Summary: It's time for Regionals and the Warblers are stretched to their limits. Will all the outside distractions sabotage their ultimate goal of not only winning Regionals, but Nationals? And what's up with Blaine?
Notes: Canon dialogue was used in this chapter. Please see previous chapters for disclaimers. Episodes referenced are in end notes.
Wednesday
"Where is he?" Sebastian asked the guys who were already in the Commons. He had been working on his Senior Project for his Computer Science class, so he was already in a shitty mood. Why the fuck did he need to know the difference between C++ and Javascript? And when the hell was he ever going to write his own computer program, except for this stupid project? That's what he had Doug for!
A loud banging answered the question of where his co-captain/boyfriend was "Guys, let me out of here!" Obviously, Blaine had tried to change something yet again and the rest of the Senior Warblers had made good on their promise to lock him in the office if he did.
"How long has he been in there?"
"About 15 minutes" Thad told him.
Sebastian had to think about how he wanted to handle this. On one hand, Blaine did promise that there would be no last minute changes. On the other hand, he wanted to have sex again before graduation. He decided to talk to Blaine (through the door) before he made a plan. "Hey, B. Heard you tried to make some changes again. We all agreed on Monday that the routines were set. Remember?"
"Oh Bas, thank god you're here. Please let me out. The guys are being unreasonable. I'm not trying to be bossy. I'm trying to give the benefit of my experience. I have won more show choir competitions than anyone in that room!"
Sebastian knew there was only one thing to do and he'd have to take one for the team "Anyone else feel like going off campus for lunch? We can bring something back for Blaine Jong-un."
Thursday
"Sebastian!"
He could tell by the tone of Jeff's voice that Blaine had either tried something or said something to piss him off…again. The body language between the two only confirmed his deduction. Yup, sex was probably going to be out of the question yet again "What's going on?"
"Blaine, why don't you ask your boyfriend the question you just asked me?" Jeff knew he was partly at fault for this but Blaine had taken things too far.
"I am co-captain. I am responsible for safety. My question was not unreasonable."
Ok, said something to piss Jeff off. "What did you say, B?"
"All I did was ask if the guys who are tumbling were wearing their non-skid soles. I saw Jeff change his shoes and I wanted to know if the others had as well."
Sebastian shook his head and asked Jeff to give them a minute. "I wasn't wrong about this Bas" Blaine told him.
"No, but the way you confronted Jeff was. You questioned him on the responsibility you and I gave him. Or to be more specific, the responsibility the rest of the guys and I were able to force you to let go of." Sebastian took a deep breath before he went on "I made you an appointment with Dr. Shepard for after we're finished here."
"What the fuck?! You had no…"
"The guys have locked you in the office…twice! For some reason you are micromanaging to the point that we can't take it anymore. B, you're reminding us of how it was when you came back from the hospital."
"I'm not that…" Blaine looked at Sebastian's face and knew it was. "Fine, I'll go, but not before reminding you that you said you would see a therapist after what happened on Valentine's Day. It doesn't matter that you are in a much better mood."
"It just so happens, I have appointments set up with the therapist Trent's mom recommended on Monday, Tuesday and after I give my deposition on Wednesday." That seemed to calm Blaine down a bit. "B, you were right yesterday when you said you have more experience at winning these things than the rest of us, but that experience won't help if you're locked in the office. You've had to realize that since you can't punch them, the guys aren't afraid of you anymore."
Before he could respond, Blaine saw Nari and other girls from their sister school arrive. It was kind of a tradition that the girls would come watch the final full practice. It put some fresh eyes on the routine and while no changes would be made (…Blaine!), the girls could point out parts that needed to be cleaned up. Nari's arrival also gave Blaine the opportunity to do as Sam had asked and check on her.
While he did that, Sebastian began to walk back to the guys and noticed the expression on Trent's face. He didn't understand until he followed Trent's sight line which led to Blaine talking with Nari. Suddenly, one of his unanswered questions from the other day made sense, so he went and pulled his best friend aside "Nari's the girl you've been in love with since you were five."
Trent tried not to appear horrified that Sebastian had figured out the secret he had been keeping for almost 13 years "What…I mean…what?"
