Synopsis: Santana and Brody butt heads when Quinn invites Santana to live with her for a while; Emilina confides in Stephanie about her predicament, but everything comes to light when the school and Emilina's parents find out the truth; Marley copes with the recent change to the family dynamic when Puck abruptly takes a spiritual road trip following the death of his father; Rachel and Jenny audition for a Broadway musical and aim to stick together, but when the director informs Brody that he only wants one of them for the lead role, the other questions whether to take the role of a lifetime; Kat returns for the Spring semester with a new haircut and attitude which leads to a falling out between Kat and her classmates.
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee but I wish I did. I'm sorry if I continue to post sporadically. I am trying to juggle real life with my desire to finish this story. I definitely want to finish this story because I'm determined not to leave it unfinished. Also the whole reason I wrote this story in the first place was so Finn's story could be finished somewhere. So hopefully I get my second wind and finish writing the rest of the story for that sole purpose. For those that have been exceptionally patient, thank you so much. And without further ado, here is the next episode of this story. I hope you all enjoy and I hope to update very soon!
Over the last week, Finn had to admit that he had felt extremely bad over accidentally being the reason that Puck had disappeared without a trace. Marley had barely spoken to him over the first couple of days, and then she started using small sentences when communicating which was an improvement in his eyes. Still, Rachel had insisted that they'd help Marley in anyway possible, so that morning both Rachel and Finn found themselves on a train to Manhattan to go to Marley's house.
"Don't you think that we're showing up a little too early or something?" Finn pondered as Rachel glanced at him from her phone. "I mean, what if she's sleeping or something?"
"She has two kids, Finn. I'm sure she's up right now." Rachel reminded him. "Besides, she can use all the help she can get with them, especially with their dad gone and all."
"I didn't mean for this to happen, Rachel." Finn sighed. "I mean, I was just trying to help Puck. I don't know what I said or did to make him just up and leave like that."
"We may never know why." Rachel honestly told him. "But at least we can be there for Marley now. Whether she wants you to be or not, she's still your sister."
"I know." Finn sighed. "I just wish she would stop being mad at me. What I did wasn't intentional." Rachel heard their stop on the intercom as she got up from her seat, all while motioning for Finn to follow.
"Trust me, I know that it wasn't intentional." Rachel said. "But he left, so now we have to clean up whatever mess Puck left for her."
"I just hope she's doing better." Finn softly said. "I don't want her being upset."
"I know she's upset, but she kind of does have a right to be." Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "Marley and Puck were together for almost a decade. So it's understandable she'd still be angry since he left."
"This just doesn't make any sense though," Finn walked off the train as Rachel followed suit. "Why would Puck just leave? There's something he's not telling us or...something he's hiding."
"I don't know, but we can't obsess over what Puck did right now." Rachel emphasized. "Right now, we have to give Marley our undivided attention, because she's clearly hurt right now."
"Yeah," Finn slowly walked up the stairs to the exit. "Let's just hope that Marley's doing better today than she was all week. She's...beginning to scare me."
As soon as Rachel and Finn reached Marley's apartment, they were surprised when Sebastian had immediately opened the door without Rachel having to knock. She was almost certain that Sebastian had been standing there, waiting for someone that they knew to appear.
"Sebastian?" Rachel innocently blinked as Sebastian let out a deep breath.
"Shhh, Marley is in there." Sebastian hissed all while Finn and Rachel turned to each other.
"We know she's in there." Finn said. "This is her house."
"No, you don't get it." Sebastian sighed. "Marley is in there...and she's happy."
"Marley's happy?" Rachel asked as she and Finn widened their eyes in shock. "But she was just miserable a few days ago. What could have possibly changed?"
"I don't know." Sebastian shrugged his shoulders. "But she is happy and she's singing, and it's all freaking me out."
"I need to see this for myself." Finn went towards the door and entered the apartment, and standing in the kitchen while making breakfast was none other than Marley. Finn observed the look on her face and realized Marley was actually smiling, which was something out of the ordinary, especially since her husband had went AWOL on her. "Marley?" Marley looked up from the pan and gave a warm smile, which was something Finn wasn't expecting.
"Finn, hey! How are you?" Marley beamed while walking from behind the counter and giving her brother a hug.
"I'm...I'm good." Finn tried to mask the shock he was currently feeling. "I think the question should be how are you?"
"I'm great!" Marley waved her hand dismissively. "I was just making some breakfast. Would any of you want some?"
"Um, as nice as that would be Marley, we just wanted to come and see if you were okay." Rachel entered the kitchen after hearing Marley greet Finn. "You are doing well, right?"
"Yes, I'm doing fantastic!" Marley exclaimed. "Well if you're not going to have breakfast, would you mind taking Charlotte and Jaxon to school for me? I know it's on the way to your audition today and I was thrilled when you initially offered."
"Of course, Marley." Rachel smiled. "Anything that I can do to help you." As Rachel spoke, Charlotte and Jaxon exited the bedroom, all while giving Rachel a confused look.
"Charlotte, Jaxon, Aunt Rachel is going to take you to school today. Doesn't that sound like fun?" Marley asked.
"Of course it will be fun." Rachel bent down and ruffled Jaxon's hair, but Jaxon simply shrugged away from Rachel and looked to the ground. Sebastian walked over to Rachel and tapped her shoulder lightly, noticing Rachel had turned her attention to him.
"Charlotte and Jaxon have been pretty withdrawn since Puck left, so I would just be careful if I were you." Sebastian softly muttered.
"Right, got it." Rachel said, directing her attention to the kids. "Come on, let's go to school!"
"But first, give your mommy a kiss." Finn motioned towards Marley, but he was surprised when Marley quickly shook her head.
"Oh, no...they don't have to." Marley said. "I'm trying not to push them into giving affection. They haven't been themselves."
"Isn't that why they kind of need you?" Finn questioned, which caused Rachel to clear her throat.
"Finn, I completely understand where Marley is coming from." Rachel said. "Come on, kids. Let's go to school." Charlotte and Jaxon followed Rachel out of the house, which gave Finn his cue that he should follow Rachel's lead.
"I should go. I have to meet Kurt and Burt." Finn said. "Are you going to be fine?"
"Yep, I'll be fine." Marley shrugged her shoulders. "I'm heading to the school later. The Glee Club can't win Regionals if they don't rehearse."
"I do want to thank you again for doing this for me." Finn said. However, all Marley did was give a sarcastic smile, turning around and going towards the stove. Finn could sense that Marley was still angry, but he decided not to push it. "I better go. I'll see you later." Finn turned on his heels and left the apartment, leaving just Marley and Sebastian there. Sebastian stuffed his hands in his pockets all while trying to think of the words to say.
"Marley…" Sebastian said which caught her attention. "Are you sure you're okay? Because, if my husband of seven years left with almost no trace, I'd be pretty angry."
"I'm fine." Marley cleared her throat as she turned to face Sebastian. "Really, I'm okay."
"You know, if this was anyone else, I would have believed them...but since this is you we're talking about, I'm not sure if I believe it." Sebastian raised an eyebrow.
"Are you calling me a liar?" Marley pondered, prompting Sebastian to walk toward her and give her a concerned expression.
"All I'm saying you're not being very honest with yourself." Sebastian countered. "It's okay for you to feel angry and betrayed. You don't have to mask it by trying to make breakfast for everyone."
"I'm great, Sebastian!" Marley sighed. "I'm fantastic. In fact, if Puck doesn't want to be with me anymore, it's his loss because I am a catch. I can have anyone I want. He was lucky that I gave him the time of day! Everything is great. My family will move on from this, and everything will go back to normal." As soon as Marley spoke, Jessica entered the kitchen to get a bowl of cereal, but as Marley took Jessica in, she realized there was something different about her. For one thing, her hair wasn't blonde. It was a mousy brown color. "Oh my gosh...Jessica, what did you do to your hair?" Jessica looked at Marley with interest while glancing down at the freshly new dyed color.
"I dyed my hair." Jessica stated the obvious. "Don't read into it."
"So, this is you trying something new?" Sebastian questioned. "This has nothing to do with Puck leaving?"
"Nope, nothing to do with Puck leaving." Jessica shrugged her shoulders. "Can I get back to my cereal now?"
"Ah...yes, you can." Marley nodded her head. Jessica grabbed the bowl of cereal and went back to her room, closing the door behind her. As soon as Sebastian was sure Jessica was out of earshot, he pointed towards the bedroom's direction and once again got Marley's undivided attention.
"So, how has Jessica been taking it?" Sebastian asked.
"She's fine." Marley said. "We are all fine. Anyway, I have to get ready. The Glee Club isn't going to teach itself."
"I just want to make sure that you're all taken care of." Sebastian said.
"I'm taken care of. You can go to work now." Marley motioned for Sebastian to go as he slowly nodded his head.
"Okay." Sebastian relented. As he started to make his way out the door, he accidentally bumped into a book that was on the table, causing the letters to fall to the floor. "What's this?"
"It's...letters that Puck wrote while he was gone." Marley crossed her arms. "I haven't had the chance to get back to him."
"You haven't had the chance, or you don't want to." Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Look, I know you're mad at him but ignoring him isn't going to help matters."
"Sebastian, last I checked, Puck was the one that left." Marley firmly stated. "He wanted to go find himself, so I'm letting him do that. If that means that I don't talk to him while he's going on some crazy cross country adventure then so be it."
"I'm not saying what he did was right." Sebastian cleared his throat. "But maybe, Puck is struggling a bit. His dad just died."
"Yeah, he had such a great dad." Marley scoffed. "His dad did nothing but beat the crap out of him and destroy his confidence."
"He's lost." Sebastian stated. "And I'm sure you of all people would have understood that."
"My issues with Christopher is vastly different than Puck's issues with his father and you know it." Marley immediately shook her head. She was frankly tired of hearing about Puck and decided the kids needed to get to school."Sebastian, can you please go? I have to get ready and you're going to be late for work." Sebastian studied the look on Marley's face before placing the letters on the desk, ultimately turning towards the door and making his way out.
"Call me if you need anything, okay?" Sebastian said before opening the door and leaving the apartment. As soon as Marley was sure Sebastian was gone, she walked over to the table and picked up the stack of envelopes. She wasn't sure what prompted Puck to do something so drastic, especially since she had been nothing but a good wife, but there was a huge part of her that didn't want to understand. There was so many times that she wanted to run away from her problems, but was forced to face them head on. She didn't get why Puck got to do the opposite of what he had preached to her all of these years. Still, she was worried about Puck's wellbeing, and she wondered where in the world he was. But she also realistically knew that if she kept clinging onto hope then she would ultimately end up disappointed.
