Hey all, I should be studying for midterms, but tonight's episode really got me hung up on this, so hopefully once it's out, I can get stuff done!
I don't own anything but I really wish I did.
I would like to dedicate this selection to my people at Tumblr, who gave me this idea. I don't really know the setting, but I think the near future is a good guess.
As always, reviews are welcome and appreciated!
FYI, I'm still working on my story, This is For Keeps.
xxx
Perfect
A Faberrittana-ish one shot
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It was Friday. This meant one thing to the New Directions, and that was that it was time to perform. Per usual, Rachel Berry stood front and center the moment Will said that the kids could do their songs.
"Mr. Shue, if you don't mind, we'd like to go last," Rachel said, much to the surprise of her fellow Glee clubbers. Usually, Rachel would request (demand) to perform first, leaving the rest of the club to follow in her shadow.
"Wow, Rachel," Will said with a smile, "I think that's a first."
"Well, Mr. Shue, I'm trying to follow this week's lesson, and my group assures me that they fully support my efforts," she said as she took her seat between a smiling Brittany and an indifferent Quinn. Santana, the fourth and final member of the group just nodded, biting back the comment of their implied superiority in favor of the week's lesson.
xxx
One. That was the word written on the white board the Monday previous. He explained that Glee Club was about spiritual growth just as much as musical growth, and that he was disappointed in the progress that they had made as a whole. He decided that the best way to come together as a real team was to spend the week learning how to be there for each other. This included breaking the team into small groups and letting them spend the week getting to know one another as who they are outside of Glee, then on Friday, each group was to sing a song that most reflected the feelings that they wanted to share with the rest of the club.
Will knew that unless he intervened, they would naturally form the groups that they usually did, which would keep them from truly reaping the benefits of the lesson. Since his previous experiences taught him some, he knew that pulling names from a hat wouldn't work, because somehow Santana always managed to pull Brittany. He also knew that letting the kids pick their own groups didn't always work out, as Rachel would usually choose Finn or Puck while the rest of the club sort of floated along.
"Because we've had issues with choosing partners before," he said as the guilty parties looked around nervously and Santana muttered a, 'Quit looking at me, Berry!', "I've decided to have some outside help."
The club's collective groan was noticed and ignored as both Miss Pillsbury and Coach Bieste walked through the choir room door.
"I've asked Miss Pillsbury and Coach Bieste to help me with a mini-retreat. I know that some of you still think that all you have in common is Glee, but I know for a fact that you all have more to yourselves than that. I know that some of you could be really great friends if you'd jus let yourselves. The three of us are going to try to help you all see that while you may be a bunch of individuals, you're all one club, one unit that needs to stick together and stick up for one another. Hopefully, at the end of today's session, most of you will see just how alike you are to those you haven't bothered to get to know yet."
After he had spoken, Miss Pillsbury walked to the front of the room and placed a sheet of paper on the podium while Coach Bieste and Mr. Shue took a roll of painter's tape and made a line across the floor of the choir room.
"Ok New Directions," she said, "you're going to play a game called 'Walk the Line'. All of you need to step to the middle of the room, on one side of the line. I'm going to read a statement and if it applies to you, you're going to cross the line. They're going to start out easy, so nobody worry," she said pleasantly.
"Remember that this is a safe place," Coach Bieste said as she closed the door, "Nothing that anyone says here leaves this room. You're a team. You need to be able to trust each other and depend on each other. Got it?"
The group mumbled their replies as they all approached the line and waited for the activity to begin.
"Ok, walk the line if you are a member of New Directions," Miss Pillsbury instructed as all of the kids crossed, "Now go back."
Puck rolled his eyes and laughed as Santana sent a snicker his way.
"Walk the line if you have brown hair," and half of the club crossed and then returned. The simple questions continued for a minute or two, and as promised, the game soon turned more intense.
"Walk the line if you or someone you know has been bullied," and the whole group walked up, carefully paying attention to Kurt and Rachel.
"Walk the line if you have bullied someone."
At first, everyone was still, afraid to admit what he or she'd done. After a moment's hesitation though, Puck stepped forward, only to be followed by Quinn, Santana, and Brittany.
"Walk the line if you're afraid to be yourself at school," she said. Several members stepped forward.
"Walk the line if you're afraid to be yourself at home." Several more joined. The questions continued, and some members let a tear or two out as they admitted things they had never before.
"Walk the line if you are ready to change your life," she read finally, as everyone crossed the line.
They had a break while the three adults carefully split up the groups between themselves while the kids lightened the mood.
"I guess that wasn't so bad," Santana said, quickly wiping the corners of her eyes. Even if they were sharing their all, she still had a reputation to maintain.
