* This has been reuploaded with the typos removed as it was too long to proofread the first time! A couple of other things have been added since the original upload, but nothing major.
Helloo :)
This chapter was EXHAUSTING! It has taken me so long to write and is, by FAR, the longest chapter I have uploaded. I hope it is worth it!
A lot happens in this chapter. I hope I will still be writing for the next reunion, but if not then I hope what happens here wil be enough to satisfy your ND cravings. As promised, this is the whole of Saturday. Next chapter will be Sunday, and after that, we will be back in Columbus and I can get back to writing as much as I want per chapter. Yay!
Thank you to Coatsy for giving me the idea of Quinn's job, and paddyofurniture for a) the title for chapter 12 and b) being generally awesome :D
A lot happens in this chapter, so I hope you can all keep up! There is a touch of... I wouldn't say smut, but it cones close... in this chapter, plus some swearing. Other notes: I'm not male, I'm not blind, and I'm not American. Sorry if I get anything wrong, but I try my best.
Something cool that I noticed about the last chapter was that it was the first time I uploaded on a day that wasn't a Tuesday, and was chapter 13, uploaded on 13th! I'm probably the only person on the planet who can see that as significant, but hey!
I hope you enjoy it and please, please review :D And Coatsy, thank you, for everything :D
Story so far...
Kurt and Blaine arrived in Lima for the reunion. The heard Rachel's newest song, and went to bed. In the morning they greeted all of the ex-ND members and went to BreadstiX, and Santana appeared, having not shown her face since she had graduated. Later, in the auditorium, Mercedes turns up, apologising for abandonning them for two years. Everyone tells their stories of what they'd been up to since graduation and Friday drew to a close, the singers sleeping in the basement while Klaine shared a room with single beds...
-*T&C*-
"Blaine?"
"Mm."
"Are you awake?"
"Mm."
"Is that 'mm' yes or 'mm' no?"
"Stay away from me polar bear!"
"Polar bear? Blaine; it's me."
"No I won't do that Mr Muffet. I don't care if she has got over her fear, things shouldn't be allowed to have eight legs."
"Uh, Blaine?"
"And then the dragon ran away with the sheep? Are they happy now?"
Kurt tried to suppress a giggle. He slipped out of his own bed and made his way over to his boyfriend's. He was sleeping right on the edge of the bed, so there was no way that Kurt could climb in beside him. Instead, he leaned over and pressed a long, chaste kiss to his lips. After a few seconds, Kurt felt Blaine kissing back. He pulled away, satisfied that he had successfully woken his sleeping boyfriend. "Morning sleepyhead. You sleep alright?"
"Please sir, I want some more." Blaine's eyes opened and he looked mischievously at Kurt. He received a grin and a giggle.
"Oy, you!" He hit his arm playfully. "Time to get up."
Blaine groaned, mumbling, "but I want to stay here with you." He pouted and shuffled over on his bed so that he was next to the wall, allowing enough space for Kurt beside him. Kurt just shook his head lovingly.
"Nice try. But we need to get downstairs. They're all having breakfast already."
"How do you kn-" Blaine was cut off by a shrill laugh from downstairs. "Oh."
"Besides, we need to have our showers now before the others steal all the hot water."
"True. We could always... share?" Blaine widened his puppy dog eyes. He knew Kurt couldn't resist them. This time, however...
"Nice try, Anderson. I'm going now; see you when I get out." And with that he was gone. Blaine grumbled.
When the pair appeared in the kitchen, they were greeted by everyone else with remarks like "you sleep okay?" "what are you saying; they didn't sleep!" "is that shirt covering a hickey, Hummel?" "but guys, they're in single beds."
At this last point, from Finn, everyone burst out laughing, careful to quieten it before Burt came down and asked what was so funny. Kurt was blushing profusely, so Blaine wrapped an arm around his waist, pulled him close and pecked him on the cheek, whispering "I love you" in his ear.
There was food laid out on the island, and a few more chairs had been placed around the table, many people preferring to relax on the sofas in the lounge to eat. Kurt decided on a bowl of Weetabix and chopped banana, grabbing the kettle and making a couple of mugs of coffee, while Blaine chose cornflakes and, whilst he thought nobody was looking grabbed a spoonful of the hot chocolate powder and mixed it into his milk. He glanced up and saw Kurt giving him a disapproving look, which was soon gotten rid of by Blaine grabbing a strawberry and putting it in his boyfriend's mouth. Juice dribbled down his chin and, while Blaine would normally want nothing more than to lick it off, he took note of where they were, and the company they were in, and instead brushed it away with a finger.
