Here's the next chapter of Save Money Live Better!
"Now that Quinn, Puck, Finn, and Rachel are gone, we can now begin our meeting." Artie said as he folded his hands and placed them on the diner table.
"Yeah, speaking of that." Blaine added as he hung up his apron on a nearby hook and took a seat. "Since I don't go to work with you guys, I really don't know what's going on." He informed, frowning. "Why exactly are you guys here?"
"To discuss the love triangle...or...square." Kurt clarified, tilting his head to the side.
"Huh?"
"There has been some tension between Quinn, Rachel, Puck and Finn."
"What?" Blaine looked taken aback. "No, there's no way that Puck and Finn are arguing. Of course they have their little disagreements, but their best buds."
"B-Believe it, B-Blaine." Tina stammered.
"So what I'm hearing is that Puck and Finn have been friends for a while?" Sam asked suddenly. Everyone looked at him. He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm still getting used to this whole 'Walmart thing'."
"It's okay Sam." Mercedes smiled widely at him. "It took me awhile to understand too." Smiling back, the blond Bieber looked at her, a glow in his eyes that matched hers.
Artie cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh..anyways, we've been trying to figure out what exactly has been going on, since each of us has asked them at least once what's wrong, which they still refuse to answer. Do you guys have any idea?" He looked around the table.
"All I know is that ice queen has been acting a lot more bitchy at work." Santana said.
Sam frowned. "'Ice Queen'?"
"Quinn." Everyone answered in unison. He nodded slowly.
"Has she been acting extra mean towards Rachel?" Artie asked.
"I mean, yeah. I try my best to set the bitch straight, but she always finds a way to pick at Berry even more."
"And I've tried to reason with Quinn." Brittany added. "But with me working at the jewelry section, and Lord Tubbington's drug addiction, I haven't had enough time."
"I've noticed something too." Kurt said. Artie looked at him and raised his eyebrows.
"When Finn came over to our work place last week, he asked us where Rachel was and when we told him she was with Puck, he acted weird…somewhat tense."
"Yeah, I noticed that too." Mercedes agreed, nodding.
"Okay, well these are just observations, right? I mean, you guys don't actually know for sure if something is wrong, right?" Blaine asked.
"T-That's what we th-thought." Tina said.
"Until the fight last Friday." Blaine's eyes widened.
"W-What fight?! Boy, I'm missing a lot."
"Here, I got it on video. You can watch it on my phone." Santana handed him the device.
Watching the video, the hair gelled boy's eyes widened, grimacing at the end.
"Ooo that's gotta hurt." He handed it back to the Latina.
"What was the fight about?" Brittany asked.
"From where I was standing, it sounded like they were arguing about Rachel." Sam answered.
"Yeah, Berry did have bloodshot eyes when I saw her that day." Santana said.
"Plus I've noticed that Finn and Rachel have been ignoring each other. "Artie added. He cleared his throat. "So here's what we've got. Apparently, Quinn's been bullying Rachel a lot more than normal for a while now, something happened between Finn and Rachel that involved Puck, and Finn and Puck have been arguing." Artie concluded.
It was silent for a few moments before Brittany groaned and massaged her temples.
"Gosh, this is so confusing!" Everyone nodded in agreement.
Rachel sighed and pressed the ignore button on her phone once again, as soon as Finn's name popped up.
She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to talk to anyone really, except Puck. Even though she's sort of angry about him being involved in a fight with Finn, he's a good friend. Plus, he's her partner for their project.
She just doesn't get it. Puck told her that Finn completely denied the text message he gave her and acted as if he didn't send it, which hurt her the most. The fact that he didn't even own up to his mistake, made her heart ache.
She scoffed. And how dumb is she? Falling for a guy who acts like he reciprocates her feelings one day then insults her the next.
She took these last hours of the night to analyze what exactly happened starting from yesterday when Puck and her were thinking of creative ways to bring out the holidays with a big bang.
