A.N./ Hello! This is my new fanfic and before starting I wanted to say a few things about the story and about me :

- This is going to be an Alternate Universe, which means that there will be the same characters, but the events that will happen and that happened in the past are different.

- Also, since it's an Alternate Universe, the characters may seem different from who they are in the series. It is normal, they haven't live the same things or hung around the same people as the characters in Glee.

- The main characters are Sebastian and Rachel, and the main ship is Smytheberry/Sebchel

- The first chapter will be from Rachel's point of view, the second one from Sebastian point of view, the third one from Rachel's point of view, etc...

- Also, I use "OooO" to separate parts of my chapters, so don't worry, it's not a person screaming.

- I am French, and therefore English isn't my first language. So I apologize for the many mistakes you're probably going to see if you read this story. If you see a mistake or think "this is not how it's supposed to be written", you can tell me by reviewing.

- If you read this story, thank you! I started writing not so long ago and I love it so it's really cool to know that people are reading my work! Also if you want to review, feel free, I accept gladly constructive criticism and I would love to see what you think about it.

Anyway... Let's get to it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee nor any of its characters.

OooO

Rachel walked down the hallway to the school's administration. It was the first day of her Senior year, and Rachel knew it, it was going to be her year. She was going to work even more so than she used to, obtain a high score on her SAT, be valedictorian of her graduating class and pass her audition for NYADA, the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts.

After that, she would graduate from NYADA and start auditioning then get into an Off-Broadway show. Then she would get into a Broadway show and be nominated for a Tony Award. It was the perfect plan for the perfect future. She had dreamed about being on a Broadway stage since she was a child and nothing would stop her. This was her dream and she would do anything to achieve it.

Rachel arrived at the administration and said hello to the lady sat at the office who then gave her her locker's number and code. She then went to her locker and opened it, staring at the empty locker. Yeah, it definitely felt... empty. She was going to decorate it later. Probably with a few pictures of Barbra Streisand, some playbills and a customized planning. But first of all, she dropped all the School books she had took in the library.

"Rachel Berry, ready for this first day as I can see." She heard a voice next to her.

"Hi Seb." Rachel said, turning to face her best friend who was leaning against the lockers.

Rachel and Sebastian were best friends since they were four years old. It was actually a miracle they were still friends because they had nothing in common. But after all this time, they were kind of like family. They didn't spend every day together, but they needed each other in a way. And even if sometimes Rachel wanted to hate Sebastian, well, she loved him. He was one of the most important person in her life.

"So what's your plan for this year. Wait, let me guess... You're going to work, and work, and then sing and dance and go back to work." He said with a smirk.

"And you're probably going to try and sleep with as many people as you can." Rachel snapped.

"I hadn't thought about that, but actually, that might me a good goal to achieve this year." He said as Rachel rolled her eyes.

"I don't know why I'm still friend with you." Rachel said.

"Because you love me." Sebastian said with a smirk.

"That's the thing. I love you, but I can't find any rational reason why." She added.

"The feeling is mutual. You know, you would thought that after all this years, I would be disgusted by you, but every time I see you and think that I never want to see you again, I also think 'nah, I love that girl'. And I would miss you too much anyway, for some reason." He said.

"Wow, thank you for those kind words Sebastian." Rachel said ironically.

"Your welcome." He said with a bow. "Well, I gotta go, see you later. Maybe." Sebastian said.

"Bye Seb." Rachel said as her friend left.

Rachel closed her locker and walked to her first class. She was determined as ever for this year.

OooO

Lunch time came and Rachel headed towards the cafeteria. She walked in the cafeteria with her trail in her hands, looking for her friends. When she spotted them, she walked up to their table.

"Hi, Rachel." Kurt said.

"Hi guys." She said as she sat down.

"Hey, what's up?" Mercedes asked.

"Well, so far nothing too crazy happened." Rachel simply answered.

"Girls, I tell you, this is going to be the most important year of High School." Kurt said excitingly. "The year we will think about when we're old and we see a picture reminding us of our youth."

"This is just Senior year, Kurt." Mercedes said.

"Exactly. This is Senior year. We'll go to our last prom, our last choir competitions, our last parties, even if we're probably not going to be invited to them." Kurt explained. "And let's not forget that Rachel and I will be auditioning for NYADA, this will be the first step to seeing our names with shining letters on a Broadway theatre."

