Hey guys. This is my first Glee fan fiction. I really had no intentions in writing a fan fiction for the show. I figured my days as a writer of these were long gone. Turns out this idea has just been in my head for a few months now and I felt it was time to get it all out. This will not be the easiest thing for me to write, especially in the first few chapters. I was always a Finchel fan, however, we all have to face the reality that we will never have Finchel as end game. Cory's tragic death has impacted the fans of Glee in a big way. I will personally always remember him fondly. I will remember his life and not focus on why he died. I do however feel that it is best to shine some light on what Cory must have been going through towards the end and for many years of his life.

The story is Rachel focused. She loses Finn to the horrible clutch of death. This story focuses on the struggles she will have to face in mourning the man she believed would always be the one for her. She needs to learn to cope with her feelings while maintaining her grades, performances and preparation for her big Broadway debut in "Funny Girl".

This is the way I think would be best for Rachel's character to live after Finn's death. It will eventually become a St. Berry story but not for some time. He will come into the story early on but I'm not just going to thrust Rachel into his arms. It doesn't work like that. It's not realistic.

As for the timeline, I'm not sure when the death will take place on the show so I will jive it with Cory Monteith's actual death.

I hope you guys like this. Please be honest with your feedback. I always love to hear what people think of my work.

Thanks guys :D

We Could Have had it All.

Part One:
Tragedy

Chapter One:
"Finn's dead."

July 13th, 2013.
3:00pm.
New York City.

Rachel has just gotten into the door of her New York apartment. Her hands were full of bags from her latest shopping trip; from inside her purse was her phone, ringing again. She would have believed that the phone had been ringing for the last five or ten minute's straight. Frustrated, she threw the bags down onto her kitchen floor and rummaged through her purse. Finally, her iPhone was in her grasp. She raised an eyebrow at the notification on the screen. 10 missed calls from Finn.

She sighed and tossed her phone onto the table. Rachel has just had a rather difficult day at one of her dancing classes and was not in the mood to deal with her ex at the moment. They were good friends; in fact she still considered him one of her best friends, however, Finn had been wanting more. Part of Rachel did as well but there were so many things working against them at the moment. She barely had time to breathe let alone have any sort of a relationship. Even if it was long distance.

It's not like I can go see him whenever I want. I haven't seen my dad's since Spring Break. I probably won't see them all summer unless they come here. He hasn't been able to come down here. He's taking his own classes this summer to get through quicker to be a teacher and coach. It's just not in the cards for us right now.

Her phone began to vibrate again. She groaned in frustration. She had told Finn the previous night to give her a few days alone to figure things out. That she needed space. She was beyond annoyed.

"Finn, while I admire your persistence I made it very clear I did NOT want to talk to you right now!" Rachel said into the phone with an annoyed growl.

"Rachel…." It wasn't Finn. It was Carol, his mother and she was crying.

"Ca…Carol?!" Rachel exclaimed, suddenly concerned. She sat up alert. "What's wrong?"

"It's Finn, Rachel." Rachel's blood went cold. "He…" Her sobs took over.

Rachel heard some movements, a few voices and then a sigh.

"Rachel? It's Burt," his voice was sad, Rachel could almost make out the unmistakable quality to his voice that suggested that he too had been crying recently, "How are you doing?"

Rachel's voice was shaky, "I'm okay I suppose, Burt. What's wrong with Finn? Was he hurt?"

Another sigh from Burt followed by a long pause. "There was an accident."

The blood drained from Rachel's face. An accident. Panic took over. Then she began to self sooth. Quinn had been in an accident, a bad one and she was okay. Finn was just hurt. He would be OK. He has to be OK.

"A c..car accident?" Rachel forced out.

"No, Rachel," Burt was now fighting back a fresh batch of tears, "Finn… he had gotten himself into some questionable groups at the University. We had no idea what was going on until one night he came home and I noticed the marks on his arms. He swore to us it wasn't serious. We tried convincing him to go into rehab for help but he pretty much refused."

"Rehab?!" Rachel exclaimed, "Why would he need rehab?! Finn is as straight laced as they come."

"Heroin."

Rachel froze. "But… his dad…."

"I know. He swore to his mom he would never get involved in that world. He was on top of the world at school and he helped McKinley win another National Championship, plus all the work he was doing with music around here. He was quickly becoming a local celebrity I guess you could say."

Rachel smiled through her tears. "I know. He was telling me about it all. What happened to him though? What does it have to do with you guys wanting him in rehab?"

Carol's sobs became louder in the background. Burt was on the verge of falling apart himself. "Rachel, Finn overdosed." Rachel's blood went cold. The air escaped her lungs. "Puck found him in his room at the house here. We were in DC at the time. The two of them were supposed to go shoot some hoops or something and when Finn ended up being so late… Puck got concerned. He came here and found Finn on his bed. Called 911 instantly."

Rachel was trembling badly. "Is he going to be ok? I mean Puck must have gotten to him in time if he called 911. They're going to fix him up and he is going to be alright –"

"Rachel," Burt cut her off. Little did she know, her three roommates Santana, Kurt and now Blaine were all walking into the apartment and coming up beside Rachel, taking note of her condition. "There was nothing they could do."

Rachel was now on the verge of losing it. "What do you mean there was nothing they could do? They deal with this kind of stuff all the time don't they? He is going to be o…"

"Rachel, sweetheart, I'm sorry."

Tears streamed down her face. Her friends around her gave one another concerned looks. "Why are you sorry?"

"Finn was already gone by the time Puck got there." Burt's voice broke. Tears had found him.

"Gone? What do you mean gone?"

"Finn's dead, Rachel."

Rachel froze. The world around her froze. Her phone she had been holding to her ear fell to the floor in a heap. Kurt grabbed the phone and talked to his father. A look of horror followed by a fountain of tears and words of disbelief flew from Kurt. Blaine grabbed Kurt and tried to wrap his arms around his boyfriend. Rachel was still frozen in the chair. Santana was desperately trying to get the distraught girl to respond to her.

"You're lying!" Kurt yelled into the phone as sobs took over his body, "This is a cruel, sick joke dad. Finn isn't dead!"

Santana's head whipped around in Kurt's direction, tears in her eyes and look of disbelief on her face. Blaine closed his eyes and tried to stay together as the tears forsook him.

"Finn's dead," Rachel said causing Santana to return her attention to the still frozen girl, "Finn's dead."

Santana was now crying more than she would have ever liked to admit. She pulled the chair around so that she could kneel in front of her friend, "Rachel, talk to me, what happened?"

Santana jumped slightly at the sound of Rachel's phone flying into the wall. She glanced over at Kurt and Blaine. Kurt was on his knees being held by his crying lover as his body shook with grief. They had lost a friend, a brother, a lover. Santana tried her hardest to keep herself together. There was a young woman before here in an obvious state of shock. The only words that Rachel could say was that Finn was dead.

Finally, Santana snapped. She collapsed against Rachel's legs and sobbed. She was surprised when Rachel's hands rested on her back. Rachel fell from the chair and collapsed into Santana's arms. Together the four friends sobbed as they mourned the loss of a great individual who had touched each of their lives in ways they could never forget.

Together they grieved the loss of Finn Hudson.