Rachel, Finn, Mike, Kurt and Blaine rode together in Kurt's Navigator to the church. All five were dressed in black to mark the occasion, although Kurt had insisted on adding a blood-red tie and matching pocket square to his suit, claiming that 'Mr Schue always told me to be myself, and I'm sure he would stand by that even at his own funeral'. The drive to the church was a subdued affair; the curious atmosphere of death hung over the car's occupants like a heavy cloak. The radio had burst into life when they first clambered in outside the Hummel-Hudson household, where they had all spent the night squashed into the spare bedroom and on the sofas, but Blaine had tactfully reached out and switched it off. The rest of the ride passed in tense silence as each person in the car contemplated what lay ahead. Even Blaine, who had only met Will Schuester in passing, knew how important he had been in the others' lives.
When they arrived outside St. Charles' Catholic Church, they were dumbfounded. The church yard was a veritable sea of people.
"Wow," Blaine whispered softly, hopping down from the front seat to open the door for Rachel. "I guess he was more popular than you guys let on."
"He was awesome," Finn agreed in a tight voice. Rachel took him gently by the arm and steered him in the gate, scanning the crowd for any sign of a familiar face. She recognised a couple of figures; their old principal, Figgins, was by the church door talking to a couple of vaguely recognisable members of the McKinley High faculty, and she thought she caught a glimpse of Mr Schuester's former wife by the hydrangeas. Then, from somewhere to her left, she heard a voice.
"Hudson!"
The small cluster of people whipped around to find Noah Puckerman striding towards them with Santana by his side. Brittany was just behind them, pushing Artie in his chair. Like the others, they were all dressed in black and wearing suitably sombre expressions, although their faces lit up as they came closer.
"Long time no see, man," Puck grinned broadly.
"Too long," agreed Finn, eagerly fist-bumping his one-time best friend, whose head was now covered in an inky fuzz of dark hair. "What happened to the Mohawk?"
"I grew up, that's what happened," Puck chuckled. He grunted slightly as Rachel hurtled around Finn to hug him tightly. "Nice to see you too, Berry. It is still Berry, right? You two didn't, like, elope without telling anybody?"
"Not yet," Rachel smiled shyly, holding up her ring finger. Brittany and Blaine gasped delightedly, Santana even cracked a genuine smile, Artie clapped his hands and Kurt smacked Finn in the upper arm.
"How could you not tell me? Wait, how did I not notice?" he hissed, but he was grinning from ear to ear and promptly dived into the crowd surrounding Rachel and cooing appreciatively. Puck punched Finn's arm and then shook his hand warmly.
"Congrats man," he beamed. "I'm really happy for you."
"Thanks."
"What's going on over here, then?"
Finn turned around and without warning found his arms full of Quinn. The pretty blonde embraced both him and Puck simultaneously before stepping back to let Tina do the same.
"Whoa, Tina, what the hell?" Puck exclaimed, holding her at arm's length to get a good look at his former classmate. "Why in the name of Chuck Norris did you hide a figure like that under those frumpy Goth clothes in high school? You're hot!"
Tina rolled her eyes at Quinn. "Some things never change," the blonde muttered, but it was with a fond expression. "So what's going on over there?"
"Berry's just revelling in being the centre of attention," Puck said, winking at Quinn. "Some things never change, I guess."
"We- uh, Rach and I got engaged," Finn told the two women sheepishly, his gaze rooted on the gravel. Both beamed at him and rushed at him at once in congratulations.
"Honestly, first Kurt and Blaine get married without telling the rest of us, now you two as well?" Quinn grumbled, but a twitch of her lips betrayed her true emotions. "I'm glad you're happy Finn. Really, I am."
She grabbed Tina by the arm and hurried to join the rest of the group. Tina froze momentarily as she caught Mike's eye where he was standing, in animated conversation with Santana and Brittany. He too froze, the easy grin which had flitted onto his face disappearing in an instant.
"H-hi," Tina said hesitantly. Mike opened his mouth to speak, but then shook his head and seemed to think better of it. "How's New York?"
