Hey everybody! Happy Birthday/Anniversary to all of us involved in this story! I'm proud that this story is still around! 10 chapters in one year isn't the greatest stats, but hey, at least it's still going, right? ;)

I hope you have a great holiday weekend & celebrate safely!


Chapter 10: Rocking Out… Of Control

Nathan is moving around his and Joey's bedroom using his crutches, which seem to bump into everything in the room. Joey, on the other hand, is moving around his side of the room with graceful ease. Nathan lets out an angry groan as he drops his cell phone on the floor, which slides under his bed.

"Son of a bitch!" Nathan exclaims under his breath. He had been instructed to keep as much weight off his hip as possible so while he's trying to figure out how to lean all of his weight onto one crutch and use the other to drag out his phone, he hears Joey chuckle. "Do not laugh at me." Nathan turns his head to look at Joey with an all-too-serious look on his face.

Joey walks over, bends down, and picks up Nathan's phone. Then, he hands it to his twin. "I'm just not used to seeing you so…"

"Gimpy." Nathan finishes for Joey.

"I was going to say needy." Joey tells Nathan. "But, gimpy works, too." He teases Nathan, slapping his brother's chest in the process.

Nathan shakes his head. "Just remember that pretty soon I'll be able to kick your ass again with one hand tied behind my back." He tells his brother, only sort of joking.

"Whatever." Joey flippantly tells him while walking towards their bedroom door. "Do you need any help getting down the stairs?" Joey asks, actually out of concern and wanting to help. It may be fun to tease Nathan, but he actually hated seeing his twin in pain and struggling to do things.

"Nah." Nathan tells him. "I'll manage."

"Just yell if you need help." Joey tells Nathan before turning and leaving the room.

Once Nathan is confident that Joey is gone and not coming back, he crutches over to his bedside table and picks up his pain meds. He looks over his shoulder quickly before opening the bottle and pouring a few pills into his hand. He quickly swallows the pills before putting the bottle in his backpack.

Glee!

Marley walks into the choir room, her spirits high. This week was the last before Christmas Break started, and Marley could definitely use the break. Things had been so hectic ever since Nathan's injury and surgery a few weeks ago, and it didn't help that her oldest son wasn't that great at asking for or accepting help.

But, it was almost Christmas, and Marley loved Christmas. When she and Ryder had gotten married, they'd started the tradition of watching all the old Christmas movies on at night, and it was a tradition they'd kept when their children were growing up. Of course, at that time, the couple had owned all of the old movies on DVD and could watch them on a schedule that worked for them. Nowadays, the kids always had things to do, being teenagers and all, but they could usually convince them to stay in at least a couple of nights and watch some of the movies with their parents.

What Marley is especially looking forward to is Nathan's doctor's appointment, which was just a couple days after Christmas. Hopefully the doctor would say that he was healing properly and he could stop using his crutches, although he'd still have to take it easy and rest a lot.

But, Marley needed to focus on school before she could truly let herself think about everything she'd do while on break. It was the tradition in the Glee Club that the last week before break started to sing Christmas songs in Glee. This was great because then Marley didn't have to think of a new assignment for the week. That's another thing she was going to do over break, brainstorm some new ideas.

Marley smiles as she faces all of her students. Truth be told, they all looked a little tired and sullen, instead of cheery like she'd expected them to be. "What's with all the long faces?" She asks her students, her smile fading from her lips.

"Midterms." Stella replies with a frown. She had her geometry midterm coming up that afternoon, and she wasn't exactly looking forward to it. In fact, you could say she was downright dreading it.

Marley frowns. "Oh." Being that Marley handled the music classes at McKinley, she didn't really give out midterms or finals. She actually usually forgot that they even existed. "Well, this should cheer you all up, it's Christmas week!" She exclaims with a giant smile on her face. Then, Marley looks around the room and sees that no one else reacts the same way that she does. "What's wrong?" She asks all of her students.

Rio clears his throat. "Speaking for the few of us in the room that are at least part Jewish, it kind of sucks always having to sing about Christmas when, I for one, primarily celebrate another holiday." Rio tells Marley. Valerie, his mother, hadn't grown up religious, nor was she exceptionally close with her parents, so when she and Jake had gotten married she had been perfectly fine with celebrating Hanukkah. The holiday had been more important to Jake, and Valerie had been fine as long as they were celebrating a holiday, one way or the other. This would only be Rio's second holiday season since his parents' divorce, and Valerie had decided that they would have a small Christmas celebration on Christmas morning, but Rio still identified more with his Jewish heritage when it came to the holidays. "Not that there are many Hanukkah songs out there…" He mumbles to himself.

"Right." Marley nods her head.

"And, it gets old singing the same songs over and over again every year." Nathan sheepishly tells his mother. Marley and Ryder had also started a tradition of singing, a lot, during the holidays in their home. They even went out caroling as a family most years. Although, Nathan doubted they'd do that this year with him on crutches. Balancing his entire body weight on two metal sticks on ice just did not sound like a smart idea.

Marley's shoulders slump down. "So, none of you want to sing Christmas songs this year?" She asks them, feeling slightly sad. Everyone in the club sort of shakes their head or mumbles out a negative reply. "Okay then." Marley takes a deep breath. "Then, what should our assignment be this week?" She asks the students in front of her. In many cases, Marley would move along with her assignment, but if no one wanted to sing about Christmas, she wasn't going to make them. Well, her own children would sing those songs at home, but that was a different story entirely.

"What about rock music?" Austin says. "I mean, we always have to sing girly, bubblegum, pop songs to appease the girls!" He exclaims. "It'd be nice to sing something that I actually listen to for once."

"I'm totally with Austin!" Tony agrees while holding his fist up by his head, which Austin reaches down and bumps with his own.