"My god, Kurt you are so excited when you talk about your studies." Mercedes said with a laugh.

"Of course I am, I need a proper training in order to be a performer." He answered.

"I don't even want to study after High School. I will do it only because my mom wants me to. But after that, I will really work on my music and one day, a producer will see me and say 'I see a bright future ahead of you' and that will be the first step to see my name with shining letters on a concert venue." Mercedes said.

Rachel smiled as Mercedes and Kurt were talking so happily about their respective futures. It was so crazy to realize that in a year, they would leave this High School. It was where they had met, with the Glee Club, although they weren't friend at that moment, more rivals than anything. But they had discovered they so much in common, they all wanted to shine.

"Seriously, this year will be our year in every domain," Kurt said, "even in love. I want a boyfriend, that's for sure. Mercedes broke up with Sam so maybe this year she'll meet a cute guy. And who knows, maybe this year Finn will finally notice Rachel."

Rachel blushed as she heard Finn's name. She had had a crush on Finn Hudson since freshman year. He was a quarterback in the High School football's team, and one of the most popular guy in the school, so he was way out of Rachel's league. But even if he hadn't been out of her league, he had a girlfriend anyway. A girlfriend who happened to be Quinn Fabray, captain of the Cheerleading squad and the wickedest girl Rachel had ever met. She was the Regina George and the Heather Chandler of the High School. It's not that Rachel hated her for dating Finn, she hated her for being the worst person she knew.

"It's been three years, it's not going to happen, Kurt." She answered.

"Don't be pessimistic, you never know." He said.

As much as she would love Finn to notice her, she was realistic. It wasn't going to happen. In High School she was categorized as a loser. The only times she saw Finn, outside of classes, was in the Glee Club. And even in the Glee Club, she was this loud, annoying Jewish girl. But maybe Kurt was right. It would probably not happen, but there was still a chance.

"Yeah, you never know..." She said.

OooO

"Para mañana teneís que hacer el retrato de una persona que vos inspira. Vale?" Said Mrs Summer.

"Vale." The class answered, as well as Rachel, who knew she was going to choose Barbra Streisand for this homework.

But who could blame her? The teacher had asked to write a portrait about someone who inspired her, and Barbra Streisand was definitely the person who inspired Rachel the most. One of the most talented performer ever, an actress, singer, producer, director, writer, composer, designer, photographer, and an activist. And in a business largely dominated by men! Barbra was and would always be Rachel's role model.

Rachel put her stuff in her bag and waited for Kurt who was asking a question to the Spanish teacher. He then joined Rachel and the two friends got out of the classroom.

"Finally, our last class before the Glee Club." Kurt said, sighing.

"It's our first lesson today! I'm so excited!" Rachel said, smiling.

"Me too!" Kurt said as they stopped at Rachel's locker.

"I just have to drop some books." She explained as she opened her backpack.

"Hey guys, ready?" Mercedes said as she joined Kurt and Rachel.

"Almost," Rachel said as she closed her locker, "and... we're all set. Let's go."

They didn't even made a single step before being face to face to three football players. The football players always took the Glee Club members as their target, and even if some football players like Finn, Noah or Mike had joined the Glee Club, they still thought the Glee Club members were losers, and treated them as such. So it wasn't anything new.

Dave Karofsky and Azimio Adams were standing in front of Kurt, Mercedes and Rachel. But there was also another football player, that Rachel had never met before. He was probably new in McKinley High School.

Rachel hated them. They always bullied the ones they considered as 'losers'. One of their favorite things to do was to pour a slushie on others.

"Well, well, well, look who's still a loser." Dave said.

"The fat girl, the annoying girl and the gay boy. What a perfect trio." Azimio said.

Rachel rolled her eyes. They always had to insult them. But she didn't care, they probably had a complex of inferiority anyway.

"I heard you were the losers from the Glee Club, and they have a special treatment for you." The guy Rachel didn't know said, showing his slushie.

"Give us a break." Rachel said, starting to walk.

"Hey," the guy said as he put his hand to stop Rachel, "do you really think you're going to escape it?"

