A/N: Alright party chapter part two! Before I get too into my A/N it's super important that if there's any A/N you read it's this one! The structure of this chapter is very strange and you have to understand what it is to really enjoy the chapter.

Basically the short version is that except for the last scene, all of the scenes in this chapter are intentionally out of order. There is a narrator to break the scenes up, but it's super important to note that the scenes were written and basically shuffled to come up with a chapter that is truly all over the place. I really wanted to challenge myself as an author, and was inspired by the Simpsons episode Trilogy of Errors to try to come up with a chapter that was so all over the place, but if you read it carefully you can pick up little pieces and details and start to put the puzzle together yourself! Kind of with inspiration from an unreliable narrator side of things too. Basically I wanted to challenge myself to write a chapter where I write all of the end scenes and then try to find a way to get there, as I love this style of writing and think it's fun to try to follow along.

Of course because of this there's some weirdness in this chapter that is not just the scenes being in a random order. The first thing is that while I am happy with the way it came out I definitely believe there's room for improvement. I ended up deleting and changing and rearranging the order of some scenes very last minute to make it flow a little better so it might feel like there's still some info missing but I promise if it was important enough it stayed in!

I also want to apologize in advance for the character I have decided to be the sort of omniscient narrator as there are a lot of fourth wall breaks and even an implications that myself and this character are the same person. Of course, that is very much not the case lmao, but because I wanted to write a chapter that none of us had to take too seriously, I thought it would be fun to throw some of that in and I got a little carried away since I didn't know if/when I'd be able to do it again lmao.

I've also introduced the last of the new characters in this chapter! She'll be trying to follow along with the crazy story tellings of our narrator just as all of you will, so I hope you enjoy that! I also know I keep teasing that we're finally going to learn about the new characters, but unfortunately this is not that chapter lmao. However I've plotted out the next chapter and it is pretty heavily focused on most of the new characters so look forward to that!

I know that's a lot, but I really hope you guys like this chapter and enjoy reading and trying to figure things out as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please don't take anything in this chapter overly serious (other than the very small handful of things that are obviously meant to be lmao) as I was sort of just experimenting with this style of writing and putting these characters in weird situations. I hope you enjoy, and please check the A/N at the bottom as I have another announcement!

"Alright!" Naomi suddenly called out, "Party's over!"

The party was not over.

In fact, it went on long enough that as Sanna-Rose Morgan finally ended up at the Jones' place, virtually nobody else was in sight. Sanna-Rose was of average height, with long curly brown hair and was fairly thin. Her mom had assured her that the Jones' were good people and that the party would be a good place to meet people. However, she was not expecting the disaster she walked into.

"Um… hello?" She called into the main entrance way, which looked practically abandoned.

"Hello! Welcome, you're a bit late, but better late than never," A friendly face grinned at her.

"Oh! Are you…one of the Jones'?" Sanna-Rose questioned curiously as she'd never actually met them.

"Oh, no, I'm just Dana," they shrugged.

"Oh well… um… I was going to come for the party," She started but was cut off.

"Congrats!" Dana grinned genuinely, "You made it!"

"I did, but… um… there's a car on fire outside?" Sanna-Rose nodded to where one of the cars brought in by one of the guests was up in flames.

"Oh that!" Dana laughed, "It's kind of a funny story actually… lots of different events all falling into place in perfect synchronization resulting in a tale for the ages," they thought dreamily, staring off into space.

"Are… are you going to tell it?" Sanna laughed.

"Oh! Right!" Dana laughed, "It all started right over there, with my very own sister," They nodded, pointing to a corner of the room. "Well maybe not started, but more on that later,"

Rey and Cay stood in a corner arguing, once again.

"I just don't understand why you're so upset or why you're trying to suddenly be this massive part of my life again," Rey sighed out.

"Because I miss you, Rey," Cay tried to explain.

"And I get that! But you were the one who told me you didn't want to be friends anymore! And I'm being respectful of you and Nikki and I have finally started to move on and-"

"With Hazel?" Cay clarified.

"Look it's… nothing more than a small crush and you don't even deserve to hear that, but I don't get why you can't be respectful of my feelings like I was of yours," Rey shook her head.

"I'm always respectful of-" Cay started but was distracted by the sound of glass breaking in two different directions simultaneously.

"What the hell was that?" Rey furrowed her eyebrows.

"I don't know, but I bet your weirdo brother was somehow behind it. Or one of the other weird Warblers," Cay scoffed.

"What do you have against them? Can't you be nice? For once?" Rey pleaded.

"They're just annoying. Plus, as a Troubletone it's sort of my duty to make sure that they're, you know, my sworn enemy."

"Why are the Warblers and Troubletones sworn enemies?" Sanna-Rose questioned, thankful she at least had a little bit of knowledge on the glee clubs in the area.

"Like a boy versus girl thing, I think?" Dana shook their head, "Very cis-normative,"

"Sure," Sanna-Rose nodded, "Sorry, you were telling a story."

"I sure was!" Dana grinned before continuing.

"I think you need to sit down, babe," Savannah shook her head, "That was… a huge tumble you just took,"

"Yeah, but I took it like a champ, right?" Finley grinned cheekily.

"We'll see about that when you heal," Savannah raised her eyebrows, happy she managed to get Finley to take a seat down on a sofa.

"I always jump right back!" Finley tried to assure his girlfriend.

"Jumping is what got you into this mess in the first place," Savannah pointed out, gently placing a kiss on the back of his hand.

"I miss when we were like that," Lex sighed out looking at the couple by them.

"Really? After you tried to fight them?" Audrey raised her eyebrows, clearly annoyed.

"You're still upset about earlier, huh?" Lex verified.

"When you called Savannah a dumbass? Yeah, I am still a little upset about that," Audrey rolled her eyes.

"No," Lex shook his head, "After that,"

"I don't know what you're referring to," Audrey lied.

"I told you I'd see you later," Ingrid winked, walking by.

"I'm sorry," Sanna-Rose put her hands up, "I'm not sure what any of this has to do with the on-fire car outside?"

"Hm, maybe I need to give some more detail," Dana thought pausing from telling their story, "Did you notice the vomit outside when you came in?"

"No?" Sanna-Rose was unsure whether to laugh or be disgusted.

"Oh," Dana thought, "Well that makes one person,"

Leah had been sat outside by herself, tears in her eyes, though as she heard footsteps behind her, she quickly tried to wipe them away.

"Oh," Juliet sighed out, also wiping tears from her eyes, trying to pretend they weren't there, "I didn't realize someone else was out here,"

"Yeah, um sorry," Leah shook her head, "I was just heading back in,"

"That's… that's okay," Juliet sighed out, "I wouldn't mind the company,"

"Oh, sure," Leah nodded, "I don't know if we've ever… been properly introduced? I'm-"

"Leah? Puckerman?" Juliet raised her eyebrows, "You're somewhat of a… celebrity in the Troubletones,"

"You're in the Troubletones?" Leah couldn't help but laugh, "But uh, yeah I've managed to create quite a reputation for myself. I guess I should have expected it to come around and get me back at some point,"

"Is that why you're out here crying?" Juliet questioned skeptically.

"Yes? And no, I don't know I guess I just…" Leah sighed out deeply, "I sort of walked into something I would have rather not seen, but it is what it is." She shook her head, "How about you?"

"Oh, I wasn't crying," Juliet spoke defensively, "Just um… that vomit made my eyes water,"

"Yeah, who did that?" Leah stuck her nose up looking at the puddle of it next to the garbage outside.

"Whoever it was clearly missed," Juliet noted.

"So who was sick?" Sanna-Rose questioned, invested, but trying to remember who literally any of these people were.

"Great question!" Dana asked, "But you might need some more backstory first,"

"There you are!" Eric had called to Addison, "I keep losing you. And apparently Kate is lost too? There is a lot going on right now,"

"Hey, hey, it'll be okay," Addison pulled Eric in for a long hug.

"If I never go to another party in my life, I'll be happy," Eric shook his head.

"Aw, come on, it's not all that bad! There's lots going on," Addison pulled away, peeking out the window as he heard noise coming from outside, but couldn't make out who it was, "It seems like there's some kind of drama going on outside,"

"That doesn't make me feel any better!" Eric whined.

"Drama?" Felix peeked out, appearing form nowhere, "Tia's going to be pissed that she missed that,"

"Why? Did she not just fight you?" Addison snickered, looking at the bump forming on Felix's head.

"Nah, I uh, well, actually," Felix shook his head, "Don't ask. And be careful on the stairs,"

"Noted," Eric nodded cautiously, before turning back to Addison, "I'll be right back, I'm going to look for Kate."

"So… Eric and Addison are dating?" Sanna-Rose asked for clarification.

"Yep!" Dana nodded, "Oh, that reminds me of another story!"

"I thought we were still talking about the car?" Sanna tried.

"Don't worry, it all ties in. The pay off will be great, I promise," Dana nodded, hoping they were correct as I, the narrator, also hoped the pay off would be great.

"What are we talking about over here, buddies?" Zach grinned making his way over to a group of boys standing around.

"We just crowned our winner," Isaac nodded.

"Winner for what?" Zach laughed.

"Just a little competition we were doing," Steven shrugged.

"We were seeing which of our siblings was the most embarrassing," Michael admitted, "It shockingly wasn't Lex,"

"Man, I'm glad Oscar's my brother. He's so smart and wise. If anything I'm the embarrassing brother," Zach nodded.

"I don't think you're embarrassing!" Bob grinned kindly.

"Aw, thanks little guy," Zach smiled.

"Speaking of your brother… where is he?" Isaac asked suddenly.

"Or Kate?" Steven questioned nervously.

"Oh shit, I knew I'd forgotten something," Zach shook his head, running off.

"How many people are at this party?" Sanna-Rose questioned.

"So many," Dana nodded, "Like at least three,"

"Fair enough," Sanna-Rose nodded, "Sorry, continue with your story,"

And so Dana did, though of course, started from what seemed like a very random place to tell a story.

"I owe you an apology," Teddy sighed out, looking to Mack.

"You did… really hurt my feelings," Mack admitted with a sad smile, "I really am trying. Whether or not you see it,"

"I think…" Teddy sighed out, surprised to find himself even vaguely in touch with his emotions, "That I'm just… worried about the Warblers next year. With you graduating this year I just want to be sure they're all in tip-top shape for when I sit in your place. Because I'm… terrified of how I'm going to handle that,"

"Teddy," Mack laughed, shaking his head, "With you as head of the council there's no way they won't be in tip-top shape. You practically run the Warblers now. The difference is you get to at least in part pick who sits on the council with you next year. Which, I'd think, working with people you actually like would be helpful,"

"I do like you Mack," Teddy laughed, "Tommy too. Most days, anyways. I do consider you both to be two of my closet friends. But… thank you,"

As Mack smiled, he was about to say something back but both boys jumped as a window broke behind them.

"Was that the crash from earlier?" Sanna-Rose questioned, "With the first two girls?"

"Oh right!" Dana laughed, "I'd forgotten about that. Yes, that was one of the crashes,"

"One of?" Sanna-Rose's eyes widened.

"Here, I'll tell that story before I forget," Dana nodded.

"Look, it's not my fault that they're fighting," Oliver shook his head, "It's also not my fault that you're trying to form a bond with your weird, estranged twin and this is the only way you can think to do it,"

"And it's not my fault that you don't have a single nice bone in your body," Kendall pointed a finger up at Oliver.

"It's not my fault that I'm not going to be one of your little minions and help you with your little schemes," Oliver stepped closer to Kendall, both narrowing their eyes, staring at each other for a few moments too long until they were distracted by two large crashing noises.

"What the fuck?" Oliver looked around, confused.

"Sounds like one came from downstairs, and I'm going to go check out what it was," Kendall announced.

"I'm gonna go see what the other one was then, I guess," Oliver shook his head, reluctantly making his way down the hallway, opening a door, shocked as he questioned, "What the fuck did you do?"