Audrey rolls her eyes. "Wait until you have to sing a song from an actual Broadway musical." She tells them. "Oh wait, we never actually do that." She says sarcastically.

Stella shrugs her shoulders. "Bringing some rock into the room actually sounds kind of fun." She agrees with the boys.

"What kind of rock are we talking here?" Laura Davis, who was normally very quiet, asks.

Marley speaks up. "You know what, that's a good question." She points at Laura. "Why don't you all come up with a song that you think could be considered rock…" She pauses. "It can be an old classic or alternative or whatever subgenre you'd like, but make sure that it does rock." She smiles at the class.

Marley was still disappointed that they wouldn't be singing the normal holiday songs, but this could still be a good week in the club.

Glee!

Stella walks through the library. She needed a quiet place to study, and that was not something the Cheerio's were very good at, being quiet or studying. As she's walking towards the back, Stella sees Alice sitting in one of the corners. No one else was around. Stella smiles to herself while approaching the short girl. "Hey." Stella smiles when she reaches her.

Alice looks up at Stella with her big, puppy dog, green eyes and smiles when she sees the Cheerio. "Hi." Alice scoots over, and Stella takes this as her invitation to sit down. "What are you doing?" Alice asks. "Shouldn't you be with all the other Cheerio's terrifying the less popular?" She jokes.

Stella shrugs her shoulders. "I figured I'd give the freshman a reprieve today." She banters back.

Alice smiles. "So, how are you doing?" She asks Stella, hoping that Stella knows what she's really asking about.

Stella slowly nods her head once. "I'm fine, I guess." She looks over at Alice, resting her cheek against her own shoulder. "Have you told anyone else your secret?"

Alice shakes her head. "Honestly, I don't think I need to." She tells Stella.

"Why?" Stella asks. "Are you afraid of what people are going to think or say to you?" She bites her lip.

Alice shakes her head again. "No." She pauses. "I just don't really think it should matter to anyone else." She explains Stella. "Actually, it doesn't matter, to anyone."

"What do you mean?" Stella questions Alice.

Alice sighs. "Well, my parents and my brothers don't care. They love me just the same as they would if I were straight." She tells Stella. "And, really, I don't care about telling anyone else. They'll figure it out eventually."

Stella nods her head. "People are going to be pretty shocked, don't you think?"

"They shouldn't be. It's really not a big deal, right?" Alice asks Stella with knowing eyes.

Stella bites her lip. "I don't know, maybe a little." She answers Alice, talking more about her life and her choices rather than Alice's.

"Why?" Alice asks Stella. "It's my life, so why should I care what a random kid at school wants to say about whether I date a girl or a boy?"

"It just matters." Stella insists quietly. "I mean, sure, maybe people do care just a little too much what others think, but that's reality, right?" She tries to reason. "You can't change it. I can't change it." She shrugs her shoulders. "What's the point in pretending otherwise?"

Alice lets out a deep sigh. "I don't care about changing anyone's version of reality but my own." She pauses. "And, what I do and who I like, that's my business and no one else's." She locks eyes with Stella. "It's not that I think other people won't care what I do, for whatever reason, it's just that I don't care to hear what they have to say. It's my life, and I'm going to live it the way that's best for me and makes me happy."

Stella does something, something that shocks both herself and Alice. She leans over and lightly brushes her lips against Alice's in a sweet, feather-light kiss. When Stella pulls away, she looks back into Alice's eyes. "Maybe I understand a little bit." She whispers to Alice. Then Stella sits back up and puts her math book on her lap, opens it, and begins studying without another word.

Glee!

Tony is at his locker, just getting some of the books he'd need to study with that night, when he hears someone walk up next to him. He turns his head and sees one of the Cheerio's standing there. "Oh, hey Bailey." Tony says. "What's up?" He asks awkwardly.

Bailey, who was a pretty girl with sun-kissed blonde hair and brown eyes, smiles at him. "I was just wondering if you had a study partner for the health midterm on Friday?" She asks, her eyes looking him over flirtatiously.

"Oh… Um…" Tony is at a loss of words. It was like as soon as a pretty girl flirted with him, his brain turned to mush. "I don't… No, I don't have a st..study partner." He finally gets out.

"Good." Bailey's smile grows. "I was thinking maybe we could study together?" She asks while reaching out and touching his arm.

Tony nods his head a couple of times before he finally figures out how to speak again. "Yeah, that's gre… sounds great." He smiles at her, but his looks more dorky than he had intended.

"Great." Bailey giggles, loving how adorable Tony is. "My house on Wednesday night?" She asks.

"Uh… Sure." Tony quickly nods his head a few times. "I'll be there."

Bailey leans forward and kisses Tony's cheek before walking away. Tony watches her, loving the way her hips swayed from side to side.

Tony turns back to his locker before Bailey can look back and catch him. He smiles again and nods his head a little, thanking whatever God existed that he'd gotten through that without turning into a complete idiot.

Glee!

The next morning, Tony and Adrian are sitting in their dad's kitchen, each eating a bowl of cereal when Sebastian walks in, his brief case open on the counter. "Morning boys." He tells them.

"Morning." Tony grumbles.

"Good morning." Adrian says back, not all that happily.

Sebastian looks over his two teenagers. "Please, don't overwhelm me with all your enthusiasm." He tells them sarcastically.

"We have to go to school." Tony tells Sebastian.

Sebastian nods his head. "Yeah, but it's your last week before Christmas Break!" He tells them excitedly.

Adrian nods his head. "Which means we have midterms all week." He tells Sebastian while standing up and carrying his empty bowl over to the sink and rinsing it out.

"And, you're both going to do great!" Sebastian tells them. "I have full faith in you both."

"Exams still suck." Tony says as he follows his little brother's actions.

Sebastian shakes his head and is about to say something when he sees some papers on the counter. He picks them up and his face falls. "Damn, Liam was supposed to sign these today so I could file them." Sebastian says to himself.

