Rachel woke up with the greatest idea ever for how to propose to Santana. It had literally came to her in a dream, which sounded completely silly but it was true. In the dream she and Santana were sitting together looking through old scrap books that they had put together and at the end of one, Rachel could see a mock wedding invitation asking Santana to marry her. It was the perfect idea and it fit Rachel's style to a T. Just ask her dad, he has all of her scrap books at his cabin. There were so many pictures that she and Santana had taken over the course of their relationship, pictures that they had yet to do anything with other than put a few in frames.

With the perfect idea in mind, Rachel settled back down into the bed next to Santana. Glancing at the clock she noted that it was only two in the morning. Santana hadn't stirred, even though she had practically popped out of the bed like a pop tart from a toaster. Rachel still had a few hours to sleep before she had to go into the studio. Hopefully things would go smoothly today, start with the tension of Jasper and his intentions, add in some Monday blues and this could be an extraordinary recipe for disaster.

Rachel was a little disappointed, she had been at the studio for roughly two hours now and Jasper was nowhere to be seen. He had apparently taken some time off to deal with what he told Puck was a "family emergency." No doubt he was in California trying to figure out how to get Charles out of jail or figure out what he was supposed to be doing. Even with him not being there, there was still an odd tension around the studio. Rachel hadn't had a chance to talk to Quinn yet because for some reason it felt like the blonde woman was avoiding her. Everything had seemed fine when Rachel had spoken to her on the phone but now that they were face to face, Quinn was literally darting around corners keeping her distance. Rachel frowned, she couldn't figure out what was going on, but it sucked to feel like you had done something but and you have no idea what it is.

Maybe she could corner Quinn and figure out what was going on at lunch. She could always call Santana and ask if Quinn had said anything to her, but why should she have to play telephone? If something was wrong Quinn should be able to come and talk to her about it. The whole day was becoming frustrating, at least in the studio with Joe and Sam, Rachel could release her frustrations into her music.

Speaking of music, Rachel was absolutely in love with the song that Joe had written. It was a slower pop song, almost a ballad but not really. Puck had already gathered some people to start putting together ideas for the video, which made Rachel even more excited about getting back into her music. It was hard work but it was fun and at the end of the day, Rachel wouldn't trade her career for the world.

Quinn walked into the cafeteria looking for Rachel, the woman had said she wanted to speak to her about something. Quinn was nervous, she was aware that Rachel knew she had been avoiding her all day but how in the world do you drop a bomb this size on someone. The bomb or well bombs were named Shelby Corcoran and Cassandra July, the new hush hush teachers that would be co-teaching at St. Lawrence Private in the fall.

Quinn didn't know all of the details, but she knew enough that this was something that Rachel would have trouble dealing with. Especially after the last fiasco that had happened when Shelby bulldozed into Rachel's life only to basically wave hi and then turn around and leave again.

Rachel and Santana was having lunch at McKinley Diner, finally enjoying some much needed peace and quiet.

"The interview that came out today was the last one wasn't it?" Santana asked as she dipped a fry in ketchup.

Rachel, who was eating shrimp tacos, nodded her head as she wiped her mouth ridding it of any food particles. "Yeah for now. There might be some follow up articles in a few months or something but none right now. Tina said she would let me know since she approves everything."

As Santana listened to Rachel speak she could feel someone's eyes on her. Slowly turning her head to the right, Santana noticed a woman who actually looked like Rachel staring at them. The woman quickly turned her head away, well damn don't break your neck woman we already know you were staring. It wasn't a new thing to be stared at, it had started happening way more now that the Porter's were finally behind bars. Everyone loved people with stories and Rachel sure had a big one to tell.

Rachel noticed that Santana was glaring at someone across the diner. She followed her line of direction and gasped. Why was Shelby here? Yes, Rachel knew who her mother was, she just never chose to talk about the woman. The woman who had came into her life before and left when reality set in that Rachel wasn't a baby anymore. There was so much anger and resentment there that it used to eat Rachel up inside until one day she just stopped giving a damn, or so she thought. It still hurt, more often than not but Rachel had came to the conclusion that she had done nothing wrong and that Shelby was the one who had made the decision to stay away. If she couldn't deal with having a now grown daughter then Rachel could deal with not having a mother.

"Are you done eating?" Rachel asked, she had suddenly lost her appetite. She had to get out of here before Shelby could work up her own nerve and come over.

