Title: Love in the Air
Rating: T
Word Count: 9,159
Ship: Michellie, Blake/Ali, Shaylin with Damsay and Camrissa (mentioned Samuel/Emily)
Summary: In the spirit of Valentine's Day, Mr. Schuester assigns romance songs. Lindsay convinces Damian and not so eager couple Marissa and Cameron to help her get together some of the younger members using the homework assignment.
Note: This is ridiculously long. I'm not joking as you can see by the word count. It's AU and set a few years after New Directions graduated. I hope you guys like it. It took forever to write.
"Happy two days before Valentine's Day." Lindsay looks up to see a red rose right in front of her nose. The boy holding it gives her a bright smile before gently placing it in her hand and kissing her lightly on the cheek. Damian sits down in his usual seat next to his girlfriend and puts his arm around her. "You're going to love what I have planned for the actual thing."
"If this is today, I can't wait to see tomorrow." Lindsay thought she had been whispering as she leaned in to kiss Damian, but she hears loud, purposefully coughing noises behind her. The senior couple looks behind them to see their good friend Hannah taking her seat, followed by Abraham.
"Can we keep the PDA and the cutesy talk to a minimum please?" Abraham asks, slouching in his seat and crossing his arms.
"I see someone is upset about Emily dumping him," Hannah says, holding out the bag of cinnamon hearts she was carrying to Damian and Lindsay. Lindsay happily takes one and pops it into her mouth, but still gives Abraham a pitying look. However, she had warned him. The head Cheerio was bound to break his heart sooner or later.
"You would be too if you paid as much as I did for the perfect gift," Abraham responds, taking a heart and ripping it in half with his teeth. Any I told you so feelings fade from Lindsay at the sight of how upset Abraham is. Well, maybe not all of them, but she at least feels bad for thinking them.
"I have to give you props though," Damian says with a mouth full of hearts. "I think you managed to date her the longest out of anyone, even Samuel. And you're only a sophomore."
However, this only brightens Abraham's mood slightly and he still sits with his arms locked over his chest. But, Damian and Lindsay become too wrapped up in each other once again and Hannah is busy greeting Lily who had just entered the choir room.
"Charlie, no!" Lindsay glances away from Damian to see Aylin marching into the room, a puppy dog eyed Charlie right at her heel.
"Just one date and I'll leave you alone," the sophomore whines, placing a hand on her shoulder to get her to stop walking and look at him. "I promise. No, I pinky swear." The boy holds out his hand, pinky pointed towards Aylin. The red haired girl is not amused.
"That is what you said when I agreed to go with you to homecoming," Aylin says with an eye roll, trying to look anywhere, but Charlie's eyes. If she did, she is sure to cave.
"C'mon, Aylin. It's Valentine's Day. You don't want to be alone on Valentine's Day," Charlie argues, pulling at straws to get just one little date. Lindsay always admired the boy's persistence, but it has been this way since freshman year. Charlie begs Aylin for a date, she goes on one or two, and he refuses quit despite her rejecting him after every one. Part of her wants to side with Charlie since Aylin is stringing him on by agreeing to so many dates. However, she always tells him she doesn't want to be his girlfriend. The red head has always been honest.
"No, I'm not going to be alone on Valentine's Day. I'm going to be alone on Single Awareness Day," Aylin jokes, but Charlie just gives her a lost look.
"I will get this date, Aylin. I will!" Charlie brushes past the object of his affections and finds a seat in the front row next to Michael, who is too busy playing a game on his phone to notice anything around him. Aylin just rolls her eyes again as he passes her and returns to what she must have been doing before, looking at sheet music.
Lindsay's eyes follow the distracted girl as she doesn't watch where she is going and collides right with Shanna who is standing by the piano discussing a musical arrangement with the pianist. The blonde is only jolted slightly, but all of Aylin's music is scattered to the floor. Shanna turns around and gasps when she sees Aylin on the floor, gathering the spread out pieces. "I am so sorry!"
Shanna rushes to help Aylin pick up her music, handing the girl all the paper she can gather. "No, it was totally my fault. I should have watched where I was going," Aylin argues. Both girls look up at each other at the same time, blue locking with brown. The two hold the stare for a few long seconds before Aylin's eyes shift back down, a blush appearing on her cheeks. "Really, I should pay more attention."
"It's fine," Shanna says softly, her eyes still on Aylin. The two girls stand up, both now staring at the floor with red cheeks. Aylin takes a seat on the opposite side of the room from Charlie while Shanna takes the seat behind Michael.
The whole is exchange is not lost on Lindsay. The raven haired girl had always assumed Aylin turned down Charlie continually because she found the boy annoying. But maybe it is because Charlie is the exact opposite of her type: cute, blond, and female.
"Linds, are you in there?" Lindsay snaps back to Damian, who is looking at her with a funny look on his face. "You were staring off into space. Something on your mind?" Lindsay thinks about telling Damian about what she just realized. However, there are too many people in the room, including the now three behind them, and if her theory isn't true, she doesn't want to help spread a rumor about her teammate.
"I was just trying to think of what you could possibly have planned for Valentine's Day," Lindsay supplies weakly, hoping her boyfriend would buy it. She is in luck because Damian grins at her and kisses her on the forehead.
"You'll just have to wait and see," Damian says with a smirk, leaning in for the kiss he never received.
"Ugh, really?" Damian and Lindsay both shoot Abraham a glare for ruining the kiss and mood yet again. This time Hannah and Lily start giggling, causing everyone in the room to start looking at the couple. However, the spotlight is taken off the bright red pair when Mr. Schuester walks into the room and Charlie and Shanna begin simultaneously asking him questions about the week.