"I'm sorry Tee," Mike replied shakily. "I don't think I can do this. Not yet. Excuse me."
And before she could say another word, he had brushed past her to go talk to Puck. Tina put her fingers to the patch of skin Mike had touched off as he passed her, before Kurt latched onto her with a squeal and dragged her into the conversation.
"You OK?" Finn asked in a low voice as Mike joined himself and Puck, closely followed by Artie. Mike nodded weakly.
"Yeah, yeah I guess so," he sighed. "It's just hard, seeing her again."
"You'll find someone else," Artie said quietly, looking up at the man who he had once considered a rival for Tina's affections. "Just look at me. When Tina broke it off, I thought I was destined for a life of playing Halo in my bedroom with only a Princess Leia poster for company. But now I've got Britt, and I've never been happier. A break-up isn't the end of the world Mike, it just feels like it for a while."
"I second that."
"Sam!" Finn exclaimed happily, catching sight of the bleached-blonde football player standing a couple of feet away. "Good to see you man, we didn't think you'd make it."
"Hey, I told Kurt I'd be here and I meant it. I wouldn't miss saying goodbye to Mr Schue for anything. The dude was one hell of a teacher," Sam shrugged.
"Not recently, he wasn't," Puck mumbled darkly. Finn, Sam, Artie and Mike stared at him.
"What do you mean?" Artie asked, pushing his glasses up his nose and leaning slightly closer with interest. Even the conversation about the engagement had been silenced as everyone clustered around Puck to hear more. He sighed and glanced around edgily, looking at Santana for backup. She nodded imperceptibly and ran a hand through her long black hair.
"Look, we didn't know how to tell you guys," she said imploringly. "Everyone had just found out about him kicking the bucket and... well..."
"Tell us what, Santana?" Quinn asked, a slight tremor in her voice. Santana glanced around to make sure they weren't being overheard and then continued.
"Hardly anyone knows this," she said in a hollow voice. "We only do because I'm working in the school... Will had been acting weird for almost a year before he died. He and Emma- Miss Pillsbury, I mean- they got married, and they were really happy. But then he started acting off. He was jumpy, forgetful and then it got worse. He started flying off the handle for no reason, yelling at the kids for the littlest things. He was paranoid, he wasn't sleeping... eventually, about two months ago, Sylvester had to ask him to leave."
"She fired him?" Rachel asked incredulously. "How could she? Mr Schuester was the best thing about McKinley."
"You didn't see him this past year," Santana said with a slight shiver. Puck squeezed her shoulders. "He totally lost it. Seeing things, mood swings, you name it. The guy was convinced someone was out to get him, he ended up the laughing stock of McKinley. It was really hard on Emma, trying to deal with him. Police won't tell us anything, but the general opinion is that he snapped and killed himself."
Sam gave a low whistle and a shiver seemed to ripple through the cluster of former classmates.
"I can't believe Mr Schue ended up like that," Artie said softly.
"Yeah," Brittany whispered. "He was like the strongest person I knew at school, except for that Lauren girl and she was a wrestler."
"It's just... unbelievable," Kurt sighed, resting his head against Blaine's shoulder.
"No, you know what's unbelievable?" a new voice said behind them. "That y'all are gossipin' about Mr Schue at his funeral. What the heck is wrong with you? Haven't you got any respect for the dead?"
"Mercedes," Kurt said with a sad smile, rushing to embrace his best friend, who was standing with arms akimbo and scowling. "Sorry, we just... it was a lot to take in."
"Yeah, I'm sorry too," the curvy woman said immediately. "These things just get to me, I guess. The service is about to start, y'all should come inside if you want to sit."
Kurt nodded and looped one hand through Mercedes' arm and the other through Blaine's. The African-American woman led the rest of the group into the church porch. They maintained a subdued silence until Mercedes slid into an almost-empty pew alongside-
"Rach, am I seeing things or is that Jesse St James?" Finn whispered hoarsely, staring at the figure. Mercedes swivelled around to face him.
