A/N: And it's Sectionals! So excited! I had to cut a lot of songs I wanted to put in, but the one I kept is "Roxanne" from the musical Moulin Rouge. Enjoy!

Cream-colored hands slid up the side of a black velvet dress as Katie zipped herself into her outfit in the bathroom. She was still caught up in the events of the other day, which weighed heavily on her mind, but she was determined to keep Dylan's secret.

"I still feel bad that you didn't even get to audition," Caroline was commenting from beside her as she carefully pinned her hair into place. "Not that I didn't want the lead, but it would have been fun to hear your duet; and with Dylan not even here today—"

"He would have been if he could have," the blonde replied defensively. After their conversation, Dylan had proceeded to pack up all of the boys' things and load them up into Nikki's car, where Katie drove them to a motel near a bus stop that ran past the schools. After helping them check in and get settled, Dylan had insisted that she get back to school and return the "borrowed" vehicle, assuring her that he'd call her soon. Since then, she'd only received a few texts explaining his prolonged absence from school and that he'd miss the competition.

Caroline frowned at her friends retort. "I know that." Her tone softened in apology as she tried to explain herself. "I just meant that it's too bad he's always disappearing." She chuckled, apparently trying to break the tension. "It's like he's got some big bad secret or something." The brunette placed a hand on her best friend's shoulder. "Anyways, I'm sure we're going to be great."

"Are you two finished with your after-school moment?" Hayley's voice called out from the doorway. The two girls turned to face her as the sophomore slid a finger underneath the halter strap against her skin in agitation. "Because we're supposed to be in our seats in fifteen, and the sooner we're done, the sooner I can take this stupid dress off."
"I designed that dress," Caroline told her indignantly.

"Yeah, I know."

Katie shot the freshman a small smile as the other girl shook her head. "Don't worry about her—we look hot," she said. "And we're totally going to win."

Caroline smiled as she watched from her place in the audience. With Katie on her left and Teddy on her right, she felt nothing but confident, especially as she watched the curious performance of "Daughter's Lament" that came from a team that seemed a little too into The Hunger Games.

As they exited the stage, she turned to smile at Teddy, but frowned as she watched him staring at his phone wide-eyed. She squeezed his hand to get his attention, but he shook his head, his breaths become short as he pulled his hand free and squeezed out of the row and down the aisle quickly. Caroline quickly stood in concern to follow him, with Andrew and Liam close on her heels.

When they reached the waiting room they found the junior hunched over with his head between his knees.

"Oh my God, Teddy!" the freshman exclaimed, rushing forward.

"Abrams!" Liam shouted, coming up behind to grab Caroline's arm. "Give him some room Care."

"It's okay, Teddy, just breathe," Andrew told the junior, using his hand to emphasize slow in-and-exhalations.

The junior shook his head as he panted and gasped, gesticulating shakily to the phone in his hand. Liam stepped forward and grabbed it, adjusting his glasses as he read the message.
"Ah, crap," he muttered, turning to Andrew. "It's Marissa."

"His sister?" Caroline asked.

The other boy read the message as well and sighed. "She got her heart broken by some idiot eighth grader and now she's run off. Her parents say they're already out looking, but they've run out of ideas on where."
"Got…to get…to her," Teddy wheezed as he placed a knee on the ground to steady himself.

"You guys, what's going on?" Will asked as he burst through the door. "Oh my god, Teddy, are you alright?"

"I have to go," the junior said weakly, and Liam raced to him as he tried to stand.

"What's going on?" Nina asked as the group shuffled into the room. "The Fab Four are up right now, we're next—"

"Oh crap," Hayley grumbled as they all processed the sight before them.

"Teddy, I'm sure your parents are doing everything they can for your sister," Caroline tried to assure him. "There's nothing more you can do."

"She's right Teddy," Will added. "They'll find her."

"Okay, my brother's in the audience and he's on his way back here," Andrew interjected, coming up from behind them. "He can give you a ride."

"Wait, you're going to leave?" Caroline asked in confusion.

The teacher looked around in surprise. "What? No," he argued. "I can't release you to another teammate's sibling, Teddy. I'm sorry."

The curly-headed boy lifted his head to stare at his teacher in determination. "Mr. Schuester," he told the man, still gasping slightly. "Marissa is my sister, and I know her better than anyone. I can find her. So you can either let me walk out that door, or you can report me for leaving a school function, because either way I'm going to get my little sister."

The adult deflated a little, biting his lip as he stared ambivalently at his student. When he said nothing after another moment, Teddy nodded and walked over to meet Andrew's older brother who had just turned up at the door, and they left the room.

"Whoa, wait a sec," Michelle said, breaking the silence. "Who's going to take the duet then?"

"I'm not sure I can do it without Teddy," Caroline said nervously. "It won't be the same."

"Well, we're kind of short on pairs," Walt pointed out.

