Chapter 18- Laryngitis:
As a member of the new directions walks through the McKinley halls, all the students stare. Some look shocked, some looked confused, some have the audacity to laugh. This person enters the choir room, and all the new directions stop what they're doing and stare at him.
"What do you think it's all about?" Finn asks. Everyone looks at Quinn.
"Don't ask me." Quinn says, "We don't talk."
"Do you think it was self-inflicted?" Artie asks, "Like self-harm."
"Maybe." Kurt says.
"I'll go talk to him." Blaine says.
"Why would you?" Mercedes asks, "You-"
"Blaine comes around a lot." Quinn says, "They're good friends. He'll get the answers." Blaine silently thanks Quinn before entering the empty choir room and sitting next to Puck.
"So?" Blaine asks, "What happened?"
"My mom found a mole on my head. When she was washing my hair on Friday." Puck says.
"Your mom still washes your hair?" Blaine asks.
"She started crying about sun block and how she's always telling me to wear a hat when I'm cleaning pools." Puck says, "So she made me go see Dr Friedlander the dermatologist. He said he had to shave my head to get a closer look at it. It was nothing, they maimed me over a freaking freckle! I feel like that guy that lost all his hair, then lost all his strength."
"Samson?" Blaine asks.
"Agassi." Puck says, "This morning, people actually had the balls to look me in the eye." Blaine rolls his eyes, "I mean, it's just a mohawk, right? I'm still Puckasaurus."
"Actually, I don't know if it's the missing mohawk or the whining, but I am totally not turned on by you right now." Blaine gets up and leaves.
"So?" Mercedes asks, as the new directions look at Blaine intensely.
"A mole." Blaine says, "They thought he was dying." Some the new directions, Blaine included, start sniggering.
Later in the day Puck is walking through the parking lot, a group of nerds following closely behind, "You got a problem?" Puck asks.
"Clearly, you're not a follower of my LarryHair account on twitter." JBI says, "We've been tweeting all day about your new look. You're like a toddler with a loose lid on his sippy cup. No more juice. Get ready for payback, Puckerman." He clicks his tongue and some of the nerds pick Puck up.
"All right." Puck says. Then the nerds throw Puck into a large garbage bin, revenge had been served. Puck hears singing from across the parking lot, he looks up to see Mercedes and some other cheerios singing. Puck smiles, jumping out the garbage bin.
X-X-X-X-X
Rachel unloads a bunch of medication onto the top of the piano, "Um, what are these?" Mr Schue asks as Rachel continues to unload her bag of medication.
"My vitamin supplements." Rachel says stopping briefly, "I'm taking them three times a day. I'm exhausted. I even felt a tickle in the back of my throat, and I never get sick."
"Well, I just don't understand why you're so tired all of a sudden." Mr Schue says.
"Because every song I sing in here is a solo." Rachel says, "As you know, I have a perfect pitch, which also means I have a very sensitive ear. None of them were singing. I knew I needed proof, so I had a little talk with Lauren Zizes, president of the AV club. Here are the glee club members that are not pulling their weight."
"This is half the club." Mr Schue says looking at the list.
"Like I said they're not singing." Rachel says, "You need to do something before I die of an illness." She grabs all her medication before leaving the choir room.
X-X-X-X-X
Puck watches Mercedes on a phone call at her locker, when he sees that she had finished he approaches her, "Hey, sugar." Puck says, "Listen. I got a proposition to make. I did some research. Blacks and Jews have a history of sticking up for each other. And Wikipedia says that King Martin Luther loved the Jews."
"Okay, you just said like ten offensive things." Mercedes says.
"My point is, you're popular now." Puck says, "And I got to be honest, I need to spice up my image a little. We should join forces. It wouldn't take much. Just a little light making out." He runs a hand down Mercedes' arm, "And I like a girl with curves. You got to admit, I'm easy on the eyes." He smiles like a child.
"Baby, I just am not attracted to you." Mercedes says, Puck's smile falls, "Plus, I know what you do to the girls you date. You knock them up, and then you hang them out to dry."
"Quinn and I weren't dating. She was dating someone else." Puck says, "We just did the nasty. And she understood you can't tie me down. I'm a sex shark. If I stop moving, I die."
