Oh god, I wanna kill myself for letting this happen again with yet another one of my stories. Who knew life would get in the way of fanfic? And gosh, I was supposed to get this done before Glee came back, but it's a little late for that. Hope this makes the wait for Rocky Horror go a bit faster… and my apologies for suckiness.

Disclaimer: If my name was spelled R-y-a-n_M-u-r-p-h-y, I might own glee, but unfortunately it's spelled *x-o-x-o-S-i-l-v-e-r-y-I-n-k-L-e-t-t-e-r-i-n-g-x-o-x-o-*, which, I guess is pretty cool too.

Showface Chapter Thirteen: It Takes two to Tango

One week later…

Rachel put the thin red tip of her swizzle stick in her mouth, chewing absentmindedly as she flipped channel through channel. Today was probably the only day they decided to pay tribute to Journey on the Today Show, and then talk about the important of small town art programs on Good Morning America. It was also probably the only day of her life when re-watching Funny Girl did not make her feel better. In fact, it just made her even more depressed. Barbara Streisand never had to deal with being replaced, she was Barbara Streisand! And even when things didn't go her way, even when she got sad she still managed to pull herself together and put on a heartbreakingly beautiful performance of People in front of a no doubt sold out crowd of adoring fans. The least Rachel could do was sing it in front of a room full of people that were partially the reason she was so upset.

Her phone vibrated beside her, and for a second she considered not even answering it. But by the seventh time it buzzed she gave in as she snatched the phone up. "Hello?"

"…hey." Paige said distractedly. "Emergency club meeting, can you be here in ten?"

"I can be there in five." Rachel responded confidently. She was used to short, awkward phone conversations with Paige, they mostly always revolved around another people, and barely lasted over thirty seconds.

"Good." There was a long pause, and right as Rachel reached for the end button Paige spoke again. "…Um… there's something we kind of need to tell you." Rachel could hear Amanda's muffled voice in the background. "You know what, we'll tell you when you get here." Rachel nodded, forgetting Paige couldn't see her through the phone.

"Oka-" But Paige had already hung up. Rachel stared at the phone in disbelief. The phone call had been more than a little cryptic, even for Paige. Rachel was always the one to hate secrets, and most surprises, she didn't trust other people to plan things right, so was in a rush to find out what it was they needed to tell her. Not wanting to waste time, she grabbed her jacket and keys and jogged out the door.

As she revved the engine, her phone vibrated with another call. She glanced at it briefly, before dismissing it. Puck had been calling her on and off for days, leaving messages from time to time, texting her others. If Rachel didn't constantly remind herself she was angry with him, she would have laughed at his obvious frustration.

'Jesus, Rach. Umm.. it's not what it looks like. Fuck, I sound like a chick. Just.. umm, I can… explain. So, just call me...Damn it!'

'Seriously! It's not that big of a fucking deal! She's like not even that good anyway, she's like this weird Latina brat that Santana absolutely can't stand… seriously, they like always get in fights, and it's kinda hot- but no, umm… She's like pathetic. And she's always flirting with me and… okay, you know what. Bye.'

"Okay, if you don't answer my next call, I will drive to your house, throw your ass in the back of my truck and take you back to Lima no matter how many SAT vocab words and treats of legal accusation you throw at me, cuz I don't even give a damn any more, answer your fucking phone!'

'Fine. I know where you live. And I'm going to go there. And I don't even care how stalkerish that sounds. See you soon, Rachie.'

Rachel sighed and pulled into Lincolns parking lot, noticing a shiny new car parked in the students spot. Not many of the kids owned cars here, they preferred to ride to ever musical bus and sing songs with their friends simply because it was more fun, so she noticed when there was a new person. So wondered if that's what they were going to tell her, that they had a new member? That's not what it sounded like.

Rachel let herself into the choir room around the back entrance with a key they had given to all the club members, she opened it to find the club scattered around the room, all facing the direction of the girl in the center. A tall, black haired, grey eyed girl with blindingly white teeth stood with her hands on her hips, eyeing Rachel cockily.

Wait a minute…

Rachel knew this girl! She was the one she had seen on the stage singing with Puck and the rest of New Directions! This was the girl who had replaced her, the girl who had made her depressed and potentially ruined all chances of her ever going back to McKinley!

Madame Muller pulled her lips back, revealing her teeth in a tight, almost strained smile. "Rachel, may I introduce you to, Alicia Walker." She pronounced each syllable declaredly, until it sounded like Uh-leesh-uh Wa-ker. "She is our female lead. She has come back from her exchange!"

