Disclaimer: If I had owned Glee, its characters or the used songs I wouldn't be still living in the Netherlands and Glee wouldn't have ended.
Special thanks to all of you who are still following this story for your patience.
English still isn't my native language. For that I have jenmer61977 as my amazing beta.
A.N.: I'm changing things up a bit to make it fit better for what I have in mind later on in the story. I have changed all the chapters I had until now and am working on brand new chapters. I can't promise updates will come regularly but I do promise that I will do everything I can to finish both this and Changing Directions.
It takes Deborah and Santana two days of talking to Noah for him to calm down and to come around. On Tuesday afternoon Santana is sitting on the floor of the studio taking inventory.
"I'm sorry," he looks down at the ground, scraping his toe over the ground.
She stands up to hug him. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you didn't do anything stupid again." She smiles at him.
"Yeah, but I still think she could have told us," he picks up the list she has been making to see what they've got.
"And she would have if she could. God knows she wanted to and still does. It takes every ounce of strength in her body to keep herself from calling you guys," Emily says coming out of the sound booth slapping him on the shoulder. "Good to have you here. I've been neglecting my job to help San out but now that you're here I need to get back to work. Is there anything else you guys need before I go?"
"Yeah, one more thing," Noah looks up from what he's doing. "Do you know if she left a letter with the details for the new glee club? You know just in case Figgins gets it in his head to split our funding and sponsors or worse give it to the New Directions?"
"Not that I know of, but you can ask Maribel for a copy of the letter that served as her will. We can black out everything but the part about the club. Let me know when you go talk to him. If she can't go with you as Rachel's lawyer and the executor of the will I will as her family and witness to the writing of the will." They both nod their appreciation and with that she is out the door.
Just before she gets in her car Noah comes running out of the barn calling her name. When he reaches her he pulls her in a tight hug. "Thank you for keeping them alive. Tell her I love her and that I will wait." He whispers in her ear before he pulls back smiling tearfully. She nods, gets in her car and leaves.
They manage to write everything present in the studio down, but wait to dismantle the equipment until they know where they're going to rebuild it.
When they enter the kitchen at his house his mom looks up to them from talking to Paul Karofsky who owns the biggest construction company in town.
"Oh it's good that you're here," she smiles at the teens. "I called Paul to talk about doing some renovations to the house. Do you have any ideas Noah?"
"Yeah," he looks around the kitchen. "A new kitchen and open it up into the living room. We all love to cook but this kitchen just isn't big enough to cook with more than two people at a time. Renovate the bathrooms, maybe create a small office for you somewhere and soundproof and remodel the basement into a recording studio and entertainment room? We inherited all of Rae's equipment and since San's bedroom is in the basement of her house, the best option is to use our basement as a studio. If you don't mind," He looks unsure at his mom.
"Of course I don't mind if it means having you home more," Deborah smiles at him. "Even if it means I'll have a house full of teenagers every day." She looks at Paul. "You think you can do that and install a pool and outdoor kitchen in the backyard?"
"Of course I can." Paul confirms. "It'll take me about two months."
"Two months?" Deborah really doesn't want to spend two months in dust and noise that will come with the renovations.
"Yes," Paul looks apologetic. "If it was only the kitchen it would be only two weeks, but we have to keep the house livable, meaning doing one bathroom at the time. Unless… you guys have a place to stay for a week or three, then we can tackle everything at once."
"And if you had to do everything? I mean completely remodel?" Deborah asks.
Paul shakes his head. "I wouldn't recommend it in this neighborhood. If you ever want to sell this house you'll never get back what you spend on it."
"Then what do you recommend?" Noah asks.
"Either sell this and buy a house in a better neighborhood if you can afford it or just do the basement and leave it at that." Paul suggests.
Deborah looks at her son silently asking him what to do but all he does is shrug. "It's your call ma. I'll be gone after graduation anyway." She looks at him terrified and surprised at the same time. "Ah please don't say you're surprised that I want to leave this hell hole. All people see when they look at me is a Lima loser and now, they cost me to lose my girlfriend just because her parents were gay."
"What did you just say," Dave, who has been entertaining Rebecca up until that point, comes into the kitchen looking pale as a sheet.
"What are you doing here and where did you come from?" Santana glares at him.
"I've been keeping Rebecca occupied in the living room and you weren't in school these last few days so I thought I'd come with my dad and see why. Now I know why." He tears up at the thought of the loss of his childhood friend. "So the rumors that she died in that fire are true?"