"Okay, I'm gonna ask you to stop." Mercedes says, "Because I'm starting to get embarrassed for you. You and me would not work out. We have nothing in common. You're top 40. I'm rhythm and blues." Mercedes turns and walks off.
X-X-X-X-X
"I am very disappointed in you guys." Mr Schue says.
"Can't believe you narked on us." Finn hisses to Rachel.
"Don't get mad at me for exposing your laziness." Rachel says, "I'm tired of carrying all of your weight. Regionals is in a month, guys."
"I'm just trying to understand what's going on here." Mr Schue says, "Finn, why did you stop singing?"
"Cause you started giving all the male leads to Jesse." Finn says, "It kind of shook my confidence, you know?"
Blaine groans, "What difference does it make?" he asks, "Everyone knows that my job here is to look hot."
"My baby hormones are making me moody." Quinn says.
"Rachel does all the singing anyway." Santana says.
"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link." Mr Schue says, "A glee club is about a myriad of voices coming together as one. All right? This ends now. Which is why your assignment for the week is for each of you to come up with a song that best represents how you see yourself, where you are in your lives right now. Your voice. Then… you're gonna stand up here and sing your hearts out. All of you."
"Solo?" Kurt asks excitedly, "In front of everyone?"
"The glee club has lost its voice." Mr Schue says, "It's time for us to get it back."
The bell rings and glee club get up and exit, "I am going to kill this assignment." Kurt says, "If there's one thing that I know, it's my voice. I have exactly the same vocal range as 16th century castrato Orlando di Lasso. But you know what he didn't have?" Mercedes shrugs, "A song by Miss Whitney Houston in his back pocket."
"Hey, Kurt!" Burt calls from behind him in the hallway.
"Dad?" Kurt asks as Mercedes walks off, "What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"
"Oh, I'm here to pick up Finn." Burt says, "I got a pair of tickets to the reds game, and Carole said that Finn's never been to a major league game. I mean, it's Cincinnati, so it's barely the major leagues, but still."
"And why wasn't I invited?" Kurt asks.
"Are you kidding me?" Burt asks with a laugh, "Every time I sit down to watch a game, you start in on the fact that all the players are wearing stirrup pants."
"Because there's never an excuse for stirrup pants!" Kurt says.
"Okay, I'm ready." Finn says excitedly from the father son duo.
"All right, I'll meet you by the car." Burt calls to Finn.
"Okay." Finn says leaving the school. "This is gonna be so great." Burt says with a smile, "It's gonna be great for Finn. It's means a lot to his mom, too. Hey, I'll see it at home. I'll be home around midnight." Burt leaves the school, leaving Kurt standing in the hall looking shocked and sad.
X-X-X-X-X
"Girl, you got more curves than a Nissan ad." Puck says to Mercedes in the choir room.
"Seriously?" Mercedes asks, "That's what you came up with?" Puck just continues to look at Mercedes with a creepy stare, Mercedes rolls her eyes.
"All right, guys." Mr Schue says entering the choir room, "Let's get things started."
"As I was first on the sign-up sheet, I'll kick things off." Rachel says.
"Okay." Mr Schue says sitting down in his chair.
"I have chosen Miley Cyrus', the climb, because it's about overcoming obstacles and beating the odds." Rachel says, "In my case, the obstacle is you, my lacklustre teammates who refuse to carry their own weight." Everyone glares at Rachel, she turns around and nods to Brad, who start playing the song.
"I can almost see it. That's dream I'm dreaming, but there's a voice inside my head says, you'll never reach..."
Rachel start singing, but it sounds horrible.
"Every step I'm taking, every move I make feels lost with no direction. My faith is shaking, but I gotta keep trying..."
The new directions all cringe as the song goes on and Rachel's voice cracks more.
"Gotta keep my head held high-"
Brad stops playing and Mr Schue approaches Rachel stopping her from singing anymore, "Rachel…" he says, "I think you've lost your voice." Rachel looks around the room, and most of the new directions nod in agreement with Mr Schue. Rachel quickly runs out the room.
X-X-X-X-X
Kurt is at his locker when Sue approaches him, "Hey, lady face." Sue says, "I noticed you weren't at cheerios practice yesterday, and I don't look kindly on absenteeism."
