I know, I know, I still have chapters left to finish on AMNG and Dates but this story has taken over my bus rides since school started and I couldn't stop myself. So I present Today Was a Fairytale.

Disclaimer: I own neither the characters or the Taylor Swift song this has been named after.

Rachel Berry's day was not going well. Scratch that, Rachel Berry's life was not going well.

This wasn't the way it was supposed to be. Rachel was supposed to spend four amazing years at Juilliard making many friends, finding an awesome boyfriend who would stick with her and support her throughout her career (and with any luck be very well endowed but that wasn't a requirement) while earning the lead in every school production she'd perform in, receive glowing reviews for said performances then graduate top of her class. She would then immediately get the lead in one of the three Broadway musicals she had always dreamed of being in, receive glowing reviews for those performances as well, culminating in winning a Tony all while being happily married to her college boyfriend with the most adorable son and daughter as a product of their love.

If you hadn't guessed, none of that happened.

Rachel Berry's life had instead gone like this. Rachel blew her Juilliard audition forcing her to attend the Tisch school at NYU instead, which Rachel still thought an improvement over anything in Ohio, but it wasn't her dream school. She had arrived at NYU a starry eyed 17 year old ready to take on New York and show the world what she was made of but quickly learned that things would not be as easy as she thought. Even making friends proved difficult as no one ever wanted to talk to her. All her classmates ignored her and when they did acknowledge her regarded her with a sense of, well, honestly, outright hate. They treated her like she was a nobody and only served as a background prop. They hated working with her and laughed at her every time she performed a very heartfelt monologue or solo. They clearly didn't appreciate her talent. That was never more evident than when she auditioned for the lead of the musical her freshman year and was basically laughed off stage.

There wasn't a rule saying she couldn't audition but it seemed that Rachel hadn't heard about the unwritten rule that freshmen never did. She wouldn't let this single faux pas deter her though. Rachel could accept spending four years at school with zero friends and zero romantic prospects, after all that's what she did in high school, but she would not accept the hand she had been dealt regarding her place within the theatre school.

For four long years Rachel fought tooth and nail for everything she could at Tisch but still had been given the shaft much of the time. Her professors thought her difficult to work with and labeled her a diva and after her first lead her junior year didn't earn quite the reviews anyone was expecting she was never chosen for a lead role again.

Rachel graduated a middling student from Tisch merely because she had thought she deserved better when no one else thought the same. So maybe she was a bit controlling and liked things to be done a certain way but they weren't acting in some high school play, they were in college hoping to move up to bigger things. Was it her fault no one else seemed as determined or dedicated as her?

So now Rachel spent her days living in a tiny studio apartment in Lower Manhattan working the most mortifying and least glamorous job she could think of as a performer. She acted as a magician's assistant/clown for Rocco the Magnificent/Rocco Rainbow. They worked old folks homes, birthday parties, school events, bar and bat mitzvah's, and basically anything else someone would need a clown or magician for.

After Rachel had been turned down for yet another role and the need for food and money for rent became dire Rachel had no choice but to seek out employment in a less than desirable position. Since the only thing she was qualified for was singing, dancing and acting her options were rather limited. She scoured the jobs page for days in the paper until she saw Performer Needed. The only credentials needed for the job was a flexible schedule and some acting experience. Rachel had both so to the interview she went.

Rocco was a sweet older man, the nicest man she'd met in New York in the four and a half years she had been there and had hired her immediately after he saw her résumé. Despite her lack of actual job experience she had been the only person to apply who had actually attended school for acting and could carry a tune while juggling.

Though Rachel had the job with Rocco she continued to audition for anything Broadway related she could find but no one was interested. They all told her the same things: not enough experience, not pretty enough, not tall enough, not good enough...just not enough. After hearing that over and over Rachel began to doubt herself and eventually quit auditioning all together. She didn't need a Tony to survive, she needed food and shelter and clothing. Working for Rocco provided that.

Unfortunately working for Rocco also provided screaming and messy children, the occasional ass grab from pervy old men and bad pick-up lines from teenage boys who thought she was cute in her various magicians' outfits. Glamorous, right?

Rachel's life sucked. This led to why she was having a bad day every day.

"Rachel, we gotta go. Birthday party in half an hour," Rocco informed her that Saturday afternoon from outside her 'dressing' room door. Rocco worked from home but since he kept all the costumes at his place, Rachel worked from his home as well.

"I'm just putting on my tiara," Rachel informed him as she secured the sparkly silver and plastic beaded head piece. Today they were attending a little girl's fairy princess birthday party so Rachel was required to wear her pink princess costume as Rocco the Magnificent's assistant. It was her least favorite of all the costumes as it was itchy and difficult to move in but Rocco insisted she had to wear it. She stood up from her chair and examined herself in the full length mirror. She looked like Glinda the Good meets Princess Peach if they were pissed off and angry at the world. At least she would be able to put food on her table that night.