They grabbed their bowls and mugs, taking them past the island and settling in front of a beanbag in the lounge area. They leant against it and each other as they listened to the conversation going on around them.
It turned out that, during the night, Sugar had tried to get in Rory's bed, only to be pushed away on numerous occasions. Lauren's mattress, which had started off near the stage, had ended up several metres away, and several metres closer to Puck's. Sam had tripped when he woke up, almost falling over a pair of connecting arms, belonging to Brittany and Santana, and it had taken five minutes of shaking to rouse them from sleep, Britt awaking with a start and yelling "unicorns!"
During all of this time, when the group were exchanging funny stories, Mercedes remained silent. She sat by herself on the floor and hadn't got any food, instead just nursing a mug of black coffee. She looked exhausted, and Kurt started to feel a stab of pity for her, before realising how she had cut him out of her life and once again distrust boiled in his veins. He snuggled deeper into Blaine's side.
"We didn't finish saying what everyone has got up to since Lima," Kurt pointed out.
"Was it my turn next?" Rachel asked. She was sitting at the table, Finn not trusting her enough to sit on the sofa or on the floor. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
"Why don't we tell it together? I mean, it's pretty intertwined. We didn't do much apart."
Rachel nodded. "Well, as you all know, I went to New York after Finn broke off our engagement. I didn't know how he felt or anything. To be honest, I was terrified, and if my dads hadn't met me as soon as I got off the train, I don't know what might have happened. I got settled, but still wasn't happy. Then I started at NYADA and it was great. Exhausting, but great. And I started to not get as much sleep as I should, and was relying wholly on cups of coffee that one of the guys there was bringing me."
"Wait, one of the guys? How come you never told me about this, Rach?" Kurt sounded hurt.
"He had a thing for me. Thought that by making me dependent on him, I could grow to love him. Not the sort of thing I really wanted to remember. And, before you ask, he knew about Finn, and Finn knows about him. Nothing ever happened." Finn squeezed her hand, letting her know that he was there, supporting her. "It was then that my sight started to go cloudy. I thought it was a combination of the lack of sleep and the copious amounts of coffee I was drinking. I got headaches, bad ones. But still I thought it was due to the exhaustion. It was about this time that we started to work with light-choreography in dance, so I didn't notice when I began to see flashing lights all the time. And then I was off to see Jack one day, saw him on the other side of the park, and walked towards him. He told me afterwards that I hadn't seen several cyclists who had had to swerve to avoid me. I was halfway across when I collapsed." She paused and took a breath, calming herself.
Finn squeezed her hand and decided it was time to take over. "He got her back to her room, alerting Jodie, her roommate, to what had happened. She took care of her for a couple of days. During all of this, I'd been clearing my dad's name in the army. I managed to get his status changed from a dishonourable discharge to an honourable one. And I realised just how much of a fool I'd been. I hoped on a plane and flew straight to the Big Apple. I got there, found out where she was staying, and went to see her."
"Remember that at this point I hadn't seen him in over five months. It was a Saturday. Saturday 18th February 2013; the day my life got better."
Finn smiled sadly at her before continuing. "I walked up two flights of stairs, heart pounding. I couldn't help thinking that I had let her down, and now she'd moved on. I was right outside her door before I chickened out and thought I should at least come with flowers. But then the door opened. This strange guy walked out and I was just there, staring. And it felt like everything I had feared had come true."
"But it hadn't," Rachel reminded him.
"No." He smiled. "He saw me there and asked me who I was and if I was okay. I told him I was Finn Hudson and something flashed across his face. Now that I think about it, it was probably some form of disappointment; maybe he thought that if I stayed away for much longer, you'd give in and let him love you."
"Never."
Finn grinned, clutching her hands in one of his, smothering them with love. "Well he wasn't to know that. Anyway, he pushed the door open again, poking his head around and he said to Rachel...
"You have a visitor."
"Jack, I hardly think I'm in a fit state, do you?"
"I think you're going to want to see him."
"Who is it? Kurt?"
"No. See for yourself."
He opened the door further and stepped back to let a tall figure pass him. The light in the room was dim, and Rachel still had blurred vision, but her sight became even more impaired a second later as she realised who it was, tears clogging her view.
"Finn?"
"Yeah, it's me. I- are you okay?"
