, right now just wouldn't be the place and time.
After touring the main floor and the downstairs, she heads upstairs. She stops in her dads' room, smiling proudly at all the pictures they have of her up. The bed is neatly made and in the closet she can smell the dry cleaning on each steam pressed suits they have.
She goes down the hall and looks in each room before stopping at her own bedroom.
This is it. This is the house that built her. Essentially speaking, Lima is the house that built her; hell, we could even go further and say that Ohio was.
Her point is, is that she left thinking she could find who she really is; or who she thought she was. And she did find who she thought she was. She got what she wanted; Broadway.
But honestly, she only made it because of Ohio. Everything in this small ass town helped her; Her dads', glee club, Mr. Schuester, Burt and Carole, her friends, and most importantly Finn. Finn had always believed in her. She had been stupid and insecure and lacking in ambition when she had left him behind. She was being selfish because in her mind, being a Broadway star meant leaving everything and erasing history to start new and create herself.
But she wasn't supposed to hit the clear button. She wasn't supposed to erase everything so that all she was left was with pink shavings. She was supposed to build off from her past and develop into herself.
She lost who she was and she needs to be reminded again. When she came back to Ohio, yeah, her memory sort of refreshed. But here she is, right to the room that she did her homework and taught herself how to be herself.
The girl that she is and the girl that she's always been. Rachel Berry has always been there deep down inside. Now Rachel really wanted to open the drawer that she hid her in all the way and be her again.
Because nothing, nothing is better than being yourself. She learned that the hard way.
Opening the door, tears stinging her eyes, she's hit by the yellow walls and the Broadway show posters. She lets out an excited giggle and runs over to her vanity, looking at all her old hairspray products. Her dad and daddy didn't change a thing.
Her bed is still made up with her ten stuffed animals, even the pillow pet Finn had given her for her sixteenth birthday because he knew how badly she wanted one. Pictures of her and Finn and all the other glee friends cover the closet doors. She opens them up and she's squeals excitedly when she sees her plaid skirts and animal sweaters.
Going to her dresser, she sees all her tights and knee highs and, yes, her granny panties. They are one thing she doesn't want back. She sees her jewelry tray and starts to cry at all the gifts Finn had given her.
Something does seem weird; it's a gift. A gift wrapped pretty crappy in Christmas paper. She looks at it and lifts it up, reading the name tag.
To: Rachel
From: Finn
PS: I Love You, even though it's not Christmas
She laughs and looks back at him.
"What is this?"
"That was my housewarming gift to you years ago. I didn't know what to do with it, so I brought it over here and left it on your dresser before I left for college."
She looks down, still feeling terribly guilty about leaving him.
"I should have gotten it ages ago," She whispers sadly.
"Hey," He softly says. "It's going to be just as effective, maybe even more, right now. The PS still applies, too."
She laughs and then tears at the paper gently. A velvet box comes into view and she opens it up to see a gold locket. F&R is engraved on it and when you open it, mini pictures of them take each half of the heart. She smiles and sniffs away the tears before throwing herself in his arms.
"I love you, even if it's not Christmas," She sighs out.
He chuckles and sets her down, taking the necklace and putting it on her neck. It lies on her collarbone delicately.
"Thank you."
"Thank you," He says to her.
"I haven't given you anything other than heart ache," She grimaces.
He shrugs, "Don't dwell so much on the past, Berry. Let's just think of the present and the future. Speaking of present time… I really want to pick up where we left off last time you left."
She smirks playfully at him, jumping up and straddling his waist.
"I'm in."