"What is it?" Adrian asks.

Sebastian looks up at the boys. "It's just legal stuff regarding his father's health care." Sebastian shakes his head and looks at the clock. "I'll have to run them over to Carmel during my lunch today."

"We can do it." Tony tells Sebastian. "Since we lost the playoffs after Nathan got injured, football is over." He pauses. "We can run over after school." Tony mentions Nathan's injury kind of guiltily. He still felt incredibly bad for his part in how it happened.

Adrian looks over at Tony. "What if I had plans after school?" He asks.

"Do you?" Tony asks.

Adrian then looks at Sebastian. "Yeah, we're totally free." He deadpans.

"That's what I thought." Tony mumbles while rolling his eyes and facing his father again.

"Are you guys sure?" Sebastian asks. Both boys nod their heads. "That sounds great. I'll text him and let him know you'll be there sometime after school, but make sure you be careful with these." Sebastian tells both of his sons. "These papers are really important."

"Got it, Dad." Adrian tells Sebastian before grabbing the papers that Sebastian was holding up. "Come on, Tony. If we don't leave soon, we'll be late."

Glee!

Later that afternoon in Glee, Stella is the first to volunteer. She'd been in a good mood ever since talking with Alice in the library the previous day, and she couldn't wipe her smile off her face. Not even midterms were getting her down. When she'd gone home the previous day, she'd combed through her iTunes to find the perfect song.

Stella is standing in the middle of the choir room. She's sort of dancing around a little bit while the song begins, but nothing too wild or crazy. Then, she begins singing. She stops and just stands there as she sings, looking around at her fellow glee clubbers.

Somehow, everything's gonna fall right into place
If only we had a way to make it all fall faster everyday
If only time flew like a dove
We gotta make it fly faster than I'm falling in love

When Stella's eyes pass over Alice's the two share a smile.

This time we're not giving up
Let's make it last forever
Screaming, Hallelujah!
We'll make it last forever

Stella starts moving across the room and messing around with the other people in the room as she sings.

Holding onto patience, wearing thing
I can't force these eyes to see the end
If only time flew like a dove
Well, we could watch it fly and just keep looking up

Before the chorus, Stella walks over and is standing by Alice, Via, and Audrey, who were all sitting by each other. She messes with Alice's beanie before winking at her and then sitting down on Via's lap to sing to her sister. She sneaks covert glances at Alice throughout the whole thing though.

This time we're not giving up
Let's make it last forever
Screaming, Hallelujah!
We'll make it last forever

Stella stands up and walks back up to the center of the room. She starts jumping around and dancing a little more while she goes into the next bit.

And, we've got time on our hands
And, we've got time on our hands
Got nothing but, got nothing but time
Got nothing but time on our hands

Stella stops dancing and jumping and just looks at all of her classmates again.

This time we're not giving up
Let's make it last forever
Screaming, Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!

When the song ends, Stella is looking at Alice with a giant smile on her face. It felt nice to sing a song to the girl she likes. But, Stella knew that this was just the beginning. She wasn't ready to be anybody's girlfriend, and she wasn't ready for everybody to know all of her secrets yet. Before she's caught looking at Alice for too long, Stella tears her eyes away to smile at her big sister. She could see how proud Via was of her.

Glee!

Later that afternoon, Nathan is sitting in his study hall when he sneaks another pain pill. He'd gotten really good at opening the bottle and getting one out without anyone noticing, at least, that's what he had thought…

"Care to share?" Nathan looks over just in time to see Colby sit down beside him.

Nathan shakes his head. "I have medicinal needs for these." Nathan tells her. "I'm not a drug dealer."

"No." Colby shakes her head. "But, you sure have been popping those pills like candy the last few weeks." She smiles at Nathan. He looks sort of shocked, although he tries to recover before she notices. "Oh please!" She quietly exclaims. "Did you really think that no one would notice?" She asks with a short laugh.

Nathan shrugs his shoulders. "I have to take them." He argues. "I did just have surgery."

Colby shakes her head again. "Not as often as you're taking them." She whispers. "I don't even understand how you still have any left!" She grins.

Nathan takes a deep breath. "Do you actually need something, Colby?" He asks her while rolling his eyes. "Something that I can actually help you with?"

Colby starts slowly smirking. "I might actually be able to help you." She tells him.

"Why would I need your help?" Nathan asks Colby.

Colby rolls her eyes. "You know that bottle is going to run out soon, right?" She nods her head down to the bottle she knew Nathan had just put in his backpack. "And, even if you have a refill, that's going to run out, too." She tells him.

Nathan shrugs his shoulders. "So what." He tells Colby. "When the prescription runs out, I guess it'll be time to stop taking them." He shakes his head. "It won't be a big deal."

Colby laughs to herself. "Whatever Nathan." She stands up but leans down to whisper in Nathan's ear. "Whenever you run out, come talk to me." She tells him. "I can definitely get you more." She pats his shoulder softly before walking away and sitting down in her normal seat.

Glee!

Stella is putting on her letterman jacket and white scarf when Tony passes her in the hallway. "Hey, what are you up to?" Stella asks him.

"I have to go run an errand for my dad with Adrian." He pauses. "Want to come with?" He asks.

"Study for my chemistry midterm or hang out with my best friend?" Stella asks with a playful smile on her face. "Tough choice." She jokes with Tony.

"It's good to know that I rank right above chemistry." He nods his head. "That's pretty solid, right?" He jokes back.

Stella nods her head. "Oh yeah." The two start walking out of the school, arm in arm, when Audrey almost runs into them.

"Oh sorry!" Audrey looks over at the two. "Where are you two off to looking so, um close?" She asks suggestively. Pretty much everyone in the glee club knew that Stella and Tony hooked up on the regular.

