Based off of this prompt by letscall-l on tumblr: "Rachel doesn't make it to perform on broadway but instead writes a hit comedy musical that includes epic songs such as 'My Headband' and 'Only Child'…Starring Brittany S Pierce."

Mostly gen, although I couldn't resist hinting at certain romantic pairings. The original text hit 5,000+ words, but I had to cut several chunks out in order to tighten the story up. I'm still not satisfied with it, but there it is.

There will be an appendix to this story at some point in the future.

It Will Come Around Again

Of all the places she could be on Broadway, backstage is not where Rachel Berry had thought that she would have ended up. From the very beginning, Rachel's place had always been on stage, performing under the bright lights that would fill her with the happy belonging she had once felt as the captain of a ragtag glee club standing on the Gershwin stage.

The thing is, she'd never envisioned herself pacing nervously behind the curtain as her very own musical is performed in front of New York's finest – and being unable to do anything but pace, and pray that everything would go smoothly.

Over the past several years since she left Ohio, Rachel hasn't been very successful in carving out a niche for herself on the Great White Way; at least, not the way she'd always imagined it. Rachel's place had always been on stage, performing under the bright lights that would fill her with the happy belonging she had once felt as the captain of a ragtag glee club singing on the Gershwin stage, a feeling that filled the entire theater and spilled out onto the streets. New York had been the city of her dreams – and it still is. She needs the constant heartbeat of the city to keep her going.

But in between the endless casting calls and auditions, dividing her time between waiting and pursuing the elusive role that would put her name in New York's bright, sleepless lights – she had found herself writing song lyrics again, with Mr. Schuester's battered old rhyming dictionary lying open by her side.

The hours she spent writing turned into days, as audition opportunities and callbacks began to dry up. 'My Headband', 'Only Child', and 'Get It Right' remained in their places of nostalgia as the new songs came to join them in writing. She wrote song by song until her notebook became ragged and full and she had to go out and purchase new ones. After all, it was the only thing she had to lean on after the endless readings, auditions, and subsequent rejections.

One day Rachel awoke from a long writing binge (most likely helped along by alcohol, she wasn't really sure; she became very sure once she saw the empty wine bottles) and discovered that this diversion of hers had enough material to become a musical. Rachel Barbra Berry's own musical. At that moment – even though there was no storyline, the words didn't even have music yet, and there was no stage who wanted her at that time, it didn't matter – not for that long moment when Rachel realized what she'd just accomplished on her own.

The main character of the musical is a friendless only child named Lucy, who has a dream of becoming a famous musician. To alleviate her loneliness, Lucy sings to inanimate objects in her room. In gratitude, the inanimate objects come alive at night and come up with ways to help Lucy achieve her dreams. Through their machinations, she quickly becomes entangled in a love triangle with Danny, the most popular boy at her school, who leaves his girlfriend Sophia for Lucy.

Writing the libretto is much harder than the songs, because it requires constant revision of lyrics. On one particularly frustrating day, she calls Kurt over. "This sounds suspiciously like your own life," he says, after he's read Rachel's notes, "and it looks like you've been taking suggestions from Brittany."

Rachel scoffs. "I haven't talked to Brittany about this. And the best stories are often true! The last time I checked, Pippa Middleton was very much a real person, too."

"Be that as it may, there's something missing." Kurt rolls his eyes. "Right now, as it is, it feels more like you're giving a description rather than telling a story. Maybe you need an element of fantasy to spice it up. Let's look at the songs again."

Rachel sighs and pulls out her pen.

Two years later, after many, many mishaps – some of which involved her future leading lady, a flock of man-eating ducks, a surprise thunderstorm, an ant invasion, and Kathleen Marshall – it opens on Broadway.

Rachel had never thought of Brittany Pierce as leading lady material. When they were in high school, he'd reserved that assessment for herself, and possibly Mercedes. For her part, Brittany never indicated a desire to sing and act on stage. Brittany has always been a dancer, and a very good one – even if she didn't know who George Balanchine was (which is pretty much a crime, from Rachel's point of view). Brittany had studied at the School of American Ballet and had been snapped up by a corps de ballet almost as soon as she graduated.

One fateful day, however, she had wandered into Rachel's script reading ("I got lost running away from the ducks who eat people," she'd said). To Rachel's surprise, the producers were instantly taken with Brittany. Rachel shouldn't have been surprised; it was a mirror image of high school, and Rachel is annoyed, but she doesn't think it's smart to go against the producer's wishes.