"Long story White Boy," she informed him. "I'll explain later. It's starting."
/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/
An hour or so later, the group stepped out into the church yard. The service had been a subdued affair, although Miss Pillsbury's sobbing and Mr Schuester's dad's eulogy had provided a moving reprieve. It was a huge funeral; present and former pupil's had turned out to pay their respects, as well as faculty members past and present, including a visibly distraught Holly Holiday and Sue Sylvester, who wore an expression close to sadness and a black tracksuit for the occasion. The former classmates huddled together in the gravelled yard, reminiscing and catching up on the parts of each others' lives they had missed out on.
"So you're engaged now, huh?" Puck asked Sam. The guys had gravitated together, while the women stood a couple of feet away. Jesse stood awkwardly between the two groups until Blaine, feeling sorry for him, made his way over to introduce himself. It was fitting, in a way; both were outsiders to New Directions' grief.
"Yes sir," Sam said proudly, accepting the pat on the back Mike offered him. "You wanna see a picture?"
He reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and withdrew his wallet. Inside was a colour snapshot of him and Madelyn on a vacation to Hawaii a couple of months ago. He grinned and showed it to the others. Puck whistled appreciatively. The others just stared.
"Dude," Finn said. "She looks l-" he was cut off by a sharp elbow and a warning look from his stepbrother. "She's really pretty man. You did good."
"Thanks," Sam grinned. "She's a great girl, you know?"
"Please tell me you saw that," Finn said in an undertone to Kurt, under the pretence of allowing the smaller man to remove a piece of lint from his collar. "Dude, come on, she's a carbon copy of-"
"Quinn. Yes Finn, although I have no romantic interest in the fairer sex I am not blind to their physical attributes you know. I'm perfectly aware that Sam's new fiancée bears a startling resemblance to your former high school sweetheart. It's sad, if you ask me."
The two were spared further speculation by a flurry of excitement from the girls, who were staring at a figure near the church gate.
"Matt!" Mike exclaimed, following the girls' gaze to see his one-tome best friend waving hesitantly at him with a sheepish grin. He hurried to greet him properly, closely followed by both Brittany and Santana. "What're you doing here?"
"I read about the funeral in the obits and figured I'd come," Matt shrugged. "I missed most of the service though. I was supposed to come down yesterday, but I was barely out the door at home when Leah called me back. She had to go to work and Ruby wasn't feeling great, so I had to stay with her."
"How old's she now?"
"Six, and Colby's two and a half."
"Who knew our very own Silent Bob would be the first to settle down?" Santana teased playfully. "It's good to see you Rutherford, how long are you in town for?"
"About a week, figured I'd do some visiting while I'm here."
"Great. I'd offer you a bed, but Britt and Artie have my spare room for the week."
"No worries San, he can stay with me. Mom and Dad are visiting Mom's aunt in Utah," Mike explained, before turning back to the others. "Anybody else need somewhere to crash?"
"Mercedes and Tina are staying at mine," Quinn said. "My mom already offered."
"I'm crashing at Puck's," Sam said, nodding gratefully to his former teammate.
"It's a bit crowded at home with all of us, on top of Mom, Burt and the twins, so Rach and I are spending the week at her dads' place."
"They really only use it as a holiday home now that they've got that condo in Boca," Rachel explained. "So we're going to stay there and Kurt and Blaine will stay at the Hummel-Hudson house."
"Jesse, you need somewhere to crash?" Mike asked generously. He didn't particularly like the curly-haired man- he had screwed their glee club over big time in high school, and broke Rachel's heart to boot- but he was generally too nice for his own good and he hated to see anybody stuck.
"A-are you sure?" Jesse asked uncertainly. Mike nodded good-naturedly.
"Sure, the place is plenty big for the three of us."
"He's right man, his parents' house is like a mansion," enthused Matt. "There's even a Jacuzzi."
"Well I can't turn down an offer like that," Jesse grinned gratefully. "Thanks man."
