Don't Stop Believing
By: The General
TG/N: First, why is this show so good? It shouldn't work, it really shouldn't, but it does! And I can't turn myself away. It is like the cheesiest, most talented show ever. Second, a show cannot pair Journey and a group of misfit underdogs who just happen to be way talented without expecting me to have feelings. Thus, my emotional reaction was poured into this. It's super short, and kind of pointless, but I blame Journey. Takes place during the Pilot. Please enjoy!
From the moment Artie strums the first chord on the guitar, he can feel it in his bones—possibly even the pit of his soul—that he made the right decision.
This is my moment.
The stage lights looming overhead beat down on him relentlessly, silently judging his performance from a safe distance away. The heat causes his neck to prickle with sweat, and his hands feel clammy. He wipes them on his jeans. Now, more than ever, he knows he has something to prove. Not only to the group, but to himself.
The moment he steps forward to begin the song, it's like everything freezes. The nerves, the hesitation, Quinn, the rest of Glee Club, the football team: they all disappear, and it feels like instead of the auditorium, he's back in the locker room showers, not a care in the world, belting out lyrics he's sung millions of times before. Time stops. It's just the music and him.
Only, it's not because soon thereafter, Rachel joins him, and even though he thinks she might be borderline insane, no one can deny that her singing is the kind of stuff that guy from English class, William Shakespeare, would have written sonnets about, or whatever. Something real wordy and poetic.
Still, her sudden inclusion gives him the adrenaline boost he needs, and when she holds her arm out, daring him to make the dive, and they spin around, pressed up against each other, he can feel her heart thrumming in her chest almost as hard as his is. She smiles at him, wordlessly acknowledging her approval, and in that moment, he just knows.
This is where I belong.