"It's nothing like that." Tony shakes his head. "We just have to run over to Carmel and give something to Liam for my dad."

"We're going to Carmel?" Stella asks Tony. "That's the errand?" She looks at him, trying to hide her worry.

"Oh, spy mission!" Audrey sing songs. "Can I come with?" She asks. "I totally want to see how good Vocal Adrenaline actually is in person." She tells Tony.

Tony shrugs his shoulders. "Sure, I don't care." He pauses. "I don't know how long we're actually going to be there though."

Audrey shrugs her shoulders and starts following the two best friends to Tony's car. When they reach it, Audrey goes to sit in the seat behind Stella. "Hey, maybe we'll run into Ryker." She whispers out in a hopeful tone.

Stella turns as she opens the car door. "God, I hope not!" Stella says under her breath.

A short time later, the four teenagers are walking into the auditorium of Carmel High School. Sebastian had texted them where to find Liam and that Liam had said that it was okay for them to just walk right they walk farther into the auditorium, they hear loud music. Vocal Adrenaline was currently practicing some big number on stage.

All of the teenagers on the stage are clapping their hands and moving around in a sort of marching movement. They're all sort of chanting as they do so. While half of the club keeps up with the chanting sounds, they other half starts singing.

Ooh oh oh oh
Ohh oh oh oh

Stella recognizes Ryker as he moves to the center of the stage, his fellow Vocal Adrenaline members moving out of the way so he can be seen as the star he so obviously thought that he was.

Then, Ryker starts singing, and it's made pretty clear why he is the male lead of Vocal Adrenaline. They were all talented, but Ryker was on another level. Stella already knew this, and she also knew how great he and Morgan were together. She didn't seem to be starring in this number with him though.

Be careful making wishes in the dark-ark
Can't be sure when they've hit their mark
And besides in the mean-meantime I'm just dreaming of tearing you apart

Given that the club was rehearsing, Ryker was just wearing a loose fitting, black tank top and a pair of dark harem pants. The tank top was wonderful for showing off his ripped arms and several of his tattoos. He had a skull on his shoulder, some sort of words on his chest, and more quotes or lyrics on his back. The four McKinley teenagers were standing too far back to make out what any of his tattoos actually said.

I'm in the de-details with devil
So now the world can never get me on my level
I just got to get you out of the cage
I'm a young lover's rage
Gonna need a spark to ignite
My songs know what you did in the dark

"Damn, he's sexy!" Audrey exclaims quietly. Stella looks over at her fellow Cheerio like she's crazy. Not that Stella would be interested in Ryker given her sexual orientation, but how could Audrey be focused on anything other than how phenomenal Vocal Adrenaline was as a whole.

Vocal Adrenaline starts singing under Ryker, and they sounded like perfection. Stella was literally listening, trying to hear a single mistake, but thus far, there had been none.

So light em up up up, light em up up up
Light em up up up, I'm on fire
So light em up up up, light em up up up
Light em up up up, I'm on fire

Every member of Vocal Adrenaline made each movement as if they were the same person. They were all in total and complete sync.

Ooh oh oh oh (In the dark, in the dark)
Ooh oh oh oh (In the dark, in the dark)

All the writers keep writing what they write
Somewhere another pretty vein just dies
I've the scars from tomorrow, and I wish I could see
That you're the antidote to everything except me
A constellation of tears on your lashes
Burn everything you love
Then burn the ashes
In the end everything collides
My childhood spat back out the monster that you see
My songs know what you did in the dark

It is now that Ryker notices the teenagers watching the performance. He gets a wicked grin on his face when he notices Stella. He sends her a knowing wink while continuing his performance.

So light em up up up, light em up up up
Light em up up up, I'm on fire
So light em up up up, light em up up up
Light em up up up, I'm on fire

Ooh oh oh oh (In the dark, in the dark)
Ooh oh oh oh (In the dark, in the dark)
My songs know what you did in the dark
My songs know what you did in the dark

Tony looks over at Stella. "How the hell is he even real?" He asks quietly. "Like, no one should be able to do what he's doing!" Tony exclaims. "He's like a professional singing and dancing robot…" He says offhandedly while turning back towards the stage.

"We are so screwed." Adrian whispers from just behind them. "I mean, if we even make it to Nationals, that is." He tells them.

So light em up up up, light em up up up
Light em up up up, I'm on fire
So light em up up up, light em up up up
Light em up up up, I'm on fire

Ooh oh oh oh (In the dark, dark)
Ooh oh oh oh (In the dark, dark)
Ooh oh oh

When the song ends, Ryker turns to his small audience. "How was it?" He asks them with a cocky grin on his face.

Liam turns around and notices the McKinley teenagers for the first time. "Oh, hey guys." Liam smiles at them before turning back to his students. "Take a water break, everybody!" He tells them. "But, stay warmed up. We're gonna be running through this all night! It needs to be perfect!" He tells them over his shoulder as he walks over to his boyfriend's sons and their friends. "Your dad said you'd be stopping by to give me something." He says when he reaches the small group.

"Yeah…" Tony reaches into his backpack and grabs the papers Sebastian had given the boys earlier. "He just said that they were really important legal papers." He hands them to Liam.

"Oh, that's right!" Liam exclaims. "You're with your dad this week, right?" He asks the boys. Both twins nod their head. "If I get these signed, can you bring them back to him tonight?" He asks.

"Yeah, of course." Adrian tells Liam. He actually really liked Liam, and he hoped that he and Sebastian could make it as a couple. He'd be a great partner for Sebastian. They had a lot of things in common, but they still challenged each other on most things. It was the epitome of what a relationship should look like as far as Adrian could tell.

"Great, I guess it's nice to have a lawyer boyfriend sometimes, right?" He jokes. "Just let me go look them over really quick in my office." They were legal papers after all, and Liam wanted to make sure he knew what they said before he signed them. Liam walks away towards his office.

