AN: So, I realized the other day how much I missed writing this story. This takes place about two years after We Belong Together's epilogue. Rachel is about 24 in this story, just for reference. Just remember, this is a Puckleberry LOVE story, I promise. I hope you love it 3

SIX MONTHS AGO

"It's over, Rachel. I'm sorry."

Rachel Berry looked up from the couch where she was sitting, a puzzled look on her face. She hadn't even realized her fiancee, Noah Puckerman, was home, let alone trying to carry on a conversation with her. She had been in the middle of marathoning "My 600-lb Life" on TLC, and was actually a bit annoyed that Puck had interrupted her with what she guessed was something stupid.

Rachel had spent most of her time over the past three months watching TV and not much else. Currently, her hair was matted and piled on top of her head in a messy bun. She was dressed in an old and worn tee shirt that belong to Puck, paired with a dirty pair of sweatpants. She didn't look like someone who once had a shot of making it on Broadway.

Of course, those were dreams Rachel no longer possessed.

Rachel and Puck had moved to New York City the summer after Rachel graduated from college. Puck already had a job lined up while Rachel spent the first few months working with a coach to help her land and nail auditions so she could start work as a Broadway actress. At first, things were slow moving. She had a few auditions for some things off-Broadway, but she hadn't been cast in anything, causing Rachel to become extremely frustrated.

So, to help contribute to the bills and rent, Rachel took a job as a nanny for a wealthy family. It was easy work, and the kids loved Rachel. They especially loved when she sang to them, so she was able to get plenty of practice time in while she was working instead of auditioning.

It just so happened, the uncle of the kids she watched knew someone who was a big producer on Broadway getting ready to cast for a new show. All it took was the kids singing her praises to their uncle for Rachel to land an audition.

Rachel was thrilled-this was it. This was her big break.

Rachel spent hours and hours preparing for the audition. Puck helped her prepare several different songs to perform, and they stayed up late night after night until she could sing it perfectly.

Rachel showed up for her audition and met with the producer. It took about two minutes for Rachel to realize the only way she was landing the most minor of roles was if she slept with the producer. So Rachel left and didn't look back.

She gave up. If that was how things worked on Broadway, she didn't want to have anything to do with it. She stopped nannying, stopped looking for interviews, stopped caring.

Puck was working hard all day, and Rachel sat on the couch watching TV all day. They stopped going out on dates and stopped acting like a couple. Puck loved Rachel more than anything, but it was frustrating watching her spiral down like she was. He didn't know what brought on the change in her, and he didn't know how to help her.

He just couldn't watch her like this anymore.

"What are you talking about, Noah?" Rachel asked, barely acknowledging his presence. She was more interested in her TV show than what her fiancé was trying to say to her.

"You. Me. Us. This relationship. It's over."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, very funny," she said sarcastically. "What is it, April Fool's Day?"

"This isn't a joke, Rachel," Puck said seriously. She finally pulled her eyes away from the television screen and noticed he had two suitcases on the floor beside him. "I've stood by and watched you these past few months. You've stopped caring about yourself, and stopped caring about us. I love you, but you're not the girl I fell in love with anymore."

Rachel felt her heart drop into her stomach. She realized Puck was being serious, and it terrified her. She'd lost her passion and her future career. She wasn't ready to lose her love too.

"Noah, please," Rachel pleaded.

"I'm sorry, Rachel. I just can't do this anymore." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead before placing his key on the table and walking out the door.

PRESENT DAY

At 2:15 pm, a sharp knock at the door woke Rachel up from her second nap of the day. This had been her daily routine for the past six months since Puck had walked out on them. She slept in every day, watched TV, ate whatever she wanted, then napped when she felt like it. She felt like she was just existing, not living. Without Puck, her life didn't seem worth living anymore.

Wrapping the blanket around her body, Rachel pulled herself off the couch and walked over to the door, wondering who could possibly be there to see her. After graduating and moving to New York, Rachel didn't see any of her friends anymore. Quinn was busy with school, Kurt was still pissed at her for calling off the wedding (even if it wasn't her decision), Sam was busy finalizing his divorce, and Will and Cooper were off living their lives with their families. Puck had always been the one there for Rachel, but now he was gone too.