Rachel leapt out of bed and flung her arms around her fiancé. Big, bear-like arms enveloped her and pulled her close to him. "I've missed you. I've missed you so, so much. And I know you probably hate me for what I did, but if you could just give me another ch-"
Finn was cut off as a pair of lips touched his. The couple were vaguely aware of the click of a door shutting, but neither of them paid it any attention. They were together, and that was all that mattered now.
"We went out for a coffee after that. Can you believe it? He took me out for coffee! I'd been in bed for the past three days, and all he could think about was getting me out of the room and getting some caffeine inside me."
"You looked tired."
"I was tired."
"See? Anyway, I took her for coffee and we chatted. At this point I still thought she'd been dating Jack, but she soon put me straight. She told me about NYADA and how much she was enjoying it, but then she broke down. I knew I had to get her out of there, so I called mum and asked if we could stay here for a bit. We pulled her out of NYADA and they said they would offer her a place the next year if she wanted it. We got back here as the temporary arrangement, and that's when things started getting even worse."
"Everyone had presumed that my bad eyesight was because I'd been overworking, and there was no reason to assume otherwise. I hadn't been to the doctors or anything after I collapsed as, again, everyone thought it was exhaustion. My sight kept getting worse and then one day... one day..."
"One day she opened her eyes in the morning and all she could see was areas of colour and light and dark. A little too late, we realised that this really wasn't exhaustion, and we took her into the hospital."
"It was there that they told me I had uveitis. To this day we don't know what caused it."
"Oh, Rachel. That's awful..." Santana, sitting on the sofa with Brittany on one side and Puck on the other, was close to tears. Actually, scratch that: she had been silently crying for the past five minutes. She had always regretted leaving her old life, but thought the main reason for that was Britt. Now, she realised that it was everyone who she missed, and she'd never felt so guilty.
"I didn't go back to NYADA, for obvious reasons, but I did get a recording contract. I'm working on my second album at the minute, and this one will be comprised of original songs as well as covers. I sang one for Kurt and Blaine the other night actually. But, anyway, I was planning on staying here for only a couple of months, but have been here ever since. We got married a couple of months after moving back to Lima and I'd never been happier. Well, you know, third time lucky and all that."
"I managed to get a job a while after we came back here which paid for the wedding and our UK honeymoon. I didn't want to take us somewhere beautiful, and New York just didn't feel right. I'm still working for the football team, training them and stuff, but, you know, a job is better than not having one at all. And mum has been a godsend. Without her, we couldn't've coped. Rach has barely had a moment's peace since I dragged her back here."
"Anyway. There you have it. Our story. Who's next?"
The group glanced at Kurt. "What? Oh, no way. Nuh huh. I'm not following that up. How about we sort out downstairs instead?"
"Already done mate," Puck piped up, "but we could hit a few songs on that stage."
"Yeah, 'kay. But we need to be ready to go by half eleven at the latest; we need to be somewhere else by twelve. Oh, and don't think you can get out of telling your story, little brother." Kurt rolled his eyes and the whole group trudged down to the basement, plates, cups and bowls lying abandoned around the room. When Carole came down the stairs half an hour later, she was met with the sight of the dirty crockery, and sighed, pilling it all up and washing it in the bowl.
Finn walked over to the speakers and pressed a few buttons on the attached iPod. He stopped and stepped back, letting music flow and seeing the reaction on everyone. Kurt was the first one to guess the song.
"No way. Absolutely NO WAY Finn. Turn it off NOW!" He stomped over to the iPod and the room fell silent.
"Was that what I think it was?" Mercedes ambled over to look at the screen. Kurt shifted out of the way slightly, still uncomfortable around her.
"Ohmigod, really Finn? You just wanted to embarrass your brother there."
The room was split. A few of them had turned white, remembering the song or, more specifically, the dance. Some people were laughing and crying, remembering the hilarity more than the embarrassment. Other people hadn't recognised the song, and were looking about, confused. Blaine was one such person.
"What was the matter with it? And what has it got to do with Kurt?"
Lauren crept up to where Kurt had walked to and tickled him around the waist, catching him unawares. "It was the song that got the whole school interested in the New Directions, especially this boy."
"Finn! I can't breathe!" Rachel, who had been laughing silently, was now it such a fit of giggles that she couldn't stand up straight.
"But, what is it?" Blaine was now even more confused.
"Lauren, what do you mean 'especially me'? I got slushied more after Push It than I did after any other song, probably combined!"
"P- push it?" Blaine bit his lip.
"Yeah. By Salt-n-Pepa."
"I- I know who it's by… why did you never tell me you did it?"
"Because it's embarrassing!"
