A New Direction - SYOC CLOSED

by safeDbeginswiths

A second gen syoc! Please read details inside :)

5. The Catalina Glee Mixer

A/N: Hi everyone! Per usual just a few things to say lol, first of all thank you for your continued support! It means a lot to me that people are still reading this, especially with the long chapters. And on that note, this chapter is LONG. It's the second format I'm testing out, I'm toying around with the idea of doing a scrimmage of some kind every second chapter or so, so please let me know if that's something you like the idea of!

I'd also like to note that as many of you know already, I've started a forum here on ff for people to discuss the fic! If you'd like a link to it please don't hesitate to PM me for it, I'd love to see you guys talking and getting to know each other's OC's a little bit better!

I think that's actually it for now, as always here's a bit of a language warning lol, and of course reviews and PMs to let me know you're still reading are always appreciated, and the song list will be listed at the bottom of my ending A/N. Thanks guys, and happy reading!

MONDAY MORNING

Ambrose Rhodes had just put his mother's breakfast out for her, as she made her way into the kitchen of their far too big house. Right before adopting Ambrose, April had managed to be on and off on Broadway, and even started writing for some plays, and because of this, the two were well off, never worrying much about money, which is how Ambrose was able to afford Dalton.

"Aw, you don't gotta make breakfast for me," April waved him off slightly, smiling through it, "That's what the cook's for."

"The cook doesn't show up until dinner. And you have to eat before then," Ambrose felt like a broken record, constantly reminding his mother that she needed to take care of herself.

"What would I do without my beautiful baby boy?" April cooed, walking over, reaching up to cup his face, before giving him a hard pat on the back. "So, what's on the agenda for you today, kiddo?" she asked, sitting at the table to start her breakfast.

"Well, we got our glee schedule, but I don't know why. We don't do glee stuff on Monday's but now, according to Mr. Nixon, we're going on an 'important field trip', whatever that means." Ambrose shrugged.

"Oh, a field trip! How exciting!" April's eyes lit up as she bit into her toast. "So many places to go, so many places to see!"

"Not in Ohio," Ambrose laughed, "and it's apparently just for the afternoon, which highly makes me doubt that we'll be leaving the state. As always though, I appreciate your optimism."

"Well, either way, you're gonna have a great time. Probably," April shrugged. "Now c'mere and give your mama a hug before you leave. And then get your butt in gear, you're gonna be late, and I've got company coming over."

"A gentleman caller?" Ambrose smiled, throwing his backpack over his shoulder, making his way over to give her a gentle hug.

"No! You know I've sworn off the men," April laughed, "Holly's stopping by for mimosas," she did a little dance as the name of the drink left her lips.

"Hey, how come I've never met Holly?" Ambrose questioned curiously. "You talk about her all the time."

"I guess 'cause she only comes over when you're at school," April shrugged, "Besides, I like it when it's just you and me."

"So that's why you always refused to get me a dog," Ambrose laughed again, double checking that he had everything he needed before he headed out for the day.

"Of course! Read an article about how only children get weird around pets. And you're my special little man! Can't have you getting' jealous of anyone or anything." April smiled smugly, "Now get! You're going to be late."

Ambrose was not an only child, despite what April had told him, and continued to tell him through the years.

His twin was sitting down for breakfast with her mother, and April's best friend, Holly.

"So, you still doing glee? How's that going?" Holly questioned sipping on her coffee, watching her daughter pick at her breakfast.

"Fine, I guess. Nothing too dramatic yet unfortunately," Kendall half laughed, "Apparently, we're going on a field trip this afternoon. Nobody knows where or why, Unique seemed just as surprised as we did when Harmony brought it up."

"I like that they let you call them by their first names. Those are cool teachers," Holly responded, if she was honest, only half listening.

"Oh, they don't let me. I just do it anyways." Kendall shrugged.

"That's my girl," Holly smiled, moving to give her a small side hug. "Oh, before I forget, I'm going over to April's today, if you need me. So, try not to need me." She half joked.

"Hey mom, how come I've never met April?" Kendall asked quizzically.

"That's actually a very good question," Holly paused, putting her coffee down for just a moment, "I guess it's 'cause we always hang out when you're at school. We should get together sometime though. She's got a son around your age, I think. Of course, I wouldn't know, 'cause I've never met him." She shrugged, a slight laugh escaping her lips though her words were nonchalant.

"You guys are best friends and you don't even know each other's kids?" Kendall raised her eyebrows.

"Hey now, I don't need your judgement, young lady," Holly wiggled her finger in Kendall's direction. "Now skedaddle! You don't need to be late for school. Tell me about your field trip later too, yeah?"

"Sure," Kendall smiled pleasantly, making her way out the door.

MONDAY AFTERNOON

The New Directions filed into the auditorium, and onto the stage as directed by their coach. He advised them to not take a seat or get too comfortable as they were going to be having some guests joining them, and they were waiting for everyone to get there.

"What does that even mean?" Delia spoke up, though she was only met with confused looks from her teammates.

"Maybe we're doing something with the Troubletones?" Lex suggested hopefully.

"Oh, I hope so!" Sophie piped up, "That's where my sister is, I miss her." She pouted.

"My best friend is in Troubletones!" Rey responded ecstatically, "It would be a lot of fun to do something with her."

"Am I nothing to you?" Sophie suddenly turned to look at Rey, but then laughed to show that she was at least half joking.

"My best friend is also in the Troubletones," Savannah spoke, "And I, personally, would love to have a little friendly competition against her."

"I would also love to compete against my sister," Felix added to the conversation, "Heather's had it too good for too long."

"I don't think it's quite what you guys are anticipating," Will laughed, standing on the floor by the stage, continuously looking at the entrance to the theater.

"Maybe the sectionals lists came out early?" Naomi tried, "And this has something to do with that?"

"What would be on the list?" Rowan asked their sister curiously.

"That's like who we're competing against, right?" Flora asked, also being new to show choir, but understanding it slightly because of her dad and sister.

"And if there's any themes or anything, that's also when they'll tell us," Oscar replied blankly, trying to figure out if the 'field trip' his brother had mentioned this morning had anything to do with why they were having an 'important glee meeting' on a non-glee day.

"So, everything we need to know about the competition then?" Simon clarified, who was also vaguely familiar with show choir rules.

"Pretty much," Kyla shrugged.

"Good guesses, but not quite," Mr. Schue laughed.

"Well, what is it then?" Hazel, much like her teammates, was growing more curious by the second.

"I uh, think we're about to find out," Finley laughed, nodding towards the entrance where Marley stood with the Troubletones.

"Welcome girls!" She paused just before they all walked in, "Just a few things before we go in. First, please be sure to be polite and kind," she looked specifically at Nikki and Heather. "I also know that you'll probably have a lot of questions, but they will all be answered. I promise."

After getting a verbal promise to behave from all the girls, they made their way into the auditorium, where they saw all the New Directions on the stage.

"Sophie!" Trina called out, seeing her sister from across the auditorium, quickly making her way up to the stage where Sophie quite literally jumped into Trina's arms, wrapping herself around her sister.

"I'm never letting go," She muttered directly before Trina put her down.

The other girls also quickly made their way up to the stage, many of the kids we're having reunions without their friends as though they didn't all go to the same school.

"Rey!" Cay called out getting her best friend's attention between the chaos of everyone getting re-acquainted.

"Cay!" Rey called back happily, rushing to pull her friend into a hug.

"Alright, that's good," Cay laughed, playfully pushing Rey off her, but standing arm in arm with her.

Similarly, Lex had also pulled Audrey into a tight hug, picking her up and spinning her around slightly.

"Put me down!" She called out, but laughed, as Lex complied.

"Get a room," Savannah smirked, coming in between her two friends, wrapping an arm around each of them.

While the room was filled with similar dramatics, Felix simply greeted his sister with a 'sup' nod, and Heather did the same in response, Felix making his way to where she, Tia and Mia were standing, knowing the other two girls almost as well as he knew Heather.

As the room settled a bit, Marley walked to where her old glee teacher was standing.

"So far so good," She laughed hopefully, "When are the other groups getting here?"

"If I'm not mistaken," Will nodded towards the door, a small smile on his face, "I'd say that's the Warblers coming in now."

Similarly to Marley, Trent had paused to give a small warning to his glee club to be on their best behavior, despite many of them starting to figure out what was going on.

"Oh no," Oscar spoke solemnly as he recognized his father and the uniforms of the students standing behind him.

"Warblers!" Lex and Nikki spoke in sync, both excited to see their brother. (Though, of course, Nikki was only excited to see one of her brothers.)

Entering the auditorium at different levels of enthusiasm, the Warblers immediately began looking for familiar faces, as did many of the students on the stage.

"Rey Abrams where the hell are you?!" Tommy Abrams called out, running towards the stage

"Tommy!" She called out, greeting him with a massive hug, and a big smile.

"Hey Cay," Teddy smiled genuinely, as he'd followed Tommy down, knowing he'd find his own sister beside Tommy's sister.

"Hey nerd," She teased him, putting an arm on his shoulder, "Welcome to my stomping grounds,"

"Michael!" Lex called out to his brother, almost nervous that he'd get lost in the quickly growing sea of people.

"Hey Lex," Michael responded back, as he walked up with Eric.

"Eric man, good to see you again!" Lex smiled happily leaning over to greet his old friend with a sort of half-hug.

"Lex! It's been way too long! We gotta do bowling again sometime." Eric responded, laughing slightly.

"Bowling?" Audrey, who'd still been standing there, questioned.

"We're trying to start a league," Lex explained with a shrug, "Hey wasn't Addison just with you?" Lex questioned Eric about his boyfriend.

"He saw Tia and Mia, decided to say hello," Eric explained with a shrug.

"What up cousins?!" Addison laughed as he ran into the two twins.

"Hey Addy," Tia greeted, politely but somewhat blandly as she and Addison were never close.

"And the Porters! Always a pleasure," He grinned.

"My guy!" Felix responded happily as he and Addison completed a handshake they'd made up when they were younger.

While Oliver and Sutton had entered the auditorium together, they immediately each made their way to their sibling of choice.

"Leah!" Sutton, called out dramatically, "You won't believe what I've been through. Oliver joined and it gets worse," He overdramatized his brother being in the Warblers with him.

"And here I was thinking the two of you on the same team would be all sunshine and roses," Leah laughed in turn, throwing an arm around her younger brother.

"What's up squirt?" Oliver, who on the other side of the stage greeted his youngest sibling.

"Oliver!" Nikki smiled happily in front of her teammates for the first time, "Never thought I'd see the day we'd both be on this stage for glee," The word rolled out of her mouth like venom.

"It's definitely something," Oliver let out a dry chuckle, "Glad we're at least here together though."

As everyone else was getting reacquainted, Oscar had a moment of panic, and walked over to the edge of the stage where Will, Marley, and Trent were all standing.

"Hey dad," He started slowly, getting Trent's attention, "Where's Zach?"

Both looking at each other for a long moment, they both became filled with panic saying the word, "Bryce," at the same time and in the same tone.

"Don't worry!" Zach called out as if on queue, "I did run into him, and we may or may not have plans for when this is all over. But I'm here now and I'm ready to party!"

"That might be worse," Oscar spoke out loud, though to no one in particular.

"Don't even think about trying to hide, Oscar! I see you and you're getting the biggest freaking bear hug in the world!" Zach called out, almost reading Oscar's mind as he quickly made his way to the stage.

"That's your brother?" Kyla stifled a laugh.

"Don't remind me," Oscar groaned, just moments before, as promised, getting smothered in what could only be deemed as an embarrassingly dramatic bear hug courtesy of Zach.

While the three groups continuously mingled, the glee club directors did as well.

"So, we're only waiting on Vocal Adrenaline?" Marley sighed out, knowing she didn't like that school, and that their coach was the reason she pulled Leah from it.

"Looks that way," Trent nodded.

"I don't see why they're coming – no offence Mr. S- I mean, Will. I get that there's a lot of these guys' siblings over there, I just," Marley sighed out again, flopping her arms to the side as she spoke, "Really, really don't like that director."

"I'd wait until you meet their new co-director before you jump to conclusion, Marley." Will smiled knowingly.

"I just think that anyone who works with Harmony must be just as bad as she is." Marley huffed out.

"Well, think again." Unique responded back, halfway towards them, nobody noticing her come in as Harmony as still in the back making sure all the students were there.

"Unique?!" Marley cried out happily, running to hug her long-time friend, "You're the new Vocal Adrenaline director?"

"Co-director," She corrected, happily hugging her friend back, "And from my understanding you've taken over the Troubletones."

"I have! It's been…interesting so far." Marley laughed awkwardly.

"Oh, I hear that." Unique raised a hand in the air, laughing as she walked arm in arm with her friend to the front of the stage.

Coming in from the back was Harmony who was still trying to make sure all of the kids that we're supposed to be there, were.

"Mom, let me in!" Xavier practically pleaded, "I have to see Trina!"

"Honey, something's not adding up. We're missing someone!" Harmony responded back, both of her arms placed on both sides of the entrance.

"Are you sure the person you're missing isn't Unique?" Sydney questioned, and while they started the sentence as a joke, by the end she realized it might actually be the case.

After a few long moments, Harmony, who was too embarrassed to admit her mistake coughed before saying. "Right, then. Follow me."

Immediately both Dana and Xavier completely disobeyed her, running past her and down to the people they were excited to see.

"Trina!" Xavier called out loudly, running up onto the stage, and immediately taking his girlfriend in his arms, spinning her around before they shared a long, and admittedly, dramatic kiss.

"Can you not?" Sophie scrunched her nose up.

Following Xavier was Dana, who also ran up the stairs, screaming "SIBLINNNNNGS!" which, as they wanted, caught the attention of Tommy and Rey immediately.

"DANAAAAA!" They both practically screamed back, almost sounding like a battle cry.

