Friday morning found Sam having to force himself to stop pacing before he could begin his workout. He wasn't exactly sure what his reaction should be to the fact that he and his friends were about to do something that would upset his foster parents, upset many other parents, upset most of his school and possibly get him in trouble. He especially wasn't sure what his reaction should be when he's the one who planned the whole thing and one of his main goals in life is not to do any of the above. Finally, he decided that it didn't really matter what his reaction should be as knowing that wouldn't change the fact that he was on the verge of a panic attack.
He had gotten very little sleep and had barely managed to choke down the half piece of toast necessary to convince his foster mother that he had eaten breakfast. He was extremely glad that even though it was his plan, he was not responsible for finishing the video or singing lead on either song. He wasn't sure he would be capable of anything that important when he already felt close to hyperventilating. There had been a nerve-wracking conversation with his foster parents the night before when they had informed him that they wanted to bring the kids to the assembly. Sam had quickly declared that it wouldn't be appropriate, then had to even more quickly inform them that he didn't mean that kind of inappropriate. It had taken nearly half an hour to explain that it was a secret and that no one outside of New Directions knew except for a few other students who were involved and two teachers, but that they were not doing anything wrong.
He was fairly certain that the public aspect of what they had planned would keep them from getting in any real trouble with the school. Technically, they'd had permission from a concerned teacher in the form of Coach Sylvester and the others had assured him that there weren't many brave enough to go against her. He still wasn't sure that he wouldn't get in trouble with his foster parents considering the fact that he had deliberately mislead about the bullying. He was terrified that all he had done would go to waste and that they would send him away for lying to them, but he had to keep his friends safe, no matter what it could cost him.
"Hey!" Sam had said as he sat next to Artie in their first period class, "Did you guys finish it?" he added softly.
"Almost. We're going to eat lunch in the AV room again and put the final touches on it." his friend informed him.
"Final touches?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, I know we're singing live, so it might not be exact, but Lauren has a few clips that she wants to try and time to show at certain points." the other boy explained.
"Oh, ok. I'm sure it's gonna come out great." Sam said with a nervous smile.
"I'll just be glad to be done. I'm sick of having to see all that. I really hope this works." Artie responded, looking nervous as well.
"Well, we'll know soon." the blond replied as the teacher walked in.
"I missed you." Sam said as he sat down next to his girlfriend in the cafeteria.
"Sam, you saw me in the hallway an hour ago." Quinn responded, looking confused.
"So? I can't miss you after an hour?" he replied with a smile.
"You're such a dork. But I love you." she replied, kissing him on the cheek.
He was still afraid that she wouldn't love him if she really knew everything about him, even though there was a tiny bit of hope that kept telling him that she had already found out a lot about him and she hadn't run yet. He couldn't make himself believe it though, if he let himself get his hopes up it would only hurt more when she either found someone better or figured out that he wasn't worth her time. He decided that it was best to take things day-by-day, and enjoy being with her while he was. Sometimes, it was still hard to ignore the part of him that dreamed of someday giving her another couple of rings, though.
"Are you nervous about tonight?" he asked.
"Yeah, but I've decided to think positive. I have practice with that, you know. Coach Sylvester says Cheerios aren't allowed to even think of losing." she replied with a playful smile.
"I wish I was as good at that as you. I try, I really do, but somehow I end up imagining everything that could go wrong anyway." he admitted, looking embarrassed.
"It'll be ok. You were right, our parents won't just sit by anymore after seeing what goes on. Things will have to change after tonight." she whispered in an attempt to calm her boyfriend down.
Sam nodded, "Thanks. Is your mom coming?" he asked.
"Yeah, what about you?" she responded.
"Jessica's going to come. They were all coming - I had to talk them out of it. That was rather interesting," he explained.
"You think you have the routine's down?" Mike asked the moment Sam sat next to him.
"I think so." the other boy responded.
"Good. I think everyone does. I'm just glad Finn will be up front and ... away from everyone else for the second song." Mike responded.
"Well, Kurt will be up front too." Sam pointed out.
"Yes, but Kurt's good at dodging, and they won't have to be very close together." his friend explained.
"True." the blond conceded.
"I'll just be glad when his cast is off. It will lower the danger factor of glee practice by a lot."
Sam couldn't help but laugh.
The New Directions made for a very nervous looking group as they gathered in the choir room. Tina was pacing as Mike desperately tried to calm her down, Lauren and Artie were repeatedly assuring the others that the video was finished, Rachel was singing under her breath as though she was the one singing lead and Brittany looked confused. Sam had decided to watch the chaos and freak out internally, though Quinn sitting next to him with her head on his shoulder was doing a fairly good job of distracting him from that. Suddenly, the door opened and Puck steered a worried working Kurt into the room as Finn pulled the door shut.
"Will you please tell him that you aren't going to hate him so he'll calm down!" Puck said as he gestured to the pale boy.
"Why would we hate him?" Artie asked.
"Because I told my dad what we're going to do!" Kurt exclaimed in mild panic, "I was afraid that if he saw the video without any warning he would have another heart attack. I had to warn him! He thinks it's a good idea." the boy explained, adding the last part on as if to calm them down.
"So he's not mad and he's not going to stop us, right?" Quinn asked gently.
"Yes, he said it was a good idea." Kurt responded.
"Then why would we be mad? We know you worry about him, we should have just told you that you could tell him," Quinn said as the others agreed.
Kurt seemed to visibly calm down and Mercedes pulled him into a hug before directing him over to where she was sitting.
"He's been worried all day. Me, Puck and Mercedes couldn't convince him that it was ok and no one would be mad at him." Finn explained as he took a seat near Sam, saving another seat for his still pacing and singing girlfriend."
"Ok, guys! Tonight's the night! Lets run through the songs a few more times and then I have a surprise for you!" Mr. Shoue said as he walked into the room.
Sam did his best to beg off when the pizza showed up, but Quinn proved to be nearly as good at making sure he ate as Jessica always was at dinner. He had tried to tell her that he was too nervous to eat, but she had quickly pointed out that he hadn't eaten lunch either and nervous or not, he had to eat something. He had to choke down two pieces of pizza before she left him alone. He decided that he shouldn't have to put too much extra time into his workouts considering that it was basically all he'd eaten for the whole day, an hour more should do. That still didn't make it any easier to eat when he was so nervous that he was half-afraid of passing out.
By the time they were done eating it was time to change and set up for the performance. Artie and Lauren were quickly giving instructions to their friend from the AV club who had agreed to run the video as the others made sure that everything had been set up and was going according to plan. Sam looked over at Finn who was watching his brother in amusement as Kurt began pacing and singing under his breath exactly the way Rachel had been earlier. Finn's bright red cast would certainly stand out when they all took the stage in their matching dark blue tee-shirts, but he supposed that was a good thing.
He nearly hyperventilated again when he realized just how many people were showing up, but he couldn't help but smile when he noticed Coach Sylvester there with a camera crew from the news station she worked for. That should ensure that things would change. He turned back to his nervous friends and reminded himself that it wouldn't be long now. Principal Figgins would make a few announcements but they were scheduled to perform fairly early. This was it.
Author's Note: I hope you guys like this and you aren't to mad that this wasn't actually the performance chapter. I promise though that the performance chapter will be up in just a few days. It's already written!
Tessie: Thank you! I hope you're not too upset that this wasn't actually the chapter where they performed!