So she let Brittany stay on. And Brittany stayed. She did ask if 'My Cup' could be included in the libretto, but Rachel put her foot down and said no, unless there was a complete overhaul of the lyrics. Brittany had pouted ("But all of your original songs are in the musical!") until Rachel finally compromised and had the tune to 'My Cup' arranged as the overture to the scene where Lucy dances the foxtrot with the large plush cat that Danny wins for her at the carnival.

"I bet a lot of people think that Lucy's totally you," Brittany observes, during a break in rehearsals. Her voice is lowered, as if she's telling Rachel some big secret. "And Danny's, like, totally Finn."

"Lucy was much prettier than I was in high school," Rachel says softly.

"I'm not talking about just that," Brittany says earnestly, as if she's trying to prove a point. "Lots of people think Lucy's you, including Kurt, but I don't think so. I think Sophia is you."

Rachel's jaw drops. Brittany smiles like she's just figured out the meaning of life, but her smile is sad.

The critics, despite making the usual snarky remarks at the "high school romance cliché" of the romance plot, had nothing but good things to say about the rest of it, especially Brittany's performance. There's enough of them for Kurt to make a collage of various magazine and newspaper clippings, and he has the collage framed for Rachel's apartment.

The New York Times has a raving review:

The bickering and plotting of Lucy's accessories blends magical realism with hints of commedia dell'arte, lending the musical a dreamy wakefulness punctuated with outlandish, yet humorous reflections on the fleeting nature of teenage romance and the less fleeting nature of non-recycled plastic. But it is Brittany Pierce as Lucy who steals the show.

Pierce makes the fox-trotting Lucy come unashamedly to life with wide, blue-eyed innocence, and in her capable hands, Lucy becomes what she is meant to be: the pesky girl next door who, despite her megalomaniac tendencies and her fascination with headbands, has one great wish: that the love she gives might one day be reciprocated. If only for a magical two hours, Pierce's Lucy makes us believe in singing headbands, talking hairbrushes, and the persistence of love. Her performance alone makes Songs of Inanimate Objects worth watching.

When Rachel brings this to Brittany's attention, Brittany just shrugs and says, "It's fun. And I really like that I get to sing 'My Headband'. It's a totally awesome song."

Rachel's show is now one of the hottest tickets on Broadway. People are starting to call it the next Wicked in terms of popularity, which flatters Rachel immensely. Of course it would; being compared to one of the highest-grossing musicals of the past decade is always a great stroke of the ego.

One by one, their old friends come to watch the show; Kurt, Blaine, and Mercedes attend the dress rehearsal and opening night. "Out of all of us, I never thought Brittany would be the one to land a leading role," Mercedes says.

"I've made my peace with that," Rachel says airily. "After all, it is my musical."

Mike and Tina also stop by for a show, and then come Sam, Finn, Puck, Lauren, and Artie, in that order. Brittany says that Matt came, as well, but Rachel didn't see him and apparently he didn't say anything. They are followed by a much mellower Quinn, who flies in from Seattle for a show. Rachel is apprehensive of her reaction, but she doesn't have anything to say except, "It was a fun show. I enjoyed it, Rachel."

That leaves one notable absence. "What about Santana?" Rachel asks. She and Santana certainly were never friends – hence she didn't know what Santana had been up to in the last few years – but Rachel was confident that she would have come for Brittany, at least.

Brittany looks down at her feet. "I didn't tell you? Santana quit college after her first year and joined the Air Force. She's far away right now, fighting the bad guys, so she can't come."

"No," Rachel replies, surprised. "You didn't tell me, Brittany."

"I write to her all the time. She tries really hard to answer back. Sometimes she calls, but sometimes I miss her calls because the time's different over there, and it makes me really sad."

As far as Rachel knew, Santana had accompanied Quinn to California to attend college, while Brittany graduated from the School of American Ballet and joined a traveling corps de ballet. If they saw each other at all during that time it would have been a rare occasion. And it would have been close to impossible for them to see each other once Santana quit school and joined the Air Force. "I see," she says, and puts her arm around Brittany, although she has to reach up in order to do so.

"I miss her a lot," Brittany whispers.

"Of course," Rachel says, as gently as possible. Santana has always been one of Brittany's most sensitive, softest spots, and vice versa. It had been painfully obvious in high school; but now she's really curious as to the status of their relationship right now.

When Rachel mentions this to Kurt, he just sighs. "Brittany tells me that before she was deployed, Santana said that if Brittany wanted to move on from them, she could and Santana would let her. But who knows what they really feel about the situation?"

There's a long, meaningful silence. Discussing Brittany and Santana with other people is easy, but discussing them together always feels…intrusive, somehow. "Did Brittany tell you where is Santana stationed?"