"Typical Abrams," Cay laughed with her brother, who also laughed, but also disappointingly shook his head.

The rest of Vocal Adrenaline made their way up the stairs, Sydney began to hover towards where most of the other Warblers' kids were hanging out. Following her was her brother Steven who was right on her heels, and Isaac Sterling.

"Isaac!" Mack called him over, wrapping his arm around him which Isaac immediately pushed off.

"Hey dude," Isaac responded with a small smirk, "small world, huh?"

Just next to them, Kate had managed to sneak up on her younger brother Eric, tapping his shoulder as he jumped slightly, before turning around, a huge smile on his face.

"Kate!" He laughed, "It's so cool that you're here!"

"I'm so happy to see you!" Kate responded, also laughing. "Do you know why we're all here?"

"No idea," Eric shook his head, "But I'm glad we get to hang out," He laughed happily once more, high fiving his sister.

"Emery Meeks?!" A voice called from the other side of the stage. While Emery had hoped to go unnoticed, they were not surprised that Felix Porter was the one to see them. "I haven't seen you in…well it must be years!"

"Yeah," Emery chuckled nervously, suddenly being brought into a circle with all her old, and now estranged, family friends.

"God, you haven't changed a bit," Tia laughed.

"How's your dad? Haven't heard from him in a while either," Addison shook his head, but couldn't hold his curiosity back.

"We uh, we moved around a lot," Emery swallowed hard, knowing that would be an easier way out than diving into the details of her dad's divorce.

Not too far from them, Jude had blatantly ignored Trina, greeting Sophie with a small smile and a nod, before appearing beside Leah who seemed happy about the sudden appearance.

"Hey babe," She smiled as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Ugh," Marley groaned from the front of the stage at the sight.

"That boy is bad news," Unique shook her head, looking to see what Marley was reacting to. "He missed the first glee meeting without a reason."

"I knew it!" Marley gasped dramatically.

"Though you're not exactly an authority on this sort of thing, Mrs. Puckerman," Unique laughed, pointing a finger at her friend.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt this kiki," Trent just barely spoke up, "But whenever you ladies are ready, so are we."

All five glee directors made their way up the stairs and onto the stage with all the kids still mingling among themselves.

"Alright," Mr. Schue spoke loudly, though could not capture the attention of the students.

"Guys?" Marley spoke up, still being ignored.

"Hello?!" Harmony practically cried out, and well a few kids turned their heads, they all still neglected to pay attention.

"QUIET!" Trent surprised the other teachers with his volume, though Unique and Harmony both looked impressed as all of the kids stopped and turned to look at him.

"How did you…" Marley started, confused as to how he'd managed to gather their attention.

"It works with the Warblers," Trent shrugged nonchalantly.

"Now that we have your attention," Will began slowly, "I'm sure you've all got a few questions as to what's going on and why you're all here."

"I barely know where I am," Chloe thought she had added to his point, her voice slow as she looked around her surroundings.

"Chloe, enough." Harmony warned as her daughter took a step back.

"We've decided," Unique spoke up, "That it could be fun to do a little scrimmage between glee clubs. Sectionals lists go out next week and we thought it could be a fun way to get you all fired up by seeing who you will likely be competing against."

"So what?" Delia stepped forward, "We all just pick a setlist and act like it's a competition?"

"Not quite," Trent smiled, "As we've all seen and you all know, between our four glee clubs there are a lot of crossovers with family and friends. So, you'll be working in teams. One person per glee club, in groups of three or four."

"Dibs on Trina!" Sophie and Xavier spoke in unison, resulting in Sophie giving Xavier a death glare.

"Oh, you're not picking your groups." Harmony spoke like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"If you're picking the teams, how do we know you won't just choose favorites?" Tia questioned skeptically.

"We've each randomly assigned a number to all of our members," Marley began explaining, "From one to however many members we each have, and we'll be each announcing them at the same time, so we'll essentially be finding out the groups the same time you guys do."

"Okay, but what do we get out of it?" Jude spoke and rolled his eyes, directly to Marley's comment, which she did not appreciate.

"On top of getting to know each other – hopefully people you don't maybe know was well, and getting a feel for what it's like to be in someone else's glee club," Will started, looking around the room at the 47 sets of eyes looking back at him, "there is a prize."

This caused buzz among the students, all starting to speak over each other again.

"Shut up!" Harmony screamed, getting their attention again.

"Guess it does work," Unique spoke out loud, sharing a knowing look with Harmony.

"Well what kind of prize is it going to be?" Addison called out from the back.

"Assuming this goes…well. We're going to be doing more scrimmages in future. Ones where you get to pick your own teams," Trent spoke up slowly, "So, the winners here will have first choice of who they choose to work with next time."

"Well, I'm just going to pick myself if that's the case." Nikki thought out loud.

"One step ahead of you," Unique smiled, "All of your groups will have numbers – corresponding with the numbers each student was given to make the groups as random as possible. When your group is called, you will come up and take a sheet. It will be the sheet you use for voting at the end. Your group number will not be on that sheet."

"What about performance order?" Teddy questioned skeptically, "That can be a huge factor and if it's just groups one through whatever in that order…that could also be favoritism."

"I'm glad you brought that up, Teddy," Trent spoke up once more, "As Miss Adams mentioned, you're each going to be given on a sheet. That will also say which day and which spot you'll be performing in, which we also randomly generated."

"Woah, which day?" Leslie asked, "Is this going over multiple days then?"

"Starting tomorrow afternoon with our first groups, this will go over the course of four days. The vote will be taken on Friday afternoon after the last performances."

"If this starts tomorrow," Michael began carefully, "and we're working with people who are not in our glee club…what do we do for our glee meetings?"

"Glee meetings are put on pause for this week," Will responded confidently, "Use that time to pick your songs and get to know your group. And on that note," he paused for dramatic effect, "You all must perform songs by famous pop groups. Think Backstreet, Wham!, Fifth Harmony."

"And if there's no more questions," Harmony took control of the room once more, "We'll start assigning you your groups"

"Because there are fewer members in some groups than others," Marley began, somewhat embarrassed knowing her group had the least, "There are thirteen groups. The first eight will have four people – one from each group. The last five will only have three."

"Alright!" Will clapped, "each coach will go turn by turn saying their elect from their glee club. When you hear your name, come up to the front, meet your group, and go see Unique who will be handing out your information sheets."

The kids looked at each other with continuously skeptical glares but were soon taken out of their trance by Will speaking up again.

"Group one! From New Directions we've got Sophie Hart!" He called out as Sophie made her way to the front of the group.

"From the Troubletones, we've got Nikki Puckerman!"Marley announced.

Nikki followed suit, glad that she at least knew of Sophie since they were in the same grade, giving her a high five as they met at the front.

"Eric Karofsky!" Trent called out.

"Isaac Sterling!" Harmony followed suit, both boys walking to the front.

"What up?" Nikki greeted, as they took their papers, walking down the stairs to sit and watch all of the other groups get called.

Group number two was announced to be Delia Schuester, Heather Porter, Mack Sterling and Chloe Pearce.

"You guys play any instruments?" Heather questioned, walking off the stage with her group.

"No?" Delia responded as though it was a question.

The four also went to sit in a group, mumbling about potential songs.

Group three was Oscar Nixon, Teddy Chang, Leah Puckerman, and much to Marley's dismay, Jude Hart.

While Oscar remained quiet, Teddy and Leah exchanged polite pleasantries as they were in a future lawyers of Ohio study group. And of course, Jude and Leah were happy to be in a group together as they followed suit, moving to take a seat.

Group four was Finley Jones and Audrey Fabray who had grown up together and knew they could get along, as well as Frank Montgomery and Sydney Smythe who also grew up together and did not know if they would get along. Nonetheless, Sydney began asking everyone about their strengths and weaknesses while Lex watched in dismay, hoping he and Audrey would have been in a group together.

Group five was announced to be Savannah Lopez-Pierce, Trina Hart, Zach Nixon and Kate Karofsky. All of whom had literally never seen the others in their life. While Zach was excited to be in a group with all girls, he figured it would be best to keep that quiet for now. While they all looked at each other for a few long moments, it was eventually Savannah who grabbed their sheets from Unique, handing them out to the rest of her group as they made their way off the stage.

The next group was Kyla Weston, Tia McCarthy, Michael Anderson-Hummel and Anthony St. James, who Michael knew and was not happy about. Anthony's mother was the surrogate for Michael's older brother and Anthony just always made Michael feel inferior, even by accident. Tia was also not happy about her group as she did not know any of them and none of them looked very promising.

Group seven was Hazel Jones, Mia McCarthy, Oliver Puckerman, and Leslie Adams. Hazel just barely knew Oliver as they were family friends, and while Leslie offered a polite greeting to everyone, Hazel waved back and Mia was too distracted by collecting their sheets. Just as they were about to walk off the stage, Unique offered her daughter a wink for good luck.

"Group eight! Last group of four!" Mr. Schue called out, "Naomi Jones!"

"Cay Chang!" Marley immediately called out after.

Naomi and Cay immediately made eye contact, each smiling. Though they weren't close, they knew each other and knew they'd be able to come up with an incredible performance.

"Ambrose Rhodes!" Trent called out.

"Kendall Holliday!" Harmony followed closely.

As the two made their way to the front, they stopped dead in their tracks looking at each other.

"You…..have my face?" Kendall spoke loudly.

"You have my face," Ambrose responded, slightly more quietly but just as confused.

While the directors all looked at each other, Naomi grabbed the sheets, trying to move things along, doing her best to shuffle them off the stage while exchanging a glance with Cay as if to say, "what the hell?"

"Uh, moving on…" Trent trailed off, hoping that they'd all be able to move past it.

The first group of three was called out as Simon Jones, Sutton Puckerman and Sawyer Jackson all made their way to the front. Simon and Sutton were familiar with each other as much like a lot of the kids, they were family friends. And while Sawyer was a stranger, the two took him in without any thought, all excited about their possible number, and as Sutton pointed out, that their names all started with S.

The next group was called, and Felix Porter, Addison McCarthy and Xavier Pearce all made their way to the front. Felix and Addison were immediately hyped up that they got to work together, and while Xavier had initially been bummed that he didn't get to work with Trina or even Sophie the energy between Felix and Addison made him excited to be a part of it. So much in fact that, that everyone else looked on in awe as they all went off like they'd always been best friends, already talking about playing Fortnite together after glee.

Nine kids stood on the stage, all looking at each other awkwardly as they waited for the next group to be called.

"Alright, for New Directions I've got Rey Abrams!" Mr. Schue called out, earning a somewhat concerned look from Trent.

"Tommy Abrams," He spoke out, both confused and in disbelief.

"Oh hell yeah!" Tommy cried, high-fiving his sister.

"No way," Harmony's jaw dropped, "for group eleven I had….Dana Abrams."

While all three Abrams made another almost war-like scream they quickly grabbed their sheets, easily the most excited group so far.

The last six students stood on stage anxiously.

"Lex Anderson-Hummel!" Will announced.

"Bob Montgomery for the Warblers!" Trent called out happily.

"Emery Meeks." Harmony spoke, starting to get bored of this and wanting to go home.

The three young students walked to the middle. Lex and Bob were excited to be working together as they knew each other from their parents, but Emery had already begun to feel like the odd one out. Of course, they would never say that, and both boys seemed easy enough to get along with.

"So that leaves…" Mr. Schue looked up at Flora, Rowan and Steven.

"I thought it was one person per glee club?" Flora questioned, not annoyed, but certainly confused.

"Yeah we, uh, kind of didn't realize that we had an extra member," Her father responded sheepishly.

"So, I'm just the leftover?" Rowan began to ask, but before Mr. Schue had a chance to respond, they spoke up again, "Cool." They smiled.

The three kids, much like many of the groups before them, walked off, talking about what kind of song they wanted to do.

"Alright! So now that you've seen your sheets and met your groups, feel free to go off and get prepared! And tomorrow afternoon, we will see…" Will spoke, checking with the list he'd been making of groups as they came together, "Felix, Addison and Xavier first, followed by Simon, Sutton and Sawyer, then Rowan, Flora and Steven and finally Sophie, Nikki, Eric and Isaac!"

As the teams made their way out of the auditorium, most talking about what song they would do, or just getting used to being around each other, all five coaches looked at the students and then each other, hoping they'd made a good decision in doing this as a lesson.

MONDAY EVENING

Naomi and Cay had gone off, deciding they would try to work on coming up with a song while Kendall and Ambrose spent some time trying to figure out what the hell was going on. So, the two sat at the Lima Bean, just learning about each other. While it had taken Ambrose some convincing, especially since it likely was just a freak coincidence, Kendall was eventually able to get him to talk to her.

"I just don't get it," Kendall laughed trying to break the awkwardness as she took a sip of her coffee, "how funny is it that we, y'know, share a whole face."

"It's actually fairly possible," Ambrose smirked, "But I won't bore you with specifics. Besides, I'm sure my mom is waiting for me, I should probably head out." He spoke, grabbing his tea, truly just wanting to go home – it had been a long enough day for both of them.

"Yeah I guess I should get going too. Not that I'm sure my mom will even be home – you know April Rhodes? The big hotshot with the on again off again relationship with Broadway?" Kendall smirked, grabbing her things though the words, of course, had caught Ambrose's attention, "My mom's been hanging out with her all day."

"I'm sorry, what did you say? About April Rhodes?" Ambrose asked, somewhat in shock.

"That she's my mom's bestie?" Kendall laughed.

"Holly Holliday." Ambrose spoke somewhat confused, though his tone was firm. "That's your mother."

"How the hell did you know that?" Kendall suddenly got defensive before seeing the look on Ambrose's face, "Oh my god. April is your mom. You're April's kid."

"You're Holly's kid." Ambrose spoke, trying to get it through his head. "Okay, I won't lie to you. I, at first, thought this was all nonsense. But…the fact that we're both their kids…."

