Before you dive head first into part two, a quick reminder that this universe has always been an alternate universe with canon dropped in. Thanks. Enjoy.

Hey there! Remember me? I know it's been a long time since we last spoke… two years and about two and a half months actually, but I'm back and believe me, I'm better than ever.

I got kind of… lost.

I made two very huge mistakes and paid for them. Actually, I probably made several mistakes, but there are just two that have stayed with me the longest and that I've learned the most from:

1. I blocked the most important person in my life out during the most difficult time of my life when I should have clung to her and allowed her to help me through my burden.
2. I assumed she'd remain unhurt by my actions.

I haven't seen Rachel since we graduated a year and three-ish months ago. Well, not in person at least.

Okay, before I get into things, I need to not have you thinking that for the last two years I've been this mess, who has been completely hooked on her ex-girlfriend. That is not true. I worked my ass off to get over Rachel. I did get over Rachel. It was difficult, but it most certainly happened. She definitely didn't make it easy when she started dating that girl… Bailey. What sucked the most was that she was nice. Like, actually a really, genuinely good person. It's so hard to really hate people like that! I could tell that Rachel wasn't in love with her, though. She definitely liked her, but love, not so much. That doesn't mean I tried to move in on her or anything… actually, I'll get to that later.

Acceptance rolled around sometime near Regionals, so March/April-ish. It was around the same time that Brittany and a certain wheelchair ridden boy broke up. Okay, so maybe it wasn't the best idea, but we were two consenting adults at the time and for the two months that it lasted. Besides, Britts is hot and will try anything at least once. I always enjoyed being Britt's best friend with benefits. We are still best friends, by the way, it's just hard to partake in the benefits when one of us lives in New York City and the other lives in Los Angeles.

If you were wondering who's where, I'm the one on the East Coast.

The biggest thing that pushed me into the realm of okay was my acceptance to Columbia. Yup. That's right, Ivy League, Morningside, Manhattan, Columbia University.

With very little to distract me, I dove head first into school. I pulled out straight A's all year and lifted my SAT score to a 2280. I never realized how many things I had working in my favor until I concentrated on them all. I had rejoined the Cheerios and the New Directions, both of which were nationally ranked. I'd also made a good enough impression on some of my teachers to earn me some glowing recommendations. I was also lucky enough to receive the good word of a member of the United States House of Representatives. Somehow, Kurt's dad found out I was going to be majoring in Political Science and he just offered.

I'm convinced that it was my essay that really sold the admissions board, though. I wasn't going to write about my mother's death, but as I sat and tried to think of something else that had a great impact on my life, it was the only thing that I could think of. Nothing else in my life has affected me like her death had. I spilled everything into the essay. Everything. Columbia, NYU, Ohio State… they were all aware that I'm a Latina lesbian who had been disowned by her Catholic mother, who just so happened to get into a fatal car accident while we were trying mend our relationship. Talk about diversity.

Funny enough, I have Q to thank for Columbia. She convinced me to apply. She told me that she was applying to Yale and she thought that since I was secretly a really good student that I should apply there, too. It was a super cool idea, except I wouldn't want to be caught dead in New Haven, Connecticut. New York City is where I have always wanted to be. Always. Then she directed me to Columbia and I was in love.

OH! How could I forget? Papá got a new job! He's teaching at NYU's medical school and he moved here with me! It's like, we started this new life here together. Separate, because I live in a tiny studio apartment in Morningside and he lives in a brownstone in Williamsburg with all of the hipsters, but together nonetheless.

What else… oh yeah. I've had a couple girlfriends since moving here. I told you, I got over Rachel. In the beginning of last year I dated a girl named Lou… okay her name is Louise but she hated it. Like, if you said it she wouldn't talk to you for a good twenty-four hours. I did it once after we'd been dating for about three weeks and it was the last time. It was the last time because I broke up with her afterwards. I didn't think she was serious when she told me she wouldn't talk to me for a whole day. She was cute and really funny, but that level of immaturity was not something I needed to deal with.

Then there was Taylor. I'll be honest, I was pretty serious about Taylor. Things started out normal. Working on a group project. We were the only two that were really serious about the grade. We spent many a late night in the common area of her dorm, working and flirting. She was smart and funny and hot and I felt like she got me. I grew a pair and asked her out on a real date, then we were together for six months. The sex was good, really good and I was really into her, but there was just something… I don't know… missing. Actually, I do know. You might think it's weird that I know this, but there's this Carrie Underwood song... okay, she's hot and she has an unbelievable voice, so what if she's a country artist... it's called Wine After Whiskey and there's this line in the chorus, "once you've tasted a love that strong, you can't go back and you can't settle on anything less and that's what gets me." I get it and I feel like she knew that. I never really said it out loud, but I think it clouded our relationship. She must have felt it too, because she broke up with me. I guess I wasn't that serious about her, because I never really got all that torn up about it. Yeah, it sucked that I wasn't having sex… or cuddling with someone on a regular basis, but I was definitely fine.

