A/N: I apologize for the late update. Here is the update and once again I apologize if this seems rushed. Next chapter things will begin to pick up. In the meantime, enjoy!
- Cassie xoxo
Rachel's POV
"The winner of the 2012 Midwest Regional Show Choir Competition are...the McKinley High New Directions!"
Time seemed to fly by in the midst of celebration. We had actually won Regionals and now we were on our way to Nationals once again! The entire team was filled with joy and energy on the bus ride back to McKinley. The victory had eradicated any other thoughts from our brains, leaving us in pure uninterrupted joy and bliss.
Before we knew it, Puck, Kurt, Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Blaine, Tina, and myself were standing around in my basement as Puck popped the champagne. My fathers who had attended our competition were oblivious to our celebration, watching television upstairs as we all consumed the champagne. Normally I would be against this, but who cares? We are going to Nationals! The time to celebrate is now.
"Cheers to all of us who kicked some serious ass out there!" Puck cheered as he raised his glass.
"Especially to Rachel, Santana, and Blaine for nailing their parts." Quinn toasted grinning.
"Let's not forget the Troubletones, their amazing number, and the rest of you guys for being incredible out there.." I said smiling, tapping my glass to everyone else's.
The night was lost in a haze of celebration, laughter, and Puck's seemingly endless supply of alcohol. We engaged in friendly conversations, feeling more comfortable with each other than ever. For the first time this entire, insane week I actually felt like we were a team. A family. Today was definitely one of the happiest days in my entire life.
Without warning the door to the basement opened. Everyone frantically hid their glasses as my fathers appeared on the staircase.
"Rachel, can you come here for a minute?" Daddy asked as Dad scrutinized everyone in the room.
"Of course." I answered quickly, forcing a smile. I followed them up to the top of the stair case.
"How much longer will everyone be staying?" Daddy asked. I shrugged.
"As long as they'd like to stay, I suppose." I answered looking over my shoulder. I spotted Quinn at the bottom of the staircase looking up at me. I smiled softly at her. She returned the smile and I faced forward to look at my fathers.
"And how long would that be? Your father and I are planning on going to sleep now, and we don't want anybody spending the night tonight." Daddy explained.
"They won't be staying the night, Daddy. We're just going to hang out a little while longer and everybody will be on their merry way." I said smiling. Dad frowned at me in confusion.
"Is that alcohol I smell on your breath?" he asked. I instantly panicked.
"No, of course not! You both know I would never do that." I said quickly. I gently pushed them in the way of the door. "Goodnight dads, sleep tight!"
"Goodnight to you too, Rachel."
Once they were out of the door frame I slammed the door and returned to everyone else.
"I'm positive that all of you heard my conversation with my dads, so what time will everyone be leaving?" I asked.
"Can I stay the night, Rachel? I can help you clean up and I'd rather not drive under the influence of alcohol." Kurt said.
"Can San and I stay too, Rach?" Brittany asked hopefully. "We'll help clean up too. And Kurt is right, none of us should drink and drive. We might get hurt."
"Well," I thought reluctantly, "I supposed you can stay. I'd rather you be safe here than driving under the influence. You just have to leave before my dads wake up."
Brittany squealed and pulled me into a tight hug. "Thanks Rachie!" I smiled at her.
"It's no problem, Britt." I said smiling.
Puck walked over while holding a bottle of bourbon. "Would it be cool if I crashed too? We did sign that contract with Mr. Schue." I sighed.
"You can all stay if you'd like, as long as you are out of here by the time my fathers come downstairs in the morning." I announced. Immeditaey everyone began to call their parents, making excuses of where they were and why they'll be speanding
My fathers had came downstairs to tell us they were going to bed and expected everyone to leave soon and I nodded absentmindedly. Everyone convinced me to ignore their request and have everyone spend the night. They all called their parents and made quick lies about where they actually were.
"Everything is taken care of." Tina said smiling after she got off the phone with her parents.
