Gold Stars
By craziestanimefan
"I loved you." He gently cracked the egg onto her forehead, watching in silence as the yolk dripped down the bridge of her nose.
What's done was done. He'd done what his team had required of him, no matter how heartless it had seemed. He felt guilty because he knew that she would dream of angry mother chickens.
The rest of the team laughed and drove away in their Road Rangers, but he just stood there in the McKinley High parking lot. She looked so sad and utterly alone as the eggs dripped down her face and hair and onto her adorable sweater.
She started to move, back into the school and towards the gym where he knew she kept an extra stash of clothes, just in case someone decided to slushie her in the face. She had nothing to say to him, walking straight past him, not even looking at him. He was pretty sure that whatever was left of their relationship was now over.
Somehow there was still a hope in his heart, a thought that niggled at the back of his brain that made him feel a little better.
"You need to win at Regionals, Rachel," he said.
She stopped a few feet away from him and started to turn towards him, obviously upset but also startled at his statement.
"I expect as much," he said softly.
"What?" she asked, looking anywhere but his face.
"They're not going to go easy on you, and neither am I. Show me what New Directions has got." He stepped closer to her and inwardly cheered that she didn't shy away from his touch, despite what he'd just done. He reached into his coat, cringing when she flinched, but took out the baby wipe he'd remembered to bring. Cleaning off the egg he'd smashed onto her face, he pressed a kiss there instead and brought out the second thing in his pocket.
He put the gold star sticker on her forehead, the shiny material glinting in the light. "Show the world how much you can shine, Rachel Berry."
She pulled away, still hurt, but he saw a flicker of determination in her eyes. He watched her receding back as she rushed away into the safety of the school.
"Show me how wrong I was to give you up."