Disclaimer: I do not have any relation to Glee or any of the writers on Fox. Purely fictional.

As Cory pushed past the doors of the hotel entrance, he took a deep breath and smiled for the crowd surrounding him. By then, it didn't consist of just reporters. A group of fans had noticed the commotion and hung around just to get a glimpse of the Hollywood actor. He greeted each of them in the usual charming way, only to have the reporters question him.

"Cory! What does this mean?"

He smiled and put his arm around the person beside him. "Jonathan Groff everybody!"

Pandemonium hit and every paparazzi wanted to get the story of how these two, the rumored men of Lea Michele's love life, were doing exiting a hotel together.

"So you two are friends then?"

Cory smiled graciously and replied, "Jon's a bud I got to know recently through Miss Lea Michele. And he's like the nicest guy on planet earth! I hope you guys would give him a warm welcome! He flew down to Los Angeles in support for his best friend, and now we're just hanging before he leaves tomorrow!"

"Shouldn't Lea be the one spending time with him then? Considering that they are pretty chummy together." Another reporter asked with a mischievous grin.

Cory looked at him and replied, "That's not very nice. Lea and Jon had never admitted that they were together."

"So are you then?"

Cory looked into the camera that was aimed at him and said the words that he knew would break her heart, like it did to his. And yet, it was the only way to keep her out of this mess once and for all.

"No."

Lea fell back into her bed. It was her umpteenth time watching this footage and yet, with every passing second, it was like a new needle had been pierced through her heart. She knew his intentions; after all, Jon did say that it was for the best. But it didn't mean that it would make everything better. She was still alone in her apartment and all they could survive on was through phone calls and text messages. She yearned for his smile, his presence, and his touch. Basically anything that screamed Cory Monteith.

She picked up her phone and scrolled through her images. There were about a million of them together, and this was the closest thing she had to him right now. As though by default, her screen changed, and the incoming call made her feel a tad bit better.

"Hi." She whispered.

"Hey, how's my little soldier?"

"Knock it off Cory."

He sensed the tone in her voice and knew that she was affected by his comment. He sighed and asked, "Lea, I thought you agreed that if there were questions asked, this would be the last resort. Why are you so unhappy about it?"

"Agreeing to it didn't mean that I was happy about it. It just means that I accepted it."

"So what do you want me to do about this? Tell the whole world that we've been dating for a couple of months now? You know it's not as simple as that."

She didn't know what made her temper rise, but at the next second, she found herself screaming.

"Well, I'm sorry that I've made things so complicated for you, Mr. Monteith! I just didn't see why we couldn't face everyone together. I'm sorry for assuming that with you, I thought we'd be invincible!"

"Lea, what's up with you? You're acting like a crazy person!"

She scoffed at his comment, "Oh yeah? Well, it's not like you're so sane yourself!"

He sighed again and lowered his voice. "Lea, what do you want me to do?"

By then, she could feel her eyes brimming with tears, and she willed herself to control them from falling. "I want you here with me. Holding me in your arms and telling me it's going to be okay, like you always do. I feel like its been ages since we were alone together Cory, and it doesn't make me feel any better when you were forced to say something like that. I miss you Cory, and it kills me that you're not with me right now."

Her doorbell rung, and she wiped the water away. "Babe, someone's at the door. So I gotta go, I'll call you tomorrow." Then she hung up and took a deep breath. Whoever was at the door better had a good explanation for coming this late. The doorbell sounded again, and she shouted exasperatedly, "I'm coming!"

With her blotched red-eyed face, she swung open the door.

"You said you wanted me here with you. So here I am."

He walked in and wrapped her up with the biggest embrace he could offer. "You wanted me to hold onto you, so here I am. You wanted me to tell you it's going to be okay, so here I go. We'll be alright, because we've got each other."

She melted in his arms and whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I've said. I didn't mean to yell at you, I just hated that we weren't seeing each other as often as we could, that's all. I'm really sorry baby."

He smoothed her back and said, "Hey, it's okay. It's not your fault. Besides, you're the only one I'd go crazy for anyway." He released her and cupped her face.

"So do you feel better now?"

She pouted and said, "No, you got to hold me a little bit longer."

He smiled and leaned forward. When he felt her tiny arms cling on to his back a little tighter, his heart winced in pain. He knew that there were tougher ordeals coming their way. Now that he had confirmed that there was nothing going on between them, they had to make an extra effort to keep their distance apart. While Lea was holding on to him for support, he couldn't help but feel himself crumbling down with fear. So he held on to her, hoping that she could be strong for him.

Chapter 25! Super glad that all of you are enjoying this! And guess what? I HAD A FANTASTIC DAY! And I owe it to all of you out there, bringing me the positivity! So thank you! Really hoping that all of you had an amazing day as well! :') Otherwise, crossing my fingers that the new chapter can help make things better for you!

Noro and finchel-frankenberry-gleek! Hey you :) Here's the next chapter and I'm hoping you'll love this! Stay amazing, because that's what you were meant to be! Have a lovely day with this!

PaochiCute, sweetheart, you are just so incredible. Thank you for believing in me so much, and I promise you with all of my heart, that as long as I've got you on my side, there's no way I would give up on this. So thank you love! I hope this chapter doesn't ruin any expectations you had about what Jon had in mind :) Enjoy with your lovely heart, you precious thing! You are wonderful!

And of course, a BIG WRM WELCOME! To Firekitten420! You are the amazing one, and I hope that you'll stick around! Much love from me to you, and enjoy! :')