"My friend, it's pretty obvious. Why haven't you done something about it?"
Trent let out a soft groan, resigned to the fact that Sebastian would not let this go "Shyness but, and don't get a big head about this, hanging around with you gave me the confidence to tell her. Which I was going to do on New Year's Eve…the day she meant Sam. Now they're together and let's be honest, how am I supposed to compete with him? I'm not afraid to admit the guy is gorgeous."
"First of all, you working out with B has done a lot for you."
"Hasn't helped with the chipmunk cheeks."
Sebastian gave him a swift swat on the butt "It has for the cheeks that matter, and she and Sam aren't seeing each other anymore."
"How come?" Trent tried to sound as normal as his internal squealing would allow.
"They still like each other, but distance became a problem." Sebastian looked over at Thad and Nick who were still attempting to calm Jeff down "Unfortunately, after we get back from college visits I think there are two more couples that will figure that out as well."
After two run-throughs, all the girls agreed that the routines were spot on. Blaine thanked them for coming and then excused himself to go see Dr. Shepard. He hated to admit it but it was probably a good thing Sebastian had done this. He had thought everyone was exaggerating, but when he overheard Nick and Thad talking to a couple of Junior Warblers about a hostile takeover…yeah, he needed to fix this fast.
He looked at the clock on his dashboard and saw that he had another ten minutes left in his drive, so he decided to call Sam over the bluetooth. He told him that he had seen Nari and she was sad, but ok. Sam in turn, told him to call Sugar when he got the chance. She and Kitty had a few realizations of their own when he split from Nari. Blaine thanked him and promised to call her later, but now he wanted to talk about what was really on his mind. "Have you had a chance to look at the arrangement I sent you?"
"Are you kidding? I couldn't stop playing it, Blaine. It was that good, but why is this song so important? I thought you said that this wasn't the song you had to write for your project."
"I have to play three songs at the Julliard Concert and they want two to be originals. Sebastian's Heart would be the first and I want this one to be the other, that way I can still do my version of I Dreamed a Dream. If I can't get this song to work, I'll have to switch to You+Me and probably Cough Syrup.
"Why don't you just use whatever song you wrote for Regionals?"
"What makes you think I wrote a song for Regionals?"
"You complained for a month that Jeff was bugging you to write one, then you just stopped. You know I won't say anything."
"Ok, yes we are doing an original that I wrote at Regionals, but it just doesn't feel right for the concert. I really want this to be this song, but Sam, the song doesn't work without that guitar in the lead. I really need your help on this."
A half hour later, Blaine was sitting on the couch at his therapist's office, arms crossed in annoyance, waiting for the man to stop laughing "It's not that funny, Doc. And aren't you supposed to be making me feel better? How is laughing at me helping with that?"
"Oh, come on. They locked you in the office not once, but twice. You don't find that at least a little bit funny. Think about it, Blaine. You have said on more than one occasion that you just want to be a normal kid. What's more normal than your friends calling you out when you're being ridiculous? Which you are, by the way. The locking you in the office was just a bonus."
Blaine loosened his defensive posture. The man may have had a point…Damn it! "Ok, fine, maybe I've been a bit uptight, but I don't have to time for self-reflection. Can you give me something to work with here?"
"This one time, I will. It's not residual feelings from what happened with the sentencing, although you're not as fine with it as you think you are. It's not pressure from Julliard or your Graduation Plan. In my professional opinion, you are overcompensating because you feel you're the reason the Warblers haven't won Regionals the last two years and you owe them one."
"That's ludicrous."
"Hear me out. Your return to Dalton began with you taking back a Nationals trophy. Are you telling me you don't see the symbolism of giving them one of their own? The problem is you can't give them one, no matter how much you want to. The Warblers, all of you, have to earn it. You know I'm right."
"What if you are?"
"Then we have a place to start."
Friday
"Cookies!"
Blaine and Trent watched as Sebastian ran to the door and almost tackled Trent's mother.
"Sometimes I think he likes those cookies more than he likes me" Trent sighed.
"And sometimes I think he likes those cookies more than he likes me" Blaine said, causing them both to laugh.
Sebastian really did like those cookies.
