I know I said I had exams but in all honesty writing this is much more fun than learning about muscle contraction and reflexes.

Thanks to sillystarshine, Wentzie72, michelle, erika0107, elphieistheshiz, Kalyxia, TheAsianWhoIsAFanzel, tlgonzal and diana for reviewing the last chapter. Hope you like this one :) Enjoy!

Rachel's dads were already in the kitchen by the time she made it downstairs to have breakfast. Hiram was cooking pancakes, which he never did on a weekday. He claimed it was too much effort. Rachel understood, she knew everyone left the house early during the week for work and school. She was just glad it wasn't her other dad cooking. Most of the time he was a great cook but not once had he made a pancake that looked remotely edible.

"What's with the pancakes, dad?" She asked.

"Oh, sweetheart you're awake. How are you feeling? And I just wanted to treat you, it was a difficult day yesterday."

She knew it would be something to do with that. They weren't going to let her forget about it, were they? Of course not. They'd be fussing and worrying and all she wanted to do was forget about it, pretend that it wasn't happening and that school would be fun. She knew it wouldn't happen but she could still dream. Truthfully, she thought it would be easier to just curl up and cry all day and not go to school, but she doubted that her dads would allow it.

"I don't want to go in today." She said quietly. It made such a change from her usual, cheery, confident self that it shocked her dads a bit.

"Sweetie, it's only two more days until the weekend. Will you do it for me? Please?" Leroy asked. He knew she was struggling but he didn't want to see her missing out on her education because of some immature kids who thought it made them big making others feel small. "Come straight home after glee rehearsal and we can talk about it some more if you want? See how you feel about going in on Friday."

"Okay daddy." His daughter replied, knowing there was no way around it today. She just had to get through a few hours and she'd be home again with her dads.

Driving to school, Rachel listened to her playlist of Shelby Corcoran songs. She had such an amazing voice and just thinking of her inspired Rachel and reminded her that her life was not going to be dull and end with her not travelling any further than Lima, Ohio like so many of her classmates. She had big dreams and a plan to get them. She just had to finalise her NYADA application and send it off and she's be on her way out of here. Away from the bullies and slushie throwing, away from the boring people stuck in dead-end jobs where the highest they could achieve was assistant manager at some local fast food restaurant, most of all, away from the bad memories that had haunted her nights and plagued her dreams one too many times. She would be leaving this place in a few months, and she couldn't wait.

She got out of her car and started walking towards the school, trying to keep her head down. She didn't want anyone to notice her and give them the chance to say anything, but she'd also learnt that this way the slushies were less likely to get in her eyes and sting. Despite dreaming of fame, right now Rachel just wanted to be invisible. It seemed she would have no such luck.

"Hey, Midget!" She heard Santana's voice screaming at her from across the hall. "I've heard someone's got a crush on you" She said in a girly, sing-song voice.

"I wonder who it could be?" Quinn taunted.

"We'll give you a clue." Santana continued.

"It's not Lord Tubbington." She heard Brittany saying. She turned to Santana and started whispering. "I confronted him about it last night. He still hasn't owned up to sending all those emails to the Queen of England asking to eat her corgis. I know it was him, It couldn't have been my new hamster, he doesn't know how to type."

While Brittany was boring Santana with details about her cat, Quinn continued to tease Rachel.

"Oh, look. It's your new boyfriend. Go and say hello then." She sneered, pointing and Kurt.

Rachel couldn't help herself. She knew retaliating was probably a bad idea but she couldn't stop her defensive streak from making her talk back.

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"Really? I thought he'd be just your type. I mean, look at your parents. Your dad and, ummm, your other dad." The group of cheerleaders standing next to her giggled. No one noticed that Santana was the only one of the group not laughing. She caught Brittany's eye and looked at her, sadly.

Rachel felt the tears starting to form in her eyes. She ran into the nearest bathroom and stayed there until her first lesson began.

Kurt had felt sorry for Rachel. She seemed nice enough and they'd had a couple of long conversations about Broadway and their dreams. It was nice for him to talk to someone who understood that feeling of wanting to get out of Ohio and see more of the world. Sometimes he felt like he was her only friend, and even then they weren't that close. They were 'talking about what had been happening recently' close, rather than 'sleepovers and sharing massive secrets' close. As much as he'd wanted to go after her and comfort her, having heard what Quinn had said about her and her dads, he knew it would probably only make things worse. He decided he might ask her about it during lunch or something, just to make sure she was okay.