If Kurt thought he was red, it was nothing compared to the colour of Blaine's face. "I- pl- ju- I- m-maybe we should pick the next song?"
Quinn shimmied past everyone who was huddled around the iPod and hit 'next', knowing that Finn had set up a playlist just of the songs they had performed and set it on shuffle. "Don't Stop!"
"We did that yesterday, Q."
Quinn looked over her shoulder at Sam. "No, that was Don't Stop Believin'. This is Don't Stop. Anyway, when did you start calling me Q?"
"Since… just now? Wait, that was the one we sang to my little brother and sister? Just after we lost the house?"
"Yeah, that's the one. We free styled it then, I think it's a perfect one to start on, yeah?" She hit pause and got the song back to the start. "And for anyone who might not know; if you performed the song then, you perform it now. If not, sit out and watch. And we usually try to do any choreography the same, but this was sort of a free-for-all back then, so I say we just do it? Sam, you still play guitar?"
"Sure, course."
Finn handed him the acoustic that had been sitting on the stage. "Let's do it on the floor, yeah? Not really enough space up there for all of us?"
The group got into position, with Joe, Sugar, Rory and Blaine sitting as an audience.
"We ready?" Quinn asked. She hit play.
"Don't (don't) stop (stop)!
Don't (don't) stop (stop)!"
"If you wake up and don't want to smile,
If it takes just a little while,
Open your eyes, and look at the day.
You'll see things in a different way."
"Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow
Don't stop; it'll soon be here.
It'll soon be here.
It'll be better than before.
Yesterday's gone.
Yesterday's gone.
Don't (don't) stop (stop)!
Don't (don't) stop (stop)!"
"All I want is to see you smile,
If it takes just a little while,
I know you don't believe that it's true.
I never meant any harm to you.
Ooooohhhh."
"Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow,
Don't stop; it'll soon be here,
It'll be, better than before,
Yesterday's gone.
Yesterday's gone."
"Oooh, don't you look back.
Don't you look back
Don't you look, don't you look, no
Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"Don't you look back.
Don't you look back.
Don't you look back.
Don't you look back."
"Don't you look baaaack.
Don't you, don't you, don't you look back."
"Don't (don't) stop (stop) thinking about tomorrow."
The singers, smiles shining, finished the song to whoops and wolf whistles from the crowd of four.
"You and Sam are really good together, Quinn." Sugar called out, bouncing up and down and excitable as always. "Ooh, bagsie I pick next!" She ran over to the iPod and hit shuffle.
A steady drum beat filled the room. Rachel didn't hesitate. She knew where the stage was and went to stand on it, grabbing the mike stand to guide herself.
"Give me a second, I...
I need to get my story straight.
My friends are in the bathroom
Getting higher than the Empire State.
My lover, he's waiting for me
Just across the bar;
My seat's been taken by some sunglasses
Asking 'bout a scar and"
Finn joined her on stage and took her lightly in his arms and starting dancing with her.
"I know I gave it to you months ago.
I know you're tryin' to forget.
But between the drinks and subtle things,
The holes in my apologies,
You know, I'm trying hard to take it back."
Sam dragged Quinn to stand in front of them, a level down.
"So if by the time the bar closes
And you feel like falling down,
I'll carry you home"
Most of the group started jumping up and down. Lauren and Joe sat down.
"Tonight,
We are young.
So let's set the world on fire,
We can burn brighter than the sun."
Mercedes had formed a huddle with Santana, Brittany and Sugar.
"Tonight,
We are young. (we are young)
So let's set the world on fire, (fire)
We can burn brighter (brighter) than the sun."
It had been Quinn welcoming the Troubletones back to the group when they had performed this song the first time. This time, Britt grabbed Santana's hand and started dancing with her and Kurt stepped forwards to Mercedes, Sugar simply bounding after a nervous looking Rory.
"Carry me home tonight (Na na na na na na na na)
Just carry me home tonight (Na na na na na na na na)"
Santana sang the words directly to the girl who was now twirling her around the room. It didn't matter that they weren't doing the same dance as they had done at the time; it had been off the cuff anyway.
"The angels never arrived but I can hear the choir,
So will someone come and carry me home."
Rachel stood at the mic again, Finn joining in.
"Tonight,
We are young.
So let's set the world on fire,
We can burn brighter
Than the sun."
Singing, Mercedes looked pleadingly into Kurt's eyes as they danced together, Blaine jumping up and down like a lost puppy near them.
"We are young!"
