Title: I'm Still Waiting for the Rain to Fall
Author: anan0maly
Summary: ...pour real life down on me...
Pairing: Eventual Rachel/Quinn
Rating: PG to NC-17
Word Count: 50,000+ (so far)
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters unfortunately. Title belongs to Evanescence's 'Good Enough'.
Betas: My friends Aimee and Alma. :) Thank you both so so much.

Part Seven:

& ! & ! &

Günter sighed as he watched Rachel miss a note on a song she had perfected weeks ago. He sighed and rubbed his forehead with the thumb and index finger of his left hand. With his right hand he lightly shoved her shoulder. "You missed it again," he admonished as he went to take a seat in the chair to Rachel's left. He watched as her shoulders dropped slightly. "I don't want to know what's going on with you, and I don't really care. You have your exam in six weeks and I won't settle for just a passing grade."

Rachel sat numbly on the piano stool. She straightened her back and planted her feet firmly on the ground. She was acutely aware she wasn't performing at her usual high standard. She knew how to play her chosen compositions. She'd been practicing for months on these. The only one that needed work was the third piece, 'Rumba Toccato' – the one she'd been practicing in the choir room that afternoon. Rachel sighed as she realized what a disappointment this entire day had been. She turned her head slightly in Günter's direction, her eyes lowered. "I apologize. I have no excuse for my poor performance this afternoon."

Günter just sighed and sat back in his chair. They sat in silence for a few seconds as he watched Rachel slowly caress the ivory keys. "Rachel, do you like the piano?" he suddenly asked.

Rachel's head instantly whipped around in his direction. "Of course I do!" She immediately answered. She couldn't believe he would ask her such a question. She'd been playing the piano for years. She wouldn't have stuck with it if she didn't have some kind of love for the instrument.

Her piano teacher just sighed at her response. He let his fingers run through his greying hair before leaning forward, his forearms resting on his knees. He bowed his head and looked at his feet briefly before addressing Rachel once again. "Do you, Rachel? I've seen you every week for the past nine years," he paused. "When we first started you were so excited and so full of energy and you couldn't wait to learn how to play 'Tomorrow' from Annie."

Rachel bit her bottom lip. She could remember how excited she was when Günter had joyously presented her with the easy sheet music for her to learn. She'd squealed and thrown her arms around his broad shoulders before demanding he play it for her once through so she could sing along.

"You don't have that passion anymore," he said softly, moving to sit next to her on the piano bench. "Have you thought that maybe it's time?" He asked gently as he bowed his head and his left hand began to fiddle with the watch on his right wrist.

Rachel snapped her head up to look at him. "Time... for what?" She asked shakily.

Günter turned his head slightly toward his young student. "Time to quit."

Rachel's breath hitched and her heart began pounding very loudly in her chest. This couldn't be happening. She was not a quitter. An ache began to form behind her ribcage and she each inhale became fast and uneven. "I can try harder. I can do it. I promise. Just – just...listen. I can play them all. Perfectly. I can - "

"Rachel," he interrupted. He grabbed her hands that were reaching for the keys and held them together. He made sure to meet her gaze. "I know you can do it. You're a great pianist, Rachel, but playing the piano isn't just about knowing how to read the right notes and play the right keys."

Rachel's eyes flickered back and forth as she stared at Günter. Her chest felt tight and she couldn't seem to get enough air into her lungs. "I can – I have – I have passion. I do. I'm sorry," she began pleading, her nails beginning to dig into his palms. "I can do better. I can – I can show you passion. I – I can do it."

"Rachel... Rachel! You need to calm down," he said as his hold tightened around her hands slightly and he tried to get her attention. "Take a deep breath. It's going to be ok."

Rachel could hear her piano teacher calling out to her. She vaguely registered his attempts at coaching her through a few breathing techniques.

"In... Out..." Günter encouraged as he began breathing along with Rachel. "That's it. Good," he said after a few seconds.

Rachel was finally calming down, but her hands shook as she pulled them away from Günter and buried them in her lap. She had no idea what was happening. She squeezed her eyes closed and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I can't quit," she whispered to her teacher.

She heard her teacher sigh next to her before she felt his hand on her shoulder. "It's ok," he said softly.

Rachel suddenly sat up straight and met his gaze head on. She shrugged his hand off her shoulder and faced the keys. "Today is just a bad day. I can do this."

Günter opened his mouth to argue with her, but took one look at her posture and the determined look on her face and decided that arguing wouldn't get them anywhere. "Let's finish early, then. It looks like it's been a long day for you," he offered as a compromise. He took a good look at Rachel and noticed how tired she seemed to be. "I'm sure you have other things you want to be doing on your Saturday afternoon."

Rachel flashed back to that Saturday morning she'd been at her hip hop class and had seen some of her glee teammates walking down the street. She had nothing to do on her Saturdays because her invite seemed to always be lost in the mail. "No, I want to be here. Let's just do another run through of the last song."

Günter stood up and moved away from the piano. He nodded his head and watched as Rachel closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her fingers poised above the keys. "Don't think about it. Just feel it," he quickly said before she could begin.

Rachel gave a slight nod as she opened her eyes and began playing. She tried to let her mind wonder but she couldn't help but keep getting drawn back to the song she was playing. She tried to think about the distraction she'd had when she'd been practicing in the music room and all she could think about was Quinn Fabray shushing Santana. Rachel's eyes drifted closed as she thought back to the way Quinn had reacted to her playing Ave Maria.

Rachel supposed her reaction had been due to the religious nature of the song. That seemed to be the only explanation Rachel could come up with. She instantly felt guilty as she recalled Quinn's visit earlier that morning. She knew she shouldn't have brought up Quinn's pregnancy like that. She was just so furious. All the things Quinn was accusing her parents of, it just seemed unfathomable to Rachel.

