Thank you to everyone for your reviews on Chapter 8. I was pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm pretty happy with this one too. I really wish we were getting Finchel in the real Season 5, because from what it seems, Rachel needs Finn right now. This Rachel of Season 5 does not appear to be the Rachel I loved. :( Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter and review if you want me to keep going.
Chapter 9: Like We Never Stopped
As Rachel sat in the hallway, waiting to be called in for her audition for the understudy, she thought about what had happened in this past year. She and Finn had broken up, then sort of gotten back together, then broken up again, then slept together, then she found out he was with someone else - and now they were finally back together. She'd been in New York alone at first, then in the dorm with the roommate who was sleeping with the whole school, then in the loft with Kurt, then Brody moved in, then Santana moved in, then Brody moved out... it was hard to keep track of everything. Blaine, Sam, Tina and Artie had visited this weekend, but they were all back in Lima now. She'd won the winter showcase, then lost Midnight Madness, then made it to the finals for playing Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, then been rejected, then gotten invited to audition to be the understudy. She'd begun to reconnect with Shelby, only to learn that there was another member of her family out there somewhere who she hadn't met.
Rachel's thoughts were interrupted when Rupert came out of the room. "Rachel, we're ready for you."
Rachel nodded and followed Rupert into the room, where Paolo and Marissa were waiting. "What song will you be singing for us today, Rachel?" Paolo asked.
"I'm going to be singing an original song that I wrote my junior year of high school, Get It Right," Rachel said. "This song is what I think of as my personal theme song." She'd talked to Finn, and they'd agreed that would be a good song to sing for the audition. She handed her sheet music to the pianist and began to sing.
Rachel: What have I done
I wish I could run
Away from this ship going under
Just trying to help
Hurt everyone else
Now I feel the weight of the world
Is on my shoulders
What can you do when your good isn't good enough
And all that you touch, tumbles down
'Cause my best intentions
Keep making a mess of things
I just wanna fix it somehow
But how many times will it take
Oh, how many times will it take for me
To get it right
To get it right
Can I start again
With my faith shaken
'Cause I can't go back and undo this
I just have to stay
And face my mistakes
But if I get stronger and wiser
I'll get through this
What can you do when your good isn't good enough
And all that you touch, tumbles down
'Cause my best intentions
Keep making a mess of things
I just wanna fix it somehow
But how many times will it take?
Oh, how many times will it take for me?
To get it right
So I throw up my fist
Throw a punch in the air
And accept the truth
That sometimes life isn't fair
Yeah, I'll send out a wish
Yeah, I'll send up a prayer
And finally someone will see
How much I care
What can you do when your good isn't good enough
All that you touch, tumbles down
Oh, my best intentions
Keep making a mess of things
I just wanna fix it somehow
But how many times will it take?
Oh, how many times will it take?
To get it right
To get it right
"Thank you, Rachel," Rupert said. "We'll let you know soon."
Rachel thanked Rupert, Paolo and Marissa for their time and headed back to the apartment, where Kurt and Santana were waiting.
"How was your audition?" Kurt asked as Rachel came back in.
"It went okay, I think," Rachel said.
"That's good," Santana said.
Rachel nodded and went to the kitchen to get something to eat or drink.
"Rachel, are you all right?" Kurt asked. "You've been acting a little out of it lately."
Rachel sighed. She figured she might as well tell her two best friends. "When I saw Shelby last week, she told me something."
"What did she tell you?" Santana asked.
Rachel took a deep breath. "I have a sister."
"I thought you knew about Shelby and Beth," Santana said.
"Shelby has a third daughter," Rachel said. "She was born a few years after I was born. Shelby got pregnant after a one-night stand and gave her up for adoption."
"Wow," Kurt said. "So what's her name? Where is she?"
"That's the thing, Shelby doesn't know," Rachel said. "Shelby doesn't know her name or where she lives or anything like that. It was too hard for her with me, so she just gave the adoption agency her information to give the adoptive parents. She hasn't heard anything from the adoptive parents though."
"Did Shelby at least tell you where she was at the time?" Santana asked.
"She got pregnant in Ohio," Rachel said. "But that could mean anything. My sister's family could have moved." What probably was weighing on her mind the most was the unknown. "Should I even be calling her my sister? I mean, I don't even know anything about her, other than the fact that the same woman gave birth to us, but gave us both up."
"I'm sure it's natural to wonder," Santana said.
"I want to meet her," Rachel said. "Growing up, I always wanted a brother or sister."
"Yeah, Finn told me about that Only Child song of yours," Kurt said.
Finn. "Guys, please don't tell Finn about this," Rachel said.
"Rachel, Finn would want to know," Kurt said.
"Don't tell him until after Nationals," Rachel said. "He's been working so hard with those kids and I don't want anything to distract him."
