PRODUCTION

Karofsky shut his locker after the final class period of the day and headed to the choir room. He got to the music hall before he was stopped by some of his former friends.

"Ugh, what now?" He sneered. Since this morning, the team's harassment seemed to have gone up, and Karofsky was getting rightfully pissed.

"Well we we're just wondering since you're still in gay club and the Bully Chicks if you finally planned on telling everyone." Paul Risner, the Titan's crap tailback, answered first.

Azimio was the one that continued. "Yeah, now that football's over, you're free to come out of the closet like the rest of the damn glee club."

Karofsky growled and shoved his once friend back a few feet. Before anything else could take place, a throat clearing stopped them.

"Well, well." Jesse gained the rest of their attention, speaking airily. "It looks like we have a classical high school confrontation on our hands. Too bad it's been overplayed for the last fifty years and is no longer of any entertainment value." He looked to Karofsky. "We've got rehearsals."

"That's right. So skip along now." Azimio snickered with the guys causing Karofsky to freeze, and Jesse to turn back around.

"You know, it's quite funny, but I was just in a meeting with Principal Figgins." Jesse informed them pleasantly. "Mind you, I got some unfortunate news, but I was also granted some perks. As it turns out I've had them all along, I just never knew it considering I'm not actually a teacher. However, it's been brought to my attention that I am still considered a member of McKinley's faculty which means I have added power in which to abuse. I think I'll start today." He reached into his shoulder bag, pulling out a pad of paper and a pen. He scribbled something quickly before handing a pink slip of paper over to Azimio. "So here is your lovely detention. I'm giving it to you on the grounds of, well for lack of a better term, sucking." He smirked. "You gentlemen have a nice day." He and Dave walked away from the scene. "You know, that was kind of fun." Jesse chuckled, thinking of an excuse to give Finn one.

When they finished their short journey to the choir room, Karofsky immediately took his seat while Jesse set his bag on the piano before addressing the room.

"You're late." Quinn scolded him playfully from the front row of chairs.

"Oh you." Jesse patted her head before being swatted away. "As you can all tell from looking at me, I seem to be in a good mood. Well guess what? I'm not."

"Does this mean we're going back to full weeks with army workouts?" Sam inquired.

"Sam, do not disrespect the marines by comparing them to the army and no." Jesse chided. "Principal Figgins called me down to his office last period-"

"Just claim you didn't do it. Works every time." Puck told him

Lauren nodded. "Yes, and try to maintain eye contact. It totally freaks him out."

"Also, when in doubt, whip out some vampires." Tina advised.

"Anyway, I had plans to start on our Regionals set list this week before we all go on break, but I'm afraid we'll no longer be able to do that." Jesse informed.

"That's terrible news." Mercedes deadpanned. "Now we won't be able to work on our last week of the semester."

"I'm crying." Kurt continued dryly.

"Laugh now because you haven't heard the best part yet." Jesse sent them a deprecating grin before addressing the club as a whole once again. "New Directions is putting on a play, and I have to direct it."

Finn frowned. "Um but like a musical or…"

"No, an actual play. McKinley's annual Christmas production to be precise. It seems because of both lack of funding and interest, McKinley no longer has a drama department."

"I think that's for the best. It was absolutely embarrassing to be a part of." Rachel admitted.

"Well, since Figgins doesn't want to ignore Christmas or something religious like that, we've been assigned to put one on."

"Can we even do that? There's fifteen of us." Kurt asked him.

Jesse shrugged. "Oddly enough, set and stage design still exists even though there are no actors. They're the ones who have been setting up the auditorium for glee which does explain a lot because up until now I was starting to suspect magic. Anyhow, they'll be our extras. We'll be the stars. Rehearsals go through today until Thursday. Dress rehearsals are on Friday which is opening night. We will also have a show on both Saturday and Sunday. I'm sure this will go nothing but smoothly." He added sarcastically.

"This is exciting. What are we doing?" Rachel questioned.

Mercedes held up her finger. "Hold up, I'm confused on how this is a good thing."

"Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol." Jesse answered Rachel, ignoring the rest of them.

"Yeah, I'm with Rerun on this one." Santana said and Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Are we seriously gonna try this again?"

"Yeah, Rocky Horror really didn't go too well." Mike added.

"That was pretty uncomfortable." Finn agreed.

