A.N. Ok guys this is the second to last chapter, enjoy! :)

Chapter Seven – Clearing the Air

The next few days were tense at Glee club. Rachel wasn't talking to Finn or Renee and although she was talking to the rest, she hardly said anything anyway. This was particularly difficult when rehearsing the wedding scene of their new number. Mr. Schue kept trying to put that scene off but they eventually had to practice it and the parallel of scene was painfully obvious to everyone but Rachel smiled like she was supposed to and before they knew it they were moving on to the next scene. The weekend was equally awkward for Renee. She wanted to do something but wasn't sure what she could say to get Rachel to tell her exactly why she didn't like her (other than the whole Finn fiasco which she knew she would be pissed about if it was the other way around but then Ren was sure there was something else behind Rachel's upset towards her). It got to Sunday afternoon and Hiram and Leroy were going out for the evening leaving the two girls to get take out.

"Pizza ok with you?" Renee asked politely.

"Sure," Rachel shrugged. Renee slammed the menu down causing Rachel to jump and look up in alarm.

"Enough already! I screwed up and did something I thought would help you out but only made things worse, I get it ok? Why the hell do you hate me so much anyway?" Renee asked.

"I don't hate you," Rachel said, grabbing her drink and preparing to leave the room.

"Oh no you don't!" Renee yelled and ran to block Rachel's escape, "We're going to have this out once and for all!"

"Have what out? I have no problem."

"Like hell!" Renee threw her hands up in frustration. "You don't like me, just admit it!"

"What do you want me to say?" Rachel asked in defeat, "That my Dad's love you, that school loves you, that everyone in Glee loves you ... that Finn loves you. That you knew our Mom and I never did, that you can sing as well as I can, that you can cook and play guitar and dance and are so damn nice to everyone!" Rachel yelled, "Well congratulations, everyone thinks you're better than me and now I'm never going to have a chance to show the rest of Glee that I'm an ok person and you're taking my solo's so my high school career is going to basically be nothing. YOU HAVE EVERYTHING! Happy now?" she yelled. She wiped furiously at her eyes to brush the tears away. She didn't want to cry in front of Renee, she hadn't wanted to tell her any of that but she just kept pushing!

Renee was shocked. Did she really think that? She didn't know how to deal with this, all she knew was that she didn't want to fight with Rachel. Rachel was basically her only family, well her and Hiram and Leroy. She had to fix this somehow.

"Do you want to talk about Mom?" she asked. Rachel stared at her. This really wasn't what she had been expecting but she felt the wall she had been building against Renee fall down and she nodded before a small "Yes," escaped from her lips.

That evening the girls sat in Rachel's room, eating their pizza and watching old movies whilst they talked about everything from their Mom to school to Glee. They talked about music and theatre and what they wanted to do with their lives. Renee told her how she had learnt guitar from the guy who had lived in the apartment next to theirs and that she the thing she missed most about their Mom was their Friday night movie nights where they would sit and joke about the movies they were watching, or cry depending on the movie. That she missed her Mom's hugs. Rachel told her what it was like growing up with two Dad's, how she was teased everyday in middle school and then when she started high school the slushie facials started but it just made her more focused on becoming the star she wanted to be.

The subject they didn't discuss much, beyond Rachel telling Renee everything that had happened, was Finn. After Rachel had finished telling her about what she had said when they had gone to Vocal Adrenalines show, about Quinn and babygate, about how he had used her to get a scholarship and how he always seemed to be looking at her when he thought people weren't looking and how she had told him about the baby being Pucks, Renee still thought that she should give him a chance but she didn't push the issue. She knew Rachel was still sensitive about it and was determined to let her deal with Finn however she chose and not get involved any further.

-

Glee was much easier the following weeks. Rachel and Renee had come to an understanding and we're actually getting to be really good friends. Renee had helped this along by telling Rachel that if Mr. Schue ever gave her a show tune solo she would turn it down as long as she could have her pick of country song solo's. After a few weeks, it had become a usual sight to see the two girls walking around school talking and laughing together, something that the rest of the Glee club were very happy about.

"If she's happy then the rest of us have a chance to shine around here," Kurt and told Mercedes during a particularly hectic rehearsal. The one thing that seemed to be stopping the club from finally coming together was Finn and Rachel's relationship ... or lack thereof. Finn was trying to make conversation with Rachel during every rehearsal and whilst she wasn't outright ignoring him, she wasn't making it easy for him. Everyone had tried to get Renee to talk to Rachel about it, everyone except Finn that is who was seemingly trying to keep his distance from Rachel's twin, but Renee had stubbornly told every person that had asked her that she would not cross that line again. A few weeks after this had all happened, they had finally got their version of 'All American Girl' perfect and at the end of one particularly boisterous practice, Mr. Schue decided to tell everyone that he would be introducing a new duet in the next practice. At this Finn had looked hopefully at Rachel but she had refused to meet his glance and made her way to stand by Renee who was talking with Quinn. Everyone started making their way out of the room until it was just Renee, Rachel and Quinn. Quinn decided she had finally had enough.

"Ren, do you think I could just have a quick private word with Rachel?" she asked sweetly, causing Rachel's eyebrow to shoot upwards in surprise. Renee hesitated slightly before smiling at them and leaving them alone in the practice room. Rachel turned to look at Quinn and Quinn decided she just had to say this, like ripping off a band aid, it was painful but you always felt better afterwards. "How long are you going to keep torturing Finn?" she asked.

Rachel paused, if possible even more surprised, "I hardly think I'm 'torturing' him," Rachel dismissed.

"Oh really?" Quinn asked, "The guy has been walking around like a zombie and only smiling when you actually talk to him ... it's kinda pathetic," Quinn told her.

"Finn and I are never going to work, you know it and I know it, I'm giving him an out," she shrugged dropping her gaze to her shoes. This was stupid, really stupid.

"Listen Rachel, and listen good because I'm only going to say this once ok?" she asked, making sure to have Rachel nod before she spoke, "I messed up with Finn and maybe that was a good thing for us because we weren't right for each other ... but you guys are different. You care about each other, that's enough. Think about it." Before Rachel could even reply she was out of the door, leaving Rachel to her very confused thoughts.

TBC

A.N. Please review guys, thanks Nicki