"Yes, they're true and now that you know you can leave." Noah turns back to face his mother.
"Hey, she was my friend too remember?" Dave says with tears now streaming down his face.
"Yeah we remember but we weren't the ones who forgot all about being her friend and started throwing slushies in her face and calling her names like you and Fabray, were we?" Santana looks at him disgusted.
"I had my reasons," the boy defends himself.
"What reasons can there possibly be for dropping your childhood friends like bricks the moment you enter high school and start being a bully?" Noah yells at his former friend.
Dave glances at his father before whispering, "Can we talk in private?"
Noah and Santana look at each other and nod after a moment. "When we're done here," Noah accepts Dave's request. Looking back at his mother he says, "Do what you want ma but the minute I graduate I'm gone." He jerks his head towards the door leading to the basement indicating the other two to follow. Before he closes the door he hears his mother say to Paul that before she can make a decision she needs to talk to her kids.
Once they're downstairs Dave starts pacing the floor and fumbling with his shirt. The other two watch him pace for a few minutes until they grow tired of it. "You wanted to talk, so talk." Noah snarls.
Looking down he sighs. "In middle school I started to realize I was different but I just kind of ignored it. The summer before we started high school I met a few new kids from the other school that were going to be going to McKinley with us. Kurt, Finn and a few others and I realized what it was that I was feeling."
Santana and Noah shared a knowing look as he wiped his eyes then continued. "Not long after school started Quinn caught me staring at Kurt's ass and said 'Your gay is showing' or something like that and I panicked. We all know how people in this town treat gay people. I was scared so I agreed to slushy him the first day of school. That wasn't enough for her and she wanted me to slushy Rachel too and threatened to tell the whole school that I was gay if I didn't."
"I'm gay, but you don't see me running around bullying my friends now do you?" Santana accuses him. "You could have come to us and we would have helped you but no, you just followed Barbie and turned on your friends. Not cool Dave, not cool at all."
Dave looks up into her eyes, tears streaming. "Don't you think I know that!? I was scared to death San and I hated myself for every moment of it. I slushied one of my best friends and the boy I was starting to fall for."
"I was scared damn it, I'm still scared. This town has gone to shit. Leroy and Hiram were killed then Shelby and Sue. Now I find out Rachel was caught in the crossfire of that. I'm terrified of what would happen if I am outed. I'm scared for Kurt and now for you too San. None of us are safe in this god forsaken place."
He crumples to the ground sobbing. "I never wanted to become a bully. I hate myself and sometimes wish I'd just ended it all before it all started and Rachel and Kurt never would have been hurt by me. I can't take it. I don't know what I'm doing anymore."
Noah and Santana share a look then drop next to him and gather him into them. Santana pulls his head to her chest rubbing his hair as Noah rubs his back. "Come on man calm down. It's going to be okay."
Dave shakes his head. "No it won't… I should… have… told her… last week when she sought me out in the choir room that I'm sorry and how much I love her…"
Santana tightens her arms around him. "She knew Dave. She knew something was wrong and that it wasn't you. She always told us that you'd come back to us and that we needed to try and understand why you were acting like an ass when you did. She knew you loved her, that you loved all of us."
Noah lets out a watery chuckle. "She made us promise to listen if you ever tried to explain. That's the only reason we let you talk to us today. She knew bro. She may not have known exactly what it was that was wrong, but she knew there was something."
Dave looks into their eyes and breaks down again. "Oh god I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
They sandwich him tighter between them and just hold on, all of them crying together.
"After Rachel's will reading yesterday, I've been doing some thinking," Deborah opens the conversation while they're having dinner. For which they are with just the three of them for a change.
"'Bout what?" Noah asks before swallowing.
"Don't speak with your mouth full." His mother scolds. "I've been thinking about Rachel's will. Me going back to school, my work in general, what you and Paul said this afternoon about remodeling this house or move and you saying you're leaving after High School graduation. I mean, what do you want to do and where? I want to hear your opinions and what you think." she looks expectantly at both her kids.
"Wait, I have a say in this?" Rebecca looks surprised from her mother to her brother.
"Of course. You're a member of this family too and twelve years old now. We'd like to hear your opinion and see if we can take it into consideration." The little girl nods as Deborah smiles at her.
By now Noah has finished his dinner and looks at his mother. "Do you want to go back to school?"
