Author's Note: I have no idea where Sectionals took place so I kept it in Ohio and we're going to pretend it was held in Columbus. Also, I'm letting Mr. Schue attend Sectionals because I didn't understand why he couldn't go watch them even if he wasn't their adviser or what have you. I wasn't sure what kind of car Rachel had, so I inserted my own. This was originally written on 2/6/10 and was edited on 7/29/11. Also, I apologize in advance. You'll know why.

Details in the Fabric

"No. No, no, no. No. No, no."

That was the first thought to pop into Rachel's mind that Saturday morning. And the second. And the third. It was Saturday morning and her alarm clock was not blaring in her ear like it was supposed to be. Rachel held her breath and slowly turned her head towards the clock.

'Please say 5:59, please say 5:59, please say 5:59,' she chanted to herself. She knew it was a futile attempt, after all she could see the bright sunlight streaming in through her bedroom window, but she opened one eye to peek at her alarm clock anyway. 8:15 am. "Oh shit!" She couldn't stop herself from yelling as she threw the covers onto the floor.

"Daddy! Dad?" She called in a panicked voice as she vaulted herself down the stairs. Her fathers emerged from the study with confused looks on their faces.

"Rach! What on earth are you still doing here? We assumed you left hours ago!"

"I overslept," her shrill voice cried out as she desperately raked a comb through her hair. "Did anyone call yet? Did they leave without me?" Her eyes were wide with panic and without waiting for an answer, she grabbed her keys off of the hook in the hallway and ran out of the front door, her multiple bags of cosmetics, toiletries, and costumes bouncing against her as she ran to her car.

-G-

"Will, shouldn't she have been here at least an hour ago?" Emma asked uncertainly. Will rubbed his eyes and snuck a glance at the rest of his Glee club, sleepily leaning against the bus that was set to take them to Sectionals. Rachel was nowhere to be found, the one student who should have been there at least 30 minutes before the required 8 am arrival time. It was already 8:33 and she wasn't answering her cell phone.

"Well guys, it looks as if Rachel is running late. I think we should head on out, and I'll keep trying her cell phone on the way. Hopefully she or one of her dads will be willing to drive her out to Columbus to meet us at the Buckeye Auditorium."

"Hopefully!" Mercedes yelled, outraged. "If that girl doesn't show up, what are we supposed to do? We won't be able to compete!"

"Well...I guess we will cross that bridge if we come to it," Mr. Schue replied uneasily. He was thinking the exact same thing himself.

Making comments about how Rachel just had to throw one last diva moment in to keep everyone on their toes, the 10 present Glee members, plus Jacob Ben Israel standing in for Finn, all filed onto the bus. Once everyone was accounted for, Mr. Schuester dialed. As the bus pulled out of the parking lot, he listened as Rachel's voice mail clicked on once again.

-G-

"I can make it, I can make it, I can make it," she repeated. She drove with her left hand as her right hand dug around in her purse that currently rested on the center console. The phone charger was in there somewhere she just had no idea where. Of course her phone had died as she was pulling out of her driveway, but hopefully there would be a plug on the bus so that she could charge her cell on the way to Sectionals. Daddy would be extremely mad at her to know she was not only going 7 miles over the speed limit, but driving with no usable cell phone as well. However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and the possibility of missing Sectionals was most certainly a desperate time, according to Rachel Berry. She knew there was no way they would leave without her, she was their lead and club captain after all, it was just a matter of how pissed off they were going to be at her for showing up 45 minutes late. She tapped her hand impatiently as she neared the second to last intersection before she came to McKinley High School. Seeing that the light was green up ahead, she didn't brake.

"Yes!" she cheered about her luck as she stepped on the accelerator and flew toward the intersection. She looked down as her hand finally closed around her cell phone charger.

Suddenly she heard the sound of someone laying on their horn, and then the screech of tires and the shockingly loud sound of metal crashing into metal all in rapid succession. Rachel's head slammed into her window and then it shattered, showering her in shards of glass. She felt her empty stomach churn as her car spun in the middle of the intersection and then abruptly come to a stop, causing her body to lurch towards the passenger seat, one arm flung haphazardly over her face. There were a few seconds of deafening silence, and then Rachel's eyes closed.

-G-

Finn paced nervously in the greenroom as the rest of the Glee club looked over the sheet music he had surprised them with. Ms. Pillsbury came up behind him and gave him a friendly smile.

"We're all really glad you came, Finn," she said softly.

"I'm glad I came too Ms. Pillsbury, but where the heck is Rachel? We can't do this without her," he said softly, his voice laced with concern.

-G-

The intersection of Chapel Street and Caputo Avenue was a mess. Glass littered the street, a bumper lay unacknowledged on the sidewalk, and urgent voices rang out every so often. The police department was the first to respond, but there was only so much that they could do. A young cop, still in his first year on the job, was already crouched in the back seat of Rachel's car, attempting to administer whatever first aid he could. He had bandaged the worst cut on her head and placed a brace around her neck, but she was trapped in the inverted car until the Jaws of Life arrived. Due to the awkward angle he was at all he could do now was offer comforting words that fell on deaf ears. She hadn't regained consciousness yet.

