Your eyes aren't deceiving you. It is, indeed, another chapter! I, personally, like it. It's a lot longer than I originally planned it to be, but it's not even that long.

RR!

Mathais - Thank you! It always boosts my spirit to hear a good word or two. :)

Atsuko Uehara - Haha, I feel like I did the exact opposite of what you said we should do Rachel in this chapter. But don't worry, Rachel will have the opportunity to make it up to everyone in the future!

Not much else to say, I guess. Read and Review!

Disclaimer: I no own Glee... :(

Chapter 11 - Emotions

They didn't deserve it. Not one of them.

Rumiko peered on to the competition as she sat back in her seat and scowled.

This isn't fair. My grandma deserved it. They didn't. She's nice, and kind. She's a good person. They're probably gonna blow it off on something stupid like soda or video games or crap like that. They probably just wanted their five minutes of fame. They probably don't care. And why the hell is she being so nice to them?

Rumiko watched as her grandmother crossed the stage to joyfully congratulate them.

They just denied her a chance to live happily! Why isn't she doing anything? Ugh!

Finally, Adalia made her way off the stage and toward her granddaughter. Rumiko sympathetically jumped up to hug her.

"I'm sorry…"

"It's okay, my child. It's not about the money."

Yes it is. If you were rich, you wouldn't waste your time here. She couldn't say that out loud.

"Those kids…they're going to go far," Adalia continued.

"How so?"

"They have ambition. They have passion." Adalia smiled sweetly. "They told me they're going to use the money to drive to Hollywood, to help out a friend."

"Is that so…?"

"It is." Adalia nodded slowly. "I can see them going as far as the sky will let them…then pushing even further. They seem to have no limits…"

Rumiko laughed at the irony. How a blind lady could "see" anyone was beyond her, whether it was metaphorically or literally. Perhaps she had a point. Her grandmother's intuition hadn't been wrong before. But this was such an inexcusable crime on human nature and she couldn't let it go so lightly.

"Why so serious, flower?" Adalia asked. "Loosen up a bit! Smile!"

Dang, she's good. How'd she know I wasn't smiling?

Adalia smiled. "It's in the past, now. Let's move forward."

It's frustrating how she isn't doing anything. Someone should put those kids in their place.

The group had collected their prize money and joyously left the location. They had decided to stop at a hotel for the remainder of the night to rest for the continuation of their travels. They had continued the routine of splitting up by gender, going to bed, waking up, and get back on the road with little leisurely delay.

They had hoped to make it passed Texas in their next round of driving, but a new crisis in a small town about sixty miles outside of Amarillo forced them to stop. They had gotten a flat tire, and contrary to common sense, they did not have a spare.

Furthermore, the local repair shops weren't open for the weekend. It was something about it being a small town and hardly anyone needing service that often.

So they had stopped at the nearest hotel to wait a couple days.

At first, everyone had been angry at the turn of events. But eventually, they had calmed down, realizing it was the perfect opportunity for them just to hang out, talk about things, and have fun.

They had decided to go out to eat, and had a blast. Puck had tried to order diet water. The waiter was confused, and went as far as asking the manager if they served diet water. All twelve kids couldn't stop laughing.

Then they had gone to a park, one that had a playground and everything. For a while, they all subtracted about ten from their current age to have the time of their lives on the slides and swings. After an intense game of Lava Monster, the kids headed back to the hotel.

Then Kurt had taken Mercedes' phone and changed his contact name to 'God.' He, at the amusement of the rest of the Glee guys, had texted her saying "Why weren't you at church, young missy?" and laughed hysterically as she started to freak out.

Then they had broken a personally established rule, and all gathered together in one hotel room for a big Glee movie night. They had ordered the latest movie on the hotel's T.V. and sat and enjoyed themselves for a couple hours.

Most of all, they had fun. It seemed like everyone forgot their grudges on each other and just tried to have a great time. It seemed natural for them to be so comfortable around each other, and every one of them secretly wished that every moment could be like that.

It was late, and the movie was over. Everyone had somehow made themselves comfortable on the hotel room floor. Mike still sat up, sitting on the floor but laying against the side of the bed that both Brittany and Santana were sharing. Matt noticed, and got up to sit by his friend, stepping over sleeping bodies in the process.

Everyone but Mike and Matt was asleep.

"Hey," Matt said as he settled by the Asian.

"Hey." They sat in silence for several seconds before Matt spoke again.

"Whatcha doin'?" Matt tried his best to imitate Isabella from Phineas and Ferb, a show he knew Mike loved. Mike laughed wholeheartedly.

"Just thinking."

"About?"

"Today."

Matt nodded understandingly. "Yeah, today was pretty great."

"And everyone was…nice to each other." He said it like it defied the odds of physics.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, it just doesn't happen all the time. I wish it did."

Mike sighed and put his head on Matt's shoulder. Matt freaked out on the inside, but smiled slightly on the outside. It quickly went away when Mike sat straight up again.

"Uh…I asked you this question a while ago but you never answered, so…" Mike looked into Matt's eyes, "…are we dating?"

Matt stopped and looked away for a second, deep in thought. He turned back to his friend.

"Well, maybe we should make it official. Will you be my boyfriend?"

Mike smiled the same, genuine smile, before answering with a bubbly "Yes!"

Matt smiled, pleased with the answer. But soon, Mike brought up another familiar question.

"How long is it going to be a secret?"

Matt frowned. "I…don't know."

"Oh…"

Matt looked at Mike and sighed. He could tell Mike didn't want to keep it hidden anymore, and it was hurting to keep the person he cared the most about so unhappy.

"Mike…I'm sorry."

"For?"

"Not being a perfect boyfriend."

Mike was taken aback by this. It sounded right to say Matt was his boyfriend.

"But…" Mike started, but Matt interrupted.

"But I'm not gonna stop trying. Right here, from the start, I'm going to tell you that I won't stop trying. I just need…patience."

Mike nodded understandingly and smiled. "That I can give you."

Mike put his head back on Matt's shoulder. A familiar sensation overwhelmed both of them. A sense that everything was the way it's supposed to be; a sense that everything was perfectly right. But at the same time, there lingered a fear that even the best of dreams have to end eventually.

You know, I like to foreshadow. It's fun. ;)

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