{Marley stares at the envelopes before putting the book on top of them and grabbing her coat so she can head to NYADA}
[Finn Harmonic with Marley]
Over my head, over my head, over my head
Over my head, over my head, over my head
{Scene changes to Marley walking down the street and looking at couples as they walk by. Marley appears upset as she holds her coat closer to her}
[Marley]
There's only static on TV in this hotel room
Reminds me of all the things you think I don't understand
It seems like you and me, we keep losing connection
Whenever you talk to me, it doesn't make any sense
Don't know what you meant, it's always over my head
Yeah, over my head
Yeah, it's so
{Marley pauses and sees the Sam Ash that Puck used to work at when she first came to New York City and she sadly thinks of all the fun times they had while Puck had worked there}
[Marley with Finn Harmonic]
Over my head, over my head, over my head
Over my head, over my head, over my head
Is it too late, too far gone to fix this
Over my head, over my head, over my head
Over my head
Over my head
{Scene changes to Marley walking through NYADA and she stops when she looks at the lockers near the choir room, prompting her to walk over and stare at the locker Puck used to use when he was in Finn's Glee Club}
[Marley]
You take the simplest thing and always complicate it
Talking in circles, got me dizzy like a merry go round
It shouldn't be so hard to have a conversation
I'm sick of fighting with your ego, I wish you would admit
But I don't understand, it's always over my head
Yeah, over my head
Yeah, it's so
{Marley keeps walking as some of the members of Finn Harmonic stare at her from their lockers. They start following her one by one as Marley walks through the school}
[Marley with Finn Harmonic]
Over my head, over my head, over my head
Over my head, over my head, over my head
Is it too late, too far gone to fix this
Over my head, over my head, over my head
Over my head
Over my head
{Marley goes in the dance studio and walks past the ballerinas as they rehearse. They start spinning around Marley as she appears anxious and lost, almost as if she's unable to comprehend her new reality}
[Marley]
So tell me (Finn Harmonic: Tell me)
Tell me all the things that you are thinking (Finn Harmonic: Thinking)
Tell me all the things that you are missing (Finn Harmonic: Missing)
Don't want this to slip right through our hands
Don't want this to go
[Marley with Finn Harmonic]
Over my head, over my head, over my head
Over my head, over my head, over my head
Is it too late, too far gone to fix this
Over my head, over my head, over my head
{Marley tries to escape from the dancing circle of ballerinas but she has trouble doing so, indicating that she feels extremely stuck. Marley backs away for a moment and shakes her head angrily, but she trips as the song ends and lands on the floor}
Over my head, over my head, over my head
Over my head, over my head, over my head
Is it too late, too far gone to fix this
Over my head, over my head, over my head
[Marley]
Oh, over my head
Over my head
Oh, over my head
"Marley!" Marley realized that some of the members of the Glee Club ran into the room once they saw her fall, which caused Marley to compose herself.
"Marley, are you okay?" Melanie asked. Marley thought for a moment before clearing her throat, simply getting up from the floor and dusting herself off.
"I'm fine." Marley said, walking away from the rest of the Glee Club and going towards the choir room. They all considered helping Marley, but in the end they just decided to go to their classes. They just hoped that whatever was going on with Marley wasn't huge.
Stephanie sat in class as she skimmed through her book for an assignment, and the last thing she needed was a distraction. However, she was surprised when someone had sat down next to her, prompting her to look up and glance at the person with interest. The person that had sat down next to her was none other than Emilina, and that was a huge shocker to Stephanie. She wasn't sure what Emilina wanted with her, but she figured that it had to have been something huge.
"Hello." Emilina cordially said, causing Stephanie to close her book.
"Hi…?" Stephanie responded. Emilina looked at Stephanie up and down before clearing her throat.
"I like your hair." Emilina said. "What do you use to make it shiny?"
"Um...conditioner." Stephanie responded, folding her hands in the process. Emilina realized that she was beginning to sound silly, so she released a sigh and began to look dejected.
"This...is a little weird isn't it?" Emilina asked.
"A little bit." Stephanie agreed.
"It's just...there's something going on, and I don't know who else to talk about it with." Emilina whispered. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I need your advice."
"On what?" Stephanie pondered.
"Not here." Emilina got up from the table and pulled Stephanie with her out of the classroom. Once they were inside the bathroom, Stephanie raised an eyebrow while Emilina paced near the sinks.
"Emilina, what's going on? You're kind of scaring me." Stephanie said.
"Okay, so you know Jason, the lead singer of the Ransom Notes, the Glee Club that we decapitated at Sectionals?" Emilina wondered.
"I guess?" Stephanie innocently blinked.
"Well, Jason and I had sex while on our date and I know I shouldn't have dated him because we were on two totally different Glee Clubs, but I don't know what to do and…"
"Emilina, you're rambling." Stephanie said.
"Stephanie, I'm pregnant." Emilina blurted out. Once Emilina blurted it out, Stephanie widened her eyes and slightly stammered. She wasn't sure if she heard Emilina correctly, or if Emilina was certain.
"Seriously?" Stephanie asked. "How sure are you?"
"I took like 12 pregnancy tests and they're all the same." Emilina sighed. "If anyone finds out about this, then I'll be dead." Emilina sat down on the bathroom floor which gave Stephanie the idea to do so as well. Stephanie folded her hands in her lap, studying Emilina's emotionless face expression.
"What are you going to do with it?" Stephanie questioned. "Are you going to tell Jason, or…?"
"No, I can't tell Jason." Emilina firmly said. "And I can't tell the Glee Club or my parents. If the Glee Club finds out, I'll be hated even more, and if my parents find out they'll cut me off faster than you can say 'Prada'."
"Eventually everyone is going to know. You can't hide it forever. If everyone does find out...are you going to keep it?" Stephanie pondered. "The baby, I mean…"
"Are you kidding me?" Emilina scoffed. "I can't keep the baby. It would get in the way of everything, not to mention it complicate every single relationship I've ever had. No...keeping the baby is not an option."
"What about adoption?" Stephanie pried.
"Adoption?" Emilina shook her head quickly. "I'm not getting stretch marks. It wouldn't look good on me and if I want a career in Hollywood, I have to be vain especially about my body.." Stephanie knew what Emilina was hinting at, but just so she wouldn't offend, she knew she had to ask.
"Okay, so if you're not going to tell Jason or your parents...and if you don't plan on keeping it...then what do you plan on doing?"
"This would probably be the hardest decision I've ever had to make," Emilina took a deep breath as she glanced into the mirror. "But I'm not ready for a kid...and I'm not ready for nine months of it taking a toll on my body."
"So that means…" Stephanie didn't know if she could say the word. But luckily, Emilina had no issues with being blunt.
"Abortion, I know." Emilina said. "I made an appointment for the end of the week."
"Would you like me to go with you?" Stephanie asked as Emilina glanced back at her. "I know this is scary, but this shouldn't be something that you have to do on your own. You're not alone anymore."
"You...you would do that for me? Even after all the hell I put you through?" Emilina asked.
"Of course." Stephanie said. "I know we haven't seen eye to eye...but the truth is I admire your talent Emilina. And if this is something you want to do, then it's your choice and we should at least respect that. It is your body at the end of the day.." Emilina continued staring at Stephanie before giving her a warm smile and leaning her head on Stephanie's shoulder. "Everything is going to be okay. I promise." Emilina felt some comfort knowing that she wasn't alone, but deep down she wondered if everything was going to be as okay as Stephanie suggested. She couldn't risk things being so messed up, especially since there was so much that she could lose.
Boone walked towards his locker with his books in his hand while studying his Spring schedule. With Finn Harmonic recently winning Sectionals, and with all the extra classes Boone had to take, he wasn't sure how he was going to find time to rehearse for Regionals. He was beginning to feel like he was biting off more than he could chew. As he tried to grab the extra books in his locker, one of them fell out, and before he could grab it, he noticed Theodore walking along and staring at the book. Boone glanced at Theodore with interest while motioning for the floor, but Theodore simply shrugged his shoulders as if he couldn't help.
"You might want to get that." Theodore responded nonchalantly.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Boone sardonically replied.
"You're welcome, you know I love to be of assistance." Theodore smirked.
"I'm sure you'd be of better assistance if you actually picked my book up off the floor." Boone rolled his eyes while juggling one of the other books in his hand. Theodore shrugged his shoulders and picked the book up for Boone. As Boone went to get the book, Melanie had run around the corner towards his locker. Boone wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew that he was going to get an answer eventually.
"You guys are not going to believe this." Melanie said as Theodore and Boone glanced at each other.
"What?" Theodore wondered.
"It's Kat." Melanie responded. "I know that we were on break and everything, but Kat did something really weird that has me a little concerned."
"Do we want to know?" Boone questioned. As soon as Boone asked, he noticed Kat turning the corner, but after glancing at her he realized exactly what Melanie had meant. Kat looked as if she had completely reinvented herself over the school break, and Boone wasn't sure if he liked the direction she was heading. For starters, she wore what looked to be a leather jumpsuit, ala Grease, she had a tattoo of a human face on her arm, and her hair was bleached blonde. Boone wasn't sure why Kat was acting out now, but he had to admit he was concerned.
"Holy…" Theodore muttered as Kat walked up to them. "Did Kat get hotter?"
"Sup suckers?" Kat smirked as she walked up to Boone's locker and gave him a smirk. "Like the new look?"
"Uh…, Kat?" Melanie slowly pulled Kat to the side, motioning to her look. "I'm...a little surprised. You didn't send me or Courtney your wardrobe choices so we don't clash. This...is clashing."
"I decided to try something new." Kat simply said.
"With a leather catsuit that makes you look like a hooker, your hair parched from the bleaching and the tattoo of…who is that a tattoo of?" Melanie pondered.
"Ryan Reynolds." Kat responded. "Ryan Reynolds spoke deep within my soul while I was watching Deadpool 2. So I tattooed him on my body."
"Kat? What happened to you?" Melanie asked. "I...I don't recognize you. And it's not like we were going from break too long. I mean, it was only a couple weeks."
"I found myself over those last few weeks. This is who I am now." Kat simply stated. "No one said that you had to like it. Only I do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get to class. Peace." Kat walked past Boone, Theodore and Melanie while pulling out a cigarette. As Boone continued watching Kat walk down the hallway, he felt his books fall to the floor, which Theodore took notice.
"You dropped your books." Theodore gave Boone a pat on the shoulder before making his way towards his next class. Boone appeared stunned as Melanie solemnly stared at him, almost as if she was trying to find the words to say.
