Free Falling
By Wilde Abrams
Pairings: Wildebrams, Tike, Ryley, Brittana, Klaine
Characters: Artie, Kitty, Puck, Jake, Quinn, Rachel, Sam, Mercedes, Marley, Ryder, Tina, Mike, Santana, Brittany, Kurt, Blaine, and Will
Timeline: Takes place during The Wildebrams Saga series, shortly after Wedding Song
== Sunday, Oct 1, 2017 ==
The former members of the New Directions who still lived in around New England we're gathered at the Spotlight Diner in New York to celebrate Rachel's last night starring in the Broadway musical Fanny Brice. Sitting around several ajoined tables were: Rachel, Artie & Kitty, Puck & Lauren, Jake & Bree (Jake's wife), Quinn, Sam, Mercedes, Marley & Ryder, Tina & Mike, Santana & Brittany, and Kurt & Blaine. Puck and Lauren had gotten leave from the Air Force, but were in uniform.
Mr. Schue had also flown in for the occasion. He'd unfortunately had to miss her opening night due to the birth of his son Danny. He'd seen her performance since, of course. But had been determined that since he couldn't be there for her first performance, he definitely had to be there for her last.
"To Rachel," Kurt toasted.
"To Rachel," the rest of them echoed, raising their glasses.
After a jumble of overlapping congratulations, Rachel finally chimed in, "While I deeply appreciate all of the love, guys. I have to admit to a little sense of Sadness now that's it's over-"
"Come on Rachel," Sam reassured her, "everything in life comes to an end."
"Yeah," Rachel admitted, "But, this truly was a once in a lifetime opportunity! What if this is my peak? I'm only 24! That's way too young to have peaked already!"
"Listen, Hobbit," Santana said, "as much as it pains me to say it, you're destined for greater things than this."
"Rachel, relax," Kitty chimed in, "You ended it in the best possible way. It's been a successful three and a half year run. You continue to sell out almost every night. You're ending it now, on a high note, rather than waiting for people to lose interest, and the ticket sales to dip."
"Yeah," Blaine added, "and now you're going to have some time to yourself and the time to take advantage of some of the other opportunities that people have been offering you, but you have been forced to decline."
"Like your lifelong dream of playing The Virgin Mary in a modernized version of Jesus Christ Superstar," Brittany chimed in. Everyone give her a 'that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard' look and Santana just placed a hand on get shoulder.
"And with this on your resume," Puck added, "you'll be able to name your price!- Ow!"
He jerked as Lauren elbowed him in the ribs.
"Money isn't everything, Puckerman," she told him with a disgusted look on her face.
"No," he told her, absently rubbing his bruised ribs, "but it can BUY everything,"
Lauren open her mouth to retort when Kurt interrupted.
"Kitty is right," he said, "you're ended this in the absolutely best possible way for your career; right down to having the support or the Woman herself."
Several months before Barbra Streisand had done an interview with Broadway World where she praised the production, and Rachel's performance in particular. Rachel had been over to moon!
"And speaking of which," Kurt added, gesturing to the entrance where none other than Barbara Streisand had just entered.
Rachel suddenly began to freak out, adjusting her hair, straightening her dress, and checking out her makeup in a shiny table decoration. "Oh, my God, Kurt," she stammered, "What are the odds of her coming in here on the exact night that we are here." Suddenly Streisand began walking in their direction. "Oh my God, oh my God, she's headed towards us," Rachel stammered.
"Rachel Berry," The Woman Herself said as she approached Rachel's table, "Barbra Streisand," she added, extending her hand.
"It's an honor to meet you, Miss Streisand," Rachel said, awkwardly taking her hand. "You're, you're literally my idol! I've wanted to meet you since I was a little girl. I- I was deeply honored by your review in Broadway World."
Artie and several of the others snickered to themselves. It wasn't often that Rachel Berry was starstruck.
"Rachel was literally been over the moon!" Kurt interject.
"I meant every word," Streisand said. "I've actually been planning to introduce myself for quite some time. But I've made it a policy not to meet people taking over roles that I originated until they are done with them because I don't want to influence their performance. But given that tonight was your last night, and I was in the audience, Rupert was kind enough to tell me that I could probably find you here, so here I am."
"Well I'm not sure what to say other than I'm honored … all of my life I've struggled to emulate you-"
Streisand stood there smiling, but it was obvious that the rumors were true and in real life The Woman Herself was a little shy and self concours. Will noticed and cleared his throat. Rachel stopped mid sentence and glared at him for interrupting her. He gestured to the rest of the group. Rachel nodded, understanding what he was getting at.
"Well if it's not too much of an imposition, would you like to meet my friends," Rachel said, change subjects.
Streisand began to relax and answered, "That would be lovely."
Rachel turned to Will, "This is Mr. Will Schuester. We were all in high school Glee Club together in Ohio, and he was our teacher."
"You were all in the same high school Glee Club together?" She asked, astonished.
"Well not all together," Kitty clarified. "Some of us," she gestured to the other 'newbies', "were kind of second generation." Several people noded.
"It's an honor to meet you, Miss Streisand," Will said, taking her hand. "I know you hear this a lot, but I really am a fan. I've followed your work since I was in high school in the early 90's."
"Well it's an honor to me to meet someone who is inspiring the younger generation to be passionate about the arts," she told him smiling.
