Six Years Later

She had been sitting at the long, black leather couch in the lobby for about forty-five minutes now. Rachel grasped the demo CD in her hands so tightly it might break into two. Drizzle Berries Inc. was considered as the most promising record label for the past two years. It was where anyone who had a passion for music was welcomed; it was where Rachel saw a bright future for her career. Sure, being a recording artist might not be as glorious as being the lead in a Broadway musical. But after everything that she had been through, especially with Blaine, her tunnel-vision perspective towards life somewhat changed into a more carefree, flexible one. Life's too short; and as long as she got to do something she's passionate about - which, in her belief, was making a mark in the world through her voice - she'd be all good.

"Miss Rachel Berry? The board is ready to see you now." The middle-aged secretary called before directing her to the glass-paneled conference room. As soon as she saw the work attire of the people she would be faced with, Rachel suddenly felt so little, and she wasn't taking about her height. Her mustard yellow pencil skirt, navy blue blouse, and penny loafers weren't even close to the professional look the executives were sporting with their clean-cut hair and crisp black suits. For some reason, she immediately frowned when she saw the unoccupied seat at the head of the table. The one man - or woman - she needed to impress the most with her vocal chops was absent. Great.

Just nail this one, Rachel. With or without the boss, you have to do your best. This is your moment; take it.

With one last note of optimism, Rachel let the secretary usher her into her seat at the table; the men in black currently all eyes on her. "Good morning everyone," she cheerily greeted with her thousand-watt smile. "My name is Rachel Barbra Berry and I'm-"

"Miss Berry, we have no time for long and formal introductions. We want to know why you deserve a contract with our label. We want to know what you can bring to this table." A man in a wheelchair shot at her. She was quite surprised at his pointed behavior despite the obvious unfortunate disability, yet she immediately shook it off. No one's going to rain on her parade. No one.

Rachel was about to present her answer when the door soundly swung open. A tall – like really tall - man entered as he was speaking thru his phone. "I'm sorry Kurt but I still have a lot of things to do here in the office. Tell Ava I'll make it up to her come Saturday, I promise." She kept her eyes on him as he sat at the only unoccupied chair at the boardroom. For a CEO, he certainly did look a lot younger than she expected.

He spun his chair around so he could have some privacy with his conversation. Rachel heard a few sighs of relief amongst the board members while their boss busied himself on his phone call. She was clueless as to why they seemed to tense up at his entrance. Surely, if he had made such great success with the record label; he couldn't be that harsh to his colleagues, could he?

Once again her attention turned back on him as she heard him take a deep breath, one that's of regret, "Yes, I really do mean that; Saturday and I'm all hers. I gotta go... Bye." And with that he spun back around to face the rest, his eyes instantly going down on the pile of documents in front of him. "Do I have to guess what this meeting is for or is someone going to tell me?" He flatly said, his attention still fixated on the papers.

Rachel had a feeling that no one would speak any time sooner due to their frantic nerves, so she took that initiative and began, "Good day, Sir." She shakily greeted before clearing her throat to a more confident tone. "I'm Rachel Berry and I am here to express my interest in signing a contract with your label... as a recording artist."

She saw him stop his current actions as soon as the last of her words left her mouth. Rachel wasn't one that could be easily intimidated by anyone, not even the President of America. Well maybe Barbra but she was the only exception. However, at that very moment, she was so close to adding the CEO of Drizzle Berries to that very short list. She watched him drop his luxury fountain pen, meeting his gaze as soon as they made eye contact with each other. For a second she thought he had the most beautiful set of chocolate orbs, but then she remembered how her future career was also in the firm hands of its owner.

"Miss Berry," he started, "do you have an idea who you're talking to?"

"Uhm," she hesitated for a second. Besides the fact that he is the head of Drizzle Berries, Rachel really had no idea who he was. Not even his name. Just then, she heard the bespectacled man beside her coughing the answer to the question in her mind.