"I'm so sorry, Miss Sylvester." Kurt says, "It won't happen again. Something happened yesterday that really upset me." Sue frowns, "It's my dad. He's the most important thing in the world to me. I love him. And I'm afraid that I might be losing him because of my… sexuality."
"Your sexuality." Sue says with a smirk, "How old are you, 16? Have you even kissed a boy?"
"No."
"Have you ever kissed a girl?"
"No."
"Well, then how can you possibly know what you like?" Sue asks, "You see, that's the problem with your generation. You're obsessed with labels. So, you like show tunes! Doesn't mean you're gay. It just means you're awful. You know, there's only one person in this world who can tell you what you are."
"Me." Kurt says with a smile.
"No." Sue says, "Me. Sue Sylvester. And she hasn't quite made up her mind about you."
"Wait, I have an idea." Kurt says, "Our assignment for glee club is to find a song that reflects our voice-"
"Yeah, you know what?" Sue asks, "I checked out of this conversation about a minute back. So, uh, good luck with your troubles, and I'm gonna make a habit not to stop and talk to students, cause this has been a colossal waste of my time." Sue walks off the students parting in fear.
X-X-X-X-X
"What if he says I'll never sing again?" Rachel asks Finn in the doctors office, "I mean, who am I without my voice? I'm just this spoiled, annoying child-"
"Don't say that." Finn says, "There, like, so many awesome things about you."
"Like?" Rachel asks.
"Look, he's not gonna say you'll never sing again." Finn says.
"Bad news, Rachel, you'll probably never sing again." the doctor says coming out from behind the curtain. Rachel gasps, and Finn sits their shock, "I'm kidding." They both sigh with relief, "You have severe tonsillitis, which have resulted in an inner ear infection. From the looks of things, it's not the first time. You should have had them out years ago."
"Why should I let you butcher my throat, when just resting my voice for a week and chugging down herbal tea will do the same job?" Rachel asks.
"This is a very serious infection." The doctor says.
"I think she's worried about the surgery effecting her singing voice." Finn says.
"At least start by taking these antibiotics." The doctor says writing the prescription down, "Unless you think they're going to adversely affect your dance moves." Rachel takes the prescription and the doctor walks out the room.
"What do you think I should do?" Rachel asks Finn.
"Maybe you should ask your boyfriend." Finn says, "Oh, wait, you can't. He's not here."
"He's in San Diego on spring break with his friends from vocal adrenaline." Rachel says.
"When are you gonna realize that he's not into you like I am?" Finn asks moving in front of Rachel, "You think he's gonna stick around if you can't sing? If you're vocal cripple?"
"Look, I know that you've always been jealous of Jesse." Rachel says, "And even though he and I haven't spoken since the whole run Joey run debacle, you just have to accept the fact that I still care about him deeply. And I know he still feels the same way about me." Rachel nods and she walks off to change back into her clothes from the hospital gown.
"Jesse is a friend. You know, he's been a good friend of mine. But lately, something's changed and that ain't hard to define Jesse got himself a girl, and I want to make her mine…"
Finn finishes his song and the new directions cheer, "Nice work! Now that, that is the kind of soul-exposing song I was talking about." Mr Schue says, "We should all be inspired by Finn's bravery. Good job, buddy." Rachel smiles softly when Finn looks at her.
"Uh, Mr Schue, can I sing my song now?" Puck asks.
"Yeah." Mr Schue says, "Just go for it, Puck." Puck stands up and opens the door and the jazz band in.
"What are they doing here?" Mercedes asks.
"I invited my brothers from the jazz band and their righteous horns to help me out with my song." Puck says as the band take their places, "Since I shaved my mohawk, I started seeing things differently. Last week, I joined a black church, and I recently downloaded every song Sammy Davis Jr ever recorded on iTunes. He was a black Jew, you know. And my inspiration." Puck says to everyone, but mainly Mercedes, "So, without further ado, I give you one of Sammy's biggest hits." Puck nods to the band and they start playing a song. Puck takes the hat of one of the boy's heads and puts it on.
"She gets too hungry for dinner at 8. She adores the theatre and, whoa, won't arrive late…"
Puck sings most the song to Mercedes and Blaine looks pissed. After a music break Puck pulls Mercedes and she joins in the song, and Blaine looks even more pissed. When the song ends everyone erupts into applauds, apart from Blaine, who sits with his arms crossed.