"Okay, but you should tell him, eventually," Santana said.
"I'll think about it," Rachel said. Then, her phone started ringing. It was Finn. She smiled to herself and went to her room to answer it.
x
Finn was wondering how Rachel's audition had gone, but that wasn't the only reason he was calling. With Nationals coming up, he was so nervous. He wanted so badly for his New Directions career to end on a good note. Mr. Schue had put so much trust in him, especially when he trusted Finn to completely take the reins while he was in DC. He could tell that the students looked up to him, and this year had helped him realize that he wanted to be a teacher.
"Hey!" Rachel said as she picked up the phone.
"Hey," Finn said. "How was your audition?"
"It went okay, I think," Rachel said. "I sang Get It Right, like you suggested."
Finn was happy Rachel had liked his suggestion. "I bet you sounded great."
"I like to think so," Rachel said. "So, how are you?"
"Rach, I'm nervous about Nationals," Finn admitted.
"You shouldn't be nervous," Rachel said. "You were the real Nationals MVP last year. You led us to victory."
"Yeah, but I didn't have the pressure of making sure everyone was at their best on my shoulders," Finn said. "I just want to end my run here with another title." He'd seen the videos of Throat Explosion on YouTube, and Jean Baptiste, their lead singer, had a talent that sort of freaked him out.
"Finn, remember, you're not alone," Rachel said. "Mr. Schue's there too, and all the alumni are coming back to help."
"That's part of what I wanted to ask you about," Finn said. "I was thinking of maybe having each new member pair up with a graduate to be their mentor for Nationals, like we did for Sectionals."
"That's a great idea," Rachel said.
"I'm excited to go to LA," Finn said. "Maybe you and I could go on a date while we're there?"
"Of course!" Rachel said. "I'm sorry you're nervous, Finn. But remember, it's natural to be nervous, and if you're nervous, that means that you want to do well."
Rachel always knew the right thing to say. "Thanks, Rach," Finn said.
"So, who would you pair me with for mentoring?" Rachel asked.
"Well, we'll probably put the people who were around at Sectionals with the same mentors as at Sectionals," Finn said. "Unique loves Mercedes and Kurt, so I think we'll let her work with both of them. We'll probably put you with Kylie."
"It'll be nice to work with the New Directions again," Rachel said.
"Yeah, I can't wait to see you," Finn said. "I'm still picking you, Kurt and Santana up at the airport, right?"
"Of course," Rachel said. "I'm so excited to see you."
x
A few days later, Finn stood in the terminal at the Toledo airport, waiting for the plane from New York to arrive. It had only been a few weeks, but he couldn't wait to see Rachel. Soon enough, Rachel, Kurt and Santana came walking down the terminal. Finn ran up to them and kissed Rachel, then hugged Kurt and Santana.
"It's great to see you, Finn," Kurt said.
"You too," Finn said. "Mom and Dad are excited to see you, Kurt."
"Of course they are," Kurt said.
"Finn, can you drop me off at Brittany's first?" Santana asked. "I promised her I'd hang out with her."
"What about Dani?" Kurt asked, saying what Finn was thinking. Both Rachel and Kurt had said that Santana was interested in one of their co-workers at the diner.
"Brittany knows about her, and she understands," Santana said. "But Brittany's my best friend, and that will never change."
"What about you, Kurt?" Finn asked, hoping he and Rachel could have the house to themselves. "Should I drop you at Blaine's? Mom and Dad are at some congress thing."
"Yeah, I'd love to see Blaine," Kurt said.
"Okay, I'll drop you off there then," Finn said, giving Rachel a half smile. Rachel smiled back, as if she knew that meant that they would get some time to themselves. When they got to Lima, Finn dropped Santana off at Brittany's house and Kurt off at Blaine's before he and Rachel drove to the Hudson-Hummel house.
"You'll have to excuse things," Finn told Rachel as they headed up to his room. "I've been packing a lot for New York."
"I'm so excited to have you in New York," Rachel said.
"I'm excited to come to New York," Finn said.
Rachel looked nervous. "Finn..."
"What is it, Rach?" Finn asked.
"I really wish you were living in the loft with us in New York," Rachel said.
That was what Rachel looked so nervous about? Finn wanted so badly to bring that up. "Blaine really wants to live in the loft with Kurt, and Sam, Artie and Tina can't seem to get out of dorms at their schools, so I was hoping I could live in the loft. I didn't want to live by myself and besides, apartments in New York are expensive."
"Yeah, I was worried you wouldn't want to live with us," Rachel said.
"You really thought I wouldn't want to live with you?" Finn asked.
"Yeah," Rachel said. "I thought you might think it was awkward."
"I'd love to live with you, Rachel," Finn said, giving her a hug.