For Rachel the day seemed to drag so much. All she wanted to do was get home and curl up on her bed with an endless supply of chocolate and one of her favourite musicals. 'Just a few more hours' she kept telling herself. Luckily, most of the day passed uneventfully. She was shocked that by lunchtime she hadn't been slushied once.

She found herself actually dreading going to glee club today, something that never happened. When the time came she forced herself to go, knowing that her dads would only worry more if she came home from school early.

"Hey Rachel" Kurt said as she took a seat next to him.

"Hey" She replied, wanting to be polite but not really feeling up to talking to anyone right now.

"Are you ok? I saw what Quinn was saying to you earlier. I was going to see if you were alright but didn't want to make things worse, under the circumstances"

He's so sweet, Rachel thought. Kurt had been through a lot of bullying through high school as well. He knew how she was feeling and wanted to help. Not ready to really open up to him yet, though, she said a simple 'I'm fine, thanks' just as Mr Schuester entered the room.

Kurt took the hint and stayed quiet, making a mental note to text her later just to see how she was.

Shelby could barely sleep that night, her mind was buzzing with thoughts of her daughter, and how in just a few hours she would finally get to meet her. Her mind wondered to the real reason she had to go. Rachel was being bullied at school. Hiram and Leroy were worried about her but didn't know how to help. Truthfully, nor did she. All she could hope is that she could do something and, even if she couldn't, perhaps having her mother around would help her in its own way.

What if Rachel didn't like her? From what her dads had said she'd probably dreamt of meeting her before, but what if she didn't live up to her expectations? She didn't know the first thing about being a mother, let alone to a teenage daughter who she's never met. For now she could only hope that they would find something common to talk about and get to know each other so that they could start to sort everything out and make Rachel's school life a lot happier. Besides, she was in her senior year at high school. It was meant to be one of the best years at school she'd have.

Many times, Shelby had wondered what her daughter would be like. Was she clever? How was she finding her classes? What did she want to do with her life? What were her friends like? Did she like Broadway? Could she sing? She knew she would find out the answer to all these questions soon, but for now she figured she should try and get some more sleep. After all, how could she help Rachel if she was walking around half asleep all day?

Leroy was sat on the sofa in the living room, half-watching some rubbish daytime television show and waiting for his partner to arrive. He always finished work early on Thursdays and Fridays, meaning that he was back first. Hiram had agreed to try and finish work early so that he could get home before Shelby arrived. They knew she would be at their house by around 1pm, providing there were no delays at the airport and the traffic wasn't too bad.

He heard a car pull up outside his house, looking at his watch he saw in was almost 1, meaning it could be Shelby. A knock on the door confirmed this to him as he knew Hiram had his keys with him.

"Hi Shelby." He said as he opened the door. "How was the flight?"

"Leroy!" She almost screamed as she pulled him into a hug. "I'm just glad the plane wasn't delayed. The guy next to me was a bit of a creep, to say the least." Being famous, Shelby was used to first class flights and having a long time to pack and get ready. However, this was a very last minute plan so she couldn't get the first class seats she loved. It wasn't that she was snobby, she just preferred the privacy. She hated being recognised when all she wanted to do was relax and read a book. Of course, the better seats helped as well.

"Well you're here now anyway. Make yourself at home. Hiram should be back any minute."

"Great, I can't wait to see him again." Shelby smiled. Then she remembered why she was here and her face fell. "How was she this morning?" She asked.

"Didn't want to go to school, as expected. She didn't make much of a fuss but you could tell she wasn't happy. I've said we'll talk about it more this evening, hinting that we might let her have tomorrow off. I think that's the only thing getting her through today, Shell. I really don't know what to do." Leroy answered, feeling a couple of tears come to his eyes.

Shelby noticed this and gave him another hug, before he led them to the living room. They were only there about 5 minutes before the door unlocked and Hiram came in. Noticing Shelby, he instantly went up and hugged her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. The three of them talked comfortably for a bit, although the men could tell Shelby was still feeling a bit worried about meeting Rachel.

As she got back into her car to drive home, Rachel finally relaxed. After glee she'd practically sprinted to her car, wanting to get out of school as quickly as possible. She drove to the local convenience store on her way home and bought as much chocolate as she felt she could hide in her, already rather full, schoolbag.

She arrived home to see both of her dads' cars on the driveway. Usually, Hiram was back later on a Thursday so the sight confused her slightly. She brushed it off though as she unlocked her front door. She thought she heard a woman's voice coming from the living room but couldn't be sure. They all shut up the second they heard the door slam. Curious, dumped her schoolbag in the hallway and made her way to the living room.

Sitting on her couch she saw none other than Broadway star Shelby Corcoran.