"I…, you might want to pick those up." Melanie pointed towards Boone's books as she walked past him. Boone continued to glance down at the books with interest before picking them up and releasing a sigh. He wasn't sure what was going on with Kat, but he sure as hell was going to find out.
It had been a few weeks since Quinn had allowed Santana to stay in their apartment, and while Quinn was enjoying the girl time between her and her friend, Brody on the other hand was beginning to feel cramped in his own apartment. On one hand, he thought having Santana her would be just the thing to get Quinn out of her fear bubble. On the other hand, it also seemed like Santana was doing anything and everything to annoy him. He was beginning to wonder when he was going to have his life back...but at this rate, it didn't seem possible. Brody thought that on that particular morning that he would be able to get a shower in before he had to go to his first day of work. However, as he made his way towards the bathroom, he realized Santana was already in there...and she was hogging up all the hot water.
"Santana, I need the bathroom!" Brody shouted as he pounded on the door. Unfortunately, Santana wasn't interested in Brody's wants, and Brody just heard Santana sing louder. He decided to pound on the door again, hoping that it would get Santana's attention. "Santana!"
"Brody, you can't bang on the door like that." Quinn came out of their bedroom while letting out a yawn. "People are going to complain."
"It's my first day of work, and Santana is in there hogging all of the hot water." Brody motioned towards the bathroom door. "I can't be late."
"Santana will be out soon." Quinn reassured him. "I promise."
"Just how long is Santana going to stay here?" Brody impatiently wondered. "It's been a few weeks."
"She's having a hard time right now and she needs our help to get back on her feet." Quinn softly said. "With everything that happened with Brittany and with her losing all sense of direction, she needs guidance right now. I know it's hard for you too but just bare with her here. Okay?" Brody released a tired sigh as Quinn gave a grin, turning around and making her way towards the kitchen. Brody heard the bathroom door open and faced Santana, a relieved expression going on his face now that Santana was done with the restroom.
"Thank god, now I can hop in there." Brody said.
"You could but you're out of hot water." Santana shrugged nonchalantly before making her way past Brody. Brody's eyes widened with shock before frustration took over. He couldn't even take a shower in his own house without something going wrong.
"Fine, I guess I can just shower at The Y." Brody grumbled as he went back to his room and packed some clothes for the day so he could shower at the gym.
A few hours later, Brody ran through the Beacon Theatre with a cup of coffee in his hand and a disheveled look on his face. After taking a quick shower at the gym, Brody realized he was running late, which caused him to join the New York City rat race as he made his way to work. Brody hoped no one was there to notice his lateness, but to his disdain, Shelby was sitting in the front row of the theatre, turning around and crossing her arms.
"You're late." Shelby simply said.
"I know, I'm sorry." Brody sighed. "I ran out of hot water in my house so I had to shower at the gym, and then there was a delay on the subway which really cut into my time and…"
"First rule about directing, you have to be on time. No one cares about what blip in the road you have on your way to work." Shelby firmly stated. "The theatre waits for no one. Don't be late again. Got it?" Brody quickly nodded his head as Shelby uncrossed her arms. "So...are you ready to see what you're working with?"
"Yeah." Brody quickly nodded his head. Shelby motioned for Brody to follow her as they made their way towards backstage. "So how many people came to audition?"
"More than a hundred." Shelby said. "Most of them are interested in background roles, but we need to cast the lead role of Lucy, the girl who's inspired by Billy Joel music to leave her farm and come to New York City."
"How many girls are up for the role?" Brody asked.
"10. It's up to you to pick the lead and the understudy from the 10 girls we have left." Shelby said. "You'll get to meet them now." Shelby stopped in front of one of the dressing rooms and opened the door, leaving Brody to peer inside. Brody instantly recognized two faces, something which extremely surprised him.
"Rachel? Jenny?" Brody blurted out. Rachel and Jenny turned their attention towards Brody as they gave him a wave, but Brody was incredibly confused.
"I've been working with Rachel, hoping that this audition will get her back on her feet." Shelby explained.
"And I decided that you only live once...plus I want to attempt to resurrect my off, off, off-Broadway career...aka college." Jenny added.
"Now, we don't want you to play favorites, and if there's someone more fit for the role, then we completely understand." Rachel said.
"However, we want to show you just what we're capable of." Jenny chimed in. "I think that you'll be rather impressed with us."
"I have no doubt about that." Brody lightly chuckled before he cleared his throat. "All right, you want to try to impress me? Everyone that's auditioning for Lucy, meet me on the stage. I have an exercise for you. " Brody didn't have to tell the ladies that were auditioning twice that they were needed on stage. Soon enough they all zoomed past him, hoping to make their way in order to impress him. As Brody finally reached the stage, he saw the ladies that were auditioning for Lucy stretching. That was when he knew it was time to bring out the big guns in order to weed the competition. "All right, the part of Lucy involves singing...but it's also about dancing too. I'm going to lead off and show you a dance, and you're going to follow me. If I tap you, you're out and you have to get off the stage. The final two girls will be chosen to play Lucy."
"Sounds fair." Jenny grinned as Rachel nodded her head.
"All right. Let's do this." Brody pressed a button on the radio as a song started to play. Rachel and Jenny glanced at Brody with intensity, knowing that it was finally time to show him what they were capable of.
{Brody shows a dance move as the girls all glance at him and try to copy the move. As he continues singing, he starts tapping more and more people out, which eventually leaves Rachel, Jenny and another girl when it reaches Rachel and Jenny's part of the song}
[Brody]
Rule number one, is that you gotta have fun
But baby when you're done, you gotta be the first to run
Rule number two, is don't get attached to
Somebody you could lose
So le-let me tell you
This is how to be a heartbreaker
Boys they like a little danger
We'll get him falling for a stranger, a player
Singing I l0-l0-l0ve you
How to be a heartbreaker
Boys they like a look of danger
We'll get him falling for a stranger, a player
Singing I lo-l0-love you
At least I think I do
Cause I l0-lo-love you
Rule number three, wear your heart on your cheek
But never on your sleeve unless you wanna taste defeat
Rule number four, gotta be looking pure
Kiss her goodbye at the door, and leave her wanting more, more
[Brody with Jenny and Rachel]
This is how to be a heartbreaker
Boys they like a little danger
We'll get him falling for a stranger, a player
Singing I l0-l0-l0ve you
How to be a heartbreaker
Boys they like a look of danger
We'll get him falling for a stranger, a player
Singing I lo-l0-love you
At least I think I do
Cause I l0-lo-love you
{Rachel and Jenny glance at the other girl as she looks intent on getting one of them knocked out so she can get the role, but Rachel and Jenny decide to step their game up so they can be the final two}
[Jenny]
Girls we do whatever it will take
Cause girls don't want, we don't want our hearts to break
[Rachel]
In two, so it's better to be fake
[Rachel and Jenny]
Can't risk losing in love again ba-abe
{Jenny, Rachel, Brody and the random girl dance intensly for the last chorus}
[Brody, Rachel and Jenny]
This is how to be a heartbreaker
Boys they like a little danger
We'll get him falling for a stranger, a player
Singing I l0-l0-l0ve you
How to be a heartbreaker
Boys they like a look of danger
We'll get him falling for a stranger, a player
Singing I lo-l0-love you
Cause I l0-lo-love you
{The girl finally trips as Brody taps her out and she angrily gets off the stage while Rachel and Jenny make a final pose}
[Rachel and Jenny]
At least I think I do
"Oh my god!" Jenny jumped up and down as Rachel squealed in return.
"We did it! We're the final two!" Rachel beamed as Brody chuckled.
"Ladies, it looks like we have our final two for Lucy." Brody pointed towards Rachel and Jenny who clapped their hands. "Thank you to everyone else who auditioned. You were all really, really great." While Brody was complimenting everyone else, the girls appeared angry, and eventually went off the stage. Brody glanced back at Rachel and Jenny while clapping his hands slightly, hoping to get their attention. "Good job ladies. Now, since you are the final two, we are going to have one last test as the audition before we decide who is going to play Lucy. You're going to read a few lines from the play tomorrow and from there, we'll pick the winner. Sound good?"
"Yeah, it sounds excellent." Jenny agreed as Rachel nodded her head.
"Don't worry. We're going to rehearse all night for this!" Rachel added.
"But first, this calls for a celebration mani-pedi." Jenny squealed.
"Oh, count me in." As soon as Rachel said the words, she and Jenny went off the stage and headed towards the exit of the auditorium. When the door closed, Brody released a sigh and sat down on the stage, but not before lying down and letting out a groan.
"Ugh! I am not as young as I used to be." Brody groaned. "I am definitely going to feel that tomorrow."
Marley sat in the choir room by herself as she looked down at the phone, debating whether she should call Puck with hopes that he would pick up the phone. She didn't know where he was, and she was worried about his wellbeing before anything else. As confused and upset as she was, she just wanted to make sure that he was okay. Marley eventually decided to press call and placed the phone to her ear, biting her lower lip and shaking her head slightly. What she didn't expect was for there to be a click on the other end.
"Hello?" Marley was glad to hear Puck's voice on the other end, but as happy as she was, she was also just as upset.
"Puck." Marley answered with a terse voice. "Where the hell are you?"
"North Carolina." Puck simply answered in return while releasing a sigh. "Marley, I know you're mad at me."
"Mad? Mad doesn't even begin to describe how I feel." Marley let out a tense breath. "How could you just...up and leave? How could you leave the kids? How could you leave me?"
"Did you not see the letter I left?" Puck wondered.
"Oh, I saw the letter." Marley furrowed her eyebrows. "Why do you think I am so damn mad? I understand that your father died, and I know that you're hurting...but you do not get to just up and go whenever you feel like! Charlotte and Jaxon deserve better...and you leaving them would make you just as bad as your father. Why are you in North Carolina?"
"It's the first stop on a road trip to finding myself." Puck answered. "Marley, I know you're mad and I know you don't understand right now, but this is something I need to do."
"Something you need to do?" Marley scoffed. "Taking a road trip out of nowhere is irresponsible! I...I don't even know what to say to you right now…"
"You have every right to be mad." Puck softly said. "And I don't blame you if you don't want to talk to me right now...but this was something I had to do for me, and if I had told you about it beforehand, then you would have stopped me and I wouldn't have gone through with it. You know that and I know that." Marley bit her lower lip as she realized Puck had a point.
"You're right." Marley slightly whispered. "I would have tried to stop you. If we were just married and didn't have kids, I wouldn't have cared that you went off to try to find yourself...but things are so much different now and you know it. Sometimes, it's...just not okay to be selfish. And you are all our kids have. So I am begging you to please come home. I can't do this without you." Marley heard slight breathing on the other end as Puck eventually released a sigh.
