Wow I haven't updated this in forever! I'm so sorry! I've just had two requests to continue in as many days and I didn't even realise people were still reading this so as a thank you here's a new chapter :) I hope you like it! Please drop me a review if you're still reading this ;) I'd love to know what you think :)

As Shelby pulled up outside the Lima Bean, she felt her nerves start to kick in. After all these years, hundreds of live shows in front of thousands of people and she still couldn't face one man. She realised then that this was how Rachel must've felt a few nights ago when she arrived.

She got out of her car and heard Will call her name. She looked around to where the voice was coming from and smiled at her friend, who was just parking his own car.

The pair greeted each other and walked into the coffee shop. After ordering their drinks they sat down at a table in the back corner of the shop, so as not to be noticed or disturbed.

"So how's your day been?" Shelby asked.

"Well let's just say it can only get better."

"How come?"

"I found out some of the New Directions went to meet up with another school's glee club last night and let's just say it didn't end well." Will replied, taking a sip of his drink.

"What happened?"

"They had slushies and threw one at Blaine. There must've been something in it because it got in his eye and now he's in hospital."

"That's awful!" Shelby exclaimed. "Is he going to be ok?"

"The doctor said he'll be fine."

Shelby sighed in relief. "Wow. Were kids always this awful to each other?" She asked.

"I seem to remember you and April egging the lead singer of our competitions' house in senior year." Will pointed out with a smirk.

"Oh shut up!" Shelby protested, tapping Will lightly on the arm as she laughed. "We were drunk and it was her idea."

"I'm not surprised actually." Will laughed along. "You know, I had the biggest crush on her back then." He blushed.

Shelby's heart sank at this. She'd always been jealous of how Will looked at April through school. He'd never seen her as more than a friend, spending all of his time obsessing over April who wouldn't give him the time of day. Still, she plastered on the same fake smile she gave the press and acted like she couldn't care less.

"I think we all knew that Will." She teased in hope that she'd fooled him with her fake smile. The odds weren't in her favour though – Will could always tell when something was wrong with her.

"Anyway..." Will started. "We still need to talk about what was wrong with you yesterday." He said kindly. Shelby sighed, having hoped that he'd forgotten about that.

"It's really nothing important. Just my hormones." She tried although she knew better than to think Will would believe her.

"Shell..." He warned her.

A part of her really wanted to just yell at him and tell him to leave it but on the other hand she knew she couldn't. First of all it would draw way too much unwanted attention and if she was honest she couldn't find it in herself to do that to him what he was being so nice to her.

She decided that it might be best to just bite the metaphorical bullet and tell him. He was a good friend and she hoped that this wouldn't spoil what they had together and how they were able to slip back in to a close friendship after so long apart. Besides, even though she was pretty certain he didn't reciprocate her feelings she was at the height of her career and one small rejection shouldn't affect her confidence. But then again this was Will. To her it wouldn't be a small rejection. She would almost go as far as to say that she'd rather the press found out about Rachel but she wouldn't do that to her own daughter.

"Ok." Shelby gave in. She took a sip of her drink as if to postpone the inevitable before speaking in a small voice that Will could hardly hear. "Back in high school I sort of had feelings for you." She admitted. "And after seeing you again I'm not sure if they ever really went away."

Shelby stared down at the table, not daring to look Will in the eyes.

"Shelby, I..." He started but was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Well, if it isn't Butt-Chin trying it on with some famous chick." Sue Sylvester said as she approached their table. "It looks like Santana was telling the truth."

As much as he hated Sue, Will was glad of the interruption. He wasn't quite sure how to process what Shelby had just told him.

"Excuse me but we're in the middle of a private conversation." Shelby said, standing up to Sue in a way that she had needed to many times before to the paparazzi.

"I think I prefer your ex-wife." Sue commented.

"Sue, I think you should leave." Will said.

"I was just trying to be friendly." Sue replied with a smirk that told the opposite story. She walked out of the Lima Bean without another word and Will hoped that Shelby hadn't picked up on who she was.

He had no such luck.

"Was she the one who's been terrorising Rachel and her friends?" Shelby asked, raising her voice slightly but not enough to draw attention to them.

"Yes." Will admitted.

"I should go out there and..."

