A/N: Back after a long break. Yes, my updates will be slower, but I intend to keep them coming. To the person who asked when we'll see Matt again... patience, my friend. He might be at the doctor having that spider extracted from his ear. Who knows, really...

Lauren almost talked herself out of going three different times. Finally, because it was Topgolf with a group and not something lame like the Lima Bean, she decided she'd give up her backup plan of crashing Madison and Roderick's date at the house and show up. Artie, Tina, Mike, and whoever else showed up wouldn't be all that bad. She hadn't ever had particularly strong feelings about anyone in Glee club, aside from Santana (psycho bitch), Rachel Berry (attention whore), Puckerman (a huge disappointment), and Lucy (the actual worst). Mostly, she maintained a casual indifference to all of them, which made it easy to bail when she got sick of figuring out what kind of bolero jacket to buy to match their latest costume.

But she'd be casually late. Couldn't look too eager to hang out with a bunch of ex-show choir nerds who'd always taken the entire thing too seriously.

Like tonight, for example.

"Mr. Schue asked me to choreograph something for Nationals, and I'm planning on it, but I won't be around to teach them," Mike was explaining, as the other four listened intently. Besides Artie and Tina, Blaine and Sam had also come along. They'd just finished the first game and had stopped to eat the food that had just arrived.

Tina, who clearly didn't mind being the only girl most of the time and hadn't exactly look thrilled over the prospect of including Lauren in the group that night, spoke up next.

"Maybe an instructional video?" she suggested. "If we visit on the same weekend or something, maybe I could help you film something. You know, since I'm sure a lot of the steps will have guy-girl partners..."

The other Asian was pretty obviously still in love with Mike, but she did a good job of making it look like she just enjoyed being "one of the guys." Lauren, who never expected to share much common ground with the longest running female member of the glee club, related to that feeling of settling for just hanging out with the guy you liked, rather than actually doing things that most couples did while dating. Things like holding hands, making out in the halls, and so on.

"That's one idea," Mike said, kindly, as it looked like he had something else up his sleeve. "But another is recruiting someone around here to help out."

"Flattered but I can't demonstrate the steps," Artie cut in. "So I'm afraid I'm a little limited there."

A smile playing on his lips, Mike nodded. "No, I know, Artie, though I have no doubt you have all the other skills required and then some." Artie looked pleased with this compliment, and Mike continued. "But actually, I was thinking about Matt Rutherford."

The ones who knew about Lauren and Matt — namely, Tina, Artie, and Mike — all looked at her then as she pretended to be more interested in the chicken salad she was eating. When she dared to look up, though, Mike was still eyeing her.

"Yeah, I'm sure he'd do a good job," she muttered.

"Who's that?" Blaine asked.

"Oh, Matt and Mike were the original football players that Finn recruited, along with Puck, to join the glee club back when we were sophomores and freshmen," Tina filled him in. "But Matt transferred after our first year. Sam took his place."

"He didn't transfer, he dropped out."

Lauren didn't know why she said it. It wasn't necessary to say it. But was still pretty hurt by all the lies. So it just slipped out, and when it did, the five pairs of eyes were trained on her and she actually felt herself blush. Not a common occurrence, but it did happen. Typically unbothered Mike now looked downright pissed.

"It was actually a pretty noble thing that he did." Mike was right to defend his friend, and Lauren couldn't meet his eyes. "Yeah, he messed up by getting someone pregnant. But he talked the girl out of getting an abortion, promised to raise the baby himself, kept that promise and has been taking care of his daughter ever since."

"Whoa." Tina, who was out of the loop concerning Matt and Lauren, raised her eyebrows. "No one would have expected the guy who never said a word to have a story like that."

"He could have just told me from the start," Lauren argued, looking to Artie for support. Artie gave a noncommittal shrug. "I wouldn't have reacted badly. He's still the most gorgeous man I've ever seen, plus he's... he's great in every other way, too. So none of that, the daughter or dropping out, would have been a dealbreaker if he'd just come clean."

