Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 66th cycle. Now cycle 67!

"Final Prep"
Puck/Rachel, Rent cast & crew
Project No Day But Today series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

Even as the camera was being moved, catching feet and legs, there was a rumble of many voices heard in the background, revealing, when at last it was settled, the stage of the McKinley High auditorium, where the whole of the cast and crew was gathered, some sitting on stools, others on the ground, all of them talking, looking at papers in their hands… Puck was revealed to be the one who'd set the camera when he crouched and appeared in close-up.

"Premiere night is three days away. Everyone's getting kind of crazy. And not 'kind of,'" he shook his head.

"Puck!" Rachel's voice called, and he sighed.

"Fine, everyone's excited," he amended, then with a nod back to the stage, he dashed to leap on the stage and join the others. He sat by Rachel's side. She was in the center of their misshapen half circle, with the rest of their team split around her. It wasn't a matter of one cast against the other, or this department here and this department there. They were all there, split and mixed. Even those who'd originally decided against appearing on camera had come around to it over the weeks. Everyone was here for this final vlog entry before the premiere. In it, Rachel wanted everyone to get a chance to talk, to say what they were most excited about, as the last months were finally brought to a close.

They had split the performances in the end, not fifty-fifty, but definitely close to a sixty-forty. Despite her original judgment, Rachel had come to see that flipping things around didn't have to be a bad thing. That was how it was going to be. When the supporting cast came up for their lead nights, the primaries would take their places in the back. Something about it was amusing, like a game. Rachel had reminded herself, in seeing the others step into the spotlight, that while she was playing Mimi, sharing her with Quinn, she was also a co-director, and in splitting the shows, she felt she was also looking after her people. She doubted the supporting cast had expected to get this many performances in this reversed order, and when she'd announced it, everyone had been pleased.

Getting the costumes dealt with had not been so bad, especially after their one-off performance. Where they were able to, they shared costumes rather than having to make new ones for everyone. The supporting cast had really stepped up, showing talent which Rachel admitted would have been a shame not to have showcased. And the primaries had come to enjoy their tour in the back, supporting those who had been supporting them all along.

"I'll be glad when I don't have to run from Dalton for rehearsals," Blaine spoke with a smile when his turn came, and the others laughed.

"I'm going to miss all of us like this," Lizzie looked at the large group around her. "I kind of got used to it being this way, it'll be weird not coming here."

"You're still in Glee Club," Elliott pointed out.

"I know, but not everyone here is."

"I'll be glad when we're done," Elliott took his turn. "Not because it'll be over, I don't really want that either," he admitted. "But we did this, you know? I want it to be done so that I can say that we did it," he shrugged.

The closer they were getting to the premiere, that was a sentiment, whether spoken or not, that they all shared. They had put a lot of themselves in this, a lot of time and effort, not all of it so easy. There were ups and downs all along the way, making them feel like they were on a rollercoaster… and now they were slowly rising to the tallest peak, before they could rush down into a final spiral to the end of the course.

Some were saying they could barely sleep anymore, or pay attention in class. Without realizing it at times, they were stuck in their heads, reviewing the show, running their parts… This was their project, and it was finally coming to the big moment.

Later, as Puck sat by with Rachel as she edited the footage from that afternoon on the stage, he would notice she looked like she was about to start crying.

"Hey," he reached for a tissue and handed it to her. She laughed, shaking her head but reaching up to dab it at her eyes nonetheless.

"I'm fine, they're good tears, it's just…" she looked at the screen. "It's almost over."

"I know," he put a hand on top of hers. She looked at him, letting out a breath. "They're ready, you know?" he nodded to the screen.

"They are," she agreed. "Are we?"

"More than anyone," Puck spoke confidently. "We're gonna kill it. In a good way," he added.

"Right," she agreed.

"You're not still worried about us, are you? I'm not going to walk away just because I don't have my co-director cap on anymore."

"You have one of those?" she teased.

"Yeah, sure, right here," he pointed to his forehead. "Like I could go back to a life without you." She leaned in, kissing him, and he wrapped his arms around her. For a moment, all that mattered was that he was kissing her, holding her, but they had work to do, and eventually they had to get back on track. They pulled back, smiling, and he gave one final kiss, to her shoulder.

With the vlog edited and on its way to being uploaded to their account, it felt like they'd finished something already. There would be a few more of these before they were done, but this one had felt different, acknowledging that this crazy ride was coming to an end.

"When this is all over, we need to have a cast and crew party," she nodded.

"Oh, that is going to happen," he promised, and she chuckled. "It's going to be crazy."

"The best."

"Five bucks says it turns into La Vie Bohème."

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!