Rachel pulled the door open, her jaw dropping when she saw who was standing there.

Quinn Fabray, her ex-future sister-in-law and one of her best friends, pushed right past her and walked into the apartment, her arms full of shopping bags. Following behind her was Kurt Hummel, her childhood best friend and the boo to her diva.

She could honestly say she was shocked to see them. Neither of them had been pleased with her when she told them about her and Puck splitting up, and she had hardly seen them over the past six months.

"I...um..." Rachel stammered, not sure what to say.

"The polite thing to say is 'please come in, Quinn and Kurt,'" Quinn said, looking at Rachel with her hand resting on her hip.

"Except we already walked in, so that doesn't exactly apply, Blondie," Kurt said, rolling his eyes at Quinn. He turned back to Rachel, looking her up and down with a critical gaze before shaking his head. "You look like hell, diva," he said sadly, shaking his head. "It's like, all that hard work I did in college to turn you into a fashionista went out the door with your wayward ex-boyfriend."

Rachel felt a pang in her chest when Kurt mentioned her ex (she refused to even think his name). She knew it had been six months since he waked out and she needed to move on with her life, but she just couldn't. She hadn't heard one word from him since he had left, which hurt more than him leaving. Ever since the two of them had gotten together, they had never gone more than two days without any communication, including the almost two years they were long distance after he graduated.

She had no idea if he was doing okay. Part of her wanted to know he was falling apart as much as she was, but the other wanted him to be happy. She still loved him, after all.

"Yeah, well, things changed," Rachel murmured, sinking into a chair at her kitchen table.

Her apartment had fallen into disarray since Noah had moved out. When they were still together, Rachel had made sure everything was picked up and neat, but she gave up caring after he left. That extended to her personal appearance as well.

Her straight, brown hair had slowly become dull and matted, the consequences of not washing or brushing it regularly. Her once clear skin was marked by blemishes without a trace of makeup to be found. Her eyes, usually bright and shiny with ambition, were now dull and lifeless. In short, Rachel was a shell of the person she had once been.

"They don't change that much, diva. You could at least pretend like you give a damn about anything."

Rachel gave him a look. "Harsh, boo."

"I only claimed to be honest, not nice," he quipped, pulling open the refrigerator and helping himself to a bottle of water.

Rachel turned her attention to Quinn, who was casually leaning against the bar in the kitchen. Her eyes had barely left Rachel since she walked through the door.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Rachel admitted. "I thought you'd take your brother's side. He is family, after all."

"Me, take that slut's side? Please, I thought you knew me better than that, Rachel. I have always been on your side," she said seriously, looking her best friend in the eyes. "If my dumbass whore brother is stupid enough to throw away the best relationship he's had with a woman ten times better than him, then I'm never going to be on his side. I told him as much when I bitched him out after he finally admitted to me that he broke off your engagement."

Rachel cracked a genuine smile as she imagined Quinn yelling at her brother over the phone. She'd seen her do it to him in person on multiple occasions, so it wasn't a hard scene to picture.

"So, did you two just come here to harass me?" Rachel asked, covering her mouth as she stifled a yawn. She grabbed a half-empty bag of Doritos off the kitchen table and started munching on them.

"What, we can't come and see how our bestie is doing?" Quinn asked. "You've been dodging calls and texts since that asshole left you."

"That asshole happens to be your brother," Rachel reminded Quinn.

"So? That doesn't stop him from being a grade-A douchebag. Anyways, stop interrupting me before I lose my train of thought. You've been avoiding contact with the two of us, so we needed to perform a welfare check and make sure you were still a functioning, breathing adult. Which is apparently only half-true," Quinn joked.

"Plus we wanted to get you out of this cavern of misery and around actual people for once," Kurt added. "And, since I know you and how you fare after breakups, I knew it was going to take a good six hours to get you ready to go anywhere in public."