Tina continued to look confused, so Mike finally filled her in. "Lauren and Matt met in a community college class they're taking," he explained. "But Matt didn't tell her about his daughter until recently."

"First, he said he had a four-year-old half sister," Lauren added, jerking her head in Mike's direction quickly enough to make him recoil a bit. "Just another unnecessary lie and I know you and Artie think I'm overreacting, but given that I've already been the rebound girl for the baby daddy, and we know how that turned out, I don't really think my reaction is that uncalled for!"

With that, Lauren rose to her feet and headed off to the ladies' room, where only one of them would be able to follow her. And, sure enough, Queen T had something to say about that, so she was right on her heels.

Lauren stopped in front of the sink and turned to face Tina just as the restroom door swung shut behind them. "WHAT NOW?"

Lauren's roar was loud enough to scare the only person in the restroom out of there. The stall door opened and shut as a lady hurriedly slipped out without stopping to wash her hands. One hoped she had some hand sanitizer in her purse or something.

Tina looked at her feet. "I just wanted to say I know how you feel," she said. "I tried to flirt with Blaine, even though I knew he was gay. I kissed Sam, even though I knew he just wanted to be friends. And I'm still desperately in love with Mike, even though he lives in Chicago and has a million beautiful girls at that prestigious dance school of his who would gladly give him everything I could and more."

Lauren narrowed her eyes. How exactly had the other girl managed to make this all about her and why did Lauren now have the urge to ask her about these hopeless conundrums? No wonder I quit that stupid club.

"But... that isn't the point." Tina seemed to arrive at this conclusion on her own, and Lauren was glad for that. "The point is... you're right. Lying isn't justified, no matter how gorgeous the guy is. And you don't deserve to be treated like a second-class citizen."

Lauren looked at her feet. She didn't have anything to say to that, other than to nod in agreement. No one would know it, because she didn't let people know it, but she did feel like a second-class citizen. And every time someone stuck her in the back row in glee club or gave her a bolero jacket to match the costume all the girls were wearing, that was exactly the message she received. You're not good enough. You're not pretty enough. Hide in the back.

"Come back and let's just drop the conversation about Matt, okay?" Tina offered. "It's none of their business. But, if you ever want to talk... I think maybe you have my number?"

"I don't," said Lauren. "But I'll get it from Artie. I've gotten to know him a little better lately. He's always working out at the gym where I work."

Tina nodded. "Artie's a good guy to have around," she said. "Listen... I regret not getting to know you better in high school. I mean, other than the Too Young to Be Bitter club..."

At this, both girls laughed.

"You know," Tina went on. "Brown accepts a lot of transfer students. More than most Ivy Leagues. And I'm sure the fact that you were at Harvard before would help. So, what I'm saying is, if you come and you need a roommate, well, I need a new one."

Lauren was actually really pleased by this, though she couldn't look too eager, so she merely smirked. "I'll remember that," she said. "You and I could start a new chapter of the club at Brown. I'm sure there are plenty of other chicks there who are too young to be bitter."

"You okay, Lauren?" Roderick slipped those enormous headphones of his off as she returned home later that evening. She'd noticed he kept them at home now, never bringing them to school, never shutting people out as he had done before glee club and Madison McCarthy. At least one of them was making positive changes.

Lauren sat down next to him on the sofa. "I want to call Matt up and forgive him," she said. "I do. But I figured out tonight why I just can't. Because it reminds me too much of how I felt with Puck. How I felt like he just wanted to tie himself to someone he could safely assume he wasn't going to impregnate anytime soon. I was fun, sure, but I wasn't real."

Roderick's eyes were wide, and for good reason. She'd never talked to him like that. Because, until very recently, they didn't have that relationship. And, even if they had, until very recently, she wouldn't have considered him her equal in matters of the heart.

"Then... the first guy you need to forgive isn't Matt," said Roderick, in all his wisdom. "It's Puck."