"I don't know. What I do know is that I don't want those night shifts anymore. I want to be home more with you two, I only took the night shifts because of the extra money they come with." Deborah admits.
"Shouldn't you be talking to papi M about this instead of us?" While she herself was mama D, Shelby and Sue were mama C and mama S, Leroy and Hiram were papa L and H and Maribel and Miguel Lopez were mami M and papi M since the kids were little.
His mother shakes her head. "I wanted to talk to you two first. I really like the idea of getting my teaching license like Rachel suggested in her letter."
"Why don't you talk to papi M and see what possibilities you have to work by day only and get your teaching license through the hospital?" The boy advises his mother.
"When did you get that smart?" She smiles at her son.
"Duh, I always was. You were just not around enough to experience it," he says, smiling mischievously to let her know he's only joking.
The three of them all laugh before the mother's face becomes serious again. "Talking about school. I know you still have three years to go, but by what you said earlier I have a feeling you and Santana know exactly what you want after high school?"
Knowing this question would come after what happened that afternoon, he sighs. "Actually, I have. Remember how I used to go with Rachel and her dads to Texas every summer?" Seeing how happy he used to come home every time they went, of course she remembers, so she nods. "Well, this Summer Santana came with us. One day we were just sitting in the stables talking about how much we loved being around the animals, taking care and riding them. And it was then when we started thinking how awesome it would be to be running the stables ourselves and expand it with breeding or buy one with more land and take on livestock as well. Rachel and I would be running the business. You know, training the horses and riders, selling horses, that kind of stuff while San would be the in-house vet. We agreed to research over winter break what classes we needed but we already did take a quick look at which colleges have the best Animal Science program. Which are Texas A&M and Texas Tech. While the girls had preferred Texas A&M because they have an Equestrian team, my preference is Texas Tech. In my own research I discovered Texas Tech also has a kick ass equestrian center and an Equestrian team, and their football team is better if I even can think of playing college ball." He looks at his little sister thinking how to proceed since she didn't know that their best friend/girlfriend is still alive, so he looks meaningful at his mom, hoping she'll understand what he is saying next. "After everything that happened and even with Rachel being gone now, I still want to follow through with the plans we made over the Summer."
While she was listening her jaw slowly dropped. "No music? But she was going on and on about Broadway since she was what? Ten?" She asks after a while just staring at him.
Noah shakes his head laughing. "No, that was papa H's dream for her rather than it was actually hers and San and I have been teasing her endlessly how we would love to be a fly on the wall when she would have that conversation with her parents. I think deep down he always knew she didn't want Broadway and that's why he gave her that recording studio. I mean, we all loved music and in my and Santana's case we still do but not enough to want to make a living with it. I can always look if I can take some classes in recording and producing music online."
Deborah nods her head proudly. "I'm so proud of you Bubala, and by mentioning that studio you make a perfect bridge to our guest from this afternoon. What do you want to do with the house? Do we start looking for another house or are we just turning the basement into a studio and place to hang out with your friends?"
"Can I answer that?" Rebecca, who has been silently listening until now, asks. At her mother's and brother's nods she continues excitedly. "I think we should look for a nicer and bigger house with a nice big kitchen and enough room for a studio and hang out place."
"And why is that sweetie," her mother asks curiously. Really wanting to hear what is going on in her daughter's little head.
"You both like to cook, alone and together. You also like to cook with other people like Santana and teach me how to cook and bake. It would also be nice if Nohie and I can both have friends over without annoying the hell out of each other." the girl shrugs looking expectantly at her mother and brother.
Mother and son look at each other before looking at the preteen with a big smile on their faces. "Well, I guess we're going house hunting then. I'll call Paul in the morning to see if we can use his expertise."
Friday morning when school is in session Santana and Puck decide to go talk to Coach Beiste first before approaching Figgins. When they enter the locker room she looks up and smiles sadly pulling them both into a bear hug.
"Hello pumpkins. How are you doing?" They both shrug as she releases them and Santana hands her the blacked-out letter and all the paperwork for the new glee club, including the bank statements. "What's this?"
Noah sighs and points to her office. "Can we talk?"
She nods and leads them into her office. They take the time to explain all of the problems that they and Rachel had with Shuester and some of the others in the New Directions, mainly Finn, Quinn, and Mercedes. They tell her about them quitting glee and about that they already have everything in place to start a new glee club. When they are done talking, she is appalled at the way things were handled by Will and promises to have their backs and help with the new club anyway she can.
