Author's Note: I took the liberty of combining the glee club underclassmen of both seasons 5 and 6 into one giant club, minus Kitty, since she was in Providence. Will is their director. Yes, isn't that an improvement? (Except for the whole leaving out Kitty part, sorry) Also, Dalton didn't burn down, or whatever that was. You're welcome.
This is my last chapter set in 2014, and then I'll have an epilogue for you that just might look familiar. Enjoy!
Chicago! No, Artie and Tina weren't going to NYC for another musical. He'd reminded her that they'd promised — well, okay, he'd promised — to go see Mike Chang's spring showcase at the Joffrey.
As it turned out, however, they were getting a two-fer (as in, two-for-one). McKinley would be competing at Nationals in Chicago that same weekend! Once the rest of the New Directions alumni got word of this, several of them made plans to show up for Nationals. Artie made sure everyone knew that, if they showed up a day early, they could go support Mike as well.
Matt Rutherford, who still kept in touch with "the Changster," as he called him, made it to Chicago on Friday to watch Mike's show, along with Sam, Blaine, Kurt, Mercedes, and — quite unexpectedly — Rachel Berry. Lauren and Kitty also made the trip with Artie and Tina, rounding out the rest of the group.
And this was the moment in which Artie and Tina went public. Most fittingly... at Mike's show. No, they didn't make out in the front row. It was more subtle than that. Instead, they'd merely placed their clasped hands atop the table at the restaurant that they were saving for their friends. They'd all made plans to split a real Chicago deep-dish style pizza before the show. Tina had tucked her head on Artie's shoulder, as they rest of the group arrived.
"About time," said Mercedes, as she also walked in, hand in hand with Sam.
"Could say the same about you two," Artie added, with a smug jerk of his head. Tina just grinned, having rarely seen this cocky and proud side of Artie before. And she was responsible for it.
"Tina and Artie," Kitty said, in a sing-song voice, as she sat on the other side of Artie, waiting for the others to take their seats at the table. "Publicly, shockingly, a thing." She opened her menu. "Can we order now? We need to hurry if we're going to make it."
Fourty-five minutes later, they'd split the check for the pizza and were on their way to the theatre, just a block away. Mike had reserved them excellent seats on the row with the accessible space for Artie, next to Tina's seat.
The showcase was all ballet, a variety of performances, with Mike and Noelle's being towards the end, according to the program. But the rest of the show wasn't at all boring. Tina loved watching the dancers, and she was a little jealous that it had been so long since she'd danced on a stage. She'd have to follow Artie's advice for herself this summer, once she had just a tiny bit (not much) more time on her hands, and join a dance class again.
Tina was stunned by Mike and Noelle's dancing. He truly had grown as a dancer. Back in high school, Mike had dabbled in ballet but, since it hadn't been his primary form of dance, he hadn't yet perfected his craft. Now he and Noelle moved on stage as one person, each one anticipating the others' moves. Especially impressive were the lifts they performed, which showed absolutely every outline of Mike's muscle. Noelle's lean body created clean lines in the air.
Tina liked stealing glances at Artie during the show. He was absolutely mesmerized, his eyes never leaving the stage. When the showcase ended, Artie clapped loudly and yelled out Mike's name, to make up for not being able to participate in the standing ovation with the rest of the crowd. She never detected a shred of jealously in Artie, over the fact that he couldn't have done that, despite once dreaming of being a dancer himself.
They were all waiting by the stage door later, when Mike and Noelle finally came out to greet the crowd. Rachel had handed her a huge bouquet of roses, a very unexpected gesture from someone who was usually the recipient, not the giver.
"Mike, that was amazing," Artie said, as Tina hugged both Mike and Noelle. "You were good in high school, man, but that? I hope someone important saw that."
"Someone did," he said, casting them all a meaningful look. Tina took ahold of Artie's hand, to which Mike gave them both a quizzical expression. As they followed with laughter and nodding, a huge smile spread across his face.