"Fantastic!" I said smiling, ignoring the fact that my fathers might kill me tomorrow for disobeying them.
"Okay so now that we don't have to worry about being pulled over by the cops..." Puck said, reaching into his large dufflebag and pulling out another bottle of alcohol, "let's do some body shots!"
I woke up groggily to the sound of someone calling my name, feeling the obvious effects of a hangover. Before opening my eyes I tried to remember what had happened last night before I had fallen asleep. I opened my eyes and looked over to see Quinn snuggled into my side and smiled as she rested peacefully. Then I noticed that Quinn had no shirt on, just a hot pink bra. I looked away quickly before I let my eyes wander over her immaculate body. I looked down at myself and realized I also had no shirt on. Memories of body shots suddenly flooded my brain.
"Rachel Barbra Berry." I snapped my head in the direction of my Dad's voice.
Oh no.
My fathers stood over Quinn and I as we laid together on the floor of the basement floor. Behind them I noticed Brittany and Santana asleep on the couch lying on top of each other with no shirt on as well. I also noticed Kurt and Blaine on the other couch snuggled in some blankets-thankfully-with their shirts on. Noah and Tina were probably asleep somewhere behind us.
EVERYONE WAKE UP NOW. I demanded, hoping that at least one of them would awaken. PLEASE.
"Dad." I said panicked, looking around for my shirt or anything to cover myself up. Not finding anything, I quickly hopped up off the ground. "I'm sorry, we were all so tired and had fallen asleep before I could send all of them on their way." I lied quickly, ignoring the throbbing pain in my head.
"I see the bottles of alcohol, Rachel Berry, do not lie to us." Daddy snapped. I flinched.
To my utter relief, I heard someone speak up from behind me. "We're so sorry, Mr. Berry and Mr. Berry. We were celebrating and things got a little out of hand." Tina said, standing beside me. My dads turned to glare at me. I felt Quinn start to stir by my feet/
"Everyone is welcome to stay for breakfast, Rachel, but we will continue this discussion afterwards. Alone." Dad said, walking with Daddy out of the basement. I felt the blood drain from my face.
"Sorry Rachel, we all should have left last night." Tina said apologetically. I snapped my head in her direction.
"Nonsense. I'm glad you all stayed the night. I would have never forgiven myself if any of you got injured while driving under the influence, and I'll gladly take any punishment from my fathers if it meant all of you were safe." I said truthfully. "Thank you so much for the help, by the way."
Tina smiled at me. "No problem, Rachel. We should probably wake everyone up...and you might want to put a shirt on." Tina suggested. My face blushed bright red.
"You start waking everyone up, I will go find my shirt." I said, scanning the room for my article of clothing. Spotting it by the couch, I picked it up and pulled it over my head. I then turned to Kurt and Blaine, one of whom was fast asleep and the other who was actually wide awake.
"How'd your shirt get over here?" Kurt asked amused. I began to blush again.
"Forget you ever saw that. Now, wake up Blaine because we need to get some breakfast." I said, ripping the blanket off of the happy couple.
Once everyone was awake, we all ventured upstairs for breakfast. Every single one of us ate in silence, all burdened with the same pounding headache...except for one lucky soul.
"This food is really, really good." Brittany chirped, full of energy. "Thank you Mr. and Mr. Berry."
Leroy smiled at the cheery blonde. "Why thank you, Brittany. You can call us Leroy and Hiram."
Brittany was being very chatty, telling stories of Lord Tubbington's dark adventures. As amusing as these stories were, I had to wonder how she could even think straight right now, let alone talk for minutes on end.
"Brittany, doesn't your head hurt from last night?" I asked curious. Brittany seemed to think for a moment.
"No, I don't. I woke up with one but I made it go away. All of you have headaches though." Brittany said, and I sat there dumbfounded. I turned to look at Tina who only shrugged in response.
"Well, that's great." I said to Brittany in response. "Explain this to us more in a later time."