Saturday: Day of Regionals (Finally!)
While the Warblers were arriving at the venue, their friends in New York were setting up a computer for the live stream. Evidently, Artie had volunteered to take care of it this time and Doug was going to return the favor the following week. Fortunately, David was going to come over a little early to connect the computer to the television so they'll have a bigger picture.
Quinn and Nichole had come in from New Haven and Boston to watch the guys. The two of them had actually formed a friendship while they were back in Ohio. "Santana, I thought you were staying in Lima until tomorrow. What happened?" Quinn asked.
"I stayed for work, but finished early." Santana wasn't going to say any more. Her idea with the guys had gone over well and the magazine had decided to publish it. She wanted it to be a surprise, but she also didn't want Wes to hear about it. She hadn't seen him since the reception and was still a little unnerved by what he said to her.
"Is it true that the Warblers are in what everyone on the show choir blogs are calling the Regionals Bracket of Death?" Nichole asked. "That's what Jeff told me."
Rachel went and got her laptop, opening it to one of the more popular blogs "Yes, see? The Warblers are competing against not only Vocal Adrenaline, but the Hoosierdaddies. Any of those three teams could easily make top five at Nationals, but two will be eliminated today. That gives less talented teams a chance to place higher than they might have otherwise."
"Like the New Directions" Santana huffed.
"Don't say that, Santana" Mercedes was surprised by her comment. "They're the defending National Champions."
"That lost at Sectionals" Santana reminded her. "Then somehow Mr. Schue was not only able to get them into Regionals, but moved to an easier bracket. That's the reason the Warblers are even competing against Vocal Adrenaline, they should be up against the New Directions. Mr. Schue was able to get them switched. All this so he could stick it to Blaine."
"Well, why should things be any different now? Schuster didn't appreciate Blaine when he had him. None of you did." Wes commented, announcing his and David's arrival.
Santana was sure his comments were directed at her again, although Rachel and Mercedes were just as culpable. In her mind, Wes had singled her out even though she was the one closest to Blaine. Well, she was now.
It was going to be a long afternoon.
Back at the venue, Blaine received a text (oh yeah, collect phones) from Sam that they were there and needed to know where Artie could set up. When Blaine got to the entrance he was surprised to see Rodrick with them.
"Rod's here to help Artie. Plus, he didn't join until after Sectionals and hasn't seen one of these live. With who's competing today, I thought he should see this in person" Sam explained.
"Just like a captain should." Blaine was proud of the way Sam had stepped up in his role as captain, or was being allowed to step into his role now that the outside influences were gone. Finn was the chosen alumni to stay as result of the Warblers winning the Diva-Off, but he had been really good at deferring to Sam (much to Will's chagrin).
Speaking of Will, he showed up with Finn and Puck, so Blaine went back to his seat as not to get agitated. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Sam asked, although he had a good idea. It just surprised him that his advisor hadn't mentioned he was coming, but he didn't know why. There were a lot of things that Will hadn't told him, like the fact that he somehow arranged for Vocal Adrenaline to compete in this bracket.
"I'm here to film Mikey's stud muffin for him" Puck told them.
"We're about to go set up a live stream. Why don't you come with us and we can Mike set up too?" Puck agreed to Artie's offer and followed him and Rodrick to their designated area.
Once they were gone, Sam turned to Finn and asked "Where's Kurt?"
"Uh, Cooper made sure he was put on the schedule at Breadstix so he couldn't be here."
That put a smile on Sam's face "Gotta love him. So, I'll see you guys Monday?"
"Sam, you should sit with us so we can take notes" Will told him.
Was he serious? "No, I shouldn't and you definitely are not sitting with me because I am sitting with the Andersons, Smythes and Nixons, Trent's family. Just to put it out there, Kitty is also here to support Thad and it should be a no brainer that Sugar is here considering she's Blaine's cousin and Nick's girlfriend. And I'm not here to scope out the competition. I'm here to support my friends like they will do for me next week."
"Sam…"
"Don't worry, Mr. Schue. When the Warblers win and then we win next week, the gloves will be off as far as Nationals are concerned." Sam started to leave but thought he had better clarify something first "However, with everything else, nothing changes. Blaine and I are still best friends and I won't put up with any crap you try to say about it. Oh, there goes the flashing lights. You two better find seats."
