To: wschuester[at]wmhs. edu
From: bradellis[at]gmail. com
Subject: The book

Hello!

I hope everything's going alright back in the old haunt, and that you don't miss me too much! Although I doubt the club is the same without me, of course.

Anyway, you know I emailed you about the book a while back? Well, I'm in need of your help.

I mentioned that I'd be contacting you about different issues that took place in the club over the time, but I want to go further than that. And I understand that during the first year of the club, a number of events took place within your marriage? If you consent, I'd like to be able to write about these in the book, and therefore need your input. Of course, this is a very private matter, and please do excuse me if you feel I'm invading your personal life, but it would be a great help if you could tell me a little bit about what went on. I know a few things having spoken to the former Ms. Fabray – I take it that she had some involvement, not by her own choice! – but if you feel you can, I would appreciate it greatly if you could tell me more.

I understand sectionals are also probably coming up around now. If you tell me when it is, I'll try my best to come and support!

Thank you

Brad

To: bradellis[at]gmail. com
From: wschuester[at]wmhs. edu
Subject: RE: The book

Hi Brad!

It's great to hear from you again! It's going good here, and we're all getting ready for Sectionals, as you said! I can't remember the date off the top of my head, but I'll look it up when I can find the piece of paper somewhere under the piles of rubbish and marking left on my desk.

Anyway, I'm assuming you're talking about the divorce me and Terri had that year? The reasons are pretty long and complicated, but I'll try and make them as short as I can.

I guess, when it comes down to it, it started back in High School. Bryan Ryan, you remember him? Well, we knew each other at that time. Always rivals. And he was nearly always the winner. He got the solos. He got the lead roles. And he got the girls. Except Terri. I guess you could even compare us, in a strange way, to Finn and Quinn. I was the dork – a little awkward, a little insecure, sort-of popular but not the most confident. She was pretty, admired by all, head cheerleader. If there was ever a person to which the phrase "all the girls want to be her, and all the guys want to be with her" could be applied, it was Terri del Monico. And I got her. Bryan Ryan described her as "the one that got away," and it's true. It was that old, clichéd high school romance kind-of thing, and you think everything's a fairytale. You've seemingly got the girl of your dreams and you promise yourself you will do everything to make her happy, to keep her forever; not only did I love her, but it was also a kind-of take that to Bryan. My one victory.

So we married. It wasn't perfect, and both of us knew it, but I guess both of us had our own motivations for staying together. I can't say what hers were exactly, but I knew that she was always very insecure, always needed to feel loved and wanted, because she felt powerless otherwise. Maybe there was something else, but I'm not sure. We did love each other once, I think, but it faded, and it ended up that we were together more out of convenience than anything else. It wasn't that we wanted to be together – we just didn't want to be apart.

Anyway, you know what happened when I took over the club. It was only a few days later she told me she was pregnant, and I was happy. Maybe this was our second chance. Having a child, which we could love and raise together, and maybe rekindle the love we once had for each other, was one of the most amazing things that could have ever happened. I could imagine everything already, watching a sweet, blonde-haired boy kicking a ball around the garden in the evening, while Terri and I sat with our arms around each other, drinks in our hands, watching him and listening to him laugh and smiling because we were the model, the picture of the perfect family, and our friends and our neighbours would envy us.

When I look back on everything, I feel stupid for not noticing anything. I guess I was just too excited. We were going to have a little boy of our own. Then we went for the twelve-week, and were told it was a girl, that a mistake had been made, and any suspicion I had I suppressed because I was just so happy. I should have guessed something was up, but my teacher-mind kicked in, thought it was an honest mistake and continued to celebrate.

So there we were, a new house ready to move into, just beginning to choose names, looking at rooms and decor and everything we needed. And one night, I'm searching through the drawers just a few days before Sectionals that year; I can't remember what I was trying to find, and I guess it doesn't really matter. In any case, I opened one of her drawers, and found one of those pregnancy pad things. And you know when you get those gut feelings, that instinct that something isn't quite right? Well, I had one of those. So I went and confronted her. Discovered she was wearing one.

So there we go. The whole thing was a fake.

The best way to describe the feeling is like a dead tonne weight falling and hitting you on the head, but then passing through your skull and punching you in the stomach. The frayed threads of our marriage had unravelled in a matter of seconds. I don't really know what was worse finding out; that it was all completely false, or that she planned to exploit Quinn, or that her feelings towards me were so bad that she couldn't even tell me about the hysterical pregnancy in the first place and had to manipulate so many people to be able to keep up her appearance. It was like every last strand, all the glue and nails and chewing gum that had been trying to hold us together had been cut away, and we were left with nothing.

I moved out. I moved on. We divorced, and I found Emma. Not that that lasted either, thinking of April. And Shelby. And Holly. And everyone else, I guess.

Wow, my love life was a mess.

Anyway, I hope that's enough for you, because I can't think of anything else to tell you.

I'll let you know about Sectionals soon, and maybe we could have some coffee beforehand?

Will

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To: wschuester[at]wmhs. edu
From: bradellis[at]gmail. com
Subject: RE: The book

Hello!

It was good to hear back from you, too! Coffee sounds good to me. And we can catch up on everything.

But what you've told me – I cannot thank you enough. It's not only exactly what I needed, but for you to open up in such a way takes a lot. I cannot imagine just how it felt, and the way you handled it at the time – I remember – was amazing.

But yes, hopefully I'll see you soon!

Brad

Apologies for a slightly late update - my laptop charger broke recently, and so I now have no access to any of my plans, so I'm playing this a little by ear from what I can remember for each chapter at the moment until I get it back. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

And a little thank you to CAR, for her wonderful feedback and support and messaging me at 3am with comments!

I'll be back soon with another chapter!