Graceland (A GLEE Fanfiction)

The Hardest Word to Say Is Goodbye...

As he was cleaning up the , Mr. Schue received a package from New York. The sender read as unknown, but once he opened the package, he saw a letter.

Mr. Schue,

Please hang this somewhere in the choir room. I think you'll like it. :)

Much love,

Rachel

He reached into the package to find a plaque. On it was a portrait of Finn, along with his name, his birth and death year, and a quote. He chuckled once he read what quote it was.

He decided to hang it up next to the choir door, so that when someone walks in, they can see his face and know of the good he's done to the choir room.

Just as he was hanging it up, Marley walked in. "Hey, Mr. Schue," she spoke.

"Hey Marley," he replied, finishing his job and turning to face her. "What's up?"

"What is that?" she asked, looking at the plaque. She walked up to it and got a better view, and saw Finn's photo. "A memoriam?"

Mr. Schue nodded. "Rachel sent it."

"It looks awesome." She then read off what was on it.

"Finn Hudson, 1994-2013." She tilted her head, confused at the quote. "Did he really say that?" she asked.

"Yeah, he did," he replied, chuckling. "Finn was a very unique person."

"I can tell." She chuckled as well. "I was hoping that one day, the two of you could lead us to Nationals." She then turned to face Mr. Schue and asked, "Do you believe in life after death?"

"I don't know, Marley. But I know he's up there, rocking alongside MJ and Elvis."

"I think he told me that he couldn't dance." She looked up. "Michael, please teach him how."

They both laughed, remembering the happier times of his life.

"He was a great guy," Marley said. "We're all gonna miss him."

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"So, what was he like?" Gabe asked as he and Rachel walked to the auditorium where her first Nationals was held.

"Finn?" she asked. He nodded. "Well, he was really sweet, kind, and caring. He was the first popular guy to ever hang out with us. He made me laugh. And smile." She smiled at the ground. "He was my first love."

Once the two walked in, her memory of the infamous kiss came back. She chuckled, and Gabe was a bit confused.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. It's just...this place brings back memories."

"Good or bad?"

"Good." She walked up to the stage and sat on the edge. "Two years ago, at our very first Nationals as the New Directions, Finn and I sang a duet on this very stage. Something came over us, and we ended up kissing on stage, costing us a place in the top 10."

Gabe sat next to her. "Do you regret it?"

"Not one bit."

They sat in silence for a while, not knowing what to say, when Rachel suddenly broke the silence.

"I still talk to him."

"Really?" She nodded. "What do you guys talk about?"

"Not much, considering he's watching me."

She smiled and laughed at herself.

"What?" Gabe asked.

"At our first real rehearsal, we sang about taking the midnight train going anywhere. Now he's on that train."

"You sang Don't Stop Believing?" She nodded. "I love that song."

"Me too," she replied. "Not as much as Faithfully, though."

"Why Faithfully?"

"Again, the memories thing." She smiled and started humming the intro. Gabe joined in, and he eventually started singing the first stanza. Except, when he sang, she didn't really hear him; she heard Finn, and her thoughts went back to her first Regionals competition. The first time he had told her he loved her. Smiling at the thought, she sang the next part. "Restless hearts sleep alone tonight..."

Suddenly, the memories she made with Finn came back: the laughs, the tears, the almost-wedding...the Nationals kiss. They kept playing on repeat in her head, like what the radio does to every single popular song.

She felt tears come down her eyes as she and Gabe sang the chorus. "They say that the road ain't no place to start a family...Right down the line it's been you and me." Arms wrapped around her, but she pictured Finn again as if he was still here. "And loving a music man ain't always what it's supposed to be. Oh, boy, you stand by me..."

When she realized he was still gone, never to come back ever again, she let go of the tears and the sobs she had been holding for so long. She cried and cried into Gabe's chest, and he rubbed her back as it became harder to breathe for her. "Hey, it'll be alright," he comforted, pressing his lips to the top of her head.

Rachel then attempted to talk through her sobbing. "You know, I-I had it all planned out. I was gonna make it big o-on Broadway and maybe do a Woody Allen movie. And then w-when we were ready, I would just...I would come back, and he'd be teaching a new g-generation of glee club, and I'd walk through the choir room doors, and I would just say, "I'm home." And then we would live h-happily ever after." She attempted to wipe her tears away, pulling away from Gabe's embrace to gain more access to her face. "Whenever I'm with you, I picture him, and it's just so hard not to cry because - well, because I don't know what's to come for my future now."

"You are already making it big on Broadway with Funny Girl, so you have part of your future already set out for you." He then lifted her face and wiped her newer tears away. "You have your dads. You have Kurt, Santana, Mercedes, the New Directions-old and new," he looked into her eyes, "and you have me." He gave her a small but meaningful kiss, which she accepted as Gabe's. Once they both pulled away, he continued to speak. "Tell you what: if you're up for it, we can figure out our future together. Finn would want that for you, wouldn't he?"

"Yeah, he would," she replied, smiling. "I think at this point, he'd probably tell me to continue my life without him. Find some joy."

"Did you tell him about your plan?"

Rachel shrugged. "I think he already knew." She then turned to look at him. "Gabe?"

"Yes?"

She pulled him into a hug, something that was quite abnormal for their relationship. "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked, wrapping her arms around her smaller torso.

"Applying to NYADA."

He chuckled in response, putting a piece of her hair behind her ear and lightly kissing her forehead before finishing up the song, holding every word true to his heart as the two held each other tightly, never wanting to let go. Ever.

"I'm forever yours...faithfully."

~~***~~

"The show must go...all over the place...or something."

~Cory Monteith, Glee

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