Nationals
Reprise Chapter 7
Disclaimer: I do not own any Glee characters.
Notes: Sadly, this is the end of this fic. I have truly enjoyed writing this fic a lot. It has given me a much needed break from writing fics about Little Shop of Horrros. I hope to write at least one or two fics before the end of the summer when my fan foction hiatus goes into effect. Unlike in the show Jesse is potrayed aa a nice character in this fic.. Also sorry if this seems go on forever. I was on a roll and couldn't stop. PS Who is hoping Finn and Rachel get back together in season 3?
School was officially out for the summer, Rachel couldn't be more excited. There was less than a week until Nationals. The moment that her and her fellow New Directions members had been looking forward to for the past month. In her excitement she had completely blocked out that her father had invited her mother over for a barbeque on June 15th the day after school got out.
The doorbell rang at promptly 5:15. Rachel opened the door and saw her mother loaded down with plates.
"Let me help you with those."
Shelby smiled. "Thank you Rachel.. Something sure smells good.."
Rachel took a plate of brownies from the top of her mother's stack. "Dad's out back cooking, I'll show you the way."
Rick Berry smiled as Rachel showed his ex-wife in to the back yard.
"Welcome Shelby. Dinner is just about ready and Dave should be home any minute. Rachel, honey will you go inside and get the cheese and crackers?"
Rachel nodded. " Shelby brought some fruit salad that we can have for an appetizer as well."
"Great."
And they soon sat down to a start of summer feast.
Dave entered the back yard, kissing his partner and smiling at ex-wife.
"Nice to see you again Shelby. Are we ready to eat?"
Rick Berry smiled "Let's chow down."
They all sat down at the table.
"So Rachel honey, when are you leaving for nationals?" Dave asked
Rachel swallowed her potato salad. "Sunday morning at 8am."
Is your flight all booked?"
Shelby interjected. "Actually I already prearranged with Will Schuster that Rachel and I will drive down to Boston. Everyone else meets at the airport around 9am so I'll be picking her up sometime mid morning. Figured a little mother-daughter bonding time was in order."
Rachel had no previous awareness of this. She had assumed she was riding the bus down with her New Directions team mates.
"I hope that's okay with you Rachel." Shelby said.
"Yeah that sounds good to me."
Shelby directed the next comment at her ex-husband.
"I'm assuming you know Jesse St James is back in town."
Rick Berry nodded. "Yes, I do. He and Rachel went out to dinner a few weeks ago. He seems like a decent boy. Looks like a year at college really changed him for the better."
"I'm assuming Rachel must have told you about the letter he sent her."
Rick Berry nodded. 'Where is this headed?' he thought to himself.
It was Rachel's turn to interrupt.. "He mentioned in the letter that he was impressed with my talent and New Directions' talent."
Shelby nodded. "That's correct He suggested that Vocal Adrenaline should do a group dance number to Thriller with New Directions at Nationals."
Rachel's jaw dropped in shock.
"Does Mr. Schuster know about this?"
Shelby nodded "Yes, and he was very receptive to the idea. The reason we are going down to Boston a few days early is so we have enough time to rehearse the combined group number."
"Is something like that even allowed?" Dave asked
Shelby shook her head. "Not typically but we're going to blow the judges away with this routine so hopefully they'll allow something similar next year."
Rachel had a concern that this could potentially get both teams disqualified from the competition.
"Did you guys pick soloists already or are you going to figure that out when you get to Boston?" Rick Berry asked.
"Will Schuster and I discussed this and we are going to have one person from each team do a solo."
Rachel sincerely hoped it would not be her and Jesse more for Finn's sake than her own.
"Who are the soloists?" she asked looking at her mother slightly worried.
"Sunshine and Puck."
"What an interesting combination." Dave said.
"What made you choose them?"" Rachel asked.
"We figured we would give the judges a bit more variety."
Rachel was relieved. At least she didn't have to deal with Finn and Jesse getting in any fist fights at the competition. She knew that Finn wasn't exactly happy with the fact that he'd gone on a date with her.
Mid Sunday afternoon Rachel and Shelby arrive in Boston and check into their hotel. Note: Having never been to Ohio I haven't the slightest clue how long it would take to drive from Ohio to Boston so I am estimating it takes them about 10 hours.
