After they won Nationals, the New Directions would have each done their own thing - and they did for a while - but somehow they all ended up in one of the hotel rooms designated for the boys. Since there were more of them, it was a bigger room. It made for a perfect post-victory hang out place.
For the longest time, they just talked. They all turned their phones down and simply took the time to listen to each other. Brittany braided the girls' hair - and offered to fix Joe's too - nonplussed when he gently refused. Puck popped popcorn in the small microwave.
"I can't believe we actually did it," breathed Tina. "I can't believe we won!"
"I know. Between me getting sick and then everybody almost killing each other in rehearsals…and just…everything. It's amazing we pulled it off," Mercedes sighed.
"So, this is like, one of the last times we'll all be together, right?" Sugar asked rhetorically. "That's sad."
Everyone fell silent then. They all knew the end was coming, but until now, they hadn't really considered its inevitability.
"Well, that settles it. We're having a sleepover," Rachel declared.
"Wait. What?" Sam asked.
"Awesome," Puck smiled, eating popcorn straight from the bag.
"Do you guys remember when glee club started?" Artie wondered. "It was me, Tina, Mercedes, Rachel and Kurt.""Wait. Finn, you weren't there from the start?" Blaine asked.
"No. Mr. Schue overheard me singing after practice one day…" Finn elaborated, blushing.
"Sort of exactly how I joined?" Sam wondered.
"Only you didn't make it a habit of throwing urine-filled balloons at me prior to joining," Kurt filled in, casting dirty looks at Finn, before addressing Sam again. "Which I appreciate, by the way."
"Ke pxam." At the confused expressions he encountered, Sam elaborated. "It's Na'vi. It means 'I don't deserve your praise.'
"Where do they speak that? Like France, or something?" Joe asked.
"Like Pandora," Sam clarified. "Only the most awesome land ever."
"That's disgusting," Santana interjected casting Finn a dirty look
"Wait, where are we gonna sleep tonight? Because I don't have my pillow or my blanket…" Brittany said, looking worried.
"I volunteer to sleep with Sugar," Rory said eagerly, casting loving glances in her direction.
"Whoa, Rory. Down, kid," Mike laughed.
At that, Rory blushed to the roots of his hair. "Well, what I meant to say was… Not sleep with, but more like, sleep near…"
"Just quit while you're ahead," Quinn advised gently. "Anyway, you guys, I want to say something. If I don't get to say it later, it's been great doing this. Being a part of this. I won't forget it."
"We should sing something, to celebrate this moment, Rachel decided.
"God, Rachel, everything doesn't need a song," Santana insisted. Only Brittany and Quinn were close enough to see her swallow around the lump in her throat.
"Don't stop believin'…" Tina sang, not waiting for anyone else to join in.
"Hold onto that feelin'" Blaine responded softly.
Rachel, Mercedes, Tina, Kurt, Artie and Finn all glanced at each other. Soon, they were all singing. None cared how corny or ridiculous it might have sounded. The fact was, they only had a handful of times to do this again. With this group of people. The fact was, they rarely had the chance to just sing, together as a group, because they loved it.
So, they did. Puck brought out his guitar and took requests, until, one by one, they dropped off to sleep, lulled by the sound of each others' voices.
Usually, Will would have put his foot down. He would have awakened the kids and had them all return to their hotel rooms, on their respective floors. But what he saw when he opened the door made him stop short. It made him smile, even while sadness built inside him at the knowledge that the end of the year was far too close at hand.
He fully expected to have to reprimand them. To insist that they sleep because they had an early departure time the next day, and a long bus ride. Never did he expect to find all sixteen of them, asleep by two o'clock in the morning. His kids had been known to pull all-nighters, yet somehow, here they were.
Mike, Puck, Finn and Rory were a tangle of arms and legs in the corner of the room, forming some kind of perimeter around Puck's guitar which lay in the center. Quinn was curled in the middle of one of the giant beds, with Brittany and Santana on either side of her. Joe fell asleep in the impossibly small space afforded him between two hotel room chairs. One arm hung over the side, and from the floor below, Mercedes held his hand. Sugar slept near Mercedes, her hand awkwardly clutching one of Mercedes' soft boots. Rachel and Kurt had completely overtaken the second bed, with Artie somehow sleeping at the foot of it, one hand resting on Kurt's ankle. And finally, Will spotted Blaine, Sam and Tina in the aisle between the two beds, like sardines. Tina had a leg over the boys, while Sam's head rested on her shoulder and Blaine had an arm over them all.
"Good night, guys," Will said softly, closing the door.
The End.