He was going to drive them to McKinley in his truck, then the New Directions had rented a wheelchair friendly bus to drive them out to the competition so they could go all together.
She looked out her window as he pulled up, and dashed down the stairs to get the front door before one of her dads could. With her dance bag in hand, she kissed her dads good-bye and quickly walked to Finn's truck.
She took her seat and pecked him on the cheek.
"Drive!" she commanded, pointing in front of them.
He did as she asked and they found themselves at the school shortly. Finn got out and walked around to open Rachel's door, then they walked, hand-in-hand to the door of the bus. They took their seats with the rest of the excited glee club.
"Okay! Is everybody ready to go?" Mr. Schuester asked once the last two had taken their seats. They all nodded their agreement, and the driver started the bus and drove off.
The drive was filled with singing of show-tunes, Whitney, and, of course, Michael. By the time they arrived, everyone's spirits were high and they were all pumped up and ready to perform.
Once they made their way to the green room, there was a frenzy of make-up, hair, and dress adjustments. After the club had settled, though, they tuned in to the other groups performances that were about to start.
The first to go was Aural Intensity. They were good, but New Directions was sure that the group was not major competition. They sang a Queen medley, obviously taking direction from Vocal Adrenaline's obvious obsession with the group. The team was not going to be too much competition.
Next was the Warblers. They were the biggest competition, but even still, ND was confident in their decisions.
There was a ten-minute break between each performance, where the audience could get refreshments, and converse out in the lobby of the auditorium.
The team headed out on stage to get into position for their first song, 'Fly/I believe I can Fly.' The whole performance, by both the Warblers and the New Directions, is dedicated to Karofskey and other victims of depression and suicide.
The song goes over very well, and after, the Trouble tones stay on to perform their version of Kelly Clarkson's 'Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You).' The song is amazing. After they clear the stage, Rachel comes out alone, and sings the first few lines to the Halestorm song, 'Here's to Us.'
As she starts the first chorus, she looks out across the auditorium, past her dads and the other teams, to a familiar-looking lone figure standing at the back of the room. Wearing her signature purple blouse, Shelby Corcoran, her estranged mother, is watching her performance.
Rachel thought that she had left after the whole fiasco at the Sectionals competition. She was so consumed in the thought of her mother being here, that she missed a couple notes in the end of the chorus, which successfully pulled her out of her reverie and back into the song.
Fortunately, no one had noticed her momentary lapse. So, with a renewed, and very forced show face, Rachel finished her song without too great of a difficulty, although she made sure to avoid looking too closely at the back of the auditorium.
After the performance came to a close, she ran off stage to the the green room while the judges deliberated. The whole club was excitedly jumping about and cheering excitedly at their amazing job. Rachel, on the other hand, found herself unable to join her friends and teammates in their congratulations. She simply couldn't get her mind off of her mother.
Fortunately her mind was forced off the subject as they were called back out to the stage. She and her team walked up to stand on the far right side as one of the judges came out to announce the winner. She grabbed Finn and Britney's hands, as they were standing right beside her, tightly.
"In third place," said the judge. "We have Aural Intensity!" The audience in the auditorium clapped as the slightly subdued show choir received their trophy and walked off-stage.
"And the winner of this year's Regionals Competition is...the New Directions!"
The audience cheered loudly as Mr. Schue was presented with the large trophy. They ran off stage, even more excited and changed out of their costumes. Loudly talking with and congratulating each other on their win. Even Rachel joined in, momentarily forgetting about her mother's presence in her great excitement.
The members of ND had made plans to have a party at Breadsticks after the competition. So after they had finished dressing, they headed out to greet their parents, and leave for the restaurant. Rachel's dads were waiting for her outside the dressing room with a bouquet of flowers. She grabbed the beautiful yellow roses from them and threw herself at them.
She was literally almost crying with happiness. This was one step closer to Nationals, NYADA, and her dream of Broadway. Her dads kissed her on the cheek and set her down. She looked up at them, eyes still glinting with tears.
"I love you Daddy's!"
Hiram rolled his eyes.
"What do you want Rachy?"
She told them about her plans with her team to head out to Breadsticks for a celebratory party, and, receiving their permission, ran off to tell Finn.
As Hiram and LeRoy turned around, they were met with a slightly unwelcome surprise.