"Who was it?" Sanna-Rose asked, eyes wide, "What did they do?!"

"I'm getting there!" Dana laughed, "Patience, friend! Now I've lost my place. Hmmm. Oh! I know what else to tell,"

"Oh, hey, Chloe," Audrey smiled kindly, "What's up? I don't know if we've spoken since you, you know, joined the Troubletones and then immediately quit the next day,"

"Good times, huh?" Chloe smiled, "I just wanted to see how you're doing. You know, since Lex is obviously hanging out with Ingrid or whatever,"

"I'm sorry, he's what?" Audrey practically shoved Chloe out of the way to look.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Chloe shrugged, "Ingrid's already made a bit of a reputation for herself, but this likely isn't anything serious, you know?"

"I hope you're right," Audrey shook her head, suddenly distracted by Finley who she saw from the corner of her eye jump about six feet in the air, only to stumble down the stairs, reaching for a handrail that wasn't there.

"Finley!" Audrey called out, Savannah also noticing and running over as Finley took a massive tumble down and then directly off the staircase.

"Holy shit are you okay?!" Savannah grabbed his face to make sure he could see straight.

"Where… where did the handrail go?" Was all Finley could think to say.

"What?" Audrey asked, confused by the question.

"I was going… to my room? And there's a handrail that's usually on that staircase," Finley tried to explain.

"Come on, let's make sure you don't have any serious injuries," Savannah did her best to take care of him.

"And that's how Finley got hurt!" Dana smiled proudly.

"What?" Sanna raised her eyebrows, having more questions now than she did before, "Where did the handrail go? Why did he jump and trip?"

"Wow, we sure do have a lot more to get through," Dana laughed realizing how much information she was missing.

"Like the fight? Or the injuries? Or the vomit? Or the car?" Sanna-Rose listed off all the things she could remember.

"Oh right, the vomit!" Dana chuckled.

"I have to tell you something," Leah grabbed Tommy who'd been speaking to Naomi.

"I'm in the middle of something... but I can always make an exception for you," Tommy winked, as he and Leah eventually made their way outside, "What's up?"

"I… don't think I can do this," Leah shook her head.

"Do what?" Tommy furrowed his eyebrows.

"I… I don't know. This whole us thing was fun for the first hour or so but… I think it's made people hate me more and I'm just… I can't do it," Leah sighed out, "I mean I know we were both, in a way, doing the whole thing to make other people jealous but… I can't,"

"I… see what you're saying," Tommy sighed out, "It actually kind of backfired for me too,"

"Naomi doesn't want you back, huh?" Leah raised her eyebrows.

"No, and excuse you for rubbing salt in the wound! Especially when your ex man clearly doesn't want you either," Tommy pointed out, "I saw the way you were looking at him back there, by the way,"

"It's just… complicated," Leah sighed out, "I'm sorry,"

"Don't be," Tommy grinned, "I got to work on my acting chops, you know? I had a good time in our three hour relationship," he laughed.

"Thanks, Tommy," Leah laughed, "Me too,"

"And by the way, if you ever get yourself… sorted out. I think you're fun to hang out with, and you're better than people say you are," Tommy started before turning to walk back in the house, scrunching his nose up as he noticed vomit on the ground, "Ew,"

Sighing out as she sat alone, Leah felt tears coming and couldn't find it in her to get it to stop. While she sat by herself and let the tears build up, she quickly wiped them away as someone stepped out beside her, the person meekly speaking, "Oh, I didn't realize someone else was out here,"

"And that was…. The girl from earlier, right?" Sanna-Rose verified.

"Juliet, yep!" Dana nodded, smiling,

"Huh," Sanna-Rose spoke, "I don't see how that has anything to do with… anything else, though?"

"We're getting there," Dana nodded, eyes suddenly widening as they realized they were forgetting something, "The competition!"

"Alright, alright, you two win," Isaac sighed out, defeated, "Congratulations Steven and Bob on having the cringiest siblings,"

"It's an honor!" Bob smiled wide.

"I would say it's an honor but…" Steven shook his head, "I feel bad accepting this award,"

"Don't," Michael shook his head, "Sydney won it fair and square," he shivered at the thought.

"I just don't know how it even happened," Isaac couldn't help but laugh, "Wasn't Sydney gunning for Frank all night?"

"In fairness, Sydney's always gunning for Frank. Affectionately, though. I think," Bob laughed.

"I can assure you it's affectionately," Steven laughed, knowingly.

"After all that I think we all can assure that it was affectionately," Michael smirked.

"I don't mean to interrupt again," Sanna-Rose sighed out, "But are you sure all of these stories are connected?"

"Of course I do! Trust the narrator," Dana winked.

"And that's…you, right?" Sanna-Rose raised her eyebrows.

"Who else would it be?" Dana smiled, winking once more, admittedly, freaking Sanna-Rose out, "Now where was I?"

"What the fuck happened to you?" Heather snickered, "Nice goose egg, by the way,"

"Hey," Felix pouted, touching the aforementioned 'goose egg' on his head, and cringing at the pain, "I clearly fell and I don't want to talk about it,"

"Should you put some ice or something on it?" Mia tried, "It looks pretty bad,"

"Why don't you get Zoey to take care of you?" Tia raised her eyebrows, snickering.

"Zoey's what caused this!" Felix threw his arms in the air dramatically.

"What did she do?" Heather laughed, "Hit you with a frying pan?"

"I wish," Felix shook his head, "Well, no, actually. That might have been worse,"

"Well, what happened?" Mia asked, genuinely confused as to where this was going, "How did this happen and how was Zoey involved?"

"Well we were just talking and then she left, and I tried to follow and her and I fell," Felix tried to explain.

"Fell from where?" Tia asked cautiously.

"The stairs," Felix shrugged.

"Isn't there a usually rail to prevent that kind of thing?" Mia raised her eyebrows.

"Oh that's a whole thing," Felix waved the question off.

"So… Felix is involved with the missing handrail?" Sanna-Rose verified.

"Yes… kind of?" Dana shook their head, "There are many sides to all stories,"

"I'm starting to realize that," Sanna-Rose sighed out, shaking her head.

"Well, I hope you're ready for another side!" Dana grinned.

"Delia!" Flora waved excitedly running towards her older sister. "I have to tell you something!"

"Flora," Delia spoke blandly, "Can I help with you something?"

"Are you… mad at me?" Flora laughed nervously.

"No. I've just been thinking about the whole… you and Anthony situation and I don't think it's a good idea," Delia explained as casually as she could manage.

"What?" Flora was confused, "What changed your mind? I thought we were on the same page?"

"We are. But… I've spoken to someone else who seems to think it's a bad idea, and I think they may be right," Delia admitted.

"Since when do you listen to other people?" Flora laughed awkwardly, genuinely feeling confused.

"I resent that," Delia raised her eyebrows, "But please, just trust me. Anyways, what were you going to tell me?" She tried to change the subject.

"Um, it's okay," Flora shook her head, "Forget it,"

"Well, if you say so," Delia sighed out.

"I promise I'm not trying to interrupt," Sanna-Rose furrowed her eyebrows, "But can we please go back to talking about the car? Or the window? Or the other crash? Or something?"

"There's so much to unpack," Dana sighed out, "Hmm.. oh! I know!"

"How the hell did you manage to do this?" Emery's eyes went wide at the shattered glass before them.

"How did you manage to get here so fast?" Sophie asked, laughing, "That was impressive,"

"I heard Xavier say 'Mommy'. That's like, my personal bat signal," Emery shook her head, clearly out of breath.

"Did you just do a whole work out?" Xavier looked at his friend, "Why are you so sweaty and out of breath?"

"Don't worry about it," Emery waved him off, "Now how did this happen?"

"How did what happen?" Trina grinned innocently, stepping in front of the shattered glass on the ground.

"You just broke a whole window?" Emery raised their eyebrows, "How? Why? For what reason?"

"What's going on in here?" Kendall appeared from seemingly nowhere.

"They broke a whole ass window," Emery shook her head.

"No we didn't!" Trina tried.

"I can see Mack and Teddy terrified on the other side," Kendall noted, waving to them.

"Look, it was an accident!" Xavier tried.

"And God always forgives us for our accidents! My siblings and I are proof of happy accidents," Sophie nodded.

"What?" All four other people spoke in sync.

"Don't worry about it," Sophie waved them off.

"Okay, well, this has been riveting, but I wanna go figure out what the other crash was," Kendall announced, not bothered enough to figure how they broke it in the first place.

"Other crash?" Trina and Emery exchanged a look as they spoke in sync.

"What are we going to do about the window?!" Xavier called out dramatically.

"I vote we just leave it and let the good lord take care of it," Sophie nodded.

"Wait, wait," Sanna-Rose shook her head, "So, okay, I know who broke the window now even if I… don't know them. But how did it happen?"

"That's a story for another time," Dana nodded smiling.

"I thought this was all one big story?" Sanna-Rose shook her head.

"It is! But really it's like a collection of a lot of small stories," Dana shrugged, "Anyways, let's move on to the next part,"

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Isa raised her eyebrows, unsure of how she got wrapped into this in the first place.

"Of course it is!" Nikki waved her off, "And what's a party without a good prank?"

"But a fake rat? Do you really think someone will fall for that?" Isa questioned as she watched Nikki place a fake rat in the corner of a hallway.

"Rule number one," Nikki spoke suddenly, "Trust the process,"

"Is there a rule number two?" Isa raised her eyebrows once more.

"Yes. Ask less questions," Nikki nodded decisively, "Besides, I think you overestimate the intelligence and bravery of the people in glee. This will scare someone,"

"Aren't…you in glee?" Isa shook her head.

"Remember what I said about questions?" Nikki raised her eyebrows.

"Did someone fall for the rat prank?" Sanna-Rose looked to Dana quietly.

"Yeah, of course they did!" Dana laughed, "I thought we got to that part already,"

"I can assure you we did not," Sanna-Rose laughed.

"Well, we will eventually," Dana waved her off, "Alright, let's see what part is next,"

"So you go to Carmel, huh?" Chloe raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah," Pilar nodded, smiling, "I um, I just moved pretty recently. I go to church with a few people who are here, actually. Do you know the Harts?"

"Boy, do I," Chloe laughed shaking her head, "I think Jude's the only one who goes to Carmel, but they're… an interesting family,"

"So, do you go to Carmel too?" Pilar questioned.

"I do," Chloe nodded, "In Vocal Adrenaline and everything, have you had a chance to meet them all?"

"I've sort of… seen them from a distance," Pilar nodded, "But have actually met very few of them,"

"I see," Chloe nodded, "Well, here, I'll give you the run down. See over there? That's Ingrid. She's the newest. I've actually… dealt with her a lot tonight,"

"Oh?" Pilar raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah," Chloe nodded slowly and lazily.

"Oh, I um, thought there was a story to go with that," Pilar laughed awkwardly.

"I guess there is," Chloe nodded.

"Good ole Chloe," Dana smiled, gazing off into the distance, "She's even better at telling stories than I am,"

"I find that hard to believe," Sanna-Rose spoke kindly, not wanting to continue complaining about not knowing where any of this was going, but too invested to walk away.

"You're so nice!" Dana laughed, "Oh, right, I was about to tell you more about Sutton and Ambrose,"

"Who?" Sanna-Rose questioned.

"What the fuck did you do?" Oliver's eyes widened as he looked at the broken vase on the floor.

"It was like that when we got in here," Ambrose tried to explain.

"Well, it was, but then it wasn't, but then it was?" Sutton shook his head, "Either way, you came just in the knick of time!"

"I came because I heard the sound of shattering vase," Oliver raised his eyebrows.

"Great! You can help us fix it," Sutton grinned.

"I'm not fixing it again," Ambrose shook his head.

"Again?" Oliver asked confused, "What happened in here?"