"Mr. Schue gave up his own dreams of being on Broadway to be a teacher," Mercedes told her.
Streisand seemed momentarily taken aback.
"It was more that my original dream changed, and morphed into a desire to help my students achieve theirs," Will clarified. "Being a teacher is extremely rewarding."
Streisand nodded, understanding.
One by one they went around the room and introduced themselves. Artie talked about wanting to be a director. Kitty talked about being a singer, dancer, and actress. Mercedes talked about her struggles in the music business and to her surprise, Streisand recognized her work. Kurt and BlaIne talked about their own Broadway dreams. Mike and Brittany talked about their love of dance. Quinn talked about her love of acting and drama. Santana said that she just loved performing and wanted to be famous, but was still figuring out how she was going to do it. Sam talked about his dreams of a career as an impressionist and voice actor. Tina talked about her own Broadway Dreams, and Streisand told her that she was seeing a pattern here, and to keep working and never give up. Puck talked about his obsession with Jewish performers and he and Lauren talked about their careers in the Air Force. Marley talked about her dreams of healing her own songs on the radio, and received her own encouragement from Streisand. Ryder talked about how much he enjoyed performing. Jake and Bree talked about having to put their own dreams on hold in order to raise their son. She told them that it was admirable, and that it was never too late. She glanced at Will as she said this.
They were almost finishes when something on the TV at the bar caught Puck's attention. He held his hand in the air, silencing Tina who was talking about her dream of staring in Flower Drum Song on Broadway, and asked the bartender to turn it up.
The TV was displaying a news report that Tom Petty, of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers had been rushed to the hospital after a cardiac arrest. The legendary singer and songwriter had been found in his home and been rushes to the hospital.
"Oh no," Will said. "We're losing so many legendary performers lately."
"Well, hopefully he's not dead," Quinn said.
"I wouldn't get my hopes up," Sam responded, "Carrie Fisher died after her cardiac arrest in December."
"The guy was solid," Puck said. "If it weren't for my vow to only honor Jewish musicians, I definitely would have sang some of his stuff in Glee Club."
"There are reports all over Twitter and Facebook that he's gone," Artie said, looking up from his phone.
"Did anyone ever sing a Tom Petty song in Glee Club, Mr. Schue?" Tina asked.
Will thought for a moment before answering, "No, not that I can recall off the top of my head."
"Well," Puck said, gesturing over to the stage, "as Mrs. Streisand said, it's never too late. What do you all say we have a little New Directions mini musical reunion? I think I have just the song."
"We aren't singing that stupid Mary Jane song," Quinn told him, rolling her eyes at him.
"Shut up, MILF," he snapped at her. "That's not what I was thinking at all."
He pulled Artie and Sam into a huddle and whispered something to them. Both nodded and got up on the stage picking up guitars. Ryder got behind the drums, and the rest of the guys joined them on stage. Puck put the lyrics up on for TelePrompTer and one by one the rest of the group smiled and joined them on stage, seeing what song he had in mind.
Puck strummed the opening chords on a guitar, joined by Artie and Sam, and the rest of the group joined in as the sang "Free Fallin" as Will, Streisand, and the other remaining patrons listened.
[ Verse 1 ]
[ Puck ] She's a good girl, loves her mama
[ Sam ] Loves Jesus and America too
[ Blaine ] She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis
[ Mike ] Loves horses and her boyfriend too
[ Artie ] It's a long day, livin' in Reseda
[ Ryder ] There's a freeway, runnin' through the yard
[ Jake ] And I'm a bad boy, cause I don't even miss her
[ Puck ] I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart
[ Chorus ]
[ Puck (Girls & Kurt) ]
And I'm free, free fallin'
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin')
[ Boys (Girls & Kurt) ]
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin')
[ Verse 2 ]
[ Puck ] All the vampires, walkin' through the valley
[ Sam ] Move west down Ventura Blvd
[ Blaine ] And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows
[ Mike ] And the good girls are home with broken hearts
[ Chorus ]
[ Puck (Girls & Kurt) ]
And I'm free, I'm free fallin'
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin')
[ Boys (Girls & Kurt) ]
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin')
[ Bridge ]
[ New Directions Alumni ]
Free fallin', Yeah, I'm-a free fallin'
Free fallin', Yeah, I'm-a free fallin'
Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin'
Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin'
Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin'
Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin'
[ Verse 3 ]
[ Artie ] I wanna glide down over Mulholland
[ Ryder ] I wanna write her name in the sky
[ Jake ] I'm gonna free fall out into nothin'
[ Puck ] Gonna leave this world for awhile
[ Chorus ]
[ Puck (Girls & Kurt) ]
And I'm free, free fallin'
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin')
[ Boys (Girls & Kurt) ]
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin')
And I'm free, free fallin'
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin')
[ Artie: Oh! ]
Free fallin', Yeah, I'm
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin')
And I'm free, oh! free fallin
Free fallin', Yeah, I'm
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin')
And I'm free, oh! free fallin
Free fallin', Yeah, I'm
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin')
And I'm free, oh! free fallin
Free fallin', Yeah, I'm
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin')
And I'm free, oh! free fallin
Free fallin', Yeah, I'm
(Free fallin', I'm-a free fallin')
And I'm free, oh! free fallin
# # # # #
In memory of Tom Petty
October 20, 1950 - October 2, 2017