Once Klaus and Stefan left town, life went back to normal.
Elena was still mad that they didn't try to go after Stefan and Elijah to get them back and since she couldn't do anything on her own and that Bonnie and Sheila decided to stay out of it, she sulked and showed her anger by dropping out of the Glee Club.
"I know she left right before Nationals but it's not like we absolutely need her…We're more than 12 members and she didn't have any important part of the songs…" Caroline said as they were finishing rehearsing again their numbers for Nationals.
"I know… I think once more she's holding me responsible somehow and she thinks that Glee club is the best way to get to me." Rachel replied.
"I know for a fact that she holds you responsible. She thinks that if you had asked Damon, Sage and Finn, they would have gone after Klaus for you. She's mad that you didn't side with her." Bonnie explained.
"Well, Elijah broke his word so he deserved what he got. As for Uncle Stefan, he went willingly with Klaus, not only to protect her but also because he wanted to dig deeper in the history he had with Klaus. He called us last night so it's not like he is held hostage or anything." Rachel replied before Alaric asked them to do the last number one more time and to make sure their clothes for the big show were ready.
.
Everything was ready for the Mystic Fall's Glee club to go in New York. They had plane tickets, hotel room reservations and even a few parents to escort them. Indeed, Damon and Jenna were going with Alaric in the capacity of Chaperon and to film the show. It would then be presented to the people who wanted to see it later in the town's hall. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that they were good enough to at least place in the top 3.
They travelled happily and when they arrived at their hotel, everyone was ready. They got into their rooms and called for a meeting.
"I'm not going to ask you to rehearse. You're more than ready and it would only make you nervous. I want you to enjoy your time here and rest. I also want you to behave yourselves and make us proud." Alaric told them.
"The New Directions are staying in this hotel too. I'd like to spend some time with Noah." Rachel announced.
"That's okay, as long as their Glee advisor doesn't forbid it. They might have their own plans." Alaric nodded before he went to the bar with Jenna and Damon, trusting the students to behave themselves.
Rachel called Noah and they agreed to meet in one of their rooms. Rachel was still with her entire Glee club in the Girl's room when Puck arrived with almost all the New Directions, with a few exeptions.
"Don't you have to rehearse at all?" He said as he stood in the door.
"Nope, we're ready for anything anyone can try to throw at us!" Rachel replied before she went to hug him.
"You seem pretty confident here Berry." Santana said as she followed Puck and Brittany inside.
"It's nice to see you too Santana." Rachel greeted before she introduced everyone.
Of course most of Rachel's friend had already met Puck but they were happy to meet her other Lima friends. Rachel couldn't help but notice how Tyler seemed to be unable to take his eyes from Santana. She was sure they would have hooked up had they been in the same school.
Soon, it turned into a small party and everyone was having fun until Finn came in the room:
"What are you all doing here? Mister Schue asked us to get ready." Finn said.
"We are ready Finnessa." Santana replied, rolling her eyes.
"No we're not. The Vocal Adrenaline are still rehearsing you know! We need to win this! Come on now or I'll tell Mister Schuster." Finn replied.
"Well, I see some things have changed a bit…" Rachel said.
"Rachel…" Finn seemed to only now see her and he couldn't take his eyes off of her.
"Finn what are you… Oh, I see… You found Man-hand and her little group of wannabe." Quinn said as she entered the room.
"Let it go Quinn." Puck said, rolling his eyes as Tyler and Caroline seemed to be getting ready for a fight.
"Finn is mine RuPaul, get it through your head." Quinn snarled at Rachel.
"Yeah, like I would want Finn… Be serious would you. I was just here catching up with a few friends when Finn came and crashed it. I don't want him. He's all yours. And stop with the nicknames would you. When you're the president of the chastity club that got knocked up by your boyfriend's best friend, you don't have lessons to give to anyone." Rachel replied.
"How dare you…Oh, I see, you're still mad that the mother that didn't want you adopted my perfect baby." Quinn looked about ready for a fight but Mercedes and Tina helped Brittany and Santana holding her back.
"The only reason Beth is perfect is because she's Noah's daughter. She must be thanking God that she doesn't have too much you in her. Well, if she has your temper it would give Shelby a lesson..." Rachel replied as Santana and Brittany tried to drag Queen out of the room.
"We'll crush you!" Quinn yelled before she got taken back to her room.
"I hope we beat them, just to see the look on that fake blonde's face." Caroline said happily before they all went back to relaxing and decided to take a walk in New York.
.
The next day, everyone was ready to compete.
When it was their time, Rachel started with her solo of New York State of Mind. It was a great success and everyone loved it. After that, Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline and Matt went on stage to sing A thousand years. It was a very moving song and once again, it was a real success. They ended everything with a composition of theirs Light up the world. They were great and had a very long standing ovation in the end.
In the audience, Rachel could see Sage and Finn sitting next to her father and was happy that they found time to come and see her. She had been afraid that Finn being back would take Sage's attention away from her but she was wrong. They both came to see her and they both seemed very happy to be there.
