Aloha! I'm back with a new update to this Glee-ful story! :) In this chapter, Charlotte makes improvisations on her momentarily foiled plot from the previous chapter. But surprise, surprise, it still fails anyway. Meanwhile, not too long afterward, Daniel follows Finn's advice by taking a daring leap in his efforts to finally reveal to Diana how he feels for her. Any of you wondering what song Finn was referring to when he asked Daniel if he'd ever watched the movie 10 Things I Hate About You starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger? You're now about to find out! :) Please read, review, and enjoy! :)
And now for the mailbag:
Cookie05: Thank you. Indeed Charlotte's current plan is not going well. In fact, it doesn't start going any better in this chapter either :). On that note, when do her plans ever go well? ;)
Cazred11: Thank you very much. I really do love that scene. I feel so proud of myself for that scene :) I hope you keep on making me feel like that pride is worth feeling by continuing to enjoy and post reviews on this story.
Well anyway, on with the fic!
Again, I do not own Glee. And I sure don't own this chapter's titular song either.
Chapter 37:
Can't Take My Eyes off of You
Calvin was at his locker sorting out the stuff that he would need in his backpack to take home that night with what he could afford to leave in his locker this time. Hobbes was standing right by him, waiting for his master to leave so that he could follow him to wherever he went.
Calvin was especially looking forward now to the after school session of glee club at the moment. He couldn't wait to spend even more time alongside all his friends in the New Directions, especially Susan, practicing for the upcoming Regionals performance in two weeks after this week. "Nothing like a good session of mutual exchanging of romantic messages through the power of song to really get my enthusiasm for glee club at an all-time high," he thought to himself.
Unfortunately, a dark cloud came upon his mood when he heard an all too familiar voice behind him shout, "What the Hell is wrong with you?!"
Taken by surprise, Calvin turned around to face the mad shouter behind him, and saw none other than Charlotte standing right behind him with a half incredulous, half angry look on her face. Upon sight of this, Hobbes snarled, and tensed up in preparation to lunge at her if the situation demanded.
Calvin, feeling both angry and confused, promptly said, "What are you talking about?"
Charlotte rolled her eyes in apparent irritation, took out her phone, and started pressing her fingers on it as if she were opening an app. A minute or so later, Charlotte turned her phone around so that Calvin could see the screen, and thus Calvin saw a picture she had taken of what appeared to be her own hot pink Cadillac with the word 'Calvin' written on the windshield in an ugly olive green spray paint.
Calvin rolled his eyes at the sight of the photo. "Two words," he responded blankly. "Wasn't me."
Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Don't you try to deny it," she retorted. "I have all the evidence I need to know, for a fact, that you're the one who did this. Now what do you have to say for yourself?"
Calvin growled, and responded venomously, "Again, I didn't do it."
"Stop lying," said Charlotte. "You do realize that you have committed a felony by doing what you did to my car right?"
"And again, I'm not the one who did it," Calvin replied, very obviously trying to keep his temper in check.
Charlotte scoffed. "Oh really? Why don't you prove it then?" Charlotte asked arrogantly.
Calvin clenched his fists, and took a series of rapid deep breathes.
Charlotte smiled upon seeing this. It seemed that despite how she was forced to improvise after Miles had bailed, her latest plan was working perfectly. Now all she needed was for Daniel to show up.
At that moment, right as Calvin was about to speak, the two teens heard a voice from nearby say, "What's going on here?"
Calvin, Hobbes, and Charlotte turned their heads to see who had spoken, and saw none other than Daniel. Charlotte smiled seductively at Daniel, pointed at Calvin, and arrogantly stated, "This teenage hooligan has defaced private property, and it's time he learned about showing proper respect for other peoples' possessions!"
"I was talking to Calvin, not you," Daniel responded as he turned his head away from Calvin to face Charlotte, an irritated glare on his face.
Charlotte raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. "Whatever you say gallant knight," she said flirtatiously.
Daniel rolled his eyes, turned his head back to Calvin, and asked, "What's going on here Calvin?"
