CHAPTER 11

"Welcome, welcome, welcome everybody!" Mr. Schue exclaimed as he walked into the choir room on Friday morning. The assignment practice period was officially over, so it was time for everyone to perform. Quinn and Finn had spent almost the entire week together, spending every afternoon supposedly doing the assignment and getting to know each other. But truth be told, they were really just enjoying one another's company. It had become really each to talk to each other, and so they talked about everything under the sun. They talked about their passions, their hobbies, their aspirations for the future, their upbringings. Marcus felt horrible as he lied to Quinn about everything to do with his mother, but he couldn't gather the strength to tell her.

"Mr. Schue, are we performing today?" Rachel asked almost as soon as he walked in. "Because I feel like as soon as we can finish this assignment and move onto Sectionals prep, the better."

"What's with you and Sectionals prep, Rachel? Relax. We've got a long time until then." Mr. Schue chuckled. "But in answer to your question… yes. Performances today."

Marcus glanced at Quinn across the room, and as her hazel eyes met his amber ones, she sensed his unease and smiled. She knew that he was nervous about performing. His audition song had been something he had sung in the shower for years, so he had polished it plenty through constant repetition. This song, however, he had just learned that week so it would be a much truer test of his singing ability.

"But before we begin… Finn, Puck, Sam, Mike, Artie… how are you guys feeling? You guys ready for the game this evening?"

It was the football team's first game of the season that evening, the first game in their journey to go back to back as State Champions. The feelings within the team were extremely anxious, more so than any other year, for a number of reasons. First off, on normal years, there was little to no expectations on them to perform. After all, they were a random public school in the dump of a city that Lima is. However, this year, as the state champions, they were no longer the hunters but rather the hunted, and that was a very new feeling to them. This feeling was also made even more nerve wracking by the fact that a lot of their key players had graduated at the end of last year, leaving quite a few question marks over whether or not their new recruits that would be replacing them would perform. There were definitely key offensive players still there - Finn, Puck, Mike and Sam being some of them, but it was defense where things got a little more uncertain. Despite all this though, they were all extremely excited for the game that night.

"Heck yeah, Mr. Schue." Finn replied. "Coach Beiste has been putting us through an insane training camp to get us ready for the season, so it'll be nice to showcase what we've learned and improved on."

"Yeah, that is if our defence doesn't completely choke." Puck grumbled. "I swear, the Glee girls who played for us last season are better than some of these new recruits."

"Woah, woah, woah… wait… the Glee girls played football last year?" Marcus asked, confused.

"Yeah, they played the first half in our Championship game." Sam chuckled. Marcus' eyes widened.

"How'd that go?" He remarked.

"Well Tina probably made more yards in one play than anyone else on our team." Mike responded, cracking a grin as he recollected that fateful evening.

"Yeah, then like 5 seconds later, she got her clock absolutely cleaned by some ogre linebacker. It was brutal." Puck grinned. Marcus shuddered and turned to Tina, who was looking on with a proud smile on her face.

"That must've hurt." Marcus remarked.

"Marcus, I think the point of the story here is that some of the guys in the Glee club needed help. The whole football team quit a week before the Championship game. And like a family does, the rest of the Glee club stepped in and helped them." Mr. Schue said.

"No, the point of the story is that our defence this year sucks." Puck shot back. Mr. Schue rolled his eyes.

"Okay Puck. Well good luck to you all. I'm sure everyone here will all be there to support." Mr. Schue said. "Anyways, let's get into it. So each person will perform their song to their partner. If they want to explain why they chose the song, by all means do so. If you don't feel comfortable sharing because the reason is somewhat intimate, that's more than okay too."

"Who goes first?" Kurt asked.

"Any volunteers?" Mr. Schue said, turning to the entire group. There was a short silence as Mr. Schue waited to hear if someone would volunteer, but to his disappointment, nobody did. He sighed. "Okay, fine, guys. If none of you want to start, the way we'll do it is that we'll reverse the order in which the names were picked earlier this week. If memory serves, the last pair to have been chosen were Quinn and Marcus."

"Yeah, that's right." Quinn said, before standing up. "I can go first."