Marissa and Cameron follow Mr. Schuester into the room, holding hands and Marissa is giggling about something Cameron must have just said. The red head and nerdy blonde are the ultimate senior couple in the glee club. They got together during freshman year and are still together after three and a half years. The two managed to stay together through everything, including Marissa's eating disorder and Cameron's constant bullying.
On the other hand, Lindsay and Damian were probably the worst couple for the first three years. Freshman year, they dated other people purposely to make the other jealous. Sophomore year, they finally got together, but couldn't make the relationship work and broke up at least five times before calling it quits for good at the end of the year. Junior year, they went back to square one. Finally, they worked out their differences and had a healthy, nearly perfect relationship towards the end of junior year.
Surprisingly, Marissa and Cameron and Lindsay and Damian are the only couples in New Directions. Surprising because Lindsay remembers hearing stories about how many couples came and went in the original New Directions. But maybe that is about to change.
"Hey guys," Marissa greets with a smile, taking the seat next to Lindsay with Cameron close behind. "What's up?"
"Damian is just teasing me about this big surprise he had planned." As she finishes the sentence, Lindsay notices Damian and Cameron exchanging a look, a knowing look. "You know!" Lindsay exclaims, pointing a finger at Cameron. "Tell me!"
Cameron laughs and shakes his head. "No can do. Damo made me promise to keep it a surprise." Lindsay pouts at Cameron and gives him her best Disney eyes. "No way, those may work on Damian, but they do not work on me."
"Cameron Mitchell, you know I will find a way to get you to tell me," Lindsay warns. Cameron mimes zipping his lips to which Lindsay narrows her eyes at and gives him a playful, but still threatening glare. Though Lindsay wants to keep the surprise a surprise, she loves messing with Cameron and that is worth risking a few spoilers.
"I have to tell you what Cameron did for me this weekend," Marissa gushes and launches into a story about a picnic Cameron took her on. Stories like this are nothing new to Lindsay. Cameron has always been the tiniest bit of a hopeless romantic and the dates he takes Marissa on are enough for Lindsay to joke they should trade boyfriends. Damian is sweet, but his idea of a romantic date is them making macaroni and cheese at his house and watching someone lame action movie.
Lindsay tries her best to listen, but she is once again distracted by a new pair entering the choir room. She watches as Blake, the only junior the glee club, move out the way so Ali can wheel into the room. "Thanks," Ali says shyly, biting her lip a little and brushing the hair out of her face. Blake gives her a dazzling smile and continues to walk next to her as they go further into the room.
Ali wheels her chair into the front row where there is usually a gap. No chair is on the other side of her and Charlie is currently to her left. However, Blake takes a chair down from the second row in the middle to put to the right of Ali. Lindsay can't help, but smile as Ali successfully, but barely manages to hold in a giggle of delight as he does this.
First Aylin and Shanna, now Blake and Ali. Why haven't I noticed this before? Right as she thinks this, Damian slides his hand into her and threads their fingers together, giving her a side smile. Oh yeah, that's why.
"And after the walk, he dropped me off home," Marissa finishes, smiling sweetly at Cameron with pure love in her eyes. Lindsay is slightly afraid she will ask what Lindsay thought of the date, but instead her friend's eyes remain on Cameron. "You are so amazing." Just like that, her two best friends are kissing and Lindsay feels a bit of Abraham's annoyance. Then notices the Asian has not said anything about the new PDA.
Lindsay whips around and raises an eyebrow at Abraham, who is indeed looking at the other, lovesick couple. "You ruin two of our kisses, but you aren't going to say anything about that?"
Abraham shrugs. "I've decided not to take my frustrations out on other couples who are actually happy."
"You couldn't have come to this conclusion fifteen minutes sooner? Or before glee?"
"Okay guys, let's get started!" Mr. Schuester takes control of the room and picks up one of the markers, scrawling a word on the board. "Romance. As you all must be aware, in two days it's Valentine's Day. Now, I know not all of you have that special someone, but why not honor the most loving day of the year with a few songs?"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Nellie runs into the room, looking at her feet with her folder hugged to her chest. I had, uh, a thing to do in my history class." Lindsay doesn't buy it for a minute, noticing the tell tale signs of a slushy. Nellie's shirt has large waters stains that still carry hints of purple despite the determined scrubbing. Lindsay also sees the red cheeks and damp hair. But everyone has the decency not to point this out.
The poor sophomore begins looking around for a seat. "You can sit here." Michael, phone put away, motions to the seat directly next to him on the far left. His voice is eager, as is his expression. Definitely a strange mood for Michael, who is usually very mellow and calm during practice. Nellie gives him that shy smile that seems very popular today and quickly walks over and sits down, obviously wanting the attention off her.
"It's okay, Nellie. We just got started," Mr. Schuester says with a kind smile directed at the late girl. "The assignment this week is to find the most romantic song you know to sing. I want it to come from the heart, guys. Maybe you can sing it to that one special person." Almost all of the kids in the choir room groan with the exceptions of Lindsay, Damian, Cameron, and Marissa. "What's wrong, guys?"
"No offence, Mr. Schue, but most of us don't have a special person," Ali says with a sad shrug.
"Yeah, we'll be spending Valentine's Day alone," Shanna points out.
"Not everyone has to," Charlie says, sulking and casting Aylin a look. Lindsay thinks she sees a spark of jealousy on Shanna's face, but it is quickly gone.
