A New Direction - SYOC CLOSED

by safeDbeginswiths

A second gen syoc! Please read details inside :)

9. Duets

A/N: Hi everyone! Welcome to what is the longest winded chapter of this story to date I think lol. It's pretty long and I won't lie gets VERY shippy at certain points lol so I hope you all enjoy! That said I have a few things as well as a bit of a major announcement!

First of all, like I mentioned this chapter is a bit long winded and all over the place but I realized Sectionals will be the next chapter (!) and there were a lot of things I had to do before I got to that part. Including ships! I realize this chapter goes absolutely looney with all the ships lol, so please if it's overwhelming or you like to see them all happen, let me know either way! On that note though, because it is so long winded there are a lot of budding ships/friendships/plots that sort of seem left open ended but I promise I have some sort of a plan for all of them, but especially for ones involving your OC(s) I'd love to hear your thoughts!

As for my announcement: I AM REOPENING APPS! I'd love to have some new characters to introduce periodically here and there between sectionals and regionals, so see my end of the chapter A/N for details on that!

The reason I'm doing this is because I'm going to start putting some other characters more in the background and as sort of blunt as it sounds, it's why it's so crucial to let me know that you're reading either by PM or review! Most of the characters who will be losing time are the ones who, as I said before, are no longer in contact with me. They will still be in the story but I'd love to have some more OCs to spice things up!

All of that said, I hope you enjoy this doozy of a chapter and I'll see you in the next A/N to talk about the new app!

MONDAY MORNING

"Alright, eat up," Blaine put breakfast out in front of his two boys, "Sectionals is less than a week away which means you two are going to need all the energy you can get!"

"We're fine dad, New Directions are the team to beat this year," Lex spoke out, over confidently.

"All the more reason to be prepared." Kurt pointed out.

"That national title can be stripped away just as quickly as it was given," Blaine raised his eyebrows, "Besides, with Trent leading the Warblers, I feel like you guys have a pretty good shot too, huh?" Blaine smiled at his youngest.

"Yeah, sure, dad." Michael shrugged.

"Well now, that's not a winning attitude," Kurt raised his eyebrows, "Why so morose?"

"There's just been some… disagreements. The Warblers are kinda all over the place." Michael shrugged.

"You get used to it." Blaine laughed.

"If it makes you feel any better, all we did last week was fight," Lex shrugged, "I mean, I was chilling, but some of the returning members started a sort of turf war with Schuester."

"Turf war?" Kurt raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, something about how he was giving all the solos to new members? Or something? I was only half listening." Lex spoke with a mouthful of toast.

"That fails to surprise me with him," Kurt let a dry chuckle escape, "But I'm sure you'll be great. Regardless of all that," He shook his head, "Now hurry and eat up, your father and I are going to be late."

"You're both working the same days again?" Michael questioned curiously, "I thought you got extra help at the daycare."

"Yeah, but one person isn't enough," Blaine sighed out, "Someone's gotta teach these toddlers how to perform," He laughed, referring to the fact that he and Kurt had recently started a show choir themed day care where they sang and danced with kids of all ages.

"Hey, why don't you see if any of your friends in glee are looking for some after school work?" Kurt suggested, "We could use the extra help and lord knows teenagers will do anything for money."

"Yeah, I'll ask around," Lex muttered, already sending a message about it to the New Directions group chat.

Conveniently enough, Audrey and her mother Quinn, were just having a conversation about Audrey getting a job.

"I just think you should be more involved," Quinn placed her hands on the counter in front of her, "When I was your age I had," she paused for a moment, "a lot going on,"

"Things are different now, mom," Audrey sighed out, "I mean with glee, and dance and school and all my other extracurriculars, I don't know if I could fit a job in."

"I'm sure the Lima Bean or someone is hiring," Quinn suggested, "Even just for a shift once a weekend."

"Hard pass." Audrey muttered out just as her phone dinged, "I did just get a text from Lex, though."

"About what?" Quinn raised her eyebrows, knowing enough about the relationship between Lex and Audrey to be curious.

"You know how his dads' opened that daycare this summer? Apparently, they want some help after school and-" Audrey was immediately cut off.

"No!" Quinn called out, realizing what she'd done, wiping a bead of sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, trying to play it off, "I mean, you said it yourself. You're busy with all your after-school activities."

"I mean, some days," Audrey was taken aback by her mother's reaction, "But like you said, I could do one day or even two days a week and-"

"I said no," Quinn interrupted her once more, her voice stern, "And we're not going to talk about it anymore. Now come on, you're going to be late for school."

And with that, the conversation was dropped as Audrey and her mother shared the most silent car ride to McKinley High either of them had ever experienced.

MONDAY AFTERNOON

"I don't see why we're here," Sydney whined, "I know we've got to practice our sectionals numbers or whatever, but it's not even a glee day and now we have to stay late?"

"Can you please try and manifest just a hint of patience?" Unique pleaded.

"I don't mind staying late," Sawyer shrugged, "Kind of like team bonding."

"Hard to bond when we're all sat here doing nothing," Kendall noted.

In fairness, she was right. They were all just sat on the stage, awaiting further instructions from their glee coaches

"Oh god," Anthony's eyes went wide, "It's not another scrimmage is it? I'm sure my past lovers can't bare to see me."

"Don't you only have one ex lover?" Leslie raised her eyebrows.

"For now," Anthony smirked.

"Ew," Sydney scrunched her nose up at the thought.

"Is it though?" Kate asked, "A scrimmage, I mean?"

"Do we have time for one?" Xavier suddenly worried, "I, of course, would love to see Trina as much as possible, but…we're a week away from sectionals."

"I actually agree with him," Jude nodded, surprised that he agreed with Xavier on anything, "We don't have time to mess around with other groups right now."

"Maybe we would if we didn't have to get you caught up on everything," Sydney snapped.

"Enough!" Harmony called out, just as a group appeared at the back of the Carmel auditorium.

"So it is a scrimmage," Isaac noted after everyone turned to look behind them.

"Alright," Marley spoke calmly, "This is the first time we're going to another school. We need to be polite and respect their boundaries. Don't touch anything unless you absolutely have to."

"Okay, so, can we go in now?" Trina asked, hoping she'd be able to see her boyfriend.

"Only if you can all promise to be on your best behavior," Marley warned, and once she got a verbal agreement, all the girls made their way in.

Trina, of course, made her way directly to Xavier who, per usual, acted like it had been ages since they'd seen each other last. Jude, who was standing next to Xavier, immediately stepped out of the way, wanting to be as far away from his sister as possible who was in the middle of several public displays of affection with one of his only friends in glee, passing his ex girlfriend Leah.

"Hey," She tried to greet him.

"Hi?" Jude furrowed his eyebrows in response.

"I uh, just wanted to see if you're okay?" Leah tried, "I know you were gone for a while,"

"It's not your place to worry about me anymore, Leah," Jude spoke shortly, wandering past her.

"This place is too bougie for us," Heather noted to Mia, Tia and Zoey as they walked in, ignoring what Marley had said, as they'd poked and prodded just about everything as they made their way onto the stage.

"Oh no," Emery deep sighed out seeing their old family friends.

"Look what the cat dragged in," Zoey smirked. "Long time no see,"

"Always a pleasure, Zoey," Emery rolled her eyes. "Even though I literally saw you at the last group thing. Ladies," Emery turned to face the other three.

"Are you still actively avoiding questions about where you'd been?" Tia crossed her arms over her chest, smirking as she tilted her head. "Or are you going to be normal this time?"

"Come on, leave her alone," Heather shrugged, honestly not caring about Emery enough to feel like it was worth her time, wanting, instead, to go poking at more things in this auditorium. But the girls listened and made their way elsewhere.

"What was that about?" Jude asked his only other friend in glee as the girls walked away, and he finally ended up where he was trying to go since escaping Xavier and Trina.

Before Emery had the chance to tell him it was none of his business, they were interrupted by a shout from the top of the stairs.

"DANA ABRAMS, SHOW YOURSELF!" Tommy called out as he, and the rest of the Warblers made their way into the auditorium.

"Tommy," Trent sighed out, defeated, "Some self-control, please."

But it was too late, as Dana was screaming out incoherent sounds, slamming their fists on their chest.

"Can't take him anywhere," Teddy shook his head, speaking to his sister, Cay, who he'd found almost as soon as he'd walked onto the stage with the rest of the kids.

"Just wait until Rey shows up, then it's a real party," Cay snickered, as she stood next to Nikki, who immediately moved to hide behind her, "What the fu-"Cay started but was interrupted.

"Stop hiding!" Sutton called out dramatically, "I'll find you one way or another!"

"You're so annoying," Nikki whined.

"Hey!" Marley called out to her two kids, "Knock it off!"

"Yeah," Oliver came up behind Sutton hitting him in the back of the head, "Knock it off."

Before Marley had been able to tell Oliver to not hit his brother, the group was once again interrupted by the last group to show up.

"Oh shit," Naomi muttered, realizing this would be the first time she'd seen the New Directions since she left.

"Oh this is gonna be good," Kendall, who'd been standing with Naomi, cackled, cracking her knuckles.

However, before they had time to process everything entirely, Tommy had called out just as loudly and dramatically to his sister Rey as he did to Dana just moments ago, the young girl running up, screaming just as loudly.

"Do they have to do that every time?" Oscar's eyes widened.

"I think it might kill them if they don't," Simon laughed, waving to Naomi who waved back as they made their way onto the stage.

"They do know they live in the same house right?" Finley laughed, hand in hand with Savannah, which was pointed out as soon as Audrey noticed.

"When did that happen?" She laughed.

"Oh, so you're speaking to me now?" Savannah raised her eyebrows.

"Come on, Sav," Audrey groaned, "Can't we just get along for now?"

"Not when you've been avoiding me like the plague." Savannah spoke like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Come on," she spoke to Finley, who followed her.

"Hey, you okay?" Leah asked Audrey, coming up to stand next to her.

"Yeah, just uh, it's hard seeing the other glee clubs sometimes," She let out a dry chuckle.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Leah smirked.

"Your staring is obvious dude," Emery smirked, finally escaping everyone who tried to talk to her, resting an arm on Lex's shoulder.

"Emery! Good to see ya, buddy," Lex patted their back, "Uh, yeah. Things have gotten complicated."

"Complicated how?" Bob, who was a part of their group previously, came up behind them.

As Lex began to explain, Frank, who Bob had followed him, walked around aimlessly on the stage, until finding the person he was looking for.

"Hi Sydney!" He grinned with puppy dog eyes.

"Hi Frank," Sydney spoke, giving back 1% of the energy that Frank gave her.

"Ooh, that's rough, buddy," Zach shook his head laughing, walking past them, "Now what are you two talking about?"

"Firstly," Oscar spoke, "Thank you for not embarrassing me and calling me squirt. Secondly, Kate and I were just getting acquainted. Or well, re-acquainted."

"Huh?" Zach was confused.

"We were both in glee last year, so we knew of each other. But never really…met," Kate waved a hand as she explained.

"And now you have something super cool and important in common…me!" Zach grinned, pulling each of them in for a side hug on either side of him.

"Right," Oscar spoke, barely managing to escape his death grip just as Unique called attention to the group.

"Alright folks! Welcome to the second ever Lima Glee Club Mixer!" She called out happily.

"What we did two weeks ago wasn't a mixer?" Steven was confused.

"No," Harmony spoke firmly, "That was a scrimmage. Which, apparently, is very different."

"Regardless," Trent spoke up, "I'm sure you're eager to know what your theme will be this week!"

"Is it duets?" Ambrose spoke dryly.

"How…how did you know?" Mr. Schue questioned, surprised he'd figured it out.

"We've done the other sectionals themes in succession," Kyla shrugged, "This made the most sense."

"Okay, well-" Marley tried to start but was interrupted.

"So you randomly assign us a partner and we sing a duet?" Mia questioned.

"How does it help us at sectionals to sing with someone we don't know?" Tia added on.

"Well, it's not random – not entirely. You'll get to pick," Mr. Schue began, which automatically earned whispers among the students, "We'll draw names from a hat, and that person will get to pick their partner."

"What if we want to pick someone from a different glee club?" Sophie asked, grabbing onto her sister's arm with all the might her tiny body could muster.

"Perfectly fine," Marley smiled, "Anyone who's in this room and hasn't been picked is fair game."

"Does the song have to be a duet?" Felix raised his eyebrows.

"No," Trent shook his head, "As long as it is performed as one."

"So…again, how does this help us win sectionals?" Tia repeated her question.

"It's good to get an idea of how to perform a duet. Plus, glee meetings will still be at their regular times on Tuesday and Thursday morning, but each afternoon practice will instead be used as a chance for you to sing your duets. You'll be performing Wednesday and Friday afternoon, too. Each glee club will also hold other meetings and practices as needed," Mr. Schue spoke up again, "Which means you need to pick your partners carefully. You're going to have to work around school and glee hours to plan your duet."

"And," Trent began to add on, "Much like with the group week we did, the performance orders will also be completely random, and auditorium reservations for practicing will be based on who's going the soonest. Also like last time there will be a winner. Well, two, since it's duets," He laughed.

"What does the winner get?" Addison questioned, interest suddenly piqued.

"The winners," Unique began to smile, "Will get a stand out moment at their sectionals. Even if you're not in the same club. So again, choose your partners carefully."

Once again, this sparked whispers and mutters within the students.

"Alright!" Harmony practically screeched out, "If you're all done small talking, let's get to picking partners!"

"Since the Abrams won last time," Marley reminded the group, "They'll get to pick first!"

Without saying a word, Rey and Tommy instantly latched onto each other, leaving Dana to fend for themselves.

"Alright Dana," Harmony spoke out, curious to see where this would go, "Who do you pick?"

Without thinking or hesitation, Dana called out "Chloe!"

"What?!" Xavier and Harmony called out in unison.

"Sweet," Chloe said lazily, high-fiving Dana, as they, with Tommy and Rey, made their way off the stage.

"Alright," Trent spoke up happily, glad that, at least for a second, Tommy was out of his hair, "Let's pull to see who's going to be next."

Marley holding the bowl with names, Mr. Schue reached in and pulled one out, calling out, "Rowan!"

Stepping up awkwardly, Rowan was hoping to avoid having to pick first. Weighing out their options, they smiled to themselves as they made a decision, "Hazel."

"Really?" Hazel was pleasantly surprised.

"Yeah," Rowan shrugged, "Sibling bonding and all that."

"Alright!" Mr. Schue smiled, as the two walked off the stage, Rowan secretly hoping that since Naomi left and Hazel had clearly been through a lot, this could be a nice, fun week for the two of them.

"Next up we've got," Unique called out, taking her turn to pull a name, "Addison!"

"Alrighty," Addison walked up, looking around, smiling the exact moment he saw who he'd pick, "Eric? One last duet for old times sake?" He chuckled.

Eric, of course, nodded, though he was slightly surprised. He shouldn't have been since, even though they had broken up, they'd remained friends. But there was something nice about being one of the first people picked – especially by Addison.

"Next up!" Trent spoke up, taking his turn to pull a name, "Savannah!"

As she essentially cat walked her way to the front, she looked at Audrey, smirked, then immediately turned to who she would be picking, "Finley," she smiled.

Finley, of course, happily obliged, walking off the stage arm in arm with his partner.

"Next," Marley grinned, grabbing the first piece of paper her hand touched, "Sydney!"

While Sydney normally didn't mind all eyes on her, she was annoyed at the spectacle of picking partners like it was a third-grade gym class. Weighing her options, she looked to Steven, then to Anthony before settling on an answer.

"Frank," It was quick, and if you weren't listening you might have missed it, but Frank, simply, did not.

Various calls of "Get it!" and "Nice one, Frank!" could be heard from all directions, as the Warblers cheered their boy on.

"What?!" Anthony was agasp, assuming she would pick him simply because they were the two best in Vocal Adrenaline.

"Gross," Sydney rolled her eyes in response to both the Warblers and Anthony, "Come on, lover boy," She spoke to Frank, him following her off the stage like a lost puppy.

"Okaaaaay," Trent tried to move things along, holding the bowl out to Harmony to pick a name.

"Kendall!" Harmony called out, glad she got one of her own students, and one who she actually wouldn't mind doing well in this little contest.

Kendall looked around the room. While she knew she could pick either of the remaining Jones' as she was still living there, she also figured they would pick each other. For a split second she considered choosing Ambrose, and as she made eye contact with him, she felt maybe he would have wanted that. But she thought long and hard about what they said about choosing a partner carefully, so she figured her best bet was someone in her glee club.

"Leslie," She nodded decisively, and while Unique and Leslie were both surprised but happy she was picked, she couldn't help but notice the somewhat disappointed look on Ambrose's face. She decided not to think about this though, as she and her partner made their way off the stage.

"Alright," Mr. Schue smiled as he reached into the bowl, his happy demeanor suddenly cracking as he read the name, "Naomi."

"Yikes," Nikki snickered,

Naomi had gone back and forth between who she'd wanted as her partner, though one person stood out to her. Mr. Schue's reaction to her name, only cemented who she was going to pick as she wasted no time in announcing, "Delia."

"Huh?" Mr. Schue, Delia, and Simon, who was expecting to be picked by his twin, all spoke out in sync.

"Did I stutter?" She asked Mr. Schue, who was visibly irritated just by her presence.

While Delia was not entirely sure what Naomi had up her sleeve, she figured it would be best not to question it, as she would certainly find out later, the two leaving the stage.

"Okay," Unique spoke, wanting to move on from whatever that was as quickly as possible, "Heather? You're up."

"Well, obviously I'm picking Mia," Heather shrugged, before she even got to the front of the stage, and while Tia and Mia exchanged a look, neither of them were too upset at this outcome.

"And now we've got," As Trent pulled out the name, a deep, deep sigh escaped him just as he announced, "Sutton."

"Hell yeah!" Sutton boogied his way to the front. While he pretended to look over his possibilities, he already knew who he was going to pick, finally calling out, "Ambrose!"

"What?" Ambrose's eyebrows raised. While he was glad to be working with another Warbler, he may have preferred a less dramatic one.