Stella takes a few steps away from her three friends and looks around the auditorium. It really wasn't that long ago that she was a student here. She'd been in this auditorium more times than she could even remember. This is where Carmel held a lot of their school gatherings, like principal's speeches, guest speakers, all-school meetings… really anything that required the whole school to be in one place.

"Reminiscing, Sparky?" Stella turns to see Ryker standing next to her, his arms crossed over his chest, accentuating the muscles in his arms.

Stella rolls her eyes. "What do you want?" She asks him, rather rudely. She was really sick of his snark and general unpleasantness whenever she saw him.

"Is that any way to treat an old friend?" Ryker asks.

"We were never friends." Stella tells him quickly.

Ryker lets out a little chuckle. "Yeah, that's true." He grins. "Which makes me wonder why I haven't told your little friend over there why you really go to McKinley now." Ryker shakes his head, and then he looks at Stella. "I mean, he's not your boyfriend, right?" He asks, full well knowing that Tony was not, in fact, her boyfriend.

Stella shakes her head. "What makes you think he doesn't already know?" Stella asks while crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. "He is my best friend, after all."

"Do arsonists have friends?" Ryker asks, feigning confusion.

"What do you want?" Stella asks him. "Or, do you just get some sort of sick pleasure out of torturing me?" She asks Ryker with her arms still crossed.

"I do actually enjoy watching you shake in your boots." Ryker nods his head with a smirk on his face. "But, relax, I'm messing with you." Ryker tells Stella. "It's not like I could gain anything by telling anybody about your little hobby."

Stella takes a deep breath. "Somehow, that doesn't bring me much comfort."

Ryker nods his head while shrugging his shoulders. "That's probably because we both know that if I do ever find a way to use it to my advantage, I probably will." He tells her matter-of-factly. He moves his hands to clasp them in front of him.

"What did I ever do to you?" Stella asks Ryker exacerbated.

"There was that time you burned down my friend's house because he started a rumor that you're gay." Ryker nods his head matter-of-factly. "That was pretty bad."

Stella shakes her head. "That had nothing to do with you, and I paid the consequences for my actions." Stella quietly tells Ryker.

"You went to juvie for a few months, right?" Ryker asks Stella, and she just nods her head in reply. "Then, you moved to a new school district and started pretending like it never happened." Ryker sighs. "That hardly seems fair when Mitchell's family had to completely start over after you burned down his house and everything inside of it." He pauses. "Thank God they were on vacation when you lit that match."

"You're such an asshole." Stella tells him.

Ryker takes a step closer to Stella and lowers his voice. "Considering I can blow the whistle on your little secret anytime I want, I would be a lot nicer if I were you." Ryker tells her. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees another blonde approaching him and Stella. Ryker steps away and plasters a fake smile on his face.

"What are you doing over here, Stella?" Audrey asks with a sweet smile on her face. As soon as she'd seen that Stella was talking to Ryker, she'd decided to come over and interrupt the two. Either Stella would introduce her to Ryker, or Audrey would just do it herself.

Stella looks at Ryker for a few seconds longer before turning to Audrey. "Just catching up." She lets out a sigh. She knew what Audrey wanted, but for the Cheerio's own sake, Stella didn't want to give it to her. But, she knew she had no choice at this point. "Audrey, this is Ryker Marx. Ryker, this is Audrey Anderson."

"It's nice to meet you." Ryker tells Audrey charmingly while holding out his hand.

"You too." Audrey smiles back and holds her hand out. When she does, Ryker grabs it and smoothly kisses the back of her hand. It was a cheesy move, but it was one of the many reasons it always worked. From where she's standing, Stella makes a fake gagging noise. She would rather be literally anywhere else at that moment.

Jus then, Tony walks over to them, the papers in his hands again. "Alright, we're done." Tony tells them. "Let's get out of here." He looks over at Ryker. "Oh, it's you."

"Are you Tweedle-Dee or Tweedle-Dumb?" Ryker asks Tony. "I forget…" He shakes his head. He'd meet both twins a few times now when he'd gone over to Sebastian's with Morgan for moral support.

Tony rolls his eyes. "Like I said, let's go." He says while looking at the girls. Then, he looks back at Ryker. "Please, break a leg up there. Literally." He tells Ryker while pointing to the stage.

Ryker starts backing away before looking at Stella. "See you around, Sparky." He tells her before turning and getting back to his club.

"I seriously hate that guy." Tony whispers to Stella once Ryker is gone.

"So. Do. I." Stella agrees with him, enunciating each word. Tony chuckles under his breath before wrapping his arm around Stella's shoulders and pulling her into his side.

"Really?" Audrey tilts her head to the side and looks at Tony and Stella. "I think he's charming."

"You would." Tony tells Audrey while giving her a slight push to get her moving.

Glee!

The next day, Stella is standing at her locker, when Audrey walks up and playfully slaps Stella's ass. "What's up, Hot Shot?" She asks her friend.

"What'd you call me?" Stella asks nervously. "Why would you say that?" She asks quickly. She had been on edge ever since seeing Ryker the evening before. She hadn't been able to study or even think about anything else. Knowing that he could blow up her life, just as she was putting it all together, had her really freaked out and worried.

Audrey looks at Stella, really confused. "It's a sort-of nickname for someone who is good at something, like cheerleading or dance, for example…" Audrey explains. "What has you so jumpy?" Audrey asks.

Stella shakes her head while taking a deep breath. "I'm just really stressed out." She tells Audrey.

"I know, but midterms are almost over." Audrey tells her while quickly patting Stella's shoulder, thinking it was the tests that had been bugging Stella. "Then, we'll have a couple weeks off and be able to relax." She tries to reassure her friend.