"Why can't I just go like this?" Rachel asked, gesturing to the sweatpants and oversized t-shirt she was wearing.

"Over my dead body," Kurt said with a scandalized voice. "I refuse to be seen in public with anyone who looks less than perfect. I had serious reservations about even walking down the street with the blonde to my left."

"Bite me," Quinn retorted, grabbing a can of Diet Coke out of the fridge and cracking it open.

"Besides, we need you looking your best. Will and Cooper are in town, and you need to look as hot as you did back in your college band days."

Rachel rolled her eyes at that. "We're not getting the band back together, if that's what you're thinking. My performing days are over," she said sadly.

"I didn't say anything about performing," Kurt said defensively. "I just thought you'd want to make a good impression on the newly-single Cooper. You are both on the rebound, after all," he teased.

"Nice try, but I'm not pity-fucking your brother-in-law," Rachel said as Kurt pulled the hair tie out of her hair, accidentally yanking a few strands of her hair as he did so. "Ow, watch it," she warned.

"Sorry diva, but this would be easier if you actually took care of yourself," he warned before attacking her messy and knotted hair with a comb. "And anyways, Cooper doesn't need a pity-fuck. You should see the girls throw themselves at him when Blaine and I go out with him. It's like he's a movie star or something. The man's a goddamn middle school teacher, for crying out loud!"

"Please, Cooper is a hot piece of ass and you know it," Quinn said, flipping the TV on and turning the volume down as she searched for something to play in the background. "I would have banged him for sure."

"Yeah, well you're marrying the jolly green giant, so you missed your chance," Kurt replied.

It was true. In three months time, Quinn would be Mrs. Finn Hudson, and she was scared shitless. She'd been planning the wedding for over a year now. Originally, she and Rachel were going to get married within two weeks of each other and be each other's maids of honor. But now, with her dumbass brother screwing everything up, Rachel would have to be paired with him when Quinn and Finn walked down the aisle and said 'I do'.

"I'm still allowed to list guys I'd fuck if I wasn't engaged," Quinn huffed. "You do that all the time, and you're already married!"

Kurt and Blaine had gotten married in a quick and rushed ceremony a year ago. It hadn't been planned, but Kurt's dad had a heart attack and for a while it didn't look as though he would make it. Thankfully, he ended up making a full recovery, but Kurt had wanted his dad there for him on his big day. Not that he was complaining about the quickie marriage: he loved having Blaine as his husband.

Rachel fell silent as she listened to Kurt and Quinn bicker over silly nonsense. It was like nothing had ever happened and they were back in college sitting in her and Quinn's dorm room.

Kurt dragged Rachel over to the kitchen sink and gave her a look, meaning she was not to move. He vanished into her bathroom, presumably to grab her shampoo and give her hair a much needed scrub.

"So, have you talked to your brother lately?" Rachel asked Quinn quietly, wondering what Puck had been up to since he'd left their shared apartment six months ago.

"Working, really," Quinn answered, walking back into the kitchen and hopping up on the counter to take a seat. "His company is busy planning some big event so he's been pretty slammed with that. I don't see him that often, to be honest. We got dinner a few weeks ago when my parents and Abby were in town." Quinn made sure to avoid mentioning that Puck brought his new girlfriend with him. She was sure Rachel wasn't strong enough to hear that information.

"So, he's doing okay?"

"Yeah, he's just like his normal asshole self."

Rachel didn't know if she was happy to hear that or not. She wanted him to be doing well, but she also wanted him to be hurting as much as she was. It physically hurt her heart thinking about him, yet he seemed to not care how she was doing.

Kurt returned and began thoroughly cleaning Rachel's hair as the conversation lulled, leaving the apartment in silence with the exceptions of the television and Kurt's labored breathing as he cleaned Rachel's hair.

It felt like Rachel was sitting in the kitchen for hours. After Kurt shampooed and conditioned her hair three times, he took his time blowdrying her newly cleaned locks. He refused to let Rachel look at herself in a mirror until he was done, claiming it was akin to looking at your gifts before Christmas morning.