"And I don't know about you," Kendall spoke carefully, "But it's been made pretty clear to me that I wasn't supposed to meet April's son."

"It is odd that our parents hang out all the time….and you and I have never met." Ambrose shook his head.

"Well I'm adopted, and I've seen pictures of April, so I'd guess that you are too," Kendall smirked.

"I think," Ambrose paused, still trying to process all of this, "Before we jump to any conclusions, we need to do research. See if we are connected in any way. Because this still could be just a freak coincidence."

"Or it could be fate. But research sounds like a good start. Oh! And don't tell your mom. Or anyone else. I feel like this is something we've got to do on our own." Kendall instructed.

Though Ambrose was hesitant, he did eventually agree as the two went off, going their separate ways.

Meanwhile, in the same café not too far away, Flora, Rowan and Steven all sat at a table, trying to figure out what song they would do, but also just trying to get acquainted with one another. While Flora and Rowan had a couple of the same classes and were in glee together, they realized they didn't really ever talk, and they were, of course, really just meeting Steven for the first time.

"I'd love to be a part of a big family," Steven spoke dreamily, "You guys are so lucky!"

"It's okay," Flora shrugged, "Most of my siblings are out of the house anyway. My oldest brother Danny is out working with Lex's dads at this new glee club daycare thing," She shrugged, "And my parents are just…real overprotective of me. To the point where Delia and I haven't even met most of the kids that everyone else got to grow up with, at least until we started in glee," She sighed out deeply.

"My parents kinda forget I'm there, I think." Rowan shrugged, "They adopted Hazel a few years back, and even though she doesn't see it, they do everything to make her comfortable and try to make her feel included. My dad especially. I'm glad they do but it does kind of suck when I'm only really close to my brother, Finley." They sighed out.

"I'm jealous that you're even close with your sibling," Steven laughed but shook his head, "There's always kind of been a…divide between Sydney and me. I just wish we were closer."

"The grass really always is greener on the other side, huh?" Flora laughed.

"Don't go chasin' waterfalls," Rowan agreed, laughing in turn.

"Hold on," Steven paused, "Waterfalls. Hello?!"

The three young teens all looked at each other, realizing what had just happened.

"Looks like we found our song!" Flora smiled happily.

Over in the McKinley High, Sophie, Nikki, Eric and Isaac had signed up to have the auditorium the moment they realized they'd be performing the next day, and since Marley was staying late anyway, she'd offered to drive all the kids home.

"Alright," Nikki stood at the head of the stage while her peers were gathered around her. "What kind of direction are we going for here?"

"I'd like to do something kind of fun? Maybe doesn't take itself too seriously?" Eric suggested.

"I agree! I want to be able to shake my groove thing up on this stage tomorrow," Sophie called out, giving a demonstration.

"How about you, Mr. Broody Pants?" Nikki called out to Isaac.

"Honestly? I just got put into my glee club and I really only joined 'cause my brother's a Warbler. I'm down for whatever, 'cause I should be able to pull it off," He shrugged.

"Digging the confidence!" Nikki responded.

"Who's your brother?" Eric questioned curiously, as he knew and got along with most of the Warblers.

"Mack," Isaac admitted with a deep, deep sigh.

"Oh! He's always been nice and easygoing, really loves the song Fireflies, huh?" Eric laughed.

"Tell me about it," Isaac smirked.

"We're getting off topic! I, personally," Nikki continued to grab a hold of the room, "Want to do something kinda old school. Thinking maybe 80s? 90s?"

"I think I've got an idea!" Sophie announced, earning enthusiasm for the rest of the group.

As they all agreed, she began teaching them very easy to follow choreography, getting excited for their performance the next day.

TUESDAY MORNING

Oscar, Teddy, Leah, and Jude had all decided to meet up at the Lima Bean to try to figure out what song they were going to do. Teddy and Oscar were currently waiting for the other two to show up, though Teddy had some hesitations.

"So," He began cautiously telling Oscar, "I do really enjoy Leah. She's very smart and we get along well, but she and Jude both have some…issues. I'm just worried about how it might affect the group."

"Aren't they dating, though?" This was relatively new information to Oscar, as he did not know either of them but was trying to get an idea of the vibe, "Not that it's my business, but I was kind of hoping that would give us, you know, a leg up on the competition."

"They have their ups and downs," Teddy responded nonchalantly, "I don't know much past what Leah's told me. But that is the exact reason I'm glad you and I got here first. We can start working on some ideas. "

"Was there anything in particular you had in mind?" Oscar asked hopefully, "My top artist on Spotify last year was Bach, so I don't think I'm exactly any kind of authority on 'pop groups," He chuckled nervously.

Teddy was going to answer, but of course, was interrupted by the entrance of the aforementioned couple.

"I just don't want to do a song I don't like by a group I barely know," Jude tried to reason logically.

"You always go against me!" Leah hissed, trying to not cause a scene, suddenly changing her demeanor as she noticed Oscar and Teddy staring. "Look what you've done, you've gone and caused a scene," She whispered to her boyfriend who only eyerolled in response.

"Good morning you two," Teddy spoke cautiously, not wanting to make the apparent argument worse, "Oscar and I were just discussing what sort of songs we'd like to do."

"Great, maybe you can settle this for us then," Jude spoke, his tone dry and cool, "Leah wants to do Worth It by Fifth Harmony. I find that song grating and it's just not my vibe."

"I also suggested something by the Spice Girls!" Leah responded, "Which is more than you've given me."

"I think!" Teddy spoke up since he was used to this kind of thing with the Warblers, as Oscar watched with wide eyes, "We should come up with a song as a group. I know Oscar was just saying he's unfamiliar with most pop groups, so we should really focus our energy on helping him and figuring out where to go from there."

While normally Oscar wouldn't love being spoken about like a charity case, he let it pass because he knew that they should be focusing on what they were going to do.

"That sounds doable," Leah spoke and smiled agreeably, a total change from how she'd been speaking to Jude just moments ago.

"I think," Teddy began again, "that maybe a happy middle could be a sort of new age boyband of some kind? A lot of them have produced more rock or even pop punkish sounding music."

"Yeah, sure," Jude shrugged, clearly mentally checking out.

"Alright! Let's get to work on a song then," Leah continued to smile, as they all sat and brainstormed before inevitably heading off to their different schools.

Also at the Lima Bean was Simon, Sutton, and Sawyer, who had their song all planned out, and were just working out the small details and surprisingly, all enjoying each other's company.

"I'm kind of sad we're going in the first group of people," Sawyer admitted, "You guys are pretty cool."

"Simon's pretty cool. I'm incredibly cool." Sutton grinned widely.

"I think we're all pretty cool. For being in the glee club," Simon laughed, "So are we all happy with our parts? All good to go this afternoon?"

"Not only am I confident that we are going to crush it, but I'm also confident that we're going to win! Or die trying!" Sutton called out dramatically, earning him a few looks.

"I don't know about dying," Simon laughed, "But I'm glad we're all on the same page."

"I'd like to give a toast," Sawyer began, "To S Club! Here's to hoping we win but being happy knowing we had as much fun as we could along the way."

"To The S Club!" All three students said in synchronization, raising their cups to meet, sharing a sad sounding 'clink' as they were all paper coffee cups.

"Next time we'll get better glasses," Sutton spoke decisively.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

All the groups were gathered in the McKinley auditorium once again. At the request of all of their directors, they sat together in the groups they were assigned and not with their glee clubs, siblings or friends. The only four groups who weren't sitting with their peers were the ones waiting backstage to go on.

"Alright," Mr. Schue and the other directors stood in front of the stage once more, "Welcome to the first official Lima Show Choir Mixer!"

"If it's the Lima Show Choir Mixer shouldn't there be more than four glee clubs?" Kyla questioned skeptically.

"Yeah, like what about the deaf choir?" Tia, who'd been sat next to Kyla, questioned.

Opting to ignore the outbursts, Harmony spoke up. "Please remember to save your votes until Friday at the end, and please give a welcome to our first group! Felix Porter, Addison McCarthy and my beautiful son, Xavier Pearce!"

While a few of their friends and peers cheered, the applause was still somewhat lackluster, but that did not stop the boys' excitement.

"You guys ready to crush this?!" Felix called out excitedly as they took a moment before entering the stage.

"Oh, we so got this," Xavier smiled widely.

"Let's hit it, fellas!" Addison nodded ecstatically.

The band began playing a somewhat familiar tune, though the lyrics were not what at least a part of the audience was anticipating.

"Number one victory royale," Xavier began, "Yeah, Fortnite we about to get down,"

"Get down!" Felix echoed.

While Lex, Bob, and Emery all exchanged looks of excitement and tried not to laugh, Trina cheered him on, earning herself a look of confusion from her teammate, Savannah.

"Ten kills on the board right now, just wiped-out Tomato Town," Addison sang out.

"My friend just got downed," Felix sang as all three boys made their way around the stage, "I revived him now we're heading southbound,"

Heather laughed out loud at her brother and Mack - who sat next to her - was dancing along. Eric called out "yeah!"s in support for his boyfriend from backstage, earning him a disappointed look from Nikki.

"Now we're in the pleasant park streets," Addison sang once more

"Look at the map, go to the marked sheet," Felix finished up the verse

"Take me to your xBox to play Fortnite today-" Xavier began singing the chorus but was cut off by all of the directors.

"I'm sorry, but, what exactly was that?" Harmony spoke accusingly.

"I think what Mrs. Pearce means," Unique stepped in, "Is that you were supposed to sing a song by a group."

"Well, there's three of us. That makes us a group." Felix responded easily with a shrug of his shoulders.

"How about," Marley spoke up, "We give them a few more days to come up with a real song by a real group?"

"I think that's a very good solution," Will jumped in, before addressing the three young men on stage, "We'll assign you another day to perform, and please, follow the assignment this time," He practically begged, looking at Felix specifically.

"This whomps," Addison mumbled, having learned the phrase from his fellow Warbler, Sutton, who, as they walked backstage congratulated him on such a good performance.

"They're going to be a hard act to follow," Sutton spoke to his teammates.

"Well, at least we've got a song by a real group?" Simon tried to cheer his teammate up.

"Simon's right! Now let's go out there and put on a great show and have fun doing it!" Sawyer spoke happily.

Putting their hands in the middle of a three-person circle, Simon counted down and on three the young men all called out "S Club!"

And that's how they all ended up on the stage, music playing as they moved around.

"S Club!" Sutton sang out on the stage.

"Get down tonight, a come on, yeah
Get down tonight, uh huh, everybody"

Simon spoke-sung as Sawyer sang out over him for one last "Get down tonight"

"S Club" Sawyer sang out, their voice pretty and carrying the song well.

Behind him, Simon and Sutton were jumping around and calling out "there ain't no party like an S Club party!"

Naomi cheered wildly for the group in support for her brother, as Ambrose who sat next to her smiled knowing that this was just so on brand for Sutton.

"Gonna show you how," Sawyer moved around to the music as Kate cheered them on, Zach following suit cheering for his fellow Warbler as Sutton and Simon once again called out behind Sawyer.

"Everybody get down tonight!" They continued to call out just as enthusiastically.

"S Club" Sawyer walked from one side of the stage to the other

"There ain't no party like an S Club party!" Sutton and Simon hip bumped several times in rhythm with the song.

"Gonna take you high" Sawyer's voice sounded better with each note they sang.

"Shake your body from side to side!" Simon and Sutton called out while Sutton stood at the front of stage and shook his entire body, limbs flying sporadically earning him a loud cheer from his friend, Dana, and his fellow Warbler, Tommy.

"Finally Friday night
Feelin' kinda good, lookin' alright
Gotta get movin', can't be late
Gotta get groovin', just can't wait, oh!"

Simon sang out, Will nodding along, noticing that his singing was already becoming a lot better than he initially thought, as Audrey and Finley danced along in their seats.

"Get the feeling" Simon and Sawyer called out in sync, both dancing around the stage.

"Get the feeling," Sutton repeated, reminding everyone of the fact that when he applied himself, he was actually a very good singer and overall performer.

"Push the ceiling," Sawyer and Sawyer sang together once more.

"Push the ceiling," Sutton, per usual, took advantage of his time on stage, moving his arms out, basking in the glory.

"Player hater," The other two moved to each put a hand on Sutton's shoulder.

"Player hater," Sutton repeated once more, placing each of his hands on the other's shoulders before they all called out together.

"Get ready everybody 'cos here we go!" Excitedly they all began to move around the stage, various cheers coming from all over the room.

"S Club" Sawyer once again took the lead.

"There ain't no party like an S Club party!" Sutton and Simon called out, all three boys now jumping up and down, waving their hands trying to get the rest of the auditorium to also get up and jump around, and to their surprise, a good third of them did.

"Gonna show you how," Sawyer sang out powerfully, just as Sutton dropped shouting in sync with Simon to start singing some loud, but not overpowering "yeah"s and "ooh"s, his voice beautiful and strong.

"Everybody get down tonight," Simon continued on his own, surprising most of the New Directions with his charisma.

"S Club," Sawyer moved to the exact middle of the stage where the other two boys were on their way.

"There ain't no party like an S Club party," Simon continued to call out, high-fiving Sawyer as he'd met him in the middle, just moments before Sutton hopped on Simon's back piggyback style, still doing his singing ad libs.

"Gonna take you high," Sawyer managed to sing, despite nearly laughing at the improvised piggy back.

"Shake your body from side to side!" All three of them finished calling out, just as Sutton jumped off Simon's back.

All three looked at each other and laughed, knowing that even though they got more applause and cheers than they were anticipating, they all had a good time, and were each coming out of it with two new friends.

"Wow, way to go guys!" Mr. Schue applauded and clapped; some groups now concerned seeing how well they did.

"Good job out there," Rowan smiled to their brother, as the 'S Club' made their way off the stage.