Rachel exited her room and found Rocco waiting in the kitchen for her. He was dressed in his usual magician's garb minus his top hat.

"You look lovely Rachel. You'll fit right in at this party," Rocco complimented with a warm smile.

"Thank you Rocco. Are we ready to go?" Rachel checked the time. "It's about 3:30 already."

"Right, let's head out."

Twenty minutes later Rocco and Rachel were setting up in a posh penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park. Rachel couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy. This was the kind of place she should be living in as a Tony Award winning actress with her husband and kids, not some dingy studio with a pullout couch for a bed all alone.

"Rachel, pay attention. That cabinet is an antique!" Rocco warned when Rachel's grip slipped on the vanishing cabinet they were carrying. It wasn't particularly heavy when they worked together with the dolly but it was huge and awkward.

Rachel would have to lament her ill fortune later as the woman who'd hired them came over to announce that the children were ready for the show. Rocco told her another two minutes and they'd be all set.

"Ready for another show Rachel?" Rocco asked with anticipation as he clapped and rubbed his hands together.

Rachel gave him a weak smile. "Ready to get this over with," she replied. Rocco didn't even notice the sarcasm in her voice as he was genuinely excited. Rocco lived for this kind of thing.

There were 20 kids watching as Rocco pulled a rabbit from a hat and do all the old standards. He did card tricks, made things float, sawed Rachel in half then for the grand finale he would make her disappear. Doing her part perfectly she helped show off that there was only one way out of the cabinet and that Rocco had the only key. She stepped inside and Rocco locked the door. Of course she was simply standing behind a trap door in the back of the cabinet when he opened the door to show she was gone but the kids didn't know that and thought Rocco was simply amazing. She could hear them cheering and awing over where Rachel had gone before it was time for Rocco to make her reappear. She waited patiently in silence for the signal that it would be okay to open the door again until her attention was taken away from Rocco's voice and brought to something else, something within the box.

Rachel had been in that box probably over a hundred times now but she had never noticed it before. There was a light shining onto the door from behind her. It was the dullest glow of light but it was definitely there when it hadn't ever been before.

Maneuvering herself to look behind her Rachel attempted to find the source of the light. Had the back begun to crack or was she just going crazy from having to perform this stupid trick nearly every day?

Her eyes found the tiny slit going down the middle of the back of the cabinet. There was definitely light coming through it. She pressed on the crack to see if it were real and as she did so the reddish beam of light grew wider as the slit creaked open more.

Rachel was so confused and a little scared that out of nowhere a crack appeared in the back of her boss's prop and was creaking open. She hoped Rocco wouldn't blame her for his cabinet breaking and make her pay for it.

Just as she was about to ignore it and turn back around to make her sudden reappearance and wow the little kids in the audience, a voice not belonging to anyone she knew could be heard through the crack.

"Hello?" the deep voice called out from beyond the back of the cabinet. Rachel gulped nervously. "Is someone there?"

Rachel wanted to turn around and pretend this was not happening. This could not be happening! Rachel couldn't afford health insurance to cover therapy, if she was going crazy she'd have to become a ward of the state.

Her eyes closed tightly as she tried to make the light go away. She pleaded with herself that this all was a dream and she'd wake up in her tiny apartment to get ready for another day as a lowly assistant. Only when her eyes opened once more they fell on something she certainly never expected.

Standing in front of her wearing only a pair of what she could only refer to as knickerbockers was a very tall man with unkempt brown hair and the most beautiful whiskey eyes she had ever seen. He stared at her with a mixture of awe and confusion as he took in her form. Then his face cracked into a smile.

"Are you a princess?" he asked, gesturing to the getup Rachel was wearing. She looked down at herself to remember what exactly she had on before looking back at the man with wide eyes. She tried to speak but nothing came out. Rachel cleared her throat and tried again.

"Um, not...not really. This is, um, it's a costume for my job. America doesn't have princesses," she replied quietly and very unsure of herself.

"What's America?" the man asked scrunching his eyebrows together. Rachel looked at him in disbelief.

"You know, America, the United States. The country we're in right now." She waved her hands around to make her point.

The man chuckled at her. "I'm not sure where you think you are but I can guarantee you it's not America as you call it. Right now you're in my bedroom in my home in the Kingdom of McKinley. I'm not sure how you got into my closet but I can't say that I mind." He flashed her a cocky smirk.

Rachel was still hung up on the 'not in America' thing however. "You're trying to tell me we're in some kingdom? Is this like Great Britain or something? Wait, no, that still doesn't make sense. Look, I don't know who you are or what exactly is going on here but there's no way I'm in some random kingdom I've never heard of. I'm in Manhattan in New York in the United States and there's no possible way I could be anywhere else." She balled her hands into fists and placed them on her hips.

