Author's Note: Yeah, I forgot to mention, just pretend that all that Finchel stuff that happened in this episode never happened. *wink wink*
It was 5:30 PM. It was almost time to go to the theater to see Rachel perform with her glee club. Dan stared himself in the mirror. He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to wear to one of these things. Formal? Casual? He dug through his closet and found something in between. He put on some nice jeans, a v-neck t-shirt, and a black blazer, and also played with his hair a little bit and put a little bit of styling gel in it. Dan was ready to go. Of course, he didn't forget grabbing the single red rose he had bought for Rachel that he had left on the counter. He just hoped nobody would spot him on his way to a show choir competition. He figured that despite his hopes, it would still be the next thing on Gossip Girl.
New Directions was in the dressing room, getting ready for the competition. As Rachel was putting on her makeup in front of the mirror, Kurt popped his head up behind her. "Is he coming is he coming is he coming?" he interrogated giddily. Rachel tried not to look as excited and nervous as she really was. "Yes." she said casually, swiping on her blush. She couldn't help but smile a little bit. "Who are ya talking about Rachel? Did you actually manage to attract someone under the age of forty?" Santana snickered, doing her hair in the seat next to her. "Yes, actually, I did, for your information, Santana. He's in college, actually. He goes to NYU. And he's coming to watch me perform tonight." Rachel said, irritated. "Ooo, a college boy." Santana mocked her. Rachel just ignored her and put on her lip gloss. She wasn't going to let her ruin her big moment.
Dan found a seat in the crowd of people in the theater just as the show was starting. He sat through the contestants previous to New Directions, marveling at how much time these high school kids spend perfecting these extravagant numbers. Finally, the announcer introduced New Directions. Dan sat up.
The first number was a duet with Rachel and some other handsome jock-looking guy. He felt a little bit uncomfortable watching the two of them look lovingly into each other's eyes, but he figured it was just for show. He felt a little relieved when the song was over and the entire glee club began to break into a catchy pop tune. Dan found himself tapping his feet to the beat. They had a certain spirit and heart to them that the other contestants didn't have. And, of course, Rachel shined out of the crowd like a star.
Finally, when the competition was over, Dan tried to make his way through the large crowd scampering out of the theater and find the top ten results, since he figured that was where they would be. He stood a little outside of the crowd and waited until he saw Rachel emerge. She looked anything but happy. He walked over to her and held the rose out to her. "Um…this is for you. Great job." he said, running his hand through his hair. He wasn't sure what to say to her. He assumed they didn't make it into the top ten. "Thanks." she said, taking the rose. She looked down at her shoes, barely catching his glance. Then, he could see tears start to well up in her eyes. "Rachel…are you okay?" She shook her head. Dan just pulled her into a hug and let her cry into his shirt. He swore he saw Mr. Duet Guy give him a dirty look as he walked by, but he just ignored it. All he cared about was the girl crying in his arms right now.