Hey guys! Thanks a lot for your support of the last chapter. I really appreciate it! It's always hard to write Finchel fighting, but they always make up in the end :) And remember - they're married, and that's how it's staying. Enjoy this chapter and enjoy if you want me to keep going! And don't forget to visit the Tumblr for this series (finchelseason5) for spoilers or if you want to ask me a question!

Chapter 5: Casting

Rachel knocked on the door of Rupert's office. "Come in," she heard her director call.

Rachel went inside. "Hi."

"Hi," Rupert said. "What can I do for you today?"

Rachel took a deep breath. "I wanted to say thank you for offering to let me play Fanny on the tour, but after careful consideration, I've decided that's not what's best for me right now."

Rupert looked confused. "I thought you were going to take it."

Rachel didn't want to recap what had happened with her and Finn and their fight. "I just have so much on my plate right now, with school and being newly married, and I just can't go on tour."

"It's your husband, isn't it?" Rupert asked.

Rachel didn't want Rupert to have a negative opinion of Finn. "No, that's not it..."

"Rachel, you've been putting your personal life ahead of the production for a while," Rupert continued. "You took a lot of time off to plan your wedding and go on your honeymoon, and to go be with your family..."

Rachel didn't like where this was going. "I'm sorry," Rachel said. "But I'm only an understudy. I just... I want to have some balance in my life."

"You want to be the lead one day, right?" Rupert asked.

"Well, yes," Rachel admitted.

"If you want to be the lead, you can't just put other things ahead of the show all the time," Rupert said. "You have to want this. You have to want it more than anything. I'm sorry, but this isn't something that comes on a whim."

Was he telling her that if she wanted the lead role, there wouldn't be time for anything else in her life? Rachel wasn't sure if she liked the sound of that. "I'll think about what you said to me today."

"Please do," Rupert said. "You are talented, Rachel. But the question is what you want to do with those talents."

"Thank you," Rachel said. She walked back to the apartment, thinking about her talk with Rupert. Was this what people really thought like? That her family and her education and her friendships shouldn't matter, that only her career should? That had been the life Rachel's mother had tried to pursue and her mother had been unhappy for a while.

Rachel unlocked the apartment door when she got home. Kurt and Santana were sitting in the living room, reading a magazine. "Hey," Rachel said. "Where are our roommates?"

"Finn and Blaine are both at work now," Kurt said. "And Gerber Baby went to the gym."

"Where she is hopefully burning off some of her calories of annoying," Santana said.

Rachel didn't get as much sleep since Harmony woke them up with her renditions of Broadway tunes just about every morning, but she did feel the need to stand up for her. "Santana, don't be mean."

"How much longer are we going to let her stay here?" Santana asked.

Harmony came inside. "Hey roomies."

"Hi Harmony," Rachel said. "How was the gym?"

"They were playing some stupid pop music," Harmony complained. "Why can't they play Barbra?"

"Because no one really likes that but you and Berry," Santana said.

"So, how was rehearsal today, Rachel?" Harmony asked. "Did you get me a part yet?"

Rachel sighed. "Well, I told Rupert I'm not going to go on tour."

"Do you feel bad?" Kurt asked.

"A little, but I know it was the right decision," Rachel admitted.

"Sometimes there aren't easy decisions," Kurt said. "Plus, we'd miss you like crazy if you went on tour."

"Well, if Rachel went on tour, Finn and Santana could share a room and I could have the third bedroom," Harmony said.

"No!" Santana said. "I'm not sharing a room with Frankenteen. He snores."

"Hey!" Rachel defended her husband. "I find the noises Finn makes when he sleeps soothing."

"Aren't you cute?" Kurt teased as Finn and Blaine came inside. Kurt jumped up and ran to his husband. "Blaine!"

"And you were just teasing me about being in love with my husband," Rachel said as she got up to give Finn a hug.

"How was the diner?" Santana asked.

"A drunk customer left a really big tip," Blaine said. "What do you want me to get you with it, Kurt?"

"Hm, I'll need to think," Kurt said.

Finn turned to Rachel. "How was rehearsal?"

"I told Rupert I'm not going to do the tour," Rachel said.

Finn looked a bit conflicted. "Rachel, you didn't have to do it for me. I told you..."

"I did it for me," Rachel said. "Because I hated having you mad at me, and I don't want to be away for two years."

"Well, I hated fighting with you, too," Finn said.

"And having you guys fighting didn't make the apartment a very pleasant place," Santana added.

x

Things were underway at McKinley, but the glee club members had a feeling that this year wasn't going to be like last year, or the year before, or any of the years so far in the New Directions era. It was around time to start auditions for the school musical, since it was always held the first weekend in November, but so far April and Holly hadn't shown any sign of doing that. Instead, Ryder and Marley had gathered everyone to talk to their directors, and today would be the day they'd do so.

