It's completely infuriating.

They're just sitting there, acting as if the world doesn't exist and like nothing happened, like nothing changed. He can't really blame his fellow jock for this; the guy basically has a refresh button set in his system which he assumes is activated after all of his break ups. He doesn't find it in his slowly breaking heart to forgive her for being so happy with him, though. He knows he's being selfish and stupid but he hates being tossed aside like rubbish, forgotten like he doesn't matter, ignored like he was invisible to the world. He's used to it, yes, and maybe he wouldn't make such a big deal of it if it was anyone else or if she hadn't said what she did when she was off her sober rocker, if she hadn't cried into his shoulder after receiving a call from Jesse after their loss in New York, if Tina hadn't pointed out that they were a little too close on the day of their break up during the summer, if they hadn't been paired up for the club's annual duet competition a month before, if he hadn't been falling for her.

She's sitting beside him with her head on his shoulder, whispering about all her dreams and plans for the future, near and far. He manages to get a few snippets of her excited chatter. He convinces himself that the wind's blowing the sound waves in his direction and he isn't actually struggling to hear each and every word leaving her pink, kissable lips.

Do you want us to be puppies, kittens or deer on this year's calendar?

If she'd asked him, he would have asked for them to be Pokémon. She probably would have laughed and said she could arrange it, as long as her Pokémon had a star on its body. He would have told her to opt for having her head on Pikachu's body because he found her hugs electric. She would have laughed at his nerdy pickup line of sorts and he'd just kiss her forehead and tell her it was the truth before searching his thoughts for a creature he remembered being golden in colour or having a star somewhere on its animated form.
But it wasn't him. He had a sickening feeling it never would be.

By the time she gets to talk of new Finn supporter t-shirt taglines, he has to clamp his eyes shut in hopes that he'll be able to drown her melodic voice out without having to cover his ears. Before his eyelids fall, he catches Finn look to the side and sigh in boredom. He resists the urge to stand up and punch the guy in the face.

Fridays are normally great days for him. This particular Friday was probably one of the best, in a 'get everything wrong and have her smile make it all better' sort of way.

"Michael Chang, throwing paper airplanes in my presence is forbid. How many times do I have to tell you this?"

"Sorry, Ms. Jenkins, I-"

"Since there seems to be a message scribbled on this, I might as well read it."

"Please, don't!"

There's a hint of mercy in the woman's eyes. It isn't enough to stop her completely, but when he hears the words that make it out of her mouth, he's grateful he's (usually) one of her best students.

"Well, well, well, Rachel. It seems mister Chang here misses your company, quite a lot."

The cat calls and the pen poking his right shoulder cause him to groan in frustration. He buried his head in his awaiting arms, waiting for his chair to sink through the fall and the earth to just swallow him whole. He dares himself to peer up from the sleeve of the shirt that was blinding his vision, noticing her gaze on him before she snapped her head around, her hair forming a curtain of gorgeous brunette curls around her face.

He noticed she was blushing, furiously. It doesn't cause him to smile because the male population of the class is still making kissy faces in his direction and he's busying himself with trying to figure out a spell to get him out of the room. He's doing a happy dance on the inside though. And in his mind, she's singing for him.

"I'm glad I came."

Her apologetic smile isn't enough for him and he begins to lean down. His head doesn't register what his body is doing and he guesses she notices because her arms are soon wrapped around his waist, her head on his chest, and he's thankful she snapped him out of his fantasy bubble before he ruined almost everything. He takes a moment to inhale the scent of her hair – bubblegum, honey and a hint of apple – before pulling away and seeing her off, his eyes following her until she turned the corner of the block.

He shuts the door and leans back against the closed door with a heavy sigh, the opened Happy Feet DVD case coming into view.

He gets to listen to her sing along to every single song the penguins sing while he taps his feet to the beat and her boyfriend is probably going to be feeling up her yellow dress when she gets to his house. His friends think he's crazy, (mostly Puck, who'll be the first person he'll call over for a game of Halo and the first person to remind him that he's completely whipped, and Matt, who'll burst out laughing during one of their Skype conversations and say he wishes he were there to watch him trip all over himself), but he is positive he's getting the better end of the bargain, for the time being.

Only when he's seated on the couch again, picking up a few stray kernels from the popcorn battle they had earlier, does he notice a piece of paper resting on top of one of her favourite pillows.

I missed you too, by the way. I might have forgotten to tell you before I left, so I'm leaving this here just in case.
Rachel.

PS: Call me tomorrow? I'd love for you to teach me how not to get killed so much in Little Big Planet before the weekend ends.

He takes a moment to smile at the star doodled beside her name before neatly folds the note and puts it in his back pocket, already plotting out where he'll be placing it in the little Rachel Berry corner of his bedroom wall.

On the footpath leading to the front door of the Hudson-Hummel residence, she removes the Finn necklace scratching at her skin with a faint smile on her lips. She isn't sure when she started knocking, but when Kurt opens the door with a smile meant to give her some encouragement; she smiles back as a final confirmation to both him and herself that she was going through with this.