Disclaimer: I don't own GLEE or its characters though I wish I did.
Author's Note: Oops! Sorry but this idea just popped into my head and I had to write it. I'm posting for my other story 'Erase Me' tonight so don't fear! Anyways enjoy!
Sectionals he decides. Sucks ass.
It's like he has a curse or something. Every damn Sectionals, something goes wrong for him. Then he has to suck it up and perform anyways even though he feels like shit.
The first Sectionals, sophomore year, he lost a girlfriend, a baby and a best friend. When he found out Quinn lied -Rachel had to tell him which hurt even more- he was so lost. He liked Quinn and all but that baby was his life. He loved that little girl with every piece of him. And she just got taken away from him. It was unfair and cruel. He wanted to kill Puck. He was so mad at Quinn. He was losing it.
He cried and had spurts of anger that sent him spiralling into depression. He barely took care of himself and he removed himself from everyone. He mourned the baby that was never his. Rachel tried to reach out to him and she'd sit on his bed and let him vent and cry and scream. Then when he was tired, he would collapse face down on his bed and she would rub soothing circles on his back. She wouldn't tell him it was okay which he was so grateful for because it wasn't. She would coo words about how great he was and how he'd be a great dad one day. Without her, he would've stayed in that depression for the rest of his life.
Then Sectionals came and he felt so damn awkward. He didn't want to let Rachel down. He wanted to sing and perform with only her. He didn't want to do it for the club because everyone else lied to him. But he wanted to do it for her.
But he couldn't. He couldn't face Quinn and Puck...not now. He was getting better but he wasn't ready.
Fate was a bitch when Mr. Schue waltzed in and not-so-stealthily left his keys, telling him to go. He had to suck it up and as great as it felt to sing and win that big ass trophy, the win was bittersweet. He kept his cool and didn't kill Puck or break down and cry which was a small victory. But he still felt horrible. And he still lost his little girl.
Rachel said she was so proud of him and even held his hand on the car ride back (she drove with him in Mr. Schue's car) and it looked like things were going up from there.
The rest of sophomore year was a blur, including him being an idiot, him breaking Rachel's heart, his heart breaking when seeing Rachel with Jesse, him losing his virginity to the devil, Rachel getting her heart broken by that douche St. Jackass, him finally winning Rachel back with an epic 'I love you' at Regionals, New Directions losing Regionals, New Directions getting another year and then a blissful summer with Rachel as his girlfriend.
When junior year's Sectionals came around, he knew it couldn't be worse than sophomore year's. He was in a great relationship with Rachel (happier than ever), things at home were swell and he was actually doing good in school. Nothing could bring him down.
Boy, was he wrong.
The devil spilled the beans about their one-time rendezvous last year and it crushed Rachel. He felt sick when he saw her devastated expression but he selfishly avoided the conversation because he was an idiot. She was the one who set up a counselling session with Ms. Pillsbury in attempt to repair them and he screwed it up again which resulted in Rachel storming out. He was kind of pissed at Ms. P after that...she sucked at counselling.
Sectionals was horrible, to put it nicely. He and Rachel were still broken and he ended up snapping at her, uncaring to her vulnerability. They got their leads taken away by Sam and Quinn (seriously! That's bull.) and Rachel got her solo taken away by Santana which must of stung even more. Rachel was spectacular despite and he sang with a forced smile but felt like shit internally. They won but -once again- it was bittersweet. Rachel gave him a big bear hug and he got his hopes up -again- for a brighter future.
Of course, karma had different ideas.
He found out Rachel kissed Puck while they were fighting and it destroyed him. He broke up with her and the next months were hell-in-a-handbag. Rachel pined after him for a while but then she stopped and he got all caveman on her (not his proudest moments). It was horrendous. They were both so unhappy.
Then she shut him down. He had a rude awakening: the reason their relationship ended was ultimately his fault. He used her, abused her, abandoned and humiliated her countless times. Once she was gone he had his epiphany: she deserved so much better than that. She deserved so much love, devotion and affection. She deserved so much happiness.
