A New Generation is Born

by A-LionGleek

It's the first official week of glee club sessions for the 13 newest members of the New Directions, and they are more than ready to get the show on the road. But with drama popping up at every turn, the beginning of their time in glee club will be far from easy. Can the 13 brand new gleeks handle it all and show that they have what it takes to be a worthy new generation of gleeks?

24. Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken

Hey everyone! So sorry that I have again kept you all waiting. I was so certain that I would have this finished and posted before the end of January this year. I actually did manage to finish this chapter last night, but was so tired and slightly past bedtime that I thought it more prudent to post today instead. Oh well, life just throws curveballs like that huh? Nevertheless, I very much hope that this chapter proves well worth the long wait. For in this chapter, not only do the four current leads of the New Directions finally complete their parts for the week's assignment, but Zack finally sets himself truly off in the right direction to casting aside his less palatable days and making his way to well and truly anchoring himself into being the more lovable rogue we all know him as from the main story. Sound good? I certainly hope so! Onward with the fic!

A/N: But first, I must remind you that I own neither Glee, nor any songs used in this chapter. And furthermore, at this time, before we start reading, let us have a moment of silence for Mark Salling, and hope that, if he was lucky enough to go to Heaven, he and Cory will have plenty of fun rocking out together. And with that being said, let us now proceed, in honor of our newest dear departed Gleek amongst the cast of original gleeks, to read this new chapter.

Chapter 24:

Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken

Susan Caraway was in a bit of a daze as she stood alone in the McKinley High hallway that Friday morning. She was honestly quite surprised just how much of a daze she was in to be completely honest. In all fairness though, considering what she'd gone through the previous day, the fact that she was in such a daze right now was probably a good thing. And she could certainly tell that she was far from the only person to have been strongly affected by yesterday's incident. Just this morning her parents, particularly her father, had still been uncertain if they were entirely willing to let her attend school today. But in the end, they had decided to give their daughter a chance and see how things unfolded at school, while also being at the ready to come pick her up in the event she felt it would be necessary to return home early. And she could already tell that she wouldn't be at all surprised if a similar idea turned out to be the case for all her friends amongst her fellow gleeks from the previous day's incident as well.

She sighed, hung her head, and shook it side to side. Standing around doing nothing was hardly going to help her get her act back together. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and then started aimlessly walking to her left. She didn't even realize how far she ended up traveling, let alone how long she ended up walking randomly through the school, until she caught a glimpse of a particular open door out of the corner of her eye and acted on a sudden urge to stop. She turned her head to give a closer look at the open doorway that had caught her eye. As it so happened, the room that the door in question led to was the backstage area of the auditorium.

Without fully understanding why, the dark-haired girl found herself allowing a small smile to come onto her face. "Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to spend a little time reflecting in there," she thought to herself. She entered the area, and her smile widened as she found herself imagining what it would be like when she and the rest of the gleeks inevitably got the chance to perform in competitions. "Man," she thought to herself. "It's still only the first full week of school this year, not to mention my first full week as a New Directioneer, and already here I am looking forward to performing in competitions . . . best just hope that Calvin can handle being so blatantly in the spotlight, and that he can keep himself from roaring at the end of our series of performances during those times."

She came to a stop, took another deep breath, and exhaled yet again. "Relax," she thought to herself. "You can worry about how well Calvin can handle himself in competition situations later. Right now, all you need to worry about is making sure that you relax and guarantee that you feel 100% A-Okay today following yesterday's incident." She nodded her head. "Yeah," she thought to herself. "I can do that."

It was at that moment that she happened to notice what looked like a pair of ballet slippers lying on the floor in front of her feet. After a few seconds of staring at them in confusion, her smile returned, and her blue eyes very noticeably started to gleam with happiness. For it was at this moment, staring at those admittedly quite beautiful looking ballet slippers, that she remembered how she'd taken ballet lessons over the course of her entire elementary school life. She sighed in contentment, her eyes closing as she started to remember how much fun she'd had during the times in which she danced as a young elementary school-age ballerina, and how much her already strong joy she felt while ballet dancing had only increased ten-fold during the times in which Calvin had been around to watch. She chuckled as she remembered just how much Calvin had cared about her as a friend to be willing to sit through watching ballet dancing just for her when they both knew full well that ballet was far from high on Calvin's list of favorite things.

Susan's smile widened once more, still without showing any teeth, and with her eyes almost shedding tears of joy as she remembered how Calvin had looked far happier then he'd ever looked before at any of her previous performances he'd ever watched when he'd been in the audience to watch her perform in her 5th grade year's production of The Nutcracker. And as far as she knew, considering how that performance had been her final serious performance as a ballerina before ending her lessons altogether (though not without considerable reluctance and difficulty in making that choice) so as to have more time to focus on her upcoming high workload in middle school, she herself had never done a better job as a ballerina then she had in that performance of The Nutcracker, and as Clara no less!

She looked down at the shoes once more, staring wistfully at them. Then she thought to herself, realizing how the slippers seemed to be just the right size for her own feet, and a wide smile of nostalgia came on her face. "Oh, what the Hell," she thought to herself. "It won't hurt anyone. Besides, I'm all by myself in here, and there's still 20 minutes left before class starts. I've definitely got time."

In the span of 2 minutes, Susan had placed her backpack on the floor near a rack of hanging costumes, slipped off her regular shoes, and placed on the ballet slippers. And right as the 3rd minute left to go began, she took a small trio of deep breaths to calm herself down and get herself sufficiently focused. And then, when she felt the time was sufficient, she proceeded to start dancing her heart out exactly how she remembered doing from so many years ago back in elementary school. And quite honestly, she would have likely spent the entirety of the remaining time before class began dancing away . . . if not for her watch going off in an alarm she'd set for the 10-minute mark. For about another minute following her ceasing her dance as a result of her watch's alarm, she stood silently where she was, mentally debating whether or not to head off immediately in the direction of her first class of the day, or to spend at least another 5 minutes or so dancing. Then, with a great deal of reluctance, she sighed, removed the ballet slippers from her feet, reapplied the shoes she'd been wearing before, and reclaimed her backpack before leaving the auditorium backstage area to head off to class.