X-X-X-X-X
Mercedes walks through the hall as everyone stares in awe. She turns the corner to her locker and sees Quinn. Mercedes sighs, "Look, Quinn, I could never see myself being into a guy like Puck, especially since he's your baby's daddy, but… something just happened between us."
"I say, go for it." Quinn says genuinely.
"What?"
"Look… I screwed up by letting Puck get me pregnant." Quinn says, "He's an idiot, and his mother won't let me eat bacon. I'm stuck living with him right now, but at least, if you guys are dating, I won't have to spend so much time listening to his insane theories on how super Mario brothers changed civilization." Mercedes laughs, "But you do realize he's using you and your popularity, so he won't get tossed in a dumpster."
"I know he's using me." Mercedes says, "But in a way, it's even better. I'm not you. I've never had a guy like me for anything, but now I'm such a steaming mug of hot chocolate that one of the studliest guys in school wants to use me to harvest some mojo."
"I just don't want you getting hurt." Quinn says.
"I know what this is." Mercedes says, "My heart's safe."
"Oh, I'm not worried about your heart." Quinn says, "I might be okay with this, but not even Puck is going to be able to call off Bl-" she quickly stops herself, and looks around the hall, Santana walks past, "Santana. Yeah, Santana, she can be crazy."
"But she didn't seem to care when we were performing." Mercedes says, "Blaine looked way more pissed."
"Yeah, uh, but she's a great actress." Quinn says, "Just be careful, okay?" Mercedes nods, and Quinn walks off.
X-X-X-X-X
"All right, let's get things started." Mr Schue says.
"Mr Schue, I'd like to start us off." Kurt says. He looks so different that Mr Schue has to do a double take, "I believe I've found a song that finally expresses my true voice.
"Okay." Mr Schue says frowning in confusion, he sits down.
"Gentlemen." Kurt says to a confused band.
"There's a black man with a black cat, livin' in a black neighbourhood…"
When the song finishes the new directions hesitantly start clapping. Mr Schue looks very concerned and is not clapping.
"Is there something wrong, Mr Schue?" Kurt asks in a fake deep voice.
"I don't really think you got the point of the assignment." Mr Schue says, "This was about finding a song that expresses who you are." Mr Schue stands up, "That song didn't really sound like you."
"Well, I'm sorry if I didn't live up to your expectations." Kurt says.
"No, no, this group needs you to be you, Kurt." Mr Schue says, "You can literally do things no one else can."
"I'm not a box." Kurt says in his actually voice, "There are more than four sides to me."
"Don't lose track of who you are just because it might be easier to be somebody else." Mr Schue says, and Kurt leaves the choir room, "All right, take five, guys."
X-X-X-X-X
Finn is at his locker when he sees Rachel walking through the halls with messy hair and a bowl of cereal, "Are you, like, sleepwalking?" Finn asks.
"You have to be able to sleep to sleepwalk." Rachel retorts, "I am on my third day of antibiotics, and I am not getting any better, which means, I'm going to have to have that surgery, which means my life is over."
"Do you think you're being a little dramatic, I mean even for you?" Finn asks, "God, I'm so sick of you feeling sorry for yourself."
"Why don't you get it?" Rachel asks, "I am my voice. I am like Tinkerbell, Finn. I need applause to live." She continues to eat her cereal.
"I got a friend I want you to meet." Finn says.
"Another doctor?" Rachel asks, "I've seen six already."
"No." Finn says, "No. He's an old friend of mine."
Rachel nods before sauntering off down the hall.
X-X-X-X-X
"So, what made super Mario brothers 3 so amazing was the star world." Puck says as Mercedes is opening in her locker, "None of the other versions had anything like that."
"Look, Puck, I agreed to start dating you because you have great arms." Mercedes says, "And we have serious musical chemistry, both of which are really important to me. But clearly, you've never dated a sister before. And we have needs, as in you need to stop flapping your gums about this video game nonsense and start finding out more about me, about who I am."
"Okay, I've never done that with a girl before, but I'm cool." Puck says.
"First thing you need to know is I like those frozen coffee drinks." Mercedes says with a smile.