Calvin pointed his finger at Charlotte, stared at Daniel with an angry snarl, and shouted, "This dick, over here, is falsely accusing me of vandalizing her car!"
"I have a picture of his own name that he signed on my car's windshield with spray paint!" Charlotte yelled as she turned her phone around so that Daniel could see the photo she'd just shown Calvin.
Daniel looked at the photo, his eyebrow raised suspiciously. He then turned his head back to Calvin. "You're absolutely positive you didn't do this?"
"Did you not see that photo?" Calvin responded. "All her car needs is a good washing and it will look as if that spray paint were never there! It's so obviously not my work. If I had been the one vandalizing the car, I wouldn't have made the job so easy to fix. And I sure as Hell would not have planted such incriminating evidence of my doing it as my name! I'm not stupid!"
"Exactly," said Charlotte. "No one would have expected Calvin to do something that simple, so he did exactly that to throw people off his trail."
"What would you have done if you had been the one vandalizing the car?" Daniel asked Calvin, completely ignoring what Charlotte had said.
"I would have made one big fat mess of it, that's what!" Calvin responded. "I would've spray painted all sorts of mean words and horrific drawings all over the body of the car, would have smashed the windows, slashed the tires, trashed the interior, and would probably have even had Hobbes use the interior of the hood as a toilet!"
Hobbes barked thrice as if in agreement with his master.
Daniel smiled, nodded his head, and stated, "That definitely does sound more like what you would do."
"You seriously believe him?" Charlotte asked incredulously. "He's lying! He's trying to interfere with our destiny together!"
"We have no destiny together Charlotte!" Daniel shouted indignantly. "And stop talking trash about my friends!"
Charlotte sputtered as she tried to think of something to say as comeback.
Daniel then drew out his phone, opened up his own camera app, and asked, "In fact, if Calvin's truly the one who did it, which he isn't, then how would you explain, these?"
Daniel then handed his phone to Charlotte. Charlotte grasped the phone, looked intently at the pictures Daniel had opened up on his camera app, and gasped silently in shock when she saw that they were photos of herself spray painting the windshield of her car.
Calvin saw the photos as well, and smirked smugly. "Serves you right," he thought to himself. Hobbes barked once at Charlotte, and then started smugly panting.
Charlotte looked up from Daniel's cell phone, her mouth gaping open like an idiot, and her eyes wide with shock.
Daniel shook his head from side to side, snatched his phone back out of Charlotte's hands, and said, "You know Charlotte, I definitely must say that, apart from when you followed me right into the boy's bathroom here earlier this school year, spray painting your own car and trying to pin it on Calvin is one of the stupidest things you've ever done, and boy have you done a lot of stupid things."
He turned his head to Calvin. "Come on Calvin," said Daniel. "Let's get to the choir room. The others are probably already there waiting for you, me, and Hobbes as we speak."
The two boys and the German shepherd promptly walked away from Charlotte in the direction of the choir room. Charlotte stood where she was in stunned silence for a few seconds before she finally realized that Daniel, Calvin, and Hobbes were leaving her in the hallway. "Hey!" Charlotte yelled. "What are you doing?! What about my car?!"
Without even looking at Charlotte, Daniel replied, "Well you're the one who vandalized your own car, and as Calvin said, it's obviously not going to be that hard to fix. Just go ahead and wash it."
"But the next session of glee club begins in five minutes!"
"So what," Daniel responded. "It won't be the first time you've been late! You've purposefully been tardy for past sessions more than enough times before today!"
Charlotte stared at the two boys and the dog for a few more seconds before eventually reluctantly turning around and heading back towards the parking lot, grumbling about the unfairness of the whole situation.
Meanwhile, as Calvin, Daniel, and Hobbes made their way towards the choir room, Calvin turned his head towards Daniel and said, "Thanks dude. I'm not sure how I would have been able to handle that if you hadn't stepped in and helped me out."
"You're welcome," Daniel replied. "I'm always happy to help out one of my friends."
Calvin chuckled. "That you are," said the blonde boy as he thought about how very close he had come to completely losing his head before Daniel had intervened. "To be honest," he then said. "I seriously wonder what lengths that piece of shit will go to in her efforts to make you her unwilling boyfriend. Honestly, will she never learn?"