Sam frowned. "And Mr. Schue totally stole my spot."

"Guys, Rocky Horror was actually very good for our first musical. It just happened to be inappropriate for a high school setting." Rachel encouraged with a smile.

"Yeah I'm pretty sure you're forgetting the part where you lost your shit." Santana told her. "You spent the entire time criticizing our performances and being nothing but a pain. More so than you usually are."

"Well I'm sure I'll be the one doing that this time." Jesse jumped in. "Look, we're doing this. I don't even care if it's not good. The point is if we don't do it, we won't get any funding for Regionals. So let's just get to the auditorium, okay?"

The first day of rehearsals was a catastrophe. The sets they were using were sets from previous plays put on at the school. They were just being remolded slightly. The same could be said about the costumes. Jesse began by assigning everyone in glee a part and then gave the rest out to their batch of extras. Because Blaine and Rachel were supposedly the only ones to every take an acting class, Blaine was given the male lead. Rachel was just given a minor part because this play was really all about the Scrooge character and nobody else. He wished this wasn't the case because while Jesse didn't doubt Blaine had some type of training, it was clear that the boy just wasn't versatile enough of an actor to play Scrooge. And in turn everyone was drowning in his performance. New Directions had reached a new level of terrible.

"There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty." Blaine spoke his line proudly with a nod of his head. Quinn shook hers before purposefully looking down at the script in his hand. He frowned before picking it up to skim over it. "Oh, um…And there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth." He smiled before whispering, "Go."

Quinn opted out of actually acting and decided to just lift the script and begin reading from it as if it was a book. "You fear the world too much. All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach."

Jesse watched on as he stood by the piano rubbing his temples. Sadly, this was one of the better read-throughs New Directions has had today even if they were both ignoring his direction of trying to find the romantic chemistry between their characters of Belle and Scrooge. He continued to just observe instead of critique as Quinn rushed through her lines with no enthusiasm which opposite Blaine was reasonably funny. She had been very withdrawn lately; even for her.

Finn approached Jesse from his blindside. "Your stalker is showing."

Jesse looked over at him once before looking back to the scene. "Oh it's you. I assumed this would be something worth my time." Finn rolled his eyes. "And for the record, I'm not stalking. I'm just a concerned friend."

"Why? What's going on? Is this like about the play because so far we all seem to suck. It's not just Quinn."

"It's not about the play." Jesse clarified and because he was bored and Finn actually seemed worried, he delved further. "Quinn is refusing to talk to me about what she plans on doing after graduation."

"Really?" Finn asked surprised. "That's weird. I think Quinn's always made it pretty clear on what she wants to do."

"I'm sorry, but out of everyone in her world, Quinn has chosen you to confide with on this?"

"Uh, not in so many words. She never actually said anything, but she used to hint to things all the time when we were dating. And she'd talk about our future where we'd be old and married." He shrugged. "Quinn wants the simple life, you know? We were always supposed to be high school sweethearts and go on to get married and buy a house here before having two kids and a dog. It's actually one of the reasons I broke up with her. I didn't want the same things as her anymore."

When this day was over, Jesse was going to give himself a prize for not pointing out how stupid he found Finn to be in this moment. "Do you ever actually get to know anyone you date?" He asked him instead but didn't wait around for an answer.

Finn frowned as Jesse walked away from him to announce the end of rehearsals. Honestly, Jesse couldn't bear to witness anymore of this today.

The second day was just as devastating as the first. Rachel wasn't sure how they collectively as a group were this bad. Okay, so maybe she was a little critical, but she doesn't seem to remember Rocky Horror going this way. It was true none of them could act, but New Directions was at least able to memorize lines last time…for the most part. But unless something drastically changed, they weren't going to be able to pull this off. And to be honest, she wasn't even sure anymore if it was their lack of expertise in dramatic acting. She was beginning to suspect that A Christmas Carol was just not something teenagers should perform in.

"Dear, dear brother. I have come to bring you home, dear brother." Rachel clapped and laughed as the script told her to. "To bring you home, home, home."

"Home, little Fan." Sam uttered out, playing Young Scrooge.

Rachel titled her head having no idea how someone could mess up a three worded line, but Sam had. "No, I can't."

Jesse walked the few feet over to the scene. "What's the problem, Rachel?"

"I'm sorry, Jesse, but this is awful."