"Reggie, you shouldn't do that." Azimio said to the guy who was apparently named Reggie

"What? You told me that was what you did!" He responded.

"Yeah, but not to her." Dave said quietly.

"Why? Are you afraid of her or something?" He said, chuckling. "Well, I will have to do it by myself then." He said, rising the cup.

And that's at this precise moment that Sebastian threw Reggie against the lockers, his hand holding his shirt just under his chin as the slushie fell, spilling on the floor. Rachel hadn't even seen him coming.

"You're new here, so you probably don't know it yet. You can do whatever you want to those two," he said as he glanced toward Mercedes and Kurt, "but don't you dare touch Rachel, or you'll regret it."

"Why, is she your girlfriend?" Reggie asked, laughing.

He didn't laugh for long, Sebastian chuckled and then kicked his crotch, and Reggie fell on the ground, seeming to be hurting a lot.

"Look who isn't laughing anymore." Sebastian said with a smirk.

He glanced towards Azimio and Dave who were just standing there since Sebastian had arrived. He glanced towards Azimio's cup and the jock gave him the cup. Sebastian smiled at Reggie who was still hurting on the floor and poured the slushie on Reggie's head.

"I hope you understood, but if you didn't, It will be my pleasure to explain it again." Sebastian said.

He shot a glance to Azimio and Dave and just left. The two jocks looked at each other, looked down on Reggie, then left, leaving the poor boy on the floor as he tried to get up. He finally managed to and left too.

"Wow, I can't believe we avoided being slushied." Kurt said.

"Still, it's not fair that Rachel has her own bodyguard." Mercedes.

"Oh, come on, he helped you out too." Rachel said.

"Didn't you heard him? He basically said 'I don't care about those two, you can throw them into the dumpster if you want to'." Mercedes said.

Rachel chuckled. It wasn't the first time that Sebastian saved Rachel form the bullies. When they had arrived in High School and the bullies had started picking on Rachel, Sebastian had told Rachel that he was going to protect her. And he had, it was sort of like a promise he had made to her. And she trusted him, she knew he would always be there for her.

He wasn't specially big or tall, but Sebastian definitely knew how to fight and every time a jock was picking on Rachel, Sebastian didn't hesitate to fight them, even if he ended up in the principal office afterwards. At least, now most of the football team members were scared of him and didn't approached her.

"Okay, maybe he doesn't really like you." Rachel said. "But you still benefit from the fact that he prevents the jocks from slushiing us."

Kurt shrugged.

"Anyway, let's go, we're going to miss the beginning of the lesson." Kurt said.

The three friends went to the classroom where the Glee Club took place. They entered and sat at their usual seats, in the front. Tina and Artie were already in the room and were talking to each other. As they waited for Mr Schuester and the other members of the club, Rachel took music sheets out of her backpack. Those were the songs she wanted to submit to Mr Schuester for this year's competitions. Last year, they had lost Regionals. But it was her last year in High School and she wanted them to win so bad, they had to.

A few minutes later, Finn arrived in the classroom, Quinn by his side. The cheerleader captain was perfect, as always. Her uniform suited her perfectly, showing her body but not to much, her high curled ponytail was bouncing as she walked, and she had barely any makeup on but she was still pretty. It wasn't surprising that Hudson had chosen her, why wouldn't he?

As they entered the room, she shot Rachel a nasty glance. Well, things didn't change. Rachel didn't respond, she was over this. But Finn gave her a little smile, and that made Rachel feel good. But she tried to forget it. He was nice to every one, it wasn't as if he was interested in her or something.

She sighted. He would never be interested in her, and she had come to accept it, but when he did things as little as smiling at her or holding the door for her, her heartbeat always sped up, she just couldn't help it.

And she knew it was useless, that Finn would never feel the same as she did, she didn't like when she saw Quinn holding Finn's hand, or whispering in his ear or kissing him. And she knew she had no right to be jealous, because she was nothing to him. And ever since Quinn had joined the Glee Club during the last year, she saw her with Finn even more so.

OooO

After the lesson, Rachel went home. There was no one home yet. Her dad was still at the library he worked at, and her mom was still working and would probably not be home before late in the evening.

