Disclaimer: I own all of them, except for Mike (who belongs to mag721), and Jesse (property of Dasey-Naleyfan14). Also, I'd like to ask you not to take those disclaimers seriously. I mean, it's not like I'm Ryan Murphy or anything. Right?
A.N.: As always, a huge thank you to everyone who subscribed, added to favorites, and, of course, reviewed (Ariel C. Rilmonn, ReadyMadePhotographer., Serendipity-shadowcat, Weefeesmum, dimitri'srealrose, GingerGleek, namelessanomoly, mamby-pamby boo-hooing, famefan, Addicted to Everything, daria103, sweetcaroline1986, Jessica, DaphAndMe , bookworm1617, Dasey-Naleyfan14, .SeDuCtIvE, mag721, MsBadGirl, Gikkal, tjcrowfoot, mythologyrulz, mbtastic, Just-Hazel-Eyes123, twighlightangel61090)
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"So, who's got what?" Mercedes asked Kurt and Rachel as they walked down the school halls the next morning.
"Well, Brittany and I have, surprisingly, her song" Kurt answered "You and Mike?"
"The love song!" she said, excitedly "What about you, Rachel?"
"Nothing" she whispered, her head down
"What?"
"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! We don't have my song, we certainly don't have Noah's, and I haven't even thought about the duet!" Rachel answered, nervous with the idea that her friends were ahead of her; she wasn't used to that.
"Gee, Rachel, chill" said Mercedes "It's only been a day. We got time, relax"
"Of course" She didn't want to let them see how worried she was about the assignment. She was positive Noah (yes, she was back to calling him Noah. Puck sounded horrible, and, well, Noah was his name) would do his best to not cooperate, which would probably make things more difficult for her. But, as everything else Rachel Berry had ever done in her life, this performance would be nothing short of perfect. Even if she had to do it all by herself, and the only thing Noah would have to do was showing up in the auditorium on the day of the presentation.
Throughout the day, she heard Tina and Finn already had the love song and her song, but it was only when Kurt told her Santana and Artie had chosen his song, that she truly panicked. Santana and Artie were getting along, for Barbra's sake! She needed to get something done, and fast, so she could get rid of the horrible sensation in the pit of her stomach that had been tormenting her since she woke up.
By the end of the last period, as she marched through the halls headed to her locker, she was determined to force Noah Puckerman to work his carefully shaped ridiculous Mohawk off trying to find a song. In two days from now, she told herself, they would have chosen two songs, at least. Or her name wasn't Rachel Future Star Berry.
As she opened her locker, a piece of paper fell to the floor. It was a note.
5, Dairy Queen
Puck.
Rachel rolled her eyes at his lack of wording, but smiled.
.
Maybe I need some rehab, or maybe just need some sleep
I got a sick obsession, I'm seeing it in my dreams
She sang, moving around his living room
I'm looking down every alley, I'm making us desperate 'cause
I'm staying up all night hoping and hitting my head against the wall
He took over, and then their voices joined each other for the next part.
What you got it's hard to find
I think about it all the time
I'm all strung out, my heart is fried
I just can't get…
"Stop!" she said suddenly
"Oh, come on! What's it now? This is like, the hundredth time you stop us!"
"It won't work"
"What do you mean?"
"It doesn't feel right. The song doesn't feel right"
He rolled his eyes. He was no good at code-chick-talk "It doesn't need to feel right. We just need to get up there and sing it."
"We can't sing a song without being sure about it!"
"Mercedes" he said, trying to be patient. He had a little sister, which meant most of the times he knew how to deal with women and kids; he thought this ability would really come in handy now "Nothing is wrong with this song. Let's stick to it, alright? Besides, I get to show off my moves"
She sighed. "But Mike, I won't enjoy myself if we sing this song. You don't want that, do you?" she battled her eyelashes at him in a comical way.
He sat on the couch and closed his eyes "We finally, finally find a song, and you don't feel it's right. Alright, Mercedes, alright. Whatever you want, we'll do"
She sat next to him and smiled "Thank you, Mike! And I promise I'll find something that you can show your moves off to"
He nodded. Seriously, it was so much easier to give in than to put up a fight with a girl. He suddenly felt sorry for all the married men on the planet.
.
She crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. She had been waiting for him for ten minutes. And she was not very fond of waiting on anyone.
And he had set up the meeting, after all. He was supposed to show up first. Did he not understand the proper manners to follow when asking a girl out on a date? Not that this is a date, she reminded herself, in fact, this isn't anywhere near a date.
In any case, he was going to get an earful when he showed up.
When he finally decided to make his presence known, she had already finished the sundae she had ordered. And she never, never indulged in something as damaging to her vocal chords as ice-cream. It was a sign she was really, really pissed off.
"Noah, you are exactly 17 minutes late"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever" he said, and sat down in front of her.
She watched as he opened his backpack and took out some papers. It did not go unnoticed by her that they were neatly filed in a folder. It almost made her smile.
"Alright, here's my song" he said, and handed her the lyrics.
"Really?" she asked, surprised with both his choice of song and his commitment to the assignment.
"Yeah. What?"
"Nothing. It's just… it surprised me, that's all" she said in a whisper.
He looked away, pretending he was searching for a waiter. He would never tell her (or anyone else, because he liked being a stud very much, thanks), but the song he gave her was not his favorite. His favorite was, in fact, Sweet Caroline. Yeah, like that piece of information was ever coming out. So what, his favorite song was a very cheesy one? And so what, he once sang it to a girl to keep her from breaking up with him? He groaned, and almost looked down to see if he had grown a vagina.
In front of him, Rachel was whispering the lyrics, and looked as if she would burst out singing at any moment.
Knowing her, that's probably what would happen.
He picked up the menu from his table and hid his face behind it.
Very, very long two weeks, my friend, he thought with a sigh.
.
He connected his iPod to its speakers and put it on shuffle.
Well you done done me and you bet I felt it
I tried to be chill but you were so hot that I melted
"Too obvious. Next" she said
He skipped the song.
I'd be lying through my teeth if I told you
That I'm okay
July came, I thought I had it all together
Until you said, I need some space
"What is this? Next, please"
I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing
Just prayed to a God that I don't believe in
I got time while she got freedom
And when a heart breaks, no it don't breakeven
"No! Next"
"Santana, we're not going to find anything like this"
"Do you have any other idea, Wheels?" she crossed her arms.
"I'd appreciate if you would stop calling me that" he said, looking down.
She sighed. "Alright, Artie. Do you have any suggestion of a love song?"
He looked around and got lost in his mind for a few minutes. "No" he said finally.
"Great" she said, flopping down on his couch. "Gimme that" she pointed to the remote that was on the table near his chair.
He handed it to her "We should be working on this, not watching TV"
"Oh, shut up, Artie. Who knows, we might end up finding a song in a movie, or something" Santana turned the TV on and put the remote down.
"Yeah, riiiiiight. Like that's gonna happen" Artie laughed.
When she turned on the TV, a movie was playing on HBO.
The Sound of Music.
Damn.
.
A.N.: I'm so sorry for the delay, but I've been so busy! I didn't like this chapter very much (I wrote in such a short time – I was desperate to post something and let you guys know I haven't given up on this story) and I promise the next one will be so much better! Please review! Oh, and the songs used here are: Your Love Is My Drug, by Kesha (big thanks to Dasey-Naleyfan14), and the beginnings of I'm Yours, by Jason Mraz, 5:19 by Matt Wertz and Breakeven by The Script. Constructive criticism is always, always welcome!