"God, so much," Sutton shook his head.

"Like what?" Oliver was almost afraid to know the answer.

"Well, you see, Ambrose and I got into a little fight," Sutton started.

"Okay, I don't know if I would call it a fight," Ambrose interjected.

"Okay, fine, Ambrose and I got into a little… disagreement," Sutton raised his eyebrows, waiting for Ambrose to nod, giving him the okay to go on, "So we came into this room to not make a scene. However, when we got in here, we noticed the broken vase,"

"Which by the way, I must reiterate, was broken when we got here," Ambrose tried to explain, "So we fixed it,"

"And it broke again?" Oliver questioned.

"Oh, I should have known it was you two," Kendall shook her head.

"I thought you were checking on the other crash?" Oliver turned to look at Kendall.

"I was, but it was just the two weirdos in my glee club and then the two Harts who aren't in my glee club," Kendall explained, "This seemed more interesting, and I was right,"

"So the second crash was a vase?" Sanna-Rose confirmed.

"Yeah, you're getting it now, bestie!" Dana smiled, "See, I told you the story would start to come together!"

"I mean, yes, kind of?" Sanna-Rose shook her head, "I can't help but feel like I'm missing a big chunk, though,"

"Yeah, I'd say we're about ¼ of the way through?" Dana tried, "So let's see who's next,"

"Did you know there's a fight going on outside?" Ash came up to Addison, "I think your friend Emery was involved?"

"No fucking way," Addison laughed, "Good for them,"

"You seem impressed," Ash noted.

"I'm more impressed that you know who Emery is or that we're friends. You're catching on quickly," Addison grinned.

"It helped that Eric sort of gave me a rundown of everyone before we got here," Ash shrugged, "Which reminds me, where is he?"

"I dunno, I saw him a little while ago, and he said he was going to be right back?" Addison shrugged.

"I'm right here! And I am proud to say I have done some soul searching and have truly found who I am," Eric smiled.

"Are you high?" Addison laughed.

"On life? And sense of self? Yes. Isn't life amazing?" Eric grinned.

"So uh," Ash raised their eyebrows skeptically, "What caused this self discovery journey?"

"Well, I was talking to Dana and,"

"Woah, woah, woah," Sanna-Rose put her hands up, "You're involved in this?"

"Of course I am," Dana laughed, "I'm involved in one of the biggest and most confusing plots of this party. How else do you think I know about everything that's happened?"

"I guess that makes sense," Sanna-Rose nodded slowly, "More sense than you being in cahoots with some sort of omniscient mysterious force,"

"Ha, yeah! So weird, moving on!" Dana grinned.

"You okay?" Kyla saw Delia pacing back and forth.

"Yes. Do I not look okay?" Delia tested her.

"If I'm being honest… not really," Kyla raised her eyebrows.

"I just found out that NYADA letters are coming soon and I'm worried about finding out if I got my audition or not," Delia admitted.

"You applied for NYADA?" Kyla questioned, somewhat surprised.

"Yes, and before you tell me the odds, I understand that they are slim," Delia rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I was only asking because I applied too," Kyla sighed out.

"What? Really?" Delia asked, "Forgive me for saying so but you don't exactly seem the… NYADA type,"

"Yeah, well, I'm from New York and my Dad went there and I actually do really like performing and I dunno… I wanna make him proud. My dad, I mean," Kyla admitted with yet another sigh.

"I think that is very noble of you," Delia surprised Kyla with her kind words, "Perhaps if we both get auditions, we could… help each other?"

"I'd like that," Kyla smiled, surprised to Sydney coming that way.

"I couldn't help but overhear you two talking about NYADA," Sydney stood, hands on her hips.

"I think you probably could have helped that," Delia muttered under her breath.

"And then I noticed you, Delia," Sydney gave a sickeningly sweet smile, "May I speak with you for a moment?"

"I was actually-"

"Great!" Sydney grinned, pulling Delia away, not giving her a chance to finish her thought.

"What did Sydney want to talk to her about?" Sanna-Rose questioned skeptically.

"Great question!" Dana pointed a finger in the air, "Moving on!"

"I don't know what I expected," Sanna-Rose sighed out, shaking her head.

"I don't mean to be rude to your siblings," Isaac scrunched his nose up, "But watching them make out like that kind of makes me want to vomit,"

Isaac was, of course, referring to Sydney and Frank heavily and loudly making out between whispering sweet nothings on a sofa not too far from where the group was standing.

"How do you think we feel?" Steven scrunched his nose up turning away from the borderline vicious scene unravelling before him.

"I have never felt so truly revolted," Michael thought, shivering as he too, turned away.

"Yeah, not great," Bob agreed, cringing, much like his companions, turning away from the sight.

"I can't believe Mack didn't fail me and in not failing me… he failed me," Isaac shook his head.

"Wait, does that mean…" Steven trailed off sharing a look somewhere between excitement and disgust with Bob.

"Alright, alright, you two win," Isaac sighed out, defeated, "Congratulations Steven and Bob on having the cringiest siblings,"

"Hey, uh, quick question," Sanna-Rose started, her nose crinkled slightly, "What um… what sofa were they on?"

"This one!" Dana grinned almost proudly.

"Oh, jeez," Sanna-Rose stood up, shaking her head, "Do you mind if you… catch me up somewhere else?"

"Sure," Dana shrugged not thinking much of it, moving to another sofa on the other end of the room, "See that hallway down there?" They nodded towards the hallway in question, "That's where the arm rail-less staircase is,"

"Whatever happened to that?" Sanna-Rose questioned.

"Dream with me for a moment," Dana put their hands up as they began to explain yet another piece to what felt like a ten-thousand-piece puzzle.

"You owe me an apology," Zoey spoke angrily to Felix, barely looking at him.

"I'm sure you're right, but I can't figure out for what," Felix admitted with a deep sigh.

"For getting mad at me and gaining up on me?" Zoey practically spat her words out.

"Listen, I didn't tell anyone else to gang up on you? I am sorry that happened, but you also said you didn't have a family. I'm sure they were hurt. Especially after we talked earlier…" He trailed off.

"You think you know me but you don't!" Zoey called out, trying to not cause a scene, "Just because I showed a moment of weakness does not mean I'm weak,"

"I never said you were weak and I don't think you are at all, I think you're one of the strongest people I know," Felix spoke honestly.

"Is that why you thought I could deal with all of you ganging up on me?" Zoey furrowed her eyebrows, "You know what? Forget it. But you should know I had more to say during that whole fight. I was going to say 'I don't have a family – or at least that's what it's starting to feel like. I guess you all proved my point,"

Storming off down the stairs, Zoey left Felix completely frozen, trying to process what she'd just said. It did, unfortunately take him a long few moments to collect his thoughts, and by that point, Zoey had completely left his line of sight.

"Zoey!" He called out dramatically.

Unfortunately, Felix was not the brightest on a good day and was also mildly under the influence. In this state of panic looking for Zoey, he hadn't realized that the stair rail had a bolt missing from the bottom, and also did not realize that he should maybe not jump over the rail midway down the stairs. He, of course, did so anyways, pulling most of the other bolts out from the rail as he swung over, leaving just the top of the railing in place as he landed on the floor with a loud thud.

"It's incredible that he survived that and only made it out with a bump on his head," Sanna-Rose's eyes went wide with the end of the story.

"I saw the whole thing happen," Dana nodded.

"Why didn't you do anything to stop it? Or to try to keep him and everyone else safe?" Sanna-Rose was beyond confused at this point.

"Who do you think took the last part of the railing off from the stairs?" Dana laughed.

"So where is it now?" Sanna questioned after finally processing all of this new information.

"All in due time, my good chum!" Dana grinned, "Let's move on, shall we?"

"I hate to be rude but you'll have to excuse me," Naomi spoke to the few other seniors she had been talking to, chasing after someone with whom she, of course, had a bone to pick. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"How much longer are you gonna yell at me?" Tommy groaned.

"Until you get it through your big stupid dense head that you're fucked for being nice to Leah after what she put our siblings through," Naomi hissed.

"You are being really mean," Tommy informed her, "I get what I did was wrong, but you are being, I think, meaner than is warranted,"

"I just feel like you don't understand why that was such a shitty thing for you to do," Naomi sighed out.

"I just feel like you don't understand," Tommy shook his head, "That I feel like Leah's been through enough. I'm not saying I'm going to marry her, but I just think she needs some compassion. She's clearly not getting it from you or anyone else," he concluded, surprising Naomi by how profound his thought process was.

"And I'm not saying I'm going to burn her at the stake. But people need to be held accountable for their actions," Naomi sighed out.

"She can be held accountable while still being shown kindness," Tommy raised his eyebrows and lowered his voice.

"I guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree," Naomi sighed out, something suddenly catching her eye, "Oh would you look at that, speak of the devil, here she comes,"

"I have to tell you something," Leah grabbed Tommy who'd been speaking to Naomi.

"And that's when Leah went outside," Sanna-Rose verified.

"Correct!" Dana grinned, "Which brings us back to Sambrose,"

"Sambrose?" Sanna-Rose furrowed her eyebrows.

"Yeah!" Dana grinned, "It's like the couple name for Sutton and Ambrose. That's what they call them anyways,"

"That's what… who calls them?" Sanna-Rose questioned cautiously.

"Don't worry about it," Dana winked once again before continuing on.

"But I want to have the conversation," Ambrose sighed out dramatically.

"And I'm telling you I want us both to be completely sober," Sutton sighed out somehow even more dramatically.

"Why is this the one thing you're choosing to take seriously?" Ambrose groaned.

"Excuse me?" Sutton's eyes went wide, "You know I'm trying to take things more seriously. For your sake,"

"Oh, so now you're only doing things for my sake?" Ambrose groaned.

"I don't want to fight about this!" Sutton called out, throwing his hands in the air.

"You don't want to talk about anything, apparently!" Ambrose cried out.

"Oh my god," Sutton sighed out.

"Are… you guys okay?" Dana questioned, appearing seemingly from nowhere.

"It's fine, Dana, thank you," Ambrose dismissed them.

"If you say so," Dana shrugged, "I know it's not my business but… if you'd rather have some privacy to talk, I think that room is free. There is a broken vase on the floor, but I'm sure it's fine,"

"Come on," Sutton pulled Ambrose into the aforementioned room, "Let's talk,"

"Should we… do something about the vase?" Ambrose questioned as they entered the room.

"Probably," Sutton agreed on, "I'll check this closet for like… glue or something?"

"And then we can talk while we fix," Ambrose nodded.

"There's something sort of poetic in that isn't there?" Sutton laughed, opening the closet door, "Why are there pieces of a handrail in here?"

"So that's where the handrail went," Sanna-Rose spoke thoughtfully, "Did you put it there?"

"Yes and no!" Dana grinned, "Oh, I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you more about Juliet,"

"Sure," Sanna-Rose nodded, still trying to remember exactly who she was.

"Oh, hey," Kyla stepped outside, "Sorry, I didn't know you were here,"

"It's okay," Juliet sighed out, not making eye contact, as she wiped her eyes. Since Leah had gone back inside, Juliet had really taken the opportunity to let her emotions catch up with her.

"I was just looking for Oscar… I can't find him anywhere," Kyla sighed out, "Are… are you okay? You look like you've been crying."

"No, that's preposterous," Juliet stiffened herself out.

"You're… allowed to cry," Kyla laughed taking a seat next to her, "I won't judge you,"

"Crying is for the weak and I am not weak," Juliet spoke defensively.

"I'm not saying you are," Kyla put her hands up in defense, "Just letting you know that you're allowed to feel your feelings,"

"Did Oscar put you up to this?" Juliet snapped.

"Did you miss the part where I said I don't know where he is? Of course he didn't," Kyla breathed out heavily.

"Then why are you being so kind to me?" Juliet practically hissed.