"Nothing would make me happier," Rachel said.
"So, when do you think you'll hear back about whether not you got to be the understudy?" Finn asked. He knew how disappointed she'd been about not getting the part, and he was hoping she'd get to be the understudy.
"Still no word," Rachel said.
"You'll get it," Finn said. "I know you will. In the mean time, want to make up for lost time?"
Rachel smiled. "I'd love to."
Finn took Rachel's hand as they went upstairs. When they were in the bedroom, he felt that special feeling that he'd missed so much.
x
"Did you have a good night with Blaine?" Rachel asked Kurt as they drove to McKinley to help prepare the New Directions for Nationals.
"Yeah!" Kurt said. "I slept in his bed with him."
"You did?" Rachel asked. "What did his parents think of that?"
"Oh, we told them I was sleeping in the guest room," Kurt said. "What about you and Finn?"
"We did it again last night," Rachel said. "It was amazing."
"How did it feel?" Kurt asked.
"It felt like we never stopped," Rachel said, remembering last night.
"That's what it felt like for me the first time Blaine and I did it again," Kurt said. The car pulled up to McKinley, and Kurt and Rachel began walking through the halls when they heard a voice. "It's the other divas!"
Kurt and Rachel turned and saw Mercedes and went up to her to hug her. "We need to have a three divas sleepover again soon!" Mercedes said.
"We do!" Kurt said.
Rachel got an idea. "We do, but we've never had a sleepover for all the glee girls. Maybe as a way to bond and get ready for Nationals, we can have all the glee girls, past and present, come to my dads' house for a sleepover."
"I bet that would be fun!" Mercedes said.
"I can come too, right?" Kurt asked.
"Of course!" Rachel said as she, Kurt and Mercedes went into the choir room. The other alumni had already arrived and were at the front of the room with Finn and Mr. Schue.
"Now all our special guests for this week are here!" Mr. Schue said. "For lots of you, it's your first Nationals, so we brought back some people who know what it takes to win Nationals. This week, each of the new members will be paired with one of the graduates from the National championship winning team so you can work with them on anything you want help with."
"Those of you who were here at Thanksgiving will work with the same mentors you worked with then," Finn said. "So Jake, you're working with Puck. Ryder, you're working with Mike. Marley, you're working with Santana. Kitty, you're working with Quinn. Unique, you're working with Mercedes, but since we all know what a big fan you are of Kurt as well, we thought you might like to work with him, too. And Kylie, you'll be with Rachel."
"All of us got reservations at the same hotel you guys are staying at in LA," Santana said. "So we'll be able to work with you at any time."
"And speaking of the hotel," Mr. Schue said. "I do have your room assignments. I got five rooms for you guys, so I split the boys into two rooms and the girls into three. Blaine, Sam and Artie will be in one room and Jake, Ryder and Joe will be in the other boys' room. The girls' room assignments will be Marley and Unique, Kitty and Sugar, and Tina and Kylie."
"Be glad you all don't have to squeeze into one room," Santana said.
"Our junior year, we only had enough money in the budget for two hotel rooms," Quinn said. "So the girls and Kurt were in one room, and the rest of the guys were in the other."
Rachel smiled at that memory. Senior year, there was enough money for everyone to only have one roommate, so she and Kurt had shared a room and Finn and Blaine had shared a room, but they sometimes would trade rooms at night.
"We've been working on our setlist," Mr. Schue said. "Right now, you guys can get with your mentor and talk about anything you want to talk about leading up to Nationals. Those of you who were on the Nationals winning team last year can run through your parts of the numbers."
Rachel went up to Kylie. "So, I'm your mentor."
"Yeah," Kylie said. "I had a feeling it would be you, since you recruited me to join the group."
"Are you enjoying it?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah, I am," Kylie said. "Everyone here is really nice and it's good to have friends. Plus I've always wanted to go to California."
"So, how are you feeling about Nationals?" Rachel asked.
"I'm nervous," Kylie said. "There's probably going to be thousands of people in the audience. When Blaine and I put the setlist together, I told him that I didn't want solo lines in any group numbers."
"Well, not having solo lines is a good idea if you're afraid of the crowd," Rachel said. "I remember my first singing competition. I wanted my dad to go sit on the stage with me."
"You got nervous?" Kylie asked. "Mr. Schue showed us the videos of all the old competitions. You had big solos in all of them."
"You don't have to do big solos to be an important part of the team," Rachel said. "Everyone here has something special that they bring to the team, and that's what I loved about being on the team."
x
Rachel had told the other glee girls (past and present) about her idea for having a sleepover to prepare for Nationals and spend some time together, and the girls had all loved that idea. After a week of getting ready, she thought the girls could use some time to unwind and have fun before leaving for LA. Rachel's dads were upstairs now, so Rachel was just waiting in the living room when the doorbell rang. She went to the door and opened it, seeing Tina there. "Tina!" Rachel said, giving her a hug.