"We just don't want to hear and sing songs that remind us we're alone," Abraham sums up.
"Valentine's Day isn't just about love for partner. It is also about love for family and friends," Mr. Schue says enthusiastically in his attempt to get the kids to warm up to the assignment. "Maybe instead of romance, we can just do love songs, love songs about anything." Despite the small change in the assignment, the mood in the room still doesn't change.
"Ah, Mr. Schue," Cameron interrupts, raising his hand a little. The blonde boy hops down from the second row and picks up the acoustic guitar near the drums. "I know you're trying to downplay the whole romantic love thing, but I have a song I've been saving for awhile and I think it is perfect for this assignment."
Mr. Schue smiles gratefully at Cameron and offers him the floor. Cameron places the guitar strap around his neck and begins toning the instrument slightly. When he's done, he locks eyes with Marissa, giving her a half smile. "Marissa, this is for you. Happy early Valentine's Day." Cameron plucks the first note and the music fills the room.
It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
If Lindsay is feeling the need to cry, she can't imagine what Marissa must feel. Lindsay steals a quick look at her and sees the tears of happiness evident in her friend's eyes. Lindsay smiles at her and at Cameron, leaning her head on Damian's shoulder. She would dare anyone in the room to say this wasn't romantic and she would doubt anyone who told her they didn't feel warm and happy inside from Cameron's heartfelt performance.
Aylin keeps stealing looks in Shanna's direction, looking away every time the blonde almost catches her staring. Shanna can't stop smiling at Aylin, though the other girl is oblivious. Blake isn't afraid to take his eyes off Ali, even when she looks up. All he does is give her a smile that leaves the girl blushing and the fiddling with her hands. Michael's hand keeps twitching as if he wants to grab Nellie's hand, but keeps second guessing. Nellie kicks her feet back and front, her eyes flittering from Michael's face to the floor continually.
The New Directions definitely caught the Valentine's Day love bug and Lindsay wants to do something about it. She just needs a little help and the perfect plan.
Lindsay weaves in between the cafeteria tables, waving the occasional hello at any glee club members or other friends she sees. She stops quickly at Emily's table to talk to her about Abraham. Though Lindsay is a bit angry that Emily broke up with him so out of blue, Emily is still her friend and she wants to know the whole story before she accuses her of anything. "Hey, Em. I heard you broke up with Abraham."
The head Cheerio shrugs, turning in her chair to face Lindsay. "I just wasn't feeling it anymore. I don't know if Abraham and I ever connected." As she says this, Samuel passes by the table and gives Emily a small smile which she returns enthusiastically.
"Emily, are you blushing?" Samuel and Emily had already dated a few months during sophomore year when both were in the glee club, but that seemed like more than just two years ago. The two are so different now, Emily the cheerleader and Samuel the member of a rock band instead of two confident glee club members still figuring everything out. "Are you guys back together? Is that why you broke up with Abraham?"
"No and kind of," Emily admits. "I don't know. We've just always had this connection. I thought it went away after we broke up, but maybe I just didn't see it never went away until now. It's just a feeling." Lindsay smiles at Emily and nods. She knew that feeling all too well. It was the reason she and Damian would fight when they weren't together. They never wanted to be away from each other even if it meant fighting all the time.
Maybe that's how Lindsay can get the younger glee members together, by having them realize the connection they have with one another. And this glee club assignment was the perfect way to do it. If you can't talk about your feelings, sing about them. Lindsay bids a quick goodbye to Emily and rushes over to her usual table with Damian, Marissa, and Cameron along with any other glee club members at lunch.
"Why do you look so happy?" Cameron asks the minute Lindsay sits down next to Damian.
"I have the perfect plan!" Lindsay says excitedly.
"A plan for what?" Damian asks, mouth full of food.
"To get the other potential couples in New Directions together! It will make them happy and it's in the spirit of Valentine's Day," Lindsay announces. She glances at her friends faces for reactions. Cameron and Marissa are both giving her confused looks and Damian is still focused on his food as if he had not been listening. "C'mon guys, this is going to be great."
"Valentine's Day is in two days," Marissa points out. "How can you get together all those people in two days? And what couples are you getting together?"
"Blake and Ali, Nellie and Michael, and Shanna and Aylin," Lindsay answers. "And not just me, all of us." Now Damian puts his food down and looks at Lindsay like she is crazy. Marissa and Cameron share his expression and Cameron begins shaking his head.
"Nope, you are not dragging any of us into this," Cameron says, still shaking his head.
"Yeah, we don't even know if any of them like each other. What if Aylin or Shanna isn't gay and you try to set them up anyway? Or Nellie doesn't want a boyfriend, but Michael wants a girlfriend? Or Ali does like Blake and we embarrass her by telling him that when he doesn't feel the same way? A lot of people can get their hearts broken," Marissa explains, trying to talk Lindsay out of her plan.
"But I'm pretty sure I'm right," Lindsay argues. "And we aren't just going to tell them who likes who. This isn't middle school. We are going to make them realize it themselves using the glee assignment."
Marissa still shakes her head and Damian joins her. Lindsay looks at Cameron and to her slight surprise and happiness, he looks like he is considering it. "I don't think it would hurt if we just help them a little. As Lindsay said, we aren't just going to tell them about the others crush. And if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out."
"Thank you, Cameron," Lindsay says with a grin. "What about you two? Are you in?" Damian and Marissa share a look. Marissa still looks skeptical, but Damian nods at her and since she often agrees with Damian's judgment, she sighs and nods as well.