"Hey, thanks. You're gonna crush it," Simon gave Rowan a knowing smile as Rowan made their way up to where the rest of their group was standing.

"They were really good," Steven spoke almost nervously.

"That's true, but we're also pretty good!" Flora smiled, trying to boost her teammates energy.

"Yeah, you're right," Rowan nodded, a small, polite smile on their face.

Walking out onto the stage, the three young teens brought three stools to the front of the stage. On the right sat Rowan, followed by Flora and then Steven. As the music started, the three began to sway somewhat in sync, before Steven took the first line.

"A lonely mother gazing out of her window," Steven sang, earning a somewhat surprised look from his sister, Sydney, who hadn't been paying attention during his audition a few weeks back and didn't know he could carry a tune. Shaking her head, she continued to listen to him sing, "staring at a son that she just can't touch"

"If at any time he's in a jam she'll be by his side
But he doesn't realize he hurts her so much"

Rowan took over, their voice was still somewhat edgy, but oddly complimented the song, just as Flora piped in taking her part.

"But all the praying just ain't helping at all
'Cause he can't seem to keep his self out of trouble"

"So, he goes out and he makes his money the best way he knows how," Steven sang, his voice smooth.

"Another body laying cold in the gutter," Rowan took the next line, Mia asking Hazel, who'd been sat next to her, if she knew this song was so morose, and was only met by a shrug.

"Listen to me," Flora sang out, her voice clear and pretty as she regained the audience's attention.

"Don't go chasing waterfalls," Steven took the main melody while Rowan took the low harmony and Flora took the higher harmony, "Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to,"

"They're actually pretty good," Frank whispered to Sydney, only knowing Steven was her brother because of how close their parents were.

"I'm just as surprised as you are," Sydney mumbled back begrudgingly.

"I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all
But I think you're moving too fast,"

They continued to sing, all of their voices working surprisingly well together. Flora now taking the lead, and Steven taking the higher harmony, they started on their last chorus.

"Don't go chasing waterfalls
Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to,"

"Isn't that your sister?" Heather questioned Delia, nodding towards Flora.

"Yes. Why?" Delia spoke in hushed tones, and politely though she hoped this wouldn't be going in the direction it usually did.

"Just wondering what it would be like to have a sibling who didn't sing a song about Fortnite," Heather shrugged.

"Could never be me," Chloe muttered, the other girls momentarily forgetting that she was also in their group.

"I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all
But I think you're moving too fast"

They finished out strongly, earning scattered applause from everyone else in the auditorium. Happy it had gone well, the group leaned in for a small group hug, before scurrying off the stage.

"Alright, losers. This is it." Nikki spoke standing on a box so that she towered over the rest of her group. "I don't care what we do as long as we beat," she paused to use a mimicking voice, "the 'S Club'"

"Love the attitude, but why are we so hellbent on beating them specifically?" Sophie asked, knowing she'd asked before but had forgotten to pay attention.

"Sutton," Nikki's eyes narrowed, as she raised a fist in the air.

"I thought we were just trying to have fun," Eric smiled, but talked low, not wanting to cause any upset.

"Nah, I kinda like having an enemy," Isaac smirked, "Let's do this thing."

Walking out on stage immediately too very opposite things happened – on one side of the auditorium Trina cheered the moment Sophie came out. On the other side, Sutton booed the moment Nikki came out, earning him a 'knock it off' look from both Trent and his mother.

"Whenever you guys are ready!" Mr. Schue called out to them, hoping to move this along as smoothly as possible.

All four members of the group began with their backs turned as the music start each all turning on a different, "jitterbug,"

All walking forward on the same beat, Nikki started the song.

"You put the boom boom into my heart
You send my soul sky high when your lovin' starts,"

She sang out, surprising not only her peers, but most of the Troubletones when she was actually able to sing pretty well. Smiling as he watched his sister, Oliver nodded along to the words, Mia dancing in her seat next to him.

"Jitterbug into my brain," Isaac took the stage, doing his best to follow along with the choreography Sophie had come up with, earning a loud, albeit embarrassing, cheer from his brother, Mack, "goes a bang-bang-bang 'til my feet do the same,"

"But something's buggin' me, something ain't right," Eric now took over, as his sister Kate cheered him on and his fellow Warbler Zach once again copied Kate's motions and let out a small cheer as well, "My best friend told me what you did last night,"

"Left me sleepin' in my bed," Sophie started singing as she watched Rey dancing along and then switching her eyes to see Trina still happily mouthing along and cheering her on, "I was dreamin' but I should've been with you instead,"

"Wake me up before you go-go," They all began singing in synchronization, "don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo, wake me up before you go-go, I don't wanna miss it when you hit that high,"

Now all standing in a row, they followed more of Sophie's choreography. While Sophie and Nikki were both clearly the stronger dancers, Eric was enthusiastic, and Isaac was at the very least trying. Addison let out a long, loud cheer to encourage his boyfriend, while Xavier beside him also let out a long, loud cheer to encourage his girlfriend's sister.

"Wake me up before you go-go
I don't wanna miss it when you hit that high
Wake me up before you go-go
'Cause I'm not plannin' on going solo
Wake me up before you go-go
Take me dancing tonight"

They sang out together, before impressing everyone while they harmonized at four different levels, Eric taking the absolute highest note as they sang out, "I wanna hit that high, yeah, yeah!"

While they did seem to get a decent amount of applause, they were all thoroughly happy with how well it went over, high fiving each other and celebrating until Mr. Schue asked them to go take a seat with the other students.

"Wow, really well-done guys! I think I can speak for all of us," He gestured to the other teachers, "When we say how impressed we all were. So alright tomorrow's groups- " He paused to refer to his notes "First we'll have Hazel Jones, Mia McCarthy, Oliver Puckerman and Leslie Jones, second will be Savannah Lopez-Pierce, Trina Hart, Zach Nixon and Kate Karofsky and finally closing up tomorrow's performances will be Finley Jones, Audrey Fabray, Frank Montgomery and Sydney Smythe! We'll see you all back here tomorrow, same time!" Will called out despite the many students already grabbing their things and heading out.

TUESDAY EVENING

Staying behind, Savannah, Trina, Kate, and Zach all sat around the auditorium trying to figure out just what song they were going to do. While they had some ideas, they were still waiting for just the right inspiration to spark.

"I just don't think that we should wait around," Trina tried to speak up, "I mean, we perform tomorrow."

"Well then, give us a song idea," Savannah rolled her eyes.

"I think we all just gotta chill and wait for the song to come to us," Zach shrugged.

"You're an idiot," Savannah rolled her eyes again.

"C'mon, be nice. We're all just trying to figure it out." Kate tried to reason.

"Nah, forget it. I'm out of here, text me when you come up with a song." She put her arms up in surrender, walking out.

"Well, if she's going, I guess I will too." Trina spoke quietly and cautiously, texting Xavier to come pick her up.

Leaving Kate and Zach alone in the auditorium, Kate muttered a small, "of course."

"You good?" Zach questioned, honestly also planning to get up and leave.

"Yeah, I just thought I'd leave behind having to do all the work by myself back in Vocal Adrenaline," Kate shook her head before immediately realizing what she'd said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to like, overshare."

"What do you mean? About Vocal Adrenaline I mean, not oversharing. I know what that means. I think." Zach shook his head in turn, but offering the female next to him a kind smile.

Laughing, Kate tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, before speaking up, "I just…I love them, I do. They're like my second family, you know? But sometimes I feel like…they'd fall apart without me. And I feel awful for saying it but I feel like I'm just always picking up everyone's pieces while trying to carry my own. It's hard to explain," She concluded.

"Hey, no I totally get it," Zach nodded as he spoke, "Like my dad and brother have been through…a lot. Especially the last few years. And I love them so much. But sometimes it feels like I'm just sort of the one normal part of the family that kind of…keeps it together? Like the one constant they both have. I don't know if that made sense," He chuckled, surprised at how easily he was able to open up to her.

"Yeah, kind of like that," Kate smiled, also surprised that she had opened up to him so easily, "Thank you for sharing that with me, by the way. I guess I was just hoping not everything would fall on me during this group work thing." She sighed out.

"Well, hey, it's not falling completely on you," Zach paused, putting his things back down, "Now you got me to help carry the load. Now come here, let's go through a Spotify playlist and find a song we can use." He smiled kindly.

And like it was second nature, Zach and Kate sat together on the stage, listening to a boy band playlist together.

Meanwhile in the Troubletones Choir room – which Oliver had convinced his mother to let him borrow – sat Oliver, Mia, Leslie and Hazel who'd already come up with their song and were trying to get the dance down.

"I don't even like this song," Oliver moaned, "It's one thing to ask me to sing it, it's another to make me dance to it."

"Aren't you in the Warblers? Isn't that their whole thing?" Mia questioned, genuinely confused.

"I thought their thing was acapella?" Hazel thought out loud.

"Doesn't matter what their 'thing' is. I don't want to dance." Oliver responded dryly.

"Well, do you want to win?" Leslie tried desperately.

"Think of it this way," Mia tried, knowing this is how she would normally talk Heather down, "If we win we'll get to pick who we work with next. Which means you'll never have to work with any of us again."

Laughing at what she said, Oliver shook his head. "I mean, I guess you have a point."

"That's the spirit! Now come on," Hazel spoke, playing with one of her many ear piercings, "Let's have Mia show us the steps again."

"We can do this," Leslie spoke up, nodding, all of the teenagers getting in position – Mia standing in front of them going over what she thought were basic steps as the other three tried to keep up.

Just down the hall in the New Directions choir room, Finley, Audrey, Frank and Sydney were all standing around.

"I don't see why we had to have this meeting," Sydney rolled her eyes, "We already have our number planned. What gives?"

"C'mon, Syd," Frank nudged her, knowing how much she disliked that nickname, "I'm sure Audrey had a good reason."

"Fine." Sydney spoke through gritted teeth, only going along because of all the Warbler kids she was forced to grow up around, Frank was the most tolerable.

"I just wanted to go over the routine again," Audrey spoke calmly, "to make sure we all have it down pat."

"I know I need the extra practice," Finley sighed out, "and I'd rather practice with you guys, if that's okay?"

"I mean, we don't really have a choice, do we?" Sydney rolled her eyes.

"Listen, we all want to win. The only way we're going to is if we work as a team." Audrey instructed.

"Fine," Sydney repeated, "But just for the record, I would have picked Frank as my person to work with anyways, so you two are just slowing me down."

"You would have?" Frank's face suddenly turning bright red, looking at Sydney with what could only be described as puppy dog eyes.

"Get a hold of yourself Frank," Sydney brushed him off.

"Can we please just practice?" Audrey once again called the attention in the room back to her.

"Let's do it," Finley nodded.

"Alright, from the top!" Sydney called out as everyone took their places.

Meanwhile, back over at the Lima Bean, Oscar, Teddy, Leah, and Jude were all still trying to come up with a song. Which of course meant, Teddy and Oscar were watching them bicker once more.

"For the last time I'm not doing a Little Mix song, when we already decided on One Direction which is a little outside all of our comfort zones. That's fair." Jude sighed out exasperated.

"It was just a suggestion, Jude." Leah spoke, trying her best once more to not raise her voice and cause a scene.

"Not that I'm picking sides," Teddy tried to interject, "But in Jude's defense we did already pick a song. A One Direction song."

"I can't believe you're taking his side!" Leah spoke, rapidly growing more upset.

"I just…uh…don't think I'll be able to learn a new song," Oscar spoke honestly but hoping if he could take the blame they could just move on.

"That's not what the problem is here, Oscar." Jude spoke looking directly to Leah.

"Okay, I'm leaving. And maybe the Little Mix song I should have suggested was Shoutout to My Ex," Leah spoke angrily, practically stomping out of the café.

"Babe, come on!" Jude called out, following her out.

"How comfortable are you taking the lead on the song?" Teddy asked, defeated.

"Not very," Oscar shook his head.

"Well, you're going to have to be. I'm sure they'll be able to pick it up but…with only a few days left to prepare, it's falling on us." Teddy tried his best to explain, remaining calm despite his annoyance with the scene that was just caused.

Oscar sat for a few long moments, nodding his head before simply uttering the word, "yeah,"

WEDNESDAY MORNING

Ambrose and Kendall had met a couple of times before and after school going through different libraries and archives trying to find anything they could about them possibly being related in any way, shape, or form. While most of the time they'd come to dead ends and Ambrose didn't want to be there, Wednesday morning brought them something different.

Looking at the files before them, clear as day, were records on them both being born and separated within the foster system. While it was at first unbelievable, the deeper they dug, the more they found.

"No. Absolutely not," Ambrose rejected the idea immediately, "This is impossible. I refuse to believe it."

"Ambrose…" Kendall spoke slowly, she was not entirely objected to the idea only because she'd always wanted siblings. "I think…you know, it is."

"No," He repeated, turning to leave, "It doesn't add up? It says we're identical. You have to be the same sex to be considered identical."

"Ambrose," She responded, "Listen to me, I- "

"No. I don't need to listen. We were wrong and that's that. I'll see you at rehearsal." Ambrose sighed out, shaking his head, leaving Kendall to stand alone with the proof of their connection in her hands.

Over at the Lima Bean sat Savannah and Trina who'd come up with a song and were waiting to share it with their teammates. As if on queue Zach and Kate walked in together, excitedly walking up to the other half of their group.

"We have a song," All four young adults said in sync, looking at each other before once again speaking in unison as they all confusingly let out a , "huh?"

"Zach and I worked on a song together last night" Kate began but was immediately cut off.

"Oh I bet you did," Savannah smirked, noting how close they were standing to each other.

Both of them blushed despite the fact that absolutely nothing had happened between them as Kate cleared her throat before continuing.

"No, actually, we just uh, found a song that we think could work to all of our strengths." Kate spoke just as diplomatically and politely as she always did.