"Okay, keeping holiday donation bins throughout the store is definitely a must." Rachel said, writing just that on a price of loose leaf paper. "Now what else could we do?"
Puck raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean, "what else"?" He said incoherently, his mouth stuffed with potato chips.
Rachel made a face of disgust before saying, "Noah, we have to do something else. When I used to get projects or homework assignments in school, I made sure to do something extra, just to highlight my assignment more and capture the interest of any of my fellow competitors and judges." She finally took a breath. Puck stared at her blankly.
"Uh...yeah. Sure." She smiled triumphantly.
"Okay, so-" A beep echoed through the apartment as Rachel picked up her phone. Seeing Finn's name, she smiled. She text him earlier today to ask him if he wanted to come to her place later for a 'Netflix movie night.' But when she saw the response, she frowned.
Why would I want to watch movies with you? I'm with Quinn right now, so fuck off ~Finn
She shook her head. No, there's no way he meant to send that to her. Maybe he was trying to text Noah or something. She responded back.
Finn, I don't know if you meant to text that to Noah, but this is Rachel. We always hang out. Are you okay? ~Rachel
Returning back to her work, Puck noticed her change in energy.
"Hey." She looked up at him. "You okay?"
She nodded quickly. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She gave a small smile. "Let's just brainstorm ideas, okay?"
Smiling slightly with worrisome eyes, the mohawked boy nodded.
About a half an hour later, they agreed on an idea they both knew would've out all of the other competitors completely.
"Yes!" Puck said excitedly, standing up from the couch. He raised one of his hands up over his head. "Give me five, short stack."
Smiling and standing up, she reached her hand up towards his, their height difference making it difficult.
"Noah, can you lower your hand just a little bit?" She got on her tippy toes as he smirked.
"Sorry, can't do that."
Frowning and jumping up to reach his hand three times, she groaned.
"Cut it out Puckerman!" Laughing, he lowered his hand so it could reach hers.
A beep echoed through the apartment again, changing her happy demeanor. She picked up her phone and read the message.
I'm fine. You know what? I'm done talking to you. Quinn was right, you are needy ~Finn
Tears stung the back of her eyes. This doesn't sound like him. And when the hell did he start listening to Quinn?
"Hey, I've got to get going." Puck grabbed his coat off the couch. "Skinimax is coming on at nine tonight. Can't miss it." Hugging her quickly, he kissed her forehead and walked towards the door, hollering a, "See ya, Princess" behind him.
Still staring at the cell phone screen, a tear slipped down her cheek.
What did she say wrong?
Sighing, Finn sat down in the chair next to Puck, who was digging into his Kosher cold-cut sandwich.
"You came here to punch me again, Hudson?" Puck said, not looking at him.
Finn sighed. "Puck, I didn't come here to kick your ass. I knew this was when your lunch break was, so I thought that we could take this time to talk."
He turned towards him and raised his eyebrows. "Fine, you want to talk?" He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. "Talk."
"Dude, what happened to us?" He frowned and looked at him. "I mean, I just wanted to know if Rachel was okay-"
"Dude, I'm gonna stop you right there." He looked at him. "You're really gonna sit here and act like you didn't send those text messages to Rachel?"
He frowned. "Wait, what? What text messages?"
"The one you sent on your phone, dumbass!"
"What?" Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he searched through the messages shared with Rachel. After a moment of silence, Finn shook his head.
"No, no dude I didn't write this." Puck scoffed.
"Oh really? Then who did? The tooth fairy?" He rolled his eyes.
"You're questioning me now?" He raised his eyebrows. "You know I don't lie dude."
"I'm not so sure about that." His co-worker looked taken aback.
"What?"
"Never mind. I'm just saying that what you're saying is a bunch of bull crap. Why can't you just own up to what you did?"
"Because it wasn't me!" Finn said as his voice rose.
He shook his head and grabbed his trash before standing up out of his seat.
