Hi everyone! I'd like to start off by saying that it was never my intention to go this long without updating. Writing for Glee has been really difficult lately, especially given everything that has gone on the last couple of years. It's just so sad, and it isn't always easy to find inspiration to write about this stuff. I also started graduate school in the middle of the pandemic. So in between classes, clinicals, and work, I pretty much only have time to sleep and very little time to write. But I'm trying!

I can't promise that another update will come any time soon, but I have been trying to write ahead before my new semester starts. It is my hope that I will (eventually) finish this story. It's not going to follow all of the storylines in One Tree Hill, so that might cut down on some of the work I have left to do in this story!

As always, thank you for reading, and thank you for all of your kind words from the last chapter. It floors me when I still get reviews for this story, and I truly appreciate it!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. The chapter title comes from the song "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea" by The Cure.


"Rise and shine!"

Rachel groaned and rolled over, pulling a pillow over her head as she heard Quinn's annoyingly chirpy voice. "No, it is entirely too early. Go away."

Quinn plopped herself down on top of Rachel's legs and yanked the pillow off of Rachel's head. "Excuse me Miss Diva, we have our first day of senior year starting today. I was expecting a little more excitement from you. Weren't you up early every morning for rehearsal when you were in the city?"

Rachel heaved a huge, annoyed sigh. It was true that they had held rehearsals early in the morning for Funny Girl, in order to accommodate the summer classes that some of the college students working in the show had. But rehearsals had taken a month, and then the show had a limited run in July. Rachel had decided to stay in the city through the first half of August, returning when she had to get ready for school.

Rolling over, Rachel narrowed her eyes at Quinn. "You know, I liked it much better when you were at cheer camp. It was so much quieter."

"Please," Quinn said with a snort. "I tried to get you to join the squad, and then you could have been at cheer camp with me, and you would have been used to my sunny disposition!"

Quinn's parents, who both worked in finance in high positions, had moved out to California for a new opportunity for their company. This wasn't new for Quinn—she had grown up being mostly raised by nannies and housekeepers, by the time she was sixteen, she had grown tired of it. Quinn had turned eighteen over the summer and, once her parents had announced their move, she had convinced them to sell their large house and pay for her living expenses at an apartment near the main part of town in Lima. When Rachel had come back, Quinn had quickly offered up the second bedroom in her apartment, knowing that Finn and Rachel's relationship was still strained. Puck had gathered all of Rachel's things up from the Hudson guest house, even though he had grumbled the entire time about how both Finn and Rachel should suck it up and talk to one another. Finn and Rachel had both acted like they hadn't heard him.

But Rachel was trying her best not to think about anything Finn-related. So instead, Rachel ignored Quinn's comment about joining the cheerleading squad and sat up, kicking her legs until Quinn got the hint and stood up.

"I'm up, I'm up. But we're stopping at Anne's for breakfast and coffee."

"Deal," Quinn agreed. "Also, I picked one of your outfits for you! Don't wear one of your plaid skirts."

She was out of the room before Rachel could throw one of her pillows at her. That didn't stop Rachel from yelling, "Hey! My plaid skirts aren't that bad!"


"Come on man, let's go! You've gotta get up!"

Puck groaned and picked up a pillow, launching it at his brother's head without looking. Satisfied when he heard Finn let out an "oof," he tugged his blankets up higher. "Get the fuck out of my room, you asshole."

Finn threw the pillow back and smirked when it landed on Puck's head. "It's our senior year, Puck! Let's get moving!"

Sitting up, Puck scrubbed his hands over his face and shot a dirty look at Finn. "Um, exactly, it's our senior year. Which means I was planning on sleeping in until the last possible minute and walking into homeroom as the bell rings."

"Seriously, can you get up?" Finn asked, ignoring Puck's grumbling. "Your mom made us breakfast and it looks seriously awesome."

"Yeah, and you want to get to school early to see if you can try to get a minute alone with Rachel."

Finn let out a slow breath and visibly deflated, sinking into Puck's desk chair. "Dude, you suck."

Puck huffed, rolled his eyes, and then decided to take pity on his younger brother. "Come on, let's go get breakfast. We'll talk about our plan of attack for school after."