"No, it wasn't," Quinn agreed.
xxx
"There's 12 of you," Coach Bieste said, "and three of us. You're going to get into groups of four now and each group is going to split up. My group will stay here while Miss Pillsbury's group will go to the auditorium and Mr. Shuester's group will go to the cafeteria. I've got Hudson, Abrams, Jones, and Cohen-Chang."
"Puckerman, Hummel, Chang, and Anderson," Will said as he led them out.
"And my group is Brittany, Quinn, Rachel, and Santana," Emma said cheerfully.
Rachel was obviously uncomfortable being in a group with the Unholy Trinity, but for the sake of the exercise she was determined to make it work.
"We're going to play 'If You Really Knew Me'," Emma said, "Does everyone know how to play?"
"No," Brittany said seriously as Emma just smiled.
"That's fine. You start by saying, 'If you really knew me, you'd know…' and then you say something that people might not know about you if they don't know you very well."
"That sounds easy," Brittany said, "I'll go first."
"Great! Thanks Brittany," Emma said," remember that you can start with simple things if that makes you feel more comfortable."
"Ok. If you really knew me, you'd know I have two cats."
"If you really knew me, you'd know that my favorite food is bacon," Quinn said.
"If you really knew me, you'd know that I despise cilantro."
"If you really knew me, you'd know I was a Barbra Streisand enthusiast."
"I'd know that even if I'd never met you before," Santana scoffed.
"I don't believe that this is open for comments, Santana," Rachel countered.
"That's right," Miss Pillsbury said, "Even though we've left the choir room, we're still in a safe place. Nobody is judging anyone else here."
"Sorry, Berry," Santana said guiltily.
"Apology accepted."
"If you really knew me, you'd know that I am afraid to try sushi."
This continued for a while until once again, it too got intense.
"If you really knew me, you'd know that I haven't seen my dad in 11 years."
"If you really knew me, you'd know that I pretend to hate everyone because I hate myself the most."
"If you really knew me, you'd know that I'm afraid that if I was honest about who I was, nobody would accept me."
"If you really knew me, you'd know that I'm tired of trying so hard for the things that I want most of all because I know that they probably won't happen."
"If you really knew me, you'd know that I let my fear of germs ruin most of the things in my life."
"If you really knew me, you know that I pretend to be a lot dumber than I am so that people don't expect things from me. If I'm too dumb to miss my dad, people won't bring him up."
"If you really knew me, you'd know that I wish I could undo all of my mistakes."
"If you really knew me, you'd know that I wish I could be popular without being horrible."
"If you really knew me, you'd know that more than anything else, I wish I had a real friend. I wish you guys would want to really be my friends."
"You are my friend, Rachel," Brittany said, placing a hand on the brunette's shoulder.
"Mine too," Quinn said, offering her a smile.
"I'm friends with you too Berry, uh, Rachel," Santana said as she awkwardly patted the top of Rachel's head.
"And I hope you all know that you have a friend in me," Emma said, as they all group hugged on the auditorium stage.
Xxx
After the last activity, the groups returned to the choir room, where Mr. Shuester spoke up,
"Ok everybody, today was really emotional and hopefully it helped you all as much as I think it did. The groups that you are in are the groups that you'll be in for the end of the week performance. Hopefully you all learned things about each other that will help you to respect and help each other out. We're going to split up again so you can choose your songs and keep them secret from the rest of the club. You want to pick a song that the four of you feel will really touch the rest of the club, and let them know that you've got each other's backs. You'll spend the rest of the week working on them, so good luck," he said before returning to his group.
"You guys," Brittany said, "I think I have a really awesome idea."
Xxx
Coach Bieste's group was made up of Finn, Artie, Mercedes, and Tina.
"This song is from all of us to all of you," Finn said.
They sang, "You've Got a Friend" while Artie played acoustic guitar and Tina played piano. When their song was over, the club clapped and Mr. Shue stood up,
"Guys that was great! I love James Taylor and Carole King! Awesome job!"
The club congratulated the four as they returned to their seats and Coach Bieste high fived them all on a job well done.
Mr. Shue's group, Blaine, Kurt, Puck, and Mike, decided to sing a mash up of "In My Life" by The Beatles and "Everything I Own" by Bread.
"This song is dedicated to all of the ties broken and bridges burned throughout the years," Blaine said, "and we hope that all of you find it in your hearts to forgive and make new relationships with everyone else I the club."
After their performance, more cheers and claps filled the room before Will spoke up at last,
"Alright everyone, last but certainly not least, we have Rachel, Quinn, Brittany, and Santana."
Everyone sat in awe as members of the stage crew brought huge, full-length mirrors to the stage so that each of them could see themselves reflected into the audience. Five stools sat on the stage as Rachel approached.
"This week taught us a lot about each other," Rachel said, sitting down.
"We learned how to love each other," Brittany added, joining Rachel.
"And to befriend each other, despite our pasts," Santana said, winking at Rachel as she walked past to the next open stool.