Daniel chuckled, rubbed his fingers through his coal black hair, and replied, "Good question Calvin. Very good question."
"You've got that right," said Calvin. "Hell, Zack is even fake dating her right now and she still attempted to make a play for you. Talk about crazy."
"I hear you man," said Daniel.
At that moment, the two boys and the dog arrived at the choir room, and promptly entered. As Daniel had suspected, Mr. Schuester and all the other gleeks were already there.
"You had two minutes or so left," said Mr. Schuester. "Cutting it a little close there boys."
"Well hey," said Daniel with a smile. "On the bright side, I managed to prevent a gross miscarriage of justice occurring at Calvin's expense. If I hadn't been there to help him out, he would have been at risk of going to juvie for assault and vandalism, and assault is the felony he would have actually been guilty of."
At the sound of all this, Quinn rolled her eyes, and then said, "Let me guess, Charlotte was involved in all this."
"Correct you are Ms. Fabray," said Calvin.
Susan looked at Calvin with her eyebrows raised. "I'll explain later," Calvin mouthed to her. Susan smiled, and gave a thumbs-up.
"Hey, where's Charlotte?" Zack asked.
Calvin grinned, turned his head to Zack, and responded, "Oh don't you mind her absence Captain Casanova. She just had a little mess to clean up out in the parking lot; a mess that she happened to try to frame me for I might add."
Zack looked towards Daniel with a confused face, and Daniel mouthed, "I'll tell you later."
Zack rolled his eyes, and turned his head to face Mr. Schuester.
Mr. Schuester clapped his hands, and all the gleeks from both generations directed their attention to the teacher.
"Alright everyone," said Mr. Schuester. "You all remember what's on our current set list for Regionals right?"
All the gleeks nodded, and Finn turned his head to look at Daniel before then winking at him.
Daniel, understanding perfectly well what the message behind this was, winked back with his thumb raised. He knew exactly what he was going to do after this session of glee club ended. Of course, he would need a little help to make sure that Diana would actually be present for what he had in store for her and that Charlotte wouldn't interrupt like she had the last time he'd attempted to resolve his situation with Diana.
. . . . .
Half an hour later, Diana sighed in contentment as she sorted out the supplies in her locker with what she would need to take home that night for her school work. She couldn't have felt happier at the progress she and the other New Directions members had made in their preparations for Regionals, but now it was time to focus on homework and make sure that it didn't end up interfering with her concentration on the upcoming competition.
As soon as she finished sorting out all her supplies needed, Diana closed her locker, latched the lock, and turned around to leave, only to find herself face to face with Zack.
Startled, Diana screeched before eventually working to get her breath back. "Don't do that!" she shouted.
"Sorry about that," said Zack. "But I just wanted to make sure that you hadn't left the school grounds yet."
"And why is that?" Diana asked pointedly.
"Could you please accompany me to the auditorium?" Zack asked. "There's something major there about to go on that you really need to see."
"And how do I know it's something that I will find worth seeing?"
"Hint; it's been arranged by a very good friend of yours, and I do mean a friend."
Diana raised her eyebrows upon hearing that, but eventually decided that Zack truly was being sincere in his description of how it obviously wasn't Charlotte who'd arranged for what was about to unfold in the auditorium for her. Folding her arms across her chest, she replied, "Very well then. I'll go ahead and accompany you to the auditorium, but this had better be worth my time, or you'll be sorry."
"Whatever you say," said Zack with a smile as he turned to head towards the auditorium. Diana followed close behind him. Having now gotten over her surprise at suddenly finding Zack nearby her, Diana now couldn't help but feel interested as to what was about to occur in the auditorium for her to see.
After a few minutes, the two friends made it to the auditorium. As the two friends walked down the pathway through the suspiciously dark auditorium, Zack appeared to look around the room as if to make sure that they were the only ones in the auditorium. When they made it to the very front of the seating area, Zack gestured towards a seat and said to Diana, "Have a seat."
Confused, Diana complied. "What's going on?" she then asked.