"Yes, I believe we're all more than aware of this fact."

"Well, aren't you as the director going to do anything about it?" She prodded. "You're supposed to be a perfectionist."

"Not when it comes to a play we all got roped into doing I'm not. I'm not wasting our energy with this when we have to start prepping for Regionals in a couple of weeks."

"That's-that's just…" She looked on appalled. "You should be as ashamed of yourself as much as I am right now."

Jesse merely shrugged prompting Rachel to stomp her foot and rush past him. Those with a clear view watched as she headed off the stage and up the stairs toward an exit.

"I really don't miss that side of her." Kurt mumbled earing some agreement.

Rachel finished her exit, letting the door slam shut behind her. She huffed loudly before she began to pace outside the auditorium. This usually calmed the divatude. Then she could go back inside before probably freaking out all over again. It's just…they –especially Jesse– should be taking this seriously. This was what she planned on doing in her future, and all practice was good practice.

She continued to pace until she was interrupted. This was somewhat embarrassing to be honest. It's not every day you're caught randomly walking back and forth by Quinn Fabray. Rachel gazed at her for a while before coming up with a suitable comment. "You're late to rehearsals." She berated, folding her arms.

Quinn looked around the hallway, off guard. She had no idea why Rachel was yelling at her. "Yeah, Miss Pillsbury called me into her office, and I couldn't really get away from her."

"Oh?" Rachel unfolded her arms and took a step forward, hopeful now. And people said Quinn had mood swings. "How did it go? Did she convince you to change your mind?"

Quinn ignored her. "So did Jesse cancel again today or did you decide now would be a good time for a break?"

"We'll say the latter." Rachel answered sheepishly and went on to fill Quinn in. "I may have proven Santana's earlier grievance correct and stormed out. I can't help it that no one in glee could act to save their lives. It actually gives me chills, Quinn. And not the chills anyone wants to have." Quinn chuckled at this. "I should be lead. I'm the only one with any stage experience. I don't care what Blaine says. He's obviously lying. There is no way he's a trained actor. He delays between every line. He can't even hit a mark. And he's way too happy to rely on his own characteristics to play Ebenezer Scrooge. The only one in this entire building I could see naturally filling out that role would be Miss Sylvester, but somehow I don't see her joining in."

"Not that I don't agree with you, but how do you think you'd be able to play Scrooge? He's a guy."

Rachel's eyes brightened in that childlike way they tended to. "Ah, yes, which is why I've been analyzing. There's no reason why we can't perhaps make some alterations to the script and make it our own. Just, oh I don't know, off the top of my head here, we could change the character into being Ms. Evelyn Scrooge. A heartless woman who has been scorned one too many times to find it in herself to care for others anymore. It will be the same story only told from a woman's point of view. A woman who is portrayed by me."

"So go to Jesse. He'll listen to you."

"I've considered it."

"And yet you've stormed out because?" Quinn pried, but Rachel seemed to be finding her shoes quite interesting at the moment. "Rachel."

"Look, since Jesse took over New Directions the club has been a lot more tolerant of me." She explained. "None of them seem to resent me anymore, and that's all because Jesse is twice as overbearing and close-minded as I ever was. By comparison I actually look relatively tame. If I were to go openly complain to Jesse to get the lead spot, it'd be like the last two years all over again. It may be selfish of me, but I'd rather have the play suffer than revert back to that."

"Well maybe you don't have to." Quinn brushed past her. This was going to be fun.

"What? No, Quinn, why are you smirking? Quinn?" Rachel followed Quinn back into the auditorium.

Emma Pillsbury was annoying. Quinn had never noticed before because the woman always seemed sweet even if she was, like, constantly marrying other men while obsessed with Mr. Schue. But as of today, the woman was to be forever considered annoying. Where Quinn wanted to go to school was her decision, not the guidance counselor's. Miss Pillhead, as Santana liked to refer to her, should know when to leave someone alone. And since the woman was a teacher and Quinn couldn't yell at her about this, she figured she could go with her favorite substitute and take her remaining frustration out on Jesse. Plus, this play was not going to happen by Friday if something, anything, didn't change.

"I demand you make Rachel lead." She strutted straight up to her favorite punching bag, Rachel in tow.

Jesse licked his lips before slowly dropping his head to address her. "Well that's an interesting opinion, Quinn. By all means, what has brought you to this moment in your life?"