Finn managed a weak smile and agreed to meet Puck downstairs. And even though they had agreed to talk about what would happen at school once they had breakfast, Anne had already cornered Finn and was asking him about how he was going to romance Rachel once again. Poor Finn looked backed into a corner, and was desperately shoveling forkfuls of chocolate chip pancakes into his mouth, in order to avoid having to respond to anything Anne was saying.

"Jesus Christ, Mom," Puck muttered as he joined Finn at the table. "Can't you cut the guy a break? He hasn't spoken to his wife since the fourth of July."

"That's not true," Finn immediately reminded him.

Puck rolled his eyes and doused his pancakes in a liberal amount of syrup, ignoring Anne's comment about the amount of sugar he was planning on consuming. "Ah, yes. The letters. How could I forget about the letters?"

Finn stuck his tongue out at his brother. The letters had given him some hope, which he had desperately hung on to throughout the remainder of First Down and then his return to Lima. He had them all saved and re-read them frequently.

The letters hardly contained anything personal, but they were all from Rachel, and they had amounted to one a week. She talked about the friends she had made in New York City, the way the shows had gone as Funny Girl had progressed, and the weeks she had spent vacationing in the city. She made no mention of the kiss they had shared after opening night, or the second one Finn had laid on her before he had left Shelby's fourth of July party. He knew that he shouldn't have kissed her again—but they had both drunk a bit too much, and Finn knew that he wouldn't see her again for the rest of the summer. He had to take his chance while he still could.

And it seemed to have worked, at least a little bit. Rachel had sent the letters, and Finn had called her in return. He wasn't near as good a writer as Rachel, but he had wanted to show that he appreciated her reaching out, and wanted to respond in some way. Rachel never answered his phone calls, but he left voicemails. He knew that she listened to them, because she would sometimes reference what he talked about.

Writing letters and leaving voicemails was very different from seeing each other face-to-face every day, however. There were classes they would likely share, not to mention free periods and lunch hours. And since Rachel was now such close friends with Quinn and Santana, and Puck was on the football team, Finn was willing to bet that she would find herself at more school-sanctioned functions. They still had a lot to figure out, and many things to talk through, but Finn was holding out hope. He needed to.

"I'm sorry, Finn," Anne said sympathetically. "I shouldn't have pushed. I just want to see the two of you be happy. Rachel is like a daughter to me." She smiled and patted Finn's shoulder. "And I've grown pretty fond of you, as well."

Finn mustered a charming grin for Anne. "I'm pretty fond of you, too."

Puck made a gagging noise and flicked a blueberry at Finn. Finn quickly retaliated by balling up his napkin and throwing it Puck. Anne managed to stop the boys from starting an all-out food fight, but they were laughing the entire time. It was the lightest Finn had felt in weeks.


"It's about time you bitches got here." Santana tossed her backpack onto the table in the courtyard and sat down. "And you brought coffee, thank god."

"It's nice to see you too, Santana," Quinn said with an amused smile.

"You're entirely too perky," Santana accused.

"That's what I said this morning!" Rachel exclaimed. She drank deeply from her latte, needing the caffeine boost. She hadn't seen Finn or Puck yet, but it was only a matter of time. She was certain that she was going to be in the same homeroom class as Finn—they did share a last name now, after all.

But that was another ten minutes away, and Rachel was going to enjoy the time she had with her friends. At least Quinn was likely to be in her homeroom as well, so they might be able to sit together, and Rachel could avoid any interaction with Finn.

"Speaking of, I'm still mad as hell that the two of you get to live together. We're totally having a first day of school sleepover. I'm sure we're going to have a lot to go over." Santana sent a sly look Rachel's way, causing her to huff in annoyance.

And Rachel knew the perfect way to retaliate. "I'm sure we have things to go over with you, too. Tell me, have you been talking to Brittany a lot lately?"

To everyone's surprise, Santana's cheeks flushed slightly, and she cursed. Rachel and Quinn had just grinned at one another. At Shelby's fourth of July party, Brittany Pierce was Sam's friend, that he had brought along as his plus-one. She was a dancer and a film student at NYU, and was filming parts of Funny Girl as a project for school. They had hit it off immediately, and had disappeared a few hours into the party. The following morning, Santana had returned to the apartment and had explained to Quinn and Rachel that she had hooked up with Brittany.