"But we also learned that a huge part, if not the largest part of learning to love each other," Quinn said, "is learning to love yourself." She too sat.
"We want you to look into the mirrors at yourselves as we sing this song," Emma said, walking down the auditorium stairs with a box in hand, "Because while this song is for you from us, it should be for you from you as well."
When she reached the stage, she put the box down and opened it, passing each of the girls something that couldn't be seen from the seats. The rest of the club watched in confusion as their song began and Quinn sang:
Made a wrong turn
Once or twice
Dug my way out
Blood and fire
Bad decisions
That's alright
Welcome to my silly life
She then took the object Miss Pillsbury had given her, a shirt much like those they had sported for Born This Way and put it on as Santana sang:
Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood
Miss "no way it's all good"
It didn't slow me down
Mistaken
Always second guessing
Underestimated
Look, I'm still around…
Santana then slipped her shirt on as the group sang together:
Pretty, pretty please
Don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than
Less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please
If you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothing
You are perfect to me
It was now Brittany's verse, and as she sang, she looked at Santana with a smile:
You're so mean
When you talk
About yourself
You are wrong
Change the voices
In your head
Make them like you
Instead
Rachel came in after as Brittany put on her shirt:
So complicated
Look how big you'll make it
Filled with so much hatred
Such a tired game
It's enough
To everyone's surprise, when Rachel put her shirt on, Emma finished the verse:
I've done all I can think of
Chased down all my demons
see you do the same
When the five women on stage had their shirts on, they all stood, linking hands for support as they sang the chorus and displayed their messages to the Glee Club, Mr. Shue, Coach Bieste, and themselves for the first time:
Pretty, pretty please
Don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than
Less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please
If you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothing
You are perfect to me
They took turns with the bridge as Santana started, stepping up as her chest displayed the message "Likes Girls", Quinn coming in after with her shirt that read, "Makes Mistakes", Brittany in a "Daddy Issues" shirt, Rachel sporting a "Fear of Rejection", and Emma in a "Afraid to Try" shirt:
The whole world stares while I swallow the fear
The only thing I should be drinking is an ice cold beer
So cool in lying and I tried tried tried
But we try too hard, it's a waste of my time
Done looking for the critics, cause they're everywhere
They don't like my jeans, they don't get my hair
Syringe ourselves and we do it all the time
Why do we do that?
Why do I do that?
Why do I do that?
Before the final verse, they lined up, Brittany, Quinn, Rachel, Santana, and Emma, turned their backs to the crowd and joined hands, revealing the message across their backs that said, " UR PE RF EC T!":
Ooh, pretty pretty pretty,
Pretty pretty please don't you ever ever feel
Like you're less than
Less than perfect
Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel
Like you're nothing
You are perfect, to me
You're perfect
You're perfect
Pretty, pretty please don't you ever ever feel
like you're less then, less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please if you ever ever feel
like you're nothing you are perfect to me
When the music stopped and the group turned back around, they were met with a standing ovation. Both Coach Bieste and Mr. Shue were crying while Kurt clapped with as much force as he could, Artie and Puck whistling, before the rest of the club rushes the stage and enveloped each other in a massive group hug.
"Fantastic job ladies!" Will congratulated.
Xxx
"That was amazing," Kurt said, "the end was incredible!"
"Thank you, Kurt," Rachel said humbly while the rest of the group just smiled. The whole club was going out to celebrate their victory of the week, so they all waited while Coach Bieste pulled the Football minibus around.
"We were pretty great, huh?" Santana asked as she smiled on to her group.
"Totally, I'm wearing this shirt everywhere," Brittany said seriously, "It even has my initials on the back."
"Your back says 'UR', not 'BP'," Quinn said.
"Yeah, duh, 'Unicorn Ringleader'!"
"Yeah Quinn, yours stands for 'Pees Everywhere'," Santana joked.
"Then yours stands for 'Enjoys Cu-'"
"Quinn!" Rachel interrupted, "Yours obviously stands for 'Pretty Eyes' and Santana's can stand for 'Enjoys Cuddling'!"
"That's true, she does," Brittany informed.
"Well Berry's is at least her actual initials. Or, at least it will be someday." Santana said with a smirk.
"What's that supposed to mean? 'RF'?" Rachel asked as Coach Bieste honked as the rest of the club began to board.
"Rachel Fabray," Santana smirked, as she linked her pinkies with Brittany and skipped over to the line.
"Very mature, Santana!" Rachel called after her.
"It could happen," Quinn said with a smile and a wink as Rachel gaped at her, "After you," she ushered Rachel onto the bus before she got on herself.
Xxx
XD Thank you very much for reading! I don't own any of the above songs but they're all great, so you should give them a listen. Also, I just got the lyrics online so I'm sorry if some of them are wrong. If you liked it, review and if you really liked it, recommend! Thanks again!