"But if anyone gets hurt, you are taking full responsibility," Marissa says, pointing a finger at Lindsay.
"Deal." Lindsay can't wipe the smile off her face. Now all she needs to do is orchestrate the perfect scenarios for each couple. "First things first, Damian, you go talk to Michael and bring up Nellie in the conversation a few times and see how he reacts, but don't ask if he likes her because it might freak him out. Cameron, you ask Blake how he feels about Ali, whether he likes her or not, but don't tell him about her liking him. Marissa, you talk to Nellie using the same strategy as Damian for Michael. I'll talk to Ali about Blake. Shanna and Aylin are going to be harder so Marissa and I will work on that tomorrow. Everyone meet at my house tonight at seven so we can make the plans."
"And we can pull this off in two days?" Damian asks.
"I'm sure of it."
Cameron throws a coke at Damian before plopping down on the couch next to Marissa. The three are currently at Lindsay's house, waiting for the raven haired girl to pull in a dry erase board. Finally, Lindsay places the board in front of the couch. It is already full of names, times, and ideas Lindsay must have come up with.
"Are we going to have a say in any of these plans?" Damian asks and is immediately answered with Lindsay shaking her head. Lindsay holds up her hand with a pointing stick in it and points to the first large pair of names at the top of the board.
"Shanna and Aylin. They'll probably be the hardest because we're going to have to make sure they both are attracted to girls. Marissa and I will talk to them tomorrow," Lindsay tells her friends. "From there, I think one of the girls should sing the other a song telling the girl her feelings. But not in front of the whole glee club because we don't want them to feel awkward. Objections?"
"What girl will sing the song?" Marissa asks, taking some of the chips from a bowl in Cameron's lap.
"It depends on what we find out tomorrow," Lindsay answers. Lindsay brings the pointer down to the next couple. "Blake and Ali. They should be easy enough. Ali definitely likes Blake, but is unsure what she should do to get his attentions."
"And Blake really likes Ali, but he is afraid of coming on too strong and scaring her," Cameron supplies.
"So," Lindsay says, moving the pointer down slightly. "I've picked the perfect song for Ali to sing to him for the glee assignment, that way she'll be the one making the first move and he won't be worried about scaring her away. And last, but not least, Nellie and Michael."
"Whenever I brought up Nellie, Michael's face would look like a tomato," Damian says, taking a sip of his coke before continuing. "He is thinking about asking her to sing a duet with him for the glee club assignment."
"Nellie would always fidget when I mentioned Michael, so I kinda asked her about him."
"Marissa!"
"Sorry, but she told me she liked him. She just doesn't want to make things awkward between Michael and Blake because of last year," Marissa says sheepishly, afraid of what Lindsay's next reaction will be.
"Well, good thing I planned for this. You two," Lindsay motions to Damian and Cameron, "need to help Michael set up some special lunch or picnic to invite Nellie to so he can ask her to be his duet partner and hopefully he can ask her out. Also see how he feels about what could happen between him and Blake. Marissa, you and I can talk to Nellie again. This might be more difficult than I thought."
"Can I get the final plan for tomorrow?" Cameron asks, jokingly raising his hand.
"Were you even paying attention?" Lindsay asks, clearly annoyed. Cameron nods his head and holds his hands up in defense. "You and Damian are helping Michael plan a special lunch picnic for him to invite Nellie to. I'm going to help Ali prepare a song for glee and talk to Shanna. Marissa, you are going to talk to Nellie and then Aylin. Everyone clear now?" The group nods. "Well, then let's put this plan into action."
Make-up in the bathroom in the morning turns out to be the perfect time for Lindsay to talk to Shanna. The two usually meet here early in the morning, but today it makes Lindsay's life very convenient. She already promised Ali she would help her pick out a song for glee during lunch and Lindsay didn't want to save this talk until after school since she may need to give Shanna time to prepare a song.
"So, what are you and Damian doing for Valentine's Day," Shanna asks as she applies mascara.
"I'm not sure. Damian has some surprise planned," Lindsay tells her. "What about you? Any special date for Valentine's Day?"
"I've got nothing planned. I'll probably just stay home and eat ice cream all night," Shanna says with a half smile.
"No one special you want to do something with?" Lindsay pushes.
"Nope."
Lindsay inwardly groans. It looks like she will have to take the direct route. And that means stretching the truth slightly and hope it will all end up being true. "Well, I know someone who likes you and probably would love to spend the day with you eating ice cream."
"You mean Aylin, right?"
Lindsay's jaw drops to the floor. She hadn't expected Shanna to know about Aylin's crush. Lindsay didn't even know for sure. "How did you know she had a crush on you?"
"It's a long story."
"Are you going to ask her out or something?" Lindsay abandons her makeup and looks right at Shanna.
Shanna sighs and puts down her own makeup. "I don't know. I still haven't completely defined or come to terms with my sexuality yet. All I know is I really like her and I love to ask her out or something." Lindsay smiles at the blonde. "But, I'm probably too late. She probably thinks I'm straight or I don't care."
Lindsay shakes her head. "I know that's not true. But, in the smallest likelihood she does, I have the perfect way for you to show her how much she means to you." Shanna doesn't' say anything, urging Lindsay to continue. "Sing her a song. It doesn't have to be in glee club. You can do it in the auditorium, only for her."
