Senior year hadn't been ideal for anybody. Rachel was, as always, optimistic on the first day but it all pretty much crumbled very quickly. First, she'd been informed that Juliard, the college she and Kurt had been banking their future on, had no theater arts program (which...really? That makes no sense). But that was alright, because there was NYADA. Which...oh God, she was never gonna get into that without the proper credits. And then there was the Class President debacle and getting banned from Sectionals and of course, having to see the mother that walked away from her every day didn't make anything any easier. Then there was, of course, the nerve-wracking heartache brought on by her late NYADA admission's letter.
But through it all, there'd been Finn. Losing Nationals because of their kiss should have been a sign, really, that she was hanging on to something that wasn't meant to be. But she loved Finn and love is supposed to conquer all. Love is supposed to be enough. So even against her better judgement, she'd agreed to marry him. She'd come so close, too. Until, "...and while I'm in basic training...".
Wait, what?
Finn had not only talked to a recruiter, but had decided to join the Army (he was almost done with his application process, he'd said) without saying anything to Rachel. His vegan, pacifist fiancee. Well. Rachel Berry is no one's war bride, or widow and New York Penthouses don't have widow's peaks. So that had been it. The wedding dress was returned, the ring is God knows where (because Finn wouldn't take it so Rachel flushed it. It was too big anyway). And for once, she'd done something for herself and moved on.
Which, to be honest, she's very happy about. Her apartment is perfect, tiny and nicely decorated (not entirely in stars, thank you very much), she's maintaining a 3.9 GPA while auditioning and hanging out with Kurt and Santana (yes, Santana Lopez) and now Blaine in her spare time. Currently, though, she's lounging on her couch, hair pulled back lazily, wearing a UCLA sweatshirt (stolen from her Daddy) and a pair of loose jeans (yeah, she's wearing jeans now) when she hears a knock on the door.
Which, ya know, not weird. She's friends with the older couple downstairs (she sang at their 50th anniversary dinner and now they bring her leftovers whenever they have them because she's kind of leaving the Vegan thing behind) and the young lady next door has two lovely little boys that she babysits when she needs the extra cash. So, closing her textbook, she pads barefoot across the hardwood and swings her door open to-
"Noah." Now, don't get her wrong. Puck's a good friend. He's one of the few people she kept up with that were still in Lima when she left. They talk pretty often, since Hannah calls when she needs "girl talk" still and Rachel feels weird talking to Hannah and not Puck. But...he was also living in Lima the last she checked. When she sees the duffel bag, though, she immediately moves to let him in. "How long?" It's not even a question of if he needs a place to stay or not. It's not a question of if she'll let him. It's only a question of how much more food she'll need to pick up and if she'll need to call her landlord.
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But through it all, there'd been Finn. Losing Nationals because of their kiss should have been a sign, really, that she was hanging on to something that wasn't meant to be. But she loved Finn and love is supposed to conquer all. Love is supposed to be enough. So even against her better judgement, she'd agreed to marry him. She'd come so close, too. Until, "...and while I'm in basic training...".
Wait, what?
Finn had not only talked to a recruiter, but had decided to join the Army (he was almost done with his application process, he'd said) without saying anything to Rachel. His vegan, pacifist fiancee. Well. Rachel Berry is no one's war bride, or widow and New York Penthouses don't have widow's peaks. So that had been it. The wedding dress was returned, the ring is God knows where (because Finn wouldn't take it so Rachel flushed it. It was too big anyway). And for once, she'd done something for herself and moved on.
Which, to be honest, she's very happy about. Her apartment is perfect, tiny and nicely decorated (not entirely in stars, thank you very much), she's maintaining a 3.9 GPA while auditioning and hanging out with Kurt and Santana (yes, Santana Lopez) and now Blaine in her spare time. Currently, though, she's lounging on her couch, hair pulled back lazily, wearing a UCLA sweatshirt (stolen from her Daddy) and a pair of loose jeans (yeah, she's wearing jeans now) when she hears a knock on the door.
Which, ya know, not weird. She's friends with the older couple downstairs (she sang at their 50th anniversary dinner and now they bring her leftovers whenever they have them because she's kind of leaving the Vegan thing behind) and the young lady next door has two lovely little boys that she babysits when she needs the extra cash. So, closing her textbook, she pads barefoot across the hardwood and swings her door open to-
"Noah." Now, don't get her wrong. Puck's a good friend. He's one of the few people she kept up with that were still in Lima when she left. They talk pretty often, since Hannah calls when she needs "girl talk" still and Rachel feels weird talking to Hannah and not Puck. But...he was also living in Lima the last she checked. When she sees the duffel bag, though, she immediately moves to let him in. "How long?" It's not even a question of if he needs a place to stay or not. It's not a question of if she'll let him. It's only a question of how much more food she'll need to pick up and if she'll need to call her landlord.