The rest of the time until Regionals, he was pining after her. He was desperate but she didn't budge. But Regionals swooped in and saved the day just like Sophomore year and the grand reconciliation of Finchel was the most epic thing ever. Then win didn't even compare.
Another blur of events featuring Finchel bliss passed and New Directions took second at Nationals in New York junior year which was beyond insane. He was sad that it wasn't first but they did great...and his luck was crazy. He and Rachel made love for the first time in New York and damn he was a lucky son-of-a-bitch.
So his good luck at Regionals and incredibly awesome luck at Nationals kind of made up for his horrible luck at Sectionals.
The summer was awesome and he couldn't believe how happy he was...it was all because of Rachel. They were more in love than ever.
Before he new it, it was his last Sectionals at McKinley. He was psyched to be a senior but sad to say goodbye to his Glee Club, who are all going in new directions (horrible pun). They were hoping to take Nationals this year and he was pretty confident that this was their year.
He told Rachel that he was nervous about Sectionals because something always goes wrong for him and she smiled affectionately, telling him that everything would be fine. He was dubious but when she kissed him, he considered her angle. He was cautiously optimistic at first but it soon morphed into full-fledged excitement. He'd be fine! All was awesome. New Directions is ready to kick some ass, he and Rachel might as well be married (he gave her a promise/pre-engagement ring) and home life is superb. Nothing will go wrong.
So much for that.
In his last football game of the season, he broke his wrist and screwed up his elbow. Some goon hit him after he threw and his wrist snapped like a twig. It wasn't a minor break either. It was bad. He had to get surgery and everything. And his elbow was messed, too. His whole football career was in jeopardy for a while. But he got a big fat cast and a sling for his arm and was told that they'd assess his condition soon but it was likely he'd be okay to play football again. As happy as he was to hear that, they also told him to take it way easy which was not good because Sectionals was coming up.
The whole club signed his cast but Rachel's was by far the best, writing an 'I love you' and signing her name with her signature gold star. He wrote 'property of Rachel Berry' to make him feel better and relished in her delicious peals of laughter when she saw it.
Because of his stupid broken wrist and elbow, Mr. Schue had to change the choreography. It was going to be epic...lifts and spins and tons of awesome stuff. And now it had to be altered. He had finally mastered all the lifts (Rachel was doing most of the work) and now it wasn't going to happen. He vowed to kill that goon who did this to him.
He felt like absolute shit when Mr. Schue explained the new choreography which wasn't nearly as good. He could see the disappointment in all his teammates eyes but they sucked it up and told him it was no big deal. He tried to apologize a billion times and insist that they could all do the previous choreography but every time they would deny it and say it would be even better at Regionals.
Rachel was the only thing that kept him sane. Every time he'd go into a rant about how unfair it was that every Sectionals he has to screw it up, she'd tell him that he saved every Sectionals, too. Then she'd pull him close and snuggle him tight, whispering her love for him. That was all he needed to calm down.
He still pouted on the bus ride there and Rachel caressed his face and ran her fingers gently through his hair, knowing his weakness. He practically purred under her touch.
When performance time came, he once again sucked it up even though his arm was killing him and rocked the group number with Rachel of 'I want love' and 'Saturday night's alright'. Mercedes and Artie took the leads for 'I guess that's why they call it the Blues' and New Directions took first for the third time in a row.
This time, however, the win wasn't bittersweet. His arm hurt like hell but the pain was eclipsed by the joy and pride. He new that they were taking Nationals. He had no doubt in his mind.
So maybe he had the worst luck ever when it came to Sectionals but Regionals always came in and fixed everything. But senior year, it didn't really have to. Sure, they got to do the sick choreography for 'Evacuate the Dance floor' and totally killed the performance at Regionals but it didn't have to repair anything which was an awesome feeling.
New Directions took Nationals and he wasn't surprised.
He had the best luck at Nationals.
AN#2: THANKS FOR READING! A fluffy, funny one-shot to make up for all the angst :)
Review kindly! After I finish 'Erase Me', I might post a Regionals and Nationals one ;)