Okay this was not a request but I totally blame this one on Eddy Martin (the guy that plays Thad) I was watching Warbler clips on YouTube and found one of him singing "My Way" and this story just appeared. You really should check it out because it's amazing.
This was it, the old man was saying goodbye to his third home, the stages of Broadway and he did it with a sold out concert. All his friends were there and all his younger brothers,, his sister… and some of his older brothers. Not the ones from his first year, all of them were already gone or were going.
He'd sung so many songs already and it was time to say goodbye. He smiled and took a deep breath and looked around. In the front row sat his younger brothers, his younger sister, his friends and his children. They all seemed to be so proud of him.
His dark eyes shone in the light from the spotlights and his grey hair seemed to shimmer. It was amazing to see this 87 year old man still sing and act as if he was not a day over 60. But this man knew something no one else did because he could feel it. He smiled and started singing:
And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, I'll say it clear,
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain.
I've lived a life that's full.
I've traveled each and ev'ry highway;
But more, much more than this,
I did it my way.
He remembered the first day he set his foot at Dalton Academy. He'd looked up at the big, grey, cold and old-looking building in front of him. He had been moved again. Again he was going to be kept away from his "family", hidden like some big shameful sin. He actually was a shameless sin… at least to his "father". His "father" had sent him away when he was 8... he had never wanted him in the first place and neither had his stepmom. He had the scars to proof it.
He'd gone in through the big doors and had ended up in a big entrance hall with staircases and doors and hallways everywhere. He'd felt so small… he'd been small. He'd known he wasn't really supposed to have been there. He'd known it because everywhere he'd looked he'd seen boys in navy blue or black blazers, both types having red piping and the boys with black blazers had been dressed completely in black while the boys in navy blue ones had had white shirts, red and navy blue ties, grey slacks and black shoes.
They'd all been so tall. Many of the boys had stopped and stared at him. At the age of 12 he hadn't technically even been supposed to be there. Boys had continued to stop and stare at him and he'd held a tight grip on the duffle bag that hung over his shoulder.
"Yo junior you're in the wrong school", someone had said and he'd looked at his feet blushing madly. He'd been so scared he'd nearly trembled where he stood. After a bit when he'd been standing there alone a young man with red hair and freckles had taken pity on him and had walked up to him.
"Hi", he'd said and the small boy had looked at his feet. "What are you doing here kid?"
"School", the kid had mumbled frightened.
"You'll be going here?" the boy had sounded surprised. "Are you sure?"
The small boy had felt in his bag and found a paper and had held it out to the boy. The boy had taken it and had read through it, his eyebrows had climbed up in confusion.
"Well…" he'd said. "It says here that you are… it also says that a room is ready for you in East. I can take you there if you want."
The small boy had nodded but hadn't say anything.
"Well then", the guy had said and smiled. "My name is George. What's yours?"
"…"
"Well then 'Mumbles', come along", George had said and had started to walk but then he realized something and he'd turned around and had grabbed hold of Mumbles' hand.
"Sorry", he'd said and had looked at the boy that had looked sad. "I didn't mean to sound mean calling you Mumbles like that. Come I'll show you to your room." He'd still held "Mumbles'" hand as he'd lead him towards the dorms.
At Dalton he had been introduced to the people that would mean the world to him and that had made him who he is. The Warblers. Older and younger. When he looked out at the audience he thought he could see his oldest brothers looking at him from the door. They were young, looking not a day over 18 so he knew he either saw a memory or what was awaiting him on the other side.
Regrets, I've had a few;
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption.
He really had too few regrets to mention, he regretted not telling his younger brothers the truth sooner. He also regretted sinking to Jesse's level because if he hadn't that could've spared his younger brothers the fright of seeing him being shot on stage. But he had always done what he had to, taking hits, taking kicks, taking slushies, slashes, shots, mocking words, injuries and triumphs. He always saw through what he started and he held to that principle all his life.
I planned each charted course;
Each careful step along the byway,
But more, much more than this,
I did it my way.
He had done it his way. He had his first Broadway premiere when he was still studying at NYADA and he had managed to help lead the Warblers to the first ever joint victory of the nationals show choir competition alongside the New Directions. He'd met his wife in high school but sadly she had to leave, they met again after college. He was one of very few stars on Broadway and a bit in Hollywood that got to the top with no backstabbing at all. He had never backstabbed anyone his entire life. Why? Because he knew how bad it hurt and refused to sink to that level.
Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way.
It had happened a few times that he bit off more than he could chew. But he always spit it out or swallowed it all. Because that was just who he was. He saw things through to the very end and refused to let people down. He never did and whenever he felt he was close he changed so he could spit it out or eat it up.
I've loved, I've laughed and cried.
I've had my fill; my share of losing.
And now, as tears subside,
I find it all so amusing.
He had loved a few girls. The first girl he ever loved was named Becca but she stabbed him in the back and tore his heart in two when he realized she was yet another hateful homophobe that he couldn't stand. He'd dated a few girls after that but none that was that girl. Not until he met the girl that was to be his wife. But that's another story.
He'd lost too. One of the worst days in his life was when he 30 years ago got the call from a frantic Otto because Mark had just been shot in duty and in the same hour as Wes got there and held the big man's hand… the loving giant protector of the Warblers told them all how much he loved them and then he closed his eyes for the last time.
Hadn't Jerry and Lucas been there Wes would not have known how to deal. He had lost all his older brothers now except Jordan Montgomery. They guy refused to die before he was 120. He would probably become that old too. Losing Mark had hurt him something awful but a loss that nearly killed him was watching Jerry waste away those last few years when he got cancer. When Jerry died Wes had felt a big part dying inside him. But his children had helped him through it as well as his friends and younger brother. He took Jerry's death so hard because he lost his wife in an accident two months prior. He would've taken it hard anyway but losing her and him at the same time just made it worse.
But with time the loss hurts just a little less and the tears would stop falling as soon as he thought of the people he'd lost. Now he could just think of the good and amusing memories. For example of when Justine put that bully's hand between her legs or when he played all those pranks on Alvaro to get back at him for all the crap he put him through.
To think I did all that;
And may I say - not in a shy way,
"No, oh no not me,
I did it my way"
He had done it his way, he dealt with love, grief, anger and happiness in his own way and everyone he loved knew that so when he was angry they let him blow off some steam before they went into full-blow comforting mood. Blaine the loveable but yet oblivious idiot took the longest to learn. He really couldn't read people.
For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels;
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows I took the blows -
And did it my way!
Now had this been a movie or a TV-show the camera would start spinning around the short but straight standing grey-haired and wrinkled man and when it was behind him a third time… The spotlight would blind everything and when the camera face him again there would be an 18 year old standing there. His hair jet-black, eyes dark, no wrinkles and just youth and a big smile on his face.
And it was my way
The audience would cheer loudly for him and he would take a bow. The camera would have zoomed out to show the applauding audience and the faces of his loved ones and then back to him. Straightening up he'd be an old man again. Smiling before the scene faded to black. The movie has ended. The end has come.
Here you go, feel free to send me request by review or pm ;) And I'll see what I can do about it :D