"Finn Hudson."

"Of course, you are Mister Finn Hudson, CEO of Drizzle Berries." She confidently answered, then looking appreciatively at the angel in disguise beside her; the others still staring between her and Finn Hudson as if they were watching an intense scene. "One of the most powerful people in the music industry."

"Exactly. Now what made you think that this company would return the sentiment and agree to present you a recording contract?" He was eyeing her critically, as if he was undressing her with just his eyes.

Rachel caught sight of the CD player sitting by one of the accent tables. "With all due respect, I'd rather you experience the answer yourself." Her lips curved up a little as she grabbed her CD, walked over to the player, put it in, and pressed play. Afraid to hear the piercing, flat tone of rejection from Finn Hudson, Rachel took the introductory notes of the song as her cue to excuse herself and leave. But before she could make another step, she stopped when she suddenly heard nothing but silence. Did Finn Hudson really think she doesn't deserve this kind of opportunity?

"Miss Berry I want to see you in my office in three minutes. Artie will escort you on your way out." Once again, he didn't even bother to look at Rachel's slightly shocked face while he spoke. "As for everyone, you may now leave." And that was it. Finn Hudson exited the conference room with nothing more but a less tensed air for everyone to breathe in.

...

"And most importantly, show him how passionate you are with your craft." Artie Abrams reminded Rachel as soon as the elevator door opened to the topmost floor of the Drizzle Berries building. "Think positive, Miss Berry. Finn may be tough, but he only wants what's best. Good luck." She wondered how close Mr. Hudson and Mr. Abrams really were, but then she realized she wasn't in the position to ask. With a smile, the wheelchair-bound executive motioned for her to go inside Finn Hudson's office. But before Rachel took another step into the room, she faced Artie, grinning; "Thank you, Mr. Abrams. And please, call me Rachel."

"Rachel, it is then. And you can call me Artie." And with that, the two went their separate ways. Rachel tried to even her breathing out as she walked closer towards the glass door that divided her and the fulfillment of her dreams.

"Sit down, Ms. Berry," the man flatly spoke as she let herself in, not breaking his eyes from the papers on his desk. "We don't have much time." Rachel hurried towards the vacant chair in front and immediately seated herself properly, waiting for the verdict of the music mogul.

He then began, "I'm going to be straightforward here; this record company currently has no spot for an artist like you." She felt like her dreams had finally fallen apart with those words. No more Broadway. No more singing career. This was the end, Rachel.

"However, if you really needed a job right now I can give you one." he stopped his work and looked directly at Rachel, who in turn still couldn't speak for the life of her. "It's going to pay well, fairly even better than if you start here as a recording artist. It can cover all your bills, mortgages, bring food to your table, and even provide you several more for savings."

Her eyebrows knitted in confusion. If Mr. Hudson was still being straightforward with her then he's definitely not doing well at it. What kind of job could possibly give her that? "I'm sorry, sir, but, I'm not sure what your proposition is about," Rachel frankly told him.

"Ah, my bad. You'll be working for my daughter," he proposed. She noticed Mr. Hudson's eyes veering towards the photo frame at the rightmost side of his desk, softening when he looked at it. Perhaps he saw her watching him as he did so, she'd never know, but he turned the frame over so she could see the girl in the picture. A little wide-eyed and awestruck, Rachel stared at the picture for the longest time. "That's Ava. She six now and she uh.." she heard him clear his voice, "..she hasn't spoken a word since the day she was supposed to learn how to talk."

Rachel's eyes averted back to Mr. Hudson, who was still focused on the frame between them. She was even more confused, but she didn't want to ask him whether Ava was a deaf-mute as she feared she might make things worse. It was a good thing that he felt like continuing despite her silence.

"The doctors already canceled out her being a deaf-mute, but they weren't able to diagnose her with anything else. She was crying so loud back when she was just a baby, I..." he trailed off, "..I don't know where it had gone wrong, or what I did wrong."

