Chapter 2: Surprise!

Mr. Schue had just dismissed the day's glee club rehearsal, and was cleaning up a rather large collection of props they'd been using for this year's school musical. The glee club had worked hard on their own rendition of Moulin Rouge!, which would be performed that night at 8, and the following two nights as well.

So lost was he in his cleaning, that he didn't even notice when his former students came in. With grins all around, the group watched Rachel count down from 3 on her fingers, and they all started singing Chicago's "Baby, What a Big Surprise."

Mr. Schue whirled around in shock. "What?" he exclaimed, his face showing surprise and extreme joy at seeing his very first glee club (more or less) together again. He walked over to them, and started hugging, only to be almost crushed in a massive group hug.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked, looking around the room at the older and more mature faces of his former students. "Rachel and Kurt, aren't you guys doing Broadway now? How on earth did you get time off to come here?"

Kurt grinned. "I told them I had a horrible case of laryngitis, and the understudy stepped in."

Rachel looked at Kurt in shock. "I... Did that, too."

The whole group dissolved into laughter at the similar tales of two of their resident divas.

"We came back to see you, Mr. Schue," Finn said. "Brittany and Santana told us when the musical was gonna be this year, and we all wanted to see it."

"I'm so glad you guys all came," he replied, still unable to believe his eyes.

"Need help movin' these props, Mr. Schue?" Puck asked, noting the huge amount of stuff around the room.

The teacher grinned. "Absolutely... Why weren't you this helpful in high school, Puck?"

A grin from the former slacker got the whole group laughing again. "Come on, Mr. Schue," Puck protested in a joking tone. "I've still got a rep to maintain, here!"

Everybody pitched in, and within a few minutes, they had everything where it needed to be on the stage, or just off stage for easy scene changes. Mr. Schue glanced at his watch. "It's only 5:30," he said. "I've gotta be back here in an hour and a half, but that's plenty of time for Breadstix, right?"

A chorus of affirmative exclamations let the teacher know that his suggestion was more than appreciated. He laughed, as the entire group rushed out to get food before they had to get back to the school.

Once at Breadstix, and settled in with their food in front of them, the talk amongst the former glee clubmates rose to a dull roar over the general din of the restaurant.

Quinn chose that moment to speak up. "Guys," she said, sort of clearing her throat nervously. "I know some of you have met Jason, but... This is my fiance, Jason Michaels. We're getting married this fall." She smiled as the man reached over to take her hand.

The little "family" gave a cheer, excited to see one of their own so happy. All of them, that is, except Puck, but no one really noticed.

Mr. Schue was extremely happy for his former student. Her bright smile brought one to his own face, until suddenly, something in his mind clicked. His smile faded as he realized that he needed to talk to a couple of his old students before the play tonight. Preferably as soon as possible.