"I love you, Marley...but I have to do this for me right now." Puck firmly said. Marley felt tears stream down her cheeks while taking a deep breath. .
"Well, if that's what you have to do for you...then fine." Marley sniffled. "But just know that if the roles were reversed, and I was having a hard time with one of my family members dying, I would never in a million years abandon you or the kids...because you and the kids deserve better than that. I honestly thought I deserved better than that."
"I know." Puck softly said after a moment of silence. "I'm sorry, Marley."
"I really want to believe you are…" Marley bit her lower lip as she tried to fight back the tears. "But I don't think I can bring myself to believe you right now. The kids are going to come to Glee Club any moment and I don't want them to see me upset ...because if we're being honest...I feel broken right now."
"Marley," Puck started to say but Marley cleared her throat which got him to stop.
"I gotta go." Marley simply replied before hanging up the phone. She stared at the caller ID for a moment before realizing what had happened. She didn't know exactly what to feel at the moment. All she knew was that Puck left...and there was nothing Marley could do to fill that void. As Marley stared at the phone, she didn't notice Melanie enter the choir room, and all Melanie could think was that Marley looked brokenhearted.
"Marley?" Melanie spoke, causing Marley to glance up and eliminate any trace of sadness from her face. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm great." Marley nodded her head slowly before clearing her throat. "I should get back to organizing the sheet music."
"You know, if there was anything I learned...it's that it's okay to show that you're sad…" Melanie tried to help.
"Trust me, I'm well aware of how to deal with sadness." Marley slightly snapped. Once Marley realized she had snapped, her face became apologetic. "I'm sorry, Melanie. I didn't mean…"
"I know." Melanie understood. "I've read all about you throughout the years. You've been through more than anyone could possibly imagine. But just because you're trying to be happy now, it doesn't mean that you have to ignore your sad feelings. Trust me, it causes nothing but self destruction."
"I know better than to self-destruct." Marley took a deep breath. "You know...sometimes I could just be bad for once. Being good isn't really getting me anywhere and it's so frustrating!"
"I get it." Melanie said.
"No, you don't get it." Marley sighed. "My husband has a crisis because his father died, and he gets to drop everything and go to god knows where, leaving me alone with two kids. Meanwhile, I feel like I'm falling apart and I have to behave all the time because my kids are watching. I can't go on a sex bender or drink poisonous amounts of alcohol, because my kids are watching. It wouldn't look good because mommy can't fall apart."
"Then maybe it's time that you start focusing on you." Melanie said. "I mean, people change. No one expects us to be the same. And if your husband gets to fall apart, then you can too. Just make sure you surround yourself with people so that they pick you back up." Marley raised her eyebrow at Melanie's words before Melanie began pointing towards the door. "I better go. I have a dance class. But…, just know that it's okay not to be okay." Melanie turned around and walked out the door, leaving Marley in her thoughts. As Marley contemplated what to do next, she realized she needed some help. She needed some emotional support...even if it meant having to lower her guard completely.
Quinn sat in her office as she looked through the files on her desk, rhythmically tapping her pencil on the edge of the table in the process. She was asked to review a case for her colleagues, but she had trouble keeping her eyes on the page. There were a lot of things going on in her mind, and she didn't know how to sort through it all. She was able to distract herself out of her thoughts when there was a knock on the door, prompting Quinn to look up and spot Santana standing there with a quizzical look on her face.
"Oh, Santana. Come in." Quinn motioned for Santana to close the door behind her.
"Okay, I don't understand what I'm doing here." Santana said as the door locked and she went to take a seat across from Quinn's desk. "You don't seem to be in trouble, and I was already comfortable in the comfort of your home."
"You were busy driving Brody nuts." Quinn corrected. "Besides, wouldn't it be more fun for you to drive me crazy?"
"Well, not really considering I've been driving you crazy for the last 11 years." Santana smirked.
"Difference is, I can handle you driving me crazy. Brody can't." Quinn chuckled.
"So what am I supposed to do while you're working?" Santana pondered.
"You can staple these for me." Quinn handed Santana a stack of papers on the corner of her desk, prompting Santana to reach for the stapler on the other end. "I can trust you that you're not going to use it as a weapon, right?"
"Quinn, I'm 27-years-old. I think I can handle stapling papers." Santana rolled her eyes as she started helping Quinn with her work. Quinn found that it was a little too quiet since Santana was preoccupied, so she decided to start with some conversation.
"So, have you heard from Brittany?" Quinn wondered.
"I don't really want to talk about that." Santana said while keeping her eyes on the papers she was stapling.
"I mean, I haven't heard from her ever since we went to visit Lima." Quinn revealed. "Last I know she was getting married to someone else."
"Quinn, I really don't want to talk about this." Santana glanced up and let out an exasperated sigh.
"But maybe if you talk about it-," Quinn started to speak before Santana put the stapler down.
"If I talk about it, what? I'll get in touch with my feelings?" Santana scoffed. "The truth of the matter is, Brittany doesn't love me anymore. Is that what you want to hear, Quinn? Cause it's the cold, hard truth."
"Santana, that's not true." Quinn softly said. "Brittany still loves you very much."
"Yeah? Well she has a very funny way of showing it." Santana let out a small snarl.
"It hurts now, I know." Quinn soothingly spoke. "But in time, I'm sure you're going to find someone else."
"I don't want anyone else." Santana began to get impatient. "I want Brittany."
"Well Brittany...moved on." Quinn tried to keep her composure. "And it's time you do too. I know you have a lot of frustration because you keep taking it out on Brody. But Brody is not your punching bag, and you need to either rediscover yourself or find someone else."
"I get what you're saying, Quinn, I do," Santana said. "But Brittany and I had a ton of history. And I know that if you and Brody never met or got married, you would be in the same boat if it came to Puckerman, or even Finn. You loved them both…, because you had a ton of history."
"But Puck and Finn both moved on, Santana." Quinn pointed out. "They both got married and had children with other women, so I had to learn to move on. If I could, then so could you."
"And how the hell am I supposed to do that?" Santana wondered.
"I think that you need a ladies night." Quinn pointed a finger at her.
"A ladies night?" Santana immediately seemed skeptical. "No, no, no, no. I haven't really spoken to Rachel or Marley since we went to Lima,"
"I know, you called them 'fake ass bitches'." Quinn gave Santana a straight face. "I was there."
"I can't face them again…" Santana shook her head.
"But you can't ignore them forever." Quinn reasoned. "Look, I know that you're scared...but we have to start mending the fence between everyone. I know you can't bring yourself to talk to Finn...but Rachel has nothing to do with why you're so mad at Finn...so the least you can do is make amends with her."
"What if she doesn't want to hear from me?" Santana pondered. "What if she's busy?"
"I'll take care of her." Quinn assured her. "I'm sure Rachel could use a night out on the town. After all, Brody has her hard at work auditioning for the lead role in the musical she's in." Santana nodded her head but couldn't help but feel nervousness creep inside her. She knew that if she had talked to Rachel that things wouldn't have been okay. But still, there was a lingering set of hope that she would be able to work out all of their problems. She didn't want to continue going on like this and wondering what could have become of everyone's friendship.
"Mi, mi, mi, mi, mi, mi…" Rachel sang while staring at herself in the bathroom mirror as she tried to work on her scales. She was excited to have the opportunity for the starring role, but at the same time she wanted to do it fairly by Jenny. Rachel knew there was a possibility that Jenny was going to be better than her, but at the same time she was going to try her best. After all, New York was a dog-eat-dog world. Rachel was interrupted when she heard a knock on the bathroom door, prompting her to open it and notice Finn on the other end.
"Babe, I just put the kids to bed." Finn motioned towards the bedroom. "As much as I love to hear you sing, I kind of want the kids to stay asleep."
"Okay, I can hold off my practicing until the morning." Rachel caught Finn's drift. She grabbed her sheet music and went towards the living room, sitting down and putting the papers in a folder. "I'm surprised that you got them to sleep without me. Usually it's something we do together."
"I know, but I thought that I would do it for you." Finn smiled softly. "You've been practicing for the audition and I know I want you to get the role. Besides, I've been working on Burt's campaign a lot lately and I know you've been putting the kids to bed for me while I'm gone. Just think of this as my way of saying thank you."
"Well, you are sweet." Rachel beamed. "So how has the campaign went so far?"
"Well, Kurt and I have a lot of ideas." Finn appeared excited.
"Oh like what?" Rachel wondered. Finn's excited face slightly turned disappointed when Rachel realized that Finn's idea probably wasn't the best one."
"So I was thinking that when you come out to greet Russel Fabray during your debate, I was thinking that you can play maybe something from Pantera!" Finn said as he, Burt and Kurt sat at the breakfast table, trying to come up with ways to make Burt stand out as a candidate for the younger generation. "Or, maybe you can just have confetti come out. Kids like confetti."
"I didn't realize we were planning a rock star's birthday party." Kurt mumbled as Finn felt himself become discouraged.
"Kurt, Finn means well." Burt raised an eyebrow to Kurt before taking a deep breath. "Finn, they all sound like...great ideas...but maybe we should hold off on them. But I like that you have your thinking cap on."
"In other words, it means there's no way in hell it's happening." Kurt flatly told his brother. Finn noticed the unsure look on Burt's face and felt discouraged. Maybe the planning wasn't going so well.
"Yeah...so apparently I'm never getting that Pantera dream." Finn sighed.
"Well at least you're contributing." Rachel assured him. "But maybe Burt should focus more on the issues than trying to be flashy. Millennials aren't stupid."
"Yeah." Finn shrugged his shoulders. "I thought the Pantera thing was just another one of my crazy suggestions, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it wasn't just because of me. I was thinking about Puck at the same time." Rachel face softened at the mention of Puck, but Finn didn't seem to notice. "I royally screwed up. I just wanted Puck to find himself. I didn't want him to leave the state to do it."
"Well, think of it this way. It's like Puck's having a midlife crisis." Rachel sighed. "Plus, maybe this is the way he can cope with his dad dying. Sometimes we have to do outrageous things in order to feel heard. And sometimes we act out because we're so blinded by grief, and that we're not thinking clearly."
"Yeah, he surely wasn't thinking clearly there." Finn said. "Now Marley's mad at me. I don't know how much I can take of this. Every time I think I'm doing something right, I end up doing the wrong thing. Everyone is mad at me...and I'm beginning to really hate myself."
"No, you can't hate yourself, Finn." Rachel sighed.
"Well I do." Finn crossed his arms. "I'm just not good at helping other people anymore. I used to have this magic about it in High School...but that magic's gone."