"That's a great idea!" Shanna almost yells. She immediately begins gathering all her stuff, trying to rush out the door. Lindsay wonders what song she is so enthusiastic to go start rehearsing. However, Shanna stops quickly at the door to offer Lindsay a thankful smile. "You're incredible. Thanks so much!"
Lindsay and Marissa meet outside the cafeteria. Lindsay is already carrying sheet music that she plans to give Ali at their rehearsal session in less than five minutes. But, Lindsay needs to catch up with the others quickly to assure everything in the plan is running smoothly. "How did it go with Aylin?"
"She is definitely crushing on Shanna, but she's afraid Shanna is straight so she hasn't said anything," Marissa relays to Lindsay.
"Good, I told Shanna to prepare a song and sing it to her in the auditorium like we planned," Lindsay says, mentally checking the progress off. "I think Shanna is going to do it after school. Did you get to talk to Nellie?"
"No, we don't have any classes together and I kept missing her in the hallway," Marissa admits. Before Lindsay can say anything, Cameron and Damian walk up to them, Cameron grinning and Damian also looking happy. "What's with you guys?"
"We just helped Michael plan the perfect picnic that is about to start," Cameron announces, keeping the smile as Damian nods along. "Nellie is going to love it."
"Let's just hope she doesn't reject him," Lindsay says, shooting Marissa a look.
"You didn't talk to Nellie?" Cameron asks his girlfriend.
"We don't have any classes together!"
"Never mind," Lindsay interrupts. "I have to go meet Ali now. I'm sure the picnic will be fine. That whole thing before was freshman year stuff. We all remember our freshman year, right? You want to get rid of all that crap as soon as possible. I'm sure it will all be fine."
"I hope this is all good," Michael says as he shows Nellie the picnic he set up with the help of Cameron and Damian. He resists the urge to stuff his hands in his pocket, something he tends to do when he feels awkward. However, he wants this potential first date to be perfect and looking awkward might lead to Nellie feeling awkward. Not exactly the makings of a good first date.
Michael sits down across from Nellie on the blue checkered blanket and opens the brown picnic basket to pull out the sandwiches and other food he brought. "This is great, Michael," Nellie says with a small smile directed right at him. Michael smiles back and resists another urge, this time to grab her hand. It would only be a small gesture, but he reasons it's too soon.
He doesn't want to say he is surprised at how well the sort of date goes, but he hadn't expected to be as easy and care free as it is. They talk about whatever random topics pop into their head: milkshakes, awkward glee choreography, different types of music. However, lunch is coming to an end and he still hasn't asked her what he had planned this date around.
"Uh, Nellie?"
"Mmm-hmm." She looks up at him, her mouth full of food.
"I was, ah, wondering. Well, I guess I'm asking." Michael wants to hit himself for being so awkward and beating around the bush. "Do you want to sing a song with me for the assignment this week, maybe?"
"I really want to." Michael beams at this, but his happiness is short lived. "But…"
"But?"
"I don't want to make things awkward between you and Blake. You guys are best friends," Nellie admits, no longer looking at Michael, but fiddling with blades of grass.
"You and Blake broke up over six months ago. I'm pretty sure he's over it by now. He isn't going to care." Now Michael really wants to hit himself. Though what he said is most likely true, he didn't need to say it so bluntly. No girl wants to hear that her ex-boyfriend no longer cares what she does or who she dates. Especially since Blake still does really care about her, just no longer in that way.
"Uh, I have to go Michael," Nellie says quickly, standing up and brushing the grass off her pants swiftly. "Thanks for the lunch. It was great." Nellie starts walking, though to Michael it looks like jogging, back to the school, not turning around to give him any last smile or even look.
"Wait!" Michael calls after her. He realizes she is too far away to hear him, but he mutters anyway, "I really want to sing with you." Michael pauses. "Who am I kidding? I want you to be my girlfriend." But all he is left with is an empty picnic basket and deservingly so broken heart.
Ali wheels into the choir room, excited even by her standards. She and Lindsay had spent all lunch working on the perfect song Lindsay had picked and she crosses her fingers that the performance will go well. Hopefully by the end of it, Blake will be falling on his knees to beg her to go out with him. Ali wheels her chair to her usual spot in the front row, barely able to contain her anticipation and excitement.
Mr. Schue enters the room and sets a stack of music on the piano before addressing the room. "Alright guys, let's get started." Mr. Schue turns to Ali and gives her an encouraging smile. "I believe Ali has a song she would like to sing for the assignment. The floor's all yours." Ali smiles back at him and wheels to the center of the choir room. The catches Blake's eyes and sees him smiling at her.
Ali nods at the pianist and the intro of the song begins to play. However, Ali can feel her palms start to sweat. Blake is still looking at her and smiling, but all she can think about is him being embarrassed that she is singing a song to him and rejecting her in front of all her friends. But she wouldn't even care about the second part, the thought of him not returning her feelings made her want to throw up.
She already missed her cue to sing and everyone is looking at her, waiting for the first lyric to come out. But, Ali is frozen, embarrassed that she thought this was a good idea, embarrassed that she is now looking awkward and unprepared, and embarrassed about what she will have to do next.
Ali turns her wheelchair around and rolls as fast as she can out of the room, holding in her tears until she is at least halfway down the hallway. She blocks out the sound of her friends sharing confused statements in the choir room. "Ali! Ali!" Shanna begins calling after her and Ali hears her footsteps behind her. Her first thought is to keep going, but she stops, knowing Shanna only wants to help. "What's wrong?" Shanna kneels down once she reaches Ali, concern evident in her eyes.