"Do nothing." He interrupted. "She's looking for a reaction and if you get all defensive of Rachel she'd bound to figure something out and when she does she'll make sure everyone knows. Trust me I'm doing all I can to stop her but she's got a lot of power and influence."

"I can't sit back and do nothing!" Shelby protested.

"We can talk more about this later when we're somewhere more private." Will assured her.

Shelby sighed, knowing he was probably right. Unfortunately that meant that they had no other distraction from her confession. Upon realising this, Shelby found herself avoiding Will's gaze again.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to the school?" She asked hopefully.

"I don't have to leave for another fifteen minutes or so." He said after looking at his watch.

"Ok." Shelby said. Will didn't think he'd ever seen her so nervous. She could perform on stage in front of an audience of thousands but when it came to talking to one of her oldest friends she had become a completely different person. It dawned on Will then that her feelings may have been stronger than either of them realised.

"Look, Shelby." He started.

"It's ok, I get that you don't feel the same way." She said, forcing her emotions down and talking to him as she would to the press. She started to get up from her chair when she felt Will's hand on her arm stopping her.

"I never said that." He admitted quietly.

Shelby chanced a look in Will's eyes and could tell he was being sincere. She sat back down, hardly daring to believe what was happening.

"You were always more than a friend to me, Shell." He started. "But I was with Terri and nothing could've happened. There was a time during senior year when I considered ending things with her and asking you out but you had all these big plans of moving to New York and becoming a star and I was content to stay in Lima. I just didn't see how it could work."

It didn't happen often but Shelby suddenly found herself speechless. It was Will's turn to look nervous as he sat back in his chair and waited for her response.

"So what does this mean?" Shelby asked, finding her voice again.

"I don't know." Will replied honestly. "We live in completely different parts of the country. I don't see how we could make it work between us."

"I know. I mean I'll be visiting as much as possible now to see Rachel but there's no telling how often that will be with my schedule. And I'm leaving for New York again tonight."

"How about we see each other over spring break? It's only a couple of weeks away." He suggested.

"Rachel's coming to stay for the whole holidays." Shelby told him. "I know you need to get back to work soon and I need to pack before I come to the school to see the kid's performance. Shall I call you tonight and we can see if we can work something out? I'd really like to give us a shot if you do too." She said. She knew that she'd have next to no time alone with him when she went back to the school as she had to leave for her flight as soon as glee club was finished.

"I'd love to. Just call me when you're back in New York." He smiled. "I'll see you later."

Shelby nodded. "It's been great seeing you again Will." She said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye Shelby." Will smiled sadly as she left the coffee shop.

Shelby thought back over what had just happened as she drove back to Rachel's house to pack. She couldn't quite believe the events of the last few days. Meeting her daughter, reconnecting with Will and finding out he'd liked her back all these years. It was almost enough to make her decide to stay in Lima. She didn't know how she was going to be able to get back on stage and perform tonight like nothing had happened but she knew she would have to. It was her job after all to give incredible performances every night without showing a glimmer of what was going on in her own life. Still, she was a professional and, like they say, the show must go on.

She pulled up in front of the house and let herself in with her spare key. She had an hour to pack before she had to leave for the school so she stared to do it straight away, humming along to herself as she worked.

In what seemed like no time at all she was pulling up outside McKinley High, seeing all the teenagers walking around in their cliques just as they had done when she was there. She smiled sadly with the nostalgic feelings that had accompanied her back to Lima and killed the engine of the car. She walked to the reception to sign herself in as a visitor and followed the familiar route to the choir room. Smiling as she saw Rachel sitting next to Kurt, she took the spare seat next to her daughter, apparently making her the envy of some of the other students.

"Listen up everyone!" Will said as he entered the classroom. "Shelby's here to see your theatricality performance so I expect you to perform like you would for nationals. If you're good I'm sure she'll come and support us." He smiled at her. Shelby gave him a nod and everyone got up and headed to the auditorium.

Will and Shelby took their seats a couple of rows back and waited for the kids to be ready. Their performance was almost flawless and Shelby could tell they'd really taken on board what she'd said to them the day before.

While she was performing, Rachel was sure she noticed My Schue's hand resting on Shelby's leg. Was something going on between them? She made a mental note to mention it to her later.