"Logic."

"Quinn." Rachel tugged on the girl's sleeve, but Quinn pulled her arm away. The blonde had gained not only Jesse's attention but the rest of New Directions' which is what Rachel had been hoping to avoid.

"She's the only one here with any type of background on stage. Call me insane, but shouldn't those with the most experience and skill take the lead spots?"

"Um, but I've been trained as an actor too." Blaine disturbed them.

Quinn snapped her attention to him. "Then why are you so bad at it?" She looked back to Jesse. "Nothing is ever going to be accomplished if we're all just wandering around here aimlessly not knowing what to do."

Santana scoffed. "Wow Berry, never thought you'd get someone else to do your dirty work for you."

"Actually, Rachel was trying to talk me out of doing this which is pretty considerate of her since she's the all-around most talented person here, wouldn't you say?" Quinn arched an eyebrow, practiced head cheerio stance on display. It missed being used.

"Believe me." Jesse interrupted. "I'm more than aware that Rachel and I are the most talented people here. But it's a male lead."

"So? The Globe Theatre only ever used male performers for every Shakespeare part that was written. And besides, we can come up with something else if that's the problem. I don't know, like make Scrooge Ms. Evelyn Scrooge or something. We can reshape the whole play. You'll be considered innovative by all of McKinley." She threw in some flattery. "Jesse, this play is not working. The roles do not fit who you've picked to play them. If we're going to do this, then you're going to have to make some changes." Quinn shared a quick glance with Rachel as they waited for him to respond.

"This would expel my migraine." He spoke slowly. It'd basically be placing all the responsibility onto someone's shoulders who wanted it there. All he would have to do is watch and secretly come up with Regionals choreography.

"So is Blaine not lead anymore?" Kurt questioned on behalf of his boyfriend.

"You're all getting new parts." Jesse told the group.

"That I can get on board with as long as I have no relation to the Cratchit family." Santana demanded.

"Fine. Santana, you'll now be the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. I think you can handle rousing up the fear that's needed for the part." He agreed before moving on. "Kurt, you're the Ghost of Christmas Present. Mike, take the past. Rachel, you will be our lead of Evelyn Scrooge, and Finn, I think you can bumble around enough to be Bob Cratchit." He looked down the line of New Directions, pausing on his friend. "Ah, Quinn, you only made mention of changing Scrooge's role around. Does that mean we're keeping the rest because if you'd like, you can still play Belle. No? Okay then. Mrs. Cratchit it is."

Finn frowned. "Wait-"

Jesse continued on. "Sam, you seem trustworthy enough. Belle will become Ben, and you will play him. Tina, take over Fan. Blaine, you're now Fred. Mercedes, you're Fred's wife." The two shared a look while Kurt grinned at the both of them. "Puck, Fezziwig. Karofsky, Jacob Marley. Brittany will be flashback/childhood Scrooge. Lauren, you'll narrate, and Artie, you'll still-"

"Still be Tiny Tim." Artie finished for him.

"Great. Go read through your new lines." Jesse dismissed them, allowing them to run free. He glided over to a seemingly pleased Quinn. "Come up with this all on the spur of the moment did ya?" He asked her.

"Rachel may have mentioned something."

"Hmph." He chortled. "What do you know? That's even more incriminating. And for the record, I like this Quinn. She's interactive."

The third day was perhaps the only day that went swimmingly. Quinn's request, Rachel's idea, or whoever came up with the change proved to be correct. Rachel knew how to handle a play and putting her in the center made everyone around her better. Whether New Directions ever wanted to admit to it or not, Rachel was their leader. When they didn't know what to do they needed someone they could follow behind blindly, and that person was Rachel. Of course this was never to be mentioned or acknowledged aloud.

The fourth day hit a bit of a snag when Karofsky quit. Jesse suspected it had something to do with the jocks-made-of-rocks pressuring him. And even if they haven't, Jesse had still been giving them detentions anyway. Whatever. They were assholes, and just because he didn't particularly like New Directions didn't mean he enjoyed other people messing with them. Anyway, Karofsky mimicked Rachel's storm-out techniques after venting some complaints about how stupid doing a play was.

"I'll go talk to him." Kurt moved to follow after Dave, but Santana beat him to it.

"No, let me. He'll do anything I'll tell him to."