When Rachel and her friends were done singing, they went in the audience to watch the Vocal Adrenaline and the New directions singing. Finn and Quinn had a romantic duet and it would have been good if Finn didn't spend the entire song looking at Rachel in the audience instead of Quinn. It was very uncomfortable and Rachel realised that a member of the Jury noticed it. Also Queen looked more angry than in love when she sung.
.
Once Rachel and her Glee Club were done singing, Finn looked around, feeling something weird and his eyes found his brother's.
"What is Klaus doing here?" Sage asked him in a hushed voice.
"Maybe he just came with Stefan to see Rachel…I know he promised to come. I'll go and talk to him." Finn replied.
"I'll stay here." Sage said, kissing him quickly as Finn walked to his brother, standing in the back of the room.
"Niklaus, what are you doing here?" Finn asked him.
"Finn, nice to see you. I came with Stefan. He wanted to see his niece and I rather enjoy the girl myself… she's so full of light… I was curious… She has a great singing voice too… A big presence on stage." Klaus replied.
"Yes, she's a great girl…and important to Sage." Finn said in a warning tone.
"Don't worry Finnik, hurting Rachel Salvatore is very far from my mind right now…" Klaus replied.
"Are you going to show yourself to her?" Finn asked.
"I don't know… I don't think I'm ready for this… She wakes something in me and I'm not ready to face this yet, whatever it is." He said honestly.
"Very well… I need to get back to Sage… Here, it's my phone number… if you want to stay in touch…brother." Finn said, handing a folded piece of paper to his brother.
"I'll send you a text message later so you have my number." Klaus replied before they shook hands and parted ways.
.
Finn got back to his seat and they watched as the other groups perform. Eventually, it was over and the judges retired to their room to deliberate. Everyone was nervous when they came back to put the list of winners up. The top three was supposed to go on stage to find out who had won and what position they had.
"We're in the top three!" Caroline said excitedly.
"So are Vocal Adrenaline and New Directions…" Jeremy sulked.
"No big surprise here…they were the best teams beside us. Let's go and find out how we places shall we?" Rachel asked with her great smile, making everyone else smile with her as they went to the stage and stood around Alaric, like they were supposed to.
The judges arrived on stage and quickly announced the results.
"First of all, every year we give out a trophy to the person who, in our mind, sang the best and has the most promising talent. This year, this award goes to… miss Rachel Salvatore!"
Rachel was ecstatic and super happy to get this price. She thanked them and smiled brightly at everyone. She could see Quinn being mad and in the audience, her father and Sage being proud of her. She even caught a glimpse of her Uncle Stefan clapping and smiling at her. She was very happy that he found the time to come and see her. She looked some more, in hope to see Klaus but all she could see was a shadow, close to Stefan, clapping too. She knew, deep in her, that it was him and she didn't know why it made her so happy to know that he had come to see her. She went back in her place with her group and listened as they announced the rest of the results.
"The second place is…the Vocal Adrenaline!" A member of the jury announced as he gave the second place glee club their trophy.
Once they had left the stage, it was only the New Directions and the Mystic Fall's glee club.
"And finally the winner for the first place is…the very talented Glee club from Mystic Fall's in Virginia. Congratulations! New Directions, from Lima, Ohio, you're third!"
Cheers erupted all around Rachel and all she could see was happy faces, all she could hear were cheers. She turned toward her old friends from Lima and went to congratulate them while they congratulated her. Even if Quinn was still glaring at her, Rachel knew that this day would say in her mind forever as one of the happiest in her life.
She finally found her father's welcoming arms and her aunt Sage.
"I'm so sorry that we can't stay any longer Rachel, but we have to go…" Sage told her as they stood alone for a bit.
"I know, don't worry. I understand that after all this time apart you can finally be together. You want to enjoy it and you should. I'm happy you found time to come and see me." Rachel replied.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world. Even Finn wanted to come. We're family Baby, always and forever." Sage replied before they managed to say good bye once more.
As she said good bye to Finn, Rachel knew she wouldn't see them again for a while but she also knew that they would keep in touch with her.
.
She was happy and still on the high from her happiness when they got back home. In front of the Boarding house' front door, she found a gigantic bouquet of splendid flowers.
"There's a card." Damon told her, handing it to her as he carried it inside.
"Rachel,
You were amazing in New York. You deserved to win, you were the most talented of them all.
I'm glad Stefan told me about it and wanted to come.
You're an amazing person, don't ever let anyone make you think otherwise.
Yours truly,
Klaus"
"That's… I don't know if it's nice of him or weird." Damon said, wondering if he needed to be worried about his daughter running off into the sunset with the old hybrid.
"I think it's very considerate of him." Rachel decided before she asked her father to carry the flowers into her room.
So, what did you think of this one?
REVIEW please!
Next 2 chapters: Damon's birthday and a lot of songs!
Please take the time to read my Alaric Grimm story. It's a crossover between The Vampire diaries and Grimm. Alaric and Nick find out they are long lost brothers. Action both in Portland (Grimm) and in Mystic Fall's (Vampire Diaries). I want to know if you like it and where you'd like it to go.
Lorelei Candice Black