Another second person revolving narrative.
Fifteen cards went out in the mail. The cards were express shipped all across the country. From LA to New York, up to Seattle and down to Miami. They were all signed for and promptly opened. And around the country, plane tickets were booked, cars were packed and plans were made. Tears were shed and hugs were exchanged. Bags were packed and phone calls were made. Then fifteen people left their homes for Lima Ohio.
You look out the window of the streets where you grew up. A profound sadness filled you up as you watched the suburban streets go by. The reason you're here is not a pleasant one.
As the cab pulls to a stop in the familiar house. You see that you're not the first person to arrive. You have mixed feelings seeing Rachel and Finn on the sidewalk in front of the house. You pay the driver and open the door. You pause to just listen to what they're saying
"It's just a week," Rachel wrings her hands together as she and Finn slowly walk up to the front door, "We can make it through the week right? Then we'll finish splitting our things and go our separate ways."
"Right," Finn nods, straightening his tie. He looks at his left hand where his wedding band now rests like it feels so weird to have it back on after not wearing it for weeks because you know he hasn't.
"Rachel," you finally call out to her.
They both turn and see you. You close the door to the cab and take you bag from the drivers. You set it on the curb and walk to him. You walk straight up to Rachel and sweep her up in your arms, "Are you okay?"
Rachel nods against your shoulder, tears accumulating in her eyes. She sniffles, "I'm fine. Are you okay?"
You pull away to take a good look at her. She looks tired. "Yeah."
Rachel wipes at her eyes, "What about your show?"
You smile softly at her, "This is what understudies are for." She smiles back at you. You rub her shoulder then turn your eyes up at the front door, "Is anyone else here?"
"We just got here," Rachel shrugs.
You glance at Finn, trying to contain your malice for the man. Well you don't try really hard, "Finn."
Finn nods to you with his hands in the pockets of his slacks. "Quinn."
You put your arm around Rachel's shoulders and start the walk to the door.
"Whose bag is this?" another voice calls from behind you all as you and Rachel are on the first step up to the porch.
You all turn around and see Sam. You're so glad he's here. Sam has always been a great, caring guy and you know Rachel's going to need as much support as she can get. He picks up your bag and carries it with him up the sidewalk along with his duffle bag. His cowboy boots scrape against the dusty sidewalk as he nears you.
He stops in front of Finn and they share a manly hug. Then Sam moves to you and Rachel, wrapping his long arms around you both.
You all start the journey up to the front door. Before you could get up the white stairs attached to the porch on the powder blue house, the front door opens.
"Hey guys," Tina sighs heavily. She leans on the doorframe like she's exhausted.
"Hey," Rachel moves to her from under your arm and hugs Tina.
You take your turn to hug Tina and then everyone filters in. Mike, Sugar, Artie and Puck are already sitting in the pristine living room. You wish you had something to say to everyone as you greet them to make it hurt less.
"Where's Mrs. P...I mean...Mrs. Schu-" Finn fumbles. "Ms. Pillsbury."
"She hasn't come out of her room," Tina explains. "We kinda let ourselves in."
Rachel looks around the room hopelessly. "What do we do now?" You move over to her and stand next to her in case she needs you. She takes your hand immediately.
"I already called the Shiva team," Puck looks up from the coffee table he was staring at. His eyes catch Rachel's eyes. She nods to him and rests her cheek on your shoulder.
"What's a shiva team?" Sugar asks.
"All the Lima Jews," Puck explains patiently, "All ten of us or whatever got together and made a shiva team. Whenever someone dies and we have to sit shiva they come with food and stuff to put over the mirrors and candles and crap."
"What's shiva?" Mike looks up at Rachel. "I mean I read about it some on the plane ride here."
Before Rachel can answer there's a knock at the door. She starts to go get it, but you place a hand on her shoulder before moving to the door. When you open the door, you find Brittany and Santana standing there. Both of them are sporting ponytails and jeans. Santana is wearing a blue tank top with a tailored leather jacket and Brittany has on a screen-printed tee with a zip up hoodie. They both look exhausted and Brittany's eyes are red.
You move to Brittany first and hold her close, watching Santana carefully over Brittany's shoulder. She has her eyes downcast as she holds onto the strap of the bag that is slung over her shoulder.