"Whatever man. But let me tell you this. You better get things right with Rachel." With that, he left the room, leaving a confused Finn behind.
"Yo Berry. Can you close up for me? I'm gonna go meet with Britt at the diner."
"Uh, yeah sure." She gave a small smile and nodded. "Go ahead. And tell Brittany that I said hi." With a nod and a smirk, she left the room and closed the door.
As she turned around and resumed her sorting, she heard the door open again.
She smiled. "Santana, did you forget your purse again? I told you, just because the diner's a few blocks away, doesn't mean that you won't need your pepper spra-" turning around, she saw Finn, who was standing at the door uncomfortably.
"Hey Rach." He walked closer to to her and gave a small smile.
"What do you want Finn." She cleared her throat and turned back around to resume her work.
"Can-Can we talk?"
"About?" She asked absentmindedly.
"The texts I allegedly sent you."
That caught her attention.
She turned around and raised eyebrows. "Oh, so now you're claiming that those texts were made up? That you didn't send them to me intentionally?" She said sarcastically.
He frowned. "No, I-"
"You know, I've dealt with a lot of bullshit from people in my life and I've sort of accepted it." She laughed bitterly as the people greeter was taken aback by her language. "But I've never experienced any bullshit from my own best friend. I guess I can add that to my list-"
"God dammit, Rachel can you just let me speak?!" He asked, exasperated.
Pursing her lips, she said curtly, "Fine."
He sighed and walked closer to her. "I read those text messages that I "sent" you, and I'm telling you, it wasn't me."
She scoffed. "Oh really? Because it sounded a lot like what you would say."
"Rachel." He gave her his lopsided grin. "You know I would never lie to you." He walked even closer, and mentally jumped in victory when she didn't step back. He grabbed her hands.
"Rach, why would I ever treat you mean after the kind of friend you've been. You've helped me so much." He smiled.
"I don't know, you tell me." She whispered.
He let go of her hands and sunk his head in defeat.
She stepped back.
"I mean, you became partners with Quinn, so I really don't know what to think anymore. "He rose his head up to look at her, his face confused.
"Wait, wait, what does this have to do with Quinn?" He backpedaled.
"Finn, she's been bullying me this whole time." Her voice rose. "She hates my guts! I thought that since you were my friend, you'd know that!"
"But, she has nothing to do with these texts!" He rose his voice. "I don't either." He made a hurt expression. "Why can't you trust me?"
Looking at her, he saw her eyes soften a moment before they hardened again.
"I'm sorry Finn, but I've been down this road before. I just can't trust you."
"Oh, and you can trust Puck." He scoffed. "Yeah, a real improvement."
Anger rose in her. "You know what Finn, yeah. He's an awesome partner, he's...different, but he's really been there for me. Especially these past few days."
"Then why did you become partners with him anyways, if he's so "different?" He air quoted the term.
"Because he needed me and I needed him." She answered curtly.
Finn looked frustrated. "For what?"
"It's none of your business." She said immediately.
"I just don't understand why you can't trust me when I say that I didn't text you that!"
"I'll believe it when you stop being partners with Quinn." Walking past him, she opened the door and gestured for him to leave. "Good luck on the competition Finn. You're gonna need it." With that she closed the door in his face, turning back around and returning to her work.
"I just don't know what else to do, Emma." Will ran a hand through his hair. "I mean, Sue won't leave me alone, Figgins has been on my back for what seems like all the time lately..."
"Will, I think you're over stressing this." The red headed girl said, sipping from her green tea. She put the cup down. "I mean, you're doing a good job with this new competition idea, right?"
He sighed. "Yeah, but my opinion doesn't matter this time. If we don't find at least one good idea to improve our store rankings, it's over...it's all over." He bit into his blueberry muffin.
Emma reached out, and squeezed his hand. "Things will be fine. I just know it. Don't underestimate yourself or your staff's ability." She smiled. "Though I have a few little inputs about your superstore's overall hygiene, there's no way in heck Walmart will close down. I won't let it." She said firmly, looking into his eyes. After a moment of just staring at each other, Will cleared his throat, hesitantly pulling his hand away from hers.