"Do you want me to get you one?" Puck asks.
"Decaf."
"Cool." Puck says, kissing Mercedes' cheek. He walks down the hall, JBI doesn't look at Puck and Puck stops walking. He drags him and slams him against a locker, "What was that?"
"Whatever I did, I'm-I'm sorry." JBI says, "Here." He reaches into his pocket, "Take my lunch money as an apology."
"Put that away." Puck says, "Why didn't you look at me when I walked by?"
"Well, the tweetosphere says you're dating Mercedes Jones." JBI says, "She's one of the most popular girls at school. Your cool-o-meter is off the charts. Which means most of us are terrified of you again. Some of the guys who threw you in the dumpster actually transferred today, out of fear of retaliation." Puck smirks and JBI smiles.
"I didn't say you could smile." Puck says aggressively, "Now, give me that lunch money. Also, my girls need a coffee drink." Santana walks past Puck and he checks her out, Mercedes watches from the top of the hallway.
Santana walks off to her locker to see Blaine, "Hey." Santana says opening her locker.
"I need a favour." Blaine says.
Santana quirks an eyebrow, "Yes?"
"I need you to scare Mercedes away from Puck." Blaine whispers, Santana frowns, "You owe me.
"Why though?" Santana asks, "Puck knows and is keeping the secret. If I pretend to like him, he'd know."
"I'd ask Quinn to do it, but… you know." Blaine says.
"Why don't you get one of the other cheerios to do it." Santana says shutting her locker.
"They're not in glee club." Blaine hisses, dragging Santana into an empty classroom, "If Mercedes and Puck date, we can't fuck, and he's the only guy I trust to keep the secret. So, please do this."
Santana groans, "Fine." She sighs, "It'll reinforce my perfect 'straight' imagine."
X-X-X-X-X
"Excuse me can I please talk to you for a minute?"
"Uh-huh, sure. You know you loo kind of familiar."
"Yeah, you do, too, but, um, I just wanted to know, do you know somebody named- you know his name-"
"Oh, yeah, definitely I know his name."
"I just wanted to let you know he's mine."
"No, no. He's mine."
"You need to give it up, had about enough, he belongs to me, the boy is mine…"
Mercedes and Santana are very aggressive during the performance, Blaine is sitting at the back with a smirk on his face, Quinn notices.
"Wow, okay." Mr Schue standing between the two girls when the song finishes, "Seriously! This ends now. Please. All right? You can go at it in song, but that is it."
"Enjoy it while you can, weezie." Santana says, "His hairs already starting to grow back." Santana leaves and Mercedes goes to go after her, but Mr Schue stops her.
X-X-X-X-X
Mercedes walks through the parking lot to see Puck and some footballers throwing a line of nerds into the dumpster, "Puck, what the hell is going on here?" Mercedes asks approaches her boyfriend.
"Just a little payback." Puck says. There's a thud as one nerd hits another, "You hear that?" he asks, "That's the sound of order being restored."
"No man of mine is gonna be pulling stuff like this." Mercedes says.
"Babe, this is what we do." Puck says, "Look at 'em. They need this. Without the fear of a good dumpster toss, it'd be chaos up in this place. Look, you don't need to like it, but you need to accept it, this is way things are. Cause now, we're part of the system. We're at the top the heap. Who's next?" a young boy nervously raises his hand. He then gets dumped into the dumpster.
X-X-X-X-X
"Hi, uh, Mrs Fretthold." Finn says as the door open to relieve a middle-aged woman, "This is Rachel." Finn steps inside the house.
"Pretty." Mrs Fretthold says, Rachel smiles, "Uh, I'll tell Sean you're here. I'm sorry it's such a mess. I've been on the phone to the insurance all day."
"Oh, no. That's fine." Finn mumbles as Mrs Fretthold walks off.
"Is this him?" Rachel asks seeing a photo of a teenage boy in football uniform.
"Uh, yeah." Finn says, "We met to football camp a couple years ago."
"He's ready for you." Mrs Fretthold says.
"Thanks." Finn says walking down the hall to a bedroom Rachel confidently follows.
"Fab-five-Finnster!" Sean calls when Finn enters. Rachel stands in shock at the doorway.
