26. Emma

Friday evening and the floor of the choir room was covered in sheets, mattresses, pillows, stuffed animals (mostly Sugar's) and Glee kids. The eleven of them made a circle around a burning wastepaper basket with the lights out.

Aware of all the drama that had surrounded/was surrounding his kids lately, Will decided to use that one and only opportunity in life to gather the New Directions and talk their problems out. Obviously with qualified assistance, a.k.a. his fiancée.

"Okay, we are all here to solve the problems and frictions in the group. This is a safe place, you can say whatever you need to say without being judged or told off. But there's a rule, only the person who has the Toothbrush of Feelings gets to talk. The rest must remain silent, alright?" she explained before passing the toothbrush to Sugar.

The girl picked it with two fingers, totally grossed out. "I want to say that 'Toothbrush of Feelings' is the lamest thing I've ever heard, and I spent the last year in this room with all of you, which is pretty lame by itself."

"Nothing else to share with us, Sugar?" Emma asked sourly.

Sugar handed Rory the toothbrush. "If you say that you miss your family I swear to God that I'll kick your ass back to England," Santana interrupted the boy before he started.

"Santana, you don't have the brush," Emma said.

"Nor the patience to put up with the same pouting over and over again," she replied.

Rory passed the brush to Sam, who did talk. "I want to say that I don't feel comfortable sleeping in the same room as Sugar since this morning."

"What happened this morning, Sam?" Emma asked.


Sam took a deep breath before he walked into the girls locker room. In a usual situation, everybody would have started shouting and calling the cops, but given the fact that Sam was in his Rocky Horror briefs and started dancing Village People's Macho Man with a big "Join Glee Club" painted down on his chest and "And you may get a piece of this" on his back, the scene was far from being related to teenage depravation, at least not on Sam's part.


"So Sugar threw me onto the floor and straddled me until Coach Sylvester saved me," the blond boy finished the dantesque story.

The alluded girl held out her hand, asking for the toothbrush. Once Sam handed it to her, she answered to the accusations. "In my defense I'll say that I thought that it was my birthday gift. And don't take it that personally. If I put a bag over your head is more a compliment to your body than an offense to your face."

Nobody said anything; they just let Mrs. Pillsbury ask Joe if he had something to say. When he took the brush, no word came out of his mouth, until Rachel intervened, "Mrs. Pillsbury, if I may." The girl turned to look at Joe. "As one of the most hurt parties in that dreadful wedding I had the disgrace to attend; and being aware of your sentimental past with, ironic mode on, our beloved friend Quinn, ironic mode off, I'd like to ask you… How are you feeling, fella?"

The boy of the dreadlocks remained silent. "I appreciate your support but… I'd rather not to talk about this."

Sam and Blaine squeezed Joe's shoulders as a sign of respect. Not bitching and airing the dirty laundry in front of everybody was something pretty unusual in that room. And Blaine had his hand on Joe's left shoulder, which meant that it was his turn.

He started playing with the toothbrush in his hand. "I just wanted to thank you all the support you gave me yesterday. I know some of you don't like me too much, so… thank you guys." Blaine smiled warmly at every single person in the choir room, especially at Artie, with whom things weren't very smooth that week.

Artie smiled back at Blaine. "Don't get me wrong, you know I like you, but…" His reply got interrupted by Tina's elbow digging in the boy's ribs. "Competition and stuff," he tried to finish with no air in his lungs.

"I think I don't know you," Emma raised her voice among all the laughter caused by that moment between Artie and Tina.

When Sebastian took the toothbrush, he introduced himself to the counselor, "Sebastian Smythe, I come from Dalton, and I do want to express some feelings I have in the inside."

They all muted. Nobody had ever seen Sebastian trying to open his heart. At least in public. Blaine was the one who frowned the most, but feeling proud of his friend.

"I know you have an image of me that doesn't correspond to reality. And that's my fault so I want to make amends with myself and with you, because if I'm gonna share my senior year with you, I don't want you to think that I'm only a man-whore trying to put every single man and woman in a leather suit and whip…"

"Okay! We get it! No need for scatological details," Emma shut him up nervously. She hadn't got over her… intimacy issues. Yes, she made it to home base on Will's baseball match, but she was still feeling very uncomfortable when subjects like hardcore teenage sex were brought up. "And, Sebastian, tell us, why did you transfer here?"

"I've been said that this is the way you do this, so… here I go: it all began as a dare from my friends at Dalton. They would all wear only the blazer for a week if I got to bed with Blaine during the first three days of school. But whether I achieved my goal or not, I would transfer back in that deadline."

Emma arched her eyebrows. "But you're still here."

Sebastian looked into Blaine's eyes. "Because somehow it stopped being a challenge for me." He offered the other Warbler the toothbrush back, but he rejected it with a gentle grin on his face, so Sebastian gave it to Rachel, who was on his right.

But instead of talking, what Rachel did was throw the brush to Tina. "Come on, say it now, I don't want you to interrupt me, it's going to be a beautiful statement."

"Please, Berry, one month listening to your 'I love him but I'm still doing my best gay' and you think you need a toothbrush to keep killing us? What you need is a little decency and a plane ticket for the first flight to New York or hell or wherever people like you end up going to." Tina finished with a smile. Not a friendly smile, of course, an I-like-the-way-we-roll smile.

Rachel got the brush back, and began talking, "I want you all to know that I'm not here to talk about my intense romantic life, though I know you'd appreciate it the day you decide to write my biography. What I want to tell you is that I tried to convince Jesse not to steal our Sectionals." The class stared at Rachel in awe, waiting for the girl to say that she made it. "But the price was too high."

"The price?" Will asked from the corner of the room.


When Jesse leaned in to kiss Rachel the day before in the choir room, the girl pulled back. He held her face and tried to kiss her again, but she started laughing as Jesse's attempt of reliving the flame between them.