You usher them both inside, your hand on the small of Santana's back. Brittany walks across the room and sits next to Mike while Santana lingers near the door.
You shoot Rachel a surprised look, which Rachel shares. You're glad that you're not the only one that just felt the room get colder, but now you want to know what's wrong.
The room falls into an uncomfortable silence. No one is really sure what to do.
There's another knock on the door, but before anyone could open it, the door opens. A man with wiry black hair peeks in with a box under his arm. Behind him a few women stood. "Hello, we're the shiva team."
Rachel walks up to them, "Thank you for coming."
"I'm sorry for your loss," he kisses both of Rachel's cheeks and steps past her, straightening his green button down shirt. The women all kiss Rachel's cheeks, bringing their boxes with them.
"When is the funeral?" he asks.
"Tomorrow morning," Tina states.
He nods and surveys the group. "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. Rachel and Noah already know me. I'm Havi. This is Kelly and Roberta. You don't have to worry about anything. When you get back from the funeral tomorrow, the house will be ready. We just need to take a few measurements today and get an idea about the layout of the house.
"Just... avoid the master bedroom," Rachel tells him quietly, "The deceased's wife hasn't come out of her room yet."
"I understand," he says. He pats her shoulder and takes off with the two women throughout the house.
"What do we do now?" Finn asks. You try to keep yourself from wanting to hit him every time he opens his mouth.
Brittany looks up, "Where are Kurt and Blaine?"
"They had to take a later flight because of Blaine's job," Rachel explains. She looks around the room and catches your eyes. She looks helplessly at you. Over these past years, she's become your best friend. You would call her when your classes at Yale were crushing you and she would show up on random weekends to drag you away from your studies and remind you that you still have a life to live. She calls you for every audition she's up for, every part she's gotten. She even calls you when she tries a new deli down the street. You were the first person she called after she and Finn decided they were going to separate and you spent a sleepless weekend in her bed with her, holding her while she cried.
You walk over to her and wrap your arms around the shorter girl. That is when Rachel starts to cry. Her high school mentor was killed in a car accident and her marriage has slowly eroded from under her. You think that you've used up all the comforting words that you have so you just hold her.
"We're going to step outside for some air," you tell everyone and pull Rachel outside with you. You sit down on the front porch steps with her, completely forgetting to close the door.
You hear steps behind you and see Santana pass you, continuing a walk down the sidewalk.
"Santana," you call after her.
Santana stops in the middle of the sidewalk and looks back.
"Where are you going?" you ask feeling Rachel looking up as well.
Santana shrugs with her hands in her pockets, "I just...for a walk."
"Come sit," Rachel scoots closer to you on the step, leaving more room for Santana.
Santana hesitates before walking back to the porch and sitting on the steps next to Rachel. Rachel takes Santana's arm in her hands and pulls Santana into her. Santana allows it and rests her head on Rachel's shoulder. She takes a deep breath.
"What's wrong Santana?" Rachel asks, rubbing her friend's shoulder.
You look past Rachel to see her reaction. Santana shakes her head, "It's...complicated."
"Well," Rachel sniffles, "I understand."
Santana lifts her head and looks at you before looking at Rachel, "Are you okay?"
Rachel shakes her head, her hair rippling. Her face starts to give way to tears, but she managed to choke out, "I'm not okay. I'm getting a divorce."
It breaks your heart when she cries so you pull Rachel to you again and Santana reaches over and holds her hand. You glance behind you and see the open door. You know that everyone inside can hear you. Brittany appears in the doorway and crosses the threshold and kneels down behind Rachel, softly rubbing her back as she sobs in your arms.
"I'm going to go get some beer," You can hear Puck say. "C'mon Hudson." You're glad that he's getting Finn out of here. You're ready to kill him.
Everyone watches as the two men stand up and walked out. You can see through the open door a few of the people inside, Sugar reaches over and take Artie's hand. He gives her a shaky smile. Mike and Tina look at each other from across the room.
Finn and Puck carefully stepped around the mass of you on the front porch. They chose the safest route on the opposite end of the stairs from you. You hope Finn can feel all of your eyes burning a hole in his back. He stops walking and starts to turn around, but seems to think better of it. You alone will rip him to pieces if he tries to talk. So he follows Puck to his truck and gets in with him, not looking back at the house.