"Finn…" Rachel softly muttered. Before she could continue sympathizing with her husband, there was a knock on the door, prompting the both of them to appear quizzical. "Someone knocking at this time of night?"
"Rachel, it's only 8:00 p.m." Finn smirked. Rachel got up from the sofa and made her way to the door, opening it and seeing Quinn standing there with a small smile on her face.
"Hi." Quinn stared at Rachel with a smile, only for Rachel to raise an eyebrow.
"Hi, Quinn." Rachel chuckled. "What are you doing?" Quinn was about to speak until Santana also appeared and crossed her arms with a smirk.
"Get out, loser. We're going drinking." Santana bluntly said. Rachel turned to Finn, noticing he was shrugging his shoulders in confusion before glancing back at Santana.
"Santana, I have two kids. I can't just drop everything and drink. We're not High School kids anymore." Rachel said.
"This is less about the drinking and more about Santana needing girl talk." Quinn said. "Please, Rachel. You're our last hope."
"I…" Rachel seemed skeptical, but Finn cleared his throat and motioned for Rachel to go.
"It's fine, Rachel." Finn assured her. "I'll stay with the kids."
"Well, look at you being chivalrous." Santana mocked. "By the way, how are the little turds anyway?"
"Santana, we discussed this. If you want Rachel's help, this is not the way to do it." Quinn reminded her.
"Right...I mean, how are the little angel turds?" Santana smirked.
"You want me to go out tonight to help Santana, when she's clearly being disrespectful about my children?" Rachel asked. "I don't know. I don't see why I should help someone that clearly doesn't value or respect me."
"Oh, did I forget to mention that we're going to Callbacks?" Quinn noticed the look on Rachel's face had changed, and that was when she knew she had Rachel hooked, lined and sinkered. "Yeah, we're going to Callbacks...and I'm sure you are dying to sing."
"You were trying to practice in the bathroom while the kids were sleeping." Finn chimed in. "I'm sure you can get a leg up on the competition if you had a little bit more practice." Rachel considered it for a few moments before slowly nodding her head, pointing at Quinn with determination.
"Fine, I will go with you to Callbacks." Rachel said. "Only because I want to sing."
"Excellent." Quinn grabbed Rachel's jacket off the nearby coat rack and diverted her attention to Finn. "We'll have her back before midnight."
"Okay, have fun." Finn chuckled while Rachel grabbed the jacket and followed Quinn and Santana out the door. As soon as the door closed, Finn turned on his heels and to go sit down, but he was surprised when he heard a knock on the door. "Rachel must have forgotten her keys." As Finn opened the door, he noticed it wasn't Rachel, but instead it was Emilina and Stephanie. "Emilina? What...what are you girls doing here? How did you get my address?"
"I need your help." Emilina said, causing Finn to raise an eyebrow with confusion. "Something happened with me and one of the rival Glee Club members…, and I'm in serious trouble." Finn noticed Emilina was on the verge of tears, and that was when he decided to let her in. Even though he had left Marley in charge of the Glee Club in his absence, they were still his kids, and he was going to do everything he could to make sure that they were okay.
"Okay, so I know that you're trying to get Santana back in everyone's good graces, but are you sure that this is a good idea? I mean, Santana said some horrible things to us in Lima." Rachel said as she and Quinn were at the bar in Callbacks. The entire time, Rachel had been apprehensive about helping Santana, especially since there was a lot of tension between her and Finn.
"I know that Santana said some god awful things, but she's hurt." Quinn stared at Rachel with a soften glance. "She really misses Brittany...and I'm sure if you were in her shoes, you would be just as hurt too."
"I mean, Brittany and I aren't best friends or anything…" Rachel started to say until Quinn raised an eyebrow.
"When I mentioned Brittany, I said imagine if Brittany was Finn." Quinn clarified.
"Ah, that makes more sense." Rachel snapped her fingers.
"Look, I know everyone is doing their own thing right now, but there's a lot of things that are left unspoken, and it really sucks that in moments like this, we can't depend on one another. I miss being able to talk to you and Santana and Brittany and Mercedes and Tina in the same room." Quinn revealed. "I miss Sam's goofy self and Artie's wit and Mike's dancing and Blaine's insane bowties and Kurt's fashion. I miss my family. And what really sucks is that all of them hate each other. If I can get Santana on the same page with at least you and Marley...then maybe everything will fall into place." Rachel stood in silence for a moment as she waited to find the words to say to Quinn. However, the door to the bar opened and they noticed Marley entering. However, Quinn and Rachel widened their eyes because the first thing they noticed was her hair. Marley's long blonde locks had been trimmed and she had bangs, which immediately caused Rachel and Quinn to ponder what was going on with her.
"Oh my…" Rachel walked towards the door as Quinn followed.
"Marley, what did you do with your hair?" Quinn asked.
"You cut it…" Rachel added.
"What's the big deal?" Marley shrugged her shoulders. "I cut my hair." Before Quinn and Rachel could answer, Santana walked up to them and took one glance at Marley, causing her eyebrows to raise with interest.
"What is up with the haircut?" Santana pondered. "And what happened with your kids?"
"My mom is watching them." Marley shrugged her shoulders. "And I can do whatever I want with my hair."
"I don't get why your mom is watching them." Santana shrugged her shoulders. "Shouldn't your husband be watching them at the moment?" Rachel and Quinn tried to stop Santana from asking the question, but as soon as Santana did, Marley's face transformed into anger. As she stared at Santana, she immediately scoffed and started to turn around.
"I shouldn't have come here." Marley sighed.
"Marley, she didn't mean it like that." Quinn started to explain.
"No, she meant it exactly as she said it!" Marley pointed at Santana while staring at Quinn. "While I'm busting my ass trying to help Santana get over her issues with Brittany, she is over here nitpicking and asking questions that she clearly knows the answers to! She knows that Puck decided to up and leave because his father died! And I'm supposed to just smile and nod at her, holding in what I'm feeling because it's what I would normally do?! No! I'm not going to do that! She's not the only one going on with stuff!"
"Marley's right, Santana. You're not the only one that is going through stuff." Rachel turned to Santana while raising an eyebrow. "We are so sorry that you're upset and heartbroken over Brittany leaving, but that doesn't mean that you get to be selfish. We came out here in the middle of the night trying to help. We all have things to do in the morning, but we came to help you because you're our friend. Scratch that, you're our family." Santana watched as Marley, Rachel and Quinn glanced at her, and she admitted that she had been horrible to her friends. Especially since they were all just trying to help her.
"You're right." Santana simply said which took Rachel and Quinn aback. "I have been in such an awful mood...and it's because Brittany is gone. She's moving on, she's marrying someone else and she's leaving me here...alone. I miss her so much that it hurts, but I also know that she's happy...and it's hard to be happy for her because she's happy without me." Santana felt tears come to her eyes while Marley slowly comprehended that Santana was coming to terms with her feelings. "I don't want to be that person that just can't be happy for other people. It kills me. And I've been holding in so much anger and resentment. I hate myself sometimes."
"You shouldn't hate yourself." Marley softly replied. "If anything, you should see this as a new beginning."
"How can it be a new beginning without Brittany?" Santana countered. "How am I supposed to continue going on everyday, while the love of my life is about to get married to someone else?"
"So things didn't work out with Brittany, so what?" Rachel sighed. "You are 27-years-old, Santana. You can get anyone that you want, and you have the rest of your life to figure it out. I do know that if Brittany's marriage doesn't work out and the universe wants you both together, it will happen. It's the least you can do for both herself and for you. Aren't I right?"
"I guess." Santana muttered. "I just wish that I could just move on as quickly as she did. It hurts, and it sucks."
"Yes, it does." Quinn agreed. "Trust me, when Finn, Puck and Sam all moved on, I was devastated. But I had to move on, even if it meant dating other people. Eventually I found Brody. But before I found Brody, I didn't take things seriously. It's okay to not want to take things seriously until you find the one that you're meant to be with."
"I mean I'm sure we all had some flings that we didn't take seriously," Rachel added.
"I took all of my relationships seriously," Marley squinted her eyes as Rachel pointed a finger at her.
"You only had like two boyfriends in your entire life," Rachel said.
"Yeah, you married the second one," Quinn added.
"And they were brothers," Rachel finished off the thought.
"So you're saying that it's okay for me to get out there," Santana raised an eyebrow. "Even if it means I don't take things seriously."
"Just don't come back pregnant," Rachel advised.
"That's not gonna be a problem," Santana assured her. "I'm not swinging that way ever again."
"Just remember that it's okay to miss Brittany, she's always going to be your first love," Quinn assured her. "Even though we don't get to be with our first loves, we remember them for the lessons they taught us. So just take everything you learned and...dive forward." Santana nodded her head while leaning her head on Quinn's shoulder, but while Quinn and Rachel were talking to Santana, Marley pursed her lips and couldn't help but realize that maybe she should have listened somewhat to their words. Maybe there was something she could have incorporated into their lesson regarding her current situation with Puck.
"You know, we need to commemorate this moment," Rachel grinned as Quinn, Santana and Marley stared at her. "We need to sing about it."
"We really don't have to," Santana smirked as Rachel shrugged her shoulders.
"Oh come on, Santana," Rachel got up from her chair and started making her way towards the stage. "You just don't come to Callbacks and not sing. It's like a staple."
"I mean you're not going to leave me alone about it, so fine, whatever," Santana put her hand up as Quinn smirked.
"It's a good thing you agreed because I know the perfect song we can sing," Quinn smiled as she turned towards the band and pointed a finger. "Hit it."
