Warning: Character Death (car accident).

I Hope You Dance

Previously in More Than Just A Footnote…New Directions won Nationals, Carmen Tibideaux recognised the awesome talent that is Rachel and Kurt and they both got into NYADA, Mercedes signed on as a back-up singer with a label in NYC and Quinn headed to NYU to study drama and Brittany as the world's foremost expert in Santana Lopez got her a cheerleading scholarship at the same university. But then Kurt got a strange phonecall from his Dad and tragedy struck and everything shifted from where it was supposed to be…

Sam closed his locker and sighed, this was supposed to be his senior year, the year of triumph, the climax to everything that had been his high school career. But last year had been his hold onto sixteen year, this year he was living with his aunt instead of the Hummel-Hudsons – he had originally been going to live with them again but Burt said that it would be too much for Carole so instead he had to commute to school from his aunt's, still it was better than starting a new school. To add insult to injury his girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend, was diva-ing it up in New York. He and Mercedes had decided to be just friends this year, though if he was honest he didn't really know how he felt about that. He felt like last year had been his triumph year, and this year was just the epilogue, it was tinged with that bitter taste that the tragedy of losing someone important in your life left in your mouth, that robotic feeling you get when you get up for school like everything is the same and you realise that so much of it is. That isolation that traps you when you feel in your heart like no one can be feeling as hard as you but in your head you know they are.

Ever since the moment when his Mom had come into his room that summer to tell him that Burt had called Sam had been dreading starting his senior year, wherever that would be. He had been sitting, playing computer games and wondering how fun summer really would be with his parents and siblings. 'Sammy,' his Mom had said, and he had looked up straight away, she only ever called him that when something was very wrong, 'Burt called, something's happened honey,' she had sat down on his bed and tapped the space beside her and he had walked over in a dream.

'Who?' he had whispered, as she had put an arm around him.

'Finn and Noah were in a car accident, when they were driving to LA,' she told him.

'Are they gonna be ok?' he had asked, because his teenage mind had not even calculated the possibility of the rest of the news.

'Noah's fine,' the part of Sam's brain that was still functioning had found it funny to hear his friend being called by his first name, 'But Finn died at the scene,' that was all she had said and then she had held him tight, for what had seemed like the longest time, but hadn't been long enough.

Breaking from his thoughts Sam looked up to see a guy he'd been hoping to run into this morning, 'Blaine,' He said with an almost genuine smile.

'Hey,' the shorter guy replied, returning Sam's smile, even though he thought it probably had to be fake, 'How was home?' he asked, as if a question like that could cover everything he wanted to say to Sam that morning, but then again he didn't have a clue what he wanted to say to Sam that morning.

'It was good to be with family, I missed my little brother and sister you know.'

'That's cool, Kurt says they're super cute.'

'They are, well I think they are, you should meet them when they come visit.'

'I'd like that,' Blaine smiled again, maybe this year could have some brighter spots in it, after a summer spent with Kurt and the girls he'd forgotten how well he and Sam could get on. They had got off to a bit of a rough start but after that they'd found they had a lot in common.

'Umm how is Kurt?' Sam asked unsure.

'Umm, he's ok, it's tough for him and Rachel, being out in New York after well, after everything.'

'Yeah,' Sam paused.

'Are you umm, are you ok?' Blaine asked, trying to make up for his pathetic summer question. Before it had happened Sam had already gone to spend the summer with his family, he came back for the funeral and stayed with Mercedes but then he had gone back again to spend the rest of the summer in Kentucky so Blaine had never really had a chance to talk to him about it and now in the school corridor he didn't really know where to begin. But he knew it must have been hard on him, he had been living with them during Finn and Kurt's senior year after all, and Blaine knew all three of them had become close, almost like brothers.

'Yeah, I mean, I miss him, it's weird being here, not that he would have been here, but it's where he was, and umm, did Kurt tell you about me and-' he asked, muttering, Sam wasn't exactly eloquent with speaking about his feelings.

'Yeah he did, sorry I didn't know if I should say anything.' Blaine told him.

'It's ok, it's better to just be friends, we didn't do overly well at the long distance thing before,' Sam sighed and decided he really didn't want to talk about it and regretted bringing it up, 'Shall we go look if anyone's signed up for glee?' he said to change the subject, he wasn't surprised Kurt had told Blaine, neither he or Mercedes had asked him to keep it a secret after all and he was pleased to know it was out in the open, he didn't really want to have to start telling people. When they walked up to the board they were only slightly surprised to find no names where it said: New Directions: No auditions required, there were pages of sign-ups for Coach Sylvester's Cheerios, there were even two names where it said: Superhero appreciation Club.

'Seriously, superhero appreciation club?' A voice said, Sam turned around to see a muscular, black sophomore who he was pretty sure was partly responsible for him losing his spot on the football team last year. Obviously the major problem had been that Sam wasn't there for try-outs but he reckoned if Liam hadn't been so good Coach Beiste might have given the spot to Sam, he had only been a freshman after all. Liam was also a bit of an idiot, well a lot of an idiot, he liked to lead around a pack of guys in his year and generally cause trouble, he'd been through a lot of girls and Sam had just never really liked him.