Ali quickly wipes any of the tears in her eyes and on her face away, but her breathing still doesn't return to normal. "I was go-going to sing the s-s-song to Blake, but I re-realized that he was going to h-ha-hate it."
"Oh, Ali," Shanna says sympathetically. "I know Blake really likes you, everyone knows Blake really likes you, and I know you know it, too. He would never have rejected you. We all see the way he looks at you, the way he always wants to sit next to you, the way he lights up whenever you come to glee."
Ali profusely shakes her head, dismissing all of what Shanna just said. "That's just him trying to be nice! He's trying to be a good friend. I just misread that as him liking me."
"Ali, you know that's…" Ali cuts her off before she can finish.
"Just because he smiles at me doesn't mean he likes me. He smiles at a lot of people. And so what if he sits next to me? Your friends want to sit next to you in classes and at lunch. And I'm sure he never lights up when I enter a room. That only happens in movies. I misread the signs. People do it all the time. Haven't you?"
Shanna looks down at the ground, thinking through everything Ali just said. Ali notices her friend's facial expressions change. Instead of looking concerned and encouraging, she looks sad and understanding. "Shanna, I'm sorry if I…" Now Shanna cuts Ali off.
"I have to get back to glee. Tell them you're okay. You don't have to come back. Mr. Schue will understand," Shanna tells her quickly, standing up and starting to walk back down the hallway. "But I still really think Blake likes you." Shanna doesn't turn around when she says this and she says it quietly, but Ali still hears it. She just wishes she could believe it.
Lindsay sits on curb, head resting on her knees and hands fiddling with the hem of her skirt. She has spent the last hour trying to come up with the reason Ali backed out of her love professing solo during glee club. Shanna had said Ali had been feeling sick, but no one seemed to buy that. Shanna had also looked rather upset when she returned, leaving Lindsay to wonder what exactly happened in their conversation.
One thing Lindsay does know: she does not want to hear what Marissa has to say about this. But, life seemed to be cruel to her and her bright ideas and Marissa comes to sit next to her. Marissa just finished Cheerio practice, but they still needed to wait on Damian to finish basketball so he could drive them home. Meaning they have potentially fifteen more minutes for Marissa to point everything that went wrong in Lindsay's plan.
"Maybe she just got stage fright," Marissa finally says after painfully tense minutes of silence. "It's hard telling a crush you like them alone and with talking, let alone singing about it in front of all your friends."
"It's my fault," Lindsay admits, rubbing her fingers against her temples. "I shouldn't have pushed so hard for her to do it. I just wanted them to be happy together."
"C'mon, Linds," Marissa says softly, rubbing a hand along her back consolingly. "You know you only wanted to help and Ali knows that too. This is just a small setback and I'm sure every other part of your plan went perfectly."
As Marissa finishes, a stream of basketball players pour out of the entrance, yelling to each other and joking around. Lindsay notices Michael along the outskirts of the group and waves him over. She wants to ask him how the picnic date went, hoping at least he and Nellie go together. "How did the picnic go today?"
Michael's eyes flicker to the ground and he begins kicking his foot back and forth on the ground. "She, uh, rejected me, I guess. She said something about not wanting to make it awkward between Blake and me. But maybe she also just doesn't like me." Before Marissa and Lindsay have proper time to react, Michael hurries off, obviously still upset about how the date went.
"No," Lindsay says in near agony, burying her head in her knees. Damian walks over to the two girls on the curb, keys in his hand.
"I'm guessing Michael told you," Damian says quietly. Marissa nods somberly and continues to rub Lindsay's back as she mutters nonsense into her knees. "C'mon, Lindsay. It's going to be okay." Damian crouches down and tries to comfort his girlfriend the best her can, but he doesn't know what to say.
"I just wrecked two potential relationships," Lindsay whines, face still hidden from view. Things definitely are not going to be okay in Lindsay's eyes and as if life wants to kick her when she's down, the last thing she had any hope left in comes running past them, tears in her eyes.
"Aylin!" Marissa calls, dashing to catch up to the girl. "What's wrong?"
"Shanna stood me up," Aylin whispers, tears threatening spill over. "I, I have to go." With that, Aylin runs quickly across the parking lot and into her car where Lindsay doesn't doubt she is now freely letting her tears flow.
"No, no, no!" Lindsay has no words left. One bad relationship turned to two bad relationships and now turned to three. All six of them would have been perfectly fine admiring each other from afar. Well, maybe they wouldn't have been fine, but they would have survived. Now at least three of them are left broken hearted and the other three unsure what to do and asking themselves whether they are the jerks in the whole scenarios.
But they would be wrong, she's the really jerk. "God, I ruined everything."
The choir room is eerily quiet, but Ali expects this at seven thirty, a good hour before classes start and everyone crowds the halls and classrooms. Ali isn't quite sure why she is here so early when she can be sleeping. Being awake only reminds her that it is Valentine's Day and any chance she would have had someone to spend it with was ruined yesterday.
Ali stares at the sheet music in her lap and has the sudden urge to rip it to shreds and toss it across the room. It is just a stupid song. A stupidly beautiful romantic song she did not have the guts to sing truthfully. She meant everything single word on the page, every lyric would have been sung from her heart. But she knows that those feelings will never be returned.
"Is that the song you were going to sing yesterday?"
Ali screams at the sudden voice behind her, having just assumed she was here alone at a time like this. After recovering from the shock and taking a few deep breaths, Ali realizes who the voice belongs to. The blonde quickly turns the music over and wheels her chair around to face Blake, who is closer than she thought. "Is it?"