It had been a very long car trip. Rachel had very much enjoyed spending some quality time with her mom and was happy they could do some catching up. They arrived in Boston around 5:15 pm. They checked in at the Marriot.
"Hello, I'm Shelby Richards Director of the Vocal Adrenaline and this is my daughter Rachel Berry who's a member of New Directions. Has the rest of our party checked in yet?"
The desk attendant nodded. "Yes. Ma'am. You'll be on the 20th floor in the Penthouse Suites."
Rachel's jaw dropped . "Penthouse Suites?!"
The bellhop nodded. "That's correct." He handed them their room keys. "Enjoy your stay."
When the elevator dinged on the 20th floor Rachel stepped out and saw the tall mahogany door. Shelby inserted her key. Will Schuster went in to the foyers of the suite to greet them.
"Glad you guys got here safe. Rachel you'll be bunking with Mercedes and Tina. Shelby we'll be rooming together."
Rachel was in awe of the room. There was so much space, " Do we have a separate room for rehearsal downstairs or are just doing to rehearse in here?"
Mr. Schuster smiled. "This suite has three common rooms. We will use one of them for rehearsal space."
"How were the rooming assignments done?" Shelby asked.
Aside from the soloists who have their own room so they can practice in private everyone has a triple. I had the kids make their own decisions of who they wanted to room with.. To avoid any all out wars New Directions and Vocal Adrenaline singers are in separate suites."
'Good move Mr. Schue' Rachel thought to herself. This would mean any potential confrontations between Finn and Jesse could be avoided should he choose to stop by and visit. She walked down the hall to find her room. Mercedes opened the door and grabbed Rachel's suitcase from her.
"Can you even believe this suite?" Mercedes asked. "It enormous."
"How did my mom and Mr. Schue even manage to afford a room like this?" Rachel asked.
"Apparently there was some deal that all the hotels in Boston were doing because of the show choir competition. We're not the only school in the competition who got this type of deal. We were just the first people jump on it"
Tina pulled Rachel over toward the window "Check out the view."
If Rachel was blown away the size of the room then the view was breathtaking.
"Wow, what a great view of the Boston skyline." She said.
"Will we have any free time to tour Boston?" Rachel asked.
Mercedes pushed a piece of paper into her hands. "Just barely enough. We really have to get this combined dance number rehearsed if it going to look flawless by the completion on Thursday. Your mom did tell you we're the opening number didn't she?"
"Nope."
"Well we really have to blow the judges away with this number. even if it doesn't count in their final decision." Tina said
Rachel had anxiety about this number being flawless.. perhaps that was just the perfectionist in her.
Each morning they rehearsed the number in the morning for 3 hours had a break for lunch and then three more hours in the afternoon.. Things seemed to be going well. Until Sunshine got food poisoning on Wednesday afternoon.. This could spell disaster for the group number if they did not find a replacement soloist in time. Will and Shelby had not planned on this happening.
Sunshine called Shelby into her room to talk to her in private. The door was closed for several minutes. Shelby emerged from the room.
"Bad news and good news kids. First, the food poising won't clear up until Friday so Sunshine will be unable to perform."
"Well isn't it kind of short notice to have auditions to replace her?" Will asked.
Shelby nodded. The good news is we won't have to hold auditions. Sunshine has already chosen her alternate."
"Who's it going to be? Puck asked anxious to know who his new duet partner would be.
"Mercedes."
Rachel was relieved she didn't get the solo. She felt Mercedes deserved her moment in the spotlight. It was her time to shine. She gave her constant competitor's hand a congratulatory squeeze..
The rooming assignments had to be switched to Sunshine could be in a room by herself to recover from her illness, Mercedes and Puck became roommates leaving Tina and Rachel together for the remainder of the trip.
"So Rachel, is Jesse going to be in the audience tomorrow?" Tina asked her as they got ready to go out for a pre- competition supper in the North End.
Rachel shrugged. "I am not sure. When were out to dinner at Breadsticks he said he'd try to come but I never really got a yes or no answer from him."
"Did your mom tell you that this whole group number thing was his idea?"
Rachel grinned widely. "Yes and I think it's fantastic. I hope this will be the beginning of coming together of both our groups."