"I can rap," Zach smiled nodding slightly.

"Well, we have a song that also works to all of our strengths," Trina took her turn in speaking up, "Including your rapping, Zach. Since you did tell us you could do that already."

"I did?" He questioned confusingly, only earning him a look of pity from Trina and Kate, and an eyeroll from Savannah.

"Anyways," Savannah tried to get the group back on focus, "I've got two words for you."

"Spice girls," All four teens spoke in sync again, surprised that they'd all had the same idea, before laughing together.

"Well, that one worked itself out, didn't it?" Zach laughed, nudging Kate.

"Alright, so, we've got to pull this off in a few hours. Trina and I," Savannah looked to the girl sitting next to her, "Have already started talking about choreography. Can you guys meet us at McKinley on your lunch? And then the half hour before glee?"

"Absolutely!" Kate smiled, agreeing that they were going to need a lot of focus and luck to get this down.

"Look at us! All coming together!" Zach spoke out excitedly.

"What can I say?" Savannah smirked, "I like to win," she spoke to all of her group as they got ready to make their way out the door.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

"Alright everyone!" Trent called out happily as the groups - once again - were sat together but sporadically in the auditorium, "So happy to see you all!"

"Today performing first we've got Hazel, Mia, Oliver and Leslie!" Unique called out, happy to be the one to announce her daughter, "Whenever you kids are ready, come on out and show us what you've got!"

Though they were nervous, especially because they'd really only got it down the day before, they had really become as much of a team as they could have in that time, all coming out on stage together.

While the music played, the group began swaying in place, and Oliver's keen eye picked up on his sister Leah, scowling at Jude as the song started. He also noticed they were separated by Teddy and Oscar.

"All the girls on the block knocking at my door,
Wanna know what it is make the boys want more"

Leslie and Hazel sang out in unison, getting the song started.

"Is your lover playing on your side? Said he loves you, but he ain't got time," Hazel sang out taking the front of the stage while Mia and Leslie happily moved in the background, and to everyone's surprise Oliver was actually trying – he hated the song and couldn't make that more clear, but looking at his youngest sibling laughing was worth it for him as Hazel continued singing, "Here's the answer, come and get it at a knocked down price"

"Full of honey,
Just to make him sweet.
Crystal balling,
Just to help him see"

Leslie took her turn singing out, earning her applause from her mother, while Naomi cheered loudly for Hazel, Tia cheered loudly for Mia and Nikki cheered at a moderate volume for Oliver.

"What he's been missing.
So come and get it,
While you've still got time"

Stepping to the front once more, Hazel took the next part, Will noting her great stage presence.

"Get your boy on his knees
And repeat after me, say,"

She ran back to where the rest of her group was, all following along with the moves they were doing, Oliver once again, embarrassed, but was admittedly not having a horrible time.

"Take a sip of my secret potion,
I'll make you fall in love"

Mia took over the melody of the chorus while everyone else harmonized in the back.

"Go off Mia!" Heather cheered almost embarrassingly loud for her best friend as she took the lead, earning her a side eye from Delia.

"For a spell that can't be broken,
One drop should be enough
Boy, you belong to me,
I got the recipe
And it's called black magic
And it's called black magic"

They continued to perform, everyone genuinely shocked that they had decent choreography, that Oliver was even going along with it, and that all four members sounded really good together.

"Take a sip of my secret potion,
One taste and you'll be mine.
It's a spell that can't be broken
It'll keep you up all night"

They now moved to the front of the stage, all of the Troubletones showing their support for Mia and the song choice.

"Boy, you belong to me,
I got the recipe
And it's called black magic
and it's called black magic"

Finishing up, they earned a loud round of applause from their peers.

"That was impressive!" Unique cheered happily, especially excited for Leslie.

"Great job!" Marley added on, clapping loudly and smiling wide.

"Alright, next up we've got…Savannah, Trina, Zach and Kate!" Will announced.

"Alright guys, we got this," Savannah spoke happily and knowingly, "Let's go kick ass."

"Yeah!" Zach responded, getting himself fired up.

Smiling and using their 'show faces', they all walked out to the stage, choreography that they'd made up just hours before started the moment they were all aligned.

"Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want," Zach and Trina sang loudly,

"So, tell me what you want, what you really really want," Savannah and Kate responded.

"I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want," Zach and Trina continued, earning a loud cheer from their peers, and wide eyes of disbelief courtesy of Oscar.

"So, tell me what you want, what you really really want," Savannah and Kate called out, as both halves were standing on different sides of the stage, now making their way over to one another.

"I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really, really, really wanna zigazig, ah," They each sang, impressing not just the audience, but also themselves with how smooth the choreography was.

"If you want my future, forget my past," Zach sang out, and while it definitely did not sound great, he did his best to sell the song.

"If you wanna get with me, better make it fast," Savannah piped in moving to stand with Zach, while on the other side of the stage Trina and Kate were moving in sync.

"Now don't go wasting my precious time," Trina sang out, her voice indisputably good.

"Get your act together we could be just fine," Kate sang out as Sawyer let out a loud cheer in support of their friend.

"I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want.
So, tell me what you want, what you really really want.
I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really, really, really wanna zigazig, ah"

The group did their call and return once more, all now standing with their hands on their hips looking at the audience.

"Yeah, Savannah!" Audrey cheered out happily from backstage in support of her best friend which earned her an eyeroll from Sydney.

"Go Trina! That's my girlfriend!" Xavier cheered out, leading in Felix and Addison also cheering, just because they liked Xavier and wanted to support him and his girlfriend.

"If you wanna be my lover
You gotta get with my friends
Make it last forever,
Friendship never ends
If you wanna be my lover
You have got to give
Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is"

The group sang in four different harmonies, before all moving to the side, and then behind Zach who, to absolutely nobody's surprise, took the last verse.

"So here's a story from A to Z
You wanna get with me
You gotta listen carefully
We got Em in the place
Who likes it in your face
She got G like MC
Who likes it on an—Easy V
Doesn't come for free
She's a real lady
And as for me?
Ha! You'll see"

He spoke-sang out loudly and confidently with all three girls dancing in sync behind him before they all lined up with him again to sing out, "Slam your body down and wind it all around, slam your body down and wind it all around!"

All moving around the stage in various directions now, singing out one final refrain.

"If you wanna be my lover
You gotta get with my friends
Make it last forever
Friendship never ends
If you wanna be my lover
You have got to give
Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is"

Now Kate and Zach stood back-to-back, as did Savannah and Trina, arms crossed over their chests calling out one last, "If you wanna be my lover,"

Smiling at the loud applause they received, the group laughed, pulling each other in for a group hug, as the group backstage anxiously waited for their turn to go on.

"Alright, this is it," Finley breathed out nervously.

"We got this," Sydney spoke, looking at her group, "At least I do."

"You sure do!" Frank smiled, Sydney rolling her eyes at him.

"Let's do this thing," Audrey nodded confidently walking out to the stage, the other three members of her group following close behind.

Music starting, the team had a decent bit of choreography figured out.

"I'm better, so much better now," Finley started the song, his deep voice complementing it nicely as he moved across the stage, "I see the light, touch the light, we're together now,"

As Finley moved closer back to where the other three were, Frank moved up, making eye contact with the audience, surprising everyone with his charisma and stage presence.

"I'm better
So much better now
Look to the skies, give me life
We're together now,"

He sang out confidently, as Sydney came up to the front, practically pushing him out of the way as she sang out her part.

"We've only just begun, hypnotized by drums
Until forever comes, you'll find us chasing the sun"

Stepping up next to her, Audrey jumped in with her part.

"They said this day wouldn't come, we refused to run
We've only just begun, you'll find us chasing the sun,"

"Yes! Go Audrey!" Lex called out happily, as Bob beside him cheered just as loudly for his brother, while Emery looked away out of second-hand embarrassment.

"Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, you'll find us chasing the sun
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, you'll find us chasing the sun,"

The group all sang together, before Sydney and Frank took a step back, carrying on with the "oh's" as Finley took the main melody and Audrey harmonized.

"And when they say life's faded
We're gonna play in the dark 'til it's golden again,"

The two pairs swapped places, now, Finley and Audrey taking on the "oh"s as Sydney took the main melody and Frank harmonized.

"And now it feels so amazing
Can't see it coming, I will never grow old again,"

They sang together before Sydney let out another "You'll find us chasing the sun,"

Grouping together once more, they sang in a four part harmony again.

"Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, you'll find us chasing the sun
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh,"

The group spun, putting Sydney at the front and center as she let out one final, "You'll find us chasing the sun,"

"Well done everyone!" Trent clapped, happy to see Frank having a standout moment.

"And with that great performance," Marley spoke, still applauding the group, "That wraps it up for today!"

"Tomorrow we'll see Delia Schuster, Heather Porter, Mack Sterling and Chloe Pearce first," Harmony announced, glancing at her notes, a smile on her face as she said her daughters name, "Following them will be Lex Anderson-Hummel, Bob Montgomery and Emery Meeks. And performing last will be Kyla Weston, Tia McCarthy, Michael Anderson-Hummel and Anthony St. James. We'll see you all then!"

WEDNESDAY EVENING

Sitting in the auditorium were Lex, Bob and Emery. They'd enjoyed getting to know each other over the last few days but were having some problems coming up with a song. While Bob was down for anything, Lex wanted to do something fun and upbeat, and Emery wanted to do a song they could connect with.

"This is impossible!" Lex huffed out, albeit a bit dramatically.

"Nothing's impossible with the right attitude?" Bob tried.

"Alright, enough. There's gotta be something. What's something that's going on in your lives right now? But something that's easily accessible in terms of, you know, song selection." Emery tried.

While Bob just shrugged and the three looked at each other for a long moment, Lex finally spoke up.

"Can you guys keep a secret?" Lex questioned in hushed tones despite there only being three of them in the auditorium.

"Of course," Emery responded, already making a note to tell everything to Xavier later.

"I have feelings – big feelings," he paused for dramatic effect, "For a girl who barely knows I exist."

"Oh, the like kind of redheaded girl who performed today right? The one you embarrassingly cheered on?" Emery questioned, not thinking about their words before they were already out in the open.

"How did you know?!" Lex cried out, once again going with strong dramatics.

"It was kinda obvious," Bob shrugged, "I don't notice very much, like, ever. But even I noticed that."

"Alright, I'm gonna do you a solid. I'm gonna help you with this girl," Emery spoke decisively.

"How are you going to do that?" Lex replied, his curiosity peaked.

"The same way I'm going to make sure we win. With a good song," Emery shrugged like it was obvious.

"I don't really care about winning, I just wanna have fun," Bob spoke up once more.

Both other teens opting to ignore him, Lex raised his eyebrows before he spoke, "I'm listening."

"Alright, I'll play the song in the minute, but before I do I need to make sure that you both agree to really feel it, alright? Lex think about that girl who doesn't like you. Bob?" Emery paused, "Think about…whatever you want to, I guess. Ready?"

The two boys nodded in agreement as Emery started to play a familiar song from her phone.

Meanwhile, Chloe had brought her group with her to the Carmel auditorium, after her mom gave her the okay to do so. They were having the same sort of problem. Delia really wanted to do a boyband number, Heather wanted to do a punk, or at the very least, pop punk sounding song, and Mack just wanted to get in touch with his emotions.

"There are lots of boy band songs that do that," Delia noted, referring to Mack wanting to do something emotional.

"You do know where the word emo comes from, right? That's why I think we should sing some My Chemical Romance. Very in touch with emotions." Heather spoke up, barely paying attention to what Delia had been saying.

"I don't think those are the emotions we want to portray," Delia rolled her eyes in response.

Though Heather had opened her mouth to rebuttal, she was distracted by Mack deep sighing.

"What's up, buttercup?" Heather questioned him, putting a hand on her hip, noticing him thinking deeply about something.

"Oh, don't worry about it!" He tried.

"Nah, come on, share with the class," Chloe, who was barely paying attention, spoke up.

"Have you ever liked someone so badly but know you have no chance with them?" Mack sighed out dramatically.

"No," Heather and Delia spoke in unison before exchanging a look.

"Oh," Mack looked down, embarrassed.

"Well, how do you know that you've got no chance with them?" Heather tried.

"Yeah, there's always a chance," Delia spoke, just trying to move the conversation along, not truly caring about what Mack was going through.

"He's straight," Mack mumbled, embarrassed, causing Heather to laugh out loud.

"That's rough, buddy," She shook her head before speaking, "Well look, kiddo," Heather tried to continue.

"I'm two years older than you," Mack spoke, not upset but confused at the term 'kiddo,'

"Okay well, listen up then old man, you gotta channel that into music. So we can win, and you can show your not man that you're moving on," Heather shrugged.

"I think what she means," Delia spoke up once more, "Is that maybe the best way to deal with these emotions is to sing about them. With us. Even if it doesn't help you move on completely, you can at the very least make a start."

"Yeah, I'm sure one of those old boybands of yours has got something, right, baby pigeon?" Heather nodded her head towards Delia.

"Baby pigeon?" Delia furrowed her eyebrows.

"Yeah that's what you stand like." Heather spoke as though it was obvious.

"Anyway, songs," Delia looked at Heather, taking the higher road and ignoring her comment. "I think I might have one. That fits all of our criteria."

Meanwhile, at the Lima Bean, Tia and Michael sat across from Kyla and Anthony who were holding hands.

"So, uh, when the hell did that happen?" Tia questioned, not being able to hide her confusion and some would argue disgust, in her voice.

"Uh, kinda through the week," Kyla shrugged, not wanting it to be made into a big deal, "I don't know, it just happened, but we're happy."

"I'm incredibly happy," Anthony smiled, giving Kyla's hand a small squeeze.

"I guess we're happy for you then," Michael tried, "As long as we're all still good to perform our song, then I guess it doesn't really affect us."

"Will it affect our performance?" Tia's eyes narrowed, moving her glare from Anthony to Kyla.