"Now that that's sorted," Rachel piped up shrilly. "I'd like to present an idea to the group."
"Berry, you sound like you're runnin' for office," Puck teased. "Just spit it out."
The petite brunette tossed her hair and scowled at Puck before turning her attention back to the rest of the group. "As the former co-captain of New Directions, I would like to propose a reunion of sorts. We're all in Lima together for the first time in longer than I care to remember, and I think it would be a fitting tribute to the late Mr Schuester if we-"
"Honestly, I'll go if it stops you talking," Santana interjected.
"Great idea Rachel," Mercedes said quickly, because she didn't like the look the diminutive diva was shooting at the svelte cheerleading coach.
"Yeah, how about tomorrow evening?" Sam suggested, and was greeted by a flurry of nods of agreement. "But where?"
Santana and Blaine rolled their eyes in unison and, in perfect harmony, chorused: "Where else? BreadstiX!"
Desperate to regain control of the situation, Rachel proclaimed in a loud, ringing voice, "Perfect. I'll see you all in BreadstiX at seven thirty tomorrow evening. In lieu of thanking me for my brilliant idea, please bring photos, video footage or other mementos of our time in glee club with Mr Schuester."
/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/
Later that night, Finn lay in bed next to Rachel, who was nestled in the crook of his elbow.
"Rach," he whispered into the darkness. "Is it weird that we're sleeping together in your parents' house without permission?"
"Finn, we're engaged, not sixteen years old."
"Sorry, I guess I'm just a little bit nervous about telling them when we see them next."
"Understandable. Due to the homophobic attitudes of small towns such as Lima, both of my daddys obtained black belts in judo, karate and mixed martial arts before moving here."
"Really?" Finn gulped, thinking that he might have to invest in some chain mail before venturing down to the Berrys' Boca condo. Rachel giggled and propped herself up on one elbow to face him.
"Relax Finn. You make me happier than even obtaining the coveted role of Maria did. Once I tell my daddys that, they're bound to love you."
"Thanks Rach," he sighed, relieved. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too Finn. Goodnight."
The couple were just drifting off to sleep when, downstairs, the phone began to ring. Finn groaned and put the pillow over his head. Rachel rolled her eyes and sat up, jamming her feet into her slippers before padding downstairs to answer the phone.
Who on earth is calling at this hour? she thought grumpily. It had been a long day; after the funeral service, she and Finn had headed back to the Hummel-Hudson house to tell Finn's mom and Burt the big news. There had been tears (Carole, Kurt, Rachel), manly hugs (Burt and Finn), gushing colour scheme plans (Kurt and Rachel) and terrified escaping (Blaine and Finn). By the time she and Finn had reached the Berry house, she was travel weary and just looking forward to a good night's sleep.
"Whoever you are, you should know that you are interrupting the R.E.M cycle of a Tony-nominated actress. What is your reason for calling this number?"
Only heavy breathing met her question.
"Hello? Noah, if this is some idiotic joke of yours, it's not funny."
More breathing.
"Hello? Hello?"
"Schuester was right."
/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/
A couple of blocks away, the caller hung up their phone and smiled. They got to their feet and stood a couple of inches from the notice board on their bedroom wall. A haphazard series of photographs were pinned to it, each depicting various former members of New Directions. The one at the centre of the board featured two people, one of whom the caller had scribbled out with a blood-red Sharpie.
They stood back a little to observe their work. Will Schuester had already fallen, and the rest of the pawns were finally in place.
It had begun.
/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/
A/N: And now the suspense aspect comes into play. Thanks as always to those of you who are sticking with Old Wounds, especially the following who have reviewed since the last update: Readingtoomuch, Fallen Upon, Clo (again, insanely detailed review and much love for that!), MacieXOXO145 and Bonesluver. Keep up the good work!
I'd love to hear some early speculation on the identity of our phantom caller, as well as who you think (or hope, for the particularly vindictive among you) will be the next face to be scribbled out on that notice board.
Thanks for reading!