"Because you haven't given me a reason not to be?" Kyla laughed, unsure of where this conversation was going, "I mean, you're Oscar's friend and he's obviously important to me, and you are kind of, respectfully, a bitch. But so is basically everyone else at this party. You're not unworthy of kindness,"

"I'm not sure how many people at this party," Juliet put emphasis on repeating Kyla's words, "Would agree with you,"

"Did you do something to piss someone off?" Kyla raised her eyebrows.

"No, I just…" Juliet sighed out, "To be quite frank they're the ones who've been… less than kind to me. I understand I'm new and perhaps not the most… agreeable. But it can be a lot to try to handle people you've known for two weeks coming at you with harsh words when the only friend you have is nowhere to be found,"

"Wow," Kyla sighed out, not expecting such a genuine response, "Well, even if they're not… being the kindest, you've got me, alright? Now you've got two friends,"

Just as Juliet was about to respond, Zach came speeding around the corner, "Uh, I'm sorry to interrupt," he spoke, before realizing who he was speaking to, "Oh hey, Juliet! Hi Kyla!"

"Hi Zach," Kyla smirked, "What's up?"

"I don't mean to alarm either of you," He spoke out slowly, "But there seems to be… a car on fire,"

"A what?" Juliet raised her eyebrows.

"Look, I uh, I think we've all gotta bounce, I'm gonna see if I can find Oscar and Bryce and get the fuck out of here," Zach nervously laughed.

"Fuck, alright," Kyla stood up, "Oh gross, look out for the vomit over there,"

"I forgot that was there," Zach nodded for a short moment.

"So it was Zach's… throw up?" Sanna-Rose questioned.

"It was not," Dana grinned, "And did you not hear the part about the car? We're making progress!"

"Alright, alright, fair enough," Sanna laughed.

"Trust the process," Dana nodded, "Alright, let's see who's next…"

"Hey Lex," Ingrid smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind her hair.

"Oh, hey….I'm sorry, I'm pretty drunk and your name is escaping me right now," Lex laughed nervously.

"Ingrid," She informed him with a flirty smile, "I don't see your girlfriend around anywhere. What's up with that?"

"She's just over there," Lex nodded to where Audrey was standing, "Talking to Chloe it would appear."

"Now why is she talking to Chloe?" Ingrid spoke, her tone clearly very irritated.

"I dunno, I didn't know they even really knew each other? Though, of course, I guess there was that weird time she joined the Troubletones for a weekend," Lex shrugged.

"I'm sorry she did, what?" Ingrid held back a laugh.

"Holy shit," Lex suddenly gasped, not answering Ingrid's question "Is that Finley?" His jaw was dropped as he watched Finley jump up in the air, stumbling and then subsequently tumbling down the stairs.

"See? It's all starting to make sense," Dana nodded confidently.

"It is not," Sanna-Rose laughed, "But I'm ready to hear whatever else you've got,"

"That's the spirit!" Dana grinned widely.

"What the hell happened here?" Jude questioned walking down the hallway to see Mack and Teddy completely frozen as the window behind them broke.

"I think you can probably come to your own conclusions," Teddy finally spoke, though very slowly.

"Did you break it?" Jude raised his eyebrows, feeling like that couldn't be right, "I'm… genuinely surprised."

"Yep!" A small voice came from outside on the other side of the broken window, "They sure did!"

"We absolutely did not," Teddy finally found the ability to speak again, peeking his head out of the window.

"Sophie," Jude recognized the voice from outside, taking his turn looking outside the window, "And Trina and Xavier and Emery. Now it all makes sense,"

"What?" Mack finally let everything sink in, looking over both Jude and Teddy's shoulders, trying to make it make sense.

"I can't leave you alone for a moment. Any of you," Jude looked at the group of four standing awkwardly outside.

"Hey, I had no part of this," Emery pointed out, "I only came over when I heard Xavier say 'mommy',"

"Likely story," Trina shifted herself to stand up more straight, trying to get as much of the blame off of herself as she could.

"Can…can we go?" Mack questioned, "I don't want to be in trouble,"

"Mack, you don't have to ask," Teddy shook his head, pushing his friend along, "You can just go,"

"I am once again asking," Jude sighed out as he watched the two Warblers walk off, "What the hell happened here and who's responsible?"

"Xavier, probably," Emery nodded.

"Em, you weren't even here when it happened," Jude raised his eyebrows.

"I said probably," Emery shrugged.

"As much as I would love to pin the blame on Xavier… and you all know I truly wish I could… I have to be honest so God doesn't smite me. It was Trina," Sophie sighed out.

"Not super surprising, but probably the most surprising given the four of you," Jude eyed them over once more, "So what happened?"

"It's actually quite the funny story!" Xavier pointed a finger up before Trina grabbed his hand, slowly pulling his enthusiastic finger down.

"So what was the story?" Sanna-Rose questioned.

"Great question!" Dana grinned, "Let's check in on Sydney, shall we?"

"Check in on?" Sanna-Rose asked, "Isn't this all past tense?"

However, she did not receive an answer as Dana continued on.

"Are you done being mad at me?" Frank pleaded.

"Are you going to let me say what I need to say to you?" Sydney rolled her eyes.

"Is it bad?" Frank cringed at the thought.

"You're not gonna know unless you let me say it," Sydney raised their eyebrows.

"Look," Frank sighed out, "I don't want to break up, so just… make it quick,"

"Break up?" Sydney scrunched their nose up, "What do you mean break up?"

"Is that… not what we're doing here?" Frank was beyond confused.

"It wasn't. Do you want to break up?" Sydney tested them.

"I just said I didn't!" Frank called out, exasperated. "Wait. So what is this about?"

"Well," Sydney sighed out, taking just a few steps closer to Frank, "I was going to say, that, you know, maybe, we should consider going more public about us… dating. You know, boyfriend girlfriend stuff. Or demi-boyfriend demi-girlfriend stuff, rather,"

"Wait, really?" Frank raised his eyebrows, pretending as though he had not already told virtually all of his friends and relations that they were together, not realizing it was a secret.

"Yes, really," Sydney laughed.

"Oh!" Frank grinned, "Cool,"

"You know," Sydney raised her eyebrows once more, holding onto Frank's hand and pulling him along, "That sofa looks pretty comfortable,"

"Got it," Sanna-Rose nodded, "All caught up,"

"Cool!" Dana grinned, "I don't think you're completely caught up, but you're getting there!"

"So…" Sanna-Rose started slowly, "Whatever happened with the mouse prank?"

"Oh right!" Dana laughed, "Let's see what Nikki and Isa are up to,"

"I told you someone would fall for it," Nikki laughed.

"I didn't think you meant literally!" Isa's eyes went wide.

"Oh hush, it's fine," Nikki waved her off, "I think it could have gone a lot worse. It could have gone a lot better, too. But hey, you win some you lose some,"

"It could have gone worse than that?" Isa raised her eyebrows.

"No one's dead, are they?" Nikki laughed, "Come on, you're going to have to develop a better sense of humor if you're going to survive the Troubletones,"

"I'm not in the Troubletones," Isa reminded Nikki.

"Then what was all of this for?" Nikki shook her head in confusion and disbelief.

"I thought you just wanted to do a prank for the fun of it? I didn't expect that someone would get seriously hurt," Isa sighed out.

"Oh, please, that's not seriously hurt," Nikki waved the idea away, "Look, the victim is fine,"

"He can't be that fine if you're referring to him as 'the victim'," Isa pointed out.

"Remember what I said about needing a better sense of humor?" Nikki raised her eyebrows.

"Wait, who got hurt?" Sanna-Rose shook her head.

"You need to start paying more attention!" Dana laughed, "I implore that you go back and recollect everything I've told you so far and try to start putting the pieces together,"

"In the middle of your story?" Sanna-Rose questioned.

"Yes! Although, it may be easier to go back and think about it all if there was some sort of written document to keep track of. Anyways," Dana shrugged, "Moving on!"

"Dana!" Eric called out, "How's it going? Have you seen Kate?"

"Eric!" Dana spoke in turn, "Have you managed to find yourself, yet? That's the bigger question."

"I kind of forgot," Eric admitted.

"Forgetting to find yourself?" Dana gasped, "That simply won't do. You must go on your self discovery journey,"

"Right now?" Eric laughed, "I'm not sure about that,"

"Which is exactly why you must do it!" Dana laughed, "You never know what or who you might find!"

"I thought I was trying to find myself?" Eric laughed before realizing that Dana had seemingly disappeared, "Dana?"

Shaking his head, Eric laughed, moving on, taking a step outside to get some air, noticing someone he realized he hadn't seen in quite a while, "Oh hey, there you are. I think some people are looking for you?"

"Who did he see?" Sanna-Rose questioned, genuinely growing more invested as the story went on.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Dana chuckled, "Let's see who else needs some explanation…ooh, I've got it," They nodded decisively.

"Oh, what do you want now?" Naomi rolled her eyes as she noticed Juliet come up to her.

"I wanted to… apologize for my… behavior. I understand I am not the easiest person to get along with," Juliet nodded.

"Don't," Naomi laughed, "I saw how you talked to Heather just now. You act like you're better than everyone, the little while I've known you has taught me that very clearly. You're not one of us. We may not always get along, but we sure as hell have each other's backs."

"I was trying to stop Heather from committing a crime," Juliet raised her voice slightly, "And, respectfully, I feel as though you're being a little hard on me. I understand that these are your teammates but there is no need to…for lack of better term, haze me,"

"Nobody is hazing you," Naomi scoffed, "I'm just telling you that you're not a Troubletone. You are so clearly only about you. I just can't see you fitting in with us. We already have Delia who you are eerily similar too but very clearly already told me your thoughts on. Maybe do us a favor and go join the New Directions where they will take absolutely anyone,"

"Naomi, that was incredibly rude," Juliet swallowed her pride for a moment, but was immediately once more shut own by Naomi.

"Please, I have more important things to do than deal with your whiny prissy problems. I don't even know why you're at this party," Naomi rolled her eyes before walking over to where she saw Delia and Sydney talking.

"That's… why she was upset," Sanna-Rose nodded, surprised to find she was actually truly starting to piece things together.

"I told you it all makes sense," Dana laughed.

"I just feel like there was maybe a more cohesive way to tell the story…" Sanna-Rose trailed off.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of me telling the next part of the story!"

"That fight was pretty crazy huh?" Steven sighed out, coming up to stand next to Sophie.

"I thought it was kind of funny," Sophie admitted, "But I guess that I hope everyone's okay,"

"I'm honestly kind of used to it," Steven laughed.

"Why? Cause Sydney is always picking fights with people?" Sophie raised her eyebrows.

"I was going to say 'cause Vocal Adrenaline is always involved in some sort of petty drama," Steven shook his head, "But I guess you might know that because of your brother?"

"Which one?" Sophie quirked an eyebrow, "My real brother or the one who my mom calls my brother?"

"Um," Steven chuckled, unsure of how to answer that, "Either?"

"I suppose that's fair enough," Sophie thought out loud, "I don't consider Xavier my brother, by the way. Even if my mother does,"

"That's okay! Sometimes Sydney doesn't consider me her brother and we actually are related," Steven shrugged contently.

"Hey, Jude does the same to me," Sophie laughed, "I think we've got lots in common, Mr. Steven,"

"I," Steven paused to laugh for a moment, "I think you might actually be right,"

"I usually am. It's my God-given gift," Sophie nodded before noticing Xavier and Trina walking outside, pausing outside of a window, "Please excuse me, I have to go check on something,"

"And is that when she found them breaking a window?" Sanna-Rose clarified.

"Almost!" Dana nodded, "Now, let's talk about Chloe and Ingrid, shall we?"

"Ingrid, right?" Chloe grabbed her as everyone was dispersing after the massive fight, "Let's take a walk,"

"Sure," Ingrid smiled happily, "What's up?"