"About time!" Mike was laughing now. "Okay, I have to tell you, I was a little confused when we all came to see Rachel, and I found out you two were going to the same school but not dating. Like... what?"
"We know," said Kitty and Lauren, in perfect unison.
"Well, we fixed that now," Tina said, smiling down at Artie and giving his hand a squeeze. She was proud to be his. She always would be.
Nationals in Chicago was an amazing experience, something Tina envied. They'd been to New York, L.A., but the Windy City was a refreshing change of pace. The Briar Street Theatre, home to the Blue Man Group, would be the backdrop for Nationals. And, because the theatre was known for launching their show, the Blue Man Group would also be serving as the judges, with some small performances in between groups to break up the show for the audience.
"I'm not sure I could have performed for little blue faces looking back at me," Blaine said to Kurt. "Certainly not when I was with the Warblers and had to be so serious all the time."
"Why so serious?" Kurt sang, in a perfect impression of Blaine in Raise Your Glass, as everyone who remembered that performance, especially Lauren Zizes, dissolved into laughter.
"If they gave all the solos to Marley, I'm not going to be able to make it through the whole thing," Kitty muttered, so quietly that only Tina, who was seated beside her, heard. She sighed. "Sorry, I'm being grumpy. I just can't believe I missed this year. I should be on that stage with them."
"You will be," Tina said. "You did a good thing, being there for your dad, and I know you don't regret helping out with Nana. Next year, you'll be on the stage, wherever Nationals is held, and we'll all be there to support you."
The New Directions were slated to perform right smack dab in the middle of the set, the last performance before intermission. Rachel was busy explaining to everyone why that placement was ideal. "It gives the judges time to really meditate on their performance for awhile!"
"Yeah, or pick it apart," Artie countered. "Dammit, I'm so nervous, I feel like it's me on that stage!"
"Hey! I just noticed something, look who's coming on right before the New Directions," Blaine said, indicating his program, causing everyone else to check theirs, too.
"The Warblers are at Nationals!" Kurt exclaimed. "I heard they got moved out of New Directions' sectionals during redistricting. Amazing! I'm gonna be excited if either of them wins."
Tina studied the picture of the group. This show program was fancier than most. Rather than a paper thing that just listed the names of the groups and every member, this one had glossy pages with color pictures of the groups. Something about the Warblers caught Tina's eye, causing her to smile, but she decided to let Artie see it when they took the stage.
A couple hours later, she got to enjoy his reaction.
"Whaaaat?" Artie was grinning, when he spotted someone seated on stage, two feet lower than the rest of the group, wearing the traditional navy and red Warblers uniform while smoothly navigating a wheelchair to the beat.
"I wonder if you had anything to do with that," Kitty said, leaning across Tina to say this to Artie, who grinned proudly back at her.
"Wheelchair Warbler!" Artie looked like he would have jumped out of his seat, if he could have. "I'm so here for the Wheelchair Warbler!"
"I don't think that's ever happened in Warbler history," Blaine remarked, also grinning down the row at Artie. "It was long overdue."
After the Warblers' performance that was, in Tina's opinion, so much more interesting, due to the Wheelchair Warbler, it was time for the New Directions to perform.
Tina looked at their color picture in the program. She'd already studied each name earlier, although many of them were unfamiliar. The group included Marley, Jake, Ryder, and Unique, plus several newbies. She'd never met Jane, Roderick, Mason, Madison, Alistair, or Spencer. There was also this little kid on the team, Myron. Tina was fairly surprised to see Dottie Kazatori, the girl who'd idolized Tina during her senior year, had joined as the twelfth member.
As the lights dimmed, stagehands rolled two synthesizers on wheels to the middle of the stage. When the lights came up, Mason and Madison McCarthy were sharing the center stage spotlight with the rest of their team still waiting in the wings. They played the opening chords in perfect unison as the team filed in from either side, filling in the risers behind the keyboard. A soloist danced down the aisle, through the audience.
We're talking awayI don't know what
I'm to say I'll say it anyway
Today's another day to find you
Shying away
I'll be coming for your love, okay?