Tina had a secret which she wasn't ready to tell Rachel at that moment.
"Tina I'm actually kind of worried about how Finn is going to react when he sees Jesse."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm concerned they could get into a fist fight or something that. Finn is not completely over the egg incident..."
"Puck told me Jesse texted Finn and they talked about that. I don't think there are hard feelings between them anymore."
Rachel had totally forgotten she had given Jesse Finn's number when they went out to dinner at Breadsticks. She hoped he wouldn't be too mad at her for doing that.
"I hope so."
Tina hugged her friend "I don't think you need to worry about anything. Things will turn out splendid."
Rachel sincerely hoped she was right.
After dinner some kids from New Directions decided to go on a cruise of Boston Harbor.. Rachel found this the perfect opportunity to talk to Finn.
They watched the sunset over the harbor.
"Finn are you mad that I gave Jesse your number?"
Finn looked at his Glee Club partner in crime and one of his closest friends.
"No, Rachel. I'm not. We actually settled our differences. There won't be any hard feelings between us anymore."
"No fist fights.?"
Finn pulled her into a familiar embrace.
"No fist fights. I promise.
"How do you think the routine looks?"
Finn's smile stretched from ear to ear.
"I think it looks great. We'll really blow the audience away tomorrow. Do you know if Jesse is coming?"
Rachel shrugged " Things have been so crazy I haven't even tried to talk to my mom about it. I texted him on Monday night and never heard back."
"Check your phone. I thought I just heard it go off."
Rachel opened her phone. Sure enough there was a new text message from Jesse.
It said
"Hey. I was going to come tomorrow but something came up at the last minute. Wish everyone luck for me."
Rachel was some what disappointed that Jesse wasn't going to be there. This routine had been his idea and wasn't even going to see it performed..
She texted him back:
We'll dedicate the performance to you. Thanks for the awesome idea."
She slipped her phone back in her purse and looked at Finn.
"He's not coming. We're dedicating the performance to him.. it was his idea after all."
Finn smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me."
Rachel was ready to drop a bombshell on him..
"Finn do you sill have feelings for me?"
Finn looked at her with a serious expression.
"Yes, Rachel. It's been so hard to deal with. With Quinn and the baby and not knowing if you have the same feelings for me."
Rachel took Finn's hand in hers.
"I do still have feelings for you Finn. I know this whole thing with Jesse coming back hasn't been too easy on you either."
"Do you want to get back together?"
Finn whispered "Yes, I do. I love you Rachel.."
"I love you too."
As the moon started to rise over the horizon they kissed. Not aware in the least that Quinn had been watching them the whole time.
Finally it was the day they had al been waiting for. Both teams were ready to go own and perform the Michael Jackson Tribute opening number.
"And now ..something new and completely different for Nationals this year. A combined dance routine from New Directions and Vocal Adrenaline!" The announcer proclaimed.
The stage lights went up. Everyone was lined up on the stage in full vampire and werewolf garb. The music pulsated through the speakers.
And the most epic collaboration in Ohio show choir history began.
Will and Shelby watched everything unfold from back stage.
"I think this was a great idea. Don't you?" Will asked
Shelby nodded happily "Yes, I am so glad Jesse suggested this. Do you have any idea if he's here?"
Will shook his head "Rachel told me he texted her last night. He couldn't make it at the last minute."
"Too bad. He really should have been here." Shelby said.
"Shelby ,how do you feel about combing show choirs?" Will asked.
Shelby didn't even have to think twice before answering.
"We should discuss it with the kids first but I think it's an excellent idea.
Once the number ended both groups gathered around the list to see where in the line up of performances their teams had been placed.
"We're 7th and New Directions is 10th." Shelby announced.
"Good, this gives us all more time to work on our songs one last time.. " Mike Chang said,
The New Directions and Vocal Adrenaline kids hugged each other with wishes of good luck.
Shelby's cell phone went off. It was the hotel. She had totally forgotten Sunshine was in the hotel room still sleeping. She had checked on her before she left and she looked like she was recovering from her food poisoning.
Ms. Richards, it's Dante from the Marriot front desk. Someone from the maid staff went into clean your room and they noticed something was wrong."
"Was it Sunshine?"