"It's true." Brittany nodded. "He's like the perfect pet."

By dress rehearsals on the final day, Karofsky still hadn't returned, and Lauren had taken over his role of the now Jackie Marley. Santana had continued to try intimidation to get him back. Brittany had tried Brittany-ation. Kurt and Blaine had tried talking to him like normal people. Puck and Sam tried talking to him like football teammates. Nothing had worked, and he obviously was not going to be performing with them over the next three days. Quinn thinks he may have the right idea. Aside from Rachel, no one still really knew what they were doing, and stage-fright seemed to be settling in. They weren't actors, they were singers, and other than the opening caroling, no one would be singing anything. At least with Rocky Horror they knew they could've distracted the audience with the songs.

Finn tried pulling down his pants some more at his ankles. They happened to be a little short which was uncomfortable and totally looked weird, but he couldn't wear his pants any lower or else his shirt would look too short. He really needed to talk to the costume design or someone because he didn't see this working out. It was already hard enough to walk in the old people shoes he was wearing. He awkwardly finished his walk over to where Quinn stood. They were going to go over their scenes once more. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable or anything just because Jesse felt like being Jesse. So far they had worked well together, though, so he wasn't really worried or anything.

He greeted Quinn with a small nudge and leaned up against the backstage wall with her. Quinn was watching Jesse direct Rachel and Mike through one of their scenes. Finn was content enough to just stand there and watch Rachel with her. Rachel had been awesome this week. He never thought his girlfriend would be so good at pretending to be mean and terrible like the Scrooge character. She was a thousand times better than when Donald Duck did it. It was just…a tiny part of him wished that she wasn't.

"She's really great isn't she?" Finn asked her and watched as Quinn swallowed before responding. It was a pointless question, really.

"She's Rachel."

"You were right before." She sent him a questioning look so he elaborated. "When you told her she was better than me. You know, I thought about that for a long time after you said it." He added. "I think on some level I've always known that. Like last year when we got back together, we knew it was only going to be until graduation. Except I don't want that. When I broke up with you it wasn't just so I could be with Rachel for a year. I always want to be with her."

She crossed her arms defensively. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because you were right." He repeated sadly. "It doesn't matter what I want. She's not staying here, and I can't go with her. I mean I'm Lima, right?" He glanced down at her, chuckling humorlessly.

Quinn looked away from him and back to Rachel. Admittedly, that was a terrible thing to tell Finn. There was no greater insult than telling someone they were a Lima Loser. "Well it's not like you're going to be stuck here alone." She offered in cheap penance. He only sighed and dropped his head against the wall behind them.

"I don't know how to try anymore." He frowned as he tends to do when he's stuck on something. "How do you be with someone when you know exactly when you're going to stop being with them?"

She stared at him for a moment as he seemed to be waiting for something. Wait. Did he actually want a response? Someone needed to teach him what a rhetorical question was. "I can't give you an answer, Finn. That's your dilemma." He opened his mouth to continue while Quinn ended the conversation the only way she knew how by walking away from him over to Brittany and Santana.

He guessed they weren't re-rehearsing again. Well that didn't go well. He really thought Quinn could offer him some insight on his relationship with Rachel. She and Rachel were friends now, and besides, it wasn't like Quinn hadn't done it before. Plus, Quinn kind of knew what drowning in a relationship felt like which yeah, okay, kind of his fault there, but he thought she would sympathize with him or something. He really needed someone to tell him how to fix things. Because he really didn't think that it was a good thing to have everything remind him about how he was staying here while the girl he loved was leaving. And he really didn't like being bitter about that fact. That really wasn't fair to anyone. No one had even done anything wrong.

On the night of, Rachel sat in the mock dressing rooms backstage preparing herself. The butterflies were bouncing around excitedly as they always do before she takes a stage.

"Rachel?" Jesse knocked on the wooden siding outside the curtain.

"You can come in."

Jesse pulled open the curtain and entered before shutting it again. Curtains. This school was ridiculous. "What are you still doing in here? The show starts in about twenty minutes. You're already dressed." He walked further into the small space and tried not to lean against the sorry excuse for a wall. Really, he was afraid it would fall.

"Preparing myself for tonight."

"Nervous?"

She shook her head. "It's strange, but no. Not really. I just…It doesn't feel like it normally does." She let the smallest of smiles grace her features. "I feel like I'm over it."