"So he ended up offering me your numbers in exchange of, and I quote, giving these mattresses the première they deserve," Rachel finished answering his teacher. "I felt kinda whory."

"The first useful thing you could have done with that tongue of yours and you fucked it up," Sugar said. "Oops, sorry, that was too cheap."

"It's actually cheaper knowing that you wouldn't get a solo even if he-Berry got laid with Berry. God, someone sterilize one of them, this world can't take the risk of a child born to these two," Santana intervened.

Emma raised her hands. "Girls, please, Rachel's dignity is more important than… your disturbing obsession with the solos."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, give me the thingy, let's wrap this up. I want to sleep." Santana wrenched the toothbrush away from Rachel. "Relax everybody, I got everything under control." She pointed out at Brittany, Artie and Tina. "She's dealing with her cat's disappearance and Wheels and his Asian sexual master are going to have intercourse in this room while we all try to sleep…"

"Santana!" Emma shouted. "What did I just say about scatological details?"

"Oh, no, I haven't said anything about a tube of lubricant. Yet." A fake cough came out of Santana's mouth, "they like it rough."

The couple didn't answer. Maybe they thought answering the prank was not worthy of their effort. Maybe Santana wasn't wrong at all. But just maybe. Brittany did raise her hand. "I want to say that Lord Tubbington is lost and afraid around the school. He's probably hungry, depending on how many janitors he has run into. So, in case you see him, do not touch him. Just run and shout 'Jumanji'. Thanks for your collaboration."

Emma dismissed the group therapy when she threw the toothbrush into the dustbin. Blaine tilted his head towards the door, making a sign for Sebastian to follow him. They came into the bathroom. Blaine sat on the counter and Sebastian leaned against one of the stool doors. "What you said… was…"

"Already regretting it," Sebastian chuckled, feeling embarrassed about his moment of lameness earlier.

"Don't." Blaine's eyes met Sebastian's across the bathroom. "Keep going."

Sebastian shrugged. "What else do you want me to say? In fact, I was hoping that you'd start yelling at me because I objectified you and treated you like a deer whose head I want to hang from the wall of my living room."

"The fact that you fell for me in three days helps a lot." Blaine gave him his biggest smile. He noticed how shy and awkward that once-cheeky boy looked. "You know things about me that not even Kurt or my own brother knows."

"And what does that mean exactly?"

"It means that it's a big step for us that I've told those to you." He made a pause. "So there's no secret between us. You know… me... and… my situation."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, the Berry issue."

"And that's over."

The cards were all over the table. Except for one. The one that suddenly Sebastian felt as a potential rock on their road. "Before we go any further I have to tell you about something. It meant nothing. It was just… the typical one-night stand after getting drunker than Rachel."

Blaine didn't answer, waiting for the tall boy to finish his confession. He couldn't deny he was feeling a little scared. Sebastian Smythe was everything but a predictable person. So he prayed for him not to say anything that made him run out of that bathroom.

"Santana and I." When he pronounced those three words, the shorter Warbler sighed with relief. "What?"

"I was expecting something more like… I'm having an affair with your father, you know?" Blaine chuckled loudly. "Thank God."

Sebastian bit his bottom lip and laughed as well. "Oh, I see, I'm a box full of surprises. But you can't tell anyone because Brittany doesn't know and…"

"They've been through enough crap lately and you care about your friends," Blaine finished the sentence. He looked down before moving his eyes back up to Sebastian's. They both took a deep breath and burst into laughter again when they saw how nervous they were.

Sebastian stepped forward. "What the fuck are we doing? What are we? 13-year-olds waiting for their first kiss?" He took another step as Blaine jumped off the counter.

They found themselves standing three inches away from each other before Blaine got on his tiptoes and kissed Sebastian, who cupped his face and kissed him back passionately.


Meanwhile, the boys in the choir room decided to get themselves to sleep by singing a song. A song just because they wanted to sing it. Something to chill out instead of wanting to blow their heads off rehearsing it over and over again. Just fun and a relative peace between them all. No meaning, no hard feelings, no nothing.

[Every breath you take – The Police]

Joe:
Every breath you take.
And every move you make.
Every bond you break.
Every step you take.
I'll be watching you.

Sam:
Every single day.
And every word you say.
Every game you play.
Every night you stay.
I'll be watching you.

Tina:
Oh can't you see?
You belong to me.

Artie:
How my poor heart aches
with every step you take!

Rachel:
Every move you make.
And every vow you break.
Every smile you fake.
Every claim you stake.
I'll be watching you.

Brittany and Santana:
Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace.
I dream at night I can only see your face.
I look around but it's you I can't replace.
I feel so cold and I long for your embrace.
I keep crying baby, baby, please!

They danced together. They jumped on the mattresses, they felt... together for the first time since school started, singing their "uhs" and grabbing one another by the waist no matter what things they've said.

Will:
Oh can't you see?
You belong to me.

Emma and Will:
How my poor heart aches
with every step you take!

Sugar:
Every move you make.
And every vow you break.
Every smile you fake.
Every claim you stake.
I'll be watching you.

Rory and Sugar:
Every move you make.
Every step you take.
I'll be watching you.

Rory:
I'll be watching you.

New Directions:
Every breath you take.
Every move you make.
Every bond you break.
Every step you take.

Rory:
I'll be watching you.

New Directions:
Every single day.
Every word you say.
Every game you play.
Every night you stay.

Rory:
I'll be watching you.

New Directions:
Every move you make.
Every vow you break.
Every smile you fake.
Every claim you stake.

Rory:
I'll be watching you.

New Directions:
Every single day.
Every word you say.
Every game you play.
Every night you stay.

Rory:
I'll be watching you.