A/N: Everyone who had reviewed- thank you so much. I own very, very little. Just a puppy who eats my eyeliner.

Chapter 5

"You ready to go back to McKinley tomorrow?" Mr. Schue asked. They sat at either end of his dining room table- he ate and Tina watched him. It made him fairly uncomfortable- he had been horrified when he found out that she was dead (he wasn't quite willing to admit how had he had cried that night) and he knew he should have been happy, but somehow, though he was watching her, he couldn't think of her as her.

"I… suppose so," she answered, a strangely frightened tone to her voice. "What about… Glee Club?"

"They wanted you back," he said. She relaxed, her lips twitching up in a smile.

"Did anyone... not?" she asked.

"That wouldn't be fair," he said. "Privacy and all that."

"Just… so I can… stay away from them," she said. "I… don't want… to make anyone uncomfortable."

"Alright," he said reluctantly, but she was right, it was better that she knew. "Matt didn't want you back, Puck didn't want you back, Santana didn't want you back- Brittany wanted you, but Santana made her put her hand down- and… and Artie didn't want you."

Her face crumpled, at least as much as the faces of the living impaired faces could. She tried to shake it off but something in her face had died. Her eyes didn't show emotion- didn't show much of anything, even the color was faded- but he could tell that something was differeny. He had killed her hope. Desperate to do something to make it better, he got up and walked around the table, sat beside her, and took her cold hand.

"It's alright," he said softly. "Do you know what the first thing he said when he found out you had died was?"

"What?" she asked.

"That he thought you hadn't answered his last text on Friday night because he had signed it with love. It was worse for him knowing that you hadn't ever gotten it. He will come around, Tina. They all will. And until then, you have the others."

"Yes." She smiled. "I can't… believe… that Rachel was willing… to have another… competitor… for solos. Not that... I can sing."

He laughed, truly laughed, for what felt like the first time in what felt like years.

Tina took a deep breath, staring up at the doors of McKinley High. She had been afraid to go to school before, but never quite like this. She knew how people treated the living impaired, she watched the news. That was enough to scare her. But what truly frightened her was seeing the reactions of her friends. Were they still her friends?

It came much sooner than she had expected. There was the touch of a light hand on her shoulder, briefly as a heartbeat, simply to command her attention. She turned- even slower than normal- to see a teary eyed, hesitantly smiling Rachel.

"Tina?" Rachel asked softly. Tina nodded, hope blossoming through her not-beating heart.

"Can I hug you?" the living girl asked. Twitch of lips showing the dead girl's smile, she nodded, relief spreading though her. Laughing now, Rachel wrapped her arms around her neck, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I'm so glad you're back!" Rachel squealed. "I missed you so much! I'm so sorry I was always so awful to you."

"No," Tina said slowly, her arms only just finding their way to Rachel's back. "You were... are... a good friend."

Just then, a loud cry erupted from behind them and Rachel was pushed aside as Tina found herself spinning through the air. When the pair of strong arms had set her down, she looked up into a beaming Mike Chang's face.

"I can't believe it," he whispered hoarsely. "I just wanted to die. I missed you so much." He clasped her to him, grabbing Rachel in the hug, all three of them clutching at each other for life (or, in Tina's case, reanimation), ignoring the stares of the other students passing by. At last the bell rang and they separated. "See you later," he called, dropping a kiss on each of the girls' cheeks before turning and rushing away. Tina and Rachel had their first class together, pre-calc, so they walked through the halls together, Tina infinitely relieved to not have to do this alone. Rachel slowed her pace to match hers, and didn't say anything even after the late bell rang.

Tina hesitated at the door and Rachel reached over, squeezing her hand, and walked confidently in at her side.

"Late, Ms. Berry," their teacher droned, then he looked up and his expression upon seeing Tina was almost comical. He cleared his throat once, twice, a third time. "Ah, yes. Ms. Cohen-Chang. They told us you would be returning to class…" The two girls took their seats together in the back corner, Rachel shooting a death glare at anyone who dared look at them wrong, and believe me, there were plenty. But at last, Tina allowed herself to relax. Maybe she would get through this.

Mike was thrilled. No, Mike was ecstatic. Seeing her again had been like stepping out of the boy's locker room onto the football field. It had been better than that. It had been like he was high, like she was a drug. His drug. Holding her close, her hair in his face, had been almost too good to be true. He was on cloud 9, strolling down the hall, and not even seeing a scowling Artie or a glaring Matt could bring him down. She was back, and nothing, nothing else mattered. Nothing could faze him today, he thought confidently. At least, that's what he thought until he passed Karofsky spray-painting his locker with dripping green words. Devil Worshiper.

"Hey, necrophiliac," the bigger footballer player sneered as he passed by. "How's the Satan Spawn?"

Face flushed, eyes dark with anger, Mike hurried past them without saying a word.

Matt had seen her in the halls, walking with Rachel. He had wanted to stop, wanted to say something, anything, but his feet didn't halt, his head didn't turn, his mouth didn't open. He had passed Mike, too, who had quite clearly also seen her, judging from the dopey expression on his face. It all made him so angry. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He couldn't pretend she didn't exist, not when he did care about her, no matter what he told Mike, but he couldn't pretend everything was normal, either. It was all so messed up.

It was when he passed Mike's locker though, that he really got angry. Devil Worshiper was scrawled across it in bright green letters. And talking or not, fighting or not, Mike was his best friend. So he headed into the boys bathroom, grabbing at a handful of paper towels and running them under the faucet. He scrubbed at the paint, ignoring the pointed glares from several passerbys. By the time it was even half off, he was late. But he kept wiping, not even noticing the angry tears burning in his eyes. And he kept telling himself that it was Mike he was doing this for, Mike and only Mike. And he knew he was lying.

"I… can't do this," Tina whispered, eyes wide with horror, staring into the lunch room.

"Yes you can," Rachel said perkily. "You've done this much, right? I'll be right here."

"And so will I," said Mike all of sudden, appearing behind them. "Hey, Tee. Hey, Rach. What's up?"

"She doesn't want to go in. But Kurt and Mercedes are dying to see you," Rachel told her. "Can't disappoint them, can we?"

"Alright," Tina breathed. "Alright." Together, the three of them walked in. Mercedes and Kurt saw them at once, climbing to their feet and slowly, as slowly as Tina at full speed, walked over.

"Tina?" Mercedes asked, eyes shining. Kurt had no reservations. Laughing and crying at once, he wrapped his arms around her, and within seconds, Mercedes had joined. It would have been perfect if Tina hadn't seen Artie, wheeling out of the cafeteria as fast as he could possibly go, his face damp with what looked suspiciously like tears.

A/N: Goodness. Now. Just one more thing... please review!