"Yeah… midterms." Stella nods her head slowly. "You know, have you seen Tony?" Stella asks. "I really need to talk to him."

Audrey lets out a laugh. "AKA, you need to relieve some tension." She smirks, thinking she's so clever. "The last time I saw him, he was in the biology room." She tells Stella.

"Thanks!" Stella tells Audrey before slamming her locker door shut and walking off in the direction of the biology classroom. When Stella is right outside the room, she sees Tony sitting at one of the front tables. "There you are!" Stella exclaims while walking forward, and without even thinking about it or looking around, Stella walks forward and crashes her lips onto Tony's in a rough kiss.

"What the hell!" Stella pulls away suddenly at the voice and looks over to see Bailey, from her Cheerio's team, looking at both Tony and Stella. She looks really upset.

"Oh, shit!" Stella quietly exclaims. She backs away from Tony and looks over at her friend. "I am so sorry. I didn't know anybody else was in here." She quickly tries to explain to her best friend.

"Why does it matter?" Stella looks over at Bailey, but the other girl is looking at Tony. "I thought that you were single!" She exclaims.

Tony nods his head quickly. "I am!" He tells her.

Bailey looks between Stella and Tony. "Then what the hell was that?" She asks while pointing between him and Stella. "It sure as hell didn't look like a single boy."

"It's complicated." Stella tries to tell Bailey.

Bailey throws her hands up. "Just save it." She shakes her head. "I don't even care." She starts walking out of the room.

"Bailey…" Tony calls after her.

Bailey shakes her head at him. "No, just leave me alone." She glares at Tony before rushing out of the room.

Tony turns to look at Stella suddenly. "What the hell was that?" He practically shouts at her.

"Tony, I'm so sorry!" Stella tells him again. "I really had no idea that she was in here with you… Or that you even liked her, by the way." Stella says offhandedly.

Tony shakes his head. "The one time I actually have a chance with a girl, and you come in and screw it all up!" He scoffs under his breath while throwing his hands up in frustration. "Why the hell would you even do that at school? We both agreed that we wouldn't do that stuff here!" He exclaims.

"I know." Stella nods her head. "I've just been really stressed out and… I just…"

"It doesn't matter!" Tony stands up and throws all of his stuff in his bag. "You already ruined everything for me so I really don't care what you're going through, right now!" Tony tells her before storming out of the room.

Stella throws her head back in frustration and lets out a groan. "Way to go, Stella." When Stella turns to leave the room, she sees Alice standing outside the door. She looks really hurt. "Alice…"

"Just save it." Alice tells Stella. "I should have known better." She quickly turns and walks away.

"Just great." Stella shakes her head before walking out of the biology room and towards her next class.

Glee!

That afternoon, while sitting in Glee Club, Stella looks over at Tony, who hasn't looked at or said a single word to her since their fight earlier. She wanted to go say something to him, but she was also afraid of how he might react if she did. They'd been best friends for practically their entire lives, just gravitating towards one another at every play date, get-together, or mundane activity their mothers signed them up for.

Stella now throws a glance Alice's way. She's sitting between her brothers and talking to Joey about something. Alice glances over at Stella. When she locks eyes with Stella, the Cheerio can see all of the hurt, sadness, and anger in the smaller girl's green eyes.

Stella takes a deep breath and stands up. First things first, she needed to make things right with her friend. She wanted to talk to Alice too, but she felt like Tony should be her priority at the moment. When Stella walks over to Tony, he just keeps ignoring her. "Okay, I know that you're mad, and I totally understand why." She begins the speech she'd been coming up with all day.

"Oh, that's great." Tony says sarcastically while turning to look at Stella. "I'm so glad you understand." He rolls his eyes at her.

"I'm trying to apologize." Stella tells Tony.

"I don't care." He shakes his head. "I don't want an apology." Tony states. "I'm trying to figure out when you became this selfish person who doesn't even care about her friends anymore." He tells her. "I mean, damn, I could have actually had something, but you had to ruin it!" He tells her angrily.

Stella looks taken aback. "I already told you that I didn't even know that you liked Bailey, and either way, I had no idea that she was in that room!" Stella quietly exclaims, while guiltily looking down and trying not to draw everyone's attention to her and Tony.

"Because you didn't bother to even look, or I don't know, prepare me for the lip assault you gave me!" He argues with her.

Stella lets out a sigh. "If I could just explain what's been going on, I think you would understand why I did what I did, Tony." She whispers to him.

"I know your secret, Stella." Tony whispers back. No matter how angry he was, he wouldn't want to say anything that would out her, even if it would be just the fact that she had a secret to begin with. "And, I get that it's hard for you to accept yourself of whatever, but that doesn't give you the right to just… To do whatever you want whenever you want." He tells her, completely frustrated. "I'm done being your distraction or whatever." He shakes his head. "I can't do it anymore." He says.

Stella scoffs under her breath. "It's not like I was the only one being distracted or trying to avoid an issue. Don't make it seem like I was begging you to do anything." She says.

"No." Tony shakes his head, slightly pursing his lips. "You weren't… But, I knew what the limits were." He sighs. "Apparently you didn't."

Stella sighs. "So what, are we not even friends anymore?" She asks him. "After everything we've been through, you're just done?" She questions.

Tony shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know." He tells her honestly. "Don't worry, I'll keep your secret." He whispers to her when Austin comes up and sits down next to him.

Glee!

Nathan and Sophie are in the Lynn living room, the majority of their textbooks scattered on the coffee table and floor in front of them. Sophie, who is sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, leans back against the couch and takes a deep breath. "Beowulf is like the worst thing in the entire world." She sighs out.

"Agreed." Nathan says as the closes his book and just lets it fall to the floor. He was lying on the couch to keep pressure off of his hip. "What else do we have left?" He asks.

