I had an idea for a Rachel/Shelby oneshot, but once I started writing it seemed to take on a life of its own, now I've got 10,000 words written and I'm nowhere near being finished so I thought I'd post the first part of it now to see if anyone was actually interested in reading it before I work on polishing up and finishing off the rest!

And for those of you that read my other Shelby/Rachel fics, I should have the next chapter of Building Bridges posted in the next day or two, and the next chapter of Saviour up by the end of the week.

Rachel sighed and rolled onto her back, it was nearly midnight, she'd been in bed for almost two hours but she couldn't sleep, her brain insisting on replaying her interaction with Shelby that afternoon on an endless loop. She didn't understand it, she still had so many questions, questions she knew she'd never get the answer to.

She sighed again and pushed herself to sit up, reaching over to flick on the light by her bed as she admitted defeat, the longer she laid there trying to sleep, the less ikey she was to actually fall alseep. She chewed her lip for a minute before getting out of bed and pulling on some clothes, deciding that a walk around the block might help clear her mind enough to sleep.

Rachel pushed her phone into the pocket of her jeans and pulled on a hoodie, slipping on the sneakers she wore for her morning run before leaving the house, both her fathers away meaning she didn't have to worry about anyone catching her or finding out she'd left the house at such a late hour.

She walked for a while before realising it wasn't working, her mind was still buzzing, still replaying Shelby's words over and over. It was moments like this that Rachel wished she had an off button, wished she could turn off her brain so she could sleep for a while.

Deciding to walk a little further, Rachel rounded a corner and saw the convenience store, she knew she had ten dollars in the back of her phone case for emergencies, so she decided to treat herself to a box of chamomile tea and some of her favourite vegan snacks, intending to put a movie on when she got home and hopefully relax enough to sleep.

She reached for the door handle, only for someone to pull open the door from inside at the same time, and, whatever Rachel was expecting, she never once expected to find herself catching a very drunk Shelby Corcoran as the woman almost fell into her arms.

"Mo… Shelby" Rachel frowned, correcting herself when she remembered their earlier conversation, "what are…" she took a look at the woman who was making no effort to stand back on her own two feet. She was still dressed in the same clothes as she had been that afternoon, although she was slightly more disheveled than she had been, she was clutching a bottle of cheap vodka, and the sweet smell of expensive perfume that had filled Rachel's nose when they'd hugged several hours ago was now replaced by the unmistakable smell of alcohol.

"You're so beautiful" Shelby slurred, tears filling her eyes as she clumsily reached up to put her hand on Rachel's cheek, "so, so beautiful."

Rachel dropped her gaze to the floor, "it's not enough though is it" she whispered.

"Too much" Shelby mumbled, "you, you're perfect, too perfect, my beautiful, perfect girl."

"No" Rachel shook her head, "I'm not. You don't want me to be your anything. We should be grateful for each other from afar" she whispered, standing Shelby upright again and letting go of her hold on the woman once she was sure she had her balance, "I wanted you. I wanted to get to know you, I wanted… I needed my Mom but you…" Rachel was struggling to fight back tears of her own, "you don't want me. I get it."

She didn't see Shelby slide down the wall to the ground as she turned to walk away, tea forgotten, but she did hear Shelby berating herself, "why do you always have to be so stupid? You mess everything up. She's better off without you anyway. You're fucked up, she doesn't want to be like you."

Rachel would be lying if she said she wasn't slightly concerned when Shelby had all but stumbled into her arms, but that concern only grew when she heard the venom in the woman's voice as she spoke to herself and she knew she couldn't leave her here alone. "Come on" Rachel walked back over to Shelby and held out her hand, "I'll take you home."

Shelby looked up suspiciously, clutching tightly to her bottle of vodka as she asked, "why? Why would you do that? Just leave me here."

Rachel sighed, "because no matter what you say, you're my Mom, and I care about you. Not to mention that I have a conscience, I can't just walk away and leave you here, not like this."

Shelby relented, accepting Rachel's hand, the teen supporting Shelby as she walked her home, "this isn't my house" Shelby frowned as Rachel unlocked the door to a house just a few streets from the store.

"No" Rachel flicked on a light and led Shelby over to the couch, "it's mine."

She saw a flash of panic cross Shelby's tearstained face, "no, I…"

"My Dad's aren't home." Rachel guessed the reason for Shelby's worry, "they won't be home for a few days so you don't need to worry about them."

"I…"

"I'll get you some water" Rachel whispered, gesturing to the bottle of vodka, "I think you've had enough of that for tonight."

When Rachel came back into the room Shelby had curled into herself, knees pulled into her chest as she stared blankly into space. Rachel didn't think Shelby had noticed her but Shelby's mumbled, "I'm sorry" told her otherwise, her gaze not moving from the invisible spot that she was fixated on.

"Do you…" Rachel trailed off, not even sure what she was asking.

Shelby dropped her head onto her knees, "I'm sorry" she whispered again, her voice barely audible.

"We erm, we should try and get some sleep" Rachel whispered, even though she knew the chances of getting any rest were slim to none.

"I…"

Shelby didn't know what she was saying, but Rachel wasn't sure she wanted to hear what the woman had to say anyway, "drink your water, I'll find you something more comfortable to wear" she said, not giving Shelby time to respond before she stood and made her way upstairs.

Rachel helped Shelby upstairs a while later, slightly glad that Shelby had left her stilettos on the living room floor, "Rachel I…" once again Shelby trailed off, not sure what she could possibly say to her daughter.

"I had to get you some of Daddy's clothes" Rachel held out a pair of grey sweatpants and a white tshirt, "I don't…" Rachel shrugged, "I can only dream of having a figure like yours" she whispered, "I erm…" she gestured to a half open door down the hall, "that's the guest bathroom, I've left a toothbrush on the side of the sink, the towels are clean and you can help yourself to anything…" she gestured to a second door, "that's the guest room, you should find everything you need in there."

It was almost 2am when Rachel made her way back into her bedroom, changing back into the pyjamas she'd taken off earlier that night before sending a quick message to her Daddy, 'can you call me in in the morning please? I'm not sick so don't worry, I'll explain when you call. Love you R*'

Once the message had sent she slowly made her way down the hall to the guest room, signing in relief as she peered through the open door to find Shelby had changed into the sweats of Hiram's and fallen asleep on the bed. Debating her options for a moment, Rachel crept over to the bed to cover Shelby with a blanket, frowning slightly as, even with just the moonlight from the open curtains to light the room, she saw a large dressing stuck haphazardly to Shelby's arm with medical tape, dark patches on the gauze suggesting the wound beneath had been bleeding. She sighed, knowing there wasn't anything she could do about it now, so she simply covered Shelby with the blanket and closed the curtains, pulling the door shut behind her as she headed back to her room.