"Come on, bestie!" Sutton waved him towards him. Trent was surprised at his choice, but glad they could balance each other out.

"Good luck!" Teddy called out to Ambrose.

While Leah was not surprised by Sutton's choice, she was a little disappointed that he didn't pick her, and was starting to wonder if she'd get picked at all.

"Okay!" Marley brought the focus back to picking partners, "Sophie Hart! You're up!"

"TRINA!" She screamed, still latched on to her older sister.

"Yay," Trina did her best to be optimistic, though of course, was more focused on wagging her sister off her arm.

"Aw, have fun you two!" Xavier smiled, before it suddenly vanished from his face, "Oh no," he shook his head. "If Chloe is taken…and now both Sophie and Trina are taken," he turned to Jude and then Emery who each stood on either side of him, "one of you have to pick me!"

"Are you done?" Harmony held a hand on her hip, looking at her son.

"Yes, mom." Xavier sighed out dramatically.

"Next up," she cleared her throat, "Jude,"

"Nice!" Xavier cheered up, thinking maybe he wouldn't be left on his own after all.

"Emery," Jude spoke almost immediately, smirking as he was both intrigued and somewhat scared to see how Xavier would react.

"Huh?" Xavier and Emery spoke in sync. Emery was moreso just surprised, as they had already assumed they'd just be dueting with Xavier, and things were still somewhat tense between her and Jude since last week. But shrugging it off, Emery and Jude walked off together, leaving Xavier with his jaw dropped.

"What? Now I don't have anyone!" He cried out dramatically.

"Hey, don't say that," Felix suddenly appeared beside him, "You can be my partner!"

"Really?!" Xavier's face lit up, as he and Felix had kept in touch since the group project, still playing video games together from time to time.

"Hey, no fair!" Anthony piped up, "It wasn't his turn to pick!"

"It's not like anyone else was gonna pick him," Harmony spoke coldly, but was not met with any sort of disagreement.

Neglecting what his mother said, Xavier and Felix happily walked off the stage together, already discussing possible songs.

"Moving on," Mr. Schue spoke up, "Kyla! Time to pick your partner!"

Kyla looked at what was now the slim pickings on stage. While she got along with a few of the people, the main person she had wanted to duet with hadn't been picked yet.

"Oscar," She nodded towards her friend.

Oscar, of course, spared no time in making his way up to her, both relieved to be picked by someone he got along with, but also suddenly nervous to be spending a whole week with Kyla alone.

"Next up!" Unique called out, "Tia! Pick your partner!"

While Tia looked around the room, she was pretty sold on who she'd pick, as there was only one other person left who she knew could keep up with her. "Zoey," she smirked, putting a hand on her hip.

"Obviously the correct choice," Zoey smirked in turn as the two walked off together.

"Okie dokie," Trent rummaged through the eighteen names that were left, "Zach," he laughed at the fact that he'd pulled out his son's name.

"Nice!" Zach fist pumped the air, "Kate, would you do me the honor of being my duet partner?"

"Sure," Kate laughed, glad that despite the slight dramatic flare it wasn't quite as dramatic or over the top as she knew that he could be.

"Next we've got," Marley paused for dramatic effect, "Teddy!"

"Cay," He turned to his sister, the second he was allowed to pick, glad that nobody else had managed to snatch her up yet.

"Say less," she smirked, everyone bewildered at how quickly they were able to decide and move on to the next name.

"Oliver?" Harmony called out, truly unaware of who that even was.

"Obviously I've gotta go with Nikki," He smirked, ruffling her hair.

"As long as you don't do that again," She laughed, fixing her hair, nudging her brother as the two slowly but surely left the stage.

Looking around, the remaining 12 students were getting nervous. While they had people they would have preferred to work with, they knew anything could happen.

"Okay," Mr. Schue cleared his throat, "Audrey? Your turn to pick."

Audrey made her way front and center, and while she was nervous, she had a couple of ideas in mind. While she, obviously, wanted to pick Lex, she also wanted to win, and knew in her heart that she and Lex may get…distracted...if they worked with each other.

"Leah," She finally decided on, resulting in Leah smiling, and letting out a small breath of relief over getting picked by someone she wouldn't mind working with.

While Lex was, of course, disappointed, his demeanor changed when his brother, Michael, was the next one up to pick.

"I gotta go with my brother, Lex," Michael shrugged, both him and Lex realizing this meant they could take glee easy this week and work on their duet at home.

"Sweet!" Lex called out, high fiving his younger brother as they, like all the groups before them, scuttled off the stage.

Bob was called up next by Unique, and managed to surprise everyone with his choice.

"Isaac?" He tried, since he and Isaac had known each other since they were kids, since their parents were all in the Warblers together.

"What?" Isaac was shocked to be picked, especially by someone he hadn't actually spent much time with in the last dew years.

"You just felt like the right choice," Bob shrugged, not thinking much of it as the two made their way off stage.

Mack, however, was suddenly nervous as he was banking on having his brother, Isaac, as his partner. Or even Bob, since he was a fellow Warbler. He swallowed hard as he looked at the remaining options, nervous for whatever might come of it.

"Simon!" Trent called out, "Your turn!"

Noticing Mack's panic, and also recognizing him as a friend of Tommy's, since Naomi and Tommy were kind of dating, Simon smiled, looking towards the other boy, "Uh, Mack?" he tried.

Relieved, since, although they did not know each other well, they'd met a few times through Tommy and Naomi respectfully, Mack was more than happy to join forces with Simon.

With only four kids left to be paired up, Marley called the last name that would be called that day, "Anthony?"

"Well, it's about time!" He sighed out dramatically, "I promise you will all regret not choosing me as a partner. I am the most talented person in this room. Once I win, you'll all see your grave mistake."

"Yeah, yeah," Harmony rolled her eyes, wanting this to be over with, "Are you going to pick someone or not?"

While of the three kids on the stage, two of them were in Anthony's glee club, it was the one who wasn't he was most interested in. "You," He pointed to Flora, "I want the Schuester."

While most everyone was either surprised or concerned by this choice, the rules were the rules and so Flora made her way off the stage with Anthony, Anthony being sure to flash a toothy grin to Mr. Schue as they walked off.

"Alright so that leaves," Marley paused, "Steven and Sawyer!"

"Nice!" Steven smiled happily, Sawyer high-fiving him.

"You don't care about being leftovers?" Harmony was revolted by the lack of care either of them had.

"Nah, I was probably gonna pick Steven anyways," Sawyer shrugged.

"Same," Steven nodded, happily.

"Well then," Trent spoke slowly, turning to face the audience where 24 different pairs all sat, "Get to it! And make sure to see us on your way out so you know when you're performing! There's going to be a lot of performances each day, so make sure you're there on time!"

As the kids did what they were told, they all walked out with their partners, most of them seemingly already attached at the hip as they discussed what would happen that week, what songs they'd sing, and what they'd expected from everyone else.

TUESDAY MORNING, NEW DIRECTIONS

"How epic is it that we're dueting with our cool older siblings?" Sophie nudged Rey as the two walked into the room together.

"I mean, I'm happy about it," Rey smiled, "It makes it easier to plan things, you know? Especially since we're literally performing today. Makes rehearsal easier to just do it at home."

"Same with me Trina!" Sophie grinned, "Also performing today, also practicing at home."

"That's exactly the reason I'm glad I get to duet with my brother," Lex piped up, walking in behind them, "I get to just chill and hang out all glee meeting, not even a little worried."

"That sounds like something that someone who's worried would say," Savannah smirked, teasing her friend.

"Are you not worried?" Flora spoke with wide eyes, hoping nobody would remember who had chosen her as a duet partner.

"Nah, I think we're gonna crush it," Finley nodded, taking a seat next to his duet partner, Savannah.

"Well, we're gonna crush it harder," Rowan smirked, high-fiving Hazel.

"Since when were you two so close?" Simon laughed, though was glad to see his siblings getting along.

"Guess that's just the power of duets," Hazel shrugged, chuckling lightly.

"Great energy," Mr. Schue noted as he saw all the kids talking about their assignment this week, the rest of the glee club following behind him as he entered. "That said, we need to talk about duets for sectionals."

"Do we even know what we're doing for our theater song?" Delia spoke out, clearly skeptical.

"Don't worry about that right now," Mr. Schue shook his head.

"Why? So we can worry about it when we get to sectionals?" Delia continued to test her father.

"Delia, that's enough. Now," He directed his attention back to the rest of the glee club, "I've made a list of some possible duets we could maybe do. I know you're all probably still thinking about the duets you're performing this week – and that's fine! But just take a look when you get a chance," He finished handing the sheets out.

"So…who's going to perform the duet at sectionals?" Felix questioned cautiously.

"I figured that if someone from our glee club wins the duet week, one of them could do it. Or both of them, if it's a group of two. Cause I have a feeling it's going to be someone from New Directions."

"Well, Finley and I are clearly the only choice," Savannah smirked, "And other then the two Jones' over there, are the only duet that's pure New Directions."

"Oscar and I are dueting," Kyla rolled her eyes, barely wanting to participate in the conversation.

"Yeah but you barely count," Savannah was already disinterested.

"How?" Oscar responded, not as offended as he maybe should have been, but genuinely confused.

"Alright guys, that's enough," Mr. Schue finally decided to break it up. "Come on, take the few extra minutes you have now to either work on your duet or think about sectionals,"

"No fair!" Felix whined, "My partner's all the way at Carmel! How am I supposed to work on my duet?"

"He did say you could also work on sectionals," Kyla reminded him, hoping she was helping.

"And give you and all the other full duet sets in this room an unfair advantage?" Delia raised her eyebrows. "My duet partner is literally down the hall, but it still feels unfair that I can't go collect her but there's a handful of groups in here that can just work away."

"But we were told to pick our partners carefully for that reason," Lex mentioned.

"Yes, but I didn't pick mine. I got picked," Delia reminded the room, "As did many of you, right, Flora?" She took the opportunity to throw all of the attention on the fact that her sister would be performing with who was essentially New Directions' number one enemy.

"Enough," Mr. Schue repeated, "Because you all took this morning to argue there will be no time to work on your duets. And since there's no glee this afternoon, please come back Thursday morning with an idea of the kind of songs you want to do for sectionals," He concluded just as the bell rang, the kids fumbling with their things as they awkwardly made their way out of the room.

THE TROUBLETONES

"Alright ladies!" Marley smiled widely as she looked at the group of ten girls before her, beginning to hand out sheet music, "Here's your duet for sectionals!"

"Who's singing it?" Cay raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"I thought," Marley took a deep breath out, already getting ready to face the backlash, "That maybe our two newest members could do it. Zoey? Naomi? Think you're up to the task?"

"You want to give me the duet?" Naomi's eyes suddenly went wide, astonished that after less than a full week of being in the Troubletones, she was already getting more than she did in her last three years in New Directions.

"She's giving us the duet," Zoey corrected her. "And obviously I'm down,"

"Are there…" Marley looked around the room "Any problems with that?"

"I'm cool," Heather shrugged.

"Yeah," Audrey agreed, "Like, it would obviously be nice to have a big moment, but most of us at least have a line in our group number."

"I'm not cool with it," Tia spoke blatantly, "I'm not even in the group number that I chose. So what gives?"

"I thought," Marley began, still cautiously, but was surprised there were not more hands being thrown, "You and Mia could lead us in our 80s number."

"Wait, really?" Mia's face suddenly lit up.

"Yeah!" Marley smiled, knowing the song she'd picked out for them would suit the two girls perfectly, "Again, if you're both up for it, that is."

"Obviously we'll crush it," Tia smirked as the twins high fived.

"I do have a question though," Trina spoke up, "Obviously it's great that we've got our songs picked out, but what if one of us wins the duet competition? Aren't we supposed to get a standout moment?"

"Yes, of course," Marley nodded, "So whoever that is, will take the biggest part in the group number."

"What if two of us win?" Leah looked up to her mom, then over to her duet partner, Audrey, "What happens then?"

"Good question actually, cause me and Mia are gonna kick your guys' asses," Heather grinned widely.

"Listen we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Marley spoke, ignoring Heather.

"So, you think none of us are going to win," Nikki stated.

"That's not what I said, Nikki," Marley protested, knowing she should have realized the lack of fighting was the calm before the storm.

"So, what are you saying?" Zoey crossed her arms over her chest.

"All I mean is that it's better to be prepared than to bank on one of us winning and be left with nothing. I do believe one of you girls – if not two of you – will win. Of course, I do! I just," She sighed out, fumbling with the hem of her shirt, "I know New Directions has nothing planned and I honestly just want to be one step ahead of them."

"You should have lead with that," Tia smirked, "We want to destroy them as much as you do."

"I don't know about destroy," Trina laughed, thinking about her sister in New Directions, "But since we go to the same school we are always going to be compared with them."

"Same with the Warblers," Cay spoke up, "The whole all boy versus all girl thing, right?"

"Exactly," Nikki nodded in agreement, "Down with the Warblers!"

"That's…almost the energy we want!" Marley smiled, pleasantly surprised that maybe this wouldn't end in total disaster after all, only letting herself let go of this thought as the bell rang, "Alright everyone, great work this morning! I'll see you all this afternoon for the first round of duet performances!"

THE WARBLERS

"Beautiful day for a meeting, isn't it fellas?" Addison smiled, taking a deep breath as he, Michael and Eric were the first to come into the meeting other than the council.

"We're indoors and it's raining," Teddy spoke dryly, barely looking up.

"That's why it's a beautiful day to be indoors," Eric nodded, smiling.

"See?" Addison grinned proudly, "My duet partner over here's got the right idea," he wrapped an arm around Eric, causing him to blush profusely.

"Aw! What's better than this?" Mack cooed, "Guys being dudes!"

"That could be us but you're playing," Sutton spoke to Ambrose, nodding his head over to Eric and Addison.

"Are you done?" Ambrose rolled his eyes.

"Not even close," Sutton smiled, showing as many of his teeth as possible.

"You two are so silly," Tommy laughed, "Reminds me of Naomi and I… still going strong. You know, in case anybody was wondering."

"We weren't," Oliver muttered, his hands in his pockets as he rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I was wondering!" Zach called out defensively.

"Were you?" Trent raised his eyebrows, "Or were you just using it as an excuse to talk about your 'girlfriend'" he put the word in quotations, of course taking the opportunity to tease his son.

"Hey!" Zach pouted.

"I have a girlfriend too!" Frank piped up.

"Sure you do, buddy," His brother, Bob, patted him on the back.

"Bob!" Frank now also pouted.

"Alright, gentleman, enough," Teddy spoke out defeated. "While we're still not entirely prepared for sectionals, I do think we need to take this time to think about this week. Take things a day at a time,"

"You want us to work on our duets?" Michael questioned; his eyebrows furrowed.

"Don't have to ask me twice!" Sutton grinned, putting a hand on Ambrose's shoulder that was immediately swatted away.

"But…a lot of our partners are at other schools," Frank acknowledged.

"So, we can help each other!" Mack nodded decisively, "Teamwork makes a dreamwork!"

"Isn't that kind of…helping the enemy? Since this week is every duo for themselves?" Oliver crossed his arms over his chest.

"Nah," Tommy waved him off, "Warblers before…non Warblers."

"Should've picked your partners more carefully!" Addison laughed, nudging his partner, Eric.

"Regardless of all that," Teddy spoke up once more, "The council and I will be discussing songs for sectionals, the rest of you can feel free to do the same, or think about your duets for this week."

"Aw man," Mack pouted, "I was gonna help Bob!"

"Really?" Tommy was audibly and visibly confused, "Why? No offence, Bob."

"None taken!" Bob, who was barely listening, spoke up.

"Cause he's working with my brother, so I'm the next best thing," Mack responded with a shrug, "But I guess I can help the council."

As they got to work on figuring out songs, the two pairs who were within the Warblers set out to work on their own.

"Just like old times, huh, buddy?" Addison once more nudged Eric after he'd pulled him to the side.

"Yeah," Eric forced a laugh, desperately trying to ignore the lingering feelings he still had for Addison despite their mutual break up just a few weeks back.

"What's going on in that big ole adorable head of yours?" Addison laughed tapping Eric's temple, "You're miles away."

"Sorry, just, uh," Eric fumbled with his tie, clearing his throat, "A lot going on in my mind right now, I guess? But don't worry, I'm fine."

"I know you're lying to me, but I won't pry," Addison shrugged, "But just know whatever it is, you can always come to me, okay?"

"I know," Eric nodded with a small smile, "And same to you," he paused for a second, "I also think I know what song we can do for our duet."

Just a few feet from them the other duo were handling things a lot less smoothly.

"I just think Livin La Vida Loca is a great duet," Sutton sighed out.

"I disagree. For one, the song is not a duet," Ambrose tried to keep his composure, "And while I'm not opposed to a song that is originally a solo, I'd appreciate it if you lead with that."

"It was a duet in Shrek 2!" Sutton argued, "And that's the only version I know!"

"We don't perform until Friday," Ambrose shook his head, "Maybe it's best if we help the council and then come back to this?"

"So, you don't want to hang out with me?" Sutton's voice suddenly grew surprisingly sad.

"What?" Ambrose was taken aback by the sudden change in demeanor, "No, I just mean, well..." he was surprised that he found himself stumbling over his words, as he was normally so articulate.

"Nah, I'm just joshin' around," Sutton laughed, "Come on, let's go help those weirdos," he nudged Ambrose, who, at this point, was simply reluctantly following him to the council, still somewhat confused over what just happened.

VOCAL ADRENALINE

"Alright losers!" Harmony called out, "Get on the stage! We need to practice for sectionals and we don't have much time."

"Again, with the losers?" Unique rolled her eyes, but knew it was, in a way, better than Harmony storming in yelling 'what the hell' at them like she normally would.

"We've got all our songs?" Kate questioned, cautiously optimistic.

"Yes," Harmony responded, her tone sharp as the kids slowly made their way up to the stage, "And most importantly we've got our duet. So we need to practice."