The perfect voice for this solo belonged to Ryder Lynn. As the first verse ended and the chorus began, Marley ran in from the wings and met him, front and center, for a dance, while the team all sang:
Take on me (take on me)Take me on (take on me)
I'll be gone
In a day or two
The group transitioned seamlessly from this upbeat number to a more serious, slow song, featuring powerhouse vocalist Roderick Meeks. He sang a soulful rendition of Take Me To Church with the rest of the club backing him up.
"Every song begins with the word 'take,'" Artie suddenly commented, indicating the program, as the club moved into position for the final number.
In Take a Bow, Marley and Jake acted out a little romantic scene in one corner of the stage, while Jane Hayward brought down the house with soul and emotion, the rest of the club providing the perfect backing vocals. Tina was fairly sure that Unique, having been passed up for this one, for a younger classmate, had gotten the "Tina treatment" here.
Overall, the numbers were amazing and the theme that wove the three songs together made it all the more creative. The former members of the New Directions all led the crowd in a standing ovation, save for Artie, of course, who made up for it by cheering extra loudly.
Nationals was going to take place over two days. On Sunday, more groups would be competing. The former members of the New Directions all left at the intermission, since they wouldn't be able to find out the results that day anyhow.
They did manage to text Will Schuester, however, and he found the time to get away from the team to say hello to the alumni. Ryder, Marley, Jake, and Unique all came out from backstage, too, to meet up with their former teammates.
"We just wanted to let you guys know how proud we were of you there,"said Mercedes, as Rachel stepped up with yet another bouquet of flowers, this time for Mr. Schue.
"It means so much for you all to come," Will told them, accepting the flowers and hugging Rachel, then Mercedes, and then the rest of them, one by one. He paused when he got to Mike. "And thank you for inviting me to your showcase last night, Mike. It was amazing to see you doing what you do best. I wanted to come say hello afterwards, but I had to get back to the hotel and check on the glee kids. You know... teens... hotel rooms."
"Oh, we know!" Lauren replied, giggling. A lot of inappropriate stuff had happened during those questionably supervised trips to New York and L.A.
"Speaking of which, I've got to get back to them," Will said. He addressed Marley, Jake, Ryder, and Unique. "You four, don't stay long. We've got to get back to the hotel soon."
"Kitty, we miss you," Marley was saying, as she hugged the blonde, Unique joining in. "I'm so glad you're coming back for next year. We need you back here."
Kitty smiled. "Thanks, Marley," she said. "Coming from you, that means a lot."
"We can't do Spice Girls without you," Unique added, then looked at Tina. "Dottie wants to play Scary Spice because you did. She still talks about you all the time. It's always well, Tina would have done this and WWTCCD - What would Tina Cohen-Chang Do?"
"It's... nice to be remembered," Tina said, awkwardly. She, too, hugged Marley and Unique. They weren't quite the same as the originals, but they had been a good team. And, from the looks of it, this next batch of newbies had continued the tradition.
Later, Tina and Artie had a hotel room to themselves. They couldn't stay with anyone who lived in the city, so they'd had to splurge for a room. Mike Chang just had a dorm at the Joffrey, not that they would have stayed with him anyway.
"So, what did you think about going public with our stuff?" Artie asked, as he waited for Tina to finish brushing her teeth in the adjacent bathroom, already settled onto the bed and waiting on her.
"I agree with everyone's reaction," she said, spitting and rinsing her mouth. She poked her head around the corner and grinned at the sight of him waiting on her. "I think it was about time."
"I think everyone could use a little more Tartie in their lives," he quipped.
Tina made her way across the room, clad in her silky, sexy nightgown that she'd bought for just an occasion such as this, and straddled him playfully. "I think we're more... Artina."
"Look at us," he said. "Already putting the other person first. That's the sign of a healthy relationship."
"Here's to always having somebody amazing to roll with." She giggled and began kissing his neck.
"And, as we know, no one rolls better than me."