"Thanks Emma." His smile faltered. So how's things been with Carl, huh?" He pressed.
Her brown eyes sparkled at the mention of her boyfriend's name.
"Well-"
A screech from next to them cut off their conversation as someone pulled a wooden chair at their table.
Someone with an awfully familiar track suit.
"William, Erma." She greeted as she sat down and sighed.
"Hey, what a coincidence, eh? Here I am ordering my specialty, "Sylvester's Supreme", when I look over, and spot an all so familiar briar patch." She pointed at Will's head. "On this guys head. And I thought, "I might as well talk to you to losers anyways."
"Uh, ma'm?" They turned to look at the teenage blonde barista who shifted uncomfortably. "We don't accept euros." She placed it on the table.
She frowned. "You don't accept euros?" She pointed at her coffee cup. "What kind of "World Star café" is this?" Scoffing she reached in her pocket and pulled out her wallet, handing the girl a fifty dollar bill.
"Ma'm this is too mu-"
"Keep the change." She cut off looking at her up and down. "If there's any other indication, you're gonna need it for diapers when your future children are born out of wedlock. Your outfit just screams, "five dollar harlot".
Looking stunned, and slightly hurt, she took the money and walked away. Emma's mouth hung low as Will rolled his eyes.
"What?" She incredulously asked. "You guys were thinking it too."
He shook his head. "No we weren't Sue."
"So Eima." She changed the subject. "I read some of your pamphlets."
"Oh, really?" Her eyes widened.
She nodded and took a sip from her drink. "Yep. There wasn't anything I found, you know, useful. I just decided to check your office out on my way from Figgins' office." She looked down at her cup, muttering, "That was a waste of time."
"Wait, why were you at Figgins' office?" Will asked.
"Well William, since you must know everything I do, he and I discussed his decision for the "store cut off" day." She chuckled. "Turns out, he's deciding by the end of this week."
Will looked alert. "Wait, seriously?"
"Yep." She stood up from her seat and grabbed the remaining of his muffin, biting into it. "You guys are boring me now, so I'll be off." She nodded at them. "Ezma, butt chin."
"Why does she keeps screwing up my name?" Emma quietly asked.
Will put his face in his hands and groaned. "Now what am I going to do? I have to find one good idea by the end of this week, or the stores closed? Ugh, this isn't fair!"
"Well, wait a minute, Will." He looked at her.
"You said that all of your employee's are working on an idea for the store, right?"
"Yeah?" He didn't get it.
"Well there must be more than one good idea out there,
you know? Like I said, you have some good kids working there. Instead of using one idea, why don't you use all of them?"
Smiling wide at her idea he said, "You're a life saver, you know that?"
She grinned. "Just make sure to use my idea, okay? There's Bacteria unknown crawling in that place." She cringed as he laughed at her adorableness.
"Sure, Emma."
"All right girls, gather up! Mandatory spa day in the making!" Kurt clapped his hands excitedly as he gestured the five girls to his exquisite living room.
"Spa day? I thought we were here to fix Berry's wardrobe." Santana bit into her finger sandwich. "No offense Yentl."
Rachel gave a small smile and said desolately, "None taken, Santana."
"Santana, we told you about three times that this was a "spa/sleepover" remember?" Mercedes hinted from her left as she nudged her.
Getting it, she blinked and straightened up. "Oh yeah! Sorry, I forgot." Kurt face palmed.
"Hey, do you guys know if Quinn's coming?" Rachel asked out of nowhere.
He shook his head. "Nope. I didn't bother inviting her because one: she'd make this sleepover a living hell, and two: we all just pretend to like her." The girls watched as the brunette made a relieved expression.
Kurt cleared his throat and smiled. "So ladies, you guys ready for presentation day tomorrow? Mercedes and I am!"