After her hair was dry, Kurt wrapped her dark locks in hot rollers, then turned his attention to her face and sighed. "You could have at least taken care of the raw materials for me, diva," he groaned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rachel asked.

"It's as though you haven't even breathed in the direction of a bottle of moisturizer in months. Your skin is all dry and just...ugh. I'm going to Sephora tomorrow and completely revamping your bathroom. We need to get you back on track," he scolded before pulling out a large case full of makeup.

Kurt started by covering her face in a cool liquid and rubbed it into her skin. Rachel just closed her eyes and tuned him out as he made her over. It was what she used to do when he would get her ready for her shows at O'Hara's during her college years.

Finally, after her back started to ache from sitting for so long, Kurt let Rachel stand up, though he yanked her arm when she headed towards her bathroom.

"And just where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"To the bathroom?" she asked.

"No no, you still need something to wear. I refuse to let my best friend go out in public looking like a hobo," he said, handing her a heavy garment bag. With a roll of her eyes, Rachel took the bag into her room and shut the door, giving herself a moment of privacy.

Inside, Kurt had put together a whole new outfit for her. There was a long sleeved, white, flowing blouse made of silk. With it, he'd paired a high-waisted red skirt that fell mid-thigh. She wore a pair of neutral tights under the skirt and finished the look with a pair of black heeled boots that ended at her knees.

Once she was dressed, Rachel walked back out into the kitchen, where Kurt let out a low whistle. "Damn, I'm good," he said, which caused Quinn to laugh. "Am I not, blondie?" he asked.

"No, you're not good. You're amazing," she gushed, walking over to Rachel. "I can't believe you did all that in three hours."

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "Am I allowed to see myself now?" she asked.

"Stop being such a drama queen," Kurt teased, leading her into the bathroom. As Rachel stared into the mirror, she thought for a moment a model had broken into her apartment. After a few minutes, she realized that was her.

She couldn't remember the last time she looked this good. Her brown hair was curled and cascaded down over her shoulders in thick waves, framing her slim face perfectly. Her makeup was perfect, yet natural looking. The outfit she had on accentuated her body in all the right places.

She looked hot.

Kurt handed her a black pea coat and a black purse. "Come on, we're already going to be late," he groaned.

"Late for what?" she asked.

"I told you, we're meeting Cooper and Will. They're both in the city for the week and asked us to grab a drink with them."

"They didn't ask me," Rachel huffed.

"That's because you've been ignoring every call and text you get," Kurt said as Rachel locked the front door to her apartment. "Cooper practically begged me to bring you with us, said he hasn't talked to you in ages and wanted to make sure you were actually still alive."

Rachel rolled her eyes as they three of them climbed onto the elevator and headed down to the front lobby of her building. Once there, they walked outside into the crisp fall air, shivering as a gust of wind hit them.

"I think he's just lonely," Kurt continued as they walked down the street, Rachel following Kurt's lead. "He's been constantly hitting Blaine and I up to do something since Santana left him. And, since he only has Lily with him twice a month, he's all alone and doesn't know what to do with himself. Blaine needs to find him a girlfriend before I kill him," Kurt mumbled, turning left down another street.

"Oh come on," Quinn said, rolling her eyes. "He's not that bad."

"You only think that because he doesn't call you at midnight asking why you aren't at the bar acting as his wingman," Kurt complained. "With Will being a dad and Sam all the way out in California, Blaine and I are all he has. He's getting on my last nerve."

Kurt stopped outside a bar called "Whisky Tavern" and pulled the door open, letting Quinn and Rachel walk in ahead of him. Rachel looked around inside the dark room, adjusting to the new setting. There were tables placed sporadically around, each of them full with groups of people. Music was playing in the background, but it was hard to hear it over the many conversations that seemed to be going on all at once. They were never going to find Cooper or Will in here.

"DIVA!" someone yelled across the room. Rachel looked up and spotted Cooper frantically waving at her from a booth in the corner. She spotted Will next to him with a grin on his face. Rachel nudged Quinn and gestured over at them.

She took a deep breath as she headed over to the table, wondering what she had gotten herself into.