Sophie shakes her head. "We've covered everything else." She tells him while standing up. She walks over and gently sits down next to him on the couch. "I can't wait until this week is over, and we have two full weeks just to hang out and have fun." She leans down and pecks his lips quickly.

"Yeah, we're going to have a lot of fun sitting around our houses and doing nothing since I can barely do anything." He shakes his head.

Sophie shakes her head. "We can cozy up and cuddle while making good use of my Netflix membership." She leans down and kisses Nathan's lips gently. "We can also do a lot of this." She smiles before leaning back down and kissing him again, this time the kiss is deeper and lasts longer.

When they pull away, Nathan nods his head. "Okay, so that last part is nice." He smiles at her.

"That's what I thought." Sophie nods her head. Then she stands up while running her hands through her hair. "I should probably get going." She tells him while beginning to collect some of her things. "My parents are probably going to start getting worried soon." She says.

"Alright." Nathan pouts a little while starting to sit up.

"Here, let me help you." Sophie says when she sees Nathan moving. She steps over to try and help him, but Nathan throws his hands up angrily.

"I got it!" He fires back angrily.

Sophie takes a step back, surprised that he had gotten upset with her. "I'm sorry for trying to make things easier for you." She tells him sarcastically.

"I'm not an invalid." Nathan argues. "I can sit up all by myself."

Sophie throws her hands up. "I'm sorry that I hate seeing you in pain and wanted to help, Nathan." She tells her boyfriend. "I didn't realize that it made me a bad person."

Nathan lets out a sigh, trying to calm himself down. "No, Soph, I'm sorry." He shakes his head before lifting himself up and accomplishing to actually sit up. "I just hate that everyone has to do everything for me right now." He tells her. "I like to think of myself as a pretty independent guy…"

"You are." Sophie nods her head while interrupting Nathan. "But, that doesn't mean that you don't need help every once and a while, like when you have hip surgery, and you're trying to recover." She tells him with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I know." Nathan nods his head. "And, I'm sorry for getting upset just now."

Sophie dramatically takes a deep breath. "I guess I can forgive you."

"Oh, really?" Nathan smiles.

Sophie nods her head. "I mean, it'd be stupid to throw two and a half years away because of one mean comment." She shakes her head while dramatically rolling her eyes. "Then again… you're not as hot as you used to be. The crutches are a total turnoff." She jokes with him.

"Get over here!" Nathan reaches for Sophie and pulls her down so she's level with him. He pokes her side, making her yelp out in surprise. They both laugh, and when they settle down, Nathan leans in and kisses Sophie's lips softly. "Does that improve my odds of keeping you?" He asks.

"A little bit." Sophie teases him while holding up her hand, holding her thumb and first finger just slightly apart from one another. "But, that's going to have to be enough for now." She stands back up. "I really do have to go before my Dad comes over, wondering what the hell is taking me so long." She smiles down at him.

As Sophie got a little older, and definitely more serious with Nathan, Puck started becoming more and more protective. Both of her parents did, but especially Puck. But, Sophie knew her parents' history, and she knew what both of her parents were afraid of. They didn't want her to end up in a situation like they had been when they were her age.

Nathan nods his head. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." He smiles up at her.

"Bye Baby." Sophie grabs her stuff before leaning down and kissing his lips one last time. Then, she walks out of the house.

When Nathan hears the front door open and close, he reaches for his pain meds, which are still in his bag. When Nathan opens the bottle and turns it over, no pills fall out. "What the hell?" Nathan asks himself. He shakes the bottle and realizes that it's empty. When he looks at the label, he sees that it was also his last refill. "Damn it!" Nathan shakes his head and roughly throws the empty bottle on the floor.

Then, Nathan reaches for his phone, which is on the coffee table in front of him and searches through his contacts. When he reaches the one he wants, he taps it and puts the phone to his ear. "Hey, were you serious earlier, about helping me out?" He asks Colby when she picks up.

Glee!

The day, the glee club had convened in the auditorium. Tony, Adrian, Austin, and Rio are all on stage. Tony is standing in front of the other three boys, while they are arranged behind Tony so that they're all behind a microphone and are visible to their other classmates.

Adrian, Austin, and Rio begin singing, serious looks on their faces.

Shot through the heart
And, you're to blame

As his brother and friends get quiet, Tony sings the next line, a serious and somewhat angry look on his face. Stella literally feels ice run through her veins when her best friend glances in her direction.

Darling, you give love a bad name

As an abbreviated instrumental plays, Tony starts stomping and jumping around the stage. His movements are short and filled with emotion, but he's not exactly dancing as much as just letting out some aggression and steam.

When the time is right, Tony stops moving and looks out at his small audience again while continuing to sing.

An angel's smile is what you sell
You promise me heaven, then put me through hell
Chains of love got a hold on me
When passion's a prison, you can't break free

The other boys start backing Tony up as he sings.

Oh, oh, you're a loaded gun, yeah
Oh, oh, there's nowhere to run
No one can save me
The damage is done

Shot through the heart
And, you're to blame
You give love a bad name
I play my part
And, you play your game
You give love a bad name
And, you give love a bad name

Adrian, Austin, and Rio take their microphones out of the stands before kicking the stands down roughly and walking to the left side of the stage. Meanwhile, Tony is jumping around again. The deeper he got into the song, the angrier he felt. He just couldn't understand what had happened to Stella or what had happened to their friendship. When did they become so destructive?

Tony starts singing on his own again.

Paint your smile on your lips
Blood red nails on your fingertips
A school boy's dream, you act so shy
Your very first kiss was your first kiss goodbye

Tony stops moving and looks directly at Stella while singing the next few lines, his friends backing him up again.

