A/N: Sorry it took so long for this update. I've been doing a lot of reading over writing this past week, but inspiration just struck again. I'm probably still not totally done with this yet. Now I'm thinking ahead to wake/funeral and even how the next generation of kids might be coping...

The group sits, frozen in their seats. There have been many tears in here, many fights, many reconciliations, but somehow, Puck had always seemed to avoid the most dramatic of it all. None of them has ever seen him break, and hearing his choked sobs now is what suddenly makes this all the more real for the rest of them. They can't look at him, but they all find their eyes watering, even those who'd already managed to somewhat calm down. And when Puck finally pulls away from Will, he realizes to his relief that not only is no one staring at him, but the rest of them are all in various states of dissolving, too. For some reason, it allows him to join them, much as he would run from this at any other time.

He stumbles blearily to a seat, and once in it, he puts his face in his hands. Just because he's willing to sit here doesn't mean he has to talk to anyone. The fact is - there's nothing to say. He should've known that this was not what Mr. Shue would think, though, because he's been sitting there for all of 30 seconds, maybe, when he hears the familiar sound of the chair's wheels and then his former teacher's now raspy voice saying, "Guys, I just - I just wanted us all to have a chance to be together and lean on each other. Is there - is there anything anyone wants to say?"

For a long time, there is silence except for the occasional sniffle, and then Mercedes's voice wavers as she says, "I - I didn't know what to think when I got that phone call. It still doesn't seem real. It's - it's Finn. Things like this happen in the news. They don't happen to us."

There are some murmurs of agreement from around the room, and then Tina clears her throat as she finally finds herself able to speak. "I know what you mean, Mercedes. I just stared at the phone for, like, ten minutes. It didn't seem like it could have happened. It - it still doesn't. I just sit here, and I feel like I'm waiting for ..." she trails off, but she involuntarily glances toward the door, and the rest of the group clearly understands because Brittany sniffles, "I keep thinking he's just going to walk in any minute." She lets out a quavering breath and leans into Santana, who strokes her hair. Santana doesn't say anything. She won't. She's afraid if she does, she'll start crying, and she can't let herself start. She's not sure why this is happening either, but she's even less sure about why she's feeling so wrecked by it. So she comforts Brittany but maintains her silence.

Rachel is also sitting in silence, but the tears are streaming down her face unchecked. She's not wiping them away, and she's not making a sound, but they're showing no signs of stopping, and that is what is slowly destroying Kurt inch by inch. This room has seen more than its share of Rachel Berry meltdowns and tantrums, but it's never seen Rachel's silent devastation. And that's what keeps reminding Kurt over and over again that Finn really must be gone. Because something has to be really real to hurt Rachel this much and not cause her to pull even more attention to herself. But he can't ignore the tears, and he slowly releases Blaine's hand and shifts his chair closer to Rachel.

"Rache," he asks softly, and he puts his arm around her. She leans her head against his shoulder for a moment, trying to pretend this is like old times, that they're sitting here for a New Directions rehearsal and that Finn will be here at any moment to practice their duet - but he isn't. And she is suddenly understanding this for the very first time, and she convulses with an enormous sob.

"I'm sorry," she wails, and she tries to bolt, tries to get away from this room where it all began, but then there are arms around her, holding her tightly, and she realizes through a haze of tears that it's Puck. Slowly, she stops fighting and turns to look at him. He's still holding her, but he won't look at her. He's staring over her head, biting his lip, blinking quickly and swallowing hard. And while the last thing she wants is to make this harder for anyone - that's why she was trying to leave, after all - he's the one who stopped her, and it's the tears in his eyes that release the sobs she's been trying to contain for too long. She breaks hard.

Puck is still holding her and holding on with all his might to his own control because he knows he's put himself in that awful position again where everyone else is watching him, but instinct took over when he saw Rachel try to run, and he caught her before he really expected to. And now they're here, once again in front of all of their friends, and it's not like with Mr. Shue where he could hide in his shoulder. There is no hiding with someone as small as Rachel in his arms. So he clenches his jaw and hangs onto her with all his might, even as he knows that his tears are starting to drip on her hair.

Kurt doesn't want to fall apart. He'd wanted to help Rachel, but he's afraid now that he just made things harder. Plus - plus he just plain misses his brother. His face crumples against his will, and he wants to hide, wants to run like Rachel tried to, but he knows he'd make it just as far. So he doesn't even try. He looks at Mr. Shue, who is trying very hard not to cry, himself, and he says, "this is - this is too hard, Mr. Shue. I'm just not sure we're going to be able to do this." He's proud of how calm he thinks his voice just sounded, but Blaine heard the tremors, and he's turning to Kurt now. He wants to pull him into his arms and let himself fall into Kurt's, but he's still not sure where they stand. But all it takes for Kurt is the wide eyed hurt in Blaine's eyes for him to lose the tiny bit of control he has left, and they fall into each other.

Artie is crying silently. He has been for a long time now, and he doesn't think anyone's noticed. He has noticed that Mike's been doing the same thing, that he's been surreptitiously swiping at his eyes when he thinks no one's looking, but he's certainly not going to be the one to tell anyone. And at one point, Mike makes eye contact with him, and there is a moment of pure understanding and pain that threatens to pull them both under completely, so they quickly look away. And that's when Sam says, "I'm - I'm scared of going to the wake, Mr. Shue. And the funeral. I don't - I don't know how to do anything like that."

Mr. Shuester sighs. "No one knows how to do anything like this, Sam. All you do have to do is just show up. It's not going to be easy for anybody, and it's ok to cry or not to cry when you're there. But I do think it's important that we all go together, so we can help each other. The younger kids will be there, too, I'm sure, even though I haven't had the chance to talk to any of them yet, but I know how much they all looked up to Finn," and he chokes here on the past tense for just a moment. Quinn hears it, and her eyes fill, and she looks down quickly, unwilling to let anyone see, not knowing Santana has, not knowing it's caused Santana's eyes to fill, too. But Mr. Shue clears his throat and somehow continues. "They're going to need our help, too. Once we know all the arrangements, we can work out our plans. Ok?"

He hadn't been expecting a response, but a few of them nod, and he knows that this is probably the only thing that is ok. Because nothing else is. And one quick glance around the room lets him know that it won't be for a very long time.