"Enjoy the show," said Zack enigmatically. "Now excuse me, I need to go and make sure that a certain someone doesn't interrupt this momentous occasion." Directly after saying this, Zack turned around and ran out of the auditorium.
Diana raised her eyebrows in confusion when she saw this happening. What was going on?
At that moment a spot light came on and illuminated the center of the stage. Intrigued, Diana looked intently at the area illuminated by the spotlight, curious as to what was about to happen.
Seconds later, Diana's eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped when she heard a familiar voice singing, and saw none other than Daniel walk slowly out of the shadows and into the light with a microphone in his hand. As Daniel was doing this, he slowly sang:
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
Pardon the way that I stare
There's nothing else to compare
The sight of you leaves me weak
There are no words left to speak
So if you feel like I feel
Please let me know that it's real
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
Directly after Daniel finished singing those particular lyrics, he snapped his fingers, and Diana smiled as she heard the sound of trumpets and other band instruments suddenly start playing. Daniel smiled when he saw this, and when the time was right, he continued:
I love you baby and if it's quite all right
I need you baby to warm the lonely nights
I love you baby, trust in me when I say
Oh pretty baby, don't bring me down I pray
Oh pretty baby, now that I've found you stay
And let me love you baby, let me love you
Upon finishing the last lyrics, Daniel stood tall, seemed to bask in the light of the spotlight, and then the music stopped, and he bowed. Daniel then heard clapping and cheering coming from the auditorium seats, and he looked up from his bow in time to see Diana happily clapping with a look on her face that he could only describe as absolutely euphoric. Daniel smiled when he saw this.
When Diana finished clapping, she got up from her chair, and made her way on to the stage. Daniel stood tall and let Diana approach.
Diana walked up to Daniel, a smile on her face; and when she was an inch or two away from Daniel, she stopped, and said, "All that, was that for me?"
Daniel smiled, and replied, "Indeed it was. I had a feeling, or rather Finn Hudson had a feeling, that you might like it since you like the movie 10 Things I Hate about You so much. Besides, he and I both agreed that it was just the right song to convey the desired message."
Diana smiled weakly, and nodded, hanging her head in uncertainty.
"Diana," said Daniel. "I know what you're thinking; please stop doing this to yourself. I meant everything I said in that song. I love you Diana, believe me I do, and I'm sorry it's taken me this long to finally tell you."
Diana sniffled, looked up, and said, "You don't know that Daniel. How am I supposed to know that you truly actually love me? Look, I know I do, but how can I truly know if you even know what love is? How do I know that you don't just think that you love me and won't leave me for Charlotte or some other girl who's a trillion times more beautiful then I'll ever be?"
"Diana, stop that please," said Daniel.
"I can't help it," said Diana. "There are countless other girls here, and even the entire world, who are so much more deserving then I am."
"That's not true Diana," said Daniel. "Trust me on this; and screw them all! I'd rather die tomorrow then live a thousand years without you by my side to live them alongside me! Damn it! I love you Diana! I really truly love you Diana!"
"You don't know that," said Diana with a sniffle.
"Yes I do," said Daniel. "I've been trying to tell you that for the last few months; Hell, the last few years."
He grasped Diana by the hands, stared meaningfully into her dazzling emerald colored eyes, and said, "I mean it Diana. No matter how many Charlottes or other girls try to rip us apart, I will always love you, and no one else. Please Diana, I swear that I really do love you, and if you truly love me, then please just let me love you. Please."
Diana sniffed, looked deep into Daniel's steely gray eyes, and saw the truth, sincerity, and emotion in them. "He's right," thought Diana with a sniff as a tear threatened to drop down her cheek. "He really does love me; he always has, and I've never even noticed."
At that moment, Daniel, finally deciding to take the plunge, closed his eyes and started to lean forward towards Diana. Diana tensed at first, unsure of whether she wanted this to happen, and then eventually gave in to her heart's desire and initiated the same behavior that Daniel was now exhibiting. For a few seconds, they leaned closer towards each other, came to a brief stop for another few seconds, and then finally closed the gap.