"Tonight, (yeah)
We are young. (we are young)
So let's set the world on fire, (fire)
We can burn brighter (brighter) than the sun."
Finn was holding Rachel's hips and they were gently swaying to the music as it faded.
"So if by the time the bar closes
And you feel like falling down,
I'll carry you home tonight."
"Alright!" Joe was on his feet and cheering, Lauren alongside him.
"You two really do make a good couple, you know that, right? And the Zizes don't get it wrong." Lauren pointed at Sam and Quinn, who were still holding onto each other having danced and sung to each other for the majority of the song. Now, Quinn seemed to awaken and moved away from him.
"Maybe. But guys, Joe hasn't had a song yet! Come on, which are we going to do?"
"How about you shuffle until you reach one with me in it?" Joe suggested.
"No, I have a better idea." Rachel grabbed Finn and whispered in his ear.
"But that wasn't technically a New Directions song."
"I don't care. Besides, I want to hear it again. So, will you find it?" Finn kissed her cheek and led her to the sofa, letting her sit down before finding another track on the iPod.
"Right, anyone who isn't Joe, 'Cedes, Sam or Quinn, sit down. Anyone who is, I think you should know the song? On the stage, please."
The four members of the God Squad stepped up, in a line, and Finn threw Joe the guitar. He pressed play.
"My heart's a stereo
It beats for you, so listen close
Hear my thoughts in every no-o-ote
Make me your radio (yeah)
Turn me up when you feel low (turn it up a little bit)
This melody was meant for you
Just sing along to my stereo."
"If I was just another dusty record on the shelf (she-elf)
Would you blow me off and play me like everybody else,
If I ask you to scratch my back, could you manage that? (Heeey)
Yeah!, check it Trouty, I can handle that
Furthermore, I apologize for any skipping tracks (uhhh)
Its just the last girl that played me left a couple cracks
I used to used to used to used to, now I'm over that (Oh yeah)
Cause holding grudges over love is ancient artefacts."
"If I could only find a note to make you understand
I'd sing it softly in your ear and grab you by the hand."
"Just keep it stuck inside your head, like your favourite tune
And know my heart is a stereo that only plays for you (Oh, woah)"
"My heart's a stereo
It beats for you, so listen close
Hear my thoughts in every no-o-ote (Yeah, yeah, yeah, come on)
Make me your radio
Turn me up when you feel low (turn it up)
This melody was meant for you
Just sing along to my stereo."
"Oh oh oh oh oh
To my stereo
Oh oh oh
So sing along to my stereo."
"I only pray you never leave me behind (Never leave me)
Because good music can be so hard to find (So hard to find) (Oh)
I take your head and (Oh) hold it closer to mine (Yeah, yeah) (Yeah)
Thought love was dead, but now you're changing my mind (Yeah, come on, wooh!)"
"My heart's a stereo (Yeah)
It beats for you, so listen close
Hear my thoughts in every no-o-ote (You gotta make me a radio) (Oh oh)
Make me your radio (Aha)
Turn me up when you feel low (Turn me up)
This melody was meant for you (Yeah, yeah) (You)
Just sing along to my stereo."
The four took an exaggerated bow, grinning. Finn clapped along with the rest of the members of New Directions. He turned to play another song, but then saw the time.
"Shit! Right, we need to go guys. Same cars as yesterday, yeah? 'Cedes, you still okay with Sugar and co? Right. Good. Convoy again." He started walking up the stairs with Rachel, only for Kurt to call to him.
"Oy, Frankenteen?"
"I told you to stop calling me that."
"Meh, it gets your attention. May I ask, where are we going?"
"You'll have to wait and see."
"And I'm meant to be driving there?"
"I told you, you're following me."
Kurt shook his head lovingly. "This could end badly."
Despite Kurt's reservations, the cars arrived at their destination ten minutes later. Most people were none the wiser even when they got out and saw the building, even some of those that had been there when they'd visited before.
They filed into the building, Finn in the lead. They were met by a large man with a larger smile, who shook the hands of everyone as if each one was the President. He showed them to a room where a screen was set up, various cushions, pillows and beanbags strewn around.
"Well sit down then!" The man, everyone decided, was far too excited. Suddenly, Kurt twigged where he'd seen him before.
"Oh noo," he moaned quietly as he sat down between Blaine's legs as his boyfriend leant against a beanbag.
"What?" Blaine whispered.
"Don't think any worse of me after this, okay? I was young, we were foolish."
Blaine was confused, but turned his eyes to the screen. Everyone else was settled, and the jolly man, leaping about a bit in excitement, dimmed the lights.