"Fretter!" Finn says walking over to Sean's bed and lifting his hand to fist bump it.
"This the hottie you were telling me about?" Sean asks when he sees Rachel.
"Yeah." Finn says, "Sean Fretthold, Rachel Berry, Rachel, Sean."
"Got a boyfriend, Rachel?" Sean asks.
"Um… sort of." Rachel says.
"Sort of?" Sean asks, "Sounds like I got a shot."
"I don't understand, this isn't funny." Rachel whisper to Finn.
"Sorry." Sean says, "They make me see a shrink. He says I compensate with humour." The room falls silent, and Rachel looks very confused, "Third game of the season, right after I met the Finnster, this Yeti of a fullback breaks through the line. I hear a crack, next thing I know, I'm lying on the ground saying to myself, 'get up, get up', but nothing was working, you know?"
"Sean was a C4." Finn says.
"Paralyzed from the upper chest down." Sean says.
"I'm so sorry." Rachel says.
"Finn says your voice is messed up." Sean says, "Is it going to come back?"
"I don't-I don't know."
"Pissed off about what you lost?" Sean asks, Rachel nods a little, "I was. Like real… rage. I used to just lie in bed and scream."
"Finn shouldn't have brought me here, I'm so sorry." Rachel says, Rachel goes to leave.
"Wait, wait, wait." Finn says, "Just, um, tell us about what happened when they gave you the chair."
"They were all excited because I could drive it myself by blowing in that tube." Sean says, "The second they left me alone… I drove it into the swimming pool."
"His mom pulled him out when she heard the splash." Finn chimes in.
"I don't understand." Rachel says, "Are-are you trying to tell me that you're happier now?"
"Hell, no." Sean says, "I'm miserable. I miss my body. I miss my life. I miss my friends. I miss girls. But I've realized, over time, that I've got other stuff going on. I'm more than just one thing. You know I'm good at math? Seriously. I flew through calc 1 in like two months. And I can sing." Rachel smiles.
"He's actually pretty good." Finn chimes in, "I used sing in the shower, in the car… I didn't have the balls to try out for my school's club like Finn did. That pissed me of more than anything. What the hell was I afraid of?"
"Sorry, guys." Mrs Fretthold says entering the room, "Time for physical therapy."
"Later, dude." Finn says heading to the door, "Um, I'll come by in a few weeks.
"I'll be here." Sean says.
"Thanks." Rachel says.
"For what?" Sean asks.
"Just, um… thanks." She smiles before leaving.
X-X-X-X-X
"Nobody quits the cheerios." Sue says when Mercedes walks in uniform in hand, "You either die or I kick you off."
"It was fun, I guess, but… when I put the uniform on, I didn't feel like myself. It's just not who I am." Mercedes says.
"And what am I supposed to do about that Mariah Carey number in which you do ten straight minutes of vocal runs?" Sue asks, "Huh? Nationals is in three weeks! I guess I'll just have to take to the mic and deliver a diatribe. Probably something about immigrants. Now get out of my office."
Puck shuts his locker as Mercedes walks past, "Hey, mama." Puck says following her, "Where's your cheerios uniform?"
"I quit." Mercedes says, "Look, I know glee club may be nerdly or whatever, but it's taught me something very important. You have to be true to who you are. That's something you may want to think about. Cause the guy I saw throwing dweebs in the dumpsters yesterday, I don't like him very much. And you know what? I don't think you do, either." Mercedes walks off.
X-X-X-X-X
Kurt walks down the hall hand in hand with a female cheerio, "Your hands are really soft." The cheerio says.
"My secret?" Kurt asks, "Duck fat." He sees some of the new directions, "Hey, guys." Kurt says walking past them, they all look disgusted, "Just holding hands with Emily."
"Seriously." Emily says, "They feel like a baby. Now I know what it's like to date a baby."
"Hey, Kurt!" Burt calls, Kurt turns around.
"Dad." Kurt says, "Hey."
"Finn caught a foul ball in the ninth, so that means free hoagies at Lenny's Hoagies, and then half-price to the motocross tonight, so I promised I'd take him." Burt says, "Hi."
"Hey." Emily says with a smile.
"Can you excuse us for a minute, boo?" Kurt asks Emily.