"A-Artie and I are." Tina said.
"Yeah, and from what I've heard from the boys, you guys have gotten pretty close lately." Mercedes teased.
The petite diva smiled. "Is that true, Tina?" She blushed.
"I-I don't know, I m-mean..."
"'Cause if you're just fucking him, that's not dating." The Latina piped in.
"If that was the case, Santana and I would be dating." Silence took over the group as Brittany's comment floated in the air.
Kurt broke the silence. "...Okay..." He cleared his throat as he placed a nail polish container on his lap. "Who wants their nails done first?"
The girls laughed and giggled as they each applied organic avocado masks on their faces.
They watched movies, did some karaoke and were now just pursuing in some simple girl talk. The only person Kurt noticed was unusually quiet was Rachel.
"Alright Rachel what's wrong."
Cautiously uncovering the cucumber slices from her eyes, she turned towards him.
"Huh?"
"Rachel you've been oddly quiet throughout this whole day. And everyone in this room knows that's very unusual of you. Don't we girls?" Kurt asked the room. Everyone made sounds of agreement.
She smiled at him. "I'm...just nervous about the presentation tomorrow." She lied. "You know Noah and I have worked really hard-"
"We know that's not what's bothering you Rachel."
Relenting, she sighed and looked down at her lap.
"It's Finn isn't it?" He asked softly.
She nodded. "I just don't know what I did wrong." She looked up and made eye contact with the girls who were tuning in on the conversation. "Those text messages he sent me were so mean. And then he denied sending them, making it seem like I was the one who was crazy." She looked around the room. "Do any of you have an idea what I did wrong?"
Giving sympathetic looks, they shook their heads. The African American diva pulled her into a side hug as Tina rubbed her back.
"You didn't do anything wrong, okay? Stop blaming yourself. Finn's just not owning up to what he did." Mercedes exclaimed softly.
"T-Things will g-get better." Tina added.
Smiling small, she whispered, "I sure hope so."
"I'm gonna go head to the bathroom, okay Finny?" As the blonde beauty walked down the hallway of her apartment, he sat there, staring at his phone, when it dawned on him.
He didn't even cringe at the nickname she gave him, his mind racing with so many answers.
The nervousness she had when he entered the living room that Saturday. The mentioning of her name in both text messages. And the suspicious smirk plastered on her face during him and Puck's fight.
Quinn.
She was the one who wrote those text messages. He put his head in his hands. He's so stupid.
"Finn?"
He lifted his head and saw her as she stood before him, an overly concerned look on her face.
"Are you okay?"
Standing up quickly, he frowned. "Um, I'm not really feeling well. Can we cut our meeting short today?"
"Yeah. Of course." Taking a step closer to him, she frowned when he took a step back.
"Uh...bye." Turning around, he left the apartment, his mind forming what he needed to do.
He needed to make things right.
"Alright guys." Mr. Shue clapped as he walked briskly into the staff room. He stepped in front of the room and smiled.
"Today's the big day! Who wants to go first?"
"We'll go!" Kurt rose his hand eagerly as Mercedes followed him to the front.
"Okay. Since the holidays are around the corner, we felt like the store lacked in festive-ness." Mercedes started.
"So." The male fashionista opened a plastic container that contained form fitting outfits. He smiled wide.
"I call it the "holiday do-overs"." He exclaimed. "We fixed up the outfits so that it not only matched the holiday theme, but solved the catastrophe we call uniforms here." Will laughed from the back. "What we wear is an abomination!"
"It is." Mercedes nodded.
"So I designed outfits to match each of your personalities and religious beliefs. Since Rachel and Puck celebrate Hanukkah, and Mercedes celebrates Kwanzaa, I made sure that your outfits matched the holiday you celebrate. As for everyone else, I organized form fitting Christmas outfits for each of you. Come on up and see them!" He offered as people started to stand up.
Rachel observed the outfits as each one had the staff members' name on them. Puck grabbed her hand and motioned towards the outfits different from the others.