Rachel filled a glass with a water and took it with her as she climbed the stairs. She went in her room and sat at her desk to start working. It was the first day and she didn't really had homework yet but she knew this year was going to be hard and she wanted to have the best GPA possible.

When she was finished, she came downstairs and put Funny Girl on the TV. She had already seen the movie a hundred times but it was always the right thing to watch when she needed motivation. And motivation was the thing she needed as it was the first day of school.

When her dad came back home she took her phone and saw that it was only 6 pm.

"Hi, dad!" She said.

"Hi, honey!" Her father, Hiram Berry told her.

"I thought you were coming later." She said.

"Bob takes his shift later now." He answered. "Did you have a good first day?"

"Yes. I think it's also going to be a good year." She answered.

Her dad smiled at her. "Of course." He said.

Rachel loved her dad more than anything. He was her number one fan and supported her more than anyone. She knew that if she had a problem, she could go and talk to him.

Hiram cooked the dinner as Rachel set the table. When she was finished she sat down and her dad and her talked until he finished cooking.

When her mother came back, it was already 10pm and Hiram and Rachel had already eaten. It wasn't even surprising, Shelby Corcoran Berry was a very busy woman. She worked in a successful firm as a lawyer and won a lot of cases. But to be honest, she wasn't home very much.

Shelby took her coat off and dropped her suitcase on the sofa.

"You're home late." Hiram said.

"I had a lot of work to do." Shelby explained.

"As always." Hiram said.

"We're actually on a big case right now, so yeah, I have to stay late because I want to win it, it's important. I'm sorry if you don't understand because you work in a library." Shelby said.

"What, are you saying that my job is less important than yours?" Hiram asked.

"That's not what I said. But let's be honest, sorting books isn't the hardest thing to do." Shelby answered.

"Excuse me? Why do you always have to drag my job down?" Hiram asked.

"Well, if you would just try understand the sacrifices and the hard work that are needed in my profession maybe I wouldn't have to compare." Shelby said, the volume of her voice higher.

"You're always like that!" Hiram said.

Rachel decided that she had heard enough. She climbed the stairs and went into her bedroom, sitting on her bed.

It was always like that. Almost every night, her parents would fight, and it could last for hours. Sometimes it was about unimportant things, and other times they were purposely hurting each other. It wasn't like that, a few years ago, but since a year or so, it had been worst than ever. Sometimes, Rachel would just go in her room and put her headphones on to try not to ear them. Once, one of their argument had gone so bad that Rachel's mother had slammed the door and slept at her office. It was hard to see them like that, but Rachel knew there was nothing she could do.

OooO

The next day was a pretty normal day. Rachel went to class, then to the cafeteria for lunch, then back to class, and then it was time for the Glee Club, which went as it always went. At the end of the class, Rachel decided to stay a little longer to reorder the music sheets. Everyone got out of the class so she was alone. But when she looked up, Finn was in front of her, which caused her to jump.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't want to startle you." The tall football player said.

"Oh, no no, it's, it's okay." She said.

Finn smiled at her. He seemed a little bit nervous, and Rachel wondered why.

"As you know, I'm not the best dancer on the team, so... I just wanted to know if, maybe, you would be okay to... teach me how to dance?" He asked.

"Me?" Rachel asked, her eyes opened wide.

"Yeah, you." Finn confirmed.

Rachel couldn't believe it. The guy she had a crush on wanted her to help him. He could have asked any girl. He could have even asked his girlfriend, Quinn was a cheerleader after all, she was a great dancer. But no, he had chose her. Which meant that they would spend time together, just them.

"If you don't want to, I understand of course, you don't have to-" Finn started to stay.

"No no, I mean yes, I can help you. If you want to." Rachel said.

"Thank you, Rachel." Finn said. "So, when you do want to start?"

"Is tomorrow after class at my house okay for you?" She asked.

"Yes, of course. Oh, I don't have your address. You can just send it to me by text." He said.

"I don't, I don't have your number." Rachel said.

"I'll give it to you." Finn said.

Rachel gave her phone to Finn and watched him as he entered his number.

"Done." He then said, and she nodded. "So... see you tomorrow." He said.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." She answered as Finn left.