"It won't. If anything, I think it'll make it better – if that's even possible." Anthony smirked.

"I promise, we'll be great." Kyla nodded, hoping she was right.

"Good. If I wanted to hang out with an annoying couple I'd hang out with Mia and Heather-" She paused before realizing that those names meant next to nothing to the people in her group, "Are we all good on choreo? And our cues?" Tia continued to press.

"Yes, mom." Anthony laughed, rolling his eyes, "God, you should loosen up."

"I'm plenty loose," Tia sneered.

"I'm sure you are," Anthony snickered to himself.

"Woah," Kyla put her hands out in front of her, "That was a little too far,"

"You think?" Tia practically growled.

"Okay well," Michael piped up, wanting nothing more than to just go home, "If that's all, are we done?"

Agreeing it was best if they went their separate ways and met back the next day, the group all packed up and left, nervously awaiting their performance.

THURSDAY MORNING

"Thanks for meeting me here," Kendall spoke, for once in her life, nervously. She hadn't spoken to Ambrose since the morning before and was happy when she had managed to get him to meet her at the Lima Bean, but tensions were high, "I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Ambrose questioned, though he was slightly annoyed at the fact that Kendall was still pushing this twin narrative.

"I…I'm transgender," She announced quietly but proudly.

"So…you're going to start transitioning into a man?" He questioned, confused as to why this was brought up.

"No, I am transitioned – technically still transitioning. But I'm a woman, and I always have been, at least on the inside. But that's why-" She was cut off by Ambrose.

"That's why the records show the twin being a boy," He breathed out heavily, shaking his head. "So, it's true."

"Have you, you know, talked to your mom about it?" Kendall questioned cautiously.

"Well up until now there hasn't really been much to tell has there?" Ambrose's tone came across more harshly than he had meant it to. "No, I haven't. Have you?"

"No," Kendall shook her head, "I don't even know how to bring it up."

"I might never talk to my mom about it…it's hard to talk to her about anything," Ambrose sighed out.

"Well, you have to tell her. We need to know anything we're missing. There's so much to process-" Kendall was once again cut off by her twin brother.

"I don't have to do anything," Ambrose suddenly grew frustrated, "you said yourself just now. It is a lot to process. I need to process this before I have to do anything."

"Come on, I didn't mean it like that," Kendall rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't matter how you meant it. You can just accept this and move on with your life. Great. Good for you. I can't." He got up getting ready to leave, and despite Kendall's protests he muttered a small "See you later," before leaving Kendall alone.

At a nearby table sat Tommy and Mack who were in the middle of a conversation of their own.

"How did you know you were straight?" Mack questioned, seemingly suddenly to his best friend.

"Same way you knew you're bi – just in our individual DNA," Tommy grinned, "Why? Do you think you're something, y'know, other than bi?"

"No!" Mack called out almost defensively. "I was just, uh, wondering," He sighed out, deflated but desperate to change the subject that he had brought up. "Are you excited for your performance tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I am actually!" Tommy fiddled with his coffee cup before continuing on, "I actually was thinking of asking Naomi Jones out. She's an old family friend, and she's performing right after me tomorrow. Do you think that's a good idea? Is she out of my league?"

Even though Mack's heart felt like it just fell out of his butt he smiled and nodded, "If anything you're out of her league."

"Aw you're just saying that," Tommy laughed, with a wave of his hand before standing up and placing a hand on Mack's shoulder, "Now come on bestie, we're gonna be late."

THURSDAY AFTERNOON

In the halls of McKinley, Lex had been waiting for Audrey outside of her class.

"Hey, you," She laughed upon seeing her old friend, "What's up?"

"Just figured I'd walk you to the auditorium since we're both going that way anyways," Lex shrugged contently.

"You're performing today, right?" Audrey questioned.

"I am! I'm actually shocked at how much I like my group. Emery's super chill and surprisingly helpful. Bob is a laugh. They're a great group, I think we've got a real shot of winning," He nudged her.

"Well, don't get used to it. If The Troubletones perform against New Directions at sectionals, you're gonna lose. Badly." Audrey teased, a sly smirk on her lips. "What song are you guys performing today anyways?"

"Guess you're gonna have to wait and see," Lex grinned, opening the door to the auditorium letting Audrey go in before him, "You're going to love it though. I promise." He thought back to the hours of practicing he and his team did in less than 24 hours.

It wasn't long before everyone else filed in from McKinley and the other schools soon followed, for the third day in a row all kids immediately fled to their groups, the three that would be performing knowingly heading backstage in anticipation of their performances.

"Welcome everyone!" Marley called out, "We are now on day three of our little mixer, and I just wanted to say you are all doing phenomenally so far! Me and the other directors have been so impressed!"

Though she was met with blank stares, Unique stood up next to her friend, speaking up, "Alright! So first today we have Delia, Heather, Mack and Chloe!"

In the audience, Flora, Mia, Tommy, and Xavier all prematurely clapped for their friends and siblings as they made their way out onto the stage.

"Remember gang, we just gotta feel it," Heather instructed quietly, "Mack – sing it out to your lost love. Chloe – try to figure out where you are. Delia – do…whatever it is that you do. Let's hit it!"

Moments later, the music began playing as Delia began singing the first part of the chorus.

"Get a call on a random afternoon
I pick it up and I see that it's you
Like my heart, you were breaking the news, you say
It's over, it's over, it's over"

She sang out beautifully, moving in rhythm with the music as she stood at the front of the stage, as Chloe came up beside her to sing the second part of the verse.

"Heading out, cause I'm out of my mind, all my friends are gonna see me tonight," Chloe sang out and while she was looking at Delia to figure out if she was moving correctly, nobody noticed as they were impressed by two things. The first was that she was actually trying to do well. The second was that she sounded absolutely incredible.

"Yes Chloe!" Xavier and Harmony called out in unison, loudly clapping and cheering for her as she continued on singing.

"Staying here 'til the sun starts to rise,
And I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna"

Heather and Mack both moved forward now, Mack taking the lead on the chorus, as charismatic as always, and while his voice was by no means the strongest, he didn't sound bad and he was giving it his all.

"Dance hard, laugh more, turn the music up now
Party like a rockstar! Can I get a what now?"

While Heather called out the words almost more of a chant than singing, Delia and Chloe each took a different harmony and all four voices really tied it together.

"Go Mack! Go bestie!" Tommy called out cheering loudly, which did admittedly throw Mack for a loop, but looking at Tommy he sang the next words out almost directly to him.

"I swear I'll do, anything that I have to
'Til I forget about"

The girls in the group now fluently moving around him, still harmonizing, Mack sang out the rest of the chorus, earning cheers from most of the other Warblers, as this was the best they'd heard him sing yet.

"Jump up, fall down, gotta play it loud now
Don't care, my head's spinning all around now
I swear I'll do, anything that I have to,"

Looking at each other the four teens all struck a pose as they sang out the last few words together.

"'Til I forget about you!"

They earned loud cheers and applause – in fairness the loudest was Xavier cheering for Chloe, but the rest of the students all seemed to enjoy it as well.

As they headed offstage, Lex offered Delia a small "good job," not knowing how good she actually was until that performance.

Meanwhile, Mack and Bob did a secret handshake that only the Warblers knew, while Emery and Chloe exchanged sup nods.

"Alright? We ready to do this?" Lex turned facing his group, hyping them all up.

"Absolutely. Are you ready to get your girl?" Emery smirked.

"Absolutely." Lex repeated, a smirk on his lips.

As the group of three walked on stage, they had their backs turned while the music started, as they shimmied slightly, all turning around as the music picked up, moving around the stage in sync.

"Go Emery!" Xavier called out, his excitement clearly not ceasing at Chloe's perforamnce, just as Emery took the first part of the verse.

"Talking away,
I don't know what I'm to say
I'll say it anyway"

Emery's deep and somewhat raspy voice suited the song well, and surprised most of Vocal Adrenaline with the fact that they did actually have pretty good stage presence when they tried. Lex coming up behind Emery, he jumped in the second she stopped singing.

"Today is another day to find you
Shying away
I'll be coming for your love, okay,"

He made what could be argued flirtatious eye contact with every single person in the audience, but just as he did in his audition, let his eyes linger on Audrey for just a moment too long.

All three teens stood in a line as the chorus came around, Bob surprising nearly everyone with his lower register as he sang the first, "Take on me,"

"Take on me," Lex and Emery echoed it behind him.

"Take me on," Bob showed off more of his vocal power, Teddy noting that it could be useful.

"Take on me," Lex and Emery repeated, all three of them looking at each other, appearing as though they were all having a genuinely good time.

"I'll be gone in a day or two," Bob let his voice go as high as it could, surprising everyone in the audience with the range, despite his voice straining at the end.

"Go Bob!" Frank called out cheering excitedly, as Sydney rolled her eyes beside him.

"Oh, things that you say," Emery sang out, surprising their glee club again with the power in their voice, "yeah, is it life or just to play my worries away"

Impressed, Jude gave a small cheer to support who he would consider to be his only real friend in Vocal Adrenaline, which of course, earned him another small glare from Leah.

Jumping back in, Lex stood directly where he could make eye contact with Audrey, singing his part of the verse out.

"You're all the things I've got to remember
You're shying away,"

"I'll be coming for you anyway," Emery and Bob came up behind him, each wrapping an arm around him as they sang out the last line of the verse together.

"Take on me," Bob moved to the center of the stage, spreading his arms wide as he sang,

"Take on me," Emery and Lex echoed beside him on either side, both shimmying.

"Take me on," Bob continued to carry the chorus, now placing his hands on his stomach.

"Take on me," The pair repeated once more, just as they all spaced themselves out slightly further from each other.

"I'll," Bob started

"Be," Emery continued the line.

"Gone," Lex finished the line as Bob took a few steps back all of them now slightly turned to face each other as they sang out the last line together.

"In a day," They sang out, somehow all achieving the high note in sync, and managed for it to not sound terrible. In fact, it actually sounded pretty good.

Earning applause from their peers, they laughed, as Emery looked out into the audience noticing Audrey smiling at Lex and turned to see Lex pointing at Audrey with a matching smile on his face.

As they approached the last group to perform on their way out, despite Emery blatantly ignoring Anthony, Lex gave Kyla a small smile, and paused for a moment to give his brother, Michael, a small pat on the back while grinning and saying, "You got this,"

"Thanks," Michael responded with a small smile.

"No fraternizing with the enemy," Anthony snapped.

"Bold of you to say, considering you've literally got your arm wrapped around someone who's in an opposing glee club," Tia sneered, nodding towards Anthony and Kyla.

"Whatever," Anthony rolled his eyes.

Though tensions were still high in the group, they made their way out on stage just as a familiar tune began playing in the background, the group swaying together, just as Tia began singing.

"When I had you to myself, I didn't want you around" She sang out, her voice just as impressive as ever, "Those pretty faces always made you stand out in a crowd,"

"Yay Tia!" Mia cheered out happily, clapping her hands excitedly.

"But someone picked you from the bunch, one glance was all it took
Now it's much too late for me to take a second look,"

Tia finished her verse, switching her place in front of her team with Michael who stepped in front of everyone as he took the chorus,

"Oh, baby, give me one more chance," He sang out soulfully.

"To show you that I love you," His team backed him up dancing around him as Michael's moves matched but weren't quite as eccentric.

"Won't you please let me back in your heart?
Oh, darlin', I was blind to let you go,"

Michael continued to sing out earning him a loud cheer from his closest friend, Eric.

"Let you go, baby," Anthony, Kyla and Tia all sang together,

"But now, since I see you in his arms," Michael sang out before Kyla moved to the front as Anthony, Tia and Michael all made various "bum"s behind her.

"All I want," Kyla sang out, her voice powerful and strong, suiting the part she was given well, "All I need,"

As the group behind her continued making various back up noises, Oscar let out a small cheer in support of his friend.

"All I want," Kyla continued before preparing herself for the next few notes which she delivered powerfully and flawlessly, holding the last note, "All I need,"

"Oh, darling, I was blind to let you go," Anthony sang, his voice just as powerful and strong as Kyla's but audibly more trained, impressing most of the audience, "But now, since I see you in his arms, I want you back," He continued strongly.

All four now stood in a row together, calling out one last more, "I want you back!"

As the audience cheered for them, Anthony pulled Kyla into a hug, while Tia waved at her friends in the audience.

As the group finally made their way back to the front, Trent stood up to do the closing remarks.

"Wow! You have once again impressed all of us! Thank you all so much!" He smiled widely before moving on, "Now, tomorrow first we'll have Felix Porter, Addison McCarthy and Xavier Pearce doing their re-do, followed by my son Oscar Nixon," he paused to look at Oscar who was embarrassed by the call out, as Trent continued, "Leah Puckerman, Teddy Chang and Jude Hart. Third will be Rey, Dana and Tommy Abrams and closing out the show will be Naomi Jones, Cay Chang, Ambrose Rhodes and Kendall Holliday! Thank you all so much and we'll see you then!"

THURSDAY EVENING

The Abrams had stayed behind at the McKinley stage, despite knowing that they would do phenomenally. They had practiced and gone through their number time and time again and now were satisfied with their performance.

"Do you think we're gonna win?" Rey questioned as she sat in a circle with her siblings.

"Of course we are! Mom didn't raise us to be quitters," Tommy shrugged.

"Yee haw!" Dana called out raising their hands over their head.

"I'm just worried it's going to be more of a…you know, popularity contest," Rey sighed out.

"Even better!" Tommy called out excitedly not thinking of this possibility before. "We've got pull in almost all of the glee clubs between the three of us. Plus our parents somehow know literally everyone. We're guaranteed a win!" He grinned thinking about it, "Which would be great 'cause then we'd get to work together again!"

"That's actually a pretty good point," Rey smiled nodding in agreement. "But just in case – should we go through it one more time?"