(The band starts playing the instrumental to Bloodline as Quinn grabs a microphone with a warm smile. Santana, Marley and Rachel stare at her as Quinn starts singing, garnering everyone's attention}
[Quinn]
Even though you're bad for me I know
You're the one that I'm thinking
Got me feeling so incredible
Would you mind maybe linking
(Santana grabs a microphone and starts singing along and Marley and Rachel follow suit and grab microphones. Everyone keeps their eyes on them as Santana continues the song}
[Santana]
Love me, love me, baby
Are you down? Can you let me know
Love me, thank you, leave me
Put it down, then it's time to go
Get it like you love me
But you don't, boy it's just for show
[Marley]
Take it or leave it, you gotta take it or leave it, like uh-uh-uh
[Santana and Quinn]
Don't want you in my bloodline (yuh)
Just wanna have a good time (yuh)
Ain't no need to apologize, no
But you gon' have to let this, this go
[Rachel and Marley]
Don't want you in my bloodline (yuh)
Not tryna make you all mine (yuh)
Ain't no need to apologize, no
But you gon' have to let this, this go, yeah
[Santana]
No we won't be talking the next day
I ain't got nothin (with Rachel: to say) (Quinn: Hell no)
I ain't looking for my one true love
Yeah, that ship sailed (with Rachel: away)
[Quinn]
Love me, love me, baby
(with Rachel: Are you down?) Can you let me know
Love me, thank you, leave me
(with Rachel: Put it down), then it's time to go
Get it like you love me
(with Rachel: But you don't), boy it's just for show
[Marley]
Take it or leave it, you gotta (with Rachel: take it or leave it, like uh-uh-uh)
[Santana and Quinn]
Don't want you in my bloodline (yuh)
Just wanna have a good time (yuh)
Ain't no need to apologize, no
But you gon' have to let this, this go
[Marley, Santana and Quinn]
Don't want you in my bloodline (yuh) (Rachel: Don't want you in my)
Not tryna make you all mine (yuh) (Rachel: Not tryna make you)
Ain't no need to apologize, no (Rachel: Ain't no need to)
But you gon' have to let (with Rachel: this, this go, yeah)
[Quinn]
Say, I know what you want, what you want from me
I know what you think, what you think you see (Marley: So what you think?)
I know what you're looking for but I'm complete
I know what you need but it won't be me
[Marley and Quinn]
I know what you want, what you want from me
I know what you think, what you think you see
I know what you're looking for but I'm complete
I know what you need but it won't be me
[Rachel]
But it won't be me
[Santana and Quinn]
Don't want you in my bloodline (yuh) (Rachel: Don't want you in my bloodline)
Just wanna have a good time (yuh) (Just tryna have a good time)
Ain't no need to apologize, (Rachel: No)
But you gon' have to let this, this go (Rachel: Yeah, yeah)
[Santana, Quinn, Marley and Rachel]
Don't want you in my bloodline (yuh)
Not tryna make you all mine (yuh)
Ain't no need to apologize, no
But you gon' have to let (with Rachel: this, this go, yeah)
While Rachel was out with some of the girls, Finn was currently listening to the situation Emilina was going through which led to her explaining everything that had happened up until that moment. Finn seemed sympathetic as Emilina was explaining her situation, and as soon as she finished, Finn couldn't help but sit back in his chair and take in all of the information.
"So let me get this straight, you're pregnant because you slept with the competition, and you're questioning your decision that you tried to make," Finn wondered.
"I tried to go to the clinic…, but I couldn't go through it," Emilina appeared nervous as she stared at Finn. "I saw all of these people going in there and coming out completely different. It was making me question if I was making the right decision, so I left. I can't raise this baby...but I can't go through with it. I need someone's help."
"You know it's hard for her to admit to someone's help," Stephanie added. "Finn, please help us."
"Um, okay, I'll try," Finn cleared his throat and folded his hands. "So, did you tell your parents about this? I mean, I'm sure that they'd have to know."
"I can't tell them," Emilina shook her head. "They'll disown me."
"They won't disown you," Finn assured her. "They're your parents. Sure, they'll be upset, but at the end of the day, they love you, and they're going to be there for you no matter what. I don't want you thinking that they're not going to love you because of this."
"You don't know my parents," Emilina sighed. "They're ruthless."
"Even the most ruthless parents always come back to their kids," Finn said. "My friend Quinn in high school was pregnant, and even though her parents kicked her out of the house and she had to live in Puck and then later Mercedes house, her mother came back to her. She loved her, and at that moment, in the middle of Sectionals, Quinn decided to have her baby."
"She gave birth in the middle of Sectionals?" Stephanie asked. "That seems inconvenient."
"The point is, Quinn's mother came back to her despite her mistake at 15. You're 19, your mother and father will understand and they're going to be there for you," Finn said. "You do have to tell them at some point. Preferably before you are obviously pregnant and end up having the child in the middle of Regionals."
"Oh no, that kid is going to have to wait until after Regionals, because I am not pulling a Quinn and giving birth when I shouldn't." Emilina confidently said. However, she wished that she was actually as confident as she appeared. She had to tell her parents sooner or later. Hopefully they were as understanding as Finn made them out to be.
The next morning, Brody sat at the breakfast table as Santana slowly walked in. However, Brody wasn't particularly in the mood for Santana's shenanigans this morning. He just wanted to have a peaceful morning before he ventured to work while having to break the news that they have chosen their leading lady.
"Santana, as much as I want to hear you sneer that I look like a raccoon because I didn't sleep well, or that if this doesn't work out I could make it as a secondhand porn star, I'm not in the mood for your teasing," Brody said. "I have a lot of women that are going to be upset with this person in particular getting the role."
"If you could stop talking for a minute, you would know that I am actually trying to apologize to you," Santana crossed her arms and sighed. "I have been really mean to you, and part of it is because you really do look like an Ambercrombie and Fitch model that never succeeded post High School, but part of it is also because I have issues. I'm upset with Brittany leaving me, and I'm also upset that I found out the hard way that she moved on with someone else. I learned now that it's okay for me to move on with my life, and if it means not having Brittany, then I just have to learn to be okay with it." Santana started making her way to the coffee machine, which caused Brody to innocently blink. He turned around in his seat before getting up and making his way to her, giving her a softened glance in the process.
"I know it must have been really hard for you to apologize," Brody said. "I appreciate it."
"I'm not trying to get mushy here," Santana put her hand up. "But you and Quinn were nice enough to let me stay here, so I figured it might have been right to make amends with those that i have possibly wronged. Considering all of my friends aren't even friends at this point. I just don't want to do all of this fighting anymore. It's tiring.. It's...sad. I constantly re-live Brittany breaking up with me, and that's the only thing that hurts more than all of us not being friends."
"It's tough, I'm sure," Brody agreed. "But, if it helps, sometimes things are just meant to be. And we have to let life take its course."
"I wish life would stop playing one gigantic practical joke on me," Santana admitted.
"Oh trust me, we all wish that." Brody admitted. "But if it's meant to be, it will be."
"Why does it sound like you're about to sing some corny song to me," Santana wondered.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," Brody chuckled. "The world may never know." Brody placed his fingers on his chin as he thought intently, all while Santana studied the look on his face.
"What?" Santana wondered.
"How would you like to come with me to work?" Brody suggested. "I could really use your help, and while here isn't the most appropriate place to let loose of our vocal cords since my neighbors will complain to the landlord, we can sing there. Besides, I think the song that I have in mind will actually be well suited for you."
"As long as it's not some lame boy band song, I'm in," Santana agreed. Brody grabbed his keys from the key hook and motioned for Santana to follow him, the two of them making their way to the theater where they were going to sing to their hearts content.
(Scene shifts to the theater as Brody starts playing the piano and Santana watches him from the seats. She recognizes the song and she can't help but smile as he continues to sing}
[Brody]
Baby lay on back and relax, kick your pretty feet up on my dash
No need to go nowhere fast, let's enjoy right here where we at
Who knows where this road is supposed to lead
We got nothing but time
As long as you're right here next to me, everything's gonna be all right
If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be
Baby just let it be
If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be
Baby just let it be
So, won't you ride with me, ride with me
See where this thing goes
If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be
Baby, if it's meant to me
{Brody motions to Santana to come on the stage with him as she gets up from her seat and sings as she makes her way to the stage}
[Santana]
I don't mean to be so uptight, but my heart's been hurt a couple times
By a couple guys who didn't treat me right
I ain't gonna lie, gonna lie
Cause I'm tired of the fake love, show me what you're made of
Boy make me believe
[Brody]
But hold up girl, don't you know you're beautiful
And it's easy to see
[Brody and Santana]
If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be
Baby just let it be
If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be
Baby just let it be
So, won't you ride with me, ride with me
See where this thing goes
If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be
Baby, if it's meant to me
[Brody with Santana]
So c'mon ride with me, ride with me
See where this thing goes
So c'mon ride with me, ride with me
Baby if it's meant to be
{Santana and Brody forget all of their cares as they sing on stage, not noticing that the people that are auditioning for the musical come in and see Brody and Santana singing. They appear intrigued, as Brody and Santana don't realize they are there}
[Brody]
Maybe we do
[Santana]
Maybe we don't
[Brody]
Maybe we will
[Brody and Santana]
So if t's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be
Baby just let it be
If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be
Baby just let it be
So, won't you ride with me, ride with me
See where this thing goes
If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be
Baby, if it's meant to me
[Brody]
If it's meant to be (Santana: it will be) it will be
[Brody and Santana]
Baby if it's meant to be
[Brody]
If it's meant to be (Santana: it will be) it will be
[Brody and Santana]
Baby if it's meant to be
Brody and Santana were unaware by the hand clapping, which was when they realized they weren't alone. Brody slightly bowed as Santana moved her hair behind her ears, prompting some of the hair she had to behind her ears. One of the girls crossed her arms and glared at Santana, wondering if she had come out of nowhere to take the role of a lifetime from them.
"Who is she and what is she doing here?" The girl pondered. "Were you having private auditions?"
"No, this isn't an audition," Brody assured her. "This is my friend Santana, and she is going to help me because I have to announce the lead role of Lucy, and I don't need the rest of you girls to kill each other."
"Yep, that's what I'm here for," Santana agreed.
"All right, so the other day we ran through a song and I was judging you by your stage presence, and the ability to convey the emotions Lucy needs for the role," Brody stared at the group before his eyes darted over to Rachel. Rachel appeared confused over why Brody was giving her attention. Did this mean…? " So without further ado, congratulations to Rachel Berry for the role."
"Seriously?!" One of the other girls questioned. "You're giving the role to her?"
"There are other parts in the play," Brody firmly stated. "Rachel, congratulations."
"Um, Brody...can I please talk to you for a second?" Rachel questioned.
"Sure," Brody motioned as Rachel followed him.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Jenny wondered as one of the girls shook their heads.
"She's totally going to try to get everyone out of the show," The girl said. "I've heard all about her, and apparently she has a streak of wanting to be the star. So it won't surprise me if she tries to have us as understudies, or worse, not in the play at all. She'll smile in your face but stab you right in the back."
"She wouldn't do that, we're friends," Jenny firmly stated.
"That's what makes it worse," The girl chuckled before slowly walking away. Jenny stared as Rachel and Brody were talking to one another, slowly feeling the jealousy creep in. The girl knew what Rachel was previously about, and Rachel hadn't been in a Broadway production in so long. Was it possible that Rachel had the ability to actually convince everyone out of the play, especially since Shelby and Brody were running it?
"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Brody questioned.
"Look, I know that you guys are trying to get me back into the saddle of it all," Rachel cleared her throat. "Considering I haven't done this in God knows how long. But the truth of the matter is, I don't think I'm the right fit for the role. I think Jenny would be better fit for it. I don't mind playing another role."