She stands and makes a call to Figgins and he agrees to a meeting at lunch time with all of them and promises to keep it to himself until they talk to him.
Hanging up she smiles, "Okay guys. Have the executor of her will with you and meet me here in my office at noon. I asked Figgins to meet us here so the others don't see you in the halls. Come in through the stadium doors out back and I'll make sure the locker room is empty."
They both beam at her and throw themselves in her arms. "Thank you so much Coach." Noah says, trying to calm himself.
Santana kisses her cheek soundly causing Coach to blush. "You are the best Coach. We'll see you at noon." With that they both run out to call Emily and Maribel to let them know what is going on.
At noon they are back with Emily and Santana's mom in tow. When they enter coach's office, Figgins and Coach Beiste are sitting on her couch waiting.
They both stand and smile sadly. "Hello children, you wanted to have a word with me today."
"That is correct sir," Noah confirms. Again the two teenagers explain everything they already told Coach Beiste that morning.
Figgins looks at them shocked. "It's true." Maribel hands him the paperwork while Emily explains. "I talked to Ms. Berry right before everything happened. If anyone in this school knew about music and all the other talent in the arts this school houses, it was her. After she quit the New Directions together with these two and Brittany Pierce because of all the problems they were having, they did the groundwork to start a new club to ensure that McKinley had a show choir that could go the distance. They contacted and visited some local businesses to start up a booster club to make sure the club wouldn't be dependent solely on a budget the school could provide and an anonymous donation. You can find all sponsor contracts in the envelope we just gave you. If things hadn't happened the way they did she would have come to you herself."
Emily looks at Maribel to take over. "This money is to be used solely for this new glee club with these two as their captains and Coach Beiste here as their faculty advisor. They are looking for a director. Santana and Noah have been receiving vocal, gymnastic and dance lessons from Mrs. Corcoran and Mrs. Sylvester for years and know almost as much about music and how to put together a performance as Ms. Berry did. This club will be her legacy to this school and now that she can't anymore she chose these two to bring that legacy to life." She lays out a thumb drive on the desk. "Mrs. Sylvester also left you a legacy of her own by restructuring the whole school budget by taking a large portion from the Cheerios budget to make room for the Arts program as well as to create some new sports teams. And if you're smart you'll follow her example and reorganize your whole curriculum and the arts and athletic programs to accommodate all the talents you have in this school."
"We understand you might not have the time to reorganize your whole curriculum as well as the arts and athletic programs. If you don't mind me taking that drive with me, I know somebody who will be more than happy to take that off your hands." Emily makes the offer Figgins is more than willing to take, winking at the two teenagers in the room. Telling them who exactly she has in mind.
Figgins reads the letter then looks back at Maribel. "We can only send one glee club to competitions. How is this going to work when the school already has a glee club?"
Santana hands him the show choir rule book. "If you look at page 12 it says there that a school can have as many choirs as it pleases and enter them on the sectionals level competition where they will compete against each other, the best choir moves on to Regionals.
Figgins reads the rules then at the paperwork and the letter again a little overwhelmed. "Okay, this all seems straightforward to me. I'll go look if we have an empty classroom you can use as the choir room is already taken by the New Directions.
Noah nods excited. "Uhm Sir, There is an old choir room in the back of the arts wing. It is already soundproofed and if I'm not mistaken it has a direct entrance to the auditorium as well as its own entrance from outside. Mr. Ryerson and Mr. Shuester didn't want to use it because according to them it was too big for the amount of members the glee club had. It is a little dusty and needs a paintbrush, but it would be perfect. Rachel has been complaining about Mr. Shuester not wanting to use it. It has fantastic acoustics."
With a nod Figgins gives them permission to claim that room as theirs and to use the weekend to get their choir room cleaned up and ready to use.
After their reconnection and his breakdown Dave decided he wanted to join the new glee club and help them get it all set up.
They meet up on Saturday morning at the school to figure out what is needed to get their choir room up and running. After raiding the janitor's quarters, the first thing they do is take everything out of the room and clean the room thoroughly. While cleaning the room they discover the room comes with its own two dressing rooms, each provided with their own showers and some forgotten lockers. When everything is freshly cleaned they go through the stuff they took out of the choir room and throw everything they don't want to keep out, read everything except the bookcases.