"All right!" Holly declared as she came in. "So, who's ready to sing our songs for Sectionals? I think we should do Happy, and Shake It Off, and..."

"We actually have a matter of business we need to discuss," Marley told their directors.

"Okay, what?" April asked.

"We need to talk about the fall musical," Ryder said. "We decided last year that we were going to do Fiddler On The Roof..."

"Hmmm," April said. "That sounds like an interesting title. Was it ever on Broadway?"

Hadn't April been on Broadway herself? "Yeah," Kitty said. "Didn't you hear about it at all during Crossrhodes?"

"I think one of my castmates mentioned it," April said. "So - how do you want to do things?"

Mr. Schue would have known how to do it. "Well, April, how did things work when you were on Broadway?" Kylie asked.

"I don't know, the crew just took care of everything," April said.

It looked like this was in the captains' hands. "Okay," Marley said. "So, we'll audition for the parts, and you guys can decide who gets which part..."

"Okay then," Holly interrupted.

"Maybe you guys should watch the movie first," Jake suggested. "That'll give you an idea of who would be good for which parts."

Why were the glee club members giving their directors instructions? Shouldn't it have been the other way around?"

x

As Finn left school and started arriving at home, his phone started ringing. He saw that it was Ryder calling, so he picked it up. "Hello?"

"Finn, I just wish we could all transfer to the school where you're directing the glee club," Ryder complained.

This didn't sound good. "What's wrong?" Finn asked.

"What's not wrong would be the better question," Ryder continued. "It's time for the school musical, and April and Holly have no idea what they're doing."

"What do you mean?" Finn asked.

"I mean that they haven't seen the movie and we had to explain what'll happen at auditions," Ryder said.

Finn did feel bad for his former glee club. He was doing his best with the one he was working with now, but his heart would always be with the New Directions as well. "Hey, you're going to be okay."

"I hope," Ryder said.

"I'm not worried about you guys," Finn continued. "You and Marley and Kitty and Jake and Kylie have all been there a while. You guys are great leaders and I know the musical will be great. No matter who's directing it, I know things will be okay, because they have you guys."

"You really think that?" Ryder asked.

"Yeah, I know it," Finn said. "So how's your senior year?"

"My senior year is going great," Ryder said. "I took the SAT and it wasn't as overwhelming as I worried it would be. And I have you and Jake to thank. You guys are the ones who helped me discover that I needed an IEP."

"Oh, I'm happy for you," Finn said. "So, what schools have you applied to?"

"Marley applied to Juilliard, so I'm looking at some public schools in New York," Ryder said. "Kitty also is applying to schools in New York, so if the three of us were in New York next year, we'd get to see a lot of you guys."

"I'd love that," Finn said. "I know the others would, too."

"Great," Ryder said. "Well, thanks for talking with me, Finn."

"Oh, of course," Finn said. "I'll call you again soon, okay?"

"Okay," Ryder said as he hung up the phone. Finn went back into his apartment. Tonight, all the McKinley High alumni in New York would be having dinner together, as they did once a week, so now would be the perfect time to ask for help with his own musical. The glee club had voted to do The Sound of Music as their musical, and Finn had seen that with Rachel and Kurt before. He knew how much Kurt liked it, so he had a feeling that at least his wife and brother would be willing to help.

"So, Finn, what's the musical going to be?" Kurt asked as Finn arrived.

"The Sound of Music," Finn said.

"YES!" Kurt cheered. "I love that show."

"I have a favor to ask," Finn said as the group sat down to dinner. "The musical's going to be in December, and I want you to help me direct it, Artie."

"Of course!" Artie said. "We're an awesome directing team, everyone knows that."

Finn smiled. "Great. And I wanted to ask the rest of you something too. Next week, I want you guys to help with the auditions, and then once we cast them, I'll pair each of you up with one of the leads to give them guidance and be their coach."

"I get the NYADA wannabe," Harmony declared.

"No, I've already decided I want Rachel to to work with her," Finn told Harmony. He'd seen parallels between Rachel and Caitlin. He thought Rachel would be a better influence on her than Harmony would. "You can have the tone deaf girl."

"What?" Harmony demanded.

"Hey, a challenge is good for budding stars," Kurt said.

Harmony pouted. "Okay."

"Hey, you are talented," Rachel told Harmony. "I think that you might be able to make her a good singer."

"I can try, I guess," Harmony said.

"Yeah," Finn said. "I just hope that the musical at McKinley goes okay."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"I talked to Ryder today, and he said that April and Holly don't really know what they're doing," Finn admitted. "It sounds like the glee club members themselves have pretty much taken charge of the musical."

x

"Okay everyone, I brought along a friend to help me direct the musical," Finn told the glee club as he and Artie arrived. "Artie's a student at Brooklyn Film Academy, and he and I directed Grease together in high school."

