Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 33rd cycle. Now cycle 34!

Hear that little bird twitter! Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!

"Cheer Up, Cheerio"
Sue & Brittany
Sylvesters Series #29 (following 'No one ever said')

When Sue and Brittany would get to McKinley, the moment they were either on the grounds, or nearing it, much before they got to the doors, they stopped being mother and daughter, and became coach and cheerleader. Sue would more and less have to stop herself acting like the girl's mother, which could be hard and could be not so hard, but it was necessary, if they were to maintain this secret. She had to disregard anything she saw in her except for what a coach like Sue Sylvester would see. It was the deal they'd made… she'd made… and that was part of it.

But then every once in a while, she would see her, and the maternal instincts deep in her gut were just grasping on with both hands and trying to beckon her to do… something, to react, to act. And that was what came to be, that day.

She knew something was going through her head, had to be. With their parting of ways as they headed to McKinley, breakfast was usually the time Brittany chose to unload information on her mother, and on that morning, Sue was lucky if she got a 'hello' from the blonde as she sat down. This had led Sue to work extra hard to try and coax words out of her, which already was beyond her reach on most days, and the fact that she hit brick wall after brick wall only made her more aware that something wasn't right.

She didn't have time to get into it, when just as she was getting around to asking Brittany what was going on, the girl had gotten up to leave for school. Now all she'd have to look forward to, as she drove in to work, would be that her daughter was having problems and, by her own ruling, she couldn't do a thing about it until they were back home. No, this wasn't going to fly. Even Sue Sylvester had her limits.

After she arrived to school, she scanned the halls, having decided the best way to sneak in a bit of mother-daughter heart to heart, hiding in the open. It was a good thing her targets were all wearing Cheerio outfits… "Jenny! My office," she barked when she saw the girl, who startled. "Miranda, you too. Brittany, let's go. Alicia, don't make me wait." The four girls scrambled together, trailing after the woman and lining up outside the door as one by one they were made to sit across the desk, door closed. She saw Alicia first – told her some thing or another about her needing to quit being late to practice… which needed to be told anyway, she imagined – then she saw Jenny – told her the same thing… which was not true, in her case – and then Miranda – told her if she caught her making out with her boyfriend, Greg, one of her male Cheerios, outside her office again, she'd make her eat a bag of onions – and finally it came to Brittany.

The girl hadn't been fretting like the others, waiting for her turn, and still as she came to sit she had that same faraway look on her face, that much further away than usual. Brittany sat down, and Sue looked to the windows of her office. The blinds were not turned shut, but the door was shut, so she looked back to the blonde. "Brittany," she started, and her daughter's blue eyes came up to her. Sue had to be careful, but still if Brittany looked at her now, she could tell it was Sue the mother who was speaking to her, and not Coach Sylvester.

"Is Grandpa okay?" Brittany's face shifted briefly.

"I imagine he is. I didn't call you in here about him," she clarified, and Brittany settled back into her distant look. "Hey, look at me," Sue directed her. "Now I don't usually find myself having to initiate 'chit chat', but this morning put me in that position and, you know, it was awkward, but I could have been talking to an empty chair." Brittany frowned, confused. "There's something going on here, with you…" Brittany shrugged, but the way her face closed in just a bit let Sue know she knew exactly what she was talking about. "Now let me tell you something."

"Okay," Brittany wasn't looking at her.

"I can't pretend to know what is going on in your head… I have to say that's… kind of a scary thought… But I can try and guess, and what I've come to decide is it probably has to do with someone saying something to you. You had that same look on your face when that kid across the street said he wouldn't be your friend."

"Henry?" Brittany frowned. "I was six…"

"Doesn't mean I've forgotten," Sue pointed out, and she could almost see a hint of a smile, though it slithered away immediately. "Is it anything to do with your father, his wife, or his other daughters?" she never referred to Cat or Izzy as Brittany's sisters unless she had to, and she certainly never referred to Charlotte as her stepmother. Brittany had been at their house the previous day, coming home late that evening, already with that sour face beginning to emerge.

"What? No, I…" Brittany started to say, but then closed up again. It was a half-truth… It did happen at her father's home, in her bedroom, on her bed, with Santana… but it had nothing to do with her father, her stepmother, or her sisters. "It wasn't that…"

"But it was something," Sue could at least confirm. Brittany had closed up again. "You know, I get down sometimes. I get depressed… mostly because my Cheerios don't listen to me…" she drifted off.

"I haven't shoved anyone yet," Brittany mumbled.

"It's kind of cathartic," Sue shrugged, but then got back on track. "The point is I don't let myself wallow in self-pity, or sit there sighing, no… I consider my options; I find a way out. If someone wrongs me, then I make them see they can't get to me, or I make them wish they'd never crossed me." Brittany's eyes tempted turning back to her.

"Like revenge?"

"Revenge, or envy… regret… Make them see what they've done, and then you decide how things go." Her daughter's mind had gone and wandered off, but Sue could definitely see her shoulders raising back up a bit straighter.

"I'm going to Dad's after school, okay?"

"Sure," Sue bowed her head. She was alright again, she knew… She didn't know that her words had sent the girl trailing through the halls of McKinley until she came upon Artie Abrams, and she presented herself as a potential duet partner, moving off with him… well within Santana's sight – no touching. But this was not of Sue's concern. She had to let her go and be the coach again, not the mother… right? She watched her daughter… her Cheerio walk away, leaving the office. This was how they had decided it was supposed to be…

So why did it hurt so much now?

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!