"Yippee ki yay!" Dana spoke up, standing up, showing their agreement to Rey's thoughts.

"Alright, let's take it from the top!" Tommy stood up moving to press play on their instrumental once more before they began to move in sync.

In the New Directions choir room of the same building, Naomi and Cay sat confused as to what was going on with Ambrose and Kendall.

"I get it, even if there is something going on in terms of relations or whatever," Naomi stated, "I just wish they didn't feel so distant in rehearsals."

"It's exhausting. We're amazing, don't get me wrong. But it's a group challenge. We chose the song, we did the choreography, literally all they have to do is show up," Cay agreed, clearly frustrated at the situation.

"Like I said, I know they've got stuff going on, but just show up to rehearsal." Naomi sighed out, recounting that most of the times they'd met up to practice it had only been either Kendall or Ambrose who'd showed up and the odd time they were there together it was like they were miles away.

"All I want is one practice where we kick some serious tail and are actually good together," Cay shook her head.

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" Kendall smiled as she entered the room.

"We were waiting for you," Naomi's tone was cool but cautious.

"Well, I'm here. And I brought Ambrose with me." Kendall smiled, as Ambrose stepped into the room behind her.

"Are you guys…you know, good?" Cay raised her eyebrows.

"No," Ambrose spoke bluntly, "But we want to win as much as you guys do so we decided that we need to come together and pull this off so that we can, as Cay so eloquently put it, kick some serious tail." He smirked.

"Amazing!" Naomi cheered out, immediately stepping into the role of leader, "Alright so, let's start by making sure we've got the moves down and then we'll do some vocals, yeah?"

Hearing no sounds of disagreement, the group followed Naomi's lead, all working together surprising themselves at how well they were doing.

Over at Xavier's house things were going well, though not nearly as put together as the other groups.

"It's so cool that your parents let you stay home alone," Addison mentioned to Xavier as they sat with Felix, all three boys' eyes on the TV in front of them, gaming consoles in their hands.

"Yeah, my moms say they sometimes need like a break from us or something," Xavier shrugged, "And we're not totally alone, I'm sure Chloe is here somewhere, probably."

"Ah, crap!" Felix called out, suddenly dropping the controller in his hand.

"You good bro?" Addison turned looking at him only slightly.

"Oh no," Xavier dropped his controller too, eyes widening as he realized what was wrong, "We don't have a song for tomorrow. My mom is going to kill me! Trina is going to be so disappointed in me!"

"Dude, chill," Addison gently placed his controller down, going through the mental rolodex in his head of songs he knew they all liked, "What about that one by those guys? With the mustaches?"

"Hall and Oates! Addison you're a genius!" Xavier called out his eyes wide. "Should we throw something together quickly now?"

"Nah, that's a future us problem," Felix spoke decisively.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Addison agreed nodding, "What do we say fellas, one more round?" He nodded to the TV, leading the boys into restarting their game.

FRIDAY MORNING

Meeting at the Lima Bean for one final meeting before they went on that afternoon, Oscar, Leah, Teddy, and Jude all sat around a table in that order.

"Are we all sure of our parts?" Teddy tried to ease everyone, but the tension was noticeable.

"I've got mine," Oscar noted what he was trying to do and smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, all good." Jude nodded, trying to keep things as relaxed as possible.

"Yep!" Leah smiled cheerfully though even paying an ounce of attention to her would make anyone see right through the façade.

"Well, to be quite honest," Teddy spoke carefully, "Parts of working with you lot were fun. And it was a pleasure working with you, Oscar." He smiled towards the other boy.

"You too, Teddy. I'm glad that, if nothing else, you and I were able to get close," Oscar spoke pleasantly, though it was obvious both were tiptoeing around the fact that this week was hell for them, the only real positive coming of it was the two of them bonding.

"Right. Well, I'm going to go because I don't want to be late, and I don't really want to see where the rest of this conversation goes." Jude spoke standing up, lazily throwing his bag over his shoulder. "Oscar, Teddy, always a pleasure. I'll see you back at McKinley this afternoon."

Oscar and Teddy exchanged looks before Leah spoke up.

"I'm uh, really sorry you guys got caught in the middle of that," She shook her head, "I'm really embarrassed."

"I understand and accept your apology. But – and stop me if I'm overstepping – you really need to sort out whatever is going on with you two. Because now it's not just affecting you. It's affecting the people around you." Teddy spoke calmly as to not upset his friend, but knew it had to be said.

"No, I know. Believe me, I haven't stopped thinking about that." Leah shook her head.

"Well, I hope whatever happens is the best thing, for both of you." Oscar smiled, barely knowing either person in the couple before this week.

"That's very kind of you, Oscar. And Teddy, as always, thank you. But I think I'm going to head out." Leah smiled kindly, "I'll see you all later."

"You're a good dude, Teddy," Oscar spoke as Leah was out of earshot, "I don't think I would have been able to keep my cool that long. My dad tells me how you're sort of the backbone of the Warblers too. You're a natural born leader." He complimented his new friend knowing that no matter what happened with their group this week, or how annoying he though it was, it was the kind of thing Teddy dealt with all the time.

"Thank you for saying that, Oscar. Really. Thank you. I hope we stay friends after all this is said and done," Teddy smiled.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Oscar smiled, moving to cheers his coffee cup with Teddy's.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

The last day of the mixer had come, and the groups sat excitedly in the audience, waiting to see the performances. At this point, most of the groups were getting along swimmingly to the point that the directors once again had a hard time getting their attention.

"SHUT UP!" Harmony called out, remembering how they'd gained their attention at the beginning of the week. All eyes turning to her, she smiled before continuing, "Alright! Last day! Please make sure you have your sheets ready so we can take votes at the end."

"That's right!" Will spoke up, "After our last performance, you can all feel free to mingle while we count the votes, and we'll announce the winners at the end. But first! Please welcome back to the stage, Felix, Addison, and Xavier!"

"We got this, fellas," Addison smiled to his newfound brotherhood.

"Hell yeah we do!" Felix agreed, going to high five both other men at once.

"Go team!" Xavier called out excitedly directly before they walked onto the stage.

They were immediately met by applause from Trina and Eric both supporting their boyfriends, even before they performed. As the band began playing behind them, they surprised each other by being able to move in sync with the music and in sync with each other, despite spending exactly six minutes on choreography just before they went on.

"What I want you've got and it might be hard to handle," Felix started the song, his lower range going well with the song, still stepping in sync with the other boys, as he continued on "like the flame that burns the candle, the candle feeds the flame, yeah, yeah,"

Moving so that Addison was now in the middle, he took the next part of the verse, his voice easily carrying the words.

"What I've got's full stock
Of thoughts and dreams that scatter
Then you pull them all together
And how I can't explain
Oh, yeah"

Xavier now taking the lead, switched spots with Addison, all three boys now in a swaying sort of motion together.

"Well, well you," Xavier sang out happily, being sure to make eye contact with Trina as he sang.

In the background, Felix and Addison backed him up with various, "Ooh-ho, hoo-ooh, ooh-oo"s

"You make my dreams come true
Well, well, well you
Oh, yeah
You make my dreams come true
You make my dreams
Come true"

Addison jumped into to harmonize while in the back Felix continued to "ooh"

Emery cheered out for Xavier, while Bob and Lex followed suit for the members of their glee clubs, not understanding that Emery was cheering for Xavier because he was her best friend, and not just because they were both in Vocal Adrenaline.

"Listen to this!" Xavier struck a pose as he finished the line, leading Felix into his next line.

"I'm down on my daydream," Felix sang out earning him a small, miniscule cheer from his sister, Heather.

"Oh, that sleepwalk should be over by now," Addison sang out as most of his fellow Warblers showed their support by offering encouraging head nods.

"I know," Xavier sang out, before pointing to Addison.

"'Bout you!" Addison sang in a range so high nobody in the room, including himself, knew he even had.

While Felix jumped back in to singing "ooh's", Addison and Xavier took the rest of the song together, all three boys dancing in various and vastly different ways, though it somehow worked for them.

"Yeah, yeah
You make my dreams come true
Oh, yeah
I've waited, waited for you, girl
Oh, yeah
You make my dreams come true
Come true"

They finished the song, each boy sticking a first up in the air as their final pose. To their surprise they got a decent amount of support from the audience, all high-fiving each other as they made their way backstage.

"Good luck out there, bestie!" Xavier smiled as he saw Jude, giving him a small but firm pat on the back, completely unaware of what the group had been through that week.

Jude simply rolled his eyes and shook his head knowing it would be best to just not engage.

"Alright, well. I guess we just go out and do this thing then?" Oscar sighed out.

All four members walked out onto the stage, they pulled stools from the back before sitting in a row. First was Leah, followed by Teddy, Oscar and then finally Jude on the far end.

The music started playing in the back, as Oscar started to sing.

"Going out tonight," His soft and gentle voice immediately stuck out as it sounded beautiful against the music, "changes into something red,"

"Yeah Oscar! Show 'em how it's done!" Zach cheered out excitedly and too loudly, earning him a nudge from Kate as if to say, 'not the time,' as Oscar continued his part of the verse.

"Her mother doesn't like that kind of dress
Everything she never had she's showing off,"

He finished off on a pretty note, just as Leah took over.

"Driving too fast
Moon is breaking through her hair
She's heading for something that she won't forget,"

Her voice was pretty and suited the song, but she swallowed hard before saying her next line, closing her eyes and thinking about the week she'd just had as she sang out the words

"Having no regrets is all that she really wants,"

Though Teddy looked at her for a moment, he went back to tapping his hand on his leg along to the rhythm as he started the chorus, all three other students "ooh"ing as he started.

"We're only getting older, baby
And I've been thinking about it lately
Does it ever drive you crazy
Just how fast the night changes?"

Teddy sang out as Cay and all of the Abrams cheered him on from backstage. His voice wasn't as strong as the others but he was able to follow the melody before falling into the "Ooh"s as Jude took the rest of the song.

"Everything that you've ever dreamed of, disappearing when you wake up," He sang out, his voice still edgy and strong, but more emotional than he, or anyone else was used to. While he kept his eyes closed for the first bit, he opened his eyes, fixating them on a spot in the audience as he wrapped up the song.

"But there's nothing to be afraid of
Even when the night changes
It will never change, baby
It will never change, baby,"

He took a quick, deep breath, glancing at Leah for only a quick moment before looking back to the audience, a sense of sadness in his voice as he sang the last line. "It will never change me and you,"

While they got a decent amount of applause, and Teddy was glad they had got through the performance without a hitch, tensions were high and while the audience was impressed by the emotional performances by Leah and Jude, they were also somewhat confused by it.

Regardless of all of that though, they made their way back stage, all of the Abrams congratulating all of them on a job well done, though they specifically got hyped up about Teddy. Who, while he was flattered, just wanted to wish his sister, Cay, good luck as she was in the very last group to perform.

The Abrams weren't backstage long enough to see that though, as they were called out on to stage and let the music start the minute they stepped foot in front of the audience. They had full choreography and it showed immediately.

"Can you hear them?" Rey sang out as she and Tommy intricately moved between each other as Dana mimicked their movements.

"They talk about us," Tommy sang the next line, Mack cheering for him from the audience, earning him a less than friendly look from Heather.

"Telling lies," Rey continued, now all three students moving to the front of the stage, still dancing in complete synchronization.

"Well that's no surprise," Tommy sang back as though he and Rey were having a conversation.

"Can you see them," The youngest Abrams sang once again, looking at Tommy and then to the audience, "See right through them,"

"They have no shield, no secrets to reveal," Tommy sang out, the three now making their way to the dead center of the stage, once again with incredibly well thought out and equally as well executed choreography before Rey and Tommy sang together.

"It doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous games people play
Our lips are sealed,"

There was applause from practically all directions of the auditorium since, just as Tommy had mentioned the day previous, everybody knew the Abrams. However, that could not prepare them for what happened next.

As the music slowed slightly, Rey and Tommy each took one of Dana's legs, lifting them up virtually above the two other Abrams' heads, as they sang out in a higher and softer voice than anyone even knew they had.

"Hush, my darling, don't you cry," Dana sang out as their siblings made sure they were at the very front of the stage, turning slightly so they were now standing backwards.

"No fucking way," Teddy spoke breathlessly at what he assumed was about to happen. Moments later he was proven correct.

"Quiet, angel," Dana still sang out beautifully leaning back just slightly as their siblings continued to hold them up, "forget their lies,"

The exact moment Dana finished singing, their siblings launched them off the stage, Dana somehow managing to complete a perfect double backflip landing directly in front of the directors, continuing to dance and even echo their sibling's words as Rey continued singing and Tommy continued dancing as though that didn't just happen.

"Can you hear them
They talk about us
Telling lies
Well, that's no surprise,"

Rey sang out, and while the audience was still in shock from the sudden launch, there was no denying that she sounded fantastic.

"Can you see them
See right through them
They have no shield
No secrets to reveal"

Tommy sang out the second part of the verse, his voice also very pretty and melding well with the song, finishing just as Dana jumped back on the stage, falling in step with Rey and Tommy as they continued their choreography, all three singing and finishing the song out together.

"It doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous games people play
Our lips are sealed,"

They sang, many of the audience clapping along now, some nodding or singing along.

"Pay no mind to what they say
It doesn't matter anyway
Our lips are sealed
Our lips are sealed
Our lips are sealed,"

They finished before all taking a bow together, as the audience went wild, making them the first group to get a standing ovation.

"Wow that was…impressive, guys! Dangerous, but very impressive." Will congratulated them, "And finally for our last group! Whenever you guys are ready, come on out!"

While the Abrams walked backstage, Rey gave Cay a quick hug for good luck while the other members of the group looked at each other, unsure of how they were going to follow whatever that was.

"Well, I guess we just gotta go do the damn thing," Naomi huffed out, all three members following her out onto stage. While they did at least have one good practice, they knew they just had to get it over with.