Maybe it was true that her parents knew her passwords, but she honestly didn't keep any secrets from them. She didn't really see the harm in them knowing. It wasn't like she had people who regularly emailed her. Well, apart from Google Alerts, that is.

Rachel's fingers continued to dance over the keys, her mind completely unaware that she'd moved into playing her second examination piece that she'd been having problems with earlier. Günter watched with fascination as Rachel forgot all about where she was and what she was doing. She played each piece perfectly and as she began to play the difficult 'Rumba Toccato' she opened her eyes, but Günter could tell that she was still lost in thought.

Rachel couldn't help but think about the last thing Quinn had asked her. About whose life she was living. Quinn made it sound like Broadway wasn't her dream. But Broadway had always been her dream. Ever since she could remember she'd been singing and dancing to classic show tunes. It's all she's ever known and it's all she's ever wanted to know.

As she played the final notes, a look of confusion graced her features while Günter laughed. "Spaced out, did we?" He asked with a grin and a friendly pat on her shoulder. "Maybe we just need you distracted all the time," he continued with a wink.

Rachel just offered him a confused smile before staring down at her hands, noticing they'd stopped shaking, her breathing was back to normal and her body felt relaxed. Rachel's brow furrowed as she tried to piece together what had happened.

"Wherever you went just then, go there during your exam," Günter said as he began to pack up his bag. "I'll see you next week," he said as he slung his bag over his shoulder, squeezed her shoulder and let himself out.

Rachel just stared confused at the piano.

& ! & ! &

Later that afternoon, Rachel found herself holed up in her bedroom hunched over her Algebra II text book trying to work through the assigned homework. She'd made it through the first two questions before her gaze drifted up to the small window above her desk.

Her day had not been a good one. She'd woken up twenty minutes late which had made her late for her Saturday morning Elliptical workout. Her father had stopped by her room and shook his head in disapproval and Rachel had immediately felt guilty. She cut her workout down to a half hour so she could still fit in her vocal exercises and breakfast.

Her hip hop class had been going alright until she'd stumbled into another dancer during a run through of their spring performance. She was just so tired lately. She hadn't meant to miss the step and then cause the domino effect that resulted in Hannah McCoy's sprained ankle. Rachel made a mental note to bake some apology cookies for Hannah tomorrow. She already felt guilty enough for causing the accident, but when her father found out, he was absolutely beside himself. He spent the entire car ride home berating her. By the time they'd made it to their driveway he'd started in on her commitment to dance and how she just didn't seem to be putting in the effort needed to succeed. Rachel could only take so much before she snapped. When they'd entered the house, she'd headed straight for the stairs and yelled back at him as she escaped.

Even her confrontation with Quinn hadn't been the worst part of her day. No, it certainly hadn't been. Sitting through an hour of MySpace comments with her father was the worst part of her day. She should be grateful that she really only received comments from people not in glee. It would make the entire experience infinitely worse if she had to read comments from the only group of people she felt any kind of connection to.

"Read it aloud," her father ordered as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair beside Rachel.

Rachel took a deep breath before she scrolled down to the first comment. "Why do you even bother with these videos? Don't you realise that there are enough people to hate in the world already without your putting in so much effort to give us another?" Rachel swallowed as she tried not to let the comment get to her. If this was only the first comment she dreaded what the rest might say. She couldn't let her father see how difficult this was to sit through, especially after only reading one comment.

"Next," he ordered, shifting in his chair beside her.

Rachel held in a sigh and began to read the next comment. "I've come across rotting bodies that are less offensive than your singing." Rachel balled up her left fist and buried it in her lap hoping her father wouldn't notice.

"We need to work on your image. There's clearly something about you they don't like," Levi commented. He glanced at Rachel out of the corner of his eye before looking back at the computer screen. "Next."

Rachel scrolled down a little further. She glanced over the next comment and her eyes widened. "I don't want to read it," she suddenly announced as her finger began to move over the touchpad on her laptop to scroll down. She unexpectedly felt her father's hand grasp onto her own.

"Read it," he ordered, his voice low and leaving no room for argument.

Rachel took a deep breath before scrolling back up to the comment. Her eyes flickered over to her father before returning to the screen once again. "The terrifying power of the human sex drive is horrifically demonstrated by the fact that someone was willing to father you."

Rachel leaned back in her seat and lowered her head. She heard her father breathe out through his nose.

"What have you been saying about us at that school of yours?" Her father asked in a low tone.

Rachel abruptly sat up straight and turned to her father a look of shock plastered to her face. "Wh-what?" She asked, surprised by his accusation.

Her father met her gaze head on. His face was blank and Rachel's heart began to pound in her chest. "You heard me," he said slowly.

Rachel's eyes flittered back and forth. She couldn't believe this. She loved her parents. She always stood up for them. She would never say anything bad about them. "I – I would never!" She exclaimed in near panic.

Her father just stared at her for a few seconds before turning back to her laptop. "Keep reading."

Rachel rubbed her eyes as she tried to push that hour spent with her father out of her mind. She eyed her laptop sitting closed on the corner of her desk. Quickly she hurriedly shut her Algebra II books and stacked them to the side. She pulled her laptop close and turned it on. As it quickly came out of sleep mode, Rachel navigated to her MySpace page. She began scrolling through the comments again, but this time searching through usernames instead of actual comments. She just needed to see if any of her fellow glee clubbers had left anything.

One username suddenly caught her eye, finnster_5. Rachel grinned as she read his comment. 'This was awesome, Rach! How do you find the time?'

The smile remained in place as she closed the lid on her laptop and got back to her Algebra homework.