"Who's doing the duet?" Leslie asked nervously.

"Obviously Sydney and I," Anthony let out a dry laugh, "You were all there for our 80's number."

"I wasn't," Jude spoke mid-yawn.

"Not our problem," Sydney rolled their eyes, "So what's our song?"

"It's not your song," Harmony rolled her eyes right back, "Or yours either," She turned to Anthony.

"Then…who?" Steven tilted his head to the side curiously.

"Xavier and Chloe," Unique admitted, clearly defeated.

"Really?!" Xavier grinned excitedly.

"Nice," Chloe nodded, lazily high-fiving her brother.

"Shocking," Isaac murmured.

"Weirdo boy's got a point," Kendall nodded, "Talk about nepotism."

"Weirdo boy?" Isaac furrowed his eyebrows.

"So, what are the rest of us supposed to do then?" Emery spoke up, if for no other reason then to move that conversation along.

"Let's dance!" Dana threw their arms in the air, moving their hips as though there was a hula hoop around them.

"I second that!" Sawyer laughed, mimicking Dana's movements.

"No," Harmony rolled her eyes groaning out, "Chloe, Xavier come here. Let Mommy teach you the moves."

"I think I just threw up in my mouth," Kendall scrunched her nose up.

"The rest of you… if you know your parts for sectionals, practice that or the choreography," Unique spoke up as Harmony had already taken her kids away from the rest of the group, "Or if you can, feel free to work on your other assignment for this week."

"Nice!" Steven and Sawyer high-fived, knowing that they'd already had their song picked out, and if Steven wanted to practice his song for sectionals, Sawyer would be more than happy to help.

"But…Chloe's my partner," Dana sighed out.

"Maybe you could help some other people?" Kate tried to comfort them.

"Yes!" Dana called out enthusiastically, making way to follow Steven and Sawyer.

"And will you be working on your duet as well, Kate?" Sydney sauntered over, a hand on her hip.

"Uh, I guess?" Kate responded, somewhat dryly, already knowing where this was going, "I mean I don't have a part in any of the songs for sectionals."

"Interesting," Sydney looked Kate up and down, "Been spending a lot of time with Zach then? For your 'duet'?" She put the word in air quotes.

"Yes, but just for our duet," Kate tried her best to not show her annoyance, "Though I know what this is about, and Zach picked me. I don't think I need to remind you that Isaac is also working with someone from the Warblers and Xavier and Anthony are working with people from New Directions. You also are working with someone from the Warblers. And you picked him."

"You're right," Sydney finally conceded after a few long moments of realizing she was caught in 4K, "I need to go see what Isaac's up to."

So off she went, almost stepping on Jude and Emery who were both sat criss-cross applesauce in the middle of the stage.

"Can I ask you something?" Emery suddenly looked over to their duet partner.

"I mean, you just did," Jude smirked, "But sure."

"Why me? Why not Xavier or…anyone else? For your partner I mean," She tilted her head to the side.

"I mean honestly, there's a couple of reasons," Jude shifted slightly, looking more directly at Emery, "First is that I wanted to see Xavier's reaction – which was absolutely priceless and totally worth it, by the way. Second is that contrary to popular belief, I actually kinda like being around you, dude. And I feel bad about, you know, dipping out and-"

"It's fine," Emery cut him off, "Doesn't do me any good holding a grudge about that, and surely doesn't do you any good either." They shrugged, "I am worried, however, for Xavier's sanity. I don't think he took too kindly to not being picked by any of his friends."

Emery was right, of course, as was made evident by Xavier's complaints to Chloe as the bell rang and everyone began fumbling with their things and heading out.

"I just feel like the lord is testing me," Xavier shook his head, "Am I not good enough for my friends and my lover and her siblings?"

"I dunno," Chloe shrugged, "But I got picked before you and I think that's hilarious."

"Can you please be nice to me?" Xavier whined, "I'm really struggling here."

"Calm down," Harmony called out, "At least you got your stupid little video game buddy. Now get the hell out of my auditorium."

"Bye mom," Xavier let out a deep, deep sigh as he and Chloe left, Xavier having much to think about.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

As everyone got settled into their seats, all with their pairs and drastically far away from everyone else, they were given strict rules to stay where they were, unless they knew they were up next to perform, in which case they could wait backstage. While groups were muttering and murmuring about the groups who would be going today and what songs they'd be singing, it wasn't long until the five coaches stood at the front of the auditorium, gaining the attention of the students.

"Alright, we've got a lot of groups to get through today everybody," Mr. Schue started out, "So please, be patient and be cooperative so we can get this going as quickly and seamlessly as possible."

"First on the list!" Marley announced happily, looking down at her clipboard, "We've got Tommy and Rey Abrams!"

Tommy and Rey had spent the last day doing nothing but practicing their song. While it drove their mother absolutely nuts, their father had told them he found it endearing. Dana, who was waiting back stage with them since they were going next, had no strong opinion on it yet as they were told they weren't allowed to hear it and that it was a surprise. But the two were confident that their song would blow everyone away, since, as Tommy kept reminding Rey, they won last time, so they really had nothing to worry about.

"You ready to go get 'em?!" Tommy practically bounced up and down as he and his sister stood backstage.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Rey was clearly somewhere between excited and nervous, as she felt like they had a lot to live up to from their last number together.

"Come on, it'll be great!" Tommy grabbed her shoulders, shaking her up just a little bit, "Besides, I need to impress Naomi, so it has to be showstopping!"

"You got it!" Rey gave him a thumbs up, even more nervous now that the extra pressure had been added.

As they walked out onto the stage, Dana gave a loud, obnoxious cheer for their siblings, curious as to what the song could be.

"You know them?" Chloe questioned, yawning, as she looked blankly around the room.

As an almost somber sounding tune started on a piano behind them, the two sang in complete unison.

"We like Yu-gi-oh
Dana likes Uno
That's how it is
That's how it is,"

They sang out earning confused looks from just about everyone in the auditorium, other than two of their closest friends, Cay and Teddy, who were simply trying not to laugh, as this was exactly what they knew they should have expected from the Abrams.

"Dana likes basketball
We like music
That's how it is
That's how it is"

The two sang out again, swaying in sync to the music behind them. They sounded great, as there was no denying either of their talent, but it seemed like an odd choice to most everyone watching.

"Does Dana like basketball?" Steven whispered to Sawyer who only met him with a shrug.

"We like Sprite
Dana likes milk
That's how it is
That's how it is"

This continued on for several more verses and what felt like an eternity until the song eventually wrapped up.

"That was…. very interesting, you two," Trent smiled, trying to be as polite about the strange performance as he could, "Good job! Next up! We've got Dana Abrams and Chloe Pearce!"

While Chloe was surprised Dana had picked her as their partner, she was not against it by any means. Harmony was always telling her that she needed to make more friends in glee, and Dana was a good time. And truth be told, Dana picked Chloe just because she seemed like someone who would be easy to work with, as they figured their siblings would pick each other. Both students were genuinely somewhat surprised at how they'd meshed and were even more surprised that they had a song they were both more than happy to perform.

"Ready partner?" Chloe lazily nudged her friend.

"Yee haw!" Was Dana's only response as they threw a cowboy hat on their head, handing one to Chloe.

"Oh, I didn't think you were serious about bringing these," She flung the hat on her head. "Nice."

Walking out onto the stage, Rey and Tommy cheered loudly for their sibling, as did Xavier. Felix, who was sitting next to Xavier, also cheered loudly just because he wanted to fit in.

A slow country sounding song started behind the duo on stage as they pulled out a couple of stools turned partially to the audience and partially to each other.

"Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River," Chloe sang out, her voice, per usual, seemed bored and almost like she wasn't even really there, but she was still able to carry a tune.

"Life is old there, older than the trees," Dana took over singing, their voice strong and powerful and with an absolute insane amount of passion and enthusiasm, "younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze,"

While a few members of the audience were confused by this performance as well, most were swaying to the music as for the chorus they both sang in harmony, which was strange given their entirely drastic energy levels.

"Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain mamma
Take me home, country roads,"

Dana suddenly stood up waving their hands over their head yelling "Sing along!" as Chloe remained on her stool, the two singing the chorus again, surprised that at least half of the audience sang along.

"Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain mamma
Take me home, country roads,"

Sitting back down on the bench to finish out the song, Dana and Chloe sang out still surprisingly beautifully as they wrapped up the song.

"Take me home, down country roads
Take me home, down country roads,"

"Great job sweetie," Harmony smiled at Chloe, surprised at the song choice, but glad it was at least better than the first group, "Next up, Steven and Sawyer!"

While it, unfortunately, did not surprise either of the two young students that they were the last to be chosen, it also didn't entirely upset them. They didn't have an absolute ton of time to get a song together, but much like the group before them, they were surprised to find they had enough in common that they could come up with something. It was also a nice chance for the two of them to bond, neither of them realizing they both sort of felt left out of Vocal Adrenaline in certain aspects, now knowing that if nothing else, they at least had each other.

"Well, here goes nothing!" Steven grinned, glad he had Sawyer as a partner.

"You said it! Hey, before we go on, I just wanted to let you know," Sawyer began, "It's really nice to have a friend in glee. Especially one I know I can count on."

"It feels good to be that friend," Steven admitted, knowing he was just as happy to have Sawyer be that person for him. "You ready to crush this?"

"Absolutely!" Sawyer nodded happily, the two making their way onto the stage.

As a somewhat upbeat song started behind them, Sawyer began singing, the two almost acting out like they were having a conversation.

"Don't you wanna get away from the same old part you gotta play?
'Cause I got what you need
So come with me and take the ride
It'll take you to the other side
'Cause you can do like you do
Or you can do like me
Stay in the cage, or you finally take the key
Oh, damn! Suddenly you're free to fly
It'll take you to the other side,"

Sawyer sang out surprisingly confidently, Sydney wondering why she hadn't noticed before as on the other side of the auditorium Dana gave a loud "whoop" in support. Steven now taking center stage, he sang out just as clearly, confidently and wonderfully as Sawyer had done just moments before.

"Don't you know that I'm OK with this uptown part I get to play?
'Cause I got what I need and I don't wanna take the ride
I don't need to see the other side
So go and do like you do
I'm good to do like me
Ain't in a cage, so I don't need to take the key
Oh, damn! Can't you see I'm doing fine?
I don't need to see the other side,"

While Kate cheered in support of her teammates (Zach beside her copying her movements) Sydney, once again was impressed but begrudgingly so since her relationship with Steven was complicated. As the two students on stage stepped front and center they sang out in perfect harmony, really in the moment appreciating that they were able to make this work.

"Don't you wanna get away to a whole new part you're gonna play
'Cause I got what you need, so come with me and take the ride
To the other side
So if you do like I do
If you do like me
Forget the cage, 'cause we know how to make the key
Oh, damn! Suddenly we're free to fly
We're going to the other side
So if you do like I do
So if you do like me
'Cause if we do, we're going to the other side
We're going to the other side,"

Somehow finishing even more strongly than they'd started, they laughed, taking a big bow at the end, receiving far more applause than either of them were expecting, but gladly accepted it as they high fived, knowing that they not only gave a killer performance, but now had a new friend to show for it.

"Incredible job you two!" Unique smiled kindly, still applauding, mentally noting how well the two worked together before referring to her notes. "Next up, we have Isaac Sterling and Bob Montgomery!"

As if on queue, both Mack and Frank cheered loudly for their brothers before they even stepped on stage.

Both Bob and Isaac had a weird few days. While they, of course, knew each other vaguely from growing up, since all the Warblers alumni were tight, they grew surprisingly close over the last two days. When they got picked as partners, neither knew how well it was going to work, but found they'd had more in common than they had expected. They shared stories of how they felt like an outsider not just in their glee club, but sometimes to their brothers as well. While they, of course, loved their family, it was just like that sometimes, and they were glad that they had someone who could sort of relate to all their thoughts and feelings. Which was huge for both of them, since neither of them were entirely fantastic at letting people in.

"Well, it's been a fun few days," Isaac nodded, messing with his curly hair, "I uh, I'm glad we sort of reconnected like this, you know?"

"I am too," Bob nodded, surprised at how comfortably he found himself talking to Isaac. "We should hang out more, you know, outside of glee."

"Yeah?" Isaac suddenly looked up at Bob, surprised anyone would want to spend time with him, "That sounds like a good deal.."

"Nice," Bob agreed nodding, suddenly remembering they had a show to do, "We should go, huh?" He laughed as the two walked on stage.

Picking up a guitar, Bob began strumming a few notes, the two boys standing on the edge of the stage, both at this moment having more stage presence than anyone in their group had seen.

"Yeah Bob!" Lex called out, Michael clapping along in support of his fellow Warbler.

"If I had a million dollars," Isaac sang out, his voice crisp and cool.

"If I had a million dollars," Bob repeated, his voice just as strong as everyone remembered

"I'd buy you a house" Isaac continued on.

"I would buy you a house," Bob repeated once more, as they continued to switch lines back and forth

"If I had a million dollars,"

"If I had a million dollars,"

"I'd buy you furniture for your house,"

"Maybe a nice chesterfield or an ottoman," Bob sang this line more like he was speaking, earning him scattered cheers from his fellow Warblers.

"If I had a million dollars," Isaac continued on, smirking as Mack gave him a thumbs up, before Bob jumped in repeating Isaac's line again.

"If I had a million dollars,"

"I'd buy you a K-Car,"

"A nice reliant automobile,"

"If I had a million dollars," Isaac sang out, turning to face Bob as the two sang out together.

"I'd buy your love,"

Emery let out a small, polite cheer in support for Isaac, Jude beside her following suit to be polite.

"If I had a million dollars," Isaac sang out, surprising the rest of Vocal Adrenaline with a toothy grin

"I'd build a tree fort in our yard," Bob continued to strum away, swaying back and forth, surprised when Isaac followed suit.

"If I had a million dollars," Isaac's voice never faltered.

"You could help, it wouldn't be that hard," Bob's smile now matched Isaac as they began wrapping the song up.

"If I had a million dollars," Isaac sang, focusing on enjoying himself instead of winning.

"If I had a million dollars," Bob matched Isaac's enthusiasm.

"If I had a million dollars," Isaac sang out his last solo line as the two once again sang in perfect harmony

"If I had a million dollars
I'd be rich"

Much like the duo before them, they were surprised by the amount of support they got from the audience, Bob giving Isaac a celebratory pat on the back as the two made their way off stage, Mack and Frank still cheering their brothers on.

"Wow, great song choice you two! What a fun duet," Mr. Schue congratulated them, "Next we've got Trina and Sophie Hart!"

The two had a great few days practicing their duet together. Sophie, admittedly, had a better time, as Trina was worried about how Xavier felt about getting left in the dust. She hoped he would understand, but was still worried that his feelings could have been hurt. Sophie, however, simply did not care and had told Trina to 'woman up,' more in the last 48 hours than she had collectively before in her life. All that aside, the two girls did know they would have one of the most intricate dance numbers of all the duos, especially on such late notice and also knew they could absolutely kill their song.

"Let's knock 'em dead, bestie!" Sophie waved her arms in the air, before grabbing Trina's wrists and also waving her hands in the air.

"We got this," Trina smiled knowingly, as she thought back to her and Sophie's glee audition, knowing how they knocked that out of the park as well.

As the two walked out onto the stage two very distinct things happened. On one end of their row, Xavier screamed louder than a teenage girl at a boy band concert out of support, Felix matching his energy, both in support of Xavier and his girlfriend, and also because he loved any excuse to go nuts. On the other end of the row, Jude let out a loud, audibly annoyed groan since he had to listen to his sisters rehearse this song quite literally all night, which only ended in Emery laughing at his evident pain, and a warning to 'be nice.'

A fun beat started behind the two girls, as the two very clearly had choreography and were getting into the groove of things, both singing out a few riffs before Sophie stood up in front singing out confidently, directly earning her cheers from both Rey and Flora in the audience.

"This is more than the typical kinda thing
Felt the jones in my bones
When you were touching me, uh oh
Didn't wanna take it slow,"

Sophie smirked, knowing she absolutely nailed it, dancing around Trina, who now took her place, though neither girl was a step out of beat.

"In a daze, going crazy, I can barely think
You're replaying in my brain,
Find it hard to sleep, uh oh
Waiting for my phone to blow,"

While Trina was expecting the continuously loud applause from her boyfriend Xavier, she was not expecting to see most of her fellow Troubletones dancing along, or screams from Mia and Heather to 'get it'

"Now I'm here in a sticky situation, got a little trouble, yep and now I'm pacing," Sophie sang out, as both her and Trina walked to opposite ends of the stage, though the walk was more of a sort of swaying movement.

"Five minutes, ten minutes, now it's been an hour," Trina jumped in for her part. "Uh don't wanna think too hard, but I'm sour,"

Turning to face to each other, they sang out in unison, almost freezing in place, "Uh oh, I can't seem to let you go"

"See, I've been waiting all day
For you to call me baby,"

Sophie sang out confidently, as she and Trina danced their way back to each other.

"So let's get up, let's get on it
Don't you leave me brokenhearted tonight,"

The two girls sang in harmony, leaving the audience to wonder if their choreography or vocals were the more impressive part of the performance.

"Honest baby, I'll do anything you want to," Trina sang, making sure to make direct eye contact with Xavier to make sure he knew that she was singing to him, and also making sure he was okay.

"So can we finish what we started
Don't you leave me brokenhearted tonight
Come on, that's right, cheeri, cheerio,"

The two girls sang together once more, wrapping up the song, still singing in their beautiful two part harmony, showing what was far more intricate choreography than anyone was expecting to see on the first day.

"When you gonna call
Don't leave me brokenhearted
I've been waiting up
Let's finish what we started, oh oh
I can't seem to let you go
Come on, that's right, cheerio, uh!"

Finishing up, they stood back-to-back with their arms over their chest, breathing out heavily from the dance, but both smiling wide as they earned a tremendous amount of applause, and not just from Xavier, and by association, Felix.

"Great job ladies!" Marley applauded even as they left the stage, "Seriously great work! Last but not least we've got Sydney Smythe and Frank Montgomery!"

