A/N: The first true chapter. I'm so ready for this. Are you so ready for this? I am. Let's do it.
Okay, I just realized that it would take like 24 hours to drive from Ohio to Las Vegas, so this has turned into a road trip/Vegas adventure story. Don't worry, they'll get to Vegas by the end of this chapter. Also, let's all assume that everyone decided to fly in from wherever they're attending college to Lima to drive to Vegas. M'Kay?
After almost twelve hours of driving in a car where the only songs being played have the word "Vegas" in them, and Kurt and Blaine won't stop having eyesex, Kurt, Blaine, Brittany, and Santana finally arrive at the motel they booked for the first night of their road trip.
After almost twelve hours of driving in a car where Lauren almost smashes the windshield after Artie seemingly provokes her on purpose, Puck, Lauren, Artie, Mike, and Tina finally arrive at the motel they booked for the first night of their road trip.
After almost fourteen and a half hours of driving in a car where Rachel sings Yentl, Mercedes is ready to cut someone, and Finn gets them lost three, no, four times, Sam, Quinn, Mercedes, Rachel, and Finn finally arrive at the motel they booked for the first night of their road trip.
The minute Quinn pulls up to the dingy motel, Sam notices that the others haven't gone inside yet. In fact, they're all sitting out front of the dingy motel, which is reminiscent of the one he lived in for almost half of high school. Quinn parks on the side of the building and Mercedes almost immediately bolts out of the car and into Kurt's arms.
"I missed you, boo!" she tells him. He laughs good-naturedly at her.
Did they not see each other this morning? Sam's pretty sure they saw each other this morning.
Still, she did have to spend her entire day with Rachel Berry, so that would probably be enough for anyone to miss their best friend like hell.
"Now that everyone's finally here, can we please go inside?" Lauren shoots Quinn a dirty look, and Sam feels the need to explain that it's not exactly her fault they're so late. But it's Lauren, and he's smarter than that.
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea," Blaine says, trying to prevent Lauren from saying anything too incredibly hurtful.
Everyone begins to file into the motel lobby. Brittany grabs Sam's and Santana's hands and pulls them behind her, smiling sweetly. Santana doesn't melt into a puddle of goo, but her eyes soften, and her body relaxes as she grips Brittany's hand tighter. It's incredibly adorable for something so subtle.
They all recieve their room keys and Sam is "fortunate" enough to be rooming with Puck. He claps a hand on Sam's shoulder as they make their way to Room 14. "This is gonna be so bad-ass," Puck assures him. Sam smiles weakly.
It's gonna be a long night.
"Thanks for letting me trade rooms with Artie," Rachel says. "I just couldn't deal with sleeping in the same room as Finn right now."
"Yeah, of course, whatever," Mercedes replies insincerely, trying not to roll her eyes. She has no idea what Rachel and Finn are fighting about, and she'd like to keep it that way.
"It's so nice to know that someone understands the trials and tribulations of an up-and-coming star who still wishes to maintain a loving relationship with her longtime boyfriend, and-"
"Good night, Rachel," Mercedes announces, turning off the bedside lamp.
"I'm beginning to think that this maybe wasn't such a great idea," Kurt says, peeking his head around the bathroom door.
"What makes you say that?" Blaine raises an eyebrow at him.
"Look at this place!" Kurt gestures around them. "I've already killed three spiders in the shower, those curtains are practically decorated with chewing gum, and the bed sheets have unidentifiable stains all over them!" He strides over to the other side of the room and holds up the sheets for Blaine to see. "Look, I'm pretty sure this color doesn't even exist in nature."
Blaine wraps his arms around Kurt's shoulders. Kurt sinks into his embrace with a sigh. "Kurt, it's just one night. We'll be fine, I promise. We'll be in a much better hotel once we actually get to Las Vegas."
Kurt doesn't respond.
"And if it'll make you feel better, we'll run down to Walmart to buy some pesticide and disinfectant spray," Blaine says.
Kurt smiles softly and kisses him. "Toss me the keys."
"Santana, will you teach me how to play poker?" Brittany asks her before bed.
