CHAPTER 22
"Mr. Schuester sucks." Kurt said, storming into the choir room where the auditioning performers were sitting during the break. "He said that I need to pick a less iconic Broadway song. I make my living singing iconic Broadway songs."
"I think the winner of 4 show choir championships from when he was a student might be able to give us all some valuable insight."
"Easy for you to say. He favourites you to death. Hell, I'm surprised he hasn't bought you a throne and crown yet."
"Hey! I'm just the best singer. Don't use the fact that you think Mr. Schue likes me as an excuse for my inevitable win. He's just gonna vote for whoever does best."
"That would be me." Santana chimed in. "You guys can fight over who's gonna come in second all you want, because I kicked that song square in the balls. I'm so gonna win this thing."
"You're crazy, Santana. I've got this in the bag." Mercedes said.
"Are you kidding, Cedes? It's mine and you know it." Kurt said. The four of them then turned to Emily and Finn, who were watching from the back of the room.
"What?" Emily asked. The four Glee club veterans rolled their eyes.
"Well? Aren't you guys going to say anything to back yourselves up?" Mercedes asked. Finn shrugged.
"Honestly, I don't really care about trash talking you guys. If I get the solo, I get the solo. If I don't, I don't." Emily said. Everyone then turned to Finn. He raised an eyebrow.
"Don't look at me! Unlike you guys, I actually have a life outside of Glee club. My song literally took less than an hour for me to put together last night."
Before anyone could say anything else, Mr. Schue walked into the room and they were brought back to the auditorium for Finn and Emily's audition.
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"OK, Emily, you're up next. What are you singing today?" Mr. Schue asked.
"Um… I'm going to be singing one of my favourite songs - Rule the World by Take That, but my own version of it." She replied. Mr. Schue smiled.
"OK, go ahead."
You light, the skies up above me
A star, so bright you blind me
Don't close your eyes
Don't fade away
Don't fade away
Yeah you and me we can ride on a star
If you stay with me girl, we can rule the world
Yeah you and me we can light up the sky
If you stay by my side, we can rule the world.
If walls break down, I will comfort you
If angels cry, oh I'll be there for you
You've saved my soul
Don't leave me now
Don't leave me now
Yeah you and me we can ride on a star
If you stay with me girl, we can rule the world
Yeah you and me we can light up the sky
If you stay by my side, we can rule the world.
All the stars are coming out tonight
They're lighting up the sky tonight
For you
For you
All the stars are coming out tonight
They're lighting up the sky tonight
For you
For you,
Yeah you and me we can ride on a star
If you stay with me girl, we can rule the world
Yeah you and me we can light up the sky
If you stay by my side, we can rule the world.
All the stars are coming out tonight
They're lighting up the sky tonight
For you
For you
All the stars are coming out tonight
They're lighting up the sky tonight
For you
For you
[repeat]
To hear the actual song, click:
watch?v=8XSn3oJIWqM&ab_channel=ChrisB
Or search… 'Rule the World Ella Henderson'
At the end of the song, everyone cheered and clapped. As much as they all wanted the solo, nobody could deny that she was a level higher than anyone else. Throughout the song, her eyes kept drifting to the tall, brunette guy at the corner of the room. Over the past couple of weeks, ever since rehab to be honest, she had started to develop romantic feelings towards Finn. He was so kind and sweet and caring towards her and was her best friend by a long way. They spent so much together that it was almost inevitable that she was going to start having feelings for him. However, she could never tell him. She knew better than anyone how tough his life had been and she couldn't risk losing him as a friend by stupidly revealing her feelings and them being unrequited.
Ironically, Finn was feeling the exact same way. So close yet so far.
"Emily…" Mr. Schue started and then paused. "That was brilliant. It was unique, it was creative. It was exactly what I was looking for in this solo. Well done."
Emily beamed and took her place back in the audience. She had pretty much cemented her place in the final two and had shocked the whole Glee club.