"What? Stage-fright?"

She shook her head gently again. "No. High school. I've actually got all of my credits already, and I know what I'm doing next year and where I'm going to be…I'm not thinking about McKinley anymore. Usually when New Directions has been forced to perform in front of the student body in the past, I've always been so worried about what we would have to endure the next day. We're the targets in this school, but it doesn't feel like that tonight."

"I'd say that's because none of them matter. You're going to be fantastic tonight, and then you will move on and spend your life doing the most wonderful of things while they'll all be stuck here. Really, I think you should spend tonight feeling some sort of gratification in spite of all them." He smiled alone as she suddenly seemed to be thinking about something else. He lost his smile. "What?"

"Has Quinn talked to you at all? About college?"

Well that wasn't what he was expecting. "Frustratingly, no."

"You need to change that. I've tried, but she won't talk to me. We may have gotten closer recently, but she doesn't trust me." She paused. "She trusts you."

"Well maybe you can explain this concept to her."

Rachel ignored his sarcasm. "She plans on staying here. Jesse, she can't go to OSU at Lima. It's an open admission school. They'll take anyone. She's underestimating herself, and as someone she listens to, I feel you need to encourage her to broaden her horizons."

"You know, this is odd. Finn said something similar the other day." He informed. "Why does everyone assume she's staying in Lima?"

"Because she is."

"No she's not."

"No Jesse, she's said she is on multiple occasions."

"Well that's-" He cut himself off, not having words. He ran a hand through his hair. Quinn's assortment of issues was going to send him to an early grave. "Why?" He snapped dismayed, not even looking for a response. Rachel still gave him one.

"I'd be being presumptuous, but last year she confided about being terrified. I believe that was the word she chose."

Jesse sighed loudly, taking the risk and leaning against the wall. "Of course, what else would it be?" He rolled his eyes spitefully. "Quinn tends to let fear dictate her life. It why she's such a control freak. We just haven't gotten to that aspect yet. We're still busy dealing with her constant need for denial. At this rate, Quinn will be fixed once we're both set up for retirement."

Rachel smiled delicately. "I think you're exaggerating. Quinn isn't broken, Jesse. She's just-"

"A mess?" He offered. "The thing about Quinn, Rachel, is that it's never just one thing with her. You'll try and help her with one problem or one insecurity, and about halfway through dealing with it, it leads you into discovering five more. And then those each lead to five more. And it continues like that until you're left buried in no man's land."

"You're being dramatic. Every girl has their fair share of insecurities."

He wished that was the case with Quinn. He'd love it if all of her problems were the typical teenaged girl problems. They'd be pointless and he would be able to disregard them and move on. But no, he had to pick out the most troubled girl on the lot. He didn't feel like trying to teach Rachel what a Quinn was, though, so he just agreed by saying, "Maybe."

"So now that I've been assured that you'll speak with Quinn, what is it you plan on doing?" She grinned brightly.

"I'm afraid I don't understand the question."

"Well what is it you plan on doing once this year's over with. I suppose you could stay here and try and expand New Directions with an entire new roster once everyone graduates, but I see you having stronger ambitions than that."

Jesse frowned. Oh wow. What was he going to do? "I haven't thought about it. The only reason I took the job here was because of you and Quinn. I've been so busy focused on other people this year that I haven't thought about my own future in a while. Do you see? This is the exact problem with being as selfless as I am. I've been so busy carrying around Quinn's baggage and helping you to see that Finn isn't worth anything and keeping Karofsky's bullies away and helping Santana inform glee of her sexuality and find romance with Brittany—I'm still surprised about that one by the way."

"Oh yes. I too was shocked the first time I found out Santana and Brittany were having sexual relations with each other. Of course once the shock wore off, I used this information to coerce them into being in our 'Run, Joey, Run' video, but that's neither here nor there. Water under glee's exceptionally large bridge."

"No, that's not what I meant. I was referring to how I was surprised that she actually came out to glee. I would have thought everyone already knew. I mean it's so obvious. I suspected it from the moment I met her."

"You did not."

"No, yes, I did. Admittedly Brittany was harder to peg, but as a future celebrity, I have outstanding gaydar. I can actually guarantee that if New Directions were to have a ten year reunion, half of the club would come back gay. Or well, gayer. It's a well-known show choir statistic." He nodded confidently. "Shall we head to the stage?" He led Rachel out of the room by his arm.