"Uh..no?" Santana looked at Rachel and then back down to her burger and fries. They had just sat down a few minutes ago and she was typically a slow eater. Only a third of her burger was gone! "Rachel, what's happening? Why are you gathering your things?" Santana was scrambling to try and get out of the booth before Rachel could take off out the doors.

"I need to get out of here." Rachel was breathing heavy as she looked across the diner at Shelby who had a pained expression on her face.

"Okay, well if you just give me a minute, I will get take out boxes and pay so we can go, okay?" Santana didn't mean to sound condescending but she had no idea what was going on. Rachel nodded her head once and glanced back over to Shelby, hoping with all her might that Shelby wouldn't follow her. "Here take the keys and I will be out in a second." Santana turned and went back to their table to get her keys and hand them off to Rachel. She waited a moment before she spun on her heel and walked straight over to Shelby who was in the process of standing up to leave.

Shelby took a moment to study the young woman who was stalking towards her. It was obvious she knew something and with the fiery look in her eyes, Shelby knew she was about to hear all about it. "Hello." Shelby tried to greet politely along with sticking out her hand and flipping her long hair over her shoulder.

"I didn't come over here to say hello." Santana sneered at Shelby's outstretched hand. "I want to know why my girlfriend just fled the diner when she saw you." She had caught all the glances that Rachel had been giving this woman. This woman who, now that Santana was face to face with her, looked so much like Rachel that she could be her...oh...oh wow.

"Because she hates me." Shelby murmured to herself.

"Because she what?" Santana took a defensive pose, crossing her arms over her chest. "No, you know what. I don't care. Keep your reasons to yourself and stay away. That woman out there has been through a hell of a lot of stuff that no one should have to deal with and she doesn't need some random staring at her." Santana had began gesturing wildly with her hands as she ranted.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry it won't happen again." Shelby put her hands up in surrender. Santana glared at Shelby hard before she gave her a dismissive nod and began to walk away. The woman was lucky that Rachel was waiting on her or she would have gotten more than just a verbal beat down. "Just...will you tell Rachel...that I am really sorry and that I couldn't stay away this time." Shelby didn't give Santana any time to respond as she walked quickly towards the exit.

Santana thought it would take longer for Rachel to open up about who Shelby was and why it had made her so upset to see her. But after Santana had gathered their food, she walked to the Jeep and climbed in letting the silence surround her before she attempted to open the can of worms.

"Rachel..."

"Can we go home please? I just really want to go home right now." Rachel said exasperatedly.

"We can go home...but are you going to tell me who that woman was? She told me to tell you that she was really sorry and that she couldn't stay away this time." Santana turned in her seat to face Rachel who just continued to look out of her window.

Santana saw Rachel crying before she heard her, her shoulders began shaking and a moment later the heart breaking sobs followed. Not really knowing what to do, Santana did the only thing she knew how, she reached across the console as best she could and gathered Rachel into her arms. Rachel only began to cry harder as she tried to explain that that was her mother and she must have came to find Rachel after seeing the news.

When Rachel was cried out, Santana had drove them home where the subject of Shelby hadn't been mentioned again until a few days later. Santana thought that Rachel had went out to meet Leroy for lunch and in a way she did, but Shelby was there too. Shelby knew she couldn't get to Rachel with Santana around so she went through Leroy. He wasn't much of a happy camper to see her either but as someone who now understood the pain of losing Rachel once, he couldn't be the one to deny Shelby a second chance.

This became one of the very reasons that Santana felt like Rachel was too trusting of people. Shelby had stuck around for a while and just when Rachel thought they could have a relationship, Shelby had to leave for work. The phone calls and visits became less frequent until they were non-existent. Distance and life had became a ground that they just couldn't find a middle on, being within close range was apparently the only way a relationship could work between Rachel and Shelby.

Now Quinn stood in the cafeteria ringing her hands together looking down at Rachel who was eating her lunch. Maybe blurting it out was the best place to start with something like this, or maybe deflection would work. Except, it wasn't fair to do this, in time Rachel would find out about Shelby and Cassie since she would definitely be going to see Beth perform.

Take a deep breath and just say it. Quinn mentally psyched herself up. "Shelby's back, her and Cassie are the new music and dance teachers at Beth's school."

Quinn grimaced as Rachel got strangled on her drink. Maybe blurting it out wasn't the best option to take.