As she walked through the hallways after that, she found herself feeling the exact same bittersweet feeling she'd felt for at least an entire month following her ending her ballet lessons after her last Nutcracker performance. Sure she'd indeed enjoyed that small amount of time she'd now spent genuinely and seriously enjoying herself while ballet dancing, but it had now also reminded her of why she'd enjoyed ballet dancing so much before ending her ballet career as well as of why she still missed doing ballet dancing even now. She sighed, and hung her head as she continued to walk. "Oh well," she thought to herself. "At least I got to do at least that one last little ballet dance today. And who knows, I may yet have the time to do some more ballet dancing for fun at some point or other in the future." Then she felt a small smirk come on her face. "And besides," she thought to herself. "It's not like I miss those stuck-up airheads that I had to deal with amongst my ballet classmates."

And indeed, she most certainly did not miss those classmates in question from her days as a ballet dancer. Even now she still felt her blood boil at the memory of the more snobby, arrogant, and rude girls she'd had the misfortune of having to consider her peers and share the same skill level with in ballet dancing; but especially at the memory of how smug and arrogant they'd acted towards her for not being the latest ballerina in a 'family line' as they'd put it; or, worse yet, the absolutely dehumanizing things they'd said about Calvin, several of which they'd had the gall to say when he was in earshot, sometimes even directly to his face, and sometimes both to his face and with Susan herself in the area and capable of hearing and seeing it happen to! She snarled at the memory, shaking her head side to side. After calming herself down, she smiled again as she remembered how utterly pissed off they'd been when she'd successfully gotten the part of Clara in her 5th grade year's production of the Nutcracker, and also how similarly utterly humiliated they'd been when they'd both seen how truly worthy of the role she'd been during the actual performances and learned about how she'd been one of the most widely talked about and praised elements of those specific performances. And by God had Susan known it to, as she'd even gotten them to add in a direct (to his face) apology to Calvin immediately after they'd apologized directly to her. She sighed in contentment. "I certainly shut them up and made them feel like steaming piles of crap," she thought to herself. She chuckled. "And I couldn't be happier about it."

She paused, her eyes widened as she seemed to reach an epiphany. "I know just the song to sing for glee club today," she thought to herself. Then her eyes started seemingly shining with joy, and her earlier joyous smile returned. "Might as well give myself a little practice," she thought to herself. And in that instant, with the appropriate music playing in her mind, she started singing the song that had popped up in her mind. And the performance in question, complete with a good bit of ballet dancing, went something like this:

I'm feeling further, feeling further from you every day
You're in the stars, in the stars, yeah, you're worlds away
I'm moving on, moving on, then I hear you say
Hold on, hold on
(Scene Break: Auditorium Stage)
We're losing light, losing light, yeah, we're fading fast
We had a fire, need a spark, or we'll never last
Just look at me, look at me, I've been burning for you
So long, so long
I should walk away
(Scene Break: Ballet Studio, with Calvin assisting as needed)
(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I look at you and (Oh-oh oh-oh)
I get the feeling (Oh-oh oh-oh)
I think that I should hold on, hold on
(Scene Break: McKinley High hallway)
(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I look at you and (Oh-oh oh-oh)
I get the feeling (Oh-oh oh-oh)
I think that I should hold on, hold on
(Scene Break: Ballet Studio)
I'm losing love, losing you, losing everything
Losing faith in the world where I wanna be
So I don't care if the one thing that's killing me
Is so wrong, so wrong
I should walk away
(Scene Break: Hallway)
(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I look at you and

(Scene Break: Auditorium)

(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I get the feeling

(Scene Break: Ballet Studio)

(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I think that I should hold on, hold on
(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I look at you and

(Scene Break: Auditorium)

(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I get the feeling

(Scene Break: Hallway)

(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I think that I should hold on, hold on
(Scene Break: Auditorium)
Oh oh, oh oh
And I can't stop this feeling
And I can't stop this feeling
(Scene Break: Hallway)
(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I look at you and

(Scene Break: Auditorium)

(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I get the feeling

(Scene Break: Ballet Studio)

(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I think that I should hold on, hold on
(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I look at you and (Oh-oh oh-oh)
I get the feeling (Oh-oh oh-oh)
I think that I should hold on, hold on

(Scene Break: Choir room)

(Spoken: Hold on)

For what seemed like an eternity, Susan remained positioned in a ballerina-style curtsey, facing the clearly stunned gleeks serving as her audience. Then, right as Susan felt certain she was on the verge of panicking from a lack of reaction, the silence in the air was utterly destroyed by the almost cacophonic cheering that erupted from the throats of her 10 genuine friends amongst the gleeks, plus the equally joyous barking from Hobbes, and the similarly proud and happy clapping and occasional cheering from Mr. Schuester. Amber in particular seemed especially joyous and loud in her applause considering how she'd seemed slightly on the verge of sleep when she'd first entered the choir room alongside her fellow sophomore gleeks. Even Charlotte couldn't help but clap and nod her head in approval. "She may not be a cheerio," the head cheerleader thought to herself. "But damn, with dancing like that, I wish to God that she were."

"Bravo Susan," said Mr. Schuester. "Bravo."

Susan chuckled, at that point already straightened back up to full height, and she nodded her head. "Thank you, Mr. Schue," she then said.

"Yeah, that's right," said Calvin, who was clearly the last one to finish clapping. "Let's hear it for Susan everyone!"

"Bark! Bark! Bark!" Hobbes barked in agreement.

Susan chuckled, as did almost every single one of the other gleeks. Even Zack let out a small happy chuckle. Charlotte, naturally, was the only one of the gleeks who didn't chuckle, resorting instead to rolling her eyes. Susan curtseyed one last time, and then returned to her seat without even getting prompted.

"Alright then," said Mr. Schuester. "Now that Susan's done her part for the week's assignment, who'd like to go next?"

"Me."