Within the next twenty minutes everyone had left. Tina was the last to leave, sparing me a sympathetic look before doing so. I smiled grimly at her before I closed the door, leaving only me and my fathers.
"Rachel Barbra Berry, we want you to explain everything that went on last night and why you disobeyed us." Hiram said with a tone of finality. I turned around and sighed. For a brief moment I considered using my compulsion to make them forget about last night, but I quickly shoved that thought of my head. Absolutely not.
I began to explain the events of last night as best as I could, starting with Puck popping the champagne to waking up this morning. I conveniently skipped the story of the body shots, mostly because I didn't remember all of it, the other part being they wouldn't be too pleased that Quinn was my partner.
My fathers mainly had a problem with the alcohol, Quinn and Puck spending the night, and the fact that I both lied to them and disobeyed their orders. As a result for my actions, I was grounded; no leaving my room, no social contact with anybody, and no Funny Girl. Since my fathers would be leaving on another business trip the following day, I knew that the punishment wouldn't last much longer.
I sighed as I laid down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I thought about the previous night and smiled. Even though I had been punished, I did not regret a single thing. Even the body shots with Quinn and waking up to my fathers seeing me half naked.
My heart began to swell at the mention of Quinn. The girl who was once my living nightmare had now become one of my closest friends. She was so kind, intelligent, and breathtakingly beautiful. If I was being honest with myself, somewhere along the way I had begun to develop an attraction for the blonde. But that couldn't happen. She had just become my friend, and I refuse to let our friendship fall apart because of the possibility I might have feelings for her.
Being the child of two gay parents, I had always gave thought to the possibility I was attracted to the same gender. But what I realized it wasn't what gender I was attracted to, it was the person. And right now that person might be Quinn Fabray.
I shoved all thoughts of Quinn from my brain, refusing to let any possible attraction get in between our friendship.
Since there wasn't much else to do, I shut my eyes for a nap, and instantly fell asleep.
It was now Monday afternoon and the entire Glee Club sat in the choir room, listening to Mr. Schuester teach some not so interesting topic. We were all itching to start on our Nationals number, but it looked like Mr. Schue didn't have the same thought in mind.
Okay, this last minute shit has got to stop. It's a freaking miracle we finally got our shit together by Regionals, and here we go again with the pointless assignments. Santana thought bitterly, eyeing the assignment of smooth jazz on the board. I also eyed to the board in distaste.
I cannot believe I am saying this, but I'm in agreement with Santana. How can we expect to win Nationals when putting numbers together a couple days before the competition?I thought irritably, trying to think of any way smooth jazz could benefit us at Nationals.
You guys have a point. Mr. Schue doesn't really know what he's doing at the moment. Tina pointed out.
As much as I think Mr. Schue is the most awesome teacher ever, he needs to get his shit together. I think he might needs a little help from people who do. Santana thought mischievously. I caught the threat in the thought and my eyes bugged.
Santana, although I agree with your motive, I am not a fan of that method. We are not blackmailing Mr. Schuester.I hissed. Santana made a face.
Oh c'mon Berry, you want this Nationals win more than anybody in this damn room. With a bit of help from Tina and her mind reading ways, what could possibly go wrong? Santana thought nonchalantly. I hesitated for a moment, weighing the pros against the cons.
Rachel, don't even think about it. Blackmailing Mr. Schue is the worst idea I've ever heard. That's crazy, even for you. Kurt cautioned.
Oh shut your trap Porcelain, what's the worst that can happen? Worst case scenario Berry does her mindfuck thing and he will never remember anything. Santana thought. I shifted uncomfortably, not enjoying the thought of worst case scenario.
As much as I don't appreciate your solution if things go wrong, it is of utmost importance that we win Nationals. So I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm in.I said, the back of my mind exploding with things that could possibly go wrong. Santana beamed.
What you guys are doing is risky, but I support it. Though I think only you two should make the demands. Some of us need to stay in his good graces. Quinn thought, amused.