The one thing that went the Warblers way was they would be performing last, giving Blaine and Sebastian a chance to analyze what the other teams did without comparing the performances to their own. There was no How the hell did they make it to Regionals team in this group, so anything they saw could be useful.
The first up were the Hoosierdaddies.
"That girl reminds me a lot of Rachel, but what does Clarity have to do with the theme Tell us who you are?"
"Only one of the songs has to fit the theme. Last year for Vintage the only song we did that fit was Dashboard."
"Oh look, they have more girls than the Rachel-wannabe. Um B? Was that girl's dance as offensive to you as it was to me?"
"If by offensive you mean racist, yes it was. I wonder if we were the only ones that thought so."
Once they were able to move past the whole Did they really just do that? dance, both of them had to admit that Wings did fit the persona that the girls in the group gave off. However, half of the group, aka the boys, had not been represented. Hopefully, that would be held against them.
Then it was Vocal Adrenaline's turn and Sebastian had all sorts of things to say about that routine.
"It's the same move over and over. They just switch out who's riding around on the scaffolding. Ok, the scaffolding is going out. Mickey? Seriously? How does that show who they are? We built this City didn't say it either unless they're trying to claim that they are the ones that built the reputation of dominate teams coming from this area."
"Bas…"
"And what's with the guy on the bouncers? That's just a distractor hiding the fact that nothing they're doing is original. Holy fuck! They shot guys out of cannons? Out of cannons, B!"
"Bas, it's ok. That was a big, overdramatic mess. The judges should see that. You need to calm down because it's time to head back. It's your job to be the level headed one."
While the Warblers headed back stage, those in the audience began to feel the nerves. "Does anyone know what their singing?" Cooper asked.
"I know that the first song is not the first one they chose" Sam said and then laughed at the looks he was getting. "Blaine and I were able to talk without giving any important information away. However, I do have his permission to tell you that he wrote the second song."
"Blainey wrote…" Before Sugar could continue the lights flickered and they took their seats.
Sebastian's father leaned over to Blaine's "What's the theme of this again?"
"Tell us who you are."
I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now
It took everything the two dads had in them to laugh out loud. They knew the song and neither believed a more appropriate song could have been chosen. It didn't take them long to refocus, especially Mr. Anderson since for the moment Blaine was singing lead.
A young fighter screaming, with no time for doubt
With the pain and anger can't see a way out
It ain't much I'm asking
I heard him say
Gotta find me a future
(All) Move out of my way
(Seniors) I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now
(All) I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now
(Trent) Listen all you people, come gather round
I gotta get me a game plan, gotta shake you to the ground
Trent's parents smiled at each other, amazed in the changes in their son over the last few months. They both had to admit they had concerns when Trent first talked about his friendship with Sebastian, but now they couldn't be any happier.
(Blaine) It ain't much I'm asking, if you want the truth
Here's to the future for the dreams of youth
(All) I want it all, I want it all, I want it all and I want it
(Doug…it was a really high note) Now!
(Sebastian) I'm a man with a one track mind
So much to do in one lifetime
(Thad, Jeff & Nick on harmonies) (People do you hear me)
Not a man for compromise and where's and why's and living lies
(So I'm living it all)
Yes, I'm living it all
(And I'm giving it all)
And I'm giving it all…Whoo!
While Beat and "the Band" had a strong presence throughout the song, this was their opportunity to shine.
"Fuck! They sound just like a fucking rock band!" Puck was thoroughly impressed, but Rodrick was in shock.
"We're supposed to beat that? How the hell do we beat that?"
Then the dancers and tumblers came in.
"Finally!" David cheered. "I wish we would have had the guys to do that when we were there."
Quinn laughed as Nichole leaned her head to the side as she stared at the screen "See something you like, Nichole?"
"I…I just didn't know Jeff was that…that, um…flexible."
(Blaine) It ain't much I'm asking, if you want the truth
Here's to the future
Hear the cry of youth
(hear the cry, hear the cry, hear the cry of youth)
(All) I want it all, I want it all, I want it all and I want it…
Now!