While Frank had of course been over the moon that Sydney picked him as her partner, he was also surprised. He was also surprised by how genuinely nice Sydney had been to him the last few days. It had also surprised Sydney by how nice she had been to him. Of all the stupid Warbler alumni boys she was forced to grow up around, she always had the highest tolerance for Frank. And while she was sure it was just the song they'd picked, even she figured out that things certainly felt different between them. Of course, she would be the last person to ever admit it, but she also couldn't shake her head of the thought.

"Syd?" Frank tried to break her out of her trance as she thought about it, "Are you okay?"

"Of course, I am," She snapped at him, "I was just thinking about our harmonies. Don't mess them up, okay?"

"You got it," Frank smiled nodding.

"And uh, good work this week," Sydney gave him an awkward pat on the back.

As they walked out onto the stage, Bob cheered happily for his brother, just as Steven did for Sydney. Zach also, not unlike Heather and Mia, yelled to 'Get it!' which only ended in him getting a slap in the arm from Kate, and a note to hush.

"Sometimes it's hard to see what's been there all along," Frank sang out. His voice was prettier than anyone was expecting, as he and Sydney stood half towards the audience and half towards each other.

"Sometimes we're sure of everything till we find out that we're all wrong," Sydney sang out, trying to block out the fact that the song truly felt like her own thoughts as she turned to fully face Frank just as the two had practiced over and over.

"Now we're standing here face to face," They sang out together directly before Sydney sang out on her own, "Nothing feels the same,"

Sydney swallowed hard directly before they began singing, knowing there was no point in trying to bury her feelings deep down anymore. Partially because she would have to deal with it at some point, and partially because she knew it would help their performance. Looking directly at Frank, just to see him looking directly back at her, the two sang out, Sydney sounding just as amazing as she always did, Frank's voice complimenting hers almost impossibly well as she really allowed herself to relate to the lyrics.

"For the first time I realized something I didn't see before
For the first time looking in your eyes
Suddenly there's so much more
Something we both feel inside for the first time,"

Taking a step back almost as though it was too much, Sydney suddenly remembered their choreography, facing the audience, absolutely belting out.

"I can't find the words," She sang out before Frank jumped in with harmonies also facing the audience, "for how I feel about you, just wanna be around you now,"

"I never imagined," Frank took his turn in singing out strongly, noticing that Sydney was really feeling the words, wondering if it was real or just his wishful thinking, just as she also came in with the harmonies, "that someone could make me feel the way you do"

The two belted out the last line together, and of course sounded absolutely amazing. While they earned an absolutely absurdly large amount of loud applause from their clearly very impressed peers, neither had even noticed since they were both taken completely aback by the fact that Sydney had dropped their previously arranged choreography, suddenly turning back to face Frank, grabbing his hands in hers as they continued to sing out.

"For the first time I realized
Something I didn't see before
For the first time looking in your eyes
Suddenly there's so much more,"

While everyone was looking around to gauge how everyone else felt about this performance, and many people were left confused or even embarrassed because the song was relating to how they felt about their duet partner, Kate was easily the most confused, since Sydney was always on her about flirting with the enemy.

"Something we both feel inside for the first time," The two sang out, still sounding impossibly good, Sydney once again surprising both herself and Frank, as she placed a gentle hand on Frank's cheek, closing the already nearly nonexistent gap between them, finishing out the song together beautifully, "Oh, for the first time,"

As if something clicked in her head, Sydney suddenly remembered how many people were watching, taking a dramatic step back from Frank, clearing her throat, hoping she could write it off as an artistic choice.

"Wow," Trent clapped along with everyone, "That was certainly…passionate. Well done you two!"

"DAMN," Sutton practically screamed after finally processing that performance and while normally Ambrose would ask him to tone it down, he certainly couldn't disagree.

"And on that great note," Mr. Schue spoke up, "That's a wrap! We'll see you all same time tomorrow!"

While everyone made their way out of the auditorium, Sydney and Frank stepped back stage, Sydney held him back for a few moments, suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, grabbing him by the shirt, pulling him for a quick but passionate kiss before practically pushing him away and muttering, "That was for not messing up the harmonies," She smirked, walking away as though none of that had even happened.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

While the previous day's performances threw a lot of people for a loop in a lot of different ways, it did lead the students and the coaches to all believe that today would be just as interesting. Of course, as all of the pairs got settled in, once again sitting with just each other and as far away from the other pairs as they could, everyone was abuzz wondering what today would bring.

"Alright everyone!" Unique clapped her hands together, as she stood at the front of the auditorium with her fellow coaches, "Welcome to day two of duets! Same as yesterday we've got a hefty handful of duos to get through, so let's get on with it! First up we've got Mia McCarthy and Heather Porter!"

These two were no strangers to duets and certainly were not strangers to performing together. Things were, of course, a bit different since they became an exclusive couple, but that only made the couple more motivated to knock this song out of the park. While they went back and forth on songs, Heather finally convinced Mia to go with one of the songs she'd picked, since they both agreed it sort of matched their vibe and relationship.

"You ready to kick ass, babe?" Heather smirked, a hand on her hip.

"Are you calling me babe because you're still going through that phase?" Mia raised her eyebrows skeptically "Or because you mean it?"

"Cause I mean it!" Heather called out defensively, "You're my only 'babe' from here on out. Now come on," She grabbed Mia's hand placing a small kiss on the back of it, "As aforementioned, we have some serious ass to kick."

"You had me at ass kicking," Mia laughed just moments before they sauntered onto the stage.

"Hell yeah!" Felix called out, excited because he was close with both girls, which, of course, resulted in Xavier cheering along out of support for Felix.

Immediately going to grab a guitar, Heather stood by the front of the stage, Tia standing almost directly beside her, as Heather strummed a few chords before singing.

"I like the way that you dress up, but wear your Martens for me," She per usual, did not sound great. But you could see there was progress, and that she was actually, for once, trying.

"I like that when I grab your hand you tend to smile in your sleep," Mia sang out, sounding worlds better than Heather, but seemingly not caring about that.

"I like the way you sprinkle bourbon in your morning coffee," Heather called out, dramatically before they sang together "It kind of tastes bad, I'm not mad,"

"I like how you put up with me and all my friends 'cause we're jerks," Mia almost laughed at the words, as Heather looked directly to where Zoey and Tia were sitting, sticking her tongue out at them.

"And bring me places like your beach house or a Jimmy concert," Heather raised her eyebrows, swaying to the music she played.

"I like how it's been days now since you washed that yellow t-shirt," Mia nudged Heather playfully, as Heather rolled her eyes but the two shared a small smile before singing together once more.

"It kind of smells now, but I'm down," Heather did a small hip thrust at the words from behind her guitar just as Mia began singing the chorus.

"We look good together, always down whenever," Her voice remained just as impressively unique as it always was, Audrey and Leah cheering for their fellow Troubletones from their seats in the audience.

"We are weird and painful," Heather practically screamed out, putting emphasis on the word 'painful' "just like Ross and Rachel"

Suddenly coming up behind Heather, Mia placed a hand on each of Heather's shoulders, the two swaying in sync as they sang out the rest of the song together.

"Let's take a shot at something wonderful
Let's take a shot at something wonderful
Let's take a shot at something wonderful"

"Wow!" Marley was practically speechless, "I am so proud of you girls! Heather, your singing is getting so much better!"

"And here I thought I couldn't mess with perfection," Heather smirked.

"Great job, girls! Seriously!" Marley cooed before remembering there was another duo waiting to go, "Alright! Next we've got," She paused before grinning ear to ear at the names, "My beautiful kids, Oliver and Nikki Puckerman!"

Much like the few other sets of siblings that had performed, Nikki and Oliver had enjoyed their time working together. While they both, admittedly, thought it was hilarious that they ended up here together since neither wanted to join glee in the first place, they were happy that if nothing else, they didn't have to work with someone else.

"God, she's embarrassing," Oliver spoke, referring to their mother, "Did she have to introduce us like that?"

"I think embarrassing us is just like, her thing at this point," Nikki shook her head disappointedly.

"As true as that is," Oliver let a dry but genuine chuckle escape his lips, "We've still got a duet to perform."

"Yeah, time to show Sutton who's boss!" Nikki spoke out definitively, as Oliver laughed and shook his head, just as they made their way out onto the stage and the song started behind them.

"You sit there in your heartache," Oliver began singing out, surprising the Warblers with his impressive lower range, Tommy bopping along to the music in his seat.

"Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now
Here he comes,"

While the two certainly had no choreography, they both knew how to move and their stage presence showed as they moved in time with the music, Nikki taking center stage as she sang out.

"He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined
When you were young,"

Her voice was crisp, clear and beautiful, most of the Troubletones noting that even since the week prior she had seemed to have somehow gotten better, also noting that this sort of genre of rock music suited her well and was something they could maybe use down the line.

"And sometimes you close your eyes
And see the place where you used to live,"

Oliver sang out once more, the edginess in his voice beginning to show, aligning with the song perfectly.

"When you were young," Nikki finished out the verse before they began singing together.

"He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
Like you imagined
When you were young
When you were young,"

Their voices meshed incredibly well together as Marley wiped a single tear from her eye at the performance before her, Cay and Teddy both surprised and impressed with their fellow member from their respective glee clubs.

"I said he doesn't look a thing like Jesus
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But more than you'll ever know,"

The two wrapped up their performance, both still perfectly in tune and sync with each other, laughing and high fiving.

"I love Jesus," Sophie noted, while beginning clapping for the duo who'd just performed.

As Nikki and Oliver looked out into the audience, they saw virtually everyone (except for Sutton) giving - at the very least - polite applause, though most of the applause they received was far more enthusiastic.

"Well done you two!" Trent grinned from ear to ear, genuinely surprised that Oliver was able to pull that off, mentally noting to remember he could pull off songs like that, "Next up on our list we have Kendall Holliday and Leslie Adams!"

Leslie was genuinely surprised when she was not the last person picked to be someone's partner. She was also genuinely surprised that Kendall was the one that picked her. While it made sense since they were in the same glee club and typically got along fine, she was still glad to get picked – even if it meant Kendall being in her ear for the last few days talking absolute nonsense gossip about everyone in their glee club. Kendall was also glad about their partnership as it gave her a chance to clear her mind about having to continuously see her twin without talking to him, and she and Leslie were surprised to find that they had enough in common to come up with a killer routine.

"Hey, just before we go on," Leslie paused, looking over to Kendall, "I just wanted to say, I don't know, thanks for picking me? I wasn't expecting to get picked, I guess,"

"Why not?" Kendall was genuinely taken aback by the comment, "You're a bad bitch and you're talented. Plus, it works because we got to rehearse during glee time, so it's a win-win all around."

"Can't argue with that logic," Leslie laughed, shaking her head, "But seriously, thanks. I had a fun few days."

"Yeah," Kendall nodded, smiling, "Me too."

As a familiar tune started, the two girls came with at least a decent routine, Kendall taking the first line.

"Thought I'd end up with Sean, but it wasn't a match," She sang out, her voice deep and soulful, "Wrote some songs about Ricky, now I listen and laugh,"

Leslie now took a step up next to Kendall, taking her part of the verse, her voice just as intriguing and soulful as Kendall's, both matching the song beautifully.

"Even almost got married
And for Pete, I'm so thankful
Wish I could say 'thank you' to Malcolm
'Cause he was an angel,"

Turning to face each other, Kate let out a cheer in support for her teammates, which had a domino effect of Zach copying Kate, and Sydney giving them both a glare as she sat just a few rows behind them

"One taught me love
One taught me patience
And one taught me pain
Now, I'm so amazing,"

Kendall sang out effortlessly, moving in perfect sync with Leslie as she took her part next.

"Say I've loved and I've lost
But that's not what I see
So, look what I got
Look what you taught me
And for that, I say,"

Pausing for just a split second before going into more detailed choreography, the two girls faced each other before singing out first in unison, and then in harmony as the chorus went on.

"Thank you, next
Thank you, next
Thank you, next
I'm so fuckin' grateful for my ex
Thank you, next
Thank you, next
Thank you, next
I'm so fuckin' grateful for my ex,"

Sutton was surprised as he watched Ambrose smiling and nodding his head along politely, which was more than he'd done for anyone else yet.

"Thank you, next
Thank you, next
Thank you, next,"

Kendall and Leslie continued to wow the audience with both their incredible vocals and fairly well put together movement, wrapping up the song on a strong note.

"Thank you, next
Thank you, next
Thank you, next,"

Ending the song, Kendall wrapped an arm around her friend as the two earned a loud round of applause, both taking a small bow before slipping to the side and off the stage.

"That was…not horrible," Harmony nodded, thinking out loud, "Up after them we've got…Savannah and Finley?" She furrowed her eyebrows not knowing who either of those students were.

Savannah and Finley had not only had an interesting few days, but an interesting few weeks. While they had been on a few dates, the only thing Finley was sure of was that he was unsure of what they were. He knew he wasn't seeing anyone else, and he knew he didn't want to. But he didn't know if Savannah felt the same way. This was the closest he had ever truly gotten to a girl, and while he knew there would be a lot of road bumps along the way, he also knew Savannah was the first girl he wanted to, for lack of a better term, risk it all for. What he didn't know was that Savannah had felt the exact same way, and was waiting on him to make a move. However, if there was one thing a Lopez-Pierce was bad at, it was being patient.

"What are we?" She asked him suddenly, hands on her hips, as though he wasn't nervous enough already about performing.

"I'm… sorry?" Finley was caught completely off guard by the sudden statement.

"We hold hands in glee and your shoulder has quickly become my favorite headrest," She sort of half laughed before continuing, "We go on dates and hang out and text all the time. But it feels like you don't, I don't know, fully want me,"

"Of course I want you!" Finley blurted out a little too loudly, suddenly nervous that someone in the audience may have heard him, bringing his voice much lower, "I just… there's something I need to tell you first, but now is not… the best place," He sighed out shaking his head.

"Well how about this then?" Savannah breathed out heavily, now crossing her arms tightly over her chest, "How about when this is all over you and I can go somewhere to talk and figure things out?"

"That…" Finley bit his lip before nodding, "That sounds really nice."

"Good," Savannah smiled, "Now come on, we can't keep our adoring fans waiting," she snickered.

As they marched out on stage, all four Jones' in the audience clapped and cheered for Finley. Next to Simon, Mack clapped along to be nice, and elsewhere Lex was cheering and whooping for Savannah.

As Finley picked up the same guitar Heather had a few performances prior, he strummed a few soft chords before opening the song.

"And all my walls stood tall painted blue
And I'll take them down, take them down
And open up the door for you,"

His low country-esque voice oddly matched the energy of the song perfectly, his lower tones coming out beautifully as he made eye contact with Savannah, a cheesy grin on his face as she took her part of the verse.

"And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies
The beautiful kind, making up for lost time
Taking flight, making me feel right,"

Savannah's voice, as always, was beautiful and just as impressive as everyone remembered. While Audrey contemplated giving her a cheer for support she wondered if Savannah would do the same for her and decided against it just as the two on stage began to sing together.

"I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you, know you, know you,"

Taking a step towards each other slowly as they sang, everyone in New Directions was reminded of just how beautiful their voices sounded together, as everyone who missed their duet last week was impressed by what could only be described as a natural chemistry

"'Cause all I know is we said, 'Hello'
And your eyes look like coming home
All I know is a simple name
Everything has changed
All I know is you held the door
And you'll be mine and I'll be yours
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed,"

They wrapped up their song, Finley putting his guitar down before wrapping Savannah up in a delicate embrace, both of the smiles on their faces completely undeniable.

"He's really getting it, huh?" Rowan smirked, Hazel nudging them to shush them, but smiling in response.

"As always, beautiful job you guys," Mr. Schue congratulated them, Delia and Naomi who sat together rolling their eyes in sync, "Alright! Up next from Dalton Academy we've got Addison McCarthy and Eric Karofsky!"

While the last few days were certainly difficult for Eric, he was optimistic. Addison had spent the last 72 hours making jokes and wise cracks about how it felt like it did when they were together, and that made Eric feel nice. He wanted to be back with Addison and that was the one thing he was certain about. However, he was still trying to test the waters and be absolutely sure that's also what Addison wanted before deep diving into his feelings. Addison looked at Eric for a few long moments trying to decide whether or not to say what was on his mind, and before he could even make a decision the words were falling out of his mouth.

"So are we boyfriends again or what?" Addison spoke bluntly, his face suddenly going red, something he was not entirely used to.

"I," Eric's face became somehow even redder, "I, um, I mean..."

"It's uh," Addison was suddenly at a loss for words, which was something that was incredibly rare for him, "I just mean, we had a really good few days together and um, it's… it's okay if you don't want to! I just thought.." He trailed off, suddenly distracted as Eric grabbed his hand in his.

"I want to," Eric nodded, still blushing, but a smile on his face as he looked at his now boyfriend.

"You mean that?" Addison grinned, not totally surprised but still over the moon with Eric's response.

"Of course I do," Eric grinned.

"Well, boyfriend," Addison put emphasis on the word, "You ready to go give an absolutely adorable performance now that we are officially back as Dalton's 'it couple'?"

After a more than enthusiastic nod from Eric, the two making their way on stage, a pretty acoustic instrumental playing behind them.

"When you're on your own
Drowning alone
And you need a rope that can pull you in
Someone will throw it,"

Eric began, a shy smile on his face, the delivery of the words genuine as his soft and pretty voice carried the words out perfectly. Eric looked over to Addison who had a much wider, more open smile as he sang out his part of the verse, placing a hand on Eric's shoulder.

"And when you're afraid
That you're gonna break
And you need a way to feel strong again
Someone will know it,"

Most of the Warblers watching swayed in tune, Sutton nudging Ambrose and letting out a loud, "Awww," just before the couple on stage went into harmonizing and singing together.

"And even when it hurts the most
Try to have a little hope
That someone's gonna be there when you don't
When you don't,"

Stepping closer together, facing each other directly, the two boys continued to sing in harmony, Kate letting out a loud cheer for her brother, as he heard and smiled, things finally feeling like they were falling into place.