Once everything that they want to throw away is in the dumpsters they go to the hardware store to pick out a new color for the walls. They agree on a light gray. On their way back to the school they make a stop at Dave's house to ask his dad if they can use a stationary paint sprayer, since Paul doesn't have anything better to do he offers to spray the room himself.
While his dad is spraying the room Dave sits down on the floor against the wall and takes out his sketchbook and a pencil out of his bag to work on an idea that's been stuck in his head from the moment he got his childhood friends back in his life and he joined their new glee club.
"What ya doing bro?" Noah comes to stand beside him looking over his shoulder.
"Since I decided to join I had this idea stuck in my head." Dave explains as he continues sketching. When he's done sketching, he traces the lines with permanent marker showing the McKinley logo but instead of the titan the football team uses, above the big M, there is a person holding a microphone who looks an awful lot like Rachel.
"Dude, this is fucking awesome." Noah exclaims when the picture becomes clear. "You have to show Coach."
"Show me what?" Coach approaches the boys with Santana.
"This," Noah points at the drawing.
Looking at it, Coach's eyes go wide. "Wow Dave, where did this come from?"
The boy just shrugs. "I've always been a pretty good drawer. Rachel always encouraged me to do more with it. It's about time I stop being an ass and do something with my talent and the trust she had in me." He furiously wipes away the tear that slips from his eyes while Santana crouches next to him rubbing his back.
"You think you can blow that up and put it on the wall of the room?" Coach asks him when he has calmed down. "I'm sure if you look in the supply closet in the main hallway you can find some red, black and white paint. If not, I'll drive to the hardware store and get it."
"Of course I can, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. This layer of paint has to be dry to paint over it." Dave stands up, followed by Santana.
"You don't have to wait until tomorrow to put on that logo, son," Paul says, coming out of the room all covered in paint. "First of all, I didn't have to spray it that thick, so chances are the first wall I did is already dry. Second, you have a state of the art airbrush set you can do wonders with."
"Shoot, I forgot all about that," Dave slams his forehead. "You're right. I'll go home to get it and start with it today so I can go with San and Noah to the music store tomorrow."
"Yeah, and maybe you can finally teach us how to use that thing." Noah, Santana and Rachel have been bugging Dave for years to teach them how to use the airbrush before it all fell apart. The boy nods, walking away to go home to get his airbrush supplies and get started. He works on the logo for the rest of the day and a great deal of the evening, only stopping every once in a while to drink, eat or teach his friends how to use the airbrush.
The next day they use to go to Dayton to buy the sound equipment. Since the school has two pianos and two drum sets and they all own the rest of the instruments they play, they hold off on buying them from the club's budget. When they arrive back at the school with their purchases Dave and Noah install the speakers to the walls and hook all sound equipment like microphones and amplifiers up to the brand new computer, Coach Beiste and Santana spray paint the lockers in the dressing rooms bright red. Coach promises that when they know how many members they will have she'll ask Figgins for more so each member will have their own locker.
By Sunday night they all stand together smiling at the room that is now completely ready and waiting for a choir.
Monday morning they all meet up in their new choir room before school. Santana sits down at the piano they moved from the auditorium to their choir room together with the drum set with Figgins' permission the day before. The New Directions could take it to him if they have a problem with that, they can't use both at the same time anyway. His words. She looks around the room smiling. "She would have loved this."
Noah sits next to her hugging her sideways. "Yeah, it's not going to be the same without her."
Dave doesn't know what to say so he just hangs back. They all look up when Coach Beiste comes into the room. "Good morning Pumpkins. We talked a little this weekend but we never nailed down how we wanted to go about recruiting new members."
"We've got that covered Coach," Santana smirks, "But first things first. We need to let the New Directions know that there's a new club in town. I'm sure that some of them will jump ship and join us. I know Britt will for sure."
"Figgins called a meeting this morning with me and Will to let him know of the new club and to say that he was not happy is putting it mildly. I'm sure we can expect to hear from the others soon. I also decided to have rehearsals on the same days and times as the New Directions so we don't interfere with any sports teams or the Cheerios. We'll have to alternate weeks for use of the auditorium."
Noah looks up at their Coach. "We do need to establish some ground rules."
"Okay guys why don't we lock up for now and you head on to your lockers. Classes will be starting soon. We'll meet here after school to discuss auditions and rules." With that they head out for the day.
You know the drill, reviews are the fuel to my imagination.