Mr. Schuester and the gleeks all turned their heads in time to see none other than Calvin rise from his seat and walk over to where Susan had been standing at the beginning and end of her performance. He reached the microphone and turned around to directly face his fellow gleeks. All of them watched him intently, Susan and Hobbes especially so.

"This oughta be fun," Susan thought to herself.

Hobbes started happily panting almost as if he'd read Susan's mind and was in agreement with her.

"Well everyone," said Calvin, his hands clasped together. "For this week's assignment, what I have to offer is something that I believe would accurately portray the kind of mood that I'm sure Sam Evans had to have been feeling over the course of all his hard work to keep his family supported during their time as homeless people and when he had to continue working after they'd gotten a new home but still had to wait for his parents to get proper new jobs of their own. And not only that, but it has also proven more than once an appropriate song that I've had to use as a motivation for myself during my own low points in life. And trust me, just listen to this song, and you'll understand. Sound worth a listen?" The gleeks; except, naturally, Charlotte; all indicated that their answer was 'yes'. "Awesome," said Calvin.

The autistic boy turned his head to face the band members. "Ready boys?"

The three musicians nodded, smiles on their faces.

"Good."

He turned around to face Mr. Schuester and the audience, half excited and half nervous smile on his face. He then lifted his left hand, index finger raised. The band members tensed up in anticipation for what was clearly a signal that Calvin had arranged for them to expect. Both Calvin and the band members were able to simultaneously begin their parts in the performance that followed flawlessly without any screw ups. Said performance, complete with a fair bit of dancing on Calvin's part, went something like this:

Down (Down), Down (Down), Down (Down), Down (Down)
Here I am with all these questions hanging from my ceiling low
One by one they all keep telling me I told you so
Everywhere I turn I see red lights flashing over my head
Oh no, oh no, oh no
In a whirl-wind spinning yeah somehow it knocked me off my feet
But I know better than to let it get the best of me,
I could give up, I could stay stuck, I could move on
So I put one foot front of the other,
No no no nothing's gonna break my stride,
I keep climbing, gonna keep fighting until I make it to the other side of down

Down, Dow . . . whoa, oh, oh, oun

Down (down), Down, ow, oun
In the sky, I'm standing under all I see is endless rain
I think I spot a silver lining hiding in the grey
I might get tossed around, but I'm always bouncing back
oh. oh. oh
I could give up, I could stay stuck, I could move on,
So I put one foot front of the other,
No no no nothing's gonna break my stride,
I keep climbing, gonna keep fighting until I make it to the other side of down

Down, dow . . . whoa, oh, oh, oun

Down, down, dow . . . whoa, oh, oh, oun
On the other side of down
It keeps calling me
Where I wanna be
On the other side of down
it keeps calling me
where I wanna be
where I wanna be
Oh, I put one foot front of the other,
No no no nothing's gonna break my stride,
I keep climbing, gonna keep fighting until I make it to the other side of down

Down, dow . . . whoa, oh, oh, oun

Down, down, dow . . . whoa, oh, oh, oun

Ohh, down, down (oh, whoa)

Ohh, down, down

The other side of down, down,

The other side of dow, ow, ow, oun

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah . . .

(Instrumental finish)

Literally the instant the last few instrumental notes of the song had ended, Calvin lifted his head away from the microphone and unleashed his usual lion-like roar, Hobbes unleashing his standard wolf-like howl at the same time.

Much like had been the case for Susan, a seeming eternity passed the finish of Calvin's performance, and the subsequent dual beastly finale call, before the silence was emphatically broken by the sound of applause from the audience.

"Wonderful job Calvin," said Mr. Schuester as he clapped. "Wonderful job."

"Damn right," said Susan. She lifted her fists in the air in a gesture of joy. "Three cheers for Calvin everybody! Hip, hip!"

"Hooray!" all the other gleeks apart from Charlotte yelled.

"Aroo!" Hobbes simultaneously howled.

"Hip, hip!"

"Hooray!"

"Aroo!"

"Hip, hip!"

"Hooray!"

"Aroo!"

Calvin chuckled. "I'm happy you all were entertained." He nodded his head. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," said all the gleeks apart from Charlotte.

"What they said," said Mr. Schuester. He then pointed in the direction of a seemingly moderately annoyed Brad still seated at the piano, a half amused and half embarrassed look on his face. "But did you really have to donkey kick the piano?"

At that point, Calvin sheepishly chuckled, an awkward half grimace on his face, and he turned his head to face the still somewhat miffed Brad, now clearly remembering how he had in fact 'donkey kicked' the piano every time he'd sung the first 'down' in the chorus of the song. "Yeah," he said. "My bad." He turned his head to face Mr. Schuester once more. "I don't know, I just like to have fun while singing and dancing, you know?" Brad rolled his eyes, and shook his head side to side with an exhausted look on his face.

"Don't worry Calvin," said Susan. The blonde boy looked at his brunette best friend, who was still smiling and had now started giving him a thumbs-up. "You did great; and you had fun doing so to. That's all that matters right?"

Hobbes barked twice to indicate his agreement with Susan.

Calvin chuckled. "If you say so." He took a deep breath, exhaled, and then returned to his seat. "Next up," he then said.

"Will do," said Daniel.

Mr. Schuester didn't need to be told twice. He gestured with both hands to indicate Daniel as the boy made his way over to the microphone. "Give it up for Daniel everyone!" The gleeks promptly complied, Charlotte included this time. But Daniel didn't care about that last detail. He had people worthier of his concern to impress. And that was all the other gleeks in the room that weren't Charlotte, but especially Diana.

A smile on his face as he kept his gaze focused particularly heavily on Diana, he lifted the microphone. "Well guys, I hope you're ready for yet more quality entertainment following the real show stoppers that Diana and Calvin had to offer today, because I'm about to follow up on them with an equally impressive number of my own; and one that I'm sure would almost definitely have been one that Finn Hudson would have been more than happy to sing during his time as a student in this club, or any time really." His smile widened. "Let's get to it." He turned his head to face Brad and the band. "Shall we?" The pianist and band members nodded their heads. "Perfect." He lifted his fist. "Let's do this."