"Uh, yeah," Ali says, quickly throwing the sheets into her bag. "It's a stupid song. Not even that romantic. I don't know why I picked it." Ali is lying through her teeth, but she wants to avoid talking about what happened yesterday and she knows sooner or later someone is going to bring it up. But that someone will not be Blake. "What are you doing here?"
"Shouldn't I being asking you that?" Blake asks, eyebrow rising. "I was going to practice my song for glee club, but I'm glad you're here." Blake gives her a warm smile before dropping his bag and moving towards the rows of chairs. He grabs one of the front row chairs and places it in front of Ali, sitting down in front of her and leaning his arms on his legs. "What happened yesterday?" he asks quietly.
"I just got stage fright. I was nervous." More lies, but it is the only thing Ali can come up with.
"We both know that's not true."
"Well, it is." Ali doesn't mean to snap, but she wants to stop talking about yesterday. If she doesn't, something might slip out and this is the last person she wants hearing the truth. Yesterday was embarrassing. But letting out what really happened, that would be mortifying. "I just decided to make a dramatic exit."
"What's bothering you, Ali?" Blake just won't quit.
Ali needs something, anything to tell him so she blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. "I have this friend."
"A friend?" Blake is already seeing right through her, but Ali has to commit to her cliché half lie.
"A friend," Ali pushes. "She really likes this guy and sometimes it seems like this guy likes her back, but she can't tell if the signs she sees are actually signs or just him being a friend. And she doesn't know what to do because she's afraid that if she makes a move he'll reject her."
"I don't think your friend has anything to worry about," Blake says lightly. Ali is suddenly aware how close she and Blake are and he is only leaning forward still. Ali quickly pushes her chair back, turning her back to Blake.
"But guys like him don't like girls like m…my friend," Ali says, once again arguing with herself rather than her friend. "She's obviously just looking for rejections. If she was smart, she would find a guy who would actually think of her as more than a friend. She just…"
"Ali."
"…keeps trying to grasp at straws when obviously things are never going to work out between them. I don't even know…"
"Ali!"
"…why I…" Ali turns her chair and only meets Blake's eyes for a split second before she feels his lips on hers, silencing her completely. Ali doesn't react at first, not even believing it is even happening. But she feels Blake's hand caress cheek and suddenly she has her arms around his neck and she is kissing him back, ignoring everything she had just said and planned to say. When Blake pulls away, smiling, Ali just looks at him, her mouth slightly opened in shock. "Oh my god."
Blake lightly rests his palm on her cheek, still smiling at her. "Tell you friend she is smart, beautiful, and that guy and any guy like him would be lucky to have her." Blake brushes his lips against hers once again before standing up, too quickly in Ali's opinion. "I was going to wait until glee club, but since you're here…"
Now Blake is the one who looks nervous and a little awkward as he runs a hand through his hair and looks at her with the most adorable expression. Ali is having trouble contain all the emotions running through her head after what just happened. She wants to scream for joy and kiss him again. But, she'll wait to see what he has planned next.
"I guess I'll just start. I don't really have any music or anything, but…"
Oh, her eyes, her eyes
Make the starts look like they're not shining
Ali places her hands over her mouth, now really struggling to contain a squeal and tears of joy. No one has ever sung to her before. Though she still wishes she had the courage to do the same yesterday, this is so much better. It's absolutely perfect.
Girl you're amazing
Just the way you are
Nellie sits on the edge of her seat, foot tapping against the floor anxiously. She hasn't talked to or even seen Michael since yesterday, but that was with a good amount of successful avoiding. She just couldn't look at him without wanting to cry over how hurt he sounded and her own stupidity. She really likes Michael. Why is she making silly excuses?
Michael walks into the choir room and the restless tapping only increases. So much so Abraham slaps his hand down on her knee to get her to stop, giving her a look telling her how desperate and on edge she looks. Michael gives her a quick glance, but immediately avoids eye contact and sits on the exact opposite side of the room.
Nellie sighs and tries not to look hurt. She doesn't deserve to. She's the one who rejected Michael not the other way around. But, she can't stop looking over at Michael, who is doing a better job at avoiding doing the same. Finally, Nellie convinces herself looking and continually sighing will not fix or change what happened and she waits for Mr. Schue to arrive with her eyes on the floor.
"Okay, everyone. Happy Valentine's Day!" Mr. Schuester greets them with a bright smile and claps his hands together. "Since it's the most romantic day of the year, who wants to sing a song first?"
Shanna's hand immediately goes up and she doesn't wait for Mr. Schue to call her up, instead just walking to the center of the room. She looks nervous, but determined. "Yesterday, I made a huge mistake. I second guessed myself and I ended hurting someone who is very important to me." The room is utterly silent and everyone is now leaning forward, hanging on Shanna's every word. "But, I realized that I was being stupid and selfish. And that I don't need to sing my feelings alone in some theatre. I don't care who knows how I feel. So, Aylin, I am so sorry about yesterday and I hope I can make it up to you." Everyone turns and looks at Aylin, who just crosses her arms and slouches in her seat.
I am lost, I am vain
I will never be the same
Without you, without you
Shanna starts the song slow, but kicks off the tempo after the second verse. At this point, many of the other couples come down at start dancing while singing background vocals. Cameron holds his hand out to Marissa, who happily takes it as he leads her down. Lindsay, unable to contain a large amount of excitement, basically pulls Damian down to the floor. Blake leads Ali as Abraham jokingly dances with both Lily and Hannah. Charlie sulks along with Michael, but looks at Nellie with a lopsided smile before walking up to her. Rolling her eyes with a smile, Nellie agrees silently to dance with him.