They made their way through the backstage area and were stopped by Principal Figgins. "Mr. St. James, I am hoping this show will be a good one. We can't have another disaster. Last year Jacob Ben Israel almost caught fire when the nativity scene was lit up too brightly."

"His last name's Israel. I'm guessing he doesn't even worship Jesus. Maybe he shouldn't have been here." Jesse shrugged, earning an eye-roll from Rachel at his always absent tact. "Anyway, I was just about to lead us in a show circle if you wanted to join in."

"Oh no thank you. I'll be waiting in my seat in anticipation." The man grinned broadly before scurrying off.

"You know, the more I get to know him, the less of a mystery this school's absurdity becomes." Jesse shook his head before dragging Rachel over and calling everyone to gather around. "I was just told that this can't be a disaster, but that's not really our style is it? Personally, I don't want it to feel like there's any pressure on you as I still cannot bring myself to care about this play. That being said, well no, I actually don't have anything to follow. Just go out there and celebrate in your Christmas spirit. Unless of course you're Jewish and don't have any." He swung Rachel's hand who was receiving a smirk from a Puckerman.

"Whatever, I think this is going to be awesome." Lauren spoke, already decked out in her chains for her upcoming scene.

"Hell yeah it is." Puck leaned over to kiss her cheek. Brittany smiled before she mimicked the action with Santana who then looked around nervously as they so weren't just in the presence of the glee club. Mike and Tina shrugged before also following in Puck's footsteps and that's when everyone paused.

"Um, is there like mistletoe or something?" Finn asked them, looking up with Sam which would be an awkward outcome for the both of them.

"They've been back together for a few weeks now." Artie informed, amused with everyone's apparent surprise.

"Seriously." Tina laughed. "You guys need to start paying more attention."

"I'm starting to feel like an actual ninja." Mike agreed.

Brittany clapped. "Does this mean I can start planning your wedding again?"

"Only if I can decorate." Kurt told her.

"That's great and everything," Jesse interrupted, "but go take your places or something."

The circle of people scattered and some slowly took their positions while others stood around chatting. Great cast and crew he had. Jesse stopped looking at them to refrain from getting angry and instead latched onto Quinn's arm and yanked her over to a secluded area further backstage.

"We only have about ten minutes before I need to get on stage and start narrating so I'm going to be blunt." He quickly told her. "I just had a conversation with Rachel, and I don't know if the problem is being afraid of getting stuck in Lima or leaving it, but frankly, Quinn, I just don't care. Whatever the hang up is you're just going to have to deal with it because when this year is over, you and I are leaving here. It doesn't matter to where as long as it benefits my future career in show business, but we're not staying. And I swear to you, Quinn, if I have to drag you out by the pretty little hairs on the top of your head, I will. Just accept it." He lifted his chin only to lose his composure as her eyes began to glass over with liquid. "Oh God, are those tears?" He panicked. He had never seen Quinn cry before. He had only ever seen her on the verge of tears a couple of times.

"I'm fine. It can wait. The show's about to start."

"So then we'll start late if we have to." He said obstinately.

And like that the tears seemed to fall. Apparently, he had found the trigger because a few more cascaded down Quinn's cheeks. Jesse would later go on to ask her to teach him how to cry silently for future roles.

"I don't want to stay here." She confessed.

"I know that." He spoke in the same quiet tone.

"But I was head cheerleader and I had Finn and was a shoe-in for prom queen and-and I couldn't even do any of that right and-"

"And I won four consecutive national championships becoming the very definition of a king within my high school before flunking out of college." He pointed out. "What happens here does not dictate what happens in the future. You're not Finn. You're not someone who belongs here, Quinn. Ohio is a place too small for people like us. Face it. We're destined to move to a city with bright lights to begin our Merteuil-Valmont-Les Liaisons Dangereuses type lifestyle." He smirked, and she let out a laugh that really just sounded like a muffled sob. "Come here." He pulled her into a lasting hug because Jesse was amazingly talented when it came to giving hugs. They could cure diseases. "We'll talk more about this after the show, alright?" He felt her nod against him before pulling back and separating them. He looked down at the watch he was wearing that night. "Timing wise, I think we did quite well. We still have a few minutes to spare. So wipe your face." They shared a final smile before he left her to go take is spot at the narrator's podium on stage.