Rachel couldn't believe what had just happened. Finn and her were going to spend time together, alone, for the first time. She was so happy that she smiled all the way back to her house. And since she didn't have any homework to do she just sat on the sofa with her earphones and listened to love songs from musicals, such as 'You are woman, I am man' from Funny Girl or 'I'll cover you' from Rent.

Then her dad came back, and surprisingly, her mom arrived half an hour later.

"I didn't thought you were going to be home so early." Hiram said.

"Yeah, since you always tell me I come back home to late, I decided to come back earlier today." Shelby said,

"Okay." Hiram said.

"So let's spend time together as a family." Shelby said.

"Wait, so you think suddenly you can come and we have to stop everything we're doing just to be with you?" Hiram asked.

"No, I'm just trying to be a better mother and a better wife, is there a problem with that?" She asked.

"No, the problem is that you think you can come here and act as if everything was okay!" Hiram said.

"Well, excuse me for trying to do something to make it okay!" Shelby answered.

Rachel needed to get out of here. Really. Every time it was the same thing, she didn't even enjoy being at home anymore. She took her backpack with her school stuff in it and put her pajamas in it. She went in the bathroom to took her toothbrush, her hairbrush and everything she needed and put it in her bag to. When she went downstairs, her parents were almost screaming at each other. They didn't even saw her leave the house.

She went to the bus station and was happy that the bus came almost immediately. When she got off of the bus, she walked a little bit and rang a house's doorbell.

"Rachel, hi, what brings you here?" Sophie Smythe said with a kind voice.

Sophie one of the nicest person Rachel had ever met. She was French and had come to the USA for her studies when she was 18. She was a piano teacher and was actually the first person who had introduced Rachel to musicals.

"Can I stay here tonight?" Rachel asked.

"Of course! You know you're always welcomed here sweetheart." She said as she opened the door wide. "I am having a class right now but Sebastian is upstairs in his room.

"Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting you." Rachel said.

"It's okay, come in." Sophie answered.

Rachel climbed the stairs and arrived in Sebastian's bedroom.

"Let me guess, you parents are fighting again?" He asked as he saw her.

She nodded as she sat next to him on his bed.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" He asked.

It was as if he knew she didn't want to talk about it anymore. Because he knew how much it was hurting her, but he just wanted to make her feel better.

"Yeah." She said.

Sebastian took his laptop and put it on the bed in front of them.

"Okay, so this time, I choose the movie we're watching." He said.

"Why?" Rachel asked, offended.

"Because you always choose musical movies. I'm not saying they are bad, but I also want to watch different things."

"Can we just watch Heathers?" She asked.

"Rach, I just-" Sebastian said before Rachel interrupted him.

"It's not a musical movie, I swear. Actually, there is a stage production adapted from this movie, but the movie isn't a musical movie. And there's people dying, you will love it!" She said.

"Okay, let's watch that." Sebastian said as Rachel smiled in victory.

As Sebastian pressed play and the movie started, Rachel snuggled against her best friend. She may not be doing well at the moment, but she would be. She knew it. Because every time she felt bad and needed Sebastian, he was there and knew exactly how to make her feel better. There were advantages and disadvantages to knowing someone for so long. Sometimes they would be sick of the other. But sometimes, the other one was all they needed.

OooO

Rachel put on a light pink lipstick on her lips as she watched herself in the mirror. Finn was coming in a few minutes and she was a little bit stressed. It was the first time they would be alone together, so maybe it wasn't an important thing, but she wanted to make a good impression.

The doorbell rang and she ran towards the door. She stopped, adjusted her dress and opened the door with a big smile.

"Hi, Finn." She said.

"Hi Rachel." He answered as she opened the door wider to let him enter.

"So... are we doing this here?" He asked.

"Oh, no. There isn't much place and my father will be there later so I figured it would be better to do it in the basement." She answered.

"Okay." He nodded.

She led him to the basement door and they walked down the stair to the room. She turned on the lights as they arrived.

"Welcome to the Oscar room." Rachel said as Finn looked everywhere.

There was a piano, some armchairs and even a stage. Rachel was pretty proud about how well this room was decorated.

"Cool." Finn said. "Do you, like, make concerts on this?" He asked, pointing the stage.

"Yeah, sometimes we invite the neighbors and I sing a few songs. It's like a rehearsal for later." She answered.

"You are so passionate about what you love," Finn said, "it's one of the thing I like the most about you."