Brad promptly started playing the appropriate tune on the piano, and when the right time came for Daniel to start singing and the rest of the band to likewise add in their own input, the resulting performance went something like this:

She's watching the taxi driver, he pulls away
She's been locked up inside her apartment a hundred days
She says, "Yeah, he's still coming, just a little bit late.
He got stuck at the laundromat washing his cape."
She's just watching the clouds roll by and they spell her name
Like Lois Lane
And she smiles, oh the way she smiles
She's talking to angels,
Counting the stars
Making a wish on a passing car
She's dancing with strangers,
Falling apart
Waiting for Superman to pick her up
In his arms, yeah, in his arms, yeah
Waiting for Superman
She's out on the corner trying to catch a glimpse
Nothing's making sense
She's been chasing an answer, a sign lost in the abyss,
This Metropolis
She says, "Yeah, he's still coming, just a little bit late.
He got stuck at the Five and Dime saving the day."
She says, "If life was a movie, then it wouldn't end like this,
Left without a kiss."
Still, she smiles, oh, the way she smiles, yeah
She's talking to angels,
Counting the stars
Making a wish on a passing car
She's dancing with strangers,
She's falling apart
Waiting for Superman to pick her up
In his arms, yeah, in his arms, yeah
She's waiting for Superman...
...to lift her up and take her anywhere
Show her love and flying through the air
Save her now before it's too late tonight
Oh, at the speed of light
And she smiles
She's talking to angels,
Counting the stars
Making a wish on a passing car
She's dancing with strangers,
She's falling apart
Waiting for Superman to pick her up
In his arms, yeah, oh, in his arms, yeah
She's waiting for Superman...
...to lift her up and take her anywhere
Show her love, oh, and flying through the air
Save her now before it's too late tonight
She's waiting for Superman

Daniel waited the necessary seconds required for the band to finish the remaining instrumental finishing notes for the song. Once those were out of the way, he looked right back at the audience just in time for said audience to joyously applaud, complete with Diana, Susan, Calvin, and Zack giving him standing ovations. Charlotte, herself joyously clapping as well, also seemed rather miffed, almost as if she herself had been planning on giving a standing ovation but was now very thoroughly deciding to abstain simply because Diana had done so before her. Daniel smirked at the sight of this. "It's always good to see yet another wrench thrown Charlotte's way," Daniel thought to himself. He then directed his full attention back to the gleeks whose approval he actually cared about, smiled, and then bowed, prompting even further applause. He smiled again, straightened up from his bow, and turned to face Mr. Schuester.

The teacher nodded, a smile on his face even as he winded down his own clapping. "Excellent performance Daniel," he said. "Finn would be proud."

Daniel's smile widened further upon hearing that last bit of praise. "Thank you, Mr. Schue." He turned his head to face the rest of the gleeks, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Well then," he then said. "I suppose we all know what's left to be done now." He walked on over to his empty seat and sat back down. As he did so, he placed his right hand on Diana's left shoulder. "Your turn Diana."

At that moment, it seemed as if Diana had suddenly realized something, or found herself face to face with something truly horrible. She gulped, her eyes now seemingly widened and fearful. Daniel alone noticed this, and he gave her another reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry Diana," he whispered to her. "You can do this. I know you can."

Diana gulped again, took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Relax," she whispered to herself. She then stood up, resolutely walked over to the microphone, and positioned herself as needed. She lifted the microphone to her mouth, and then noticeably paused as she took five deep breaths and exhalations in a row. At this point, the rest of the audience could now clearly tell that something seemed to be bothering Diana, and they all began to show clear signs of concern. Even Charlotte went so far as to raise an eyebrow.

Mr. Schuester, naturally, also found himself very much aware and concerned over the whole matter. "Is everything alright Diana?"

"Oh, yes," Diana managed to say, nervously chuckling afterward. "I'm good."

Mr. Schuester raised his eyebrow. "You sure?" he asked.

"Yes," Diana managed to say. "I'm sure. I'm perfectly fine. But thank you anyway."

"Well," said Mr. Schuester. "If you say so." He nodded his head. "Don't feel like you have to hurry," he then stated in a reassuring tone. "Take your time."

"Sure, go ahead and do that," Charlotte thought to herself spitefully. "Just so long as you, you know, actually sing before the session ends."

Diana, blissfully unaware of the spiteful snarkiness Charlotte was thinking up, took one last deep breath, and then exhaled one final time. Then she turned her head to face Brad and the band members, giving them a meaningful wink in the process. The musicians almost instantaneously began playing the appropriate tune. And as that happened, Diana turned her head and proceeded to slightly hang it, her eyes closed, a somewhat somber and resigned look on her face, and both her hands seemingly clenched around the microphone. This appearance, combined with the instantly recognizable tune for the song she'd obviously chosen, was enough for Mr. Schuester and the rest of the gleeks to instantly have their full attention devoted to Diana in clear concern. Even Charlotte looked somewhat curious as to what exactly was going on. And, as probably was to be expected by now, even Hobbes seemed to have a very human-like look of concern on his own furry face. And as Mr. Schuester, Hobbes, and her fellow gleeks all looked on in a mixture of intrigue and concern, Diana proceeded to devote her full heart and passion into the now very unexpectedly saddening, yet perfectly powerful regardless of mood and tone, song she'd chosen to sing for the week's assignment. And the resulting performance went like this:

I can hold my breath
I can bite my tongue
I can stay awake for days
If that's what you want
Be your number one
I can fake a smile
I can force a laugh
I can dance and play the part
If that's what you ask
Give you all I am
I can do it
I can do it
I can do it
But I'm only human
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash and I break down
Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
'Cause I'm only human
I can turn it on
Be a good machine
I can hold the weight of worlds
If that's what you need
Be your everything
I can do it
I can do it
I'll get through it
But I'm only human
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash and I break down
Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
'Cause I'm only human
I'm only human
I'm only human
Just a little human
(Pause)

I can take so much
'Til I've had enough
(Pause)

'Cause I'm only human (other gleeks: Human!) (Hobbes: Aroo!)
And I bleed when I fall down (other gleeks: bleed when I fall down)
I'm only human (other gleeks: Human!) (Hobbes: Aroo!)
And I crash and I break down (other gleeks: crash and I break down)
Your words in my head, knives in my heart (other gleeks: words in my head, knives in my heart)
You build me up and then I fall apart (other gleeks: up and then I fall apart)
'Cause I'm only human (other gleeks: Human!) (Hobbes: Aroo!)