Alicia stuck her hand out to a shock still Rachel and grinned wider than ever. "Enchanté."

"Shit." Rachel murmured under her breath as she pulled down her street. There was a red truck in her driveway, so she was assuming Puck had pulled through on his threat. But she didn't have time to deal with him right now, she was going through a personal crisis, he could wait.

She wasn't going to lie. She had spied on Vocal Adrenaline, and, occasionally, took their ideas, but this was another level. One she wasn't so sure she was comfortable with. She had been on the receiving end. Even if nobody else believed Jesse was actually on their side, she did. And then she found he wasn't, and he was just lying to whole time. About everything. And she was the only one who got hurt, because she was the only one who really believed it but know, everyone was fooled. Even Mr. Schuester. And Puck had said she had been flirting with him… did that mean Puck was the next her? As weird as that sounded, she thought that maybe he was. But Puck wasn't going to fall for her, was he? Surely he was smarter than that, then again, so was Rachel.

But she couldn't say anything. Of course she couldn't. She almost wondered if it was cleverly devised test. A test to see whether or not Rachel was still loyal to New Directions. She wasn't, of course, but who could blame her for having a moral conscience? She wasn't solace for crying out loud!

She wasn't upset with them. Really, she wasn't. She had expected as much from Paige, and Amanda, who just seemed to follow her lead. They all seemed like what she used to be. Determined, and ready to do anything to win. And Rachel does want to win, just… not like this. But she had to know one thing, it was the only thing she really cared about at the moment.

She shifted into park and whipped out her cell phone. The phone rang ten times as she tapped her foot impatiently but before she could hang up and try again she heard Christian's tired sounding voice on the other end. "Hello?"

"Chirsty!" She nearly shouted with joy. Suddenly, a hand shot through the open window and slammed her phone shut. She turned over cautiously to see a very pissed off looking Puck, who was glaring at her expectantly.

Opps.

His face relaxed as she stared at him with wide eyes. "Calling you boyfriend?"

"..boyfriend." Rachel growled. His hands dropped his side and she realized that he looked very, very tired. Her heart gave a pitiful little pang. She almost hit herself in the chest in a desperate attempt to make it stop. He ran his hand over his shaved head.

"Look… I'm…" She felt horrible. She wanted to sit her and listen to him explain and make everything better, especially after he had come all this way… but she couldn't. She had to find Chritstian.

"I'm sorry." She said sincerely, starting the engine and shooting down the street, going way over the speed limit. She could hear his angry shout from behind and the rumble of her truck engine. She raced her way over the main street of the town, turning off the ignition as she was jumping out. Christian!" Rachel practically screeched as she sprinted into the Fort Wayne branch of Breadsticks. Christian nearly dropped the platter he was carrying in surprise. Rachel skidded to a halt in front of him as he hurriedly put down the order and dragged Rachel to the side hall.

"Rachel, how many times have I told you not to come here while I'm working, I nearly got fired last time-" She cut him off, struggling to speak but also trying to catch her breath.

"Did you know she was a spy?" She watched his eyes widen, but he didn't look confused at all, which she decides is better; at least he wouldn't try to deny that he knew. But it still hurt, knowing he knew about this the whole time and didn't tell her.

"You mean Alicia?" Her eyes narrowing in disgust as she turned away, only to have Christian grab her arm and wheel her back around. "I'm sorry." He said simply. "I, I wanted to tell you, but the others were so sure they you would tell New Directions and… they threatened to kick me out if I said anything.

Rachel stared at him for a long moment. "But you would tell me, right?" His eyes were small and sad.

"Of course." His tone was small and soft, and if her eyes had been closed she could have sworn it was Finn who had said it. It was a tone he had used every time Rachel was unsure about something. But before Rachel could think about this she saw him lean forward slowly and press his lips onto hers.

Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. He was kissing her.

Which was odd. Because Rachel believed in romance, and timing, and she believed in important cues to kiss a lady, and that didn't seem like one of them. Or maybe it was, and she happened to miss it because she was too busy thinking of how much he sounded like Finn… but it didn't matter because she was kissing Christian.

She wasn't sure how to feel about that.

She slowly opened her eyes as he pulled away, her lips were still parted and she remained silent. But her attention was drawn over his shoulder as she heard the tinkling of a bell and the roar of a truck. She ran over to the window, leaving behind a stunned Christian, and saw a red chevy backing out of Breadsticks, and back onto the highway.

A/N: Eek. Like I said. I'm gonna need to write a fluff shot after this is done, I keep going to sleep depressed. Hope the wait didn't ruin it!

-xoxo SIL xoxo