As soon as the first ambulance arrived on the scene, an officer directed them to the small Jetta that no longer resembled a car of any kind. The fire department had started to work on tearing apart the sedan a few minutes earlier, and it was just a matter of time until the bystanders looked on as the tiny, limp body of a young girl was pulled from the wreckage. The young officer climbed out of the car with a purse in his hands. He began rifling through it, looking for a wallet or identification of some kind. He finally found what he was looking for and went to his car to radio in the contact information.

The driver of the truck that hit Rachel was sitting on the curb, and he watched in horror as he finally got a look at the other driver. He burst into sobs; his face falling into his hands after his eyes had spotted the bloodied girl. His daughter sat, her arm around his shoulders, quietly murmuring words into his ear. An officer walked up to the distraught elderly man and knelt in front of him.

"Sir, I think you should go to the hospital in the other ambulance. I know you don't feel injured but..." his voice trailed off as he met the sad eyes of the man's daughter. He knew now, after all of his initial questioning, that she had been following her father's truck and had seen the entire thing play out in front of her eyes.

"Daddy?" She whispered, turning toward the most loving man she had ever known, "I think it's best if you go. You've had quite a shock, and with your heart..."

"How can I be concerned about me?" He sobbed, heartbroken. "I just killed a little girl! I should never have been driving. You've been trying to tell me and I've been so stubborn and now look! Look what I did!"

"Sir, as far as I know, she's still alive. She isn't conscious, but she is alive," the officer offered. "I know this is a terrible experience, but it is my duty to look out for you as well, even if you don't want me to."

Shaking uncontrollably and breathing heavily, the man finally agreed.

Somewhere in the Berry household, a phone began to ring.

-G-

"She had all weekend to hide, but she should have come to meet us to face the music! She cost us our chance at Regionals and unless she has two broken legs there is no excuse good enough!"

Mr. Schuester stood in the doorway of the choir room and tried to steady his breathing. He listened as 11 members of his Glee club bashed the one member who could have saved them at Sectionals, but never showed up. It broke his heart to hear the anger and accusation in their voices, instead of the worry and concern that would have been in Rachel's over the absence of one of them. Cautiously, Emma put a hand on his back, urging him forward.

"All I know is when that chick finally decides to show her face at this school again, Glee is not giving her a warm welcome," Mercedes said with a flip of her hair. Kurt cleared his throat and motioned towards the door, effectively shushing everyone as Mr. Schue made his way into the classroom. Silently, the teenagers took in his red and swollen eyes and awkwardly tried to avoid his gaze. Jacob Ben Israel had caught Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury kissing in the hallway after Sectionals and had immediately uploaded a new blog about what had happened between them. Everyone, teachers included, had given him a wide berth all day and the Glee club had already decided that they would not acknowledge his marriage troubles. When they realized that Ms. Pillsbury seemed to be on the verge of tears as well, they started to wonder what exactly was going on.

'It's hard not to pity the poor guy,' Artie thought to himself as he turned his chair around to give his full attention to his favorite teacher. Mr. Schue pulled a chair up to the cluster of students and rested his hands on his knees. He wasn't quite sure how to do this.

"We don't need a pep talk, Mr. Schue. We need someone to get Ms. Berry in here so we can smack some sense into her for her extremely unacceptable diva fit on the day of Sectionals. I mean what was she thinking!" Kurt burst out.

Mr. Schue cleared his throat and Puck could swear his eyes filled with tears. Suddenly, Puck knew that whatever he was about to hear was going to change all of their lives forever.

"Guys...I don't know how to tell you this," Will started, his voice breaking. He stood up from the chair and paced for a second before coming back to the group.

Quinn placed a comforting hand on the emotional teachers forearm and gave him a reassuring pat, inwardly rolling her eyes at the drama that stupid Jewish pain-in-the-ass was creating. Suddenly Mr. Schue sat, took a deep breath and in one sentence, changed everything.

"Rachel is gone, guys."

"Where did she go?" Finn asked, confused. Mr. Schue rubbed his eyes and decided that unfortunately, blunt had to be the way to go.

"I'm sorry," he started, hoping to soften the blow. "Rachel was in a really terrible car accident on Saturday morning."

No one said anything. No one moved. Finally, Santana scoffed.

"Was this announced on her MySpace? God, that girl will pull anything."

Tina nervously pulled at the collar of her sweater. "That's all this is, right Mr. Schue? Rachel is being a drama queen? Right?"

"She was trying to make it to meet us before the bus left. Her dad told me she was running really late, and she was going a little bit over the speed limit. The driver that hit her..." his voice started to waver, "he was an elderly man who shouldn't have been driving and he ran a red light...she hit her head pretty badly. I just got off the phone with her fathers. She never woke up and...," he swallowed over the lump in his throat, "Rachel passed away about an hour ago."

Author's Note 2: Well, I know I didn't warn you, but don't say I didn't apologize! I would love to hear thoughts. Thanks for reading!