'Shut up Liam,' Sam said and wrote his name down underneath Liam's on the football team try-out sheet as if to make a point. He offered the pen to Blaine but he shook his head, though he did seem to be considering the superhero club.

'There's nothing up with appreciating Superheroes,' said a voice behind them, they turned around to see that Artie had joined them, 'Come on guys, we'll be late for practice, you seen Joe?' Sam was pleased to discover that Artie's coping method also involved trying to think about everyday things, but then again he had found the problem with that was the pain of the moment of realisation when it actually worked.

Tina opened her locker and looked a little sadly at the photo she had in there of last year's New Directions with the trophy, so much had changed since that moment. Underneath she stuck a picture of her and Mike from their last day together before he left for Chicago, she smiled a little, at least some things could stay the same. 'Hey, new Rachel,' Britt called to her across the corridor, 'We have to go, practice!'

'Don't call me that,' Tina moaned, she might be the female lead elect but there had actually been no votes and she didn't really think she was going to be a Rachel-style lead, but then again Britt's attitude was another thing that was reassuringly the same.

'But you are, everyone knows it,' Britt walked over behind her, 'Santana looks good in that picture,' she said looking at the photo of New Directions.

Tina didn't really know how to respond to that, she had never really been friends with Brittany before the summer, but they – her and Mike – had hung out a lot with Kurt and Blaine and Britt and Santana. 'Let's go,' she smiled. The two girls walked off to Glee Club arm in arm, they were meeting in the choir room for the first time that year.

When they arrived Blaine, Sam and Artie were already sitting down, and Sugar and Maria, this girl who used to be in the Troubletones, were there too. Sugar hadn't been around that much in the summer, her Dad had taken her on some crazy holiday with his new wife, according to the rumours they had been just about everywhere in the world but Tina didn't know whether to believe that. Tina was pleased to see Maria, she had a beautiful voice and was one of the best dancers in the Troubletones, but she wasn't surprised no one else had come, without Santana they really weren't likely to bring in Cheerios. They went over and hugged the three boys in greeting and then went and sat with the other two girls. Joe arrived not long after and came over and greeted the girls before going to sit with the guys. Mr Schuester slipped in then, 'Sorry I'm late guys,' he paused and looked at the mass of empty seats around the room, 'No new voices then?'

'Just Maria, but we know her from Troubletones,' Tina volunteered.

'None of the other girls joining us?' Will asked, disappointed.

'I think they're busy with cheerleading,' she muttered, embarrassed.

'Ok,' he said, he had thought long and hard about how to start this first Glee club meeting of the year, he didn't want what had happened at the start of the summer to be hanging over the club all year, but Principal Figgins had announced that a tree would be planted in Finn's memory on school grounds that morning in assembly, and they did need to talk about the talent show that was being planned as a memorial and to raise money for extra-curricular activities at the school.

Tina however spoke before he could, maybe it was natural that it was her, she was the female lead elect, and while she had known Finn, the loss for her was perhaps slightly less painful than it was for Sam or Artie or even Blaine who felt it not as his own loss but as a loss through Kurt which came combined with that helpless feeling you get when someone you love is hurting. She raised her hand, 'Mr Schue, I know we're going to talk about the talent show, but first I'd like to sing something.'

'Of course, take the floor Tina,' he gestured to her. She stood up and sang:

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

Blaine watched her and in a lot of ways he knew she was singing for Mike, but today there was more than just that in her head, she was singing for all of them, for all of them who loved someone who wasn't there, who hoped that somehow life could go on and people could just dance. And then Brittany stood up and joined her, he imagined she was mostly thinking of Santana who would be heading to NYU in a few days:

I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin' might mean takin' chances, but they're worth takin'
Lovin' might be a mistake, but it's worth makin'
Don't let some Hellbent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to sellin' out, reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance
I hope you dance
-Time is a real and constant motion always rolling us along

The rest of the club echoed the last line as Tina and Brittany sang. Sam gulped, time had rolled them all to somewhere that was disturbingly far away from and disturbingly close to where they wanted to be this year. So often it seemed like something had gone wrong with time and last year was only yesterday and then sometimes it felt like it was so much more than a few months ago.

I hope you dance
I hope you dance
-Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder, where those years have gone?

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

Dance
-Time is a real and constant motion always rolling us along-
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
-Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder, where those years have gone?

Brittany and Tina finished there and the others clapped, Tina was relieved that they clapped, that they had appreciated her song choice, because she had wondered if perhaps it was too hopeful a note to start this year on. Mr Schuester found himself blinking at that line, where had all those years that he should have had gone? Suddenly he felt even more keenly the responsibility he had, the responsibility to the people in this room to respect their grief but to support them to make this year a year that they wouldn't look back on and regret how they spent it.

Brittany watched as Santana climbed into the car with her Mom, she kept trying to tell herself she was nothing but happy for Santana, she had helped her get this scholarship after all, when Santana hadn't known where to go with her life. But Santana had always been there, almost as long as she could remember, from the moment they first met in middle school to only moments ago when they had been kissing goodbye on her doorstep and now that they were girlfriends everything between them seemed perfect and yet it wasn't, because Santana was going and Brittany was staying. 'I hope you dance,' she whispered as the car drove away.

A/N:

Song used: I hope you dance – Lee Ann Womack