Oh, oh, you're a loaded gun
Oh, oh, there's nowhere to run
No one can save me
The damage is done

From her seat in the audience, Stella starts feeling very uncomfortable. She looks around at her friends around her and sees all of their confused faces looking at her, wondering what the hell is going on between her and Tony. For all they knew, this was some lover's quarrel, which it most certainly was not. That would entail someone having feelings for the other person, romantic feelings. The only feelings being felt between Tony and herself right now were guilt and anger.

Shot through the heart
And, you're to blame
You give love a bad name
I play my part
And, you play your game
You give love a bad name
You give love..

Tony lets out a frustrated scream, his voice giving way to an unexpected raspy sound.

Oh!

Adrian, Austin, and Rio rush back to the microphone stands and pick them up before placing the microphones back in place. As they begin to sing again, they start clapping their hands above their heads.

Shot through the heart
And, you're to blame
You give love a bad name
I play my part
And, you play your game
You give love a bad name

Shot through the heart
And, you're to blame
You give love a bad name
I play my part
An,d you play your game
You give love a bad name

The boys start singing one line over and over again as Tony starts adlibbing here and there.

You give love a bad name (bad name)
(Whoa) You give love
(Whoa) You give love (bad name)
(Whoa) You give love
(Whoa) You give love (bad name)
(Whoa) You give love
(Whoa) You give love (bad name)
(Whoa) You give love
(Whoa) You give love (bad name)

When the song is over, Tony stops moving and his chest can be seen raising and falling at an accelerated rate due to the physicality of his performance. His eyes roam over Stella's again, and even though it had been happening all day, she was still surprised that she saw no friendliness or warmth in Tony's eyes like she was used to. Now, his eyes just showed hurt, anger, and coldness.

Glee!

Later that afternoon, after almost all of the midterms had been taken, and students were busy cleaning out their lockers of the first semester's junk, Via had decided to wander around the school a little bit. She was supposed to be in study hall, but it was Friday, and she'd already taken all of her tests. She had nothing left to study for. She'd asked for the hall pass, and the study hall monitor had been more than happy to give it to her.

Via wanders into the auditorium where she finds Stella sitting on the edge of the stage. "What are you doing in here?" Via asks as she walks towards her little sister.

Stella shrugs her shoulders. "I just thought it'd be a good place to think." Stella tells her when Via reaches the stage.

"What are you thinking about?" Via asks.

"What a terrible person I am." Stella answers her sister with a sad look on her face. "I royally messed up my friendship with Tony… Alice, too."

Via shakes her head. "You're not a terrible person, Stel."

Stella looks down at her feet before biting her bottom lip and then looking back up at Via. "Am I keeping too many secrets? Is that my problem?" She asks Via.

Via shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. Are you?" She asks in quiet understanding. Via had known about her sister being a lesbian for quite some time. It wasn't like Stella had told her about it, but they were so close, that sometimes, Via thought that they knew each other better than they even knew themselves. Stella had never brought it up before though, so Via didn't either. She knew that Stella would talk to her when she was ready.

Stella takes a deep breath. "I'm exhausted." She tells Via honestly. "I put on this face like I'm so happy and that nothing is wrong, but it's all a lie, you know." Stella shakes her head. "But, I've lived like this for so long that I'm not even sure that I remember how to not be this person."

"What is this all about?" Via asks while leaning against her forearms on the stage. "You know that I love you and think you're an amazing person."

Stella nods her head. "Who lit a person's house on fire, burned it down, and then spent several months in juvie." Stella looks pointedly at Stella.

"Hey!" Via leans over and squeezes her little sister's knee. "One, you're not the same 14-year-old girl who did that. And, two, you were drunk, angry, and very confused." Via pauses. "Nobody got hurt, and you learned a very valuable lesson from it."

"Not to drink and burn?" Stella asks in a bitter, sarcastic tone.

Via bites her lip. "Stella, you are my baby sister, and I love you more than anyone in this entire world." She pauses. "If you're going through something, all you have to do is talk to me." She tells Stella. "Whatever you did or whatever you want to talk about, I am still going to love you unconditionally afterwards, and you're still going to be my very best friend in the whole world."

"And beyond?" Stella smiles over at Via. When they were younger, both girls use to say that they loved each other most out of the entire world and beyond.

Via chuckles under her breath. "And beyond." She confirms to her little sister with a smile.

Stella bites her lip again. "I'm afraid that if I say it out loud then everything will change." Stella looks at Via, knowing that her older sister knows exactly what she's talking about. Stella had known that Via knew about her sexuality for a long time now. Neither girl had ever said anything to the other. There was just this unspoken bond and promise they'd always had regarding the subject.

Via nods her head. "Yeah, maybe you'll actually be truly happy for once." Via gives her sister a small smile. "If you want to practice saying it, I won't tell anyone." Via winks at Stella.

Stella lets out a small laugh. "You're the best big sister, you know that?" She asks.

"I'm your only big sister." Via sighs out dramatically. "You have to say that."

Both girls laugh a little before they calm down and settle down into a comfortable silence. "Hey, V?" Stella looks over at her sister with nervous eyes.

"Yeah?" Via looks back over at Stella.

"I'm a lesbian." Stella says barely above a whisper, a small tear falling from her eyes. It was the first time that Stella had ever said it out loud like that, declaring herself a lesbian.

Via smiles at her little sister. "I know…" She reaches over and grabs Stella's hand in her own and squeezes it to give comfort and support to the younger girl. "…and, I still love you."


That's it! Leave a review, and let me know what you think!

Now that I've posted the chapter, it's time for me to go home so I can meet Baby P! Yay! Seriously you guys, having nieces and nephews is one of the best things in the entire world! I love my little bugs more than anything! While I'll be at home, I'll still have a little spare time here & there so I'll try to answer any of your questions or such then if you send them in! Thanks everybody! (:

-Songs Used-
Paramore – Hallelujah
Fall Out Boy – My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)
Bon Jovi – You Give Love A Bad Name