"If you wanna cry, I'll be your shoulder
If you wanna laugh, I'll be your smile
If you wanna fly, I will be your sky
Anything you need that's what I'll be
If you wanna climb, I'll be your ladder
If you wanna run, I'll be your road
If you want a friend, doesn't matter when
Anything you need, that's what I'll be
You can come to me,"

Now stepping away from standing face to face, Addison reached to hold Eric's hand, though far enough away from the view of the audience that only the keen eye would notice as they wrapped up the song together.

"You can come to me,"

They wrapped up, their voices beautiful together, but much like the duo before them, their chemistry being the thing that really sold the song, the audience applauding them as many of the Warblers wondered if this meant what they thought it meant.

"So well done, boys," Unique applauded them, "A beautiful song choice, truly," she smiled kindly before referring to her notes, "Next, and last up on the roster today, we've got Mack Sterling and Simon Jones!"

More than almost anyone else, Simon and Mack were surprised not just by how much they had in common, but also how well they'd gotten along. Mack genuinely could not remember the last time he had felt this comfortable around someone – even more so than Tommy or anyone in his family. It was a nice, but surprising feeling to have. Little did he know, Simon felt the same way. Simon saw himself as a complex individual to say the very least. But being around Mack made him feel…somewhat less complex, and he was happy to have a friend like that around.

"Hey," Simon put a hand on Mack's shoulder, noticing that he was visibly nervous, "It's gonna be great. We literally chose our song 'cause this is what my dad won with when he had his duet competition. We're gonna be good!"

"I know," Mack smiled, admittedly, blushing slightly at the physical contact, hoping that Simon simply did not notice. "It's just…one of the first times I've ever sung a duet with anyone."

"Really?" Simon questioned, "That surprises me."

"Yeah, I guess in my glee club I've either gotten solos or group numbers, but… I do agree. I think we'll be good," Mack offered a small smirk, building up as much confidence as he could.

"If it helps, it's one of my first times too. Unless you count all the times I've sung with Naomi, which, I guess I don't really. Count I mean." Simon chuckled nervously, "We should uh, head out there, huh?"

Smiling at his duet partner, Mack followed Simon out onto the stage, an all too familiar song starting as Simon took the first part.

"Do you hear me, I'm talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying,"

While he, admittedly, seemed a bit shaky and nervous at first, Simon's natural charisma and talent came through by the time he wrapped up his part, earning a loud cheer from Naomi, directly followed in succession by Finley, Hazel and Rowan all also cheering for their brother just as Mack began singing.

"Boy, I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard,"

Much like Simon, Mack started off shaky and nervous. While it took him longer to break out of it than Simon, he did eventually find his way, surprising not just himself, but also the Warblers who he, technically, was in charge of, by his sudden switch in demeanor, looking relaxed and with a stage presence nobody even knew he was capable of having.

"Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again,"

The two boys sang in harmony, Tommy letting out a loud cheer in support of Mack, happy that his best friend and Simon, who he considered his future in law, seemed to be getting along so well and that they somehow managed to sound like they'd been singing together their whole lives.

"They don't know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I'll wait for you, I promise you, I will,"

While Mack took the lead, Simon harmonized, his cool, lower range matching Mack's higher register flawlessly, the two sharing a small glimpse and smile, suddenly both realizing what a great pair they really did make as they made their way to finish their duet, still perfectly in tune and seemingly almost mindset with each other.

"Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we're in love in every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday
Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again,"

They wrapped up the song with a few "ooh's", as the Jones' and Isaac were all proud of their respective brothers on stage, everyone else clapping loudly, Teddy unsure of what exactly he just saw, but glad Mack was finally stepping up to be front and center.

"Wow, excellently done," Trent, much like Teddy, was pleasantly surprised at Mack stepping up to the challenge, "And that wraps up today's performances! Don't forget you've all still got your glee meetings tomorrow morning, but otherwise we'll see you all tomorrow afternoon!"

As Simon and Mack high fived celebrating their performance, Mack found, what was for him, a new found confidence as he was almost surprised to find himself speaking to Simon the second they stepped backstage.

"I uh, I had a really good time getting to know you, Simon," Mack admitted, a sheepish grin on his face, "I mean, I feel like we um, sort of, I don't know have this weird connection? The last time I got this close to someone, it was Tommy who's my best friend and I adore him but…things got kind of…weird," he admitted, unsure as to why he felt so comfortable dumping this all on Simon but also found himself incapable of stopping.

"Oh I heard about that," Simon laughed somewhat awkwardly, "Through Naomi, you know? But I totally get it, I've been there," he suddenly paused, not wanting to give Mack the wrong idea, "You know, because like for me, as a straight guy, I've uh, you know, had some of my, um, not straight friends have crushes on me."

"Oh….oh," Mack suddenly got the picture, mentally beating himself up for even considering the option that they could have ever been more than friends, mad at himself for continuing the cycle, "Well, I'm glad you, you know, get it in some sort of way," Mack gave him a sad smile.

"Yeah, I do," Simon offered up an equally sad smile, shrugging, "But I do agree, we uh, we've got a good sort of friendship going for us. I'd, you know, like to continue hanging out, if you'd be cool with that?"

"Yeah," Mack tried his best to muster the words and a demeanor that did not show how he was feeling, "That sounds good," He smiled, trying to convince himself that if nothing else, he had gained a new friend, and that was a good thing.

THURSDAY MORNING, NEW DIRECTIONS

"Let me just first start off by saying," Mr. Schue greeted his glee club with a warm smile as he spoke, "I want to congratulate all of you who have performed this week, I am genuinely so proud and so in awe of how you stepped up to the plate. And I really can't wait to see what the rest of you have planned."

"Kind of hard to be excited about it when there is apparently already an impossibly high standard to reach," Oscar muttered to nobody in particular.

"I think it's all about having fun, right?!" Lex tried, over enthusiastically, resulting in sporadic boos coming from around the room.

"Alright guys, enough," Mr. Schue waved them off, but did laugh slightly.

"It's a fair point though," Felix spoke up suddenly, "You guys can all work your asses off, but me and Xavier have got this in the bag."

"Respectfully, none of us know who that is," Savannah snickered.

"While I don't think it's fair to say anything until everyone has performed," Sophie began, "Clearly Trina and I have already won."

"As if," Delia, who, per usual, wasn't even really tuned in, "We all know how good Naomi and I are separately. And now maybe we can finally get a well deserved stand out moment at a competition when we win."

"Delia, knock it off," Mr. Schue tried to keep his composure, "And while I love to see the competitive fire inside all of you, we've only got a short time and we-"

"Need to work on sectionals?" Rey surprised the room by being the one to cut him off.

"Exactly," Mr. Schue nodded, "Finley and Savannah? I had an idea for a part for you guys, if you want to come learn it."

"Unbelievable," Delia grumbled.

"What are the rest of us supposed to do?" Simon questioned.

"What we always do," Felix smirked, kicking his feet up, "Nothing."

"Hey," Kyla nudged Oscar, as the rest of the group made their way to simply hang out, "You excited for our performance today?"

"More nervous," Oscar laughed, "Performing is fun, but I'm not big on being the center of attention."

"I think you're the first person I've met through glee who feels that way," Kyla couldn't help but laugh, "It's one of the things I like about you," she punched his arm playfully.

"R…really?" Oscar was embarrassed to feel his face getting hot.

"Yeah, you weirdo," Kyla smirked, "Like it or not, you're stuck with me. But all that aside," she paused for a moment, "We've got a hilarious song and we're gonna be great."

"Let's hope," Oscar chuckled nervously.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the classroom, Rowan had pulled Hazel aside, wanting to speak to her out of earshot of everyone else.

"Hey," Rowan offered a sort of half-hearted smirk, "I just wanted to let you know it was… nice hanging out with you this week. Like, actually hanging out. I know we've never been close but…I dunno. It's just nice to actually get along."

"It's not like we didn't get along beforehand," Hazel pointed out, "But I get what you mean. I mean, Simon's been the only one Naomi's been talking to, so I'm sure he's…stressed. And then there's Finley's new distraction," she let out a small laugh, "Who would've thought it would just take everyone else being busy to get us to hang out?"

"Very true," Rowan laughed with their sister, "I do want you to know that it's not just because of all that, though. I would have picked you anyways. I know when you and Flora worked together for the whole dance thing a few weeks back you guys kinda talked about… everything a little bit. I guess all I'm saying is we both kind of feel like lone wolves. But us lone wolves have to stick together right?" Rowan laughed.

"Yeah, something like that," Hazel laughed, genuinely surprised but happy about the progression she and Rowan had made the last few days. And in that moment, for the first time almost in her whole life, she felt like she had a true, genuine, sibling.

THE TROUBLETONES

"Eat your heart out, ladies," Heather spoke loudly as she and Mia were the last two to enter their glee meeting, "You can try all your might but we clearly won this silly little duets assignment."

"Hell yeah we did!" Mia high fived her girlfriend.

"We're only halfway through," Audrey pointed out, but laughed, "You don't know what anyone else has got planned."

"Exactly," Leah pointed out, mimicking the other two girls by high fiving Audrey.

"Alright girls, that's enough," Marley laughed out, "And while it's awesome to see you getting along, we do need to talk about the fact that while we're all set for sectionals we're still two girls short from even being able to perform."

"I know I'm new and all, but I really am sort of trying to work on it," Naomi spoke, "I've got a few ideas."

"Well I don't know who they are," Tia shook her head, "We're really just scratching at the very bottom of the barrel. Any talented girls are either already here, in New Directions, or have no interest."

"She's right," Cay spoke up in agreement, "The cheerios have made it very clear they want nothing to do with our glee club."

"Same with the dance team," Audrey sighed out, defeated.

"I just don't know where else we can look," Zoey practically spat the words out, "I'm only here because of a favor I owed Tia and Mia. Naomi's only here because Mr. Schue's a misogynistic prick. People aren't breaking down our door by any means."

"I'd suggest leeching from New Directions, but what are the odds any of them would even jump over?" Heather sighed out.

"What about other schools?" Nikki suddenly spoke out, the wheels turning in her head, "Could we leech from there?"

"Like where? Jane Adams academy? Hard pass," Zoey sneered.

"What about the other schools around us?" Naomi tried, "Obviously we can't leech the Warblers, but do we know anyone in Vocal Adrenaline who'd jump ship?"

"The only one I know is Xavier's sister, Chloe," Trina sighed, "And she wouldn't leave him, or God forbid her mom."

"I feel it's probably the same with Leslie," Marley suddenly joined in, surprising the girls that she wasn't totally opposed to the idea of stealing another team's members. "She loves Unique too much to leave."

"The only eligible person I know from over there is Emery and she simply is the biggest bummer of a person I have ever met." Heather shook her head.

"Agreed," Zoey nodded, surprising the room that they agreed on absolutely anything.

"Naomi and I worked with Kendall on an assignment a few weeks back?" Cay spoke up, "But she was going through… a lot."

"Yeah, super great talent but the baggage is maybe too much," Naomi agreed, nodding.

"What about that kid who did the backflip? Sang Country Roads or whatever?" Mia tried.

"Dana Abrams?" Cay laughed out loud, "Absolutely not."

"I mean, I used to go to Carmel," Leah spoke up, "Sydney wouldn't leave. She hates New Directions, and I think still sees us as the same glee club. The only other person I can think of is Kate. She's also an incredible talent, but I think has invested too much time into Vocal Adrenaline. It would be hard convincing her to make the jump."

"We could always put Oliver in a wig," Nikki smirked.

"How about," Marley stepped in once more, just as the bell rang, "We sit and think about this. We've got a few extra practices coming up anyways, so if anyone comes up with anything, we'll talk about it then!" She waved her girls off, trying to figure out just exactly how she'd get two more girls in such a short amount of time.

THE WARBLERS

"We've got an announcement!" Addison walked into the Warblers meeting, Eric close behind him.

"Ooh, is it that you two got back together?!" Tommy grinned excitedly.

"Way to ruin the surprise, Abrams," Addison deep sighed, "But yes! The rumors are true, we are back and better than ever!"

"Congrats," Trent spoke diplomatically, "Glad to see it boys."

"Hell yeah! A Warblers romance!" Zach called out excitedly.

"I am once again reminding you that that could be us but you're playing," Sutton raised his eyebrows at Ambrose.

"You exhaust me," Was Ambrose's only response.

"Really glad to see you guys back together," Michael smiled at his friends, trying to move on from whatever was going on with the other two boys.

"Thank you all for your kind words," Eric smiled, so giddy he was practically giggling before looking at Mack who had his face down on the desk before him, "Is uh, is he okay?"

"He's fine, he just has to be dramatic first," Teddy spoke dryly, unsurprised that Mack, once again, played himself. "Despite that, we're still trying to figure out our duet for sectionals. I don't need to remind you all that we're running out of time. So please, see if there's anything you can come up with this morning, or, at any point, and get in touch with one of us," he gestured to the rest of the council, but hoped they would just go to him or even Trent.

"Are we… just hanging out trying to figure that out then, this morning?" Frank questioned curiously.

"Looks that way, lover boy," Oliver couldn't resist teasing him, "Since you know, we all remember that you already performed."

"I don't think I could forget, that was crazy!" Zach laughed, "Our good guy is finally getting in there."

"Alright enough talk about 'getting in there'," Trent put an end to the conversation, terrified of where it could go, "Get to work on coming up with some duets!"

"You ready to knock 'em dead, tomorrow?" Sutton nudged Ambrose as the other boys scattered to think.

"I'm excited for this week to be over and to finally focus on sectionals," Ambrose spoke, his tone cool, "No offense."

"None taken," Sutton laughed, "But at least when we're done, we're done. I've gotta live with me all the time. You've actually got it pretty good," he teased.

"Sutton you are… something else," Ambrose shook his head.

"I'm taking that as a compliment whether or not it was meant as one," Sutton grinned, not giving Ambrose a chance to tell him which it was as he nodded towards the men gathered at the council, "What do you think they're talking about?"

"I think it's none of our business," Ambrose spoke almost on autopilot, but couldn't deny his own curiosity, as he turned his head just slightly to look over.

"There, there, buddy," Tommy pat Mack's back, as he now sat up, but slumped in his chair, "It'll be okay."

"Easy for you to say," Mack breathed out, defeated.

"Sorry to break this up," Zach, Frank and Bob approached the council cautiously.

"No, please break this up," Teddy straightened himself up, glad to change the subject, though he was now concerned with what the three of them wanted. "What can we help you with, gentlemen?"

"It's a little… unconventional," Frank began slowly, "But we may have come up with a duet,"

"Sounds fun!" Tommy's interest was piqued as he brought his attention to the three boys in front of him.

"Unconventional… how?" Trent stepped closer to the group, his interest also piqued, but his tone cautious.

"Well, it's a song with two parts," Zach started, more or less ignoring his father's question, "I would get to rap and we were thinking…" he paused.

"We were thinking Mack could do the other part?" Bob spoke up, all boys turning their attention to Mack.

"Really? Why me?" Mack was flattered but confused.

"Well firstly, you clearly need a little pick me up," Zach began to explain, "Secondly, our names rhyme, so you know it's gonna be a banger. Thirdly, I dunno. You just make the most sense to us. All of us," he gestured to the two boys standing beside him."

"Do you have the sheet music?" Teddy questioned curiously, letting his guard down just slightly.

"No, but, we think you might know it," Zach informed them with a cheeky smile.

VOCAL ADRENALINE

"Good morning, traitors," Xavier spoke as he walked into the auditorium, arms crossed over his chest.

"What did we do?" Sawyer, who had been blissfully unaware of everything going on with Xavier this week, spoke up.

"Not you. Just two of you. They know who they are," Xavier sneered, "Chloe too, but that was not entirely her fault. Dana, however, is on my list."

"Leave Dana out of this," Kate spoke diplomatically, but protective over her friend.

"Xavier, this is dramatic, even for you," Emery rolled their eyes.

"Do you guys hear something?" Xavier looked around the room, pretending not to see both Emery and Jude.

"What's he going on about now?" Sydney practically whined as she made her way into the room.

"I don't know, I wasn't listening," Anthony shrugged, "I thought I was trending on Twitter but turns out it's another Anthony? My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined."

"And here we all were thinking Xavier was the most dramatic one," Kendall smirked.

"Why would you be trending?" Isaac questioned, genuinely confused.

"Because I'm famous," Anthony practically hissed the word out.

"For… what?" Leslie asked cautiously.

"Why would you get him started?" Sydney groaned.

"Is it the whole Broadway thing?" Steven whispered quietly, not wanting to upset Anthony, Sydney, or anyone else for that matter, but was only met with a shrug from both Sawyer and Dana.

Luckily for everyone in the room, Harmony and Unique stepped in just in time to stop Anthony from reminding everyone of who his parents are.

"Where the hell is Chloe?" Harmony immediately noticed the absence of her daughter, though her tone was more annoyed and less concerned.

"I thought she was with you!" Xavier gasped dramatically.

"Whatever, she'll come back. She always finds her way home eventually," Harmony rolled her eyes, earning her a surprised look from Unique who almost had the mind to say something about it, but figured it would be best to just drop it.

"Alright, everyone, look," Unique began, "While we are all very happy about how things are going this week, we are nowhere near being in shape for sectionals. Especially compared to, not only our competition, but all of our sister schools."

"McKinley is not our sister school," Sydney felt like she was going to throw up.

"It's my sister's school though!" Dana announced proudly.

"Also? The Troubletones still don't have enough to even technically... qualify," Emery pointed out.

"How did you know that?!" Xavier acted like it was some big secret out of protection for Trina, as though he hadn't brought up his worry for her, and their lack of members at every chance this past week.

"Maybe because you won't stop talking about it?" Jude jumped to Emery's defense, "Or because we've all been in a room with them and we know how to count?"

"Stop ganging up on me!" Xavier pouted.

"Yeah, stop ganging up on him!" Harmony snapped, "Oh, there you are, Chloe."

