Kurt woke early that morning, stretching and letting out a small yawn. Today was the day of the 2011 Regionals Show Choir Competition and Kurt was, all in all, pretty excited. He looked around his new room with the creamy colored walls, then down to the comforter that lay atop him, deep maroon in color. He really liked his new house and he enjoyed having Carole and Finn around, his 'step family' as he called them. He slipped out of bed peacefully and made his way to the phone on his desk. Three new messages. One from Rachel. One from Mercedes. One from Finn. He sighed, it wasn't that he didn't appreciate that his friends had texted him, he just had hoped that one of the had been from Blaine.
He crept over to his vanity, not wanting to wake up Finn next door, seeing that it was 5:15 in the morning. He played the first message from Rachel after much hesitation, he and Rachel still weren't on great terms after the Spin The Bottle kiss between her and Blaine so he wasn't sure why she was calling. He sat down in front of the mirror, realizing that with the volume of the voicemail he might as well have just stomped across his room and the sound would have come out that same as the messages. The first voice played but it was so loud that it came out muffled, frightening Kurt. He toyed with the buttons and the noise decreased, making it easier to understand Rachel on the other line.
"Hi Kurt, I know what I'm asking you to do is huge and I know you still hate me but…can you please come back to McKinley? We really miss you! You were such a great addition to the Glee club and now that you're gone, we seem to have lost all composure. As important I am to the club, you are…the heart…and soul…of New Directions."
That was the end of the message. No "bye." No "Good Luck!." Just "You are the heart and soul of New Directions." Kurt didn't know why he wasn't flattered but just the way Rachel said it made it sound like it was the most difficult thing for her to say. It didn't sound sincere either. As if someone was feeding her the lines and she was having trouble getting them out due to her massive ego. He couldn't believe the nerve of Rachel, asking him to give up his well-being here at Dalton and go back to…being thrown against lockers and getting death threats from a homophobic bully.Kurt shook his head, trying to shake the idea as he played Mercedes' message.
"Hey Boo, you better break legs at Regionals tomorrow! Love you!"
Kurt smiled, Mercedes always left him with short and sweet messages that always left him in a good mood. He then tapped the latest and final message on his iphone screen and Finn's voice started to play over the small speakers.
"Hey Kurt! I was going to ask if you were awake but seeing as I'm getting your answering machine, I guess not. I just need to talk to someone…I'm kinda nervous for the competition today. I totally understand if you don't want to help me though, I am on the opposing team afterall. So…uh…call me when you get this. I hope you have fun today with the Warblers."
Kurt laughed as the message ended, Finn had called him, from the neighboring room. And told Kurt to call him back when he might as well just walk over and talk to him in person. That's just what he did too. He knocked on Finn's door and he opened with wide, anxious eyes. Kurt stepped in and found sheet music spread all over the bed, lyrics to he and Rachel's song, written by Rachel herself. The name of the song was called "Loser Like Me" from what Kurt understood.
"What's wrong?" Kurt asked with a confused look as he stared up at his step-brother.
Finn shuffled his feet a little before replying. "I can't do this."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "You've done it many times before. This can't be any different."
Finn just shrugged, sitting back on his bed. "But there's so much pressure. We lost last Regionals!"
"You can do this Finn! I know you can! You've got a whole team rooting for you, heck, even the Warblers are rooting for you!"
"I'm going to go out there and look like an idiot."
"Even if you do…you're still Finn Hudson, New Direction's strong lead singer. All that aside, I don't think you'll mess up."
Finn started to clean up the papers and put them away neatly in his three ring binder. "Thanks."
Kurt just smiled as he let his mind wander back to Rachel's haunting message. The most haunting part of it wasn't the actual message though, it was the fact that Kurt had thought of transferring back many times before but was distained by his own thoughts. He was finally rid of them and then Rachel comes and puts the idea back in his head. Kurt didn't know what he was going to do.
xXx
Quinn got out of bed quickly that morning, looking at her calendar. Today was March 15th. The day of the Regionals competition. That wasn't written on her calendar though. Instead, in big red letters were the words "Beth's First Birthday." Quinn looked at the words in a sort of disbelief and then collapsed on her bed in tears. Why hadn't she made an effort to see Beth? To have any sort of contact? And Puck, the baby's daddy…the two barely talked anymore. She and Mercedes weren't friends like they used to be either. Why did she let all of this fall apart? She had to fix this.
She went to call Puck, but froze when she realized that she didn't know what to say. Then she tried to call Mercedes but that didn't work out either. She sighed, throwing her phone at the wall and wiping away the few remaining tears. How could she possibly keep it together for Regionals? She went downstairs to talk to her mom after much inner-arguing. Judy Fabray was the only one that truly understood Quinn's place in the world right now.
"Mom…" Quinn started, grabbing a piece of fruit out of the bowl on the counter absently. "I'm sure You're aware that It's…Beth's Birthday…right?"
Judy nodded. "Indeed, how could I forget my granddaughter's birthday?"
Quinn just sighed. "Is she even ours when she belongs to Shelby now?"
Judy just looked at her and gave her a reassuring smile, enveloping her daughter in a tight hug.
"She can never stop being ours sweetheart. Just like you'll never stop being mine."