While people had been on their feet cheering since the beginning the abrupt end made them go wild, almost causing them to miss Beat go straight to the opening of Blaine's song. While he had originally insisted on no solos, the guys convinced him that since he wrote the song he should take lead. Once Blaine caved in, he was happy with the decision because it allowed him the chance to drop in a few surprises.
This ain't a song for the broken-hearted
No silent prayer for the faith-departed
I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd
You're gonna hear my voice
When I shout it out loud
(Chorus) It's my life
It's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive (It's my life)
(Blaine) My heart is like an open highway
Sebastian said I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive
(All) It's my life
While everyone was surprised at Sebastian's name being put in, they didn't have time to recover.
This is for the ones who stood their ground
It's for Tommy and Tana who never backed down
In New York, while the girls were squealing over hearing Santana's name, David pulled Wes back. He had never seen his friend look as panicked as he did when Blaine said the name Tommy. "Wes, you need to pull it together. The girls are going to notice you're freaking out."
"David, he said Tommy. What the hell happened?"
"I don't know and while I don't know the whole Tommy story, I know this is bad. But, you need to suck it up for now because the girls will see you and have questions. And when I say girls, I mean Santana especially since Blaine used her name in the same line."
Meanwhile back in Ohio, those who knew of Tommy were trying not to react. Blaine had gone on to use Wes, Sammy and Sugar in the song but Tommy was what stood out. People were going to have questions because all of the other names were recognizable.
And it's now or never
We ain't gonna live forever
We just want to live while we're alive (It's our life)
Our hearts are like an open highway
The Warblers said we did it our way
We just want to live while we're alive
It's my life
Monday during Glee, Sam and Artie showed video from the weekend.
"Holy Shit!" That got everyone's attention considering it came out of Joe's mouth. "While the other two groups were unbelievable, it was easy to see why the Warblers won."
Even more surprising was how animated the usually reserved Rodrick became "The video doesn't begin to capture how good they were. I mean…I mean…there are no words…I can't…" Kitty put her hand over his mouth to stop the rambling. She had listened to it the entire drive home on Saturday.
"Come on guys, we could have beat that" Will tried to convince his club. Finn shook his head because it was obvious the man had lost his fucking mind and he wasn't the only one that thought so.
"Have you lost your fucking mind? We couldn't have beat any of those teams."
"Sam…"
"No, we couldn't and you are not doing us any favors by telling us we could. However, we are going to win this Saturday because of the crap competition we're up against, and I'm sure the teams already going to Nationals know that too. We're going to be known as the team that lost Sectionals and then had their advisor abuse the system to make sure they made Nationals."
"Sam…"
"I'm not done. Mr. Schue, you owe us because all of this is your fault. You need to get your head out of your ass and stop living in last year. We have amazing dancers on this squad, yet we're not showing that in our Regionals performance. Unique was last year's Nationals MVP and don't get me started on Rodrick's voice but, no offense guys, we are lacking in one area. With the exception of Kitty and maybe Tina, none of us have the killer instinct to bully the competition like Rachel, Mercedes or Santana…hell, even Kurt. The Warblers have that and we won't beat them without it. So, either you find a way to coach that or as captain I'll make sure we get what we need. I'll get Sue Sylvester."
Notes:
Canon dialogue from Episode 5x07 (Puppet Master). Sam's comments about the ND not having a killer instinct uses pieces of Finn's comments from Episode 4x13 (Diva)
Hoosierdaddies performance of Clarity/Wings is from 4x22 (All or Nothing). The offensive dance comes in the transition between songs. I watched the video three times, each time saying "Did she really just do that?" but I seem to do that a lot when I go back and watch canon.
Vocal Adrenaline performance of We built this City/Mickey is from 6x11 (We built this Glee Club).
I Want It All: Brian May, Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, Michie Nakatani, Roger Taylor 1989. The idea for this song came from the Pentatonix version of Bohemian Rhapsody.
It's My Life: Richard Sambora, Jon Bon Jovi, Max Martin 1999. Tommy is the one name actually used in the song. It was how I chose the character's name. I knew I would use this at some point.