"Britt, it's a little late for that, don't you think?"
"Yeah, but what am I gonna do if I can't play poker? What's the point of going to Vegas if I can't?" Brittany frowns.
"Baby, there's plenty of fun things to do there that don't involve gambling." Santana doesn't mention that she's mostly afraid of Brittany losing all of their money to some sleazy business man.
"Yeah, I guess so." Brittany still sounds dejected.
"Baby, come to bed. We'll talk more in the morning." Santana pulls her in next to her. Brittany curls up into a little ball, and Santana presses a kiss to her forehead.
"If you won't teach me how to play poker, will you teach me how to play Go Fish?"
"Go to sleep, Britt," Santana scolds affectionately.
"I'm surprised you showed up, Blondie," Lauren says. "I thought you were a little too 'spiritual' for an trip like this."
"I needed to get away for a little while," Quinn replies, pulling her toothbrush out of her foaming mouth.
"Away from what?" Lauren asks between bites of pre-packaged popcorn.
Quinn is silent for a moment. "It's complicated."
"Can't be that complicated. Spill."
Quinn sighs. "My fiancé and I need a little time apart. We've been having some problems and decided maybe we should take a break."
"Man, Fabray, you sure know how to pick 'em," Lauren snarks.
Quinn ignores her.
"Why is Rachel so pissed at you?" he asks Finn while unpacking his bags.
"Dude, I dunno. I never know anymore. She gets pissed for no reason sometimes, and I don't know how to deal with it," Finn confesses.
"Did you insult her talent?" Artie asks.
"What? No, I'm not that stupid."
"Did you forget her birthday?" he asks next.
"I don't think so. No, I didn't, because I remember buying her gold star earrings," Finn says.
"Anniversary?" Artie suggests. Finn's eyebrows meet for a second, but then his eyes go wide and his jaw drops.
"Uh huh, I though so," Artie says. "Have a fun week."
Mike and Tina stare at the one bed in the middle of the room in silence.
"They got us a single," Mike points out.
"Yes, I can see that!" Tina snaps.
"Well, what do you think we should do?"
Tina exhales sharply. "I don't know, Mike. What do you suggest we do, hmm?"
"Maybe we should just tell everyone else the truth. Maybe then we can convince someone else to trade us for a double," he suggests meekly.
"No one is going to want to trade us rooms if we tell them the truth. They'll be too pissed that we didn't tell them sooner."
"Well, we certainly can't sleep in the same bed," he says.
"That's right we can't," she says, tossing him a pillow and blanket. "There's a nice little corner over there you can sleep in."
He reluctantly accepts the pillow and blanket and curls up in the corner. "Son of a bitch," he mutters to himself.
All fourteen of them meet up in the lobby the next morning, some in better moods than others. Puck reminds them all of the plan, which mostly involves driving for twelve more hours and meeting at another hotel, this one in Las Vegas.
"Okay, team, it's go time. Please meet up at your designated vehicles and hit the road because, baby, we're going to Vegas." Everyone cheers in unison.
"You excited yet?" Mercedes asks Sam on their way out the door. He shrugs in a way that makes it hard to tell if he means "yes" or "no." She links their arms together and walks him to the car. He smiles a little.
He hears Rachel yelling at Finn for taking her seat in the car and stops smiling.
After twelve more hours of driving in a car where the only songs being played have the word "Vegas" in them, and Kurt and Blaine still won't stop having eyesex, Kurt, Blaine, Brittany, and Santana finally arrive at the hotel they booked for their week in Vegas.
After twelve more hours of driving in a car where Lauren throws Artie's laptop at Mike and Tina, Puck, Lauren, Artie, Mike, and Tina finally arrive at the hotel they booked for their week in Vegas.
After thirtteen and a half more hours of driving in a car where Rachel sings Funny Girl, Mercedes is ready to cut her, and Finn only gets them lost twice, Sam, Quinn, Mercedes, Rachel, and Finn finally arrive at the hotel they booked for their week in Vegas.
A/N: Yay, semi-filler chapter with semi-shenanagans. It was still fun to write, though.