"Why can't the Wonder Siblings just do the set?" Stassi asked.

"I can't do it," Michelle replied. "I couldn't even sound halfway decent without proper rehearsal." She gave Everett a pointed look, even emphatically nodding her head to his left, but the boy just flushed red and looked downward.
"Wait, so we went from like a half-dozen couples to now where we don't have any leads?" Hayley spat in disbelief after a moment. "Wow, we suck."
"We'll do it," a boy's voice spoke up, and the arguing team turned to face Dalton, who stood in the back with a hand on Roxie's shoulder. The freshman's eyes went wide in shock at the statement, but the sophomore continued, "We were supposed to anyways, and we can handle it."

The boy turned his dark eyes to hers. "I know you don't want this," he whispered lowly, leaning in close to her. "I know you're scared—but you don't have to be, because you have an amazing gift, and you are going to blow everyone away. I need you to be with me on this. Please?"

Roxanne matched his gaze and finally nodded, causing the rest of the team to cheer. "Okay guys," Will said as he clapped his hands together. "We're up next; let's get ready."

Emma, meanwhile, had slipped into the restroom. She was breathing heavily and felt sick. She faced more stress than most people did that were twice her age; she couldn't understand why this competition was crushing her.

"Hey, there you are," Stassi said as she peeked her head in through the door. "Last minute switch-up; we've got to have another team meeting." The Cheerio took another look at the sophomore. "What's biting your switch?"

"I don't think I can do this," Emma told her honestly, pushing her fingers against the bridge of her nose as she held tightly to the sink.

"Are you serious?" Stassi reacted, huffing as she walked into the room and closed the door behind her. "You're freaking Emma Malley—you eat competition for breakfast. This should be cake."
"I've never done it alone," the smaller girl whispered shakily, realizing for the first time how much she had depended on having Ashwin's support for the last two years and then some.

"Seriously?" Emma wondered if her thoughts were that predictable by the contempt in the junior's voice. "You can't do this because of boy trouble?"

"It's not just with Ash," the brunette shot back defensively. "It's with… God, it feels like everything, I just don't think I can handle this. I can't breathe—what if I get sick up there?"

Stassi looked upon Emma with consideration before rolling her eyes as she checked the closed door behind her. "Look, you feel like you're going to be sick, right?" The brunette nodded. "So nip it in the bud now." She lifted up her right hand, displaying her index and middle finger pressed tightly together. "Take it from one perfectionist to another: sometimes a little control goes a long way in calming the nerves."

Emma stared in disbelief at what the girl was suggesting. "Are you serious?" she asked. "You want me to make myself throw up?"

"I'm just telling you that you can either go out there and feel wretched, or you can get rid of the nerves rolling around inside, take a drink of water, and kick butt." Stassi shrugged. "Either way, we're on in ten, so hurry up."

Emma stared at her own hand for a moment before calling out to the junior. "Stassi—thanks, I guess," she expressed uncertainly.

"Whatever," the other girl replied. "It's not like we're friends or I care or anything." And she continued out the door, leaving the younger girl alone to consider herself in the mirror.

Roxie looked out onto the empty stage, her hands trembling slightly. Teddy and Caroline were originally going to follow New Directions tradition and come in through the audience, but Dalton had insisted (possibly for her sake) that they keep things simple and just start on stage. She didn't know if she could do this—her body was still aching, her throat felt dry, and the stupid group before them had completely knocked it out of the park with another Beatles' mash-up. How could they compete with that with tiny, insignificant her leading them?

A soft hand enveloped hers and she looked over to see Dalton watching her in concern and a shade of guilt. He bit his lip and took a breath. "I'm sorry if I pushed you into this," he whispered.

She shrugged her shoulders, trying not to voice any fears and instead unable to voice anything.

"I guess I was just being selfish," he said softly, pulling her hand gently to turn her toward him. "Because I wanted to sing with you. I wanted to stand next to you in front of everyone and show them how amazing you are. Because…" The sophomore trailed off as his words seemed to catch in his throat, and Roxie blinked hard as she felt her heart race, though how she'd become more anxious over the competition now than she had been before his speech was beyond her.

And then her breath hitched as his free hand slipped up to cup her tiny chin. She opened her mouth to ask a question, but it got lost in transit as he leaned close and brought his lips to hers. And just like that, Roxanne Catrina Lovely realized that all of her nerves that had now mysteriously vanished were actually a build up to her very first kiss.

Applause rose up as they were introduced, and the petite freshman backed away quickly with her hand pressing against her lips. "Oh," was all she could voice.

She caught Dalton's eyes focused intently on her and saw his worried expression as he moved into place and she tried to regain her focus. Roxie saw the curtain start to raise and tried to refocus, throwing what she hoped was a reassuring smile at him as the beginnings of a violin intro began to play.

Roxanne, she sang out as Dalton stepped forward elegantly.
He continued the verse, You don't have to put on that red light
Walk the streets for money
You don't care if it's wrong or if it is right

She belted her name again, Roxanne
You don't have to wear that dress tonight, the sophomore told her, sliding past her and curving forward to flank her on her other side
Roxanne, her voice rang out, focused on the song.
Dalton's hand touched her face gently, You don't have to sell your body to the night

The girls of the team strode onstage with them and surrounded Dalton, pulling him away from her as she transitioned into the next verse.

Her eyes upon your face
Her hand upon your hand
Her lips caress your skin
It's more than I can stand

Dalton's voice echoed her name as her belting overlapped his lines,

(Roxanne)
Why does my heart cry?
(Roxanne)
Feelings I can't fight

They turned back toward each other as the rest of the team fell into two lines behind them, harmonizing as their eyes locked.

You're free to leave me, but just don't deceive me
And please believe me when I say I love you

The team split into pairs, vocalizing as they spun around the two leads.

Roxanne, Dalton cried out as Roxie agonized, Why does my heart cry?
(Roxanne)
Feelings I can't fight

And then it was Roxie echoing Roxanne
You don't have to put on that red light
Roxanne she belted again
You don't have to put on that dress tonight
Roxanne, he sang out, and they finished the verse together, Roxanne.

Caroline gathered up her books as the bell rang, following Michelle to where Nina was waiting in the hall to walk with them to lunch. She was flying high—even though she hadn't gotten to perform with Teddy, the team had still managed to blow away the competition at Sectionals with Dalton and Roxie's duet and then Everett leading the team in the group number to their first standing ovation. Watching the New Directions raise that first place trophy was unbelievable, and she knew that when Regionals rolled around she and Teddy would finally get their chance.

Which is why her face was already lit up when she saw her boyfriend walking down the hall toward her group. She nudged Michelle and pointed, effectively excusing herself from the troupe in order to race toward the gangly junior and throw her arms around him.

"Hey!" the freshman grinned, noting in her peripheral vision that the rest of her teammates had continued walking, giving them both a wave as they left. "How is everything?"

Teddy bounced on his heels uncomfortably. "Marissa's doing better—I found her in one of her 'spots', so she was okay relatively speaking. She's just real torn up about what that jerk did to her."
"Well, boys can suck sometimes," she tried to console him. "I could talk to her if you want. Maybe we could have a girls' night or something."

"Maybe," he said vaguely, causing the smaller brunette to look up quizzically. It was then Caroline noticed how distant Teddy seemed.

"Well, at least we won," she added, trying to pull him out of his thoughts. "So it doesn't matter that we didn't' get to duet—we'll just take the duet for Regionals. I mean, we won it fair and square—Mr. Schuester will pretty much have to let us have it." She smiled, but Teddy only worried his lip and shifted his gaze to his shoes. "Teddy, are you okay?"

The boy didn't answer, and she quickly steered them into an empty classroom. "Hey," she prodded, forcing him to look at her. "Talk to me: what's going on?"

The frizzy-haired boy shoved his glasses up the bridge of his nose nervously as he took a deep breath. "Caroline," he finally stated. "You and me, we aren't the same." He looked at her sadly. "I almost passed out during Sectionals—I was barely hanging on."

"Well, your sister went missing," she soothed him.

"No, before that," he admitted. "I don't want the spotlight on the stage. I don't want to be the star."

"But you're really good Teddy," the young girl insisted. "You and me, we could lead the team to New Directions' second National Championship easily, just like the old generation."

Teddy shook his head, putting his hands in both of hers. "Care, when everyone stares at me, my whole body shakes and my lungs don't work. I worry about every detail of my life from the moment I wake up in the morning to when I lay back down at night. I can't handle that kind of pressure, and honestly, I don't want it. My job as a director is about helping others and hiding in the shadows, and that's what I want."

"So what does that mean?" Caroline asked unhappily.

"Look Care," he told her sadly. "You deserve to be Captain of the Cheerios, and to get all of the leads that you want. You deserve to have someone that can stand there next to you and make you look that much better. But…I just don't think I can be there with you: it's too hard for me."
As the freshman processed her boyfriend's words, she felt her eyes welling up and blinked hard to keep from losing it. "So," she replied slowly. "You're breaking up with me." He opened his mouth to say something, perhaps placate her, but the little Fabray cut him off, glaring with a ferocity she'd never felt towards a boy. "No—I get it. And don't throw me some pitiful, 'we can still be friends' line, because I don't want it. You're right: I deserve more than to be treated like some snobby Cheerio who only cares about popularity and solos. I deserve someone that really sees me. And apparently, that's not you."

Teddy's eyes were wide in their hurt, but Caroline just turned heel and walked out the door, quickly flitting toward the bathroom to wash her face clean of the newly falling tears before putting on a mask to go greet her friends that knew her better than her now-ex boyfriend.