Disclaimer: Any and all Glee characters mentioned within this fiction are owned by Ryan Murphy and the people at FOX and I lay no claim to them. Oh yeah they're also owned by themselves, as actors. Go figure that one. This is purely a fictional piece of writing, and should be treated as such.

Summary:Tragedy strikes for one of the members of New Directions, while leaving another member questioning everything he once knew to be true about himself and the people around him.

Authors Note: You are going to need to expand your imagination big time for this story. It is extremely AU. It will make more sense what I mean as I go along here, but trust me when I say extremely AU. Keep an open mind if you decide to take a chance on this fiction. There are canon moments but they are scattered so you must look at this story as pretty much non canon. Thank you. In other news, this one's for the Berry to my Hummel. That's all that matters.


Three Weeks Prior

I was late for Glee Club rehearsal.

Given the hectic schedule I had been keeping as of late, it was not in the slightest bit shocking. When I had joined the Cheerios, it had been so that I could take down Coach Sue from the inside and really make her life as miserable as she had made mine, and every other Glee member she had come in contact with over the last few years. With her gone now, I had my chance to leave, but I stayed.

Cheerios practice always ran concurrent to Glee and it always made me late. No matter how fast I ran from the auditorium, or how early, I always ended up late to the choir room and today was no different. No, the only thing different about today was that standing at the front of the room when I entered was Mr. Schuester, Ryder Lynn, my fellow Glee clubber, and a girl that I had never seen before.

With me transferring from Dalton to McKinley the way I did the year before, there were a lot of people that came in and out of the choir room and the school for that matter that I didn't really know. So this wasn't surprising to me. Though with the exception of a few family members that popped in now and again to do random musical numbers with the group, lately there hadn't been any new additions.

This girl, she looked like one of us. With us being so close to Regionals though, whether she was our age or not, I really didn't believe that we'd be adding anyone new to the roster of members we already had. So what she was doing there, was beyond me. Feeling all eyes on me as I sat down though, I knew that I was the missing piece and we'd soon be finding out just who the girl was and just what she was doing there.

Mr. Schuester didn't disappoint.

"Now that Blaine's finally here, Ryder here has an announcement. So before we start this weeks project, I thought I'd give him the floor." He took a deep breath and spoke again. "Ryder you've got the floor."

The first thing I noticed as I sat was that even as Schue spoke, no one seemed to be all that interested. Kitty was filing her nails, something she did quite frequently when she was bored, Sam and Brittany were huddled up together, Brittany laughing at what looked to be another one of Sam's impressions. Tina was staring at me but trying her hardest not to look like she was staring at me, add in Marley and Jake cuddling on the two top chairs and the only one that seemed to be paying any attention was Artie.

Given the time before Ryder spoke gave me a chance to take in the new girl standing before everyone. She had red hair, not natural or rather 'from a box' as Kurt would say. She was short, in comparison to me and even with the two people that she stood in between. What caught my eye next was her eyes. I had seen a lot of blue eyes, some green, but when it came to seeing hazel eyes, it wasn't as common as you'd expect. Her eyes were the same shade of Hazel that I had myself and for some reason, noticing that shook me. It made me sit up and take notice.

Which is exactly what I did.

"Hey, my name is Cheryl Lynn and obviously this big idiot here is my baby brother. I hope you're all cool with it, but with me on break from Ohio State, I thought I'd come down and visit with him and get to know the people that he's spent the last year talking about."

Cheryl Lynn. Ryder's older sister.

Knowing who she was, and what she was doing there, realizing now that she wasn't looking to be the newest member of New Directions, took a tremendous amount of pressure off me. It wasn't only because we were already a close knit group that I was concerned about someone new joining, it was more that I had been trying so hard to prove myself through my talent since making the transfer that I didn't want to have to start from scratch again with a new member.

It was selfish of course. I knew that but it was the truth. I had worked so hard to be where I was now, and I didn't want or need anyone else coming in and turning all that hard work into nothing.

"With Cheryl being in town for the next few weeks and with her previous work with the show choir from her time at McKinley a few short years ago, I've invited her to sit in for the duration and maybe even help us prepare for Regionals. So why don't we go around the room and introduce ourselves. Give her a chance to get the know the people that Ryder has been spending so much time with. Blaine, why don't you start?"

I wasn't listening. I know it was horrible but I was so lost in my own thoughts that I wasn't paying any attention to what was taking place after Cheryl had introduced herself. I heard my name, that brought me back to reality but everything before that was a blur so I had no idea what I was being asked to do.

"Blaine?"

"Yes Mr. Schue?"

I heard him sigh and his body language as he did and knew that he wasn't in the slightest bit impressed. Normally out of everyone in the room, I was the most on top of my game in terms of paying attention. I also had no problem speaking up or out about anything. So I knew he wasn't happy that I seemed to be as disinterested as the rest of the room.

"Okay guys look. I know this doesn't seem important and you'd all rather be working on original songs for Regionals, or even just singing your favourite artists to warm up, but we have a guest and I'd hope that you all would treat her with the respect I believe she deserves."

That seemed to get everyone's attention. It wasn't often that Mr. Schuester was disappointed, but I think everyone in the room felt with his words now that he was. We were all guilty and he wasn't the only one disappointed. I was too. In myself.

"I'm Blaine Anderson."

"Or if you like, we just call him the hobbit. That one seems more fitting."

"Kitty that's enough."

Good Ole Schue, coming to my rescue. I was pretty sure that no one else in the room had noticed but when I said my name, I swore that I saw Cheryl smile, which for some reason made me smile, even bigger then I normally would have. I couldn't explain it to you, but the feeling I got seeing her smile, it just did something to my insides.

Just what the hell is going on with me? You've been smiled at before by a girl Blaine, get over yourself.

When everyone was done introducing themselves, Cheryl and Ryder had both taken their seats, and it was time to get down to the business of rehearsal. The only part of the day I actually looked forward too. The part where my talent was needed and appreciated. I was fully prepared to sing a song, no matter what the assignment, when Cheryl spoke again.

"Mr. Schuester, can I suggest something?"

"Of course Cheryl. All idea's are welcomed in here."

"With you preparing for Regionals and all, and with it having been years since I've had the chance to perform in this room, I thought maybe for this weeks assignment we could do duets. It gives everyone a chance to use their voice and prepare themselves for what's to come."

"That's perfect. It's been awhile since we did a strict duet week. Alright guys, you've got your assignment. Team up in pairs and come up with a duet, any style and be ready to perform it."

With the assignment given, everyone started moving around the room, each of them gravitating toward the partner of their choice but before I could get up and attempt to make my way over to Tina, I saw the shadow of someone walk up on front of me.

"Ryder tells me that you're one of the most talented people in the Glee club. So Blaine Anderson, would you be my partner for Duets week?"

Just when I was getting used to my simple life, especially in the art of choosing partners for weeks where we didn't have to sing solo's, this had to happen. Cheryl Lynn had to ask me to partner with her.

I felt my face breaking out into the smile before my brain registered it and try as I might to stop it, it happened.

"It would be my pleasure."