After what seemed like an eternity following the song's conclusion, Diana finally opened her eyes and stared patiently at the audience. Then, it seemed to take yet another eternity before the audience finally started clapping and applauding. This time, oddly enough, even Charlotte found herself unexpectedly clapping. This fact was not unnoticed by the head cheerio in question. "Why am I clapping for her?" she thought to herself. "Dear God, why am I clapping for her?"

At the sight and sound of the very obvious and audible sigh of relief that Diana gave off in response to the applause, Mr. Schuester decided that enough was enough. And considering Diana's tone and raw emotion throughout the performance, her eyes being closed the whole time, her banging her right fist against her head and chest during specific lyrics of the song, multiple almost angry looking stomps of her foot, and how she'd even sung one the last line before the first of the song's pauses to occur before its finale chorus while positioned and sounding like she was emitting a harsh skyward scream towards the ceiling, he thought it was quite frankly a miracle he hadn't decided to force Diana to stop her performance out of sheer concern. "Diana," he said. "Whatever's going on, you can tell me." The other gleeks similarly responded that she could tell them what was going on.

For what seemed like forever, Diana only stared at her clearly concerned audience. To the majority of the audience members, Diana seemed to have a completely blank look on her face. Daniel, Susan, and Zack, however, could see the small details that only someone who knew her as well as them could recognize. And the sight of those details was enough for them to know instantly that she was currently both seconds away from crying and fighting a metaphorical tooth and nail battle to keep herself together.

Seconds later, at the sight of Diana clenching her fists, closing her eyes, slightly lifting her head, and similarly tensing up, Daniel and Susan looked each other in the eyes, a silent message passing between them. It was clear someone needed to step up and get to work on comforting her, ASAP. For in a situation like this, the only to get Diana to admit that there was indeed something wrong and willingly let down her stoic and strong façade was for someone to come to her and start advance work on cheering her up and comforting her.

Daniel got up and walked towards Diana. The sight of this, combined with the sight of Susan nodding her head with a sage look of sympathy on her face, was enough to promptly cue Calvin and Hobbes into realizing the very information that Susan, Zack, and Daniel had already come to realize. And in that instant, they both looked at Diana, and Calvin promptly mentally berated himself. "Dear God, she looks so obviously struggling to keep up a brave face," the autistic boy thought to himself. "And I'm only now realizing that?"

Diana eventually noticed that Daniel had now come to a stop right in front of her. She looked up in his eyes, her own eyes now open and clearly showing how ridiculously close she was to crying her eyes out. For what seemed like an eternity, the two friends stared at each other, both of them uncertain as to what to say. Daniel was still trying to decide just what to say as a result of how he still didn't fully know the exact details and wanted to be certain that he sounded genuine and that he wasn't trying to make light of the matter or similarly cheapen his friend's current clear state of distress. Diana, meanwhile, was completely at a loss on just what to do or say.

On the one hand, she didn't want to look weak in front of Daniel, Mr. Schuester, or her friends, and certainly not in front of Charlotte either. But on the other hand, Mr. Schuester and her friends, and especially Daniel and Susan, were people that she could trust and would be genuinely safe to open up to and tell about what was currently bothering her. But, on yet another hand, she was also uncertain as to whether or not she truly could bear to tell them just what was wrong with her, about how much more strongly she'd truly been affected by the previous day's crack house incident then she'd been letting on, about how often she'd looked over her shoulder and similarly kept watching for any people she'd think might have a bad idea for her on their minds, or about the truly horrible nightmare she'd had the previous night that had kept on revisiting her in a slightly different form every time she'd tried to go back to sleep after being awakened from a previous version of it. She eventually hung her head, her eyes closed, and fists clenched, mentally cursing herself for her current indecision and simultaneous state of nearly being in tears.

She felt Daniel's hand come on her shoulder, and she briefly winced. Then she looked up at Daniel once more. In that moment, the sight of his gray eyes, and the look in them directed at her, was all she needed to see. At the sight of her eyes morphing to indicate that she was now even closer to finally breaking down and crying, Daniel nodded his head. "Go ahead," he said. "You know you need to." He nodded his head once again, this time with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes and met Diana's gaze once more. "Whatever you decide," he then said. "I'm here."

In that instant, the last few strands Diana had left of her façade snapped. With a small whimper, she lunged forward, snapped her arms around Daniel's waist in a hug, placed her head against his chest, and let out a piercing wail of sadness as she finally allowed herself to cry. Daniel was stunned at first, but then his wits returned, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around Diana in a tight embrace of his own. "It's ok," he whispered encouragingly to his sobbing friend. "It's ok."

In that instant, Susan was seconds away from standing up to join Daniel and Diana when, much to her shock, Calvin stood up and started heading over to join them first, with Hobbes standing up and following close behind. All of five seconds after that, however, Susan was able to shake off her surprise, rise from her seat, and walk resolutely over to join her four friends.

Both Diana and Daniel briefly flinched when they suddenly two other pairs of arms wrap around them combined with a furry presence rubbing up against their legs repeatedly without leaving. Then they relaxed, Diana still crying, as they realized that Calvin, Susan, and Hobbes had joined in, with Calvin and Susan hugging them and Hobbes rubbing his head against their legs.