That was three months ago. Of course I've had a couple hook-ups, but I'm in college. Just because I go to a fancy Ivy League school doesn't mean that I'm not going to let myself have the college experience… in light doses.

And that all brings us to now, the reason why I've brought you here today. As I mentioned before: I haven't seen Rachel in person since we graduated in June 2012. Well, it is now September 2013 and I can't seem to escape her. After a little over a year of living here, I go from nothing to seeing her everywhere I go.

Rachel. Is. Everywhere.

Why? You ask.

Because she's Fanny Brice, that's why.

Yup, at nineteen years old, Rachel Berry landed her dream role on Broadway. Actually, it had to have been at eighteen, because she's only been nineteen since July.

Okay, so for the normal every day New Yorker who doesn't know Rachel Berry from a hole in the wall, she probably isn't everywhere, but for me, someone who was once… involved with Rachel Berry, she is most certainly everywhere.

It started about two months ago. I was just minding my business, buying some necessities at the Duane Reade about a half a block away from my apartment like I do every month and there at the counter, under Paula Deen on People and to the left of Demi Lovato on Cosmo was Rachel on New York Magazine. It halted me completely. I even dropped my tampons. For who the fuck knows how long, I was just gaping at this magazine. That is until this bitch behind me pushed my shoulder and not-so-politely asked me if I was going to pay for my shit or not… and informed me that I dropped my tampons.

I bought it.

After I picked my jaw and my tampons up off the floor, I grabbed the magazine and bought it. When I got back to my apartment, it took me a half an hour to get myself to take it out of the bag. Then it took me another half an hour to open it. Yes, I spent a half an hour staring at her. Not a solid half an hour, but most of it. I don't even know how to describe what she looked like on this cover. I mean, she was beautiful of course, I'll always think she's beautiful. She looked confident, even though I bet she was terrified. She was just… striking. Obviously. I was basically rendered useless at the drug store. Then I finally opened it. I could hear her saying everything as she told the interviewer about growing up in a small town, her very proud fathers, the audition process and how previews were going in DC. This was the August issue and this interview had taken place a few weeks before it was printed. Everything about it was just so Rachel.

After that, I started to see her more and more. It happened gradually from spotting little things on newspapers here and there to seeing things pop up on the internet to bigger things on newspapers here and there to what's happening now. Now she's in Times Square which I try to avoid like most people who live here. She's also in the subway, however, something I can't avoid.

Does it sound like I'm complaining? Because I'm not. I am so happy for her. If there is anyone that I have ever known in my life that deserved for their dreams to come true, it is Rachel. Someone who puts that much heart into everything she does, deserves something great.

Remember when I said that I knew she wasn't in love that Bailey girl? Believe me, I thought about making some kind of a move so many times, but I didn't. I kept my distance. I told her that I wouldn't stop fighting for her and at the time, I felt like trying to be with her again would only begin a fight against her. It would have distracted her. It would have distracted both of us. Besides, I had to work on me. I strongly believe that each of us are where we are today because of what happened and what didn't happen two years ago.

I know the more I keep saying it, the more it seems like I'm not, but I am over Rachel. I had to get over her. But I always knew that we were going to end up in the same place. Perhaps not together, but we are in the same place. What's meant to be will be, right? At least that's what Papá always tells me. Lo que será, será.

A/N: I told you I wouldn't make you wait long. Sorry (but not really) for the exposition and whatnot. Just wait until Tuesday when I'll have some more for you.

A/N 2: I have been trying really hard not to completely lose my shit in one of these author's notes, pretty much because I'm respectful. But, here we go: if you are planning on leaving something under the guise of "Guest" in the reviews, decide whether or not you would say it to someone's face. If you don't think you could do that, keep your shit to yourself. I have no problem with someone telling me that I suck, you have a right to your opinion, however, opinions should always have the opportunity to be rebutted. If you have a question, feel free to PM me, but if you want be rude, do it with a name connected to a profile; you're much less likely to find your shit on blast in one of these A/Ns.

A/N 3: Sorry to all of my respectful readers and reviewers, there are much more of you and I truly appreciate you.