"Wow that was incredible!" Shelby said once they had finished. "If you don't win with that number the judges don't know what they are doing."

Everyone headed back to the choir room and Shelby agreed to sign whatever the glee club members had brought in. She also wrote a special note for Blaine, who was still in the hospital, and asked Kurt to make sure he got it.

After some persuasion, Shelby agreed to perform one last song for the glee club. She decided to sing 'Let It Go' from her recently released Disney movie, Frozen.

"The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation,
And it looks like I'm the Queen.
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried

Don't let them in, don't let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know
Well, now they know

Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
I don't care
What they're going to say
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway"

When she finished the song the whole room burst into applause, although no one was as enthusiastic as Rachel, making Shelby smile even more. By the time she'd finished the lesson had come to an end and everyone went home after saying goodbye to Shelby.

Once the rest of the glee club kids were gone, Shelby turned to Rachel. "I'm just going to say goodbye to Will. Is it ok if I meet you back at the house?" She asked. Rachel nodded and left after giving Shelby a quick hug.

"You were great today." Will smiled at her once they were alone.

"Thanks." Shelby blushed. "I'm just glad they all liked it. I was a bit worried about singing a Disney song for a group of high school kids."

"They loved it. And Frozen is cool. Even I enjoyed it." He smiled.

"You went to see it?" She asked in disbelief.

"Of course I did. You were in it." He replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, making Shelby blush even more.

"I should head back to Rachel's and say goodbye. I have to leave for the airport in about an hour." She said sadly. Will's face dropped as he remembered how soon she was leaving. "I'll definitely come back in time for Regional's though if I can get the time off from work. Then I can stay until the end of the semester and take Rachel back to New York with me."

"Would it be alright if I asked you out on a date while you're here?"

"I don't see it being a problem." Shelby replied seriously, although her smile was breaking through her mask and the pair of them burst out laughing.

"I'll let you get back to Rachel." Will said once they'd regained their composure.

Shelby nodded before leaning in to kiss him. She captured his lips with hers and he made a noise of surprise before kissing her back passionately. His hand moved to her waist, pulling her closer to him, and she ran hers through his short, curly hair.

They broke apart slightly breathless, both with mirroring smiled on their faces.

"Do you have to leave?" Will asked.

"I'm afraid so." Shelby replied. "But I'm definitely saying yes to that date next time I'm in town." She smiled.

"I'll see you soon then." He agreed. They said their goodbyes and Shelby headed out to her rental car.

Driving home in record speed, Shelby reached the Berry's house and went upstairs to find Rachel sitting in her room waiting for her.

"Hi." She smiled as she walked in and sat next to her daughter.

"Hey." Rachel replied. "I don't want you to leave today." She admitted.

"I don't want to go back either but I have a show tonight."

"I know." The teenager said sadly. Shelby wrapped her arm around Rachel's shoulders and she leaned in to the hug. "Is there something going on between you and Mr Schue?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you had lunch with him today and you looked pretty close in the auditorium earlier." Rachel said. "Also you're lipstick is smudged." She teased.

Shelby blushed like an embarrassed teenager who had just been caught by her parents doing something she shouldn't.

"I don't know yet. It's complicated but we want to work something out. Are you ok with that?" She asked. She had been hoping to talk to Rachel once she knew where they were going with their relationship and hadn't counted on her being so observant.

Rachel nodded against her mother's shoulder and Shelby pulled her even closer.

"When are you coming back?" She asked.

"I'm going to try and get the time off to come and watch you at Regional's in a couple of weeks but if I can't I'll see you when you come to visit during spring break."

"I don't think I can wait that long."

"Me neither." Shelby sighed. "But just think about all the fun we'll have in New York and all the shows we'll get to see. The time will fly by." She assured her.

"I hope so."

Shelby looked at her watch and saw that she needed to leave soon if she was going to get to the airport on time to catch her flight.

"I'll see you soon." Shelby promised Rachel as they said goodbye. Rachel stood by the door and waved her off until she was out of sight.

Shelby was struggling to hold herself together and keep the tears at bay whilst she boarded the plane, constantly trying to reassure herself like she had to Rachel. They'd see each other in two weeks.