The music starting, all four members of the group sang with Kendall taking the main melody, Cay, Ambrose, and Naomi all harmonizing.

"Say my name, say my name
When no one is around you
Say baby I love you
If you ain't runnin' game
Say my name, say my name
You actin' kinda shady
Ain't callin' me 'baby'
Why the sudden change?"

They had intricate choreography planned out, and the audience was pleasantly surprised at how good they all sounded and moved together. As they continued to dance together, Ambrose now took the main melody while Kendall joined the other girls in harmonizing.

"Say my name, say my name
When no one is around you
Say baby I love you
If you ain't runnin' game
Say my name, say my name
You actin' kinda shady
Ain't callin' me 'baby'
Better say my name,"

As they all moved to the front of the stage, they once again showed off how well they could all move and how in control of their own bodies they were, Naomi taking the lead on the verse.

"Any other day
I would call, you would say
'Baby, how's your day?'
But today, it ain't the same
Every other word is 'Uh huh', 'Yeah, OK'
Could it be that you are at the crib with another lady?"

Both Tommy and Simon let out a loud cheer for Naomi as she smiled, still moving in sync with her group, continuing with the second part of the verse, her smooth, pretty and powerful voice lending itself well to the song.

"If you took it there
First of all let me say
I am not the one to sit around and be played
So prove yourself to me
If I'm the girl that you claim
Why don't you say the things
That you said to me yesterday"

Finley now clapped for Naomi, just as she and Cay switched spots, Cay taking the next part, all members of the group still moving fluidly.

"I know you say that I am assuming things
Something's going down, that's the way it seems
Shouldn't be no reason why you're acting strange
If nobody's holding you back from me
'Cause I know how you usually do
Where you're saying everything to me times two
Why can't you just tell the truth?
If somebody's there, then tell me who,"

Her voice was soft, but sultry and strong as she sang the words out, the group continuing to move around behind her as both Teddy and Rey cheered for her performance. Ambrose took the main melody of the chorus again, with Naomi and Cay harmonizing and Kendall doing some lowkey but powerful riffs as the song continued.

"Say my name, say my name
When no one is around you
Say baby I love you
If you ain't runnin' game
Say my name, say my name
You actin' kinda shady
Ain't callin' me 'baby'
Why the sudden change?"

While the group had initially impressed the audience with their ability to move in sync with the music and with each other, there was no denying the absolute talent each member individually possessed when it came to both singing and dancing, each continuing and absolutely nailing the part they were singing.

"Say my name, say my name
When no one is around you
Say baby I love you
If you ain't runnin' game
Say my name, say my name
You actin' kinda shady
Ain't callin' me 'baby'
Better say my name,"

They all ended with their hands on their hips, the audience clapping and cheering for them, the four teens on the stage laughing and looking at each other, happy that they had managed to pull it off despite everything that happened earlier that week.

After they'd walked off stage and took a seat among their peers, the directors got up and stood in front of them all in a row.

"Before we start voting, I would like to congratulate you all on an incredibly successful week," Mr. Schue spoke up smiling, looking around the room at all the different students, "You all came together despite your differences and at the end of the day, that's what glee is all about."

Though, per usual, most students rolled their eyes, Unique spoke up recapturing their attention.

"So, cast your votes and hand them in to one of us. Mrs. Pearce and I will stay here and supervise, while the other three directors go tally up the votes." She explained.

"Why do we have to supervise?" Harmony practically whined.

"Because nobody trusts that you won't fix the vote so that your kids win. And I'm here to supervise you." Unique explained, raising her eyebrows.

"Alright!" Marley called out, hoping to move things along, "Get to voting!"

While there were a few groups muttering during the process, it went over much more smoothly than everyone was anticipating, all the teachers collecting everyone's papers before being told to just 'hang out and mingle' while the votes were counted.

Immediately, most of Vocal Adrenaline swarmed Dana to congratulate them on their backflip, acknowledging that they could use that at a competition down the road. This only held Sydney's attention for a moment though, as she turned her head and saw Kate sitting and laughing with Zach. Without a second thought they made their way over to her.

"Kate, may I have your attention for a moment?" Sydney asked, her voice aggressively sweet.

"Um, sure," Kate looked at her confused, "I'll be back in a minute," She turned to smile at Zach, just seconds before Sydney pulled her far enough away from everyone to be out of earshot.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Karofsky?" Sydney asked, her voice hushed but emotive.

"I'm sorry?" Kate questioned, "I don't quite follow."

"The Warbler? Come on, you're a smart girl. Don't waste your time, breath, or talent on that. We have a sectionals competition to prepare for. You're one of our key players and we can't have you distracted." Sydney explained, huffing out.

"I'm a key player?" Kate's eyebrows furrowed as this was news to her.

"Yes. So don't mess this up for us," Sydney warned before turning away, not wanting to cause a scene making her way back to where the rest of Vocal Adrenaline was huddled together, though now were breaking up into smaller groups.

"You did so great! I'm so proud of you!" Xavier shouted trying to hug Jude who instinctively moved out of the way.

"Thanks, dude," He shook his head and smirked. He'd never admit it, but he was glad to be back with Vocal Adrenaline and done with the group assignment.

"Emery, you did amazing too, bestie! I love you guys so much!" Xavier dramatically cried out, earning a laugh from Emery who'd been standing with them, before he was immediately distracted by Trina in the distance, "Now if you two will excuse me I see my beautiful girlfriend and must go say hello." He smiled before literally running off.

"Think he missed us?" Emery chuckled and after a few long moments of silence, lowered her voice, but keept it relaxed, "Sorry if I'm overstepping or something but uh, you all good, dude? I noticed you being kind of…off in your performance and the few other times I'd seen you this week. I know it's not my business, but I dunno. Just wanna make sure you're good."

Surprised that Emery had noticed him at all, Jude shrugged, "Yeah, I'm uh, yeah, all good. Just a weird, kind of bummer week, I guess. But thanks for checking in. Nobody else really has. In a while. Ever, actually. So just, uh, thanks." He finished, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"No worries, I get it. I rarely, you know, get checked in on either." Emery admitted, shaking their head, "But hey, you've got a friend in me. And in Xavier. Maybe if you're nice we'll even let you join the alien language club," She smirked.

"Hard pass," Jude rolled his eyes, but laughed.

Meanwhile just a few feet over, Tommy had practically jumped on Mack's back.

"Where did you come from?" Mack was at first startled, but then laughed.

"Where did I go?" Tommy smirked.

"Where did you come from Cotton-Eye Joe?" They sang out together laughing.

"So great news!" Tommy zoned back into the reason he had come to bother his friend, "I asked Naomi out. And she said yes!"

"Oh!" Mack was slightly surprised, but did his best to hide his disappointment, "That's uh, that's great, Tommy! I'm really happy for you."

"Do ya mean it?" Tommy raised his eyebrows but laughed, "Seriously though, thank you! I'm super excited. I'll let you know how it goes, okay?"

"Sure thing," Mack smiled sadly, but Tommy didn't seem to notice as he ran over to tell Teddy his good news.

Even though Tommy didn't notice, Heather who'd just finished a conversation with Audrey had noticed, and excused herself to go see Mack.

"How you holding up kiddo?" She asked him, placing a hand on his back.

"I'm…not sure yet," He sort of half-laughed, "I'll let you know when I know."

However, now that Audrey was standing alone, Lex made his way over to her, looking at Emery from who from across the room had given him a thumbs up after gassing him up all week to take the plunge and just ask Audrey out.

"Hey!" He greeted his old friend happily, "You guys did great this week," Lex continued to smile.

"Hey Lex, thanks! Your group did fantastic. What a great song!" She smiled back.

"I was, you know, singing it to you," He admitted sheepishly, as if it was a secret.

"I guessed that," Audrey laughed.

"So uh, are you, you know, free tonight? I thought maybe we could hang out or something, like, outside of school." Lex swallowed hard, eyes flicking from one side of the room where Emery was nodding in encouragement, to the other side of the room where Bob was giving him a thumbs up, then finally back to Audrey.

"Lex that's so sweet! But I actually have plans tonight," Audrey gave him a sort of pitiful side smile.

"Oh…uh, what kind of plans?" He asked, still just as sheepishly as before, despite knowing it was none of his business.

"I'm actually going on a date," Audrey blushed, looking down at the floor before looking back up to Lex.

"Oh! With…who?" Lex's eyes furrowed, just as the aforementioned date showed back up beside Audrey.

"Me," Heather smirked.

"Heather?" Lex questioned, trying to wrap his head around it.

"So funny, right? I thought she was with Mia but…" Audrey trailed off, just for Heather to finish the sentence for her.

"We're not exclusive, it's an open relationship, yadda, yadda." Heather waved her hand as if to dismiss the subject.

"Oh, well, uh," Lex looked back in Emery's direction just to see that they saw it go south and had turned away, as did Bob, leaving him on his own, "I hope you ladies have a lovely evening."

As Lex slumped away disappointedly, he walked by Kyla who was introducing her friend, Oscar to her new boyfriend, Anthony.

"Wow, this is so…sudden," Oscar shook his head, blinking in disbelief. He and Kyla weren't incredibly close by any means, but it was strange to him that she had known this guy for less than a week and was already calling it exclusive. Shaking his head as if to rid himself of the thoughts, he smiled politely, "But it's very nice to meet you, Anthony."

"Likewise," Anthony nodded, "Now if you two will excuse me I should make an appearance over with the V.A. gang. I'll see you later?" He asked Kyla before planting a kiss on her cheek, making his way over to where most of his glee club was standing.

"Don't say it," Kyla looked at Oscar, immediately knowing what he was going to say.

"I wasn't going to say anything!" He lied.

"You think that he's just using me so he can spy in on New Directions," Kyla raised her eyebrows.

"Okay, fine, you got me. I just, I don't know, something about him seems…off." Oscar shook his head.

"Look, Oscar. You trust me, right? I don't know where things are going with him but right now, he makes me happy. Shouldn't that be enough?" She sighed out.

"You're right. I'm sorry." Oscar shook his head before offering an apologetic smile. "If you're happy, I'm happy."

Although Kyla was going to respond, her thoughts were interrupted by the directors walking back on stage.

"Alright everyone! The results are in!" Trent called out happily, "Please settle, take your seats back with your groups before we announce the winner!"

And just like that all the kids sorted themselves out, sitting together with the groups they'd spent all week with waiting anxiously to hear the results.

"Drumroll, please!" Unique announced, many of the kids lightly hitting their knees sporadically at the command.

"And the winner is…" Marley paused, laughing slightly as she looked at the names on the piece of paper before her, "The Abrams!"

"YEAAAH!" They all called out, viciously dabbing, jumping, shimmying and eventually Tommy and Dana bumping their torsos together.

While there was a bit of upset among some of the kids, most of them agreed that if they couldn't win at least, it was the Abrams because after the backflip, they deserved it.

"Well, that wraps it up for the first official Lima glee club mixer! Thank you all for participating, and once again, congratulations to all of you on a spectacular week." Will called out, while some of the kids were excited to get out of there, others were kind of sad the week was over. Regardless though, most of them left knowing they'd at least made a new friend or two.

FRIDAY EVENING

As Ambrose entered the kitchen, he was surprised to see his mother waiting there for him. He had been avoiding her most of the week as it had definitely been a weird one, and he was still working on processing it all.

"Heya, kiddo. How was glee this week? How about that field trip?" April smiled, sitting down to eat the dinner their cook had just put out for both of them.

"It was fine, just a little scrimmage between glee clubs," He decided it would be best to not bring up the whole twin situation and to spare as many details as he could.

"Well, did ya win?" April asked, her mouth already full of food.

"No, but it's alright. There's always next time, right?" Ambrose offered a somewhat morose smile.

"That's the spirit! Now come on, your dinner's getting' cold," April nodded towards the second plate of food on the table.

"I might skip on dinner tonight. It's been a long week, I think I just need some rest," Ambrose shook his head, stepping to give his mother a small side hug and a kiss on the side of her head, "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Kendall had decided to take a different approach, knowing that she wouldn't be able to hold in what she'd found out that week. While she'd also been avoiding her mother, she knew eventually it would come out.

"I just don't get why you didn't tell me!" Kendall felt herself crying out – she and her mother had disagreements in the past, but this was the first time she felt they were truly fighting.

"How can I tell you something that I didn't know?!" Holly responded back, just as in shock and surprised as Kendall was about what she'd found out that week.

"How could you not know?! We've been in the same town for years! You're his mother's best friend. How the hell did you 'not know'?" Kendall hated how she felt when she argued with Holly, but this was something she wasn't going to let up on.

"Kendall, I'm telling you the truth! You know I've never met Ambrose. The same way April's never met you!" Holly tried to defend herself.

"Yeah, I bet there was a reason for that, wasn't there?" Kendall sneered, "Forget this, I'm leaving."

"And where exactly do you think you're going?" Holly put her hands on her hips, shocked at what was happening, unable to even process it.

"My new friend Naomi said if anything went down, her door was always open. And I guess something went down, didn't it?" Kendall glared at her mother for just a moment before practically leaping out the door, leaving Holly shocked and unsure of what to do next.

A/N: Thanks for making it this far, besties! I'd love to hear your thoughts, and please, as I mentioned earlier, feel free to use the forum! Can't wait to see what you all think, thanks so much for reading!

Chug Jug With You (Victory Royale) - Leviathan
S Club Party - S Club 7
Waterfalls - TLC
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham!
Black Magic - Little Mix
Wannabe - Spice Girls
Chasing The Sun - The Wanted
'Til I Forget About You - Big Time Rush
Take On Me - a-ha
Want You Back - The Jackson 5
You Make My Dreams - Hall & Oates
Night Changes - One Direction
Our Lips Are Sealed - The Go-Go's
Say My Name - Destiny's Child