"I know what you're doing," Chloe raised her eyebrows, "I know I've got this whole chill vibe thing going on and act like I don't be knowing… but I do be,"

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Ingrid lied right to Chloe's face.

"Xavier and Trina. Seriously, I think they're as irritating as everyone else. Probably more than everyone else other than Trina's siblings. But they're actually happy again, don't be that bitch," Chloe sighed out.

"Fine," Ingrid finally spoke after a long silent pause, "I'll lay off Trina and Xavier,"

"That was… too easy," Chloe quirked an eyebrow, "What's the catch?"

"No catch," Ingrid smiled sinisterly, "But if you'll excuse me, I've got someone to go talk to. Don't get in the way this time," She raised her eyebrows before swaying her way over to Lex.

"God damn it," Chloe sighed out, realizing she was now going to have to go talk to Audrey.

"So… Chloe was helping? And when she mentioned to… one of the new girls she'd been dealing with Ingrid… that's what she meant?" Sanna-Rose, who still did not really know any of these people thought out loud.

"Yep! She can seem like she doesn't care about anything, but her heart's always in the right place," Dana nodded smiling, "That's our Chloe!"

"You think pretty highly of her, huh?" Sanna-Rose smiled.

"Yeah! She's my best friend!" Dana grinned, "However, as much as I would love to, we can not talk about Chloe forever. Moving on!"

"What were you and Naomi talking about earlier?" Tia raised her eyebrows, arms crossed over her chest.

"Tia not minding her own business, guess what they say is true," Heather sighed out, "Seasons change, but people don't,"

"Who says that?" Tia raised her eyebrows.

"I made it up just now," Heather lied, "But getting back on track, I was speaking to Naomi about how fucking weird it is that Leah's here,"

"I see," Tia spoke slowly, nodding, "And I, surprisingly, agree,"

"So I've decided to trash Leah's car, do you wanna come?" Heather smiled, "I know you've been itching for a fight but this is… close enough, right?"

"You had me at trash her car," Tia laughed.

"What are you two talking about?" Mia made her way over skeptically.

"We're gonna cause problems on purpose," Heather smiled proudly, "You're so cute when you don't mind your own business,"

"Oh, so she's cute when she's nosy," Tia rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, why is that so hard to understand?" Heather rolled her eyes right back.

"Because we have the same face?" Tia spoke, confused.

"What kind of problems are you going to cause?" Mia asked both enthralled and nervous.

"Oh, you know," Tia shrugged, dismissing her sister, "Oh, good, gang's all here," Tia now rolled her eyes, watching Felix make his way over.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Heather snickered, "Nice goose egg, by the way,"

"Wait? So Leah's car is the one that's on fire right now? And Heather and Tia are who did it?" Sanna-Rose, shook her head, trying to process it all.

"You are correct about one of those things," Dana smiled, "Remember which thing you think it is, we'll see if you were right later,"

"Um… okay?" Sanna-Rose laughed, but was soon distracted by Dana's continuous ramblings.

"Great!" Sydney grinned, pulling Delia away, not giving her a chance to finish her thought.

"Where are you bringing me and why?" Delia raised her eyebrows, breathing out heavily.

"I've got some bad news about your sister's man," Sydney spoke quietly, albeit, somewhat dramatically.

"This somehow does not fail to surprise me," Delia shook her head, "And what is this horrible news you come bearing?"

"I didn't say horrible," Sydney stuck her nose up, "Though maybe I should have. Anyways. I don't know what the hell is going on with them but he told me we were just spying on New Directions,"

"You were spying on New Directions?!" Delia shook her head, trying to process this.

"Don't use past tense," Sydney rolled their eyes, "But yes. I do think you're missing the big picture though. Anthony and I talked about spying on New Directions and now he's seeing your sister? Seems sort of… suspicious to me,"

"What are we talking about over here?" Naomi raised her eyebrows, making her way over to where they were standing.

"Apparently Sydney and Anthony have been spying on New Directions," Delia did her best to explain.

"So? We're not in New Directions. Who cares?" Naomi scoffed.

"Your siblings?" Sydney spoke like it should have been obvious.

"Would you care if we were spying on Steven?" Naomi questioned.

"Hmm. Depends," Sydney finally decided on, "Either way, Delia. Watch out for Anthony. I truly don't care about your sister or anyone in New Directions. But if I'm going to ruin your chances at regionals or any competition, I'm going to do it my way. Not by breaking a 14-year old's heart,"

"That is… suspiciously honorable of you," Delia raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, don't get too comfortable," Sydney smirked, "Regionals are going to be a bloodbath,"

"I hate to be rude but you'll have to excuse me," Naomi suddenly spoke to the few other seniors she had been talking to, seeing Tommy and wanting to talk to him.

"Oh… wow," Sanna-Rose sighed out, "That poor girl,"

"Which one?" Dana tilted their head to the side.

"I… don't remember her name. But the one who's being spied on," Sanna-Rose admitted.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Dana waved her off, "Believe me, it can be hard keeping up with a cast of 50+ people, all with unique and strikingly different thoughts, feelings, personalities and relations to each other. I can imagine anyone to take on knowing that much about all of them or investing any time in their lives must be very dedicated, brilliant and talented.

"What?" Was all Sanna-Rose could think to say.

"Moving on!" Dana stuck a finger in the air.

After seeing what felt like a missing person outside, Eric slowly but surely made his way inside, stopping only as he saw people that he recognized from the go fish table earlier. "Oh, hey," Eric smiled.

"Hey, Eric," Leslie started slowly, "Are you okay? You seem sort of… dazed,"

"Oh, no," Eric shook his head, laughing, "I just found myself, that's all!"

"Well, where were you?" Sawyer questioned curiously.

"Outside, I think. That reminds me. I was going to try to find Kate… but maybe she's trying to find herself, too," Eric nodded thoughtfully.

"How does everyone keep misplacing Kate?" Leslie laughed but was almost afraid to know the answer.

"Is that a trick question?" Eric tilted his head to the side.

"It is not," Leslie shook her head in response.

"Well, either way," Eric spoke dreamily, walking off, "I hope you two have a great evening!"

"Thanks Eric!" Sawyer waved as Eric walked off, before turning to Leslie, "Was that weird? Or did it just feel weird?"

"It was definitely weird," Leslie nodded.

"So Eric found himself… at your suggestion, while someone else helped in between?" Sanna-Rose wanted to make sure she was still following.

"Yeah! See, it's easy!" Dana smiled, "Following along, I mean,"

"I don't know about it being that easy but uh," Sanna-Rose laughed, "At least we're making progress."

"Speaking of progress!" Dana gasped, suddenly remembering, "I have more backstory to tell you,"

"Unsurprising at this rate," Sanna shook her head.

"There's no way she's coming back to glee, is she?" Naomi squinted her eyes looking at Leah.

"She better not," Heather gagged at the thought, "She's got enough balls showing up here unannounced and uninvited,"

"I'm surprised we have similar opinions on this," Naomi raised an eyebrow, "But she eventually has to learn her lesson, right?"

"A lesson to be taught?" Heather snickered, "I think I can manage that,"

"That makes me nervous," Naomi thought out loud, "Don't do anything illegal, Heather. I want her to suffer but I don't want to ruin her life. Or yours, or especially mine,"

"Listen, nobody's life is going to be ruined. But I think we can both agree that Leah is the enemy and must pay for her sins. Or whatever," Heather shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess I am pretty pissed that she's here," Naomi sighed out, "Alright well, just don't do anything stupid, but I trust you can make sure she knows she's not welcomed here,"

"You got it chief," Heather saluted, turning to walk away, but was stopped, "Yo, what gives?"

"Heather, right?" Juliet spoke kindly.

"Depends. Who's asking?" Heather tried her best to act tough.

"Me? Juliet?" She tilted her head, confused. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Naomi. I know it's none of my business, but I think fighting fire with fire is a bad idea."

"First of all, I love fire," Heather noted, "Secondly, it's not your business. You weren't really here when Leah fucked everyone over."

"No, but I did see the aftermath. I think it's juvenile and ridiculous to try to get your… revenge," Juliet spoke, perhaps a bit too confidently.

"I think it's juvenile to call others juvenile," Heather shrugged, "I guess we have a difference of opinions,"

"You're… seriously going to go through with whatever your silly little plan is? You're asking for trouble," Juliet tried to warn, not realizing how condescending she sounded.

"I'm surprised someone with a such a small nose has such an easy time sticking it where it doesn't belong," Heather laughed, "I gotta go, my gf's twin wants me for something, it would appear. I appreciate your advice but will not be taking it. I liked the fighting fire with fire idea. See you later!"

"Heather!" Juliet tried to call out, but got ignored, as Heather walked off to talk to Tia.

"What were you and Naomi talking about earlier?" Tia raised her eyebrows, arms crossed over her chest.

"And that's why Naomi got upset with Juliet! Kind of. I also think she was just stressed," Dana shrugged, "Maybe some misplaced anger too,"

"Woah this is certainly… an interesting group of people," Sanna-Rose laughed.

"Thank you!" Dana grinned, and before Sanna-Rose got the chance to ask what they were thanking her for, they had already moved on to the next thing, "Oh! The window! I was going to tell you about the window!"

"What the hizzy heckle are they doing?" Sophie thought to herself before looking up, seemingly at the sky, "Sorry for my language, big man,"

Walking outside and seeing her sister and Xavier doing what appeared to be creating some sort of performance. While Sophie had been somewhat nervous to see what it was all about, she also was curious to see, as she has so eloquently put it, what the hizzy heckle they were doing. As she got closer to the scene, she heard music playing from Trina's phone, the two dramatically acting out the words. Recognizing the song immediately, she couldn't help but laugh.

"So," Sophie began slowly, "Doing a dramatic re-enactment of Romeo and Juliet to Love Story (Taylor's Version), huh?"

"What gave it away?!" Xavier gasped.

"The song, and the dramatics," Sophie laughed, "Trina why do you seem upset?"

"We just can't get the throwing pebbles bit completely correct!" Trina sighed out, "I don't know why!"

"Have you considered, I don't know, actually throwing pebbles?" Sophie raised her eyebrows.

"We… had not considered that," Xavier thought out loud, "Where do we even start?"

"Ooh! There are some pebbles here!" Trina grinned happily leaning down, "Here Xavier, take my phone!" she barely got the words out before chucking it in his direction.

"Hm?" Xavier's head was down, as he, too, was looking for pebbles.

Unfortunately for all three of them, Trina had a bad arm on a good day, and her aim could have used some work. All three students stood completely flabbergasted, as Trina's phone immediately hit the window, bouncing back on the ground.

"Phew that was close," Trina laughed nervously, moving to inspect the window, and despite noticing a new crack in it, leaned just a little too hard on it, causing it to completely shatter.

"Oh no, my mommy's gonna kill me!" Xavier gasped.

"Why? It was all Trina's fault! Respectfully," Sophie turned to face Trina who had just barely dodged the glass that came shattering around them.

"Oh… wow," Sanna-Rose had a look of pure confusion on her face, "Well, at least that mystery is solved!"

"What do you mean? It was never a mystery," Dana laughed.

"It was to me… you know what? It's alright," She laughed, "What's next?"

"Look at you ready for new information!" Dana grinned before going through an internal mental rolodex of things that needed to be told to tie all loose ends of the story together.

Shaking his head, Eric laughed, taking a step outside to get some air, noticing someone he realized he hadn't seen in quite a while, "Oh hey, there you are. I think some people are looking for you?"

"People are looking for me?" Oscar suddenly looked up.

"I think they're probably looking for us, buddy," Bryce grinned.

"What have you two been up to?" Eric questioned skeptically.

"We've been looking for trouble, honestly," Bryce chuckled, "Closest thing we've seen was a fight starting, but we didn't know who it was or why, so figured it would be better to back away,"

"What are you doing out here?" Oscar asked Eric.

"I was trying to find myself," Eric shrugged, "But I don't really know what that means,"

"But you're right here! No need to worry over that," Bryce laughed.