"Yes. She was throwing up in the bathroom and had to be rushed to the hospital;. We think her food poisoning may have gotten worse. Did she go out for dinner last night?"
" I brought her back something but it was really light because I knew she was still sick."
"Do you remember what is was you brought back for her?"
"Just a small side salad."
"Do you know if she ate any of it?"
"I left it on her bedside table with a glass of water. Did the maid notice if the plate was empty?
"It appears like she had a few bites but whatever she did eat must of really upset her stomach worse than it already was.
"Was her fever really high? I took her temperature before we left for the Civic Center."
"She has a 104 fever. That's why she's been rushed to the hospital for observation. You should send a representative from your group over to be with her right away and then notify her parents."
"I'm on my way right now." Shelby said.
"What was that all about?" Will asked noticing that Shelby looked incredibly worried.
"Sunshine's food poising got worse and she's in the hospital. I need to leave right away to check on her.. Can one of the kids come with me?"
"No, I think they should focus on the competition. I'll stay here and hold down the fort. Will you call me with any updates?"
Shelby hugged him " Definitely. Thanks Will, this is a big help."
"No worries."
Shelby grabbed her jacket. Rachel came out of the rehearsal room just to see her mother leave in a rush.
"Where is she going in such a rush? Shouldn't she be staying with us for the whole competition?" Rachel asked.
"Sunshine's food poisoning has gotten worse.. Your mom is going to the hospital to stay there with her for a little while. Hopefully she'll be back by the end of the competition,."
"Don't you think her parents should know? They're out in the audience."
Will Schuster did not know how many parents would actually attend the competition based on how far away it was.
"Do you know where they are sitting?"
"Right where you enter the auditorium on the end of the second row. The first group is just finishing now .. hury up before the next team starts"
Will went into auditorium. Sunshine's parents were easy to spot.
"Hi I'm Will Schuester coach of New Directions… we just performed with Vocal Adrenaline in the Michael Jackson tribute."
Sunshine's father nodded. "Yes, the dance number was very good, but where was our daughter Sunshine? She was supposed to have the opening solo."
"Actually that's just what I came to talk to you about. Sunshine got sick with food poisoning two nights ago and she was just rushed to Beth Israel Hospital for some tests. Shelby, the coach of Vocal Adrenaline just left to go check on her. Figured you should get on over there and see how she's doing."
The look on Sunshine's mother's face grew very alarmed. "Thank You Mr. Schuster We will leave immediately."
Meanwhile… in the rehearsal room
Rachel was confused about why Jesse had bailed on coming to Nationals. It was a possibility the distance was too far. She had hoped that nothing too bad had happened to him. Finn could tell that something was distracting Rachel's focus.
"You're upset that Jesse's not here aren't you?"
"Not upset really, just a bit concerned. I mean he did come up with the idea for the opening number and I was really hoping he'd be here to see it."
Finn's smile was a mile wide. "Yeah, it was a pretty AMAZING number. I wonder if New Directions and Vocal Adrenaline will do more combined shows together in the future."
Rachel noticed Quinn glaring at her out of the corner of her eye.
"Excuse me." Rachel said to Finn. "Your girlfriend is shooting me nasty looks. I must go speak to her."
"By all means." Finn said.
Rachel and Quinn stepped out in the hall to avoid any embarrassing squabbles in front of the group.
"Listen Quinn if you're going to start any fights about me and Finn save it for the plane ride home to Ohio. The stakes are too high for everyone right now." Rachel said with emphasis.
" I saw you guys kissing on the boat last night." Quinn whispered
"Yeah., so what? A kiss is a kiss."
"It means more to you than that and you know it."
"Just drop it Quinn. I don't want to talk about my feelings for Finn right now especially with you. Don't distract our focus from the competition."
"For your information I made sure that Jesse wasn't here today."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I stole Finn's phone from him and texted him telling him not to come last night when you were kissing Finn on the cruise."
Rachel's face grew red instantly.
"Are you insane?! What the fuck made you do that?"
"I personally don't like the idea of combining Glee clubs. I told Jesse exactly that. I said he should stay away from us and us do our own thing from now on."
Rachel was furious. She didn't want to be part of this conversation anymore..
"Stay away from me for the rest of the day. I don't want to talk you anymore then we've already spoken."