"Well," you can hear Havi in the near empty living room. "We'll be back tomorrow." You watch him place a box by the front door. "Just leave the door open and we'll take care of everything."
Rachel must have heard him at the door and stands up out of your embrace, wiping her eyes. She makes her way back inside and you all follow her. "Thanks you so much, Havi."
"We're about to plan the menu for tomorrow," Havi places his hand on Rachel's shoulder. "Still vegan?"
Rachel nods and hugs him. "We have another vegan too."
"Oh yeah?" he smiled at her, "You want to subject someone else to my vegetable broth matzahs?"
She chuckles, "Yeah. I think she can handle it." She glanced over at you. You share a knowing smile.
"Well, we'll be back tomorrow morning," Havi tells Rachel. "Maybe you should explain a little bit about shiva to everyone before we show up and freak everyone out."
"I will," Rachel nods and looks out the door when she hears a car pull to a stop outside. A quick peek out the door tells you that it's a cab and that Kurt and Blaine have arrived.
Once she shiva team leaves and Kurt and Blaine greet everyone and sit down together on the couch, Rachel stands, getting everyone's attention.
"I know that a lot of you haven't sat shiva before," Rachel tells the group sitting in living room. You look over everyone. Kurt and Blaine are holding hands, as are Artie and Sugar. Sam keeps looking at the door. Brittany is sitting at the end of the couch and Santana is on the opposite side of the room, leaning on a bookcase. Mike has his arm around Tina as they share an armchair.
You look up at Rachel who is taking a moment to gather herself. You stand up and stand next to her, giving her back a gentle rub. She looks gratefully up at you and gives you a nod that says she's ready to continue. She looks at everyone again. "And since I have a few times, I'll just give everyone a quick overview. After the burial, we all come back here. The customary meal afterwards must be eaten in silence. It will be gracious provided by the shiva team." She gestured to the door. "There will be a candle lit for the entire ritual in honor of Mr. Schuester."
She pauses to take a deep cleansing breath, "All the mirrors will be covered in the house. No make-up is allowed to be worn. There is to be no sex in this house. When visitors come, we much all sit in short chairs to show our grief. We all have to sleep here. I know that it'll be cramped, but it's only for a week and it's what Mr. Schue wanted."
"We can leave though right?" Santana speaks up, "Because scored a job for a few nights while we're in town."
"Of course," Rachel nods. "We just ask that you spend the majority of your time here. Your families can come over as well to support our mourning. Mr. Schue didn't have any close relatives and he always considered us his family."
"Where's Ms. P?" Kurt asks.
"She, um, hasn't come out of her room," Rachel licks her lips and averts her eyes. She moves a toward you a little bit and you wrap an arm more securely around her waist.
Mike raises his hand hesitantly. "Was Mr. Schue Jewish? I don't remember him ever saying anything."
"I'm Jewish," a weak raspy voice says from the back of the room.
Everyone's head whip around and you all see Emma standing in the hallway door. She is in sweat pants and a shirt that everyone recognizes at one of Mr. Schue's. It proudly proclaims 'Butt Chin'. She looks a hot mess and her face is red. She is clutching a tissue in her hand, which she gestures with. "I know the red hair kinda throws people off. My grandparents were German-Jews... anyway, I appreciate you all coming. Just...make yourselves at home. I'm..." Her eyes well up, "I'm going to bed. I'll see all of you tomorrow."
With that she disappears down the hallway.
You all sit quietly in the living room. There's another knock on the door, which you move to get. You open the door and find Mercedes. Her cheeks are wet with tears and you immediately hug her. Sam appears behind you. You know that he and Mercedes broke up years ago because of the distance between them with him in Nashville and her in LA. But when she sees him, she lets him hug her and cries on his shoulder.
Puck and Finn come back with beer. As they walk toward the kitchen Finn keeps his head down, which is good for him.
Finally after about an hour of sitting and crying, someone suggests dinner. You, Rachel, Kurt, Brittany, Mike and Sugar all take to the kitchen to make dinner for everyone. You send Puck back out to the store for some things with the hope that he takes Finn which he does.
"It's crazy," Rachel sighs as she cuts up vegetables to dump in the salad. "It's like...he was here and then... he's just gone."
You nod. It's an incredibly depressing reminder that at some point life ends whether you want it to or not.