"I… don't have to worry," Eric repeated slowly, "Huh. Thanks," he nodded, suddenly turning to walk away.

"Weird," Oscar noted before turning his head to the side slightly, "Huh. Is that Heather and... I have to assume Mia?"

"I dunno, but you and I are about to find out," Bryce grinned as the two boys made their way over to where the girls were standing.

"That somehow made me feel more confused," Sanna-Rose laughed, shaking her head, "Besides, you keep mentioning this fight? Who fought?"

"Are you sure you're ready to know?" Dana raised their eyebrows, "Just kidding, let's go see!"

"Go see?" Sanna-Rose questioned.

"Shhh, you're ruining the moment," Dana spoke in hushed tones before once again looking dreamily into the distance.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Emery sighed out, relieved to have finally found Kate.

"Out here," Kate sighed dreamily, laying on the grass, looking at the stars, Zach next to her, "I feel icky,"

"You do have vomit on your shoes," Emery scrunched their nose up, "Zachary, how did you let this happen?"

"How did I let what happen?" Zach sat up, suddenly feeling kind of defensive. "And how did you know my full name?"

"Kate is very clearly unwell," Emery spoke, "And you're just chilling?"

"I mean," Zach laughed, "Yeah. I just got out here too. Besides, you drank almost as much as she did, and you said you were watching her too!"

"You just got here?!" Emery sighed out, "You're supposed to be her boyfriend!"

"You're supposed to be her friend!" Zach called out, still very defensively.

"I have never claimed to be anything more than an acquaintance," Emery pointed out.

"Okay well," Zach stood up, admittedly, sizing Emery up despite them being just shy of a foot shorter than him, "What are you gonna do it?"

"Why don't you come over here and find out, pretty boy?" Emery moved a step closer, taking her turn in sizing him up.

"Stop… stop fighting…." Kate groaned from the grass.

"Stay out of this, Karofsky," Emery and Zach exchanged a look as they spoke in sync.

"Don't… don't come any closer," Zach tried to warn, truly not wanting to fight, but realizing that he'd come too far to back out.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Emery spoke, mocking his voice, as she walked closer to him, shoving his shoulder slightly.

"Hey, knock it off," Zach shoved them back with the same amount of power, though given his stature, made Emery fumble just slightly more.

"You knock it off," Emery shoved him back, this time with two hands, surprised to see that in his drunken state, Zach began to lose his balance.

"Seriously, quit it," Zach spoke, moving to try to hit back, but was cut off.

"Shh, shut up for a second," Emery suddenly spoke.

"Huh? But it was my turn to push," Zach whined.

"It's too late. Mood's ruined," Emery shook her head, "We'll finish this later,"

"What? Where are you going?" Zach questioned, though was secretly glad the fight started even more quickly than it started.

"I heard my sort of personal bat signal," Emery shook her head, clearly disappointed, "Take care of your girlfriend, alright? She's a good kid,"

"She's older than you!" Zach called out as Emery walked away, "So am I!"

However, Emery paid no mind to this as they turned a corner, noticing a group of all too familiar faces surrounded by a broken window.

"How the hell did you manage to do this?" Emery's eyes went wide at the shattered glass before them.

"How did you manage to get here so fast?" Sophie asked, laughing, "That was impressive,"

"Wow that… all weirdly makes sense," Sanna-Rose laughed, "I still don't really know what's going on, or who Kate is but… I'm starting to put the pieces together."

"Put the pieces together, put the pieces together," Dana spoke, repeating the words over and over before their eyes lit up, "Oh yeah! The vase!"

"I can't believe there was actually glue in there," Sutton laughed, Ambrose chuckling along with him as they both somehow managed to have nearly completed putting the vase together.

"Things like this just… happen to you huh?" Ambrose raised his eyebrows, fumbling with a piece.

"How do you mean?" Sutton quirked an eyebrow, though he remained hyperfocused on the vase.

"Like… things go bad, but then you somehow work your Sutton magic and things get better again," Ambrose noted.

"I might need an example," Sutton smirked.

"Okay like… with the Leah thing. You pulled being a computer genius out of seemingly thin air, and then the problem got solved just as you figured it out," Ambrose smiled at the thought, "Or how at regionals, you know, everything kind of went nuts… for all of us. And you smiled at me during the performance and things automatically got better,"

"For you? Or for everyone?" Sutton finally looked up, needing clarification.

"I mean for everyone… but also for me, you, well, have a way of making things better for me," Ambrose admitted with a shy smile.

"Are you saying that because you mean it? Or because you're still drunk?" Sutton once again needed clarity.

"To be entirely transparent, I don't… feel drunk anymore. Maybe it's because we've been sat here trying to fix this vase for the last… however long we've been here? So, well," Ambrose stiffened up slightly, "Yes, I did mean it,"

"I can tell you're telling the truth because you started that sentence with 'to be entirely transparent' in the same snooty tone I've come to enjoy," Sutton teased, "But… thank you for saying that. You make things better for me too,"

"I'm glad to hear it," Ambrose looked to Sutton, the two boys sharing a knowing smile for a few long moments before remembering the task at hand.

"Alrighty!" Sutton called out, getting the final piece glued back into place, "And just like us, the vase in now fixed!"

"Were you and I really broken?" Ambrose raised his eyebrows.

"No," Sutton smiled back, "I don't think we could be,"

"Hey, what are you guys doing in here?" A voice suddenly appeared from the hallway.

"Oh, hey Rowan, what's up?" Sutton looked over to them.

"I uh, was just looking for something," Rowan scratched the back of their neck awkwardly, "Have either of you seen parts to a handrail sort of deal?"

"Yes, there's some in that closet," Ambrose nodded towards the closet in question.

"No, I put those in there, I'm looking for the other half," Rowan shook their head before noticing something, "Did you just… put that vase back together?"

"Yes… why?" Ambrose questioned curiously.

"No reason uh, would you guys mind, going to look for the rest of the rail for me?" Rowan asked, seemingly nervously.

"I mean," Sutton laughed, grabbing Ambrose's hand before turning to head out, "I guess,"

"Oh! And if you see my siblings or Dana, can you send them my way?" Rowan called out.

"You really are involved in a lot of this, huh?" Sanna-Rose laughed.

"You have no idea," Dana laughed in turn.

"Well, at least Sambrose got their happy ending," Sanna-Rose smiled.

"Sambrose! You remembered!" Dana cheered, "There's loads more where that came from!"

"More what?" Sanna-Rose was once again confused.

"Couples! Or pre-cuffs, or even those that have barely started," Dana nodded, "Which when you consider that there is over 50+ people involved in all of our lives and for most of them to have someone, that's either a freak coincidence or there's some sort of supreme power who knows what's best for all of us and doesn't care what anyone else thinks about the couples, unless it's positive thoughts. Or maybe it's just a high school thing,"

"Are you okay?" Sanna began feeling somewhat afraid.

"Next couple!" Dana called out, "And yes, we will be going through a decent amount of them because they are one of the things me, your friendly neighborhood Dana, love to talk about!"

"There you are," Anthony smiled, grabbing Flora's hand, pulling her in as she walked by, "I was looking for you,"

"Well," Flora giggled nervously, "Here I am,"

"I uh," Anthony suddenly started feeling much less suave than he had earlier, heart pounding as Flora looked at him expectedly, "I had something to ask you?"

"Oh?" Was the only word Flora could think of to say, swallowing hard as she looked up at him, trying to figure out exactly what he was going to say, and while she of course had her hopes high, she didn't want them to be too high.

"I was just thinking, you know, you and I have gotten… quite close as of late, and clearly we are two of the most talented people either of us know, so it does sort of logically make sense for us to… well, make it official," Anthony nodded as he finished, his turn to look at Flora expectantly.

"That…" Flora smiled, and though her cheeks flushed pink, she managed to hide it long enough to get her next words out, "Was not a question,"

"Alright, alright," Anthony laughed, "Flora, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course I will," Flora giggled, wasting no time in wrapping her arms around Anthony, giving him a kiss that was somehow both gentle and magical for each of them.

"Wow," Anthony smiled, pulling away, "My whole girlfriend,"

"Is that a problem?" Flora smirked.

"Obviously not," Anthony rolled his eyes before giving Flora another gentle kiss.

"Hey, can you excuse me for a just a second?" Flora smiled, "I'll be right back, I promise,"

"Sure thing," Anthony grinned, giving her hand a small squeeze before she wandered off.

Smiling to herself about how magical this evening seemed to be, it was, in a way, something Flora wanted to keep to herself. But she knew there was one person she wanted to share the news with.

"Delia!" Flora waved excitedly running towards her older sister. "I have to tell you something!"

"But… her sister doesn't want them to be together because he's some sort of spy?" Sanna-Rose was once again trying to put it all together.

"Yepperdoodle!" Dana confirmed, "Could never be our next couple. They're too wholesome. Roll the clip!"

"Where am I?" Kate suddenly opened her eyes, her words slurred and her head dizzy, "What's going on?"

"You're at the Jones'," Zach reached over to hold one of her hands, but slowly as to not scare her "You've uh, had a bit of a wild night,"

"How did I end up laying in the grass?" Kate questioned, narrowing her eyes.

"I'm not sure. Earlier you threw up in the trash, well next to it, you missed. Don't worry I held your hair so no vomit would get in it," Zach began rambling, "And then I went in cause you said you felt gross in your clothes so I was going to grab you my hoodie to give you, but I couldn't find it, and then I got lost cause that's a big ass house and anyways you'd been wandering all night BUT then I thought to follow the vomit trail you left with your shoes and… here you are," He finished with a proud smile.

"Ew," Kate groaned thinking about her shoes, "But that does explain… why I'm wearing this sweater like a blanket,"

"Yep! Had to make sure you're tucked in," Zach smiled.

"And how long have you been lying down here for?" Kate asked, her words still slurred but at least more coherent than they were earlier on.

"Oh, I just got here a little while ago. But I wanted to lay down with you so people would think we're just chillin'," He smiled.

"You're… so good… so good," Kate nodded, moving to place her head on Zach's chest, "Are… are the stars spinning?"

"Yep," Zach laughed, "They're spinning for you. They know you're watching and want to impress you," he grinned.

"Shut up," Kate grumbled, but laughed.

While the two were enjoying the peace and quiet, it unfortunately did not last very long.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Emery sighed out, relieved to have finally found Kate.

"Okay, I think I'm starting to get it," Sanna-Rose nodded.

"Well, we've still got at least another 3-5 couples to get through, depending on how many stories I feel like telling," Dana shrugged, "So strap in!"

"There you are," Felix sighed out heavily, "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Who the fuck did that to you?" Zoey motioned to the bump on his head, "And can you tell them I said thank you?"

"I did it to myself. Looking for you, actually," Felix shook his very sore head.

"Don't you dare turn this around and blame it on me-" Zoey started, but was shocked when Felix cut her off.

"Oh my God, Zoey can you please, just for once, shut the hell up and let me talk?" Felix groaned.

"How dare you talk to me that way!" Zoey scoffed.

"Look, I get it, you're this big tough girl. I fucking get it, Zo. But you need to let other people apologize to you or else you're going to have nobody," Felix raised his eyebrows, the look on Zoey's face proving to him that he struck a chord.

"Fine," Zoey, straightened herself off, crossing her arms over her chest, "You have one minute,"

"I'm sorry. Seriously, I am the most sorry I've been in a very long time for what happened to you and the things that were said to you during that big, weird argument literally everyone got involved in. But it's important to me that you know everything I say to you is only because I care about you. I don't want you to ask any annoying questions about it, but just trust me when I say I have your best interest in mind," Felix paused to catch his breath, "Time check?"

"You have 20 seconds," Zoey spoke dryly.