"After you've seen this, just go through that door; we've set up the mattresses just as we did in this advert." He let out a soft laugh which sounded a bit like a giggle, and jumped out of the room.
Ba! Ba! Ba ba ba baa da ba ba ba da
Oooow!
Ba! Ba! Ba ba ba baa da ba ba ba da
I get up, and nothing gets me down.
You got it tough, I've seen the toughest around.
And I know, baby just how you feel.
You've got to roll with the punches, to get to what's real.
Oh can't you see me standing here,
I've got my back against the record machine.
I ain't the worst that you've seen.
(Ain't the worst that you've seen.)
Oh can't you see what I mean?
(Can't you see what I mean?)
Yeahhh!
Might as well jump, Jump!
Might as well jump.
Go ahead, jump, Jump!
Go ahead and jump.
Jump! (ahhh!)
Ba! Ba! Ba ba ba baa da ba ba ba da
Juuump! Yeah…
Might as well jump. Jump!
Might as well jump.
Go ahead, jump. Jump!
Go ahead and jump.
Jump, (Oh), Jump, (Oh), Jump, (Oh), Jump
Yeahhh!
JUMP!
"Come on down to Mattress Land!" For the last line, all the people in the room who had been there at the recording of the advert sang along with the tape, bursting out in laughter. Chatter descended on the room as past members tried to explain to newer ones what had happened and why they'd never seen it before.
"Blaine, you don't have to be holding me like that you know." Kurt looked over his shoulder. His boyfriend's legs had tensed during the last 'Go ahead, jump. Jump!' and now he couldn't move. "What's wrong?"
Blaine dragged his eyes away from the screen. He lowered his voice and brought his mouth next to Kurt's ear. "When we get back to Columbus, we are watching that film again. And then I'm going to tie you to the bed and fuck you so hard that you won't be able to move for a month."
Kurt blushed, and wriggled away from the grasp of his boyfriend's legs. Blaine reacted quickly and pulled in a cushion in his place, hiding his straining jeans. "I never knew you had a thing for children," Kurt teased.
"I don't. But I have a thing for a younger version of my gloriously sexy boyfriend beckoning me from a screen."
Kurt blushed even more deeply. "Do you want a minute?"
"I want you." Blaine's eyes were dark with desire. Kurt bit his lip and turned his head to hear what everyone else was saying.
"So why is this the first time we've done this?"
"Well, it wasn't exactly a great time for us. We got mattresses as payment for doing the commercial and, as a team competing for events, we weren't allowed to accept any form of payment. So we had to give them back, only Mr Schue had slept on one of them. He wasn't allowed to come with us to Sectionals and Miss P had to take us instead."
"Anyway, shall we go through? Artie, now you've got your legs I'm sure you'd like to give this a go?"
"You're actually asking me that man? Come on let's go!"
It was as if they were suddenly sixteen years old again, and everyone ran from the room, eager to get bouncing. Well, almost everyone. Kurt and Blaine managed to stay behind. Both were still a bright red colour.
"You want to-"
Kurt cut him off. "They're waiting for us. I think we can make excuses for one of us disappearing for a couple of minutes, but not for both. We are in a mattress store, after all. I think the loos are that way if you want to sort yourself out?" Blaine nodded trying not to feel disappointed. "Come on, get up." Kurt offered Blaine his hands and pulled him into a standing position. Suddenly their faces were centimetres apart and that distance was shrinking every second. Kurt ducked under his boyfriend's arm. "I'll see you when you get out." With that he disappeared into the showroom.
Blaine groaned and ran a hand through his loose curls. "That boy will be the end of me…" he muttered, before leaving through a different door.
"Finn. That's was amazing. I haven't had that much fun since me lads went to meet 'Cherimon' in London. Seriously good idea mate." Rory hit Finn on the back.
"Uh, thanks?" Everyone laughed at him. "Anyway, food. I just got a text from Burt and he says mum has made us lunch and that he'll bring it to the park. That okay for everyone?"
Half an hour later the seventeen ex-members were sat around on the grass in the park that they had all visited whenever they needed to meet up, or practise, or just to escape from something. Blaine had been there many times before, after Karofsky attacked Kurt but before he transferred to Dalton, and again after the Sebastian incidents. One of these benches had even been his bed for a night, before he decided that the bus shelter was more comfortable and before Mr Schue took him under his wing. But those times were in the past. He leant his head on his boyfriend's shoulder.