"That's right," Artie said. "I also directed West Side Story in high school."

"I'm glad we're finally doing a musical," Caitlin said. "The School of the Performing Arts does three a year, and I'm going to need to play the lead if I want to get into NYADA."

"You'll get the lead," Josh said to Caitlin.

Caitlin looked surprised. "Thanks."

"I'm going to have some other help too," Finn said. "Once we cast you, those of you with big roles will be paired up with a mentor to help you with your part. My wife and my brother and my friends have agreed to help."

"Yeah," Artie said. "So, we have our work cut out for us, but this is going to be the best musical your school has ever seen."

"So, when are we having auditions?" Ariana asked. "Because I'm going to play Maria."

Finn didn't know what to say to this. Ariana was - well, there was no nice way to say it - she wasn't a good singer. He knew that if he wanted the production to be a success, Caitlin would have to play Maria. She was the best singer and she needed this for her NYADA application. "I was thinking at our next meeting..."

"Okay," Ariana said. "Because I am going to be Maria."

"We heard you the first time," Artie said.

"No," Caitlin said. "I'm going to be Maria."

"Guys, Artie and I will decide who plays Maria after the auditions," Finn said. "Right now, let's familiarize ourselves with some of the songs from the show." He began handing out some sheet music, hoping auditions wouldn't cause too much drama.

"Okay, I feel like I'm back in McKinley," Artie told Finn as his phone vibrated. He looked at the phone. "Oh, it's an update on the McKinley show from Kitty. Ryder's playing Tevye, Marley's playing Golde, Jake's playing Motel, Kitty's playing Tzeitel, Kylie's playing Hodel, Jack's playing Perchik, Aubrey's playing Chava, Anthony's playing Fyedka, Ellie's playing Shprintze, Samantha's playing Bielke, and Michael's playing the Fiddler."

"Well, at least April and Holly managed to cast the show," Finn said. He looked around the room, watching as the kids began to sing some of the songs from the musical together in groups. "So, how do you think things ar going to work with casting?"

"Well, there are two girls who really want Maria," Artie said.

"Artie, you've been here before," Finn said. "I do think Caitlin should play Maria. I know we should wait until after auditions, but I think she's best for the part."

"Me too," Artie agreed.

"And I know we haven't held auditions yet, but I like Josh for the Captain," Finn said. "He's got the best voice of the guys and he and Caitlin sound good together."

"Well, you know them best," Artie said.

x

The next meeting was when auditions were held, and Finn had gotten his fellow New Directions alumni to come help him and Artie with the auditions. This was also when he would decide who would play which part nad who would be working with who. After auditions were finished, the group sat with the list of glee club members and the list of parts in the show.

"Okay, I'm just going to start off with saying that I agree with what Finn suggested," Rachel said. "Josh for the Captain and Caitlin for Maria."

"Yeah, I think so too," Sam agreed.

"Okay," Finn said. "Well, that's what Artie and I were thinking, anyway." Then another idea came to his head. "Some of the Von Trapp children are supposed to be a lot younger... maybe we could get kids from the elementary and middle schools to come play those parts."

"You know, that's actually a good idea," Kurt said. "If the high school kids play the older kids, that'll be one thing, but it'll just be weird if we have high school kids playing the really little ones."

"Yeah," Blaine agreed. "Maybe have freshmen or sophomores play the three middle kids and see if we can get kids from the elementary or middle schools to play the two youngest."

Finn was relieved his idea went over okay. "Great. So we'll do that. Besides, there are parts for the other kids."

"And Finn," Mercedes said. "Maybe you should have Kurt and Tina and me design the costumes. I don't think you'd be very good it it."

"Okay, you guys are hired," Finn said.

"And maybe I can see if Mike can come for a weekend and choreograph some dance routines for the show," Tina offered.

"That would be great!" Finn said. "Now let's decide who's going to play the other parts."

x

After some discussion, Finn went to the school's bulletin board, the other alumni following behind him, as he posted the cast list for the show. Many of the glee club members were waiting outside. When Caitlin saw the cast list, she jumped up and declared, "Yes!" before running up to Finn and his friends. "Thank you!" Caitlin said. "Rachel, I hope you'll put in a good word for me at NYADA and Broadway."

Then Ariana came over. "Why did you give Caitlin the part?"

Finn didn't know what to say. "We just thought she'd be best for it."

"I should have gotten it!" Ariana declared.

Finn didn't want to hurt her. "You're only a freshman. There will be other opportunities for you."

Ariana just glared at Finn and stormed off. Suddenly, Finn had a feeling directing the show may not be so easy.

Chapter 6 preview: Finn has the other alumni start working with his glee club members - but will there be drama about the casting decisions? Also, Rachel finds out who got cast in the tour - and what it might mean for her future.

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