"OK, last but not least, Finn. What have you got for us?"
Finn stood up and walked to the stage.
"Um… I didn't really have the time to make my own cover of a song, so I decided to just write my own song. It was just about an hour's work so it's not too great."
"Well, let me be the judge of that. What's the song called?"
Finn thought for a moment.
"Waves. The song is called Waves."
"Isn't that already a Dean Lewis song?" Mercedes called out from her place in the audience. Finn shrugged.
"Whatever. This is my own song." Finn said. He took a deep breath. The song meant so much to him. More than anyone could possibly know. He started gently plucking the strings of his electric guitar…
My face above the water
My feet can't touch the ground,
Touch the ground, and it feels like
I can see the sands on the horizon
Every time you are not around
I'm slowly drifting away (drifting away)
Wave after wave, wave after wave
I'm slowly drifting (drifting away)
And it feels like I'm drowning
Pulling against the stream
Pulling against the stream
I wish I could make it easy
Easy to love me, love me
But still I reach
To find a way
I'm stuck here in between
I'm looking for the right words to say
I'm slowly drifting (drifting away)
Wave after wave, wave after wave
I'm slowly drifting (drifting away)
And it feels like I'm drowning
Pulling against the stream
Pulling against the stream
To hear the actual song, click:
watch?v=0a5WyAjL1MM
Or search… 'Waves Mr. Probz'
The song was heart-wrenching, even though none of them knew what it was about. The pain and sorrow in Finn's voice was unmatchable by anyone in the Glee club. Hell, probably anyone in the whole show choir competition. Finn had been through more in the past year than many go through in a lifetime.
"Finn… that was…" Mr. Schue was struggling to find words to describe that performance. "So emotional. It was gorgeous. Did you seriously write that yourself?"
Finn nodded.
"Yeah, it didn't take too long to write either. It's still pretty rough around the edges."
"Um… no, it wasn't." Mr. Schue said. "It was amazing as it was. The emotion and the pain you put into your voice… it's unique."
"Garbage! This whole thing is rigged!" Rachel cried. "You're just going to give the two final spots to the new kids! I get including the group, Mr. Schue. Trust me I do. But this is Regionals. This is the big leagues! We can't have amateurs running around screwing it up for us!"
"Hold on, Rachel. Like I said before, I might be making the call on the two finalists, but you all will be voting on who YOU want singing in Regionals. I make the call here."
"Well, then, make it." Mercedes demanded.
"Look, out of respect to you all, I'm going to sleep on it tonight. I will let you all know by tomorrow." Mr. Schue decided. "Great job, everyone."
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"What do you think he was singing about?" Mercedes asked. The next day, the whole Glee club - minus Finn and Emily - were sitting in the choir room, waiting for Mr. Schue to arrive so he could announce the two finalists for the solo. Although they hated to admit it, Rachel and Kurt knew, at the bottom of their hearts, that they were pretty much out of the running and it would ultimately come down to Mercedes, Santana, Finn or Emily.
"I don't know." Artie replied. "But how much do we really know about Finn anyways?"
Everyone nodded.
"He likes cars?" Puck suggested. Everyone chuckled and rolled their eyes.
"Yeah, exactly. He's always been kind of a question mark, huh?" Mercedes remarked.
"Maybe the song was about Quinn?" Tina suggested.
"How so?" Mike asked his girlfriend.
"I mean think about the lyrics. 'I wish I could make it easy. Easy to love me, love me'. What else could that be about?" Tina pointed out. Rachel shook her head.
"No. He's talking about drifting away and drowning. That can't be about Quinn. That's gotta be more personal." She remarked.
"Maybe it's not necessarily about him not being over Quinn, but it's about the whole baby paternity situation in general." Santana suggested. "I think we all kind of brushed everything under the rug for Quinn's benefit. No offense Q. It's just it's pretty hard to be mad at a pregnant teenager whose life is unraveling."