While they had been surprised at the development, Quinn and Rachel were very supportive of Santana and encouraged her to navigate through her new found feelings. Santana had visited Rachel in August and had taken the opportunity to meet up with Brittany once again. They had exchanged numbers and apparently texted and Face Timed often.

Brittany was a little quirky, but Rachel had thought she was nice enough. Santana certainly seemed a little lighter, and had already admitted that she was glad she wasn't really a part of the Quinn and Puck unrequited love situation any longer.

"We still talk," Santana admitted. "But it's hard. She's a sophomore at NYU, and I'm still in Lima for another year." She shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows what's going to happen. Plus, Brittany doesn't really seem to be the relationship kind of person."

"Neither were you, really, until you dated Noah," Rachel pointed out. "People can change."

Santana made a noise in the back of her throat but didn't say anything else. Quinn grinned at Rachel, and she knew that they were both thinking the same thing: Santana may have finally met her match in Brittany, and it would be interesting to see how it all played out.

"Oh, you have pastries from the café? Thank god." Puck joined them at the table in the courtyard, with five minutes to spare before homeroom. How typical.

Rachel slapped Puck's hand away from a chocolate croissant. "Keep your hands away from my breakfast. You're lucky I'm still talking to you, Noah."

"Oh, are you still made about opening night? Get the fuck over it, Rachel."

Rachel snatched the chocolate croissant up and took a big bite of it, staring Puck in the eye to make a point. Quinn poked Puck in the shoulder and hissed at him to be nice, and Puck grumbled an apology under his breath. Rachel made a noise in the back of her throat to acknowledge it and drank some more coffee, just for something to do.

It hadn't taken Rachel long to figure out that it had been Puck who had gotten Finn a ticket and encouraged him to go to the opening night of Funny Girl. While, if pressed, Rachel would eventually admit that she was glad Finn had been there, she still wanted to hide behind the shield of her anger, and Puck was unfortunately an easy target. He understood, thankfully, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to push back.

"Can we just have a nice start to our senior year?" Rachel pleaded. "I'd just like one thing to be simple this year, please."

"Excuse me, I wasn't the one who was being dramatic for half the summer about some theater tickets," Puck snit. Quinn poked him in the shoulder again, hard. "Ow! Damn it, Quinn! Fine, god." He slung an arm around Rachel's shoulder and pulled her close, ruffling her hair with one hand. "Of course we can have a good start to senior year. It's going to be great."

"Yeah." Rachel spotted Finn across the courtyard, and looked away the second he turned in their direction. "Great would be nice."


Following Quinn into their homeroom class, Rachel groaned when she saw that the teacher had assigned them seats. Assigned seats in homeroom were the worst, generally because it meant that she would be seated next to someone she wasn't really friends with.

Scanning the seating assignments, Rachel saw that they were also seated alphabetically—which meant that she would be seated next to Finn. Quinn gave her a sympathetic look and squeezed her arm before moving over to her assigned seat. Finn was already there, and she said hi to him as she passed. Finn returned the greeting, but he kept his eyes on Rachel the entire time.

Rachel cursed under her breath, which was something she normally wouldn't dare do in a school setting. She immediately regretted it when the teacher heard her.

"Do we have a problem, Ms. Berry?" the homeroom teacher asked. While everyone knew that Rachel and Finn had married last year, and Rachel's last name had been changed to Berry-Hudson, most teachers still called her Ms. Berry if they addressed her by last name. Likely, the shortened surname was easier to say.

Clearing her throat, Rachel gave the teacher a sunny smile. "Of course not, Mr. Walton."

Mr. Walton nodded his head and gestured for Rachel to find her seat. Rachel moved slowly across the room, taking her sweet time in getting to the desk situated next to Finn's. Quinn cleared her throat loudly, clearly trying to hurry Rachel along. Rachel shot her a dirty look in return, and finally reached her desk.

She had barely sat down when Finn leaned over and murmured, "Already getting in trouble on the first day? That's not like you, Rach."

Rachel turned her narrowed eyes on Finn and tried to think of a snippy retort. Unable to come up with anything quickly—her heart was thumping too fast to think straight—she settled for making an annoyed noise in the back of her throat. Finn gave her a satisfied smirk and leaned back in his chair, clearly pleased with himself.

Rachel sighed and dragged her hand through her hair. Oh yeah, this year was definitely going to be quite different from the last.


Thanks for reading!