"Rachel, Shelby and I talked about it the night before," Brody said. "We both think that you are the best one for the role, and trust me, the conversation was not biased."
"I, I don't know," Rachel continued to feel uneasy.
"If you want, we can have Jenny as your understudy, if that makes you feel any better," Brody said. "I know you want to try a whole different approach with wanting everyone to get a fair shot…"
"Yes, and I think Jenny would be happy to be my understudy," Rachel agreed. "It will make me feel way less uneasy about taking the role."
"Okay, that sounds fair." Brody went back to the other girls before pointing a finger at Jenny. "Jenny McCarthy, you are going to be Rachel's understudy for the role of Lucy."
"Understudy?" Jenny sounded uncertain but she was blocked by her thoughts when she saw Rachel walk up to her.
"Isn't this exciting?!" Rachel squealed. "We both get to be in the play! Which means we get to make our debuts during this run!"
"Yay…," Jenny tried to appear enthusiastic, but when Rachel walked away, the girl that had spoken to Jenny before slowly walked back.
"One day you're the understudy, the next you're completely out of the play," The girl said. The girl walked away and left Jenny standing there with concern. Was Rachel really out for her and just putting on this nice girl act? She really wanted to believe that Rachel was genuinely excited to have her as the understudy. But what if Rachel ended up stabbing her in the back?
Glee Club was incredibly draining for Emilina as the group started talking about what they planned on do for Regionals following their big Sectionals win. They knew that if they had the same formula going into the competition, they would have a chance going into Nationals. However, Emilina only had one thing on her mind-possibly telling her parents about her pregnancy. However she didn't realize she was being distant from the rest of her teammates.
"Hello? Earth to Emilina," Boone snapped his fingers, garnering Emilina's attention. "We're planning here and you're not contributing anything."
"Yeah, are you okay?" Marcus added.
"I'm fine," Emilina furrowed her eyebrows, hoping to change the subject. "So anyway, what did you guys decide on regarding Regionals?"
"I don't know, we thought it would have been better if we decided as a team and not just us," Melanie replied. Before Emilina could say anything, the door to the choir room opened, which prompted the kids to turn and see Emilina's father here. Emilina knew that she was in a world of trouble, especially since Jonathan would barely look at her.
"Emilina, we need to talk, now," Jonathan appeared stern, which gave Emilina an indicator that something was seriously wrong.
"I'm in the middle of rehearsal, can't this wait till later?" Emilina pondered.
"No, it can't wait till later," Jonathan firmly stated. "Especially since I don't know how you're going to find time for all of this in nine months." Jonathan's sentence prompted Emilina to widen her eyes. Her father knew she was pregnant.
"Can we not talk about it here?" Emilina whispered.
"We are going to talk about how my daughter defied me, went on some date with some boy, and ended up getting pregnant by him," Jonathan seethed.
"Wait, what?" Boone blurted out which caused Emilina to turn to him with an embarrassed expression. "Jason knocked you up?"
"Yes, Jason 'knocked her up'." Jonathan answered before Emilina could. "And I have to say i am very disappointed, Emilina."
"Dad, it wasn't like that." Emilina choked out.
"Then how is it?" Jonathan crossed his arms. "That you were sleeping with some guy when you should have been focusing on your music?! Your life is over now! You're finished, a hasbeen!"
"Hold on, just because she's pregnant, it doesn't mean her life is over," Boone started to say which caused Emilina to sadly stare at him.
"You know nothing, so you'll shut the hell up and like it," Jonathan pointed a finger at him.
"Stop yelling at them!" Emilina angrily stood up and walked towards her father. "Fine, I'm pregnant. I screwed up and slept with someone that I shouldn't have. But I am going to take care of this. I was scared of it before, especially when I saw people going through it and they looked completely out of it, but I am going to make an appointment with the clinic, and I am going to have an abortion."
"No you're not," Jonathan scoffed.
"Yes I am," Emilina stood her ground. "It's my body."
"I don't care if it's your body," Jonathan glared at her. "You're my daughter, and you are forbidden to do this."
"Just because I am your daughter, does not mean you own me!" Emilina shouted which set Jonathan aback. "It is my body, and if I want an aborition, I am going to get it. You can't force me to be pregnant with someone's baby if they want nothing to do with the kid!"
"I can, just watch me," Jonathan furrowed his eyebrows. "If you go through with the aborition, I'm cutting you off. No NYADA, no Glee Club, no money. And don't you ever think about coming back home if you do this."
"Dad, you can't do this!" Emilina felt tears stream down her eyes, hoping that it would get some sympathy from her father. "I made a mistake, I want to fix it! At the end of the day, all I want is your support. Daddy, please don't do this. Please."
"My mind is made up," Jonathan turned around and walked out of the choir room, leaving Emilina alone with the rest of the club gawking at her. She felt completely embarrassed, and she didn't know what else to do. However, she didn't expect Stephanie to walk over and wrap her arms around her shoulder. Then Boone walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. The rest of the Glee Club slowly walked to Emilina and showed their support, but all Emilina could do was stare at the door, where her father previously entered and berated her.
Marley sat in the living room that evening as she absentmindedly glanced at the pictures on the wall. There were years and years of memories on the wall, starting from her high school days to when she got married, was pregnant with her two children, and had taken in Jessica and Samantha. Marley didn't know how her life could have gone sideways. She was the wife of a cop and was always in harm's way. Now, she didn't know if she could handle the latest twist in her saga. Marley didn't hear Jessica come out of the room, sitting next to her and softly glancing at her with interest.
"Still thinking about him?" Jessica wondered. Marley staring at her with interest. "I miss him too."
"Yeah, I know," Marley softly said. "I'm not gonna lie, I miss him too. But I don't understand why he had to do this."
"I know you don't," Jessica softly said. "I do get why he did what he did. Sometimes when life gets a little too hard, you just want to get away sometimes. Why do you think I ran away so much to Brooklyn when I was younger? There was always something that I was running from."
"But you didn't have to run," Marley assured her.
"I know now I didn't have to," Jessica said. "But at the time when I found out something big, I thought the answer was to run away from my problems. Little did I know, it wasn't the answer. I had to face it sooner or later, and Puck's going to come back and he's going to want to face his problems sooner or later too. But when he comes back, you have to be there for him. It's important for him, and it's important for your marriage."
"I know it is," Marley softly replied. "And part of me doesn't blame him for leaving, but there's also a part of me that's so upset that he didn't trust me enough to stay and let me help him work through this."
"Men don't think," Jessica chuckled. "Don't worry, he's going to come back and he's going to need you more than ever. Right now, he just really needs to find himself before all of this is said and done." Marley saw Jessica get up from the chair and motion towards the bedroom, letting Marley know that she wasn't the only one that had to get some rest. "Come on, those kids need you to be well rested in the morning."
"I know, I need them too," Marley headed towards her room and closed the door, but she froze when she saw the bed was empty. Marley couldn't help but walk over and run her hands through the pillow that Puck's head once occupied. She hoped that he was okay, and she hoped that he would come home soon. Lord knows that she truly missed him.
Emilina sat by herself in the auditorium as she thought about her latest predicament. She wasn't even sure how her father knew that she was pregnant, but she was more concerned at the moment by the ultimatum he was giving her. She had to either go through with the pregnancy, or he had power to cut her off if she went the other option. She heard the door to the auditorium open which took her out of her thoughts. Standing there was Theodore, and he slowly made his way towards her with a concerned expression.
"What are you doing here?" Emilina wondered.
"I think the NYADA auditorium is for everyone, not just you," Theodore furrowed his eyebrows before taking a seat next to her. "I also wanted to see if you were okay."
"I'm not okay," Emilina felt her voice crack as she stared at him. "My father is trying to control my body by saying I have to go through a terrible mistake I made. I'm not ready for a kid. Especially when I am in the height of my career! And I definitely don't want the kid's father to be someone like Jason."
"I mean I could have told you not to do it before you slept with him," Theodore scoffed.
"I don't need this right now, Theodore," Emilina snapped. "I know sleeping with Jason was a mistake. I know going against my Glee Club was a mistake. Trust me, I'm paying the price for it."
"What's done is done," Theodore told her. "You slept with him and now you have to face the consequences of sleeping with him. I just wish I had better advice other than we're all going to be here for you no matter what."
"Please, the only person that actually tried to help me was Stephanie," Emilina's voice hardened. "You heard what Kat said, no one else in that club likes me."
"That's not true," Theodore assured her. "I like you. And Boone, and Marcus, and everyone else in Glee Club. Don't listen to what Kat says. She's...bitter. We wouldn't have comforted you if we didn't like you." Emilina thought for a few moments before giving Theodore a softened smile. "Trust me, we're a team...and we want to see you thrive." Emilina leaned her head on Theodore's shoulder as Theodore couldn't help but smile down at her.
"Thank you," Emilina softly said. "I really needed to hear that."
"No problem," Theodore said. However, Emilina removed her head from his shoulder and glanced at him with interest.
"There's just something that's bothering me," Emilina mentioned. "I never got the chance to tell my father about my pregnancy. So how did he know?" Theodore stared at her with a blank expression as he tried to prevent showing any guilt. Unfortunately, he knew the answer to Emilina's question.
"Are you sure about what you're telling me, son?" Jonathan asked as Theodore sat on the couch, his hands folded and him looking at Jonathan with a concerned expression. Sitting next to Theodore on the couch was Finn, with the two of them avoiding eye contact with each other.
"I'm sure," Theodore said, with him finally staring at Finn. "I knew something was wrong with Emilina when I saw her in the hallways after Sectionals. So then, I snuck into the girls bathroom and saw the pregnancy test there in the garbage. She was the only one to go in the bathroom during Glee Club, and when I saw it, I had to go to Finn right away. I needed his help."
"We wouldn't be asking for your help if we didn't think it was serious," Finn added. "My sister says Emilina is exceptionally bright, and we don't want her to feel like she's stuck. We need you to talk to her and show that you have her support."
"Well, stars do have unexpected things happen to them all the time and this would teach Emilina some character," Jonathan admitted before clearing his throat. "Okay, I'll talk to Emilina. Whatever it takes, she's going to be the best that she can be, even if it means having that child."
"I…I wish I knew," Theodore simply said as he thought back on the previous scenario. "But...we're all here for you." Emilina nodded her head to Theodore's words before leaning her head back on his shoulder. However, Theodore knew that if Emilina knew the truth, she would never forgive her. He just knew that he was trying to act in her best interest.