"Rachel!" Tina said.
"We'll be having more of these in New York," Rachel said.
"Yeah, I wish they weren't making me live in the dorm," Tina said.
"Are you excited to do the duet at Nationals?" Rachel asked Tina.
"Yeah, I am," Tina said. "You did say I was going to be the female lead after you graduated."
"And you are," Rachel said. "I'm so glad you're coming to New York in the fall."
"So am I," Tina said. "So, how's the long distance going with you and Finn?"
"It's been good to be back together, but I'm definitely glad he'll be in New York in the fall," Rachel said. "I miss him."
"Rachel, I still love Mike," Tina said. "I would like to try long distance again."
"Well, Mike's a really nice guy and I could tell he really loved you," Rachel told Tina. "Why did you guys break up?"
"I thought it would be easier while he was at school, but it just made me miss him more," Tina admitted.
"You should try talking to him," Rachel said. "You guys were really happy together, I'm sure he'd be open to getting back together."
Before Tina had a chance to respond, the doorbell rang again. Rachel and Tina went to the door to see Quinn, Santana and Brittany. "It's the unholy trinity!"
"Yes!" Quinn said.
"It's weird being the only one of the original six glee girls still in glee," Tina said.
"After you and Artie graduate, there won't be any original members left in New Directions," Brittany said. "It's sad."
"It is!" Rachel agreed as she heard the doorbell ring and went to answer it. It was Kurt and Mercedes.
"All the original girls and Kurt!" Mercedes said.
"Yes!" Rachel said. "It's so nice to all be together."
"I've been meaning to ask you, how are you doing?" Quinn said. "You've seemed to be doing pretty well this week, but I'm sure it was disappointing for you."
"Yeah, it was, but hopefully I'll get the understudy," Rachel said.
"I'm glad you came with us, Rachel," Santana said. "You could use a break from everything, both the Funny Girl stress and the news from Shelby."
Rachel hadn't wanted to tell people about what she'd found out from Shelby, but now she felt like she had to. "What happened with Shelby?" Mercedes asked.
"I have a sister," Rachel said. "Shelby gave her up for adoption too, but the difference is Shelby doesn't know who adopted her, so I have little to no chance of meeting my only biological sibling." Ever since Shelby had told her, she'd been wondering.
"So there's no way of finding out who she is and where she is?" Tina asked.
"I want to know," Rachel said. Before Kurt or any of the girls had a chance to say anything, the doorbell rang. She didn't feel comfortable talking about this with the new girls because she didn't know them as well. "Guys, just don't say anything about this to Finn." She went to the door and saw Sugar, Unique, Kitty, Marley and Kylie. "Hey guys! Come on in!"
"Thanks for having us over, Rachel," Marley said.
"Oh, it's my pleasure," Rachel said. "I thought it would be a fun girls' night."
"Yeah, it will," Kitty said.
"So, are you girls excited for Nationals?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah!" Marley said. "We're going to win again."
"Yes you will," Brittany said. "I'm glad there seems to be less drama."
Mercedes turned to Unique. "How are things with Ryder? Does he seem to be mad at you still?"
"Well, I still like him," Unique admitted. "I don't know if he'd want to date me, but we are friends again. I apologized for what I did, and he's started talking with me again, so that's something."
"That's good," Kurt said. He turned to Kitty. "So, I heard you're dating one of the original New Directions members now."
"Yes!" Kitty said proudly. "Me and Artie!"
"He's really happy with her," Tina said. "It's the happiest I've seen him with any girl."
"That's great!" Mercedes said.
"Yeah," Kitty said. "I'm really going to miss him when he goes to New York, but we'll talk on the phone every day, and in two years I'd like to go to school there."
"And you're always welcome to come visit!" Rachel said.
"Quinn better come up from New Haven when I visit," Kitty said.
"I will," Quinn said.
Rachel's dads came downstairs. "Hi ladies!" LeRoy said.
"Hi Mr. and Mr. Berry," Brittany said.
"We wanted to let you girls know that there's lots of snacks in the kitchen," Hiram said. "And to wish those of you going to LA good luck at Nationals!"
"Thanks," Marley said.
"Make sure you eat the snacks this time," Unique said to Marley.
Marley smiled. "I will."
Rachel went up to her dads. "Thanks for letting me have the girls over."
"Oh, it's no problem, sweetie," Hiram said. "It's so nice to see you with all your girls again."
Chapter 10 preview: New Directions and the alumni go to LA for Nationals. While in LA, Finchel run into someone from their past, Kurt finds out that Blaine wanted to propose to him, and Santana tells Brittany about Dani.
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