"Kirkuk Air Base, in Iraq." Kurt folds his hands together. "Brittany also told me that Santana was one of only four people in her class to complete pararescue training; I think being a Cheerio under Sue Sylvester had something to do with preparing her for that. Brittany's so proud of her. She would not stop gushing."

"Of course," Rachel says, and for some reason that makes her smile. "Of course."

Rachel has always dreamed of the Tonys. Just being able to attend the ceremony, being able to rub shoulders with her long-time idols – well, this dream, at least, is coming true. Her show's been nominated for Best Original Score, Best Direction of a Musical (Kathleen Marshall, so it's no surprise), and Best Musical.

Brittany's up for Best Leading Actress in a Musical and Rachel has to admit that she's close to bursting with pride for her former schoolmate, now current friend and Tony nominee. Word on the Broadway grapevine is that the show has more than a decent chance of winning all of those awards.

Kurt and Blaine take them out to celebrate when they hear the news of the nominations; Kurt even offers to use his fashion connections in order to ensure that they'll look their very best on the red carpet. And although it's still not the same as singing her heart out on the Gershwin stage, Rachel is content for now.

This wave that Rachel's riding on doesn't end. To her surprise, her rearranged version of 'Get It Right' is nominated for Song of the Year at the Grammys and Rachel and Brittany sit for an interviews in the wake of its popularity. "How much of the show's script was based on your life?" one interviewer asks.

"A substantial amount. Believe me, I was involved in my fair share of love triangles in high school." Rachel laughs, and the interviewer laughs along with her. "However, I couldn't bear to just let Lucy hanging – so that's why I wrote the ending the way I did." She feels Brittany's gaze steady on her.

"Why do you think 'Get It Right' resonates with so many people?"

Rachel ponders the statement. For a moment, Quinn's face flashes before her eyes. "I think it's because everyone experiences a time in their life when someone tells them that what they're doing with their life is all wrong, and they start to doubt themselves. The song embodies that struggle between giving up and keeping up the fight, as well as realizing that that moment of doubt might have been the best thing that's ever happened to them."

The interviewer nods and turns to Brittany. "I always get chills every time I hear you sing it. It never gets old, no matter how many times I listen to this. How do you do it?"

Brittany doesn't look too surprised at the compliment. "Easy. Because like, I know the first time Rachel wrote it, it was for somebody, and when she sang it was for somebody too. So I think the thing is that every time I go out there to sing it, I always do my best because I'm singing it for someone."

'Get It Right' is performed at the turning point of the musical, coming on the heels of the disastrous consequences of Lucy's relationship with Danny combined with her burgeoning obsession with Sophia. It's not the most uplifting song in the musical, but it's the show's best-selling song on iTunes, Amazon, or what have you. Bootleg video, piano and guitar covers are popping up all over YouTube.

The song has been rearranged, so it sounds a little different from what Rachel had sung at Sectionals so long ago. She still feels a twinge of sadness every night she hears it. Sadness over how much everything has changed since high school, when she'd been so certain about her and Finn. Sadness over how her first, greatest dream might never come true, and then when even her littlest dreams didn't seem to be coming true. She even spares some sadness over Brittany missing Santana. Everything she can spare some of her sadness for, really.

Brittany sings 'Get It Right' at the Tonys and brings the house down (although she confides that she would rather have sung 'My Headband'). Nobody is surprised when she wins Best Leading Actress; she thanks almost everyone in her acceptance speech: her parents, Mr. Schuester, Rachel, Kurt, the New Directions, the producers, choreographers, costume designers, and even the late Lord Tubbington. But Rachel suddenly finds herself on the verge of tears when Brittany says at the very end, "To my soldier fighting far away: I love you and I wish you were here," and blows a kiss.

It's only when Kurt rests his hand on her shoulder and offers her his handkerchief that Rachel realizes that the tears are actually falling.

The show doesn't win Best Original Score or Best Musical, but Rachel finds that she doesn't care about that as much as she probably should. Mercedes and Kurt say that Rachel was robbed, but it's all right. The show is still going strong financially, and 'Get It Right' wins Song of the Year at the Grammys.

'Get It Right' might be the bestseller, but the most critically acclaimed of the songs in Rachel's musical are 'The War-Council of the Accessories'. In that scene, the Headband and the Hairbrush set their separate plans in motion; the Headband plots to have Danny fall for Lucy, while the Hairbrush plans to have Sophia give up her vendetta against Lucy. They have a falling out over which one of them Lucy will throw away first – which ends up being the Hairbrush, when its bristles break off on Lucy's bad hair day. Feeling betrayed when no one comes to its rescue, the Hairbrush fights its way out of the trashcan and flees in the night, resolving to make Lucy fall for Sophia.