"Come on Berry. Our little Jew corner is over here." She giggled at this as they walked past everyone, ignoring the looks from two specific people.
She laughed when she saw what Kurt prepared. Since he knew she couldn't live without her sweaters and knee socks, he included them in her outfit. Using the holiday colors, blue and silver, it expressed her personality very well. She could also tell where Mercedes added things in too. She laughed when she thought of how her outfit would have looked if her fashion fierce friend would've had control of the whole project. She even saw a menorah pin at the upper corner of her shirt, the name "Walmart" written on it.
Looking away from the outfit, she looked at the others who were smiling and laughing at their own individual outfit designs. The only person she realized was not present was Finn.
After a few moments of looking, she found him talking to Will, a serious expression on his face. Will seemed to look serious too, which brought her to the conclusion that what they were talking about wasn't a joke.
During their conversation, Finn caught her gaze. Turning away quickly, she made her way back to her seat as everyone else was.
Everyone else's ideas were pretty unique and useful for the store. Artie and Tina brought the idea of free flu vaccines and "how to" technology lessons, while Sam and Matt organized a section specific for old yet still popular movies and shows, that used to play during the holiday seasons. Santana and Brittany used the jewelry section to advertise the new Christmas "bling" they made. Finally, it was Quinn and Finn's turn.
Instead of both of them going up, Will did instead. He frowned at the rest of the group.
"Finn has stepped out of the competition and refuses to present due to issues involving his partner, Quinn." His eyes directed at the blonde.
"Quinn, I am very disappointed in you. This is a team. Competition or not, we're a family. What you did was ignorant, mean and just plain cruel."
Rachel frowned. "Wait, what did she do?"
"Ugh!" Quinn stood up in front of the class and got in her face.
"Are you really that stupid Rachel?! I sent those text messages. Is it anymore obvious?!"
Rachel sat in shock. She was stupid. She should've trusted her gut when she read those unusual messages.
She laughed bitterly. "You're hopeless Rachel, pathetic. When are you going to get that into that thick skull of yours?"
She was tired of this. She had enough. A surge of confidence overwhelmed Rachel and she stood up.
"You know what Quinn? Yeah, maybe I am pathetic, or weak, but I know what I'm not: desperate. I don't hang off of guys, hoping to get into a one sided relationship." Her voice wavered but she continued. "I don't work my best to bring other people down just to feel good about myself. Just face it Quinn. You're just a mean, cold hearted, desperate, bi-"
A sting on her left cheek stopped her rant. She touched it gently as Puck and Finn stood up immediately and rushed to her. Puck grabbed the screaming blonde as soon as she motioned to attack again.
"Rach, you okay?" Finn asked softly. She nodded with unshed tears. He turned towards Quinn and glared.
"Really Quinn? She wasn't physically hurting you so why did you hit her?!"
"Let go of me!" She squirmed in Puck's grasp.
"Okay, let's go." Tossing her over his shoulder, the mohawked boy dragged her out of the room, the rest of the staff seated in stunned silence. Turning back to her, Finn touched her cheek gently.
"Let's go get you some ice, okay?"
"I'm sorry about Quinn." He gently pressed the small ice pack on her face. "Had I known she was going to act like that, I would've just sucked it up and presented with her."
"Finn, stop." He looked at her. She smiled slightly.
"Don't apologize. I should be the one apologizing." She choked out. "I'm so sorry Finn." She shook her head as tear after tear fell down her face. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you. You were telling the truth and I-"
"Hey, hey, hey." He crouched down in front of her and cupped her face between his two hands, cautious of the left cheek with the handprint marked on it.
"It's not your fault, okay? I shouldn't have agreed to being Quinn's partner in the first place. She was so mean to you and you're my best friend. I should've known that she would be this sneaky. You weren't aware of her capabilities because you always see the best in people." His thumbs caressed her cheeks, wiping her tears away during the process. He gave her a small smile.