"Okay um, well, look, if you don't want to talk to me again after this or whatever then that's fine. But Heather and Tia and Mia and even Addison all really care about you, even if you don't or won't see it," Felix concluded, "Okay, I'm done,"

"Okay," Zoey spoke slowly, trying to process it all and exactly what to think.

"Okay," Felix repeated, "I'm gonna… go get some ice," he shook his head, beginning to walk off.

"Felix?" Zoey suddenly called out, causing Felix to turn around, "Thank you. Really. If you tell anyone I said this I'll deny it but… you're a good person. Especially to me, even when I don't deserve it and I, well, I appreciate you,"

"I know," Felix smirked, walking off.

"That was less cute and wholesome than the other ones," Sanna-Rose noted.

"That's because you don't know either of those people. That's a huge step for both of them," Dana nodded knowingly, "But if you want cute and wholesome, I can do that!" They suddenly called out.

"What… what happened to you?" A voice called from the end of the hallway.

"Don't ask," Teddy shook his head, picking a piece of glass off of his shoulder.

"Did… something else break?" Simon looked nervously at the two boys before him.

"I told you not to ask," Teddy raised his eyebrows, "I'll... leave you two alone,"

"Something else?" Mack tilted his head to the side, also dusting himself off as he realized that Teddy had left him alone with Simon, "Oh… um, hi," Mack suddenly felt very shy.

"Hi Mack," Simon responded in a similarly shy tone, "Are you having a good time?"

"Yes! Or, well, I was until a window got smashed on me, but other than that, all good!" Mack laughed.

"A window got smashed over you? Jeez, are you okay? Where did it hit you?" Simon without even thinking, held onto Mack's hand, pulling him over to a nearby ottoman, sitting them both down inspecting Mack to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"Oh, I'm fine! "I guess it didn't really hit me. It sort of just hit around me. And Teddy too. But we're both fine, I don't think the glass was close enough," Mack nodded, suddenly aware of how intimate this moment with Simon was becoming as they were once again face to face, mere inches apart, "Oh uh, that's your window though, I'm sorry, I didn't even think about that…"

"Worse things have happened," Simon laughed, pushing a stray piece of hair out of Mack's eyes, "As long as you're okay,"

"I'm completely okay," Mack smiled, not once breaking eye contact with Simon.

"Simon!" Hazel suddenly called out, not realizing she was disturbing the moment, "We need you upstairs, big guy,"

"I guess I'm being summoned," Simon laughed, shaking his head, "If I um, if I don't see you before everyone heads out I… I had a really nice time seeing you tonight, Mack. Even if there was a near miss with a window,"

"I did too," Mack smiled, "Have a nice time with you, I mean? Obviously, you know I-" but Mack did not get to finish his thought as Simon had gently placed a small kiss on his lips, smiling as he pulled away.

"I'll see you later, Mack," Simon smiled, running up to meet Hazel.

"Look at you go, Cassanova," Hazel smirked.

"Shut up," Simon nudged her, but did, admittedly, turn to get one more glance at Mack.

"Wait, so how many of these couples are actually… together?" Sanna-Rose questioned, eyebrows raised.

"Not very many. I think… maybe just Zach and Kate? And I guess Flora and Anthony now," Dana explained with a shrug, "We're mostly just waiting for the rest of them to get together,"

"Are they all so… obvious?" Sanna-Rose asked.

"Sometimes? It's easier to tell when they're in the same glee club. Like our next pair! They're in my glee club too, which makes it even easier," Dana concluded with a nod.

"I'm on to you, Meeks," a voice came from behind Emery, making them jump.

"You're not on to anything," Emery turned, raising her eyebrows, "Probably. What is this about?"

"What are you drinking?" Jude suddenly asked them, referring to the cup in their hand, "And why is it just water? And why has it just been water all night?"

"Okay, not all night," Emery sighed out, "When I lost Kate the first time that was real, tipsy panic. How'd you know anyways?"

"Well, the coming and going slur was a big help. Plus, you know, I was keeping an eye on you to make sure you were alright. But that does beg the question… why?" Jude quirked an eyebrow.

"You're so annoying," Emery laughed before sighing out, "Okay, look, like I said I was drinking before. I am, clearly, very sober now, but I don't know. After I lost Kate and you told me to be safe I figured it would be best to throw back some snacks and some water to make sure Kate was… you know, going to be good?"

"So why pretend to still be on her level? Why not just… tell everyone you're sober?" Jude questioned, still trying to put the pieces together.

"Because, honestly," Emery sighed out, "I just… wanted to do something fun without people changing their opinion of me. Everything I did tonight, I would do sober. I mean I did do it sober. But people don't see me as the fun friend, and I think some people are even… afraid of me and I would like to keep it that way,"

"I think you went about your cause in a very weird way… but I get it, you know, having a reputation to protect," Jude nodded, "But, for the record, I think regular Emery is very fun and not scary at all, and you know, is one of my favorite people,"

"One of? Who's my competition? Surely not Xavier," Emery laughed before nervously taking a small step towards Jude, "Thank you, by the way. For looking out for me. And I don't know… knowing me?"

"I'd say don't thank me but… I'd thank you for the same thing," Jude nodded smiling, placing a gentle hand on Emery's back, pulling her just slightly closer, "You know, speaking of Xavier, he's not around to see me kiss you this time,"

"Oh?" Was all Emery had the chance to say before Jude had fully closed the gap between them, placing a soft and lingering kiss on Emery's lips as they shifted to wrap their arms around Jude's neck.

"That was…" Jude thought out loud breathlessly once they'd finally pulled away, "Worth the wait,"

"Hard agree," Emery spoke just as breathlessly but equally as happy before emitting a long, deep sigh, "I hate to kill the moment but…while Xavier is not watching us, it would appear that your ex is,"

Emery then nodded to where Leah was standing, seemingly frozen.

"Good. Let her," Jude laughed, moving to kiss Emery once more, just as Leah turned to try to find a way out.

Leah's mind was completely muddled, hating that she had walked into to see that. Not able to properly form any thought of what to do or how to process what she'd just witnessed, her feet worked faster than her mind did, running over to do the only thing she could think to.

"I have to tell you something," Leah grabbed Tommy who'd been speaking to Naomi.

"Okay, wow," Sanna-Rose laughed out slightly, trying to make sure she was following along properly as she still felt blurry on the people being talked about and their relations to each other, "Is there… much more?"

"In terms of couples, this party or the whole story?" Dana raised their eyebrows.

"Any of those?" Sanna-Rose laughed.

"Well, couples we've got a few more to get through, but really one more little story since they tie in together. The party I'd say we're probably about ¾ of the way there? Maybe even more! Only time will tell. And the whole story well, presumably about 14 more chapters, but we all know how quickly that can change! Anyways, the last couple story!"

"Are… you guys okay?" Hazel came up shyly to talk to Rey after watching her arguing with Cay once again.

"I'm never sure," Rey admitted with a deep sigh, "She was my best friend but… things just keep getting messier and messier,"

"Hey," Hazel reached out to hold Rey's hand in an attempt to comfort her, "Listen, everything happens for a reason, okay? I know it's basically the most cliché thing a person can say but… take it from someone who knows. It'll be okay,"

"I know," Rey nodded, face flushed at the hand holding, "But it just doesn't feel that way, sometimes," She offered a small and sad smile.

"Well," Hazel started slowly, her voice low and comforting, "No matter what happens, you have me, okay? I, well, you know, I'm really enjoying hanging out with you these days,"

"I… really enjoy hanging out with you too," Rey smiled, her blush only becoming more and more prominent.

Looking down at her phone, Hazel suddenly sighed out, "Sorry, my siblings need me. Are you going to be okay here?"

"I'll be fine," Rey smiled, "And Hazel?"

"Yeah?" Hazel turned around, hanging on Rey's every word.

"Thanks. For everything," Rey spoke with a shy, small smile.

"Ugh," Cay scowled.

"What crawled up your ass?" Nikki snickered.

"Never mind," Cay shook her head, "Where have you been?"

"I've been around," Nikki raised her eyebrows, "I would say that the better question is where you've been, but I have a feeling I know," She nodded her head towards Rey.

"What's wrong with me talking to my best friend?" Cay sighed out.

"The fact that you're not best friends anymore, for one," Nikki scoffed, "Or the fact that I feel like all night you've been ignoring me, your girlfriend, to go chase her,"

"That's not what I've been doing-" Cay tried to defend herself but got cut off.

"It's what it feels like. Look Cay, I like you. I really like you. But I'm not going to be in competition with Rey-" Nikki spoke, but soon found it was her turn to be interrupted.

"There's no competition," Cay sighed, clearly defeated.

"Please let me finish," Nikki practically begged, "I don't want to be in competition with her. Romantically or even platonically. I'm not saying that you guys shouldn't be friends, I'm also not saying you need to put me above her. But I should be her equal. You shouldn't think less of me than you do of her."

"Nikki," Cay shook her head, reaching to grab her girlfriend's hands, "I promise I don't. I'm sorry if it ever… came across that way. That was not my intention. It's just hard not knowing what's going on in her life sometimes,"

"Maybe it's not your business," Nikki spoke, just as defeated as Cay, "I'm not saying that to be a bitch but… all things considered? Maybe it's best to give her some space. Maybe give me some too," Nikki shook her head as she began walking off.

"Woah, are you… okay?" Leslie noticed Nikki wandering off, "That looked… intense. And then with Cay walking away from the table earlier… it seems like a lot of drama."

"I'm fine," Nikki spoke, "Well, I'm very frustrated, to be honest. But drama is nothing new to me. I'm not sure if you remember who my sister is, but, well, drama just seems to follow me around these days."

"Well then, I hope it gets better for you soon," Leslie nodded, "And, you know, anything good is worth fighting for,"

"Yeah, that's what they say anyways, isn't it?" Nikki laughed, "But, um, thanks, Leslie. You're alright. For being in Vocal Adrenaline, anyways,"

"And you're alright for being a Troubletone," Leslie laughed, "And um, I'm just happy to help in any way I can,"

"So… who were the couples there?" Sanna-Rose scrunched her nose up.

"I guess you'll just have to wait and see," Dana winked, "All that said, I think that wraps up our couples! At least for now,"

"I do have a question, actually," Sanna-Rose suddenly thought out loud.

"I have an answer, let's see if they match!" Dana chuckled.

"This is the Jones' house right? I feel like… we've barely heard about what any of them are doing? Especially compared to everyone else," Sanna-Rose sighed in thought.

"Oh right! Let's keep up with the Jones'," Dana grinned, once again gazing off into space.

"Party's over!" Naomi was defeated, and disappointed that everyone had gotten into a fight, but was even more disappointed that nobody had listened to her when she said the party was over. What was most disappointing was that as she watched everyone else wander off and break into separate groups, only one person stood by to talk to her.

"I'm sorry all this happened, can I help with anything?" Dana questioned, happily.

"I think… I just need to relax for a second," Naomi shook her head, "What are you doing?"

"I was looking for Eric – wondering if he found himself and everything, you know? But then I saw Felix and Zoey talking, and then, well, Felix took a small tumble," Dana explained.

"A small tumble how?" Naomi asked nervously.

"Well, he, you know, took down part of the handrail on the stairs," Dana shrugged.

"He what?" Naomi barely a chance to process the thought as she immediately ran to where Dana was looking, Dana hot on her heels.

"How did this happen? And what the hell are you doing?" Naomi looked to Rowan.

"I was going to try to take the rest of the rail off so maybe mom and dad don't notice?" Rowan tried.

"Oh my God, why? What part of your tiny little brain thought that was a good idea?" Naomi groaned.

"The same part that broke the vase in there to make the rail look like nothing," Rowan nodded to a nearby room.

"I… you know what? I don't have time for this," Naomi put her hands up in surrender, "You're on your own," she began walking away, and towards where it looked like Heather and Juliet were talking.

"This doesn't look… great," Dana shook their head, "But here, I can help you take the rest of this off,"

And so both teens managed to pull off the rest of the rail, Rowan had suddenly come up with an idea.