"Awesome! Everyone, give it up for Quinn!" Mr. Schue exclaimed, and the group all clapped for her. Marcus shot her a grateful look as she stood up, and she nodded subtly at him. She knew how nervous he was to perform, so she figured she'd take a bit of the stress off by going first.

"What song are you singing?" Mr. Schue asked her.

"I'm going to be singing Shake it Out by Florence + the Machine." Quinn replied.

"Any significance to the song? Why'd you choose it?" He asked it. To this, Marcus and Quinn met eyes for a moment, and Marcus raised an eyebrow slightly. Was she going to expose the things that he had told her over the past week?

"Um… I chose this song to make the statement that our past doesn't define who we are today. As long as we shed our demons from yesterday, we can be whoever we want to be."

Mr. Schue nodded, and Marcus smiled faintly at her.

"That's a very good point, Quinn." Mr. Schue said. "And I feel like of all people, given everything you've been through over the past few years, you could probably relate to that better than anyone."

Quinn nodded, and then the music softly began. Quinn's singing was stunning. While singers like Rachel, Santana and Mercedes all relied on powerful belting during their performances, Quinn's voice was a lot softer, but with it came a smoothness and sincerity that even the top singers in the club lacked. There was a unique way that Quinn's voice pierced directly into his soul, her words echoing through his mind, and he truly believed every word she was singing. At the end of the song, he was amongst those clapping the loudest as Quinn took her seat beside him again.

"That was great." Marcus whispered to her, and she beamed at him.

"Thanks. Your turn now." She told him.

"Wow, great job, Quinn! That was beautiful." Mr. Schue said. "Next up… Marcus! Up you come, buddy." Mr. Schue said. Marcus nodded and walked to the front of the room, and the rest of the club clapped and smiled at him reassuringly. Marcus took a deep breath to calm his nerves, before beginning to speak.

"So, um… my song is Please Forgive Me by Bryan Adams." He told them.

"Who?" Rachel asked, puzzled. Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that. He's only the most famous singer in Canada." Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that." Marcus remarked. "Bryan Adams is one of the best Canadian singers of all time. Summer of 69?! Everything I Do?!"

"Ohhhh, that guy." Sam said. "I thought he's like… Australian or something."

"Canadian, man. Homegrown hero." Marcus replied. "So this song, Please Forgive Me, is originally a love song but when I listen to it, I don't really hear that. I hear someone who truly loves someone, but has had to give them up. But even after giving them up, it's not like their love has just disappeared. It's still there, and it eats them up inside."

Although he didn't mention a name, when it came to Quinn, everyone knew exactly who Marcus was referring to. The music began to play, a soft rock beat that Marcus gently swayed to as he began to sing…

It still feels like our first night together

Feels like the first kiss

It's getting better baby

No one can better this

Still holding on

You're still the one

First time our eyes met

Same feeling I get

Only feels much stronger

I want to love you longer

Do you still turn the fire on?

So if you're feeling lonely, don't

You're the only one I'll ever want

I only want to make it good

So if I love you, a little more than I should

Please forgive me, I know not what I do

Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you

Don't deny me, this pain I'm going through

Please forgive me, if I need you like I do

Please believe me, every word I say is true

Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you

Still feels like our best times are together

Feels like the first touch

We're still getting closer baby

Can't get closer enough

Still holding on

You're still number one

I remember the smell of your skin

I remember everything

I remember all your moves

I remember you yeah

I remember the nights, you know I still do

So if you're feeling lonely, don't

You're the only one I'll ever want

I only want to make it good

So if I love you a little more than I should

Please forgive me, I know not what I do

Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you

Don't deny me, this pain I'm going through

Please forgive me, if I need you like I do

Please believe me, every word I say is true

Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you

The one thing I'm sure of

Is the way we make love

The one thing I depend on

Is for us to stay strong

With every word and every breath I'm praying

That's why I'm saying,

Please forgive me, I know not what I do

Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you

Don't deny me, this pain I'm going through

Please forgive me, if I need you like I do

Babe believe it, every word I say is true

Please forgive me, if I can't stop loving you

No, believe me, I don't know what I do

Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you

I can't stop, loving you