She couldn't manage to say a word to him, not even one to express her sympathy or a single word for reassurance. Rachel was simply speechless at that moment. What started out as a possible stepping stone for a music career turned into something far different. Honestly, she wanted to help Mr. Hudson with his daughter. If anything Rachel strongly believed that music spoke louder volumes than simple words or any medical treatment. Perhaps her knowledge at that could help Ava. However, Rachel was slowly growing tired of helping others in need, she already had a handful of that with Blaine. Not that she was complaining about it and all but - she promised herself at the beginning of the day that it's going to be a brand new start, that she deserved putting herself first just this once.

"Mr. Hudson, I understand the situation however, I cannot accept your offer." She rejected his offer so simply she was expecting him to call her out on being a diva or something right then and there. But he did not, so she figured it was time to bid her goodbyes, "I have to go. Thank you for the time, sir. And I'm really, really sorry."

He let her make her way to the door without any complaint. But before she swung it open, she heard him say; "Feel free to contact my office anytime you change your mind. Good luck, Miss Rachel Berry."

...

Her ten-hour shift at Ellen's Stardust Cafe just ended and Rachel was beyond exhausted. After being rejected for a recording contract at Drizzle Berries she went back to auditioning for as many roles as she could on and off-Broadway, but with helping Shelby financially she had little to no time for being persistent and letting her dreams lead the way. Somewhere along the road the part of her that used to be such a big dreamer and achiever died, just so she could grow up and face the tough life in front of her.

As she turned the final block back to their house, Rachel's phone rang. She saw her mom's name flash on the screen and wondered what was it that couldn't wait until she got home. "Mom?"

"Rachel, honey, i-it's Blaine.." Shelby shakily said through the other end, "..he- I heard a noise in the bathroom and when I got there he-"

"He what, Mom? Can you please just..calm down and tell me?" It sounded bad coming from Shelby, like something terribly bad happened. Though the moment she heard her brother's name she assumed nothing good would come out of this phone call.

"He was unconscious," her mother choked, which then turned into a complete sob. "He was pale and he wasn't breathing anymore so I called 911 and we rushed him to the hospital." Rachel felt her heat skipped a beat. She couldn't afford to lose Blaine. She had been doing her best to keep her family tight and tied despite all circumstances and she wasn't backing down now, not after all they had been through, especially with Blaine. "The doctors told me it was a drug overdose, he took too much anti-depressants and..." Shelby couldn't continue anymore, and Rachel herself was starting to feel the tears collecting in her eyes.

Fortunately a cab was just passing by and she had managed to hail it, "Mom, please. Calm down. We're gonna get through this, we always do." she reassured, but her voice betrayed the conviction in those words as it broke a little more. "Hang tight, I'll be there soon. I love you." She hung up after Shelby replied and tried to find some solace in the comfort of the cab's leather seat. She honestly believed three years had changed her brother for the better, now it seemed like they hadn't even made a single step forward. And if this was bound to get worse, whatever effort she was currently putting in wouldn't be enough to make ends meet, she needed a bigger, better solution.

Once more she reached for her phone and keyed in the numbers, "Hello, this is Rachel Berry and I need to speak with Mr. Finn Hudson."

A/N: I am terribly sorry for being irresponsible and posting this so late! I admit that besides school I have been preoccupied with a lot of stuff that prevented me to update this fic. To everyone who is reading this and is patiently following this story, thank you all so much! I hope you could all be a little more patient as the next few chapters would most likely be telling the foundations of the lead characters. And before I forget, all my love and thanks to Debbie (leacorymonteith tumblr) and Abbey (IThinkIJustGleedMyself) for beta'ing some parts. Reviews are love, angels! 3

P.S.: To the person who was wondering how Rachel and Blaine became siblings (and twins for that matter) despite her being adopted by the Berry men, you might have to watch out for the explanation on the next chapter. ;)