We really do need to win Nationals. Kurt thought sullenly.
All in favor? Santana asked.
I'm in. Quinn said.
Dude, this is the most badass plan ever. I'm totally in. Puck grinned.
Maybe this will help our chances, so it's worth a shot. Tina thought.
Totally. Brittany smiled.
I guess as long as things don't go wrong. Blaine thought nervously.
What you guys are doing is terrible, but whatever. As long as I get a solo. Kurt said, and Santana smiled.
Alright Berry, you and I got this while everyone else works behind the scene. Tina, we need your help on this. I gots a plan. Santana said with an impish glint in her eyes.
Completely ignoring the absolutely pointless subject on the board, the eight of us made plans in silence. Tina found out a piece of shocking information that we could use. We ran through the plan several times and I began to have a little more faith. This could actually work.
After Glee Club, Santana and I approached Mr. Schue in his office.
"Hey Mr. Schue? Santana and I have something we would like to discuss with you." I said walking up to Mr. Schue, Santana by my side. He looked up, confused by our unlikely duo.
"Well sure, what do you guys need?" Mr. Schue asked confused, sitting up straight at his desk to give us his undivided attention. I hesitated for a moment before Santana took over.
"What we need is for you to get your shit together and run this club a hell of a lot better." Santana said rudely. I quickly cut in to rephrase her rash statement.
"What Santana means Mr. Schue is that as a team, we would all prefer it if we could have more time perfecting our setlist. Giving us the songs a few days prior to the competition isn't exactly fair to us." I explained and Santana rolled her eyes.
Berry, are you forgetting that we're blackmailing him? Enough with the fucking sugarcoating.
We are going to ask if he could change his methods first, then blackmailing is Plan B, in case you had forgotten.
Mr. Schuester looked at the two of us oddly. "Both of you skipped the meeting on Monday, which was a full day to prepare for the competition. You only have yourselves to blame for skipping-"
"No, what we mean is that we're sick of this last minute thing. If we're going to win Nationals, we can't be pulling that kind of crap. What we're saying is we want a say in how to run this club, you gots it?" Santana said dangerously, placing her hands on his desk and leaning forward. Well, there goes the reasoning method. Mr. Schue looked at us in shock.
"You're not threatening me, are you?" Mr. Schue asked incredulously, looking first at Santana and then at me.
"No, no, of course not." Santana said with fake sweetness lacing her tone. "We just want what's best for this club and we're making sure we're heard."
Take it away, Berry.
"We know that you went over your budget for the club." I cut in smoothly, internally feeling guilty about all of this.
"I'm sure if Principal Figgins or Coach Sue finds out about this you'd be in deep shit." Santana said smirking. Mr. Schue went wide-eyed and stood up from his desk.
"What? H-how do you guys even know about it?! Are you two blackmailing me?" Mr. Schue asked, panicked and angered.
"As a matter of fact we are. Let us call some shots when it comes to this club. If not, one of us might slip up." Santana said smirking.
"We're sorry Mr. Schue but now is the time for drastic measures. We've been in this club from three years and that National title has remained elusive, and that just can't happen anymore. It's a miracle we pulled together our numbers as rapidly as we did. We need to start preparing for Nationals now, and smooth jazz just doesn't benefit us in the least." Rachel explained frantic. Mr. Schue glared at the both of us before sighing in defeat.
"Fine. I agree to your terms, but don't let a word of this conversation get to anyone." Mr. Schue said angrily. Santana smirked as I slightly smiled. Too late. Six others were in on this plan, but Mr. Schue didn't need to know that.
"Glad we had this discussion. Now c'mon Berry, we gots to get back to your house. I needs my food and surprisingly, you and Porcelain make a pretty smokin' lasagna, vegan shit or not." Santana said, walking out of the room.
As they left, Mr. Schue stared at them confused. Since when did Rachel and Santana become friends? He needed to keep a close eye on that.
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