Jenny opened the door to the apartment as she appeared slightly drained, not noticing that Sebastian was sitting at the table, looking through papers on his computer for work. Sebastian glanced up slightly and gave her a warm smile before looking down at the computer.
"Hey, how did it go?" Sebastian questioned while closing the file.
"Well...we found out who was going to get the role of Lucy," Jenny sounded slightly disappointed while walking towards the kitchen table. "Rachel got the role."
"Oh no, I'm sorry, Jenny," Sebastian got up from his chair and wrapped his arms around Jenny for a hug. However, Jenny slightly sniffled and glanced at Sebastian with concern.
"I got the role of Lucy's understudy. So when Rachel can't make a performance, then I have to take over," Jenny explained. "I know I should be happy because Rachel and I have the same appetite for the theater and it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, but...something is bothering me and I don't know what it is."
"Okay, well…," Sebastian slowly pulled out a chair for Jenny to sit as Jenny obliged. Sebastian sat in the other chair and grabbed Jenny's hands with concern. "I know that this was like years ago when we were all in college, but...Rachel has a streak of when she doesn't get her way, she does whatever she can to make sure she does."
"What do you mean?" Jenny wondered.
"Well, when we were in college and you were with Dynamic Explosion, Rachel and Marley got pregnant at the same time. Things were great…, until Rachel lost her first child in an automobile accident. She got jealous of Marley's success and pregnancy, so she went nuts. She even tried to spike Marley's drink at a house party," Sebastian said. "Of course, she was grieving, but the point is, Rachel will do whatever it takes to get whatever she wants, even if it's the wrong thing. I don't want you to be worried, but I want you to be careful. Rachel is back in her rightful element...and I don't want you getting hurt because at the end of the day, Rachel Berry is only going to look after one person...and that's Rachel Berry." Jenny listened thoroughly as Sebastian explained, with her finally furrowing her eyebrows. "I don't want this to deter you, because i am so proud of you, but I also want you to be careful because I don't want what Rachel did to Marley to happen to you." Jenny slowly nodded her head and slightly smiled, finally composing herself and giving Sebastian an assuring glance.
"Don't worry," Jenny said. "Because I'm not going to let Rachel lose my focus. Sometimes you have to keep people close in order to plan your next step." Sebastian nodded his head as Jenny cleared her throat, ultimately getting up from the chair and heading to the kitchen.
"All right, enough of that, let's celebrate. I'm gonna order your favorite take out meal and open a bottle of wine," Sebastian sounded excited causing Jenny to chuckle. Sebastian's face turned soft as Jenny smiled softly. "Hey, I love you."
"I love you, too," Jenny reciprocated as Sebastian grabbed his cell phone and dialed a phone number to Jenny's favorite restaurant. Jenny continued thinking about Sebastian's words regarding Rachel, and she realized she had been the nice girl for too long. She wasn't going to let Rachel try to get her out of the show, and she was going to do whatever it took to show Rachel that she belonged.
"I don't know, it just seemed a little weird," Rachel said as she and Finn were getting ready for bed that evening. "She seemed like she wasn't as excited to be the musical with me when she found out she was my understudy."
"How did she take the fact that she was your understudy?" Finn pondered.
'Well at first she seemed happy for me, then it was like the girls spoke to her and said something," Rachel replied. "It just seems like the girls are trying to drive a wedge between us."
"Well Jenny's smarter than that," Finn assured her. "She's going to make sure that nothing happens to you."
"Yeah, I hope you're right," Rachel shrugged her shoulders and laid down next to Finn while Finn wrapped his arms around her. "It just seems like this is a gigantic second chance for me. For us."
"It could be, but there's one thing I want you to do for me," Finn said.
"What's that?" Rachel wondered.
"I want you to just have fun," Finn grinned while placing a kiss on the top of Rachel's head. "I need you to have fun, Rachel. You always want to be perfect that sometimes you forget that you're supposed to have fun too. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."
"Okay," Rachel nodded her head. "I'll remember that."
"Good," Finn grinned as he gave her a sweet kiss. "I'm glad that you got the role, and I can't wait until Opening Night when I can sit front row with the kids, and they see their mom doing what she was born to do her entire life."
"I just want to make them proud, to make you proud," Rachel admitted.
"Guess what? You already have." Finn whispered before giving her another kiss. Rachel cuddled with Finn as she thought about her potential future as a Broadway star. And truth be told, she couldn't wait to show everyone the new her. She was going to prove to everyone that even in a competitive background, she could be selfless and caring, especially since she had somehow developed a reputation as being a world class diva.
{Scene changes to the next day as Rachel is rehearsing while Brody and Shelby watch with a grin. Little does Rachel realize Jenny is watching from the side of the stage and she appears uneasy about Rachel's next move}
[Rachel]
Dirty tissues, trust issues
Glasses on the sink they didn't fix you
Lonely pillow in a stranger's bed
Little voices in my head
Secret keeping, stop the bleeding
Lost a little weight because I wasn't eating
All the songs that I can't listen to, to tell the truth
Loving you was young, and wild, and free
Loving you was cool, and hot, and sweet
Loving you was sunshine, safe and sound
A steady place to let down my defenses
But loving you had consequences
{Scene changes to Emilina walking through the hallways as she appears depressed and anxious, with Stephanie and Theodore noticing as they walk out of their classrooms. They spot Emilina entering the bathroom where Emilina heads into one of the stalls and starts to cry
Hesitation, awkward conversation
Running on low expectations
Every siren that I was ignoring
I'm paying for it
Loving you was young, and wild, and free
Loving you was cool, and hot, and sweet
Loving you was sunshine, safe and sound
A steady place to let down my defenses
But loving you had consequences
{Scene changes to Santana looking through her phone as she goes on a dating app, swiping left as she tries to find a date in order to move on from Brittany}
No, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Hey, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Yeah, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Loving you was dumb, and dark, and cheap
Loving you will still take shots at me
Cause loving you was sunshine but then it poured
And I lost so much more than my senses
But loving you had consequences
{Santana ultimately swipes right and starts talking to someone, a small smile appearing on her face as she suddenly feels the weight being taken off her shoulders}
Loving you
Marley fluffed the pillows to her bed while she appeared in thought over everything that had gone wrong over the last few days. There were a lot of things she didn't quite understand at the moment, with one of them being her without her husband for god knows how long. While she fluffed the pillows, she heard the door click, which caused her to widen her eyes and turn around. The knob turned and the door opened, with Marley unbelieving with what she was seeing. Standing before her was Puck, and for a moment she didn't know what to say. Should she have gone to hug him, or should she have been mad? She wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
"Hey," Puck simply said as Marley stammered slightly. Finally, she found her composure and nodded her head in acknowledgement.
"Hey," Marley answered. Puck noticed that Marley looked different, and he knew that when women get haircuts, it's because they're going through something.
"I like your hair," Puck shrugged his shoulders at her.
"Thanks," Marley said.
"Are you okay?" Puck questioned, although he mentally began to kick himself, realizing it wasn't the best question to ask.
"Am I okay?" Marley scoffed before finally realizing what she was truly feeling. "You get life changing news, walk out on me because you need to find yourself, and you're asking me if I'm okay?"
"I never meant to walk out on you," Puck started to explain, but he could see the fury in Marley's eyes.
"I waited for you every single day, hoping that I would get some explanation," Marley angrily answered. "But no, all I get is you went down south to explore your feelings. When I offered to be there for you and comfort you, you ran away, and felt that you had to do this on your own. Did you ever for a second realize how I might have felt by you just picking up and walking away?"
"You make it sound like I walked away from us," Puck sounded defensive.
"Because in a way, you did," Marley crossed her arms. "You walked away from me, from your job, from your kids. I was running all of this all by myself! All while I was wondering when you would come back or if I would ever see you again."
"Marley, I am so sorry that you felt I walked out on you," Puck sadly said, but Marley's anger wasn't faltering. "It's just...everything has been tough lately! My dad died and…,"
"He was not father of the year," Marley interrupted him. "He was a horrible human being. He was mean to you, he was mean to Jake, he was mean to me. That's not the kind of person that deserves a minute of your time. He was never really a father to you. He was a manipulating jackass who thought violence was how he get what you wanted. You're not grieving him. You're hurt because he wasn't a good father and you wanted some answers."
"You don't know what it's like to hear that your father died, Marley," Puck responded. Although when he saw her face become red, he knew he said the wrong thing.
"You think I don't know what this is like?" Marley questioned. "My own father didn't love me enough to stay. He didn't love Finn enough to treat him with dignity and respect. He slapped his son around, left a scarring impression on my mother, and died alone. Once I found out who he was, I didn't want anything to do with him. So don't you dare tell me that I don't know what it's like to be abandoned and what it's like for your own father to not love you."
"I didn't mean…," Puck started to say, but Marley interrupted him before he could get another thought out.
"Get out." Marley simply said.
"What?" Puck appeared taken aback.
"Go to Finn's or something, I don't want to see you right now," Marley turned around and continued fluffing the pillows.
"Marley…," Puck started to plead, but Marley was not in the mood for any games.
"GET. OUT." Marley bellowed, her eyes stinging with tears. Puck took that as his cue that he wasn't wanted, so he turned towards the door and started heading out of the apartment. But not before he turned around and gave Marley a saddened look.
"I'm really sorry," That was all Puck could say before he turned on his heels and made his way out the door. As soon as the door closed, Marley wiped her tears and looked out the window, wondering if she had done the right thing. She loved her husband with all of her heart…, but she really needed some space from him right now.
Especially since it seemed like Puck didn't acknowledge the struggle she had with not knowing her father all those years ago.
GUEST STARRING
David Boreanz as Jonathan Hawthorne
Kylie Bunby as 'Theater Girl"
Sofia Carson as Melanie Adams
Jordan Fisher as Marcus Stone
Grace Phipps as Courtney Hart
Marissa Von Bleicken as Cassidy Blake
ALSO STARRING
Camila Cabello as Stephanie Morales
Selena Gomez as Kat Pennington
Nick Jonas as Boone Logan
Shawn Mendes as Harry Porter
Hailee Steinfeld as Emilina Hawthorne
SONGS
Over My Head (Originally by Echosmith): Performed by Marley Rose
How To Be A Heartbreaker (Originally by Marina and The Diamonds): Performed by Brody Weston, Rachel Berry and Jenny McCarthy
Bloodline (Originally by Ariana Grande): Performed by Quinn Fabray, Marley Rose, Santana Lopez and Rachel Berry
Meant To Be (Originally by Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line): Performed by Brody Weston and Santana Lopez
Consequences (Originally by Camila Cabello): Performed by Rachel Berry