"Fine with me." Quinn turned on her heels and went back into the rehearsal room with a very satisfied look on her face.
Rachel ran down the hall to find Mr. Schuster. He was just emerging from the theatre with Sunshine's parents who looked extremely worried. .
Will Schuster took immediate notice of Rachel's red faced expression.
"Mr Schue we need to talk." Rachel said.
"Just a second Rachel I need to call a cab for Sunshine's parents. They are going to the hospital to be with their daughter." Will said pulling out his cell phome nnd calling 411 to get the nearest taxi cab service.
Once Sunshine's parents were safely off to the hospital Will game his full attention to Rachel. "Okay, what's up? What's gotten you so upset?"
"Quinn is blackmailing our collaborative efforts with Vocal Adrenaline. That's what!"
He stared at her completely baffled
"What do you mean? The group number is over."
"I mean she stole Finn's phone last night when we went on the cruise and texted Jesse telling him not to come watch when the whole thing was his idea " "Jesse told me something else came up but now I know the truth."
"Well, how do you know for sure something else didn't come up? It is almost July 4th you know. He could have had plans with his family."
Rachel was too angry with Quinn at the current time to even take that suggestion into consideration. "No, this is one hundred percent Quinn not wanting New Directions and Vocal Adrenaline to collaborate."
"Well Quinn is just going to have learn to deal with this. We're going to be collaborating a lot more with Vocal Adrenaline from now on."
Rachel was shocked.
"We are?"
"That's the plan. Your mom and I are planning on talking to everyone at the end of the competition today no matter the result of who gets what placement."
The crimson color faded from Rachel's face.
"Great. Will you talk to Quinn and sort things out?"
"Definitely. Actually if you're on your way back to the rehearsal room send her out once you get back."
"Gladly."
Rachel went back down the hall to get Quinn from the rehearsal room.
Will looked at the blond cheerleader with a very dissatisfied smirk.
"What's gotten into you Quinn?"
"Combining Glee clubs is a bad idea Mr. Schue. Think of what Jesse did to Rachel last year."
"Last year has nothing to do with what's going on now. Jesse and Rachel have moved on from that and the rest of you should too."
"I don't give a shit what you say. It's not a good idea."
Will Schuster grew red in the face.
"Quinn , you will not talk to me like that or get in the way of this wonderful new friendship between New Directions and Vocal Adrenaline. If you continue to sabotage this contest I will send you back to the hotel and you won't even get to compete."
Before their conversation could continue Finn stomped down the hall in a fit of rage. His eyes which were full of fire were set directly on Quinn.
"What the fuck possessed you to steal my phone and text Jesse?"
Both Mr .Schuster and Finn folded their arms and glared at Quinn.
"You said yourself that you and Puck wanted to pulverize Jesse. That's part of the reason why I didn't want him here today."
"For your information Jesse and I have settled our differences. Last year is in the past. You need to let that go. The rest of us have."
"As I just told Mr. Schue I don't think combining Glee clubs is a good idea. We're rivals. We should stay that way."
"Sorry Quinn it's a new year. I actually really enjoyed working with Vocal Adrenaline on the dance number.. I look forward to collaborating with them more." Finn stared at his (soon to be ex) girlfriend. "Oh, by the way I don't care if you're jealous of me and Rachel or not. We're getting back together. You have no control over how we feel about each other and you can't manipulate me away from her no matter how hard you try."
With that Finn stomped back down the hall toward the rehearsal room.
"Do you have anything else to say Quinn?"
"No, nothing at all."
" I have the right mind to send you back to the hotel for this charade but I won't You will have a lot or serious thinking to do on the plane ride back to Ohio."
Mr. Schue went back to the rehearsal room to check on the status of the preparation for New Directions solo numbers.. Quinn in the meanwhile went to the bathroom, locked herself in the last stall and cried for 45 minutes. Once she recomposed herself she made a decision that this would be her last year in Glee Club. She couldn't deal with seeing Rachel steal her boyfriend away from her and couldn't believe that Mr. Schuster did not trust her that combining Glee Clubs was a bad idea. She had nothing at McKinley. No Cheerios and as of this very moment no Glee Club. She would transfer to a different high school that coming fall
By lunch break the top 10 schools had completed their performances.. only 10 more teams remained. Will was glad that both Vocal Adrenaline and New Directions had gone in the earlier round. Now they could relax for the rest of the day.