The experience was everything Diana and Daniel had hoped for and more. As they kissed, they both felt as if their souls were on fire. Daniel himself even felt as if an inferno had erupted inside him whereas Diana felt as if a maelstrom of lightning was raining down on her insides. When they finally parted from their passionate lip-lock, they were both gasping for breath.
When the two newly declared lovers finally regained their breath, they looked into each other's eyes, dazzling green ones meeting fierce gray ones, and saw deep into their souls down to the long contained emotions that were even now finally breaking free and becoming common knowledge between them.
Diana smiled adoringly with all the love she felt. "I love you," she whispered to Daniel.
"I love you to Diana," Daniel replied in an equally quiet voice. "Always have, and I always will."
At that point, carried away by the joy of finally saying this to each other, they promptly engaged in a tight embrace, tears of joy running down their cheeks.
Daniel and Diana probably would have stayed like that for at least another hour if they hadn't ended up parting in surprise upon hearing the unexpected sound of cheering coming from the seats in the auditorium. Stunned, the two friends turned around and saw none other than their friends among the current New Directions members, the New Directions alumni, and Mr. Schuester standing in the audience seats clapping and cheering. The only two people related to the glee club who weren't in the unexpected audience were Zack and Charlotte.
"That's what I'm talking about Daniel!" Finn shouted with pride. "I knew you could do it!"
"Yay Diana!" Yelled Rachel with an equally large sense of pride. "You go girl!"
The other audience members, likewise, cheered their happiness at what had just happened.
Still getting over his surprise, Daniel turned towards Diana, pointed at the audience, and then said, "I swear! I had no idea they were there!"
Diana, who had been far more startled by the surprise, tried her best to get her breath back.
Before long, all the members of the hidden audience had gotten onto the stage and joined the flabbergasted couple. At the same time as the audience members gathered around Daniel and Diana, the lights on the stage came on and revealed the band members clapping and cheering as well. Diana gaped at the sight of them. "So that's who was playing the instrumental music during Daniel's performance," she thought to herself.
When everyone had stopped clapping and cheering, or had finally gotten over their shock in the case of Diana and Daniel, they all stood around smiling.
"I knew you could do it dude," said Finn with the pride and happiness in Daniel obvious from his tone of voice and the light in his eyes as he patted Daniel heartily on the shoulder. "Well done."
Daniel panted in gratitude and just managed to breathlessly give thanks.
"I'm so proud of you Daniel," said Mr. Schuester. "You couldn't have been braver in taking the risk you took by following Finn's advice."
"Thanks," Daniel said to the teacher.
"Well on that note," said Rachel as she looked happily at Daniel and Diana. "Does this mean you are now officially going to be a couple?"
Diana and Daniel looked each other in the eyes, looked towards their friends, and opened their mouths as if to say something. But then they looked each other in the eyes again, and this time an unspoken agreement seemed to pass between them. They faced the assembled audience in front of them once again, this time with more confidence and pride, and responded in unison, "Definitely."
Mr. Schuester and the gleeks promptly whooped in joy.
"Yeah!" Calvin shouted. "Three cheers for Danana!"
"That's right! Hip, hip, hooray!" shouted Susan in agreement.
"Hip, hip, hooray," shouted everyone on the stage.
As one, they all started heartily laughing in pleasure.
Mr. Schuester then turned around to face the nearest side exit from the stage and said, "Alright everyone! I'm glad that this has all been taken care of now, and I definitely think we'll all agree that this shall count as Daniel fulfilling the week's assignment, but it's now time for us to get home! Coming tomorrow, its Valentine's Day everyone! And if we're all able, we're going to celebrate with a Valentine's Day party at Breadstix tomorrow night! And even better, you are all free to bring a date!"
The gleeks, both alumni and current students, cheered euphorically before they all started following their teacher. Diana and Daniel were at the very back, and they both placed an arm on each other's shoulders as they walked together for the first time as an official romantic couple. As they did so, the two good friends couldn't help but feel a sense of victory at the momentous achievement they had finally made. Now, Charlotte would never have even the slightest chance of getting her hooks into Daniel, no matter how hard she tried in the future. "Zack's going to be so proud," Daniel thought to himself with a smile. He then turned his head to look at Diana, and thought to himself, "Wow, I really couldn't have chosen a more beautiful girl to be my girlfriend; boy I hope we'll marry someday in the future. I love her so much."