"Gee, thanks Santana." Quinn replied, rolling her eyes.
"Look, I can guarantee you guys the song is not about Quinn, okay?" A voice said from the entrance of the choir room. Everyone turned to the doorway, where Emily and Finn were walking through at that moment.
"Finally! Are you guys done making out under the bleachers?" Puck asked. Finn and Emily looked at each other in disgust, which was only to mask their looks of longing.
"What, NO! We weren't making out!" Emily cried. .
"It was a joke. Chill out. Finn isn't man enough to do something like that." Puck replied. Finn raised an eyebrow.
"Man enough to kick your ass." He threatened, jokingly. Puck didn't say anything more to that end as he knew Finn was right: Puck wouldn't stand a chance in a fight.
"So…" Mercedes asked Finn after a few moments of silence.
"Huh?" Finn responded, confused.
"What was the song about?! We're dying to know!" Mercedes exclaimed. Finn shook his head.
"Sorry, guys. Some secrets need to stay secret. But trust me, it's not about a girl. You have my word on that. It's way deeper than that. As Puck so astutely pointed out, I'm not really one for romance anyways."
At that moment, Mr. Schue bounded into the room.
"Hey, guys! How's it going, today?" He asked.
"Good." They all replied.
"Who are the two finalists?" Kurt demanded. Mr. Schue laughed.
"Getting straight down to business. I like it." He joked. "So, I was replaying all of the performances in my head last night, and trust me when I say this… it was a VERY hard decision. You all sang fabulously. My gut tells me one thing, my brain tells me another, and my heart tells me something different. But I decided to go with my heart."
"Oh, great! Berry got the solo again!" Santana spat. Rachel leapt to her feet.
"Mr. Schue, thank you so much! I won't let you down!"
"Hold on, Rachel!" Mr. Schue said, holding up a hand. "I'm sorry to say that you did not get one of the two finalist spots. Performing another ballad at the end of this week, the two finalists are… Emily and Finn!"
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"So what was the song about?" Emily asked. Her and Finn were hanging out in Emily's house. Her parents were but they were still allowed to sit in the bedroom without her parents getting worried or over-protective. They had met Finn several times before and although both rooted for the two to get together, they knew that Finn was like a brother to Emily, and he was practically a son to them.
Finn sighed.
"Um… can I trust you?" Finn asked. Emily raised an eyebrow.
"You know, the fact that you have to ask is kind of insulting." She replied. Finn chuckled.
"You're right. I trust you as much as my family so I might as well tell you. You can't tell anyone in the New Directions, agreed?"
"Agreed. Is everything okay?" She asked, gently placing a hand on his. Finn took a deep breath and shook his head.
"No. Everything's not okay. You know how I sorta have an… alcohol problem. First, after my crash. Then when I was transferred to Lima. Then after the whole Quinn's baby situation."
Emily nodded.
"Yeah, but you're sober now, right?"
"I was. 30 days. And I was doing great until a week ago." He murmured, quietly. "Me and my racing buddy, Josh, were in a bar after training. I had ordered water and he had ordered a vodka. Somehow, the bartender messed up whose drink was whose and…"
"You took a sip?" She asked. Finn nodded in confirmation.
"Yeah, I did. And every since, I've been feeling this feeling. Like I'm being pulled down to the depths of hell, and I'm fighting to stay out. Like I'm drowning, and I'm being pulled to the bottom of the ocean. I'm losing the fight. I'm not strong enough. And soon, I'm going to snap again, and I don't think my family are going to be strong enough to pull me back out."
Emily was speechless. She was honestly lost for words. She wasn't expecting something so deep. When she finally regained her voice, she shook her head.
"No. You're not going to slip away. This time's different." She said decisively.
"How are you so sure?" Finn asked.
"Because this time you've got me at your side and I'm not going to let you. You're my best friend in the whole world. I can't lose you, Finn."
Then, almost simultaneously, they both leaned in and kissed…