"So don't you dare apologize, you hear me, Berry?" He feigned sternness but smiled wide when he heard her giggle.
Sitting back on the metal bench he pulled her to his side, squeezing her small frame tight into him.
He chuckled. "I missed your laughs." He squeezed her in even tighter. "I missed you." He whispered. Still in their embrace, she looked up at him and smiled.
"Me too." She whispered, looking into his hazel eyes.
"Alright, move aside Hud." They looked up and saw Puck, who motioned for them to give him room on the semi rusty bench. He sat between them and sighed.
"Well, that was an interesting meeting."
"Yep." Rachel agreed.
"Totally." Finn said.
"Dude, I know I suck at words, but I want to apologize." Quirking an eyebrow, the giant listened.
"I should've believed you when you told me you didn't send those messages. I mean, I should know you better than anyone. You're my wingman." He made a fist in hopes of a bump. "So you forgive me? Bro's before hoes?" Relenting, Finn chuckled, bumping him back.
"Bro's before hoes."
"Hey!" They looked up to see Rachel standing, her hands on her hips defiantly.
"I don't know who you guys are calling a "hoe" but I am not some harlot you find on the streets. In fact-"
Both bemused young adults laughed. "Rach, we weren't talking about you." Finn said. Puck shook his head and motioned her between them.
"C'mere, short stack."
Huffing, she sat between them, folding her arms. Puck ruffled her hair, as Finn tickled her sides.
"Okay, okay, I believe you!" She laughed, shoving the both of them.
Once things settled to a medium, Finn asked, "So what happened with Quinn?"
Puck sighed. "Well, I finally got her to calm down right before Mr. Shue met with her. Turns out she's been suspended from working all next week and had the leave the store's property immediately."
"Good." Finn nodded. "Though I still think she should've been suspended longer." Puck shrugged.
"Oh yeah, I forgot." Puck looked at Rachel. "We didn't get to present our project. Will said we could head back and present to the others now that Quinn's gone." Rachel beamed.
"That's great!" She stood up abruptly, clapping excitedly.
"Come on guys, follow me!"
Looking bemused again, the two boys followed.
"Alright. So we lead you guys here, at the entrance of the store, because our project was too big to bring into the staff room." Rachel exclaimed.
"So I'm guessing that this big blanketed structure is your project?" Artie pointed at the structure in front of him.
Rachel nodded excitedly. "Yep."
Puck sighed and looked around at the group. "Okay, since the holidays are coming up, in which any human being on this earth would be ecstatic about, Rachel and I took the initiative to supply the musical part of the holidays." When they got confused expressions in response, the brunette continued.
"Every holiday has got at least one song that plays through speakers at markets or social gatherings. So, without further a do..." She smiled wide and looked at her partner. He smirked.
"We present you our own holiday stage!" Pulling the tarp off, with the help of some of the guys, a stage about sixty five feet in width and two feet in height appeared before their very eyes. A guitar, drums, microphone, and keyboard was placed on the stage. Even a small Christmas tree with decorations was added also.
"Wow!" Will clapped his hands and laughed gleefully. He walked to puck and Rachel. "Guys, this is incredible! You really outdid yourselves!" He patted Puck on the back. "Good job!"
"Uh, uh." Santana shook her head. "This is so unfair Mr. Shue!" She started speaking so fast in fluent Spanish that everyone cringed, afraid of what they really meant.
"H-How did you get those i-instruments?" Tina asked.
The the pair looked at the oblivious blonde in front of them, everyone else sending her exasperated and pointed looks.
She shrugged. "What? I gave it to them but I didn't know what they would do with it." Artie face palmed.
Rachel nodded and smiled at her. "Yes, and we greatly appreciate it Brittany." she smiled.
"No problem."
"So..." He stepped up on the stage and grabbed the guitar, strumming it a few times. "Berry and I will take the initiative to supply the musical part of the shopping season." He reached out a hand to help her petite frame climb the stage. Once she was settled, she grabbed the microphone.