Rachel tried not to blush but she couldn't help it. Finn had just said that he loved something about her. And he had said 'the most', so it meant he liked other things about her! It was the first time he had said something like that and it made her feel so happy.

"So, where do we start?" Finn asked.

"I figured I could put on some music and we can just try to move to the beat. Is that okay?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah." Finn answered.

Rachel put on some music and joined Finn in the center of the room.

"Okay, so we're going to start like that, just bop you head to the rhythm of the music. Finding the beat and following it is the most important thing in dancing." Rachel said as Finn followed her instruction.

"Yes, just like that." She said. "Then, we're going to go on one side," she said with a step on her left, "and on then on the other side..."

Finn was very focused on what he was doing but he was doing good.

"Now, we're going to do one step forward and one step behind, just like, wait no, not that foot." Rachel said as Finn was starting to struggle to follow Rachel.

"I will never be a good dancer." Finn said as he stopped dancing.

"Don't said that," Rachel said, "we just started, you have plenty of time to improve yourself."

Finn smiled shyly and then looked at Rachel in her eyes.

"Thank you Rachel." He said.

"Oh, it's nothing you know." She answered.

"Not just for helping me, but also for believing in me. Thank you." He said.

"Your welcome." Rachel said as she blushed.

It was just the beginning after all.

OooO

"So, how is it going with your dance lessons with Finn?" Mercedes asked as the three friends were walking in the hallway.

"Fine." Rachel answered.

"Just fine?" Kurt asked, perplexed.

"Nothing happened?" Mercedes asked.

"Just fine, absolutely nothing happened." Rachel answered.

As they continued to walk, Rachel noticed Finn against the lockers. He noticed her too and he sent her a wink. She turned her head away to try to hide her cheeks becoming pink. Then she felt Kurt catch her arm to stop her.

"Oh!" She said.

"Did Finn Hudson just winked at you?" Kurt said.

"Yeah, I guess so." She shrugged.

"And you say nothing happened?" Mercedes asked, suspicious.

"Yeah." She confirmed as she started to walk again.

The truth was that yes, nothing major had happened, the lessons were going well, and actually Finn was really doing better. But Finn and Rachel had spent a lot of time together. They were times when they would take a break and just talk or laugh together, and the result of that was that they were now closer than they used to be. But he was still with Quinn, and until that changed, she knew she could only dream of being with him.

OooO

"I just need to get my laptop." She said as she started to climb the stair, Finn following her.

They entered the room and she took her laptop which was on the desk as Finn sat on her bed.

"Your room is so..." Finn started.

"Yeah, I know. Everybody tells me that it's too much with all those playbills, the pictures on the board and the ribbons."

"No, I like it." He said. "It's just so... you."

Rachel smiled shyly and sat next to Finn before opening her laptop.

"Here it is." She said as she pressed play.

"Wow, is that really you?" Finn asked.

"Yes, I was 7." She said.

"And you were already doing dance competitions?" He said.

"Yeah..." Rachel answered, not mentioning the fact that she won her first competition when she was 3.

"Wow. I don't even know how you did all that, I could never." He said.

"Well, I had more experience than you do." She said.

"Yeah, but still." He said, before turning his face towards her. "You're pretty amazing."

Rachel turned to face him. There was a spark in his eyes, she had always wondered why, but he always seemed so handsome to her.

Finn put a hand on her cheek and slowly got closer to her face. Rachel knew what was going to happen, but she couldn't believe it. And then he kissed her. And she felt like she was flying. And then she realized.

"Wait," she said as she broke the kiss, "you're dating Quinn!"

"No, I... I broke up with her this morning." He said.

"You did?" Rachel asked and Finn answered with a nod.

"I really like you Rachel." He said.

And then she just forgot the world around them as she kissed him again. Something that she had dreamed of doing for so long and was finally able to. One thing was sure, there was not a place she would rather be than where she was right now with Finn.

OooO

This is the end of the chapter... It's pretty long and the other chapters will probably be shorter, but it's the begging so there was a lot of things I needed to write. Anyway, I hope you liked this first chapter and I would love to know what you thought about it, so don't hesitate to review if you want to!

See you next time with the second chapter from Sebastian's point of view!