Then, one by one, all the other gleeks apart from Zack and Charlotte got up from their seats, walked up to where the four leads were gathered, and joined in to provide their own support for the crying Diana. Mr. Schuester stayed where he was, nodding his head in sympathy with his eyes closed, silently praying to himself that everything would get getter now that Diana had finally stopped trying to pretend there was nothing wrong and waiting for his students to finish their work at supporting her and back away before he tried to give any support of his own. Charlotte stayed where she was, her fists clenched and eyes closed through a mixture of guilt at her responsibility for the incident that had caused Diana to be in her current state, indecision on whether she should stay where she was or join up with the other gleeks giving Diana their support, and her still strongly in existence anger and enmity towards Diana regarding Daniel. Zack, on the other hand, stayed where he was out of a mixture of guilt and being busy making a silent vow. The vow in question? "I am going to make things right," he thought to himself. He directed a side glance towards Mr. Schuester out of the corner of his eyes. "And I know just what to do to get that ball rolling this afternoon."

. . . . .

Hours later, Zack was taking deep breaths and mentally preparing himself for what he had in mind as he sat in the choir room for the after-school session of glee club. He was so focused on his current plans, that he was just barely paying attention to what Mr. Schuester was saying. Embarrassingly enough, it took an almost exasperated sounding 'ahem' from the teacher for Zack to snap out of his thoughts. He turned his head to look at Mr. Schuester, a clear look of lingering confusion and surprise still on his face.

The teacher sighed. "I said, there is something that you were planning to do in this meeting before we started discussing what's to come this year."

"Oh, right." Zack chuckled awkwardly, a sheepish look on his face. He then got up from his chair and walked over towards where the microphone was positioned. "Sorry," he said as he did so.

After reaching his intended position, he took another couple deep breaths, exhaling with each one. He then looked directly at the assembled audience of teacher and fellow gleeks. "Alright everyone," he began. "I know that I've already done my part for the assignment; and that all of have in fact done our part of the assignment; but right now, there is a little something I'd like to go ahead and do." He seemed to briefly think to himself. "And if at all possible, I'd like for the rest of the boys amongst this club's students to join me." He then winced, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth in the process. He opened his eyes, hints of a grimace still present in them. "If, that is, any of you are willing?"

The other six boys raised their eyebrows in unison. Hobbes, unnervingly enough, seemed to do the same. Then they all looked each other in the eyes, a silent message seeming to pass between them. Then they all gradually nodded their heads, stood up, and walked over to where Zack was positioned.

As the rest of the audience watched, the 7 boys seemed to have a whispered discussion. Then, one by one, all the other boys nodded their heads in the affirmative. Calvin, however, noticeably was the very last to do so, and still seemed quite reluctant about the whole business. They split up, each of them dragging a chair into position near the area between the microphone and the area where Brad and the band were positioned. After all seven of them had taken a seat, Zack turned his head to face Brad and the band, winking in the process. The musicians prepared themselves and their instruments, and then started playing the tune that Zack and Mr. Schuester had informed them would be necessary for the current activity. The performance that resulted, went something like this:

(Zack)

Guess it's true, I'm not good at a one-night stand
But I still need love 'cause I'm just a man
These nights never seem to go to plan
I don't want you to leave, will you hold my hand?
Oh, won't you stay with me? (other boys: stay with me)
'Cause you're all I need (other boys: all I need)
This ain't love, it's clear to see
But, darling, stay with me (other boys: stay with me)
Why am I so emotional?
No, it's not a good look, gain some self-control
And deep down I know this never works
But you can lay with me so it doesn't hurt
Oh, won't you stay with me? (other boys: stay with me)
'Cause you're all I need (other boys: all I need)
This ain't love, it's clear to see
But, darling, stay with me (stay with me)

(Instrumental break)

Oh, won't you. stay with me?

'Cause you're all I need

This ain't love, it's clear to see

But, darling, stay with me

Oh, won't you stay with me? (other boys: stay with me)
'Cause you're all I need (other boys: all I need)
This ain't love, it's clear to see
But, darling, stay with me

Two seconds after the song was over, Zack found himself under scrutiny from the other six boys in the club.

"That was a nice performance," said Daniel. "I'll admit that." The other boys nodded and mumbled their agreement. "However," Daniel then said while lifting his finger. "Now that it's over, I must ask," he spread his hands out to his sides, "why did we just do all that?"

"I second that question," said Calvin. "And if that performance was supposed to be your way of apologizing for all the drama you caused this week and asking us to give you a second chance, well . . ."

He sighed and shook his head side to side. "Considering one of the key factors involving you're getting us all into this mess in the first place, you really should have picked a different song."

Zack mentally chuckled for a brief second. "Way to bring the ice water Calvin," he thought to himself jokingly. Then he took a deep breath and exhaled. It was time to get serious.

"You're right Calvin," he said. He nodded his head. "You are absolutely right." He looked at the entirety of the other people gathered around him in the choir room. "What Calvin just said? He ain't wrong." He hung his head. "All that stuff you brought up in the choir room yesterday after the crack house craziness? About who was at fault for this whole mess? You left out one key player." He lifted his head, made sure to look each person in the room in the eye at least once. "Me."

He sighed. "Yes, I know that plenty of blame to go around has already been established yesterday for other people and factors. But the plain and simple fact is that all those factors and people were only capable of having any blame assigned to them because of my own actions." He looked at Mr. Schuester. "All that stuff that got you so stressed out past breaking point yesterday? The stuff that got you at risk of losing your job? The stuff that you both failed to pay attention to and got angry at everyone else in this club for not helping you become aware of it sooner despite your not paying attention? I was the one responsible for all that, and you know damn well that's the truth."

He hung his head once more. "And yes, this performance I had us do just now? That was my way of apologizing. And I truly, honest to God, am sorry." He lifted his head, turning it around to face each of the boys. "And I know you didn't believe me when I said this yesterday. And you might very well still not believe it now. But all that stuff I was doing and saying? I genuinely didn't mean any of it. That mean stuff I was saying? I was lying through my teeth the whole time. Those horrible things I said I would do? All bluffs and counterbluffs. Smoke and mirrors. I wouldn't have gone through with any of it." He pointed at Calvin. "The terms I said would be put into place if I had won that fight against you? I never would have made any of that a reality. That moment where I was apparently strangling you to death? The closest I planned to get to that was to only get you to lose consciousness. And if it had reached that point, I would have definitely let you go, regardless of whether or not Susan had given me a straight answer to my ultimatum at that point. And as for you Susan?" He pointed at her, a guilty look on his face. "I never actually planned to go through with my threats, or my statements. There's no way in Hell I would have actually bedded you against your will." He sighed, and then hung his head. "Hell, after everything that's gone down at this point, I don't think I'd bother bedding with you even if you did give me your consent. But that's not the point."