"Eat up folks, we've enough here." Burt was standing, surveying the scene. Carole looked up at him and shook her head, pulling him down again.
"They don't need looking after; I'm sure they can take care of themselves."
Burt smiled. "I'm sorry. I'm just so used to looking out for my boys, it only seems natural to do it now."
"I know."
"Quinn, you still haven't told us about you."
"Mm, you're right."
"So?"
She sighed and sat up, crossing her legs and rolling back her shoulders. "I graduated. Went to Yale. Graduated at the top of my class." Her voice was robotic, unemotional, but at this point it changed and she looked dreamy. "Being a journalist has its perks. One of them is you can basically do what you want. Most days I just sit in the centre of the city and listen. Occasionally I talk to people, sometimes they talk to me. And this one day, a man came and sat down beside me, took his guitar out of its case, and serenaded me." She blushed. "It was the most romantic thing that has ever happened to me. Of course, I married him."
"Wait, are you saying you married him just 'cause he played you a song?" Puck sounded put out. "I sang for you. I sang for you loads."
"I know. But you didn't move to Connecticut to sing to me."
"True dat."
"Little brother? Little Hobbit? Your go!"
"Thank you, Finn. Blaine, you may want to find another place for your head. No? Fine. So, I spent a year in college doing a fashion course. I was always planning on joining Rach in New York, but obviously that didn't happen. I came back to Ohio when Blaine graduated. Oh, the smile on your face when you saw me there." Kurt paused to kiss the scalp of the head that was still nestled into his neck. "Blaine got offered his job at Dalton; we'd beaten them at Regionals again and the faculty weren't too keen on having to fork out a couple of hundred dollars every time they had a meeting and furniture would get broken. So they offered him the post. He turned it down originally, saying I should follow my dreams and go to NYADA. But it was at this time that Tommy Bahama opened in Columbus. I went for a job interview and got it, and told him to go for the job at Dalton. He was scared that they may have asked someone else in the meantime, but there was never really another candidate, was there? I mean, Wes had all the council experience, but he never did really manage to keep us under control, and he had David and Thad to help him. Besides, he was busy running his recording studio. So, obviously, Blaine took the job. Look, are you going to help me here or not?"
"Not," Blaine mumbled into Kurt's shoulder.
He sighed. "Right, so. I needed two years experience in presentation to become a Visual Merchandiser, but the position was up for grabs just a year after I started there. But I went for an interview, and I got the job. They're thinking of just giving me the whole company next," he teased. "I don't regret my decision. Not a bit. If anything, I regret leaving here for the year that I did; leaving Ohio to go to college. And the house got pretty crowded, what with Dad and Carole, plus Blaine living there, and then Finn returning with Rachel. But Columbus is perfect for us. It's not New York, but I like it. I have a job that I love and that pays well, with crazy good discounts, and I'm living with the man of my dreams, and he has got pretty much his dream job too. I've got some of the greatest friends in the world and live with my two best friends. Life is good."
"Awwh, Kurt!" Tina smiled from where she was sitting in Mike's lap. "Two best friends?"
"Oh my God! Did I not tell you about Bocelli?"
"Wasn't he that bird that got you two together?"
"Almost, Puck. That was Pavarotti. Right, pass me a sandwich and I'll tell you all about him!"
When everyone was full and the food had all gone (Burt needn't have worried about not having enough), they lay down on the grass and watched the sun. Well, obviously Rachel couldn't. Finn tried to explain to her how the leaves were all mottled and they were dancing ever so slightly in the breeze, but it just made her more upset. Brittany reached out a hand - the one that wasn't held in Santana's - and stroked Rachel's hair.
"Don't worry. You don't need to see beauty around you if you have beauty in your soul."
Everyone stared at the blonde ex-cheerleader. Santana's mouth fell open. "Britt-Britt, when did you get so clever?"
Brittany turned to looked at her once-girlfriend, her face blank. "Lord Tubbington had an IQ of 150 once, before he sold it for ecstasy."
"I love you, Britt."
Still, Brittany's face was blank. "You used to. Then you left." She joined little fingers with Santana, as the older girl looked at her in confusion at the mixed messages.
"Don't you think we should be getting back? I thought Will was meant to be arriving around now?" Burt was still struggling to not interfere.
Kurt looked up at his dad and nodded, waking Blaine who had been sleeping with his head on his chest. "Yeah. What time is it?" He glanced at his coat and decided he couldn't be bothered to reach for his phone in the pockets, so slid Blaine's out of his jeans pocket instead to look at the time. "We've got a while yet. And the weather is nice. You and Carole could go back and we'll join you in about half an hour? How does that sound, everyone?"