Will's phone rang. It was Shelby
"Hey, How's Sunshine doing?"
"A little better. Her parents are taking her home for closer observation. They are filling out her release paper work and going to the hotel to pick up her bags.
"Is she okay to fly?"
"I hope so.. How are things there?"
"Good despite the drama before the performances,."
"What happened?"
"After Sunshine's parents left, Rachel came out of the rehearsal room in a rage telling me that Quinn had stolen Finn's phone last night and texted Jesse telling him not to come.."
"What?"
"That was my reaction exactly. Apparently while Finn and Rachel had some alone time on the cruise last night she confiscated Finn's phone and texted Jesse. Jesse then texted Rachel saying something came up at the last minute."
"That could have been true though. Did you actually see the text that Quinn sent to him?"
"Yes. It said that he should stay away from New Directions and let us do our own thing."
Shelby was furious at what Quinn had done. She couldn't believe the mother of her adopted daughter Beth would do something so hurtful. Especially since things seemed to be on stronger ground between Jesse and Rachel.
"What makes her think she has any say? We're the directors."
"I've already said my piece. You're welcome to talk to her if you want..."
"Oh trust me, I will talk to her I'll be back there in about 10 minutes."
"Okay See you soon.. Will hung up..
The rest of the day seemed to fly by. Within three hours times the winners were announced.
The lead judge spoke. "First of all we'd like to congratulate Vocal Adrenaline and New Directions on their amazing combined dance number. It was a peasant surprise. We plan on including this in our judging criteria next year."
High fives circulated throughout the New Directions and Vocal Adrenaline rows… Quinn refrained from participation and kept her arms folded across her chest.
"Now we will announce the winners of this years compettion. In Fourth Place New Directions Mc Kinley High School In third place Southington High School Singing Stars Southington, Connecticut. In second place Vocal Adrenaline and in first place New Brunswick Noters New Brunswick New Jersey.
More high fives.
In all this celebration Shelby chose to pull Quinn aside..
"Quinn, Mr. Schuster told me that you texted Jesse and told him not to come is this true?"
"Yes."
"Why would you do something like that?"
"Jesse is a creep and a two faced liar I can't believe that everyone else in New Directions can't see that."
"Did you notice how happy everyone was happy to be together today.. from both teams?"
Quinn looks away from Rachel's mother. " Guess not."
"That's because you were too focused on the Jesse everyone knew LAST YEAR. What is wrong that you can't move on when everyone else has?"
"Because Jesse is a scumbag."
"Would a scumbag have respect for New Directions and suggest this idea in the first place?"
Quinn didn't answer.
"You need to put last year behind you Quinn. Everyone else has. What kind of example would this set for your daughter when she grows up and wants to seek out her birth mother?"
Quinn had never considered this before but still did not answer for at least five minutes.
"I don't care what anyone else says. Combining Glee Clubs is a bad idea,"
"Well you have no say in what we do, we're the directors.. Finn and Rachel seem to think this is an excellent idea. Jesse does too.. I think everyone else will approve."
"If you guys go through with this I plan to transfer next year."
"Is that a threat?"
"No, it's the truth. I am totally done with Glee Club.. totally done with McKinley High I want to start over a new leaf."
"Whatever you feel best suits you."
"Are we done now?"
"Yes, Quinn you're dismissed.
Shelby left Quinn alone. At that moment Quinn saw her mother come from the direction of the bathroom.
:"Quinny, MR. Schuster talked to me during intermission and told me about the incident that happened on the cruise what's gotten in to you?
Quinn refused to talk anymore about this situation then she already had.. Twice in one day was truly enough for her.
" Can we just go home?
"If that's what you want. We'll go to the hotel and get you're your things. Are you sure you don't want to stay for the end of competition debriefing.?"
" No. I've had enough of Glee club for today… forever."
"What do you mean forever?"
"I want to transfer next year. Start over fresh. I feel McKinley is not a good fit for me anymore,"
"Okay sweetie, we'll discuss all later. Let's just get to the airport. The flight is booked for 8pm tonight. I already arranged a charter flight for the two of us."
'A fresh start, just what I need." Quinn thought.