Will turned towards the group and smiled. "Well, I guess that's everyone..."
"Oh just give it up Will." Kurt interrupted, folding his arms sassily. "It almost too obvious who's the winner here. Congrats Puck, and Rachel."
Will laughed. "That actually wasn't what I was going to say at all." He smiled at all of them. "Congratulations guys. You all win."
"What?!" Artie said.
"Oh hell to the no!" Mercedes shook her head.
"Will, I thought this was a competition." Finn said.
He nodded. "Yeah it was. And now that I realize it, I shouldn't have started the competition. It was a bad idea, and I'm sorry." He sighed. "I shouldn't have made this project a competition between you guys." He walked around the staff that wasn't on the stage as he exclaimed, "You all had brilliant ideas, and I mean brilliant. A-And what happened today made me realize that I don't want to pin you guys against one another. I meant it when I said we are a family. So,..." He stepped up on the stage and took the bedazzled microphone from the brunette's hands; turning it on.
"We're going to use all of your ideas." He announced through the microphone. "Starting today..." He continued. "Everyone will start promoting their ideas."
"Well, we better start soon."Artie said, as he gestured towards the rapidly building group of customers who were rushing in.
Will clapped. "Okay. Let's get to work guys." He turned towards Puck and Rachel. "You think you guys will be okay over here?"
"We got this, Will. Don't worry." Puck assured. The boss nodded.
As Finn made his way to the front entrance of the store, he grinned at Rachel, who was testing her voice and doing a few scales. Spotting him, she yelled, "Finn, wait!" Hopping off the stage, she walked swiftly towards him.
"What's up Rach?"
"Um." She looked down at her hands as she fiddled with them. "I know you were supposed to work Finn, b-but..." She looked up at him and bit her lip. "I asked Will and he said that since you work as a people greeter, you can..help us out with the m-music. I-I know you love playing the the drums, so I wanted to ask you. Y-You don't have to join us Finn, we-"
"Rachel!" He laughed as he gently placed his hand over her mouth.
"I'll do it."
"Whheely?" She murmured under his hand. He smiled softly at her adorableness an nodded.
"Well come on, Hudson! I already have a song ready." With a wink she grabbed his hands and pulled him up on the stage. Puck patted him on the back in greeting before he sat down in front of the red drum set.
Once Rachel told them the song she was thinking of they got in position to perform.
As she went to the keyboard to begin the intro, Finn sat nervously, because one: he's never performed in front of a crowd before and two: this would be the first time he's going to hear Rachel sing.
I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you, yeah.
Finn stared in awe at her melodic voice as his cue started.
I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
And I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I don't need to hang my stocking
There upon the fireplace
Santa Claus won't make me happy
With a toy on Christmas Day
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you
You, baby
Oh, I won't ask for much this Christmas
I won't even wish for snow
And I'm just gonna keep on waiting
Underneath the mistletoe
I won't make a list and send it
To the North Pole for Saint Nick
I won't even stay awake to
Hear those magic reindeer click
'Cause I just want you here tonight
Holding on to me so tight
What more can I do?
Baby, all I want for Christmas is you
You, baby (She looked back at Finn, blushing when he caught her staring)
Oh, all the lights are shining
So brightly everywhere
And the sound of children's
Laughter fills the air
And everyone is singing
I hear those sleigh bells ringing
Santa, won't you bring me the one I really need?
Won't you please bring my baby to me?
Oh, I don't want a lot for Christmas
This is all I'm asking for
I just want to see my baby
Standing right outside my door
Oh, I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
Baby, all I want for Christmas is you
You, baby
All I want for Christmas is you, baby
All I want for Christmas is you, baby
All I want for Christmas is you, baby
All I want for Christmas is you, baby
That's it guys! Sorry it's been awhile, but I hope this makes up for it! The other updates are coming soon so stay tuned!
~Vikki3775