Only Michael and Aylin remain seated as Michael continues to kick at the ground and ignore everything around him and Aylin looks more and more unsure of herself. Finally, Shanna runs up to the second row and holds out her hand to Aylin. Though they continue to dance, everyone looks over to see if Aylin accepts. Giving Shanna a shy smile, Aylin takes her hand and walks down with Shanna.
I am lost, I am vain
I will never be the same
Without you
Without you
Shanna brings the song to a close and the whole room falls silent once again as they wait for Aylin to say something. But, Aylin chooses actions. Taking Shanna's face in her hands, Aylin smashes their lips together, ignoring the loud cheers and calls coming from their friends surrounding them. "Was that what you were going to do yesterday?" Aylin asks, breathlessly once she pulls away.
"More or less," Shanna replies, looking slightly dazed.
"Wait," Charlie interrupts. "Does this mean I never had a chance with Aylin?" Almost everyone in the room starts booing and Lily throws a balled up piece of paper at him. "I was just asking." Slowly, the group starts returning to their seats, couples grinning at each other and everyone, even Charlie, seems in a good mood.
"That was the most romantic thing I have ever seen," Ali says with a happy sigh.
Blake looks down at her and raises an eyebrow. "More romantic than when I sang to you this morning?"
"Well, it's not a competition," Ali says, smiling at Blake reassuringly.
"Hold up," Hannah says, stopping all the side conversations. "Are you two together now?" Ali and Blake share another smile before nodding happily.
"Finally!" the room basically says in unison.
As everyone starts congratulating Blake and Ali, Nellie remains in her seat, feeling like even more of an idiot than before. She feels nothing, but happiness for Blake, not jealousy or awkwardness and Ali is her friend, too. Why did she assume Blake would feel differently? Maybe this was just what Nellie needed to realize she and Blake are truly over each other. She just wishes the sign came sooner.
"I think you guys really got the assignment this week," Mr. Schue says and everyone nods in agreement. "Now, if that's all everyone prepared, how about we start…"
"Mr. Schue?" Nellie raises her hand. "I have something I, um, want to sing." He nods at her and Nellie gets up to face the glee club, but she turns right to Michael. "I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. I was making excuses and I don't even have a good reason for why I did it. So, no to steal your thunder or anything Shanna, but…" Nellie quickly runs over to the pianist and whispers in his ear. He nods at her song selection and begins to play.
Do you hear me,
I'm talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying
Michael begins humming along before getting up to sing with her. He fumbles with the words and keeps blushing every time he misses a word or note, but he keeps with it the whole time, his way of telling her she is forgiven and he feels the same way.
The song comes to an end, the pair looking at each other and smiling only a little at one another. They hear the cheering around them, but that is only white noise to them. There is no kissing or even touching, but just by the look Michael is giving her, Nellie knows everything is going to be okay. More than okay, absolutely incredible.
"Can you believe everything worked out so well," Lindsay gushes, dancing and hopping over branches and roots in her path. Damian walks in front of her, but keeps glancing behind to look at her. "It was the perfect plan, if I do say so myself." Damian grins at her, but looks like he is about to have a heart attack when Lindsay almost trips over a branch.
"Will you watch where you're going, please," Damian pleads. "I don't want to have to carry you back with a broken ankle. Your parents will kill me." Lindsay rolls her eyes playfully at him, but does watch her step more.
"Where are we going?"
"Be patient."
"I've been patient for the past three days," Lindsay points out.
"Just a few more steps." Damian stops abruptly and Lindsay runs straight into his back. "We're here." Lindsay is about to point out they are still in the woods, but Damian knows her too well and hushes her before she can speak. He pushes back the branches and Lindsay looks over his shoulder into a clearing. In the center of the clearing is a small building of all glass windows, illuminating with hanging lights and the only thing in the whole the small room is a white bench circling the whole building.
Suddenly, everything makes since. Damian's insistence of her wearing a dress, pink preferably, him in some weird uniform, and… "I assume you still know all the steps." Lindsay doesn't need one more word before she takes off running towards the building, followed closely by Damian. "Do you like it?"
"This is…I have no words."
"That's a first," Damian jokes.
Normally, Lindsay would have hit him on the shoulder, but she is too caught up in the beauty and scary resemblance of the room. "How did you find this place?"
Damian shrugs modestly. "I got lucky." Lindsay knows that is a lie, but she does say anything. Instead, she slips her arms around his neck and pulls him close, so that their lips are almost touching.
"This is amazing," Lindsay finally says, resting her forehead against his. "I love you so much." Lindsay lightly touches her lips to his, trying to emote just how much this means to her through the kiss.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Lindsay," Damian whispers, brushing a hand through her hair. "And I love you, too." Damian takes a step back and walks over to a stereo he must have brought here early. "Are you ready? " Lindsay nods eagerly and quickly runs the opening steps thorugh her head. Damian presses play and jokingly gets into character, making Lindsay forget about being serious and perfect with the routine. All that matters is Damian.
You are sixteen….
Best. Valentine's Day. Ever.
A/N: Thank you for sticking with this all the way through. I thought it would be pointless separating it into chapters. And if I get enough positive feedback from this I might make it my own little alternate verse. This was inspired by the homework assignment from this week. I originally was going to make it Blellie and Chaylin, but Shaylin and Blake/Ali were so adorable in the video that I couldn't resist.