Quinn stayed in the hidden spot for a few moments, taking Jesse's advice and wiping her face off on her stupid costume. Once she was dry and sure no more tears were coming, she exited back to the main area behind the stage. She walked past Rachel and Finn who seemed to be in some discussion before finding a place off stage and out of the way to watch the play before she had to go on later. Since the play hadn't started yet and they treated their own lives like a movie anyway, she figured eavesdropping on the couple wasn't that bad of a tradeoff. Besides, it wasn't like they were keeping the conversation to themselves. They were talking openly.

"Rachel, I was looking all over for you earlier."

"Well I'm sorry, Finn. We must have just missed each other. You look great by the way." She smiled up at her boyfriend, pulling playfully at his poor man's coat.

Finn just straightened to coat out. "You didn't call me back."

Rachel took a step back, smile diminishing. "Yes, I know. I spent the afternoon going over my lines one final time. I thought it could've waited until we saw each other here tonight. Your message didn't sound all that urgent. Was it important?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"But we're about to go on. Finn, I'm sorry, but we'll have to speak after the show."

"Rachel, we really need to talk." He followed after her as she headed for the stage.

"What are they doing?" Mercedes approached Quinn along with Sam. The three stood watching the couple move about.

"I have no idea." Quinn answered.

"They're not like randomly adding things that we need to pay attention to, right?" Sam asked.

"I don't think this has anything to do with the play."

"Awesome. I'm already nervous enough."

"We'll be fine." Mercedes assured him, and they smiled momentarily before Finn and Rachel disturbed them again.

"Finn, get off the stage." Rachel whispered harshly to him, panicking as he followed her. "The play is about to start. You're not in the opening sequence." She continued walking to her mark across the stage while Finn continued trying to talk to her.

"I've been thinking about this for a while now." He stated completely ignoring Jesse's opening narration beyond the curtain in front of them.

"Can you maybe think a little while longer?" She smiled passing her fellow actors, trying to paint over Finn and assure them that it was nothing.

"It's why I've been so moody lately."

"Finn, I want to talk. Just not now."

"Well I need to say this now because it's the only time I've felt like I can actually say it out loud."

"Finn, please."

"I can't go to New York with you."

That got her attention as she quickly spun around and froze in her previous movements. The play suddenly forgotten. "What?"

He sighed, rubbing his forehead before dropping his hand away. "Realistically, I'm not a good enough singer to go to music schools with you. I'm not even lead in a high school glee club anymore. I'm not smart enough to go to a big college. There's no scholarships for me for anything like sports. I'm stuck here, and it's basically killing me."

"But that's not true." She protested. "You can follow me and Kurt and-and we can all get an apartment with Blaine and-"

"Rachel. Can you please just listen to me? You're going away to do things like this," he gestured around the stage, "because that's your dream. Last year, I told you I can't dream that big. It's completely true. And you know why? Because I can't actually do those things with you. I wish I could. When glee first started you and Mr. Schue made me believe I could, and it felt great. You made me feel special, but I can't." He swallowed and continued before he lost his nerve. "I think we should break up." He finished just before the stage curtain diverged to reveal what was supposed to be the opening scene of A Christmas Carol.

For about a full minute, the auditorium filled with a couple of hundred people was dead silent. The extras on stage with Finn and Rachel shared nervous glances with each other. Across the stage from where Quinn was, Kurt, Blaine, and Tina stood agape. Jesse was, well, Jesse seemed to be rolling his eyes ahead of them. And Finn and Rachel stood looking out at the crowd as deer literally caught in head lights. (Spot lights. Whatever.)

"Oh my god." Mercedes muttered what everyone who heard the private conversation was thinking. Then seconds later, the students in the crowd began to snicker at yet another one of New Directions' moments of misfortune.

"Not to be selfish here, but does this mean we can screw up as much as we want and get away with it?"

"Shut up, Sam." Quinn warned as she watched Rachel try to compose herself. Finn just stood by blushing in front of the crowd. This obviously wasn't his intention. He really needed to get a grasp on what timing was. Or at least how to be considerate of people who weren't him. Well this night was going to be a long one.

Disclaimer: Actual dialogue from A Christmas Carol came from stjohns-chs.