"Sorry I'm late," She grumbled, "What did I miss?"

"Anthony thinks he's famous, which is not news," Kendall began, "Thought he was trending, and none of us know why. But wouldn't surprise me if he had the Schuester girl's body in his basement."

"Hey! I am famous, and I'm trying to spy! That's more than any of you are doing!" Anthony cried out in defense.

"I'm not done my recap," Kendall put a finger up, not happy with being interrupted as all other members of the team, including the coaches, exchanged a worrisome look, "We're talking shit about the Troubletones because they're down two girls, and shockingly Xavier is less upset about the fact that his girlfriend might not even be able to show at sectionals, and more upset that werido one and werido two over there," she nodded her head towards Jude and Emery, "are dating and didn't invite him to be a throuple,"

While Emery opened their mouth to deny the accusation, they were cut off by Jude speaking up, "So what if we are?"

"What?!" Xavier gasped once more, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well," Sydney stood up suddenly, "At least they're dating within their club," She shot Kate a dangerous pair of side eyes.

Kate's face grew red as she also stood up, nobody seeing her react like this before.

"Uh oh," Dana muttered quietly.

"Oh that is so bold of you to say," Kate felt her face grow hot, "As though you weren't practically sucking Frank's face off on stage on Tuesday."

"Kate," Unique put her hands up, "That's enough,"

"Why? Why me? Why do Kendall and Anthony and Sydney always get to say whatever the hell they want but the second I say something everything is Kate's fault? Huh?" Kate realized midway she was losing all composure, and also realized at that point, she didn't care, "I have carried this team on my back since I got here and have not gotten a single thank you, a single 'good job Kate' I barely get to sing for God's sake! But God forbid I find a boy I actually like, for maybe the first time in my whole life and now I'm destroying the glee club. Not Anthony who thinks he deserves to be the star because his parents are famous, not Jude, who missed almost a full month of glee and countless other meetings, not Sydney who questions absolutely everything I do. And of course it's not Xavier who makes everything about him but nobody tells him no because he's Harmony's son. No, it's me. I'm the problem. Good to know," She finished, guilty about bringing people who she didn't actually have issues with into it, but at this point she was too far gone as she looked at the shock on absolutely everyone's face, quickly making her way to leave, embarrassed about her outburst, but still upset about everything that lead to it.

"I'm…" Leslie spoke slowly after a few long moments of awkward silence, "I'm going to check on her."

While the remainder of the glee club looked at each other with blank expressions, it was Chloe who finally spoke up.

"So the Troubletones don't have enough girls, huh?" She nodded, pensively, "Interesting."

THURSDAY AFTERNOON

While all glee clubs had interesting meetings that morning to say the very least, most were anxious not just to either perform or watch performances, but also to have this week come to an end and really hone in on trying to win sectionals. Like every other day so far, the pairs all sat together and away from the other pairs, all whispering and muttering about how glee was for them, or about the performances they expected to see that afternoon.

"Alright everyone!" Trent smiled, gaining the attention of the kids, "Welcome to day three of duets! We've got quite a few to get through, so starting us off, please welcome to the stage Tia and Zoey McCarthy!"

The cousins had their song planned basically from the moment they knew they would be duetting together. They were both good. and knew they were, and were, thankfully, used to being around each other and - especially as of late - were used to performing with each other. They also knew they could simply just have fun since, like Marley mentioned to them on Tuesday, they both already had guaranteed parts for sectionals. That said, they wanted the bragging rights, and specifically wanted to beat Mia and Heather.

"You ready to give them the performance of a lifetime?" Zoey smirked, hands on her hips.

"As if you actually have to ask," Tia laughed.

As the two girls have a quick high five, they strutted out onto the stage, a song with a strong beat playing behind them, going straight into clearly thought out choreography, Tia taking the first line.

"Why am I always hit on by the boys I never like?
I can always see 'em coming, from the left or from the right,"

Her voice proved once again to be one of the strongest in the Troubletones, as she spun, trading places with Zoey who took her turn to sing.

"I don't want to be a priss, I'm just tryna be polite
But it always seems to bite me in the,"

Much Like Tia, she had a strong and beautiful voice, both also very clearly able to both dance and choreograph.

"Ask me for my number, yeah, you put me on the spot," Tia sang out, both girls now also giving face.

"You think that we should hook up, but I think that we should not," Zoey sang in turn, a small smirk on her lips.

"You had me at 'Hello', then you opened up your mouth," Tia sang, moving to stand back to back with Zoey as they prepared to sing together.

"And that is when it started going south," They held the last note, both riffing slightly as they somehow managed to stay in perfect harmony.

Mia cheered loudly for her sister and cousin, as Heather beside her cheered loudly, but made sure Mia knew she was just cheering for Tia, and not Zoey. Felix also was cheering loudly for his childhood friends and though he was still reeling from his weird day and week, Xavier, of course, cheered in solidarity with Felix.

"Get your hands off my hips
'Fore I'll punch you in the lips
Stop your staring at my... Hey!
Take a hint, take a hint,"

As the girls continued to sing together, they served what were arguably the best harmonies anyone had heard from any duo yet.

"No you can't buy me a drink
Let me tell you what I think
I think you could use a mint
Take a hint, take a hint
T-take a hint, take a hint,"

They wrapped up in the same pose, smiling as they knew they had just absolutely nailed it.

"Very well done, ladies," Unique applauded them as they made their way off stage, "Next up, we've got Rowan and Hazel Jones!"

Things were as good as they'd ever been between the two siblings. Ever since their conversation that morning in glee they found themselves hanging out at lunch, sending each other memes between classes, laughing at personal jokes they had developed throughout the week, both glad they finally had someone else they could get along with and unapologetically be themselves.

"Do you think they'll be surprised?" Rowan questioned curiously.

"Who?" Hazel tilted her head to the side.

"All our siblings," Rowan shrugged, "You know, about how killer we are together,"

Laughing, Hazel shrugged, "I guess there's one way to find out, huh?"

Walking in step out onto the stage, Rowan grabbed a guitar and began strumming, as they took the first half of their verse, Finley clapping out in support before they even started.

"I spent twenty years tryin' to get out of this place
I was looking for something I couldn't replace
I was running away from the only thing I've ever known,"

Their voice was low, raspy, and worked against the song perfectly, as they smiled at Hazel, who took over flawlessly, her voice starkly different to Rowan's but also suited the song brilliantly.

"Like a blind dog without a bone
I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone
I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold,"

They turned to each other, both smiling as they sang out in harmony, their different voices sounding surprisingly good together.

"I've been there, done that, and I ain't looking back
On the seeds I've sown
Saving dimes, spending too much time on the telephone
Who says you can't go home?"

"Hell yeah!" Lex called in support for his teammates, as Rowan and Hazel turned to face each other, recognizing that they were both actually having a really good time.

"Who says you can't go home?
There's only one place that call me one of their own
Just a hometown boy, born a rollin' stone
Who says you can't go home?
Who says you can't go back?
Been all around the world and as a matter of fact
There's only one place left I wanna go
Who says you can't go home?
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright,"

Wrapping their song up, they had various volumes of applause coming from all directions, though Rowan felt cold chills run down their spine as they looked at Naomi who looked at them back with the coldest expression she could muster.

"Alright, alright," Harmony lazily shooed them off the stage, "Coming up next we've got Leah and Audrey?" She furrowed her eyebrows, wondering why she always had to introduce the kids she didn't know.

Like many of the duos before them, the two girls were surprised to find they had so much in common. The big difference was, they should have known they did since they were cousins, but were estranged until this year. While they spent most of their time practicing at glee or at home, Audrey knew she would eventually have to tell her mother how much time she'd been spending with Leah – she was just anxious to do it, since every time the Puckerman's got brought up her mother acted strange. Shaking her head as if to rid herself of the thoughts, Audrey was distracted by Leah talking to her.

"Are you okay?" Leah asked her, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, fine," Audrey smiled nodding, "Are you?"

"I'm great," Leah couldn't help but laugh, "You just seem distracted. Thinking about Lex?" she couldn't help but tease her.

"With this song? Not a chance," Audrey laughed in turn, nudging Leah slightly, "Speaking of, we've gotta go perform,"

They walked out on the stage, immediately earning what Savannah described to Finley as 'embarrassingly loud' applause from Lex, which, of course, had all of the Troubletones giggling and whispering among themselves. Ignoring the various reactions, Audrey took the first part of the verse.

"Este's a friend of mine
We meet up every Tuesday night for dinner and a glass of wine
Este's been losing sleep
Her husband's acting different and it smells like infidelity,"

Of course, Audrey absolutely delivered, swaying to the music as Leah followed suit, singing her part next.

"She says, That ain't my Merlot on his mouth
That ain't my jewelry on our joint account"
No, there ain't no doubt
I think I'm gonna call him out
She says,"

Leah's voice was just as pretty as Audey's reminding anyone who'd heard Marley sing of her voice. Turning to stand back to back, the two girls continued to sing out, now lowering their range just slightly, singing in perfect harmony.

"I think he did it but I just can't prove it
I think he did it but I just can't prove it
I think he did it but I just can't prove it
No, no body, no crime
But I ain't letting up until the day I die,"

While a few people were surprised to say the least at the song choice, Heather let out a loud cheer of support, followed by Mia, which started a domino effect among all of the Troubletones cheering for their teammates.

"No, no body, no crime
I wasn't letting up until the day he
No, no body, no crime
I wasn't letting up until the day he
No, no body, no crime
I wasn't letting up until the day he
Died,"

As the girls wrapped up their song they, for lack of better term, killed it. As the Troubletones all, of course cheered, Lex cheered loudly for Audrey once more as Sutton cheered Leah on.

"Very well done you two," Mr. Schue smiled at the two girls, while he contemplated mentioning the subject matter of the song, he figured Marley was more than capable of dealing with that. "Next up on the list is Cay and Teddy Chang!"

Like all of the siblings that had already performed, Cay and Teddy truly felt like they had nothing to worry about. While they may not have necessarily practiced as much as the other groups, they had both decided they needed to step out of their comfort zone and pick a song that really focused on singing, a song where they couldn't hide behind choreography. The one they picked was one they both knew as it was also a song their parents seemed to like.

"You ready, dude?" Cay lightly punched her brother in the arm.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Teddy raised his eyebrows.

"Dunno, maybe cause you're miles away?" Cay laughed, "I know you're thinking about the Warblers, and I also know you have no stakes in this because you basically choose who sings what parts in your songs. But I have stakes in this and want to win," she half joked.

"Fine, fine," Teddy conceded, laughing, "What're you waiting for then?" He smirked, leading them onto the stage.

They stood together at the front of the stage, a slow but pleasant sounding instrumental starting as they swayed in time to the music, all three of the Abrams cheering at an almost inappropriate volume just as Teddy began singing.

"Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair
He-e-ey,"

While there was not necessarily anything to write home about in terms of his voice, he carried the tune well, and did have good stage presence. Still swaying in sync, Cay took the next part.

"She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's a time to change
He-e-ey,"

Cay's voice, while somehow more delicate, also carried the tune well, the two of them exchanging a small glance and a smile, singing the next part in harmony.

"Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June
He-e-ey
He-e-ey,"

While Mack cheered out for Teddy, Simon next to him followed suit as he'd grown up around the Changs. Not too far from them, Nikki also gave a loud cheer for Cay, as Oliver clapped politely for Teddy who was one of the only Warblers he could actually tolerate all of the time.

"But tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet?
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back toward the Milky Way?"

Teddy sang out, smiling slightly as this was the first time in ages he and Cay had ever done something like this together, looking at his younger sister as she solo'd the next bit.

"But tell me, did you sail across the sun?
Did you make it to the Milky Way? To see the lights all faded
And that Heaven is overrated?"

Small but genuine smiles on each of their faces, the two wrapped up the song beautifully, surprising both of their respective glee clubs with their ability to sing in harmony and work as a pair.

"And tell me, did you fall for a shooting star?
One without a permanent scar, and then you miss me
While you were looking for yourself?
And are you lonely looking for yourself out there?"

As the siblings earned loud scattered applause from around the room, they shared a look, knowing they did the best they could and if nothing else, had a good time doing it.

"Absolutely incredible you two!" Marley smiled, as they walked off the stage, "Coming up next we have Zach Nixon and Kate Karofsky!"

Since her blowup that morning Kate hadn't really spoken to anyone else in Vocal Adrenaline, except for Leslie who'd stopped her to make sure she was fine, but the truth was she wasn't – she was incredibly embarrassed about her outburst and had pulled away from just about everyone and everything. Zach hadn't noticed until now as he was distracted with the fact that his brother, Oscar, who would be performing after him stole the musical artist he was also using. It wasn't until mid-rant about this that Zach noticed something was up with his duet partner.

"Hey, what's going on?" His voice got suddenly soft as he looked at Kate.

"Hm?" Kate looked up slightly, her gaze meeting his, "Nothing, don't worry about it,"

"Hey," Zach repeated, his voice kind but firm, "I know we haven't known each other a crazy long time but we know each other well enough that I can tell when you're lying to me."

"I just," Kate let out a deep sigh, "I let everything sort of… get the best of me, this week. In terms of Vocal Adrenaline, I mean. I kind of blew up at them and now I don't even know how to go about trying to apologize to them or how to make things right."

"Listen," Zach began slowly, "We've talked – a lot – about how you take care of that group. I'm sure none of them will hold it against you. But right now, in all honesty, there's nothing you can do, except to wait for the right time to talk to them all, you know? So let's put our energy into doing our dope number, and then we'll figure the rest out, yeah?"

"Yeah," Kate nodded, a small smile appearing back on her face as she realized how lucky she was to have Zach around.

"There she is, there's my smiley gal," Zach laughed, nudging her, "Now come on, let's go kick ass."

And just like that the two walked out onto the stage, a light but fun tune playing as they both pulled and sat on their stools near the front of the stage, Kate singing the first part of the verse.

"When I saw you over there
I didn't mean to stare
But my mind was everywhere
I wanna know you,"

While most of Vocal Adrenaline was still on edge about that morning, they were all also impressed by Kate's softer tones – they knew she had a good high range and belt, but this was not something they were used to hearing.

"Gonna guess that you're the kind
To say what's on your mind
But you listen when I have something to show you,"

Zach took his turn in singing and while he was still not great, the effort was there, and he was clearly having a good time if the smile on his face was any indication. While Frank cheered for his Warblers brethren, Sydney immediately elbowed him in the ribs, eyes glared and fixated on Kate. Opting to ignore this, Kate jumped in with her next part.

"There's a mark above your eye
You got it in July
Fighting for your brother's reputation,"

Shifting on his stool slightly, Zach turned to face Kate, just as her brother, Eric, let out a loud cheer out of support for his sister.

"You remember people's names
And valentines are lame
So I bring you flowers just for no occasion, oh,"

Zach wrapped up on his part of the verse and while backstage Oscar was still annoyed at the constant arguments he made about them both doing a Hannah Montana song, even he couldn't deny how surprisingly not awful they sounded.

"Whoa oh, whoa oh, whoa oh
I wanna know you
Whoa oh, whoa oh, whoa oh,"

Kate and Zach sang in sync, and while Zach's harmonies left something to be desired, they somehow made it work as they finished out the song together.

"I wanna go there where you go
I wanna find out what you know
And maybe someday down the road
Sit back and say to myself
I like how you are with me
In our future history
And maybe someday down the road
I'll sit back and say to myself
'Yeah, I thought so'"

Sharing a look and a shy smile at the last line, the two stood up, surprised that they'd earned any applause at all – Kate because of her dramatics that morning, and Zach because he knew he couldn't sing.

"I am… actually impressed," Trent laughed, "Thank you both very much! Next up wrapping up today's performances we've got Oscar Nixon and Kyla Weston!"

It had been an interesting week for both Kyla and Oscar – while they were always somewhat close, they found singing a duet together brought them closer than ever. While it would have been enough for Zach to be down his throat about how they couldn't both do Hannah Montana despite it being the only show they both watched, Kyla was the one who suggested the song, which of course, made Oscar overthink absolutely everything. She, obviously, couldn't know the song reflected his own feelings for her, but that didn't stop him from thinking she had him figured out. He was thinking about it so hard in fact, that Kyla had to, literally, shake him out of his daze.

"What's wrong with you?" She half laughed, "Still thinking about your weirdo brother gatekeeping Hannah Montana?"

"Uh, yeah," Oscar nodded, his face flushing red, "Yeah you got me," he chuckled dryly.

"You've been acting real weird all week – you got a fever or something?" Kyla joked.

"No, no I'm good!" Oscar shook his head, "Just felt a little off lately, I guess."

"Well, knock it off," Kyla nudged him, "And get your ass out on stage."

Following directions Oscar did, in fact, get his ass out on stage, Kyla following close behind. Taking the same stools that had been left behind by Kate and Zach, they took a seat, a slow song beginning to play.

"Copycats," Zach sat slumped in his seat, arms crossed tightly over his chest, just as Oscar began to sing.

"Uh oh, there you go again talking cinematic," He sang out, and while his voice was pretty, he kept his eyes fixated on the floor as though he was terrified to look anywhere else.

"Yeah you, you're charming, got everybody star struck," The two sang in harmony before Kyla took her part.

"I know how you always seem to go," Her voice certainly held more power than Oscar's but she was able to match his simple, pretty tone, as they sang together once more.

"For the obvious instead of me but get a ticket and you'll see,"

Oscar finally looked up, smiling shyly as they sang the chorus in harmony, looking towards the audience now, but avoiding any lingering eye contact with absolutely anyone.

"If we were a movie, you'd be the right guy
Yeah, I'd be the best friend that you fall in love with
In the end we'd be laughing, watching the sunset
Fade to black, show the names, play the happy song, yeah,"

The song picking up just a bit, Oscar finally manned up, clearing his throat for just as second as he confidently sang out.

"Wish I could tell you there's a twist
A double-feature here tonight
And we're together, it's for real
Now playing,"

While most of the New Directions were surprised that he had any sort of passion at all, Simon let out a small, polite cheer as Oscar actually sounded really good.