Zack sighed once more, shaking his head side to side afterwards. "Like I said, none of that stuff was for real. I didn't mean any of it." He lifted his finger. "And yes, I know that you're now all probably about to ask, 'if you didn't mean anything behind it, why did you do it?'. And believe me, the answer to that question is what I'm about to give to you right now."

He took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Short answer? I was an idiot. Long answer?" He repeated his deep breath and exhalation from before. "I had a goal in mind. I wanted to achieve that goal. Very much. And just this Monday, I ended up taking inspiration, from admittedly not necessarily the most reputable of sources, to try to go to extreme measures for that goal. I admit now that I was stupid to take such a route. But at the time, I didn't think things would get anywhere near as bad as they did."

Zack sighed, and then looked at Daniel. "I honestly thought that things would all work in the end without hardly any trouble once I was done with the whole business. I legitimately expected the entirety of my past behavior and whatnot to be enough to convince you that I had things under control and that I wasn't truly behaving differently with the full intent of going out of my way to make life Hell for you, Diana, and all the other people in this club apart from Charlotte. I genuinely believed that we were good enough friends and knew each other well enough for you to always have even a single tiny part of you that would always give me the benefit of the doubt regardless of how heinous an action I legitimately, or merely allegedly, committed." He hung his head once more. "I realize now, that this was in fact not the case."

He lifted his head once more. "Granted, maybe it would have been smarter for me to actually tell you guys beforehand about what I was up to and how all that unsavory stuff I was up to was all just an act. But the way my mind was working at the time, I believed that, in order for that misguided plan of mine to work, I needed my behavior to look genuine and to fool a specific person that it was in fact for real. And for the sake of that belief, I chose instead to keep the true nature of my, as you put it so nicely Daniel, personality U-turn exclusively to myself so that you and everyone else would put on a convincing performance in believing that it was genuine.

"But now I realize, that I shouldn't have kept you guys in the dark about all that. Or, better yet, I never should have done any of that stuff, period. Lord knows I had plenty of warnings and chances to back out of this mess before I had the chance to make things any worse. My dad was already plenty worried about how I'd turn out from just the way I was behaving before I started acting even more like a jackass then I usually do. And of course, we all know now that I done screwed that up."

He pointed at Calvin. "You told me point blank not to get Susan involved with my business during the very glee club session before I truly started putting my plan into action. Granted, maybe a small part of me was genuinely considering getting her involved, and maybe another similarly tiny part of me was miffed that Daniel ended up accepting your volunteering for deputy male lead instead of choosing me for that position. But the point is, I still should have listened to you."

He then pointed at Susan. "You had already made it crystal clear that you didn't want anything to do with me; and especially not as far as sexual matters were concerned. And of course, like an idiot, I continued putting on my act anyway, and look where it's gotten us all now."

He gestured vaguely at all the other gleeks apart from Daniel, Diana, and Charlotte. "You guys had already gotten pretty damned pissed and similarly unhappy with me thanks to all those downright mean shenanigans I pulled against you all. But of course, I chose my act over your feelings and tried to pass it all off as having a laugh."

He then pointed at Daniel. "And not to mention, you had that pretty damned heated argument with me in the hallway this Tuesday before lunch about my behavior and what you'd heard about it from my victims. And I will admit, that argument did have me shaken and worried." He hung his head. "But of course, like an idiot, I pushed those worries to the back of my mind and still went through with continuing my act. And we all know what that decision ended up leading to."

He looked at Mr. Schuester. "But what's even worse? Even after Calvin defeated me in that fight and put a stop to my planned act before it barely even had a chance to fully get going as much as I'd intended, and after how angry I'd gotten everyone at school, Calvin and Susan's parents, and you; not to mention put you at risk of losing your job; I still went and continued to make things difficult."

Zack took one more deep breath, and then exhaled. "But in the end, it wasn't until first I got torn to shreds by Daniel yet again during the mandatory bonding session at the football field this Wednesday, then got a brutal wakeup call yesterday at how the very actions I'd been doing to try to achieve the goal I was pursuing had actually caused its achievement to fly off even further from my reach, and then got torn apart by Daniel a 3rd time yesterday to the point that he declared that I wasn't his friend anymore, if at all, that I finally got it through my thick dumb skull just how much more harm I was causing then I'd thought. It was only after that that I finally realized just how low I'd truly been stooping. And it was only after all that that I realized. . ."

He hung his head. "Well," he then said. "To put it simply, all that shit I pulled? It wasn't worthwhile. At all. That goal I was trying to achieve by doing all that stuff that got us into this sorry mess? It just isn't worth what I had beforehand, or all the stuff that I should have been working to achieve instead. In fact, that goal in question? It's not even worth saying what it even was. It's honestly that unimportant in comparison to what should have mattered." Granted, these last two statements were only half true. But quite frankly, as far as he was concerned, in comparison to his friendship with Daniel and everything else he'd screwed up over the last few days in his efforts to achieve it, that goal seemed just quite simply petty and superficial. Of course, for all he knew, there could yet be a chance for him to still achieve that goal in the future, and preferably through far more savory and acceptable means. But right now, that wasn't entirely all that important.

Zack lifted his head to face the entirety of his audience once more. "And to make a long story short, I'm sorry. For everything. I'm sorry for the pranks, for the bluffs, for the crimes, for the betrayals." He looked over at Hobbes, pointing at the dog in the process. "I'm even sorry for locking you up in that empty classroom the other day."

Hobbes raised his eyebrow, but otherwise didn't respond.