The group murmured their assent, Blaine waving his hands out childishly to take his phone back.
"Right, okay. We'll take the stuff back. We'll call you if they arrive early, yeah?"
"Thanks dad."
Carole and Burt cleared up and said a final goodbye before carrying the picnic stuff and walking back to their car. Blaine had finally managed to wake up enough to take his phone back, interrupting Kurt in the middle of a game of iCopter.
"There's something I've been meaning to ask you guys, and I don't really want to ask with Mr Schue there."
"No you can't. He's my brother and I won't allow it."
"Uh, what?" Blaine looked confusedly at Finn.
"What were you talking about?" Finn looked equally as confused.
"Not what you were, I'll bet. No, the theme for Nationals this year is 'discrimination', and the guys were brainstorming some songs and were making suggestions. One of the ones they came up with was Loser Like Me."
"They know about it?" Rachel seemed shocked that the song they had written as a group had been heard of outside of the other people who had been competing. "Did you suggest it?"
"No, not at all. It never crossed my mind, even. I'm not sure if we are going to take it any further, but if we do, do we have your permission to use it? I mean, it was kind of all of you who wrote it."
A look of pride crossed Puck's face. "This dude is taking his team to Nationals and his kids have asked to do our song? Our song? Are you serious?"
Blaine laughed. "Yeah. So, what do you say?"
"I'm all for it. And if you do decide to do it, I'd love to come along. To listen to it, I mean." Rachel was smiling softly.
"I think you guys will nail it, and I'd be honoured to think that it'll be sung again." Quinn's face was lit up with a smile.
"And however much Sue says she's changed, we can still get her back." Lauren had an evil grin on her mouth as she licked her lips, acting hungry for a bit of fighting.
"And Mr Schue?"
"Who cares about him?" Puck stood brushing his clothes down. "You guys are going to beat them anyway, why not do it in style, with the song that he named and helped to create? Now I don't know about you guys, but if I stay out here much longer my skin will burn, and I cannot rock that look."
Kurt took one look at Puck and burst out laughing. "Christ, Noah! You're getting even more appearance sensitive than me!"
Puck threw Kurt a 'yeah right, it doesn't take me an hour to do my skin routine every night' look. "So, we going or what?"
"We're baack!"
"Hi Finn. Hey everyone. I've set the table up downstairs so everything should be ready for you. I've done drinks, snacks, cups, plates, music. Is that all?"
"It's perfect mum, thank you." Finn gave Carole a quick hug. "So we ready to party?"
Cheering, they ran down the stairs. Well, Sugar ran, dragging Rory behind her. Santana and Brittany ran together, followed by Mike with Tina. Everyone else walked.
"Bagsie next track!" Sugar bounced over to the speakers, flicking through the songs. "Aha!" She hit play and waited for everyone to recognise the tune. "I love this song!"
A piano started playing through the speakers, and a drum beat kicked in. Sugar shimmied to the centre of the stage, taking the main part. Everyone winced, expecting a repeat of her vocals in Big Spender. As soon as they heard her voice, it was clear that she'd been practising.
I see you drivin' 'round town
With the guy I love, and I'm like,
Forget you!
(Oo, oo, ooo)
I guess the change in my pocket
Wasn't enough, I'm like,
Forget you!
(Oo, oo, ooo)
Yeah I'm sorry,
I can't afford a Ferrari,
But that don't mean I can't get you there.
I guess she's a Xbox and I'm more an Atari,
But the way you play your game ain't fair.
I pity the fool that falls in love with you
(Oh shhh she's a gold digger)
Well
(Just thought you should know)
Ooooooh I've got some news for you
Yeah go run and tell your little girlfriend.
I see you drivin' 'round town
With the guy I love and I'm like,
Forget you!
(Oo, oo, ooo)
I guess the change in my pocket
Wasn't enough I'm like,
Forget you and forget him too,
I said, if I was richer, I'd still be with ya.
Ha, now ain't that some shhhh?
(Ain't that some shhhh?)
And although there's
Pain in my chest
I still wish you the best
With a
Forget you!
(Oo, oo, ooo)
Now, baby, baby, baby, why d'you wanna wanna hurt me so bad?
(So bad, so bad, so bad)
I tried to tell my mamma but she told me 'this is one for your dad'
(Your dad, your dad, your dad)
Yes she did
Yes she did
(Uh!) Whhhy?