"Wish I could tell you there's a kiss
Like something more than in my mind
I see it could be amazing,"

Kyla sang out, also surprising everyone in the room with her passion – especially Oscar. As he tried not to think too long or hard about whether he was making it up in his head, he finally found the guts to turn and look at his duet partner as they finished their song, singing together once more.

"If we were a movie, you'd be the right guy
I'd be your best friend you'd fall in love with
In the end we'd be laughing, watching the sunset
Fade to black, show the names, play the happy song,"

While it surprised both Kyla and Oscar to figure out it seemed like they were singing to each other, they simply brushed it off, standing up getting ready to leave the stage as Zach cheered out almost too loudly, as though he'd already forgotten he felt as though they'd copied him.

"Very well done" Unique smiled at the two students on stage, "And with that, we're finished with day three of duets! We'll see you all back here tomorrow to wrap up duets week!"

As the kids once again slowly but surely made their way out of the auditorium, Kyla stopped Oscar as they made it backstage, a question burning in her mind.

"So," She paused, if for nothing more than dramatic effect, "Did you mean it?"

"Did I… mean what?" Oscar titled his head to the side, genuinely unsure of what she was asking.

"The lyrics, in the song," Kyla spoke, point blank.

"You picked the song," Oscar reminded her, hoping to avoid the question.

"That's not what I asked," Kyla raised her eyebrows, her voice authoritative.

"I mean, I dunno," Oscar once again looked down at his shoes, face turning hot once again, "Did.. did you?"

"I mean, I dunno," Kyla shrugged, half mocking Oscar, half answering the question, as he looked up, a somewhat shocked expression on his face as that was not the answer he was expecting. "Don't worry too much about it," Kyla waved him off, smirking.

Though Oscar was at least somewhat disappointed by her final remark, he had soon completely forgotten about it as they walked off in silence, but Kyla grabbing his hand and holding it in her own.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

As everyone settled into the last day of duets, almost everyone's minds were on sectionals. Specifically – who would win this competition and get to have a starring moment at sectionals. While most duos that had already performed simply assumed it would be them, Marley was quick to remind them that they did, in fact have more performances to get through.

"Welcome back everyone! How exciting to be on the last day of duets! Please don't forget to vote for your winner at the end of today's performances! That said, we've still got six more duets to see, so please welcome to the stage Lex and Michael Anderson-Hummel!"

The two brothers, admittedly, didn't see much of each other since they started glee. While they always got along fine, it was nice to have something to bring them together again. What's more, is that they picked a song they knew their parents performed at a point when they were their age and even had their help choreographing and putting it together. It was by no means a powerful or meaningful performance, but both boys were incredibly happy with what they'd managed to throw together, as it was a lot of fun, and at the end of the day, neither cared about winning all that much, and truly just wanted to enjoy getting to work together.

"Hey bestie," Lex patted his brother's back, "Just wanted to let you know it was great to hang out with you, just like the good old days!"

"Lex," Michael couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head, "It's not like we were estranged by any means. But I get what you're saying. I agree, it's been nice."

"And the most important thing is we had fun! And we're gonna make our dads proud!" Lex grinned widely, "Now come on! Let's go sing our little faces off!"

Michael followed his brother onto the stage, both getting in preparation to do their little number, a fun beat playing, Lex taking the first solo lines.

"When I'm with you baby
I go out of my head
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough,"

His voice was smooth and pleasant to the ear as he moved around the stage, but stayed in sync with his brother as Michael took the next part.

"All the things you do to me
And everything you said
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough,"

Michael's smooth cool tones matched Lex's, as Addison and Eric cheered their friend on in support, the two brothers on stage turning to face each other as they sang in harmony, wowing the audience with how well their voices meshed together.

"We slip and slide as we fall in love
And I just can't seem to get enough of,"

Lex couldn't help but smile and wink at Audrey as she cheered for him from her seat, earning her a playful nudge and knowing smile from Leah.

"I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough,"

The two boys continued to dance and move in sync, Michael surprising the Warblers with his stage presence and dancing ability, while Lex's similarly impressive dancing and charisma was no surprise to anyone who'd seen him perform before. Lex, per usual, made sure to make long flirtatious eye contact with anyone who dared to meet his eye, but allowed his sight to linger on Audrey longer than anyone else.

"And when it rains
You're shining down for me,"

Lex sang out confidently, as he and Michael joined forces once more to finish out the song on a somehow even stronger note than they'd started it.

"I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
Just like a rainbow
You know you set me free
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
It's getting hotter, it's a burning love
And I just can't seem to get enough of"

Ending in similar, dramatic poses, they earned loud applause from everyone all around, as nearly everyone knew of the Anderson-Hummels in one regard or another. Lex dramatically bowed just before the two boys got ready to leave the stage.

"Very well done you two, that was absolutely adorable," Unique congratulated them on their fun performance, "Next up, we've got Jude Hart and Emery Meeks,"

While the week started off rocky for the pair, things blew over between them surprisingly quickly, and ended up being closer than ever, and far closer than either of them actually expected to be. While they'd always been friends, something shifted, though both had yet to acknowledge it, mostly because both parties believed they were making it up in their own head. Despite this though, Emery had a question she couldn't quite shake.

"Why did you tell the group we're dating?" She asked suddenly, "Or rather, why didn't you deny it when Kendall said we were?"

"Come on, Em," Jude laughed, nudging them trying to hide the fact he was taken aback by the question, "It was funny!"

"Xavier didn't seem to think it was very funny," Emery pointed out, annoyed with, but concerned for their friend.

"Is Xavier all you think about?" Jude raised his eyebrows.

"No, though I could ask you the same thing," Emery smirked in response, thinking of all the times this week Jude had mentioned to her how fun it was trying to get a rise out of Xavier, and why it was a good idea to not tell him that they weren't actually dating.

"Very funny," Jude rolled his eyes, but smiled, actively avoiding getting too deep into that, "Now if you're done, and in case you forgot, we've got a song to go sing, kiddo."

"Kiddo?" Emery raised her eyebrows but followed Jude onto the stage anyways.

The two immediately made their way to sit at the piano, each on one side of the bench, playing a few pretty notes together as Emery began singing.

"I thought I saw a sign
Somewhere between the lines
And maybe it's me
Maybe I only see
What I want,"

Their low, rapsy voice contrasted starkly against the delicate sound of the piano, but somehow worked as Jude took his part.

"And I still have your letter
Just got caught between
Someone I just invented
Who I really am
And who I've become,"

His edgier voice had the same contrasting effect with the piano as Emery's did, though their rockier voices meshed perfectly as they took on the chorus together in harmony.

"And now I do want you to know I hold you up above everyone
And now I do want you to know I think you'd be good to me
And I'd be so good to you,"

While the majority of Vocal Adrenaline was not surprised by the fact they were singing together, they were surprised at how good they sounded together, and, much like many of the other previous duet partners, the natural chemistry they seemed to have.

"I can't be without you," The two on stage surprised their peers once again by both managing to pull off a strong belt, something none of their teammates knew they could even do.

"I would," their voices suddenly grew softer as they exchanged a look, both smiling as they noticed the blush on their duet partner's cheeks as they took the chorus again, once again singing in perfect sync.

"And now I do want you to know I hold you up above everyone
And now I do want you to know I think you'd be good to me
And I'd be so good to you,"

"Did you know about this?" Trina whispered to Sophie, referring to their brother, but was met with a blank stare as Sophie continued to just sway to the music.

"I'd be good to you
I'd be good to you
I'd be good to you
I'd be so good to you,"

Emery sang out, refusing to acknowledge how directly she was looking at Jude as he riffed along with her before both of their voices growing soft again, Jude singing out the last line, taking his turn to look directly at his partner.

"I'd be so good to you," They both smiled, causing them each to blush again as the song wrapped up, and Xavier thought long and hard about whether he wanted to applaud for them or whether he was still mad at them. He thought so long, in fact, that he missed his chance to do the former as his mother shooed Jude and Emery off the stage.

"That was acceptable," She murmured, though secretly was glad she knew they could at least sing together, and it was nice to see either of them put in any sort of effort, "Next up, Flora Schuester and Anthony St. James," Harmony fought the urge to roll her eyes at his name.

In terms of duet partners these two were probably the least expected, and while, of course, Anthony had picked Flora to try to help bring down the New Directions he also used his St. James charm and was very much working on flirting and even trying to date her. While Flora was aware of what this all was, she also noticed some sort of a change in him near the end of the week – or at least she thought she did – and thought maybe that this could go somewhere else, and she would be willing to take that step with him. Of course there were worries of him just using her to spy or what her glee club or family would do if they found out. But she was surprised to find she enjoyed spending time with him, and as far as she could tell, it was the same for him.

"I think we did really great work this week," Anthony smirked, "You're very talented, you know."

"Thanks," Flora smiled, a small blush on her cheeks, "You are too. But I know you know that."

"You're right about both those things," Anthony smirked, "But hey, listen. I did actually really enjoy working with you this week…" He paused if for nothing more than dramatic effect, as he reached out to hold her hand, "You're a really special girl,"

"Anthony…" Flora smiled sheepishly looking down, "I think you're really special too. But," It was her turn to pause for dramatics, "If we're going to do this, I need to know you're actually in it for me. That you actually like me. And I'm not going to wait around to see if you do,"

"Oh, um," Anthony was somewhat taken aback by this sudden change of demeanor but was interrupted by Flora before he even had a chance to process.

"Come on, we've got a performance to give," She giggled, practically skipping out onto the stage.

As they stood on the stage together Delia and Naomi exchanged what could only be described as a look of confusion and disgust as a slow but sweet tune began playing.

"Kiss me down by the broken tree house
Swing me upon its hanging tire,"

Flora sang out, turning to face Anthony, her voice crisp and sweet, as she swayed to the music. Taking his turn to sing, Anthony also faced Flora. His voice, per usual, was indisputably incredible, as he sang out with a powerful ease.

"Bring, bring, bring your flowered hat
We'll take the trail marked on your father's map,"

He took a second at the last few words to wink at Mr. Schue who only looked at him back with a dangerously unimpressed gaze.

"Oh, kiss me," They sang together, walking forwards to meet each other's eyes.

"Beneath the milky twilight," Flora sang, her voice gentle

"Lead me," They sang together once again, sharing a small smile

"Out on the moonlit floor," Anthony sang out, just slightly more powerfully than he had to, though it worked well with the song, his voice almost identical to his father's.

"Lift your open hand
Strike up the band
And make the fireflies dance
Silver moon's sparkling
So kiss me,"

They sang together, Flora's delicate voice meshing almost too well with Anthony's more dominant vocals as they took each other's hand and began slow dancing together.

"Ugh," Sydney groaned, both annoyed that she couldn't tell if Anthony was this good of an actor and also that she was reminded of what a good performer he was, which, for some reason, bothered her.

"Kiss me beneath the milky twilight
Lead me out on the moonlit floor,
Lift your open hand
Strike up the band
And make the fireflies dance
Silver moon's sparkling
So kiss me
So kiss me
So kiss me
So kiss me,"

They wrapped up the song in perfect harmony, smiling, as Anthony separated from Flora, but kept her hand in his, bowing together.

"Uh, well done," Mr. Schue nodded skeptically, "Great work Flora," he smiled, opting to ignore Anthony. "Next from Dalton Academy we've got Sutton Puckerman and Ambrose Rhodes!"

Sutton and Ambrose auditioned for the Warblers together and whether or not Ambrose would admit it, they always had some sort of a bond since then. However, that bond, mostly, seemed to be Sutton doing things to annoy Ambrose, and Ambrose deep sighing in response. But the last few weeks things seemed to be somewhat different in that regard, and working with Sutton this week was really beginning to make Ambrose question it. While Ambrose first convinced himself that it was just because of the song, and Sutton was method acting (because that would not be beyond him) he couldn't shake the feeling that maybe there was something more, and he couldn't decide how he felt about it – especially when he had enough going on without the possibility of catching feelings for someone who's friendship he did not want to lose. Despite the inner turmoil though, Ambrose couldn't stop himself from what he said to his partner.

"I need to ask you something," He spoke suddenly.

"You ask me like a million things every day, why is this any different?" Sutton raised his eyebrows.

"Because it's something slightly more serious that I didn't think we'd ever have to talk about," Ambrose admitted.

"That's terrifying," Sutton laughed, "What's going on?"

"Have you been flirting with me? Like, genuinely flirting. It's hard to tell with you," Ambrose shook his head.

"I have been since we met, thanks," Sutton laughed, "Glad you're finally caught up."

"I… what?" Was Ambrose's only response, not usually one to be caught off guard.

"Now I can't tell if you're being serious. You really didn't know?" Sutton snickered.

"I mean… no?" Ambrose was still trying to process this. "I mean… why?"

"Why have I been flirting with you?" Sutton continued to laugh, "Hey listen, when you figure that out and you want to do something about it, you can come find me," he winked before nudging Ambrose, "Now come on, we gotta go win this competition."

As they walked on stage, they were immediately met with loud cheers and applause from almost everyone else in the Warblers except for Teddy who thought it inappropriate to yell so loudly when they hadn't even done anything yet, and Oliver who sat silently next to Nikki, who, per usual, was booing loudly.

As a pretty song began to play, Sutton took the first part of the song. While the two had very simple choreography mapped up, Sutton, of course, made a whole show of it.

"For the way you changed my plans
For being the perfect distraction
For the way you took the idea that I have
Of everything that I wanted to have
And made me see there was something missing, oh yeah,"

His voice was smooth and pretty and matched up with the song perfectly, as he swayed making sure to look and wink at Ambrose as he wrapped up, the two switching spots as Ambrose continued on.

"For the ending of my first begin
And for the rare and unexpected friend
For the way you're something that I'd never choose,"

Ambrose couldn't help but look at Sutton during this line, and give a sort of half smile, that, as Sutton noticed, made it feel like his heart stopped.

"But at the same time, something I don't wanna lose
And never wanna be without ever again,"

Ambrose wrapped up his verse, his voice soulful and deep, as he looked out into the audience and noticed Kendall smiling and swaying to the music. Turning back to face Sutton, the two sang together, their similar voices but vastly different harmonies pulling the song together.

"You're the best thing I never knew I needed
So when you were here I had no idea
You're the best thing I never knew I needed
So now it's so clear, I need you here always,"

While the two boys on stage continued to sing almost too passionately to each other, Mack and Tommy leaned over their respective partners to look at each other, trying to see if they were seeing the same thing unfold on stage.

"You're the best thing I never knew I needed
So when you were here I had no idea
You're the best thing I never knew I needed
So now it's so clear I need you here always,"

Taking steps closer to each other, the two now stood completely face to face, a gap between them, though so small it barely counted as they finished out together, just as brilliantly as they'd began.

"Now it's so clear, I need you here always,"

While they both took a moment and just looked at each other, and as the audience stared at them wondering what was going to happen next, they were eventually interrupted by the slow clapping of Trent, who, while he was happy for his boys, knew they needed to get things moving along. This led to the applause of the other Warblers, and eventually most of the other students.

"Wow!" Marley stood up, remembering it was her turn to introduce the next group, though she smiled knowingly as she looked at how her son looked at Ambrose, "That was absolutely beautiful you two!" She, of course, cooed over Sutton. "But alright, next we've got," She looked up nervously after checking her clipboard, "Naomi Jones and Delia Schuester!"

While at first Delia assumed Naomi picked her as her partner just to get revenge on Mr. Schue, she was surprised at how well the girls actually bonded. Naomi had explained to Delia that they were two absolute powerhouses and that she would be her best shot at winning. It was soon after that Delia truly realized why Naomi had picked her. In the last few days Naomi had reminded Delia that there were still open spots in the Troubletones and that despite being new there, she was already getting songs and that Marley really was a great glee coach and was dividing everything up fairly or based on the girl's abilities instead of favoritism or picking willy-nilly like Mr. Schue was known to do. It had given and continued to give Delia a lot to think about.

"So it's a no?" Naomi raised her eyebrows, placing her hands on her hips as she once again asked Delia about joining.

"It's not a no, it's just not a yes," Delia spoke in her usual professional tone. "I've given three years of my life to the New Directions. It would be nice to win with them."

"I've also given three years of my life and have gotten nothing out of it. We won Nationals last year," Naomi pointed out, "I understand your hesitance but Marley has done so much for me and all the other girls already. It's your grad year, Delia. You deserve a chance to have the spotlight. Really have it. And for it to be earned, not just because your dad's the glee coach or because he feels bad for you."

"While you make a good point, I'm afraid it's just not that simple," Delia continued speaking, her tone cool, but firm.

"What part of it isn't simple? The part where you're not under your dad's thumb anymore? Or the part where we go out here, win this competition and then win at sectionals together?" Naomi tilted her head to the side.

"I'm still thinking about it," Delia took a deep breath, dropping the conversation as the two girls walked out on to stage, both looking like they were ready to give the performance of their lives.

A familiar showtune started playing as the girls came prepared with full choreography, both riffing slightly, as they smiled, their stage presence, attitude, and talent all abundantly clear to everyone in the room.

Delia stood with her hand on her hip as she began singing out, her voice strong and theatrical and very well suited for this song.

"Every single day, I walk down the street
I hear people say, 'Baby,' so sweet
Ever since puberty, everybody stares at me
Boys, girls, I can't help it, baby
So be kind and don't lose your mind
Just remember that I'm your baby,"

While the New Directions were impressed, and also were unsure why Mr. Schue hadn't been giving her more standout moments, the Troubletones knew that Naomi was trying to poach her, and this only solidified their support for her trying to do it.

"Take me for what I am
Who I was meant to be,"

Naomi sang out, her voice strong and her and Delia's enthusiasm level matching each other perfectly as they sang to each other.

"And if you give a damn," Delia matched the power in Naomi's voice just as they sang out together.

"Take me baby or leave me," They smirked, moving around each other just as Naomi began to sing her verse.