"We can put this in the room with the broken vase!" Rowan's eyes lit up as the two made their way to the room, both waving happily to Nikki and Isa as they sat appearing to play with a toy mouse.

"What are you two up to?" Hazel spoke, herself and Simon suddenly appearing in the door way, just as Dana and Rowan were finishing up their business, "And what happened to the handrail?"

"And the vase?" Simon raised his eyebrows.

"Great questions!" Rowan stuck a finger in the air, "Walk with me, siblings. Dana, all of this rail isn't going to fit in that closet, can you find somewhere else for it?"

"Aye aye, captain!" Dana grinned, saluting.

As the three siblings walked out, Dana took their time before piling the rest of the rail behind the door, deciding that was a good place for it. As they walked out, Dana couldn't help but overhear Sutton and Ambrose arguing about something.

"Oh my god," Sutton sighed out.

"Are… you guys okay?" Dana questioned, appearing seemingly from nowhere.

"It's fine, Dana, thank you," Ambrose dismissed them.

"If you say so," Dana shrugged, "I know it's not my business but… if you'd rather have some privacy to talk, I think that room is free. There is a broken vase on the floor, but I'm sure it's fine,"

As Dana went on, finding Eric, and then eventually making their way around the whole party, saying hi to virtually everyone, of course, making their way back into the vase room after being informed by Sutton that Rowan was looking for them.

"What's going on in here?" Dana questioned, looking around.

"They put the vase back together!" Rowan gasped out, motioning to it.

"Is that… a good or bad thing?" Dana asked, confused.

"Bad! The vase was meant to distract from the missing handrail!" Rowan called out dramatically.

"Okay so… let's break it again?" Dana suggested with a tilt of their head.

"You son of a bitch," Rowan muttered, "I'm in,"

And just like that, the two knocked the vase over, letting it shatter all over the place.

"Come on, we gotta flee the scene," Rowan spoke knowingly.

As they both began to make their great escape, they couldn't help but notice Sutton and Ambrose walking back into the room, soon followed by Oliver, and then later Kendall.

"I feel like we should tell someone about this," Rowan thought out loud, looking down at their phone, texting frantically, just for someone to appear moments later.

"What did you two do?" Hazel looked down at her phone, "And why text me to come up here?"

"We uh… we broke the vase. Again," Rowan admitted with a sheepish smile.

"Again? How did you even manage that?" Hazel asked with a deep, deep sigh.

"With our hands," Dana spoke, not understanding the question.

"Alright, hold on," Hazel spoke, scanning downstairs for a familiar face before calling out, "Simon! We need you upstairs, big guy!"

As downstairs Simon excused himself from Mack, and Rowan and Dana watched Hazel tease Simon about it, they all eventually got back on track and updated each other on the current situation, stood in the hallway, and away from the arm rail-less staircase.

"Naomi is… not going to be happy," Simon cringed at the thought.

"What about Finley?" Rowan asked, "Has anyone seen him at all tonight?"

"Oh, there he is," Simon nodded towards his brother, "Hey, Finley!"

"Oh hey guys what's goin-" Finley smiled, though it did not last long as he, from the corner of his eye, saw a rat in the hallway. Screaming and jumping in the air out of pure fright, Finley began tumbling down the stairs.

"Finley!" All four other teenagers called out in terror. Of course, not too far away, Savannah and Audrey had run to his aid, as did Lex, leaving Ingrid in the dust.

"Can't you leave people alone for like 30 seconds?" Chloe rolled her eyes, coming to stand next to Ingrid.

"Can't you leave me alone for like 30 seconds?" Ingrid mimicked Chloe's tone.

"Seriously, what is it with you? Like I respect the grind but this is… a lot," Chloe raised her eyebrows.

"Well, you know. The saying is true. People always want what they can't have," Ingrid smirked.

"That is absolutely not true. Xavier wants Trina and he's had her for basically as long as I can remember. Even before they made it official," Chloe pointed out.

"I get it, you want to rub their relationship in my face. Whatever," Ingrid waved her off.

"You're so weird," Chloe shook her head, "And that's coming from someone whose best friend is Dana Abrams,"

But before Ingrid had the chance to respond, Chloe had walked off to go see the new girl, Pilar. Noticing that Finley was okay and Audrey and Lex were now arguing, Ingrid couldn't help but make an appearance.

"I told you I'd see you later," Ingrid winked, walking by the bickering couple.

"Oh my God, she's so annoying!" Audrey cried out.

"I knew that's what you were angry about," Lex nodded.

"I can be angry about multiple things," Audrey crossed her arms over her chest.

"Okay, look," Lex sighed out, uncrossing Audrey's arms for her, and holding her hands in his, "I'm sorry you're mad, and I'm even more sorry if I had something to do with it. But I don't want to fight with you. In all honesty, I just want to go home, and be happy with you again. Because you being upset makes me upset,"

"Okay," Audrey sighed out, "I think going home is a good idea. And… thank you. For saying all of that. I really don't want to fight, either."

"Good," Lex smiled, pulling Audrey into a tight embrace, "And just so you know, nothing will ever get in between us. Especially something like… I think her name is Ingrid?"

While Audrey laughed, she was soon distracted by a booming voice coming from across the house at the entrance.

"We gotta get the fuck out of here, dudes!" Zach called out frantically, running inside with Kyla and Juliet close behind him.

"Woah slow down, Zach," Teddy sighed out, meeting him in the front room, Mack following.

"Yeah, where's the fire?" Mack laughed, trying to appear cool and aloof.

"You know about the fire?" Kyla tilted her head to the side.

"There's a real fire?" Isaac questioned, also gathering in the main room Michael, Bob and Steven in tow.

"Oh, Michael! There you are!" Lex called out, holding Audrey's hand as he made his way towards his brother, "We were just about to head home,"

"I was gonna head home too, but I think I'm gonna wait and see how Finley's feeling," Savannah squeezed her boyfriend's hand.

"What about how I'm feeling?" Felix seemingly appeared out of nowhere, "I hit my fat head too!"

"You're not wrong about it being fat," Zoey snickered.

"Wait, where are Heather and Tia?" Mia asked suddenly, "I know they were going go reek havoc but I lost them along the way,"

"Maybe they started the fire?" Chloe suggested.

"Why would they start a fire?" Pilar questioned, confused.

"Because that's just who they are as people," Audrey sighed out, defeated.

"There's a fire?" Ambrose asked suddenly as himself, Sutton, Oliver and Kendall made themselves known.

"Yes! It's what I've been trying to say!" Zach practically screamed.

"Well, where is it?" Kendall quirked an eyebrow, unsure if she even believed him.

"I hope it's not inside," Sutton shook his head, "Though that would make a great story,"

"Well, it wasn't me," Oliver put his hands up.

"Yeah, I ruled you out already, we think it's Heather and Tia," Nikki suddenly spoke up, dragging Isa long with her to see the mess.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Delia rolled her eyes, joining the rapidly growing group.

"It's outside!" Zach suddenly called out, "It's a car!"

"I mean… Heather and Tia did say something about a car?" Mia tried.

"Well, whose car is it?" Hazel suddenly spoke up, "And can we get it out of here? Sam and Mercedes are going to kill us,"

"They said something about Leah's car," Mia suddenly realized as all eyes turned to look at Leah.

"What?" Leah's eyes grew wide, "Why my car?"

"I could think of a few possible reasons," Jude rolled his eyes, as he, along with Sophie, Trina, Xavier and Emery all entered the conversation.

"Maybe this is karma's way of getting you back for all the shitty things you did," Naomi's voice suddenly echoed.

"Yeah, you know like, outing someone completely as trans," Kyla raised her eyebrows, coming to Oscar's defense since he wasn't around to do it himself.

"Okay, in fairness," Trina spoke slowly, "We don't even know that it's Leah's car for sure,"

"That's true!" Tommy suddenly jumped in, thinking he was helping, "What color is your car, Leah?"

"Blue?" She asked, clearly confused and nervous.

"Uhhhh," Zach cleared his throat awkwardly, "Does anyone else have a blue car?"

After being met by immediate silence, the thing to break it was Leah's fast footsteps as she ran outside, trying not to cry again.

"Alright, so, just to back track," Sophie spoke up, "There's a fire. It's Leah's car and it's outside. Right?"

"Speaking of outside," Emery suddenly looked over to Zach, "Where's Kate? Did you lose her again? We still have a fight to finish, buster,"

"Fight?" Xavier and Jude spoke in sync, sharing a glance.

"I didn't lose her! I left her in good hands!" Zach nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, these hands!" Eric grinned as he and Addison came in, each with an arm around Kate as Ash trailed behind.

"Did she survive?" Sydney suddenly spoke up, walking into the main area, Frank's arm around her.

"Clearly she did," Chloe rolled her eyes "I swear I'm the only person in Vocal Adrenaline with a brain cell,"

"Well... is she okay?" Leslie tried, she and Sawyer making their way to inspect Kate.

"She'll be fine," Zach nodded, "I however, might not. I've got priors, man. I can't stick around here!"

"Well has anyone seen… what are the names of the two girls that you were all throwing under the bus earlier? I'd like to join in on that," Anthony spoke decisively.

"Heather and Tia," Flora nodded, answering Anthony's question.

"You rang?" Heather walked in, a huge grin on her face.

"Did you blow up a car? Be honest." Cay spoke cautiously.

"Well," Tia cleared her throat, "No. We were going to trash Leah's car. But when we got there, it was already on fire. So we turned and came back,"

"So who set it on fire then?" Rowan furrowed their eyebrows.

"And... where are Oscar and Bryce?" Simon suddenly wondered out loud, almost afraid to know the answer.

"Uh oh," Rey spoke, watching them come in.

"Guys, we've gotta fucking go!" Bryce called out, Oscar, clearly still very much under the influence being pushed along by his much taller friend.

"Why the hell did you think it was a good idea to set a car on fire?" Kyla's eyes widened as she looked at Bryce, "And to get Oscar involved?"

"Now hold it right there, sister," Bryce stuck a finger up, "Oscar's the one who did it!"

"What?" The whole room spoke in sync, confused by this statement.

"Well, kind of? We were just gonna set off some fireworks in the backyard, but it was this little guy's first time and things went… well, less than great," Bryce concluded.

"Boom," Oscar nodded, his single word slurred.

"That's right, buddy, boom," Bryce nodded, "But yeah, I've got priors and I've gotta fucking go,"

"I second that notion!" Zach called out.

While at first everyone was still trying to process what was happening, they all eventually found their groups and their designated drivers, fleeing the scene and agreeing to never speak of this again. There were only a handful of kids still rummaging around, though it was mostly just the Jones' and their close relations. There was an exception to this, of course.

"Um… hello?" A voice called into the main entrance way, which looked practically abandoned.

"Hello! Welcome, you're a bit late, but better late than never,"

A/N: And there you have it! Thank you if you made it this far, and please let me know if you caught anything before it was revealed and also please let me know if you like this format! I obviously will not be using it every time, but I had a lot of fun planning and then writing this chapter and would love to get better at it and use it again in the future if that's something you guys would want to see! So please, please, please PM or review and give me your thoughts whenever you've got a chance!

Now, in terms of my announcement, the tumblr blog I mentioned last time is LIVE at anewdirection (dot tumblr dot com) lmao but the few that have followed have been having a lot of fun with it! Please feel free to follow and talk to me there as I tend to check tumblr more than I check fanfiction! I've also got some prompts and stuff drafted for you guys to send because I love talking about this fic more than anything lmfao so please reach out to me over there or send asks about the fic or submit some posts or anything else you feel like! You can also find me at my personal tumblr too if you want (officialglee i wish i was kidding lmfao) as anewdirection is a side blog, and I'd love to be in touch with you guys however you see fit! That said, I really really hope you guys liked this chapter and I'll see you in a little while for the next chapter!