"Remember that time he dressed up as Elvis?" Sugar smiles.
Everyone in the kitchen laughs. Rachel stops chopping to laugh. Kurt looks at Sugar, "I didn't even know it was still legal to make sequin suits like that."
The laughter continues while you remember Mr. Schue. There were so many good times. He was there for all of you during the tough times. High school is never easy on anyone, but McKinley seemed to be a hotbed of teen angst and raging hormones.
The last time you saw him was a few months ago. You were home visiting your mom and sister. They flew you in to celebrate you getting a leading roll in Yale's rendition of Miss Witherspoon. You ran into him getting coffee and spent an hour catching him up on your life. He was genuinely proud of what you're doing with your life.
You set down the utensils you were using and turn away from the group. Your own tears are coming now. As you turn away you feel a tug on the back of your shirt. When you turn around, you feel Rachel pull you into her. You bury your face in her neck, holding onto her.
"I'm sorry," you sniffle and pull away.
"It's okay," she tells you and gently wipes away you're tears, "We're all in this together." She pushes up on her tiptoes giving you a secret smile. She whispers, "Especially you and me."
You smile back so, so thankful to have a best friend in Rachel. You both go back to your duties in the kitchen.
Then you all fall into a silence. You have trouble keeping tears back. You see Rachel is struggling as well. Brittany sniffles and blinks away tears while Mike rubs her back.
"Should we stay here tonight?" Mike asks. "Maybe like figure out where we should all sleep and see if we need to change it a little."
Everyone agrees and you all talk about where everyone should sleep. Rachel goes to look at the layout of the house and you all start to make plans of where to sleep. Everyone is paired off, couples obviously staying together. You pair yourself with Rachel because Finn isn't allowed within ten feet of you by your order.
Puck walks in while you're all making bedding assignments. He sets the groceries you needed down. Mike looks up at him, "When is Lauren getting here?"
"She had a wrestling match in Brazil," he says as he takes off his jacket. "I'm picking her up in the morning."
"I thought you two were broken up," Sugar looks over at him.
He nods. "We are, but she's still my best friend." Puck's eyes fall on you, "Do you need anything else?"
You shake your head and give him a brief hug, "Thanks Puck."
He nods and walks out the door.
"Hey," Santana softly says in the doorway of the kitchen. You can see her looking at the back of Brittany who is busy helping Sugar with the pasta sauce. "I'm going to take off. I'll be back late."
"We'll leave the door open," You nod to her. "You and Brittany will probably be sleeping in the music room if that's okay." You figure you can fit them in between the electric piano and the shelves full of sheet music.
"Whatever Brittany wants," Santana says her eyes dropping to the ground. After a beat, she just turns around and starts walking.
"Wait," Rachel calls to her, stopping her retreat, "Aren't you going to eat?"
Santana pauses and looks back at Rachel. "I'll be fine." Her voice comes out at strained and maybe even a little defeated. You watch her retreat before looking at Brittany. You know the other blonde well enough to know that she's extremely upset and is trying to play it off.
"Where is she going?" Sugar asks Brittany.
The blonde wipes her forehead with the back of her hand. "She's bartending downtown for a few nights since she's missing a week of work at home."
"Are you guys okay?" Rachel asks softly. She places a hand on Brittany's arm.
Brittany immediately nods with a, "yeah," that doesn't convince anyone and moves away from Rachel's touch. She quickly changes the subject by asking someone to pass her the garlic salt.
After dinner, everyone just decides to go to bed. You end up in the music room with Rachel and Brittany. You hold Rachel's hand as she goes to sleep. You lull your head to the other side. You can't tell if Brittany is asleep, but you hope she and Santana get better. You know that they both care about each other by the way they're both hurting.
You fall asleep and are awoken by soft rustling next to you. Your eyes open in time to see Santana pull on a t-shirt. You see her sit down next to Brittany. She looks down at the blonde and kisses her head. "I love you," she whispers and then lays down, her back to Brittany.
There's so much about what's going on across the room that you don't understand. You guess that you'll have time to figure it out over the next few days.
You turn back to Rachel whose hand is still in yours. She's sleeping soundly next to you. You kiss her forehead. This is going to be a tumultuous week for her and you're going to be there for her. Every step of the way.
Seven days in one house with your former glee-mates. You exhale. It's going to be one hell of a week.