"What?"
"Just go away." Kurt says, Emily walks off, "Did you ever think that that might be something I wanted to do with you?"
"Look, Kurt, Finn needs a buddy right now, okay?" Burt says, "At the games, he got to talking about his dad, and, you know, his mom thinks it's a really good thing for him. Look, I promise you we will hang out as much as you want, okay? Just not tonight." He pats Kurt on the shoulder before walking off.
"All that work and what did it get me? Why did I do it? Scrapbook full of me in the background…"
When the song ends someone in the audience claps, "That was some serious singing, kid." Burt says walking onto the stage.
"That was Rose's turn." Kurt says.
"I could get into that, maybe." Burt says.
"What happened to the hoagies?" Kurt asks.
"Ah, I blew it off." Burt says, "You know, too much cholesterol."
"I bet Finn was disappointed." Kurt says.
"He understood, uh… once it old him how bent out of shape I thought you were."
"Me?" Kurt says, tears in his eyes, "I'm fine."
"Kurt, I'm dumb, but I'm not stupid." Burt says, "And I have no idea what that song was about, but 'fine' don't sing like you just sung. Look… maybe I got carried away doing stuff with Finn. But I told you, this thing with you was going to be hard."
"Thing with me." Kurt says, "You mean being gay?"
"Yeah." Kurt says, "Being gay. Look, I will fight to the death for your right to love whoever you want, but when you were a little baby in my arms, did I dream about taking you to baseball games and talking about girls? Yeah, I did. A lot of fathers do."
"I had no idea how disappointing I was." Kurt says, Kurt turns to walk away.
"Hey, come on, now, stop it right now." Burt says, "I'm-I'm talking straight to you. Don't go playing the victim. You know that's not what I mean."
Kurt turns back around, "I know." Kurt says through tears, "I'm sorry. I know you're working hard on yourself to make all this okay. Just seeing you, the way you are with Finn, how easy it is… it breaks my heart." Kurt turns away again.
"Is that why you were pretending to date that daffy cheerleader?" Burt asks, "And dressing differently, and singing Mellencamp?"
"I just want you to know that… I'm going to work as hard as you make this okay." Kurt says looking at Burt.
"You don't have to work at anything, Kurt." Burt says, "Your job is to be yourself, and my job is to love you no matter what. Okay? That and a majority ownership in a tire store, that's all we got. Okay? We stick to that, we're going to be great."
"I missed you, Dad." Kurt says.
"Oh, come here." Burt says hugging Kurt, "I love you."
"I love you, too." Kurt mumbles against Burt.
X-X-X-X-X
Puck is walking through the hall, when all of a sudden Blaine punches him in the face, he shoves him, "What the hell, dude!"
"You." Blaine shoves him hard, "You leaked the tape, you asshole!" the pair fight, until Blaine pins Puck to the floor.
"What tape?!" Puck asks, "What the hell are you talking about?!"
"The tape of Santana that OUTED HER!" Blaine punching Puck, "Mercedes broke up with because of her, so you leaked it!"
"Mercedes and I haven't broken up!" Puck yells.
"Sure!" Blaine yells, "Keep lying, asshole! It's what you do best!"
Puck flips Blaine over, "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
Blaine flips Puck and starts punching him again, "BULLSHIT!"
"Hey!" Mr Schue yells pushing through the crowd, "Stop!" Mr Schue barely rips Blaine off Puck.
"I'm not the bad guy here!" Puck yells.
"That's bullshit!" Blaine yells trying to get to Puck, but Mr Schue holds him back.
"Enough!" Mr Schue yells, "Figgins office now!" Puck storms off and Mr Schue basically drags Blaine to the office.
Quinn hugs Santana who is sitting in the choir room crying, "I'm screwed." She sobs.
Santana tries to wipe her eyes, "It's my family. Have you met Blaine's dad?" Mercedes, Tina and Rachel all share a concerned look.
"But your mom is amazing." Quinn says brushing Santana's hair out of her eyes, "She'll except you, and so would your dad."
Santana nods, "I guess. But this is Ohio."
Rachel sits on the other side of Santana, "But we promise to be there, all of us glee clubbers will."
"Yeah." Mercedes says, "We'll be there. We always will be." They all hug Santana.
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