Meanwhile, Calvin and Susan looked each other in the eyes with happy smirks. "It's about time they became a couple," Susan thought to herself as she thought of how long she'd watched her best friend torturing herself over her feelings for Daniel since Freshman year.
Calvin, meanwhile, chuckled silently to himself. "Thank God they've finally told each other how they feel. Honestly, the romantic tension between them was so obvious that a rock could have seen it."
However, as the joyous crowd of gleeks left the auditorium, little did they know that none other than Charlotte Thornton herself was standing at the auditorium entrance at the rear seat end of the room. She had been having a very flirtatious and seductive chat with Zack before she had heard the sound of musical instruments playing from deeper within the school along with the faint sound of someone singing. Upon hearing this, despite Zack's protestations that there was nothing going on and his desperate pleas for her to stay with him where they were, Charlotte had rushed over to the area where she was hearing the noise coming from, and had arrived at the doorway to the auditorium just in time to see Daniel and Diana finish their kiss.
Upon catching sight of her long coveted object of affections and her much hated rival for his love kissing each other on the stage, she'd been so stunned by the sight of the earthshaking victory Diana had now claimed against her that she had just stood in the doorway to the auditorium in shock as she watched. By the time she had finally gotten her voice back, the hidden audience had revealed itself and applauded. Now, as the last members of the massive group of celebrating gleeks left the auditorium, she glared venomously at the now empty auditorium with her face set in a snarl of white hot rage.
As she continued to stare at the empty auditorium, her fists clenched tightly, her blue eyes hardened to the point that they could have been firing razor sharp icicles at the back wall of the stage, and her teeth barred in a nightmarishly menacing snarl, she found herself making a low angry bestial growling noise that slowly increased in volume and speed to the point that it eventually transformed into an inarticulate ear-splitting primal roar of raw wild fury.
When her animalistic shriek of fury finally ended, she heard footsteps come to a stop behind her, and she turned her head to look behind her, her face still blazing with rage, and saw none other than Zack standing right behind her with his hand extended towards her in a placatory gesture of surrender and his face conveying a look of sheer terror mixed with guilt.
"You," Charlotte hissed in a hag-like voice that she could barely recognize as her own.
"Charlotte," Zack said hastily. "I can explain!"
"You knew about this!" Charlotte yelled. "You knew that he would do this! You only dated me to distract me long enough for him to get himself into a relationship with that wart-faced salamander!"
"Charlotte, please, I get it, you're right, you got me, but I can explain!"
With an angry shriek, Charlotte punched Zack in the face, sending the black boy stumbling backward and crashing into some nearby lockers. He slumped to the ground, completely out cold. Growling in rage, Charlotte stormed down the hall towards the parking lot, beyond furious at how Daniel was now out of her reach. "I am going to make things right," she snarled angrily to herself in her mind. "Just you wait and see."
And there you have it everybody! I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) I have to admit that I really enjoyed this scene long before I even wrote it (if you get what I mean). Well on that matter, hooray! Daniel and Diana are finally a couple! :) (I hope I left enough time between the birth of Martaway and the birth of Danana to satisfy you Cookie05). Boy Charlotte is pissed! I have a feeling that you guys will be in for quite a show in future chapters when it comes to her :) Anyway, please read and review!
Coming up next: Valentine's Day has finally come, and love is definitely in the air. However, despite all this, Charlotte is not above once again taking matters of sinking her hooks into Daniel solely into her own hands. Fortunately for all of us, her attempts result in her very painfully getting put into her place. And I should probably that this happens to her twice :) Here's to hoping that you will be looking forward to the next update after you read this. Anyway, I should probably go ahead and tell you that now that I've got this seven chapter major arc appropriately closed up and posted on this website, you will now have to wait until this coming Thursday at the earliest for my next update. But don't worry, you will still get your updates in the future :) Especially as long as there are both chapters left to post, and you guys keep on reviewing this story. :)