Alex Ross himself complimented 'The War-Council of the Accessories', which thrills Rachel, but Brittany's opinion is, "Remember what I said about a cat getting its temperature taken? That's what it kind of sounds like, if you also throw in some seagulls who think they know how to sing but really can't. Like the one in The Little Mermaid."

"Are you saying Alex Ross has bad taste?" Rachel asks, horrified.

"Who's Alex Ross?"

Rachel huffs. "He writes for The New Yorker. Remember?"

"You mean the 'Capital G Gay' one?" Brittany asks.

"Yes, and…never mind," Rachel sighs. This almost feels like the time when Brittany told her no one taught her to read a calendar. Or the times when she said recipes confused her, and when she said she didn't know who George Balanchine was.

Brittany twirls around her in chair for a few thoughtful moments. Then, "Can I tell you something, Rachel?"

"As long as it's not another creative insult directed at my clothing choices, yes, you may tell me something, Brittany."

Her correction goes ignored. "I've been thinking real hard about what I want to do after I leave the show."

"I imagined that you would go back to touring with your dance corps," Rachel says. "Kurt tells me that you've also received offers to do choreography for several upcoming shows."

Brittany nods. "Yeah, but…I don't know. Dancing's super fun and I love it. I like, need it to breathe sometimes. But you know what, Rachel?"

"What?"

"I always wanted to be an animal doctor."

Rachel blinks. "A veterinarian?"

"Yeah." Brittany's shoulders slump. "It's kind of a secret, though. People always thought I was too stupid to be one, so I kind of gave up on it, and almost kind of forgot about it."

"Oh," Rachel says. She couldn't very well say Oh Brittany, you're not that stupid. Brittany would know that she was lying.

Brittany looks at her thoughtfully. "I think you know what I mean. Your first dream hasn't come true yet either."

Rachel looks away and clears her throat. "Well. Yes. I suppose I do know what you mean." She looks back at Brittany. "But we were discussing what you wanted to do after your contract was up, weren't we?"

"Oh, yeah." Brittany swings her legs back and forth. "I wrote to Santana about it. She called me and told me that I'm super smart and super famous and that I can do anything I want to." Brittany shrugs. "So I'm going back to school. I have to take tests and stuff first, which kind of scares of me because sometimes I just don't understand anything, but I want to try."

Rachel exhales. "That's…great, Brittany."

Brittany smiles at her. "You're super famous now too, and you can do anything you want to. You write awesome songs but I think you're awesomer when you're singing them."

"I think you should give it another shot."

Rachel looks up at Kurt. "Another shot at what?"

Kurt waves his hand around. "Auditions. As successful as your show is, Rachel, it doesn't mean you have to spend the rest of your career behind the curtain." He smiles. "You're not an unknown anymore, Rachel. You have a Grammy on your mantel. People know who you are, and isn't that already half the struggle to making here?"

Rachel's fingers tighten around her coffee cup. "It's not that I ever really thought that I'd never get my moment. I just haven't thought about it in since the show took off. I haven't been practicing as much as I used to. What if I'm rusty?"

"Slow down, Rachel," Kurt soothes. It feels familiar. "All I meant was that you really ought to think about it again."

Rachel sighs. "You're not the only one telling me to."

"Let me guess, Brittany beat me to it." Kurt sips his coffee. "I've seen her walking around backstage with those test preparation workbooks. She's serious business now."

"But she's right." Admitting that Brittany is right is an unfamiliar experience, but isn't that what life is – a string of unfamiliar experiences? "I mean, this has been a lovely ride with the musical and everything. Winning the Grammy made me happier than I ever imagined. But Brittany's contract ends in July, and I know she's been a huge part of the show's success. We're drawing up a contract for her standby to take over, but to be honest I don't know how much longer it will last without Brittany."

Kurt nods and looks at her thoughtfully for a long moment. "If I ever had any doubt that you've changed," he says, "well, consider my doubt erased."

"How's that?"

He reaches over to pat Rachel's hand. "The old Rachel Berry would never have admitted that the success of something she created depended so much on somebody else."

"Just so we're clear, though," Rachel replies, as nonchalantly as possible, "I'm a step ahead of you. The new Rachel Berry has just received a callback for the role of Ellen in the upcoming revival of Miss Saigon."

"Really?" Kurt exclaims. "That's wonderful."

Rachel nods, grasping Kurt's hand and squeezing it. "It is. And I've got a good feeling about this one."