The man just laughed at her and Rachel couldn't help but notice how adorable his smile and laugh were and also how sizzling his bare chest was now that she really looked at it. Rachel shook any thoughts she might have had about licking his abs from her mind then stared into his face determinedly again.

The tall man looked down at her pointedly. "I don't know who you are or how you got here but you're lucky I haven't called the guards on you. You're trespassing on private property dressed like a princess when you aren't one talking about imaginary places I've never heard of. I could have you locked up in the loony bin for this but since you're cute I'll pretend like you're a guest of mine if anyone asks," the man said, turning around to head further into his room.

Rachel was a bit stunned. Did this supremely attractive man just call her cute? That never happened before. She always attracted creepers like her next door neighbor Jacob. Contrary to his belief, Jewfros were never going to be in style and them living next to each other was a not a sign from God that they should 'do it and make hot Jew babies' as he had not so eloquently and grossly put it.

Rachel followed him further into his room, noticing the surroundings. There were no lamps and the furniture looked like antiques except they were completely new. The reddish light Rachel had seen was coming from candles sitting on a desk in one of those old fashioned candelabras. The room was absolutely beautiful and fit for royalty.

"You think I'm cute?" she asked before she could stop the words from flowing out her mouth.

The man lied down on his king size four poster bed crossing one leg over the other and lacing his fingers behind his head to cradle it on his fluffy pillows. His eyes scanned her body as he appraised her more fully. "Yeah, you're pretty hot." Rachel couldn't stop herself from blushing.

"You're pretty hot yourself," she mumbled, not fully realizing she'd just admitted that out loud.

The man smiled a little smugly. "So what's your name? I think it only fair you share it since you did come out of my cabinet."

Rachel looked back over at the cabinet and her eyes widened. It looked exactly like the one Rocco used in his show. She turned her attention back to the man lying on the bed, waiting for her name.

She hesitantly spoke. "I'm Rachel, Rachel Berry. And you are?"

The man sat up on the bed before rolling out of it. He stood up straight in front of Rachel.

"Finn." He took Rachel's hand and kissed the back of it as he looked deeply into her eyes. "And it's a pleasure to meet you Miss Berry of America."

Rachel shuddered at the sound of her name falling from his lips and felt herself growing wet just from the single touch. What was going on? Rachel never lost her head over men yet here she was about to turn into a gooey lust pool because a man she just met kissed her hand and said she was cute...a man she met inside of a cabinet. Oh no, Rocco's show!

Rachel realized just how long she had been gone and knew Rocco would be wondering where the hell she literally disappeared to. Though Rachel really wasn't ready to leave this strange fantasy her brain had cooked up yet she knew she had to.

"I'm sorry, I have to go. It was nice meeting you...even if you probably are just a figment of my imagination." Rachel pulled her hand from Finn's grasp and began walking back in the direction of the cabinet.

Finn quirked an eyebrow at Rachel's statement then followed after her in confusion. "Wait, hold on." He spun Rachel around to face him. She looked worried. "You can't leave after we've just met. I mean, you seem a little crazy but you seem really nice too. I could use someone nice to talk to," he stated meekly. Rachel looked into his eyes which were giving off the slightest hint of sadness. "Don't leave yet."

Rachel watched Finn take her hand and hold onto it. Her mouth fell open to speak. "I'm very sorry Finn but I need to go. I was in the middle of working and my boss is depending on me." She looked around her hoping she wouldn't regret the next words out of her mouth. "When I'm done working I'll see if I can come back," she suggested uncertainty in her voice.

Rachel had no idea how she had gotten there in the first place much less how she would get back but something in the way Finn stared at her made her want to try. She just hoped it wouldn't be a promise she couldn't keep.

Finn smiled at her as he gripped her hand tighter. "Please do. I promise I'll be more appropriately dressed when you come back." They both looked down at Finn's bare chest, Rachel trying very hard not to reach out and feel his skin and muscle under her fingers.

"Oh, it's okay. I don't mind how you're dressed right now." Rachel wanted to face palm herself. Why couldn't she control her mouth? Finn simply smirked at her again. "I really do need to go now."

Rachel dropped Finn's hand and turned to walk back into the cabinet. She took one final look at the more than likely fictional man who had somehow managed to steal her heart in a matter of minutes before closing the door and facing the front again. Everything was pitch black as Rachel stood there. There was no light and no gap in the wall behind her, just black.

Rachel steeled herself for her reentry into her harsh reality before opening the trap door to find the front door still closed and locked. She tried pushing on it but it wouldn't budge. Then she heard Rocco's voice and the door opened again to reveal the bright room 20 kids were clapping in.

To say she was confused was an understatement. Rachel could have sworn she had been gone for several minutes yet as she stepped out of the cabinet it was as if no time had passed at all.

Rocco noticed Rachel's expression and moved to whisper to her. "Rachel, are you alright?"

Rachel stared back at her boss. Was she alright?

"I don't know."