"A tiger in a cage can never see the sun
This diva needs her stage, baby, let's have fun
You are the one I choose
Folks would kill to fill your shoes
You love the limelight too, now, baby
So be mine and don't waste my time
Cryin', 'Oh Honeybear, are you still my, my, my baby?'"

While Naomi's voice was not quite as theatrical she had an incredible range as well as power and control of her voice, sounding nearly identical to her mother – which is exactly what Mr. Schue thought as he watched her perform, it reminding him of when Mercedes sang it when she was in glee, the only thing pulling him out of these thoughts was Simon cheering his sister on loudly.

"Take me for what I am," Delia sang out, both girls seeming more impressive by the moment.

"Who I was meant to be," Naomi once again matched Delia's energy and tone.

"And if you give a damn," They sang out together, surprising everyone in the audience not just with their talent, but how they could both have such powerful voices that they could make work together. "Take me baby or leave me,"

As they flaunted around the stage and each other they finally wrapped up their song together.

"Guess I'm leaving
I'm gone,"

They ended in a similar pose, and while everyone in the audience applauded them, Delia couldn't help but notice that of the small number of people from New Directions that were clapping, most were doing so quietly and politely, while every single member of the Troubletones was out of their seat, cheering and whooping loudly – including Marley.

"Fantastic job girls!" Trent smiled widely, "Really well done! Now finally, for our last performance in our duets competition, we've got Xavier Pearce and Felix Porter!"

While Xavier was, of course, upset that of the five people he really was hoping would choose him, none of them did, he was glad he was able to work with Felix. He was always so easy to get along with, and despite them spending most of the week goofing off, they'd managed to pull together a number less than 24 hours before their performance and both really, truly believed in it.

"Are you gonna be okay, buddy?" Felix looked to Xavier. He, admittedly, had been taking care of Xavier all week because he seemed off, but was glad he was able to help.

"Yeah, I think so. It's just going to be hard to perform knowing you're the only person who wanted to work with me," He sighed out dramatically.

"Have you, I dunno, talked to your friends about your feelings?" Felix suddenly pointed out, wondering why he hadn't thought of that before.

"I… I guess I haven't. Not really. But what if they hate our performance and then hate me?" he, of course, kept the dramatics up.

"Hey, look at me," Felix pointed at Xavier's eyes and then his own, "No matter what happens out there we had fun this week. And that's what matters! Besides, you know who's going to be rooting us on no matter what?"

"Trina?" Xavier asked hopefully.

"No! Addison! Don't tell me you forgot our other Fortnite bro already!" Felix laughed, "Now, come on. Let's do this!"

Just as Felix predicted, the second they walked on stage, Addison cheered loudly for his friends, Eric clapping along to be polite.

A familiar song played on the stage as the boys dramatically moved around.

"Oh my god," Heather began laughing at her brother before he even began to sing, resulting in Mia laughing along with her.

"I hear the drums echoing tonight
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation
She's coming in twelve-thirty flight
Her moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation,"

Felix took the first part of the song, and while his voice had a nice rock edge to it that complimented the song beautifully, everyone in the audience was only taking it as seriously as he was – which wasn't very. Much like his partner, Xavier began dramatically singing his part, moving around the stage just as theatrically as Felix had.

"I stopped an old man along the way
Hoping to find some old forgotten words or ancient melodies
He turned to me as if to say
'Hurry, boy, it's waiting there for you'"

While Trina cheered out loudly for her boyfriend, Xavier couldn't help but smile as he and Felix moved to take on the chorus together.

"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had,"

They sang out, maybe over confidently but still somehow managed to sound amazing. While Lex cheered for Felix, Xavier was a bit surprised to see both Jude and Emery not just cheering him on, but cheering loudly. Trying to not think too much of it he followed Felix's lead as they finished the song out together with the same energy and strength they had through the whole performance.

"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had,"

They finished the song, out of breath, but smiling as they had tons of applause coming from all over. While it was not necessarily the most impressive performance, it was one of the more fun ones to watch.

"Wow, such a fun performance!" Unique smiled, clasping her hands together before turning to face the rest of the students in the audience, "Alright, you all know the drill! Place your votes, and we'll announce the winner shortly after!"

"Feel free to take some time and congratulate your peers on a great week! You all did so well and should be very proud of yourselves!" Mr. Schue smiled, and as the kids finished bringing their selections to the teachers, they made their way to mingle among themselves.

"Hey so," Oliver knew he immediately had to grab Sutton, "What the hell was that?"

"What the hell was what?" Sutton got suddenly defensive.

"Judging by the way you just stiffened up, I'd say you know what," Oliver laughed, "So are you and Ambrose…you know…'vibing'?"

"I can't believe this is a conversation we're actually having and I can't believe you just unironically used the word vibing," Sutton shook his head.

"That didn't answer my question," Oliver pointed out.

"Good," Sutton patted Oliver on the back, walking away, desperate to be a part of any conversation but that one, though he did smile at the realization that for one of the first times he could remember, Oliver had taken an interest in him. While he was, in all honesty, going to go talk to Ambrose, he decided against it when he saw him talking to Kendall.

"So, uh, how have things been?" Ambrose asked her awkwardly.

"Fine," Kendall spoke, clearly taken aback by his nerve to talk to her, neglecting to mention the fact that she was still living with another family, "I didn't realize you were interested,"

"I do care about you, it's just…complicated. But I thought you wanted to get closer to me? I don't know, maybe I was wrong, but it did…strike me as strange that you didn't pick me as your partner." Ambrose admitted.

"Why would I? You haven't given me a reason to, I thought you wanted nothing to do with me," Kendall sighed out, before smirking, "Though you should be thanking me. Whatever you've got going on with that strange little duet partner of yours… that was something,"

"Kendall-" Ambrose breathed out, but smiled, though he was interrupted before he got to finish his thought.

"See? You're smiling just thinking about him," She continued to smirk, but saw someone out of the corner of her eye who she was dying to talk to, "But if you'll excuse me I have some other business to attend to."

To say Kate was surprised when she and Zach were stopped by Kendall would be an understatement.

"Can we help you with something?" Kate questioned, her eyebrows raised though she was nervous, given the last time she and Kendall spoke was during her blow up.

"You can," Kendall smirked. "Alone?"

"Hey, that's okay! I gotta go bug Oscar anyways," Zach laughed, before turning to Kate, "I'll see you after, okay?"

While she smiled and nodded as she watched him run off, she was nervous about what would happen next.

"So. You and the Warbler. Cute," Kendall smiled.

"Is… is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" Kate questioned, confused.

"That, and I wanted to see if you were going to blow up at us again," Kendall snickered, "But I get it, Sydney can be... a lot. Just wanted to know if you ever want to talk about your cute little relationship, I've got your back, girl. You can tell me anything," She smiled.

"Oh, that's, uh, actually very nice of you-" Kate didn't get the chance to finish, as Kendall was already turning to walk away.

"See you later!" Kendall barely turned her head as she waltzed off.

"You good?" A familiar voice came from behind Kate.

"Yeah… why? You're not going to scrutinize me for being a diva this week, are you?" She sighed out, looking at her teammate.

"I don't really think I'm in a position to do that," Jude laughed, shaking his head, "But yeah, no things did get… messy this week."

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me." Kate shook her head. "I do owe you an apology though. For calling you out."

"It's fine, it's not that big a deal," Jude shrugged, "Shit happens. Sometimes you just gotta deal with it. I'm just worried about your sanity."

"I'll be fine," Kate laughed, "Thank you for checking in on me. But… why?"

"I mean, that day I came back from being away you were the only one who made sure I wasn't feeling too overwhelmed," Jude waved her off, "Figured I should return the favor."

"Well thank you," Kate smiled, "It's nice to have a friend."

"Of course," Jude nodded, "And, uh, for the record. I think you and Zach did a really great job out there. Especially given the morning you had. You guys make a good couple."

"Oh," Kate's face suddenly flushed as she looked across the room, meeting eyes with Zach who smiled at her. "Thank you. He's uh, he's a really good guy." She nodded, "And same to you and Emery. You were adorable up there."

"Oh!" Jude was suddenly taken aback, "No uh, that was just to, you know, mess with Xavier a little bit," He forced a small laugh, trying to hide his now also flushed face.

"Sure, sure," Kate laughed, "But just so you know, I see the way you look at her. And it's the same way I look at Zach." She smirked.

"Sure, like I'm gonna listen to someone who threw me under the bus this week," Jude rolled his eyes but laughed, glad to at least be making friends with someone else in Vocal Adrenaline.

"You're not jealous of them?" Xavier crossed his arms over his chest, as he made his way over to Emery.

"Of who?" They asked, suddenly confused, "And you're talking to me now?"

"Your boyfriend? And Kate?" Xavier pouted, "And no, I'm not."

"I don't have a boyfriend, and if I did, I wouldn't care if he was talking to Kate since she is head over heels for… one of the Warblers. I don't remember his name," Emery shook her head.

"You and Jude… aren't dating?" Xavier was suddenly confused.

"No. Never were. He wanted to pretend to like… mess with you or something? I dunno," Emery shrugged, "Sorry if you felt left out. If I got to pick first I would have picked you, by the way."

"You would have?" Xavier's eyes went wide, suddenly feeling bad for how he treated his friend, before immediately apologizing in their alien language.

Laughing, Emery spoke back to him in their language, only to be interrupted by laughter from a friend of hers, just as Xavier excused himself to go apologize to everyone else he was hurt by that week.

"Am I supposed to understand those words?" Lex laughed.

"No," Emery shrugged, "It's an alien language club thing,"

"You are… bizarre," Lex laughed, "But hey just wanted to say great job out there! Proud to call you my buddy from another school."

"Hey, same to you," Emery smiled, "You and your brother were good. Like really good. And so much fun to watch."

"That's so nice of you to say! Thanks, Emery!" Lex smiled.

"You're welcome, pal. Now, I'd love to stay and chat, but it appears the woman you're still trying to court is wanting your attention," Emery nodded their head towards Audrey who was waving Lex over.

As he said a quick goodbye, he practically sprinted over to Audrey. "Hey," he said, trying to play it cool.

"Hey yourself," Audrey laughed, "You did…an amazing job out there today. I just thought I should tell you."

"Aw, thanks," Lex smiled, "You and Leah were great too. Although, you know, I was kind of hoping you and I would have been able to sing together," He admitted sheepishly.

"And you're wondering why I didn't pick you?" Audrey laughed.

"Yeah, kind of?" Lex shrugged, "I mean, I know it makes more sense for you to sing with someone in your glee club, but I dunno. Maybe it was just wishful thinking."

"I didn't pick you," Audrey started slowly before gesturing between them, "Because I didn't want this thing we have between us to distract either of us from winning."

"Thing?" Lex repeated, his face growing quickly hot, not entirely sure of if this was going where he wanted it to.

"Yeah, you know, how I like you and you like me?" Audrey couldn't help but giggle.

"You… you know? That I like you?" Lex was, for some reason, in shock.

"Everybody knows," Heather, who with Mia, Tia and Zoey were eavesdropping, spoke as they walked by.

"They have a point," Audrey laughed as she waved her teammates away.

"And you… you like me back?" Lex wanted to clarify, barely processing this whole conversation.

"Yes. I did say that," Audrey laughed. "And I know we've been trying to hang out but… I think it's time we really try to do something. And we'll call it a date."

"Yeah, yeah I can do that," Lex smiled.

"Alright everyone!" Mr. Schue called attention back to the glee club. "We're ready to announce the winner."

"Drumroll please!" Trent called out, while some of the kids drummed on their knees and a good handful of the Warblers started beatboxing.

"And the winners are!" Unique began before showing the names to Marley.

"Lex and Michael Anderson-Hummel!" Marley called out, happy for the two siblings.

"No way!" Lex called out immediately looking around to find Michael, who he quickly pulled in for a side hug.

"Nice!" Michael high-fived his brother, the two laughing.

"Alright, now get lost!" Harmony called out, wanting to go home, as the other teachers spoke to her about her demeanor, and the majority of the students in the auditorium rushed to congratulate the brothers on their win.

All but one student slowly made their way out, as Marley was surprised to feel a tap on her shoulder.

"Delia!" She smiled, "Can I help you with something?"

"You can," Delia nodded, "I'd like to talk to you about joining the Troubletones."

FRIDAY EVENING

"There they are!" Blaine smiled as he watched his two sons walk in, "Congratulations on your big win! I knew it would be you two."

"Congratulations on doing what I couldn't," Kurt mused, thinking of his one man duet back in his hay day.

"Thanks," Michael smiled at his parents, "It was nice getting to work on something with Lex."

"Aw, we love to see you boys working together!" Blaine cooed.

"It was so much fun! I had a great day! Today is the best!" Lex practically screamed.

"That's a lot of excitement for a competition win," Kurt raised his eyebrows, "Especially for one that barely counts. No offense."

"None… taken?" Michael laughed.

"Does this have anything to do with Audrey?" Blaine questioned curiously, knowing how his son felt about her.

"It might," Lex smiled sheepishly.

"They're going on a date," Michael informed Kurt and Blaine, knowing that if he didn't speak up they'd be in limbo over what the details were for hours, at least.

"What?!" Kurt's face lit up, "That's so exciting! Oh, I've got to talk to Quinn, she'll think this is hilarious."

"Does… does Audrey's mom already know?" Blaine asked Lex, knowing how protective Quinn was over Audrey.

"I dunno," Lex shrugged, not thinking anything of it.

"Well, she does now," Kurt also shrugged, wondering how this would go over.

Quinn did not know, and while at the first text from Kurt made her happy that her daughter was at least going to go on a date with someone who came from a good family, she was confused when Kurt mentioned something about a duet competition. During all of this confusion, she barely noticed Audrey walk through the door.

"Hi mom!" Audrey was smiley and happy, noticing her mother barely looking at her as she stood chopping potatoes.

"I heard you've got a date with Lex," Quinn smiled, just briefly looking up at her daughter, "His dad told me. You better make sure he treats you right, alright? I have no problem with confronting either of his parents about it if he doesn't."

"I'll be fine mom," Audrey laughed, somewhat relieved that she didn't have to drop the bomb about the date, and also that her mom seemed to be okay with it.

"So," Quinn looked up once more, "Why didn't you tell me you were doing a duets competition?"

"I mean, I haven't really seen you this week," Audrey shrugged. Quinn was a lawyer which meant her hours tended to be sort of all over the place, "I would have if I'd seen you."

"Kurt told me Lex and Michael won," Quinn continued, pushing a stray piece of hair out of her eyes before focusing back on making dinner, "I just assumed you'd be singing with Lex. Who'd you duet with instead? Savannah?"

"I uh," Audrey took a moment to debate lying to her mom about her duet partner. She always got so weird whenever the Puckerman's were brought up. "I worked with Leah."

"Puckerman?" Quinn suddenly dropped the knife, "I told you not to hang around her. With any of them."

"But why? They're my cousins! They're the closest things to a sibling I have! I don't want to be denied of that!" Audrey cried out, exasperated.

Audrey was completely unaware of Beth's existence and even more unaware of the fact that she lived in Lima and was working with Blaine and Kurt at their daycare. Of course, all of the Puckerman's knew about Beth because Noah Puckerman made sure they knew before he vanished. And it wasn't any of the kids or even Marley that Quinn had a major problem with. It was Jake always fighting, saying that Audrey should get to learn about Beth since he knew how bizarre and jarring it was to have an estranged sibling. Quinn, of course, thought she was doing what was best for Audrey but the last time they'd talked about this Jake had threatened to tell Audrey himself if Quinn wouldn't do it. Since then, Quinn had tried her best to make sure they never spoke. And up until this year it had been easy – all of the kids went to different schools and had no reason to be around each other. But as soon as Marley took over the Troubletones things grew quickly more complicated.

"Because I'm your mother and I said so," Quinn was deep in thought about this, but finally broke out of her trance. "That family is nothing but trouble. If I hear you hanging out with any of them again outside of when you have to see them, you're grounded. And if you're grounded that does mean no dates." She threatened.

"This is so unfair!" Audrey hated fighting with her mother, but knew she was in right and didn't want to back down, "Leah's in my glee club! Her mom is the coach!"

"Then sit on the other side of the room and don't talk to Marley unless you have to. Do I make myself clear?" Quinn finally allowed herself to calm down.

"Crystal," Audrey muttered.

A/N: Per usual if you've made it this far thank you! Once again reminding you all that I'd love to hear your thoughts and to make sure you're telling me that you're still keeping up! That said, I'm here to talk about new apps! I'm unsure of how many apps I'll be accepting and there's no strict number I need, other than some glee clubs will be accepting more than others. Another important thing to note is that none of the characters will be children of parents from past glee seasons. While it's definitely a fun thing to have, it does put me in a tight spot when those spots are filled and I lose contact with the people who sent those characters in. Another thing to note is you should be at least partway caught up with the story as I want to build these characters around their relationships with at least one or more of the already existing characters, or so we can plot something out for down the line. All that said please PM me if you're interested, I can send you the app, and we will go from there! Thanks very much everyone, and here's the song list! Hope you guys are having a great month, and I'll see you in a couple of weeks for sectionals!

That's How It Is - Naked Brothers Band
Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver
The Other Side - from The Greatest Showman
If I Had $1,000,000 - The Barenaked Ladies
Brokenhearted - Karmin
For the First Time - from Spectacular!
Something Wonderful (Alternative Version) - Seaway
When You Were Young - The Killers
thank u, next - Ariana Grande
Everything Has Changed - Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran
You Can Come to Me - from Austin & Ally
Lucky - Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat
Take a Hint - from Victorious
Who Says You Can't Go Home - Bon Jovi & Jennifer Nettles
no body no crime - Taylor Swift ft. Haim
Drops of Jupiter - Train
I Wanna Know You - Hannah Montana ft. David Archuleta
If We Were a Movie - Hannah Montana ft. Corbin Bleu
Just Can't Get Enough - Depeche Mode (inspired by Glee Cast Version lol)
Good to You - Marianas Trench
Kiss Me - Sixpence None the Richer
Never Knew I Needed - Ne-Yo
Take Me or Leave Me - from Rent
Africa - Toto