Zack looked back at the human members of his audience. "And suffice it to say, regardless of when, all I ask is that you allow, at least at some point or other, for me to have another chance at being the kind of person that I actually am and the kind of friend that I should be to all you guys. Let me make things right and course correct after all the shit I put you through and how close I came to ruining everything. Let me make up for all the crap I pulled that got so far as to put all your lives, futures, and dreams at risk of being ruined, sabotaged, and prevented from ever coming true." He looked at Mr. Schuester, pointing his finger at the teacher in the process. "Not to mention damn near cost you your job and put this club's existence once again under threat of nullification." He nodded his head. "All I ask, is at least a chance to do things right. That's all I ask. Nothing more. Nothing less."

For what seemed like an eternity, Mr. Schuester and the gleeks all merely stared at Zack. Then, for what seemed like yet another eternity, all the gleeks (plus Hobbes, and minus Charlotte) looked to each other and seemed to silently debate and consider what Zack had said. Then, one by one, they all turned their heads to look straight at him.

Three painstaking seconds later, just as Zack was starting to get especially nervous about what the response would be to his offer, Daniel stood up, slowly walked over to Zack, and then placed his right hand on Zack's right shoulder. Zack looked over at the hand, and then up at Daniel's face. Daniel nodded, his gray eyes understanding and warm. "You had every reason to just go straight home yesterday and not even bother getting involved with all that crack house business; especially after what the other guys and I all said to you. But especially after what I said." He nodded his head once more. "But you came anyway. And thanks to you, our work in saving the girls, saving Diana, was made all that much easier. As much as she may still be having nightmares and seeing phantom velociraptors following her around and inexplicably appearing in the most unlikely of places, the simple fact is that she's alive and capable of recovering." He nodded his head yet again. "Simply put Zack, I accept your apology." He stared straight at Zack, the old familiar look of camaraderie present in his gray eyes. "This here? This is the Zack that I know. You are my friend. And by God, I hope that this time you'll be here to stay."

"Amen to that," said Diana.

"What she said," said the assorted subordinate gleeks. Except for Charlotte that is, who just rolled her eyes and turned her head to glare in boredom at the clock.

Susan nodded her head, a slight smile on her own face from both happiness that things were likely going to get better and relieved that she would now very likely no longer have to worry about falling victim to any further depravity from Zack.

Calvin, meanwhile, briefly continued to let a suspicious glare stay on his face and directed towards Zack. Hobbes, attuned as ever to his master's emotions, similarly kept his own canine scowl directed at Zack. Zack and the other people in the room noticed this, and looked towards them.

For a tense few seconds, Calvin stayed silent and glaring. "Your offer has been weighed," he said. "Your offer has been measured." He lowered his head. "And after careful consideration." He lifted his head, revealing himself to now have a smile on his face and his black eyes agleam with happiness and acceptance. "Your apology is accepted, and your offer is most certainly not sadly wanting." He pointed his finger at Zack, smile still on his face, though not without a tiny ounce of suspicion and wariness present. "But I'm warning you," he then said. "You'd better not screw up as thoroughly as you did this week again. Especially if you know what's good for you. Got that?"

Zack nodded his head. "Damn straight I got that."

"Nice to know we understand each other."

Upon saying this, Calvin extended his hand towards Zack.

Zack smiled, clasped onto Calvin's hand with his own, and gave the autistic boy a firm handshake that the autistic boy just as eagerly returned.

And in that moment, even as Charlotte continued to keep herself largely isolated from the rest of the gleeks, none of the other people in the choir room could have felt any happier that day then they did at this specific moment. For while all of them had been strongly affected by all the drama that had gone down over the course of the week they'd just gone through, and some of them had even received very real cracks from the experience, in the end, the drama had still in the end lost the fight and failed to break them. And as long as Mr. Schuester or any of his students, regardless of generation, had anything to say about it, this entire glee club would forever remain victorious in such a way against the drama that would almost certainly forever plague them. No matter how hard the drama and those who actively stoked its fires tried, the New Directions would forever remain unbowed, unbent, and unbroken. And now, Zack Skinner had well and truly cast aside his days of actively working to stoke those fires. And he could not have possibly felt happier for it.

And just like that, another chapter complete. I certainly hope you all enjoyed what I had to offer in this chapter! It definitely is nice to see Zack properly acting like himself and on the road to getting back in everyone's good graces after the shit storm he brought upon everyone over the past few chapters. For that matter, I also hope you enjoyed the song choices, not to mention that nice little tidbit I gave you about Susan's time before glee club. Not to mention, let us hope we will have no need for Diana to have to wait until chapter 16 of the main GWAF story to be fully back to her usual self. And on another note, I originally had one final segment planned for this chapter that serves as a time for a brief bit of comedy. But the fact that I'd already taken so long to write this chapter as I did, combined with how the way the last segment ended seemed a fair bit more appropriate of an ending for the chapter at this point, I have decided to cut that part from this chapter. And with that being said, I again hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and that you all (and I do mean ALL) leave a respectable amount of feedback (remember, ZERO FLAMES ALLOWED!). Remember, I require an exact minimum of 1 review posted for this new chapter by the time I finish the next chapter in order for said next chapter to be posted. Get that? Got that? Good. Again, hope you enjoyed this new chapter, that you are looking forward to the final three chapters to come for this story, and that we all remember and honor the memory of Mark Salling. The crime that got him in jail was truly heinous. And I am not going to pretend that it isn't. But nevertheless, let us honor him at his time of departure from the living in memory of the time in which we all knew him as the misguided, jerkish, and morally ambiguous, but in the end still loyal and lovable rogue with a hidden bigass heart of gold, Noah "Puck" Puckerman.

Song Used (high time, I got back to using this):

Hold On - Colbie Caillat - Performed by Susan Caraway

Other Side of Down - David Archuleta - Performed by Calvin Martenson

Waiting for Superman - Daughtry - Performed by Daniel Taymor

Human - Christina Perri - Performed by Diana Eberhart

Stay With Me - Sam Smith - Performed by Zack Skinner and the New Directions boys

Coming up Next: The very next week, history repeats itself in that the New Directions are once again tasked with doing a performance for the McKinley High fall semester assembly. However, in the days leading up to this assembly, the glee club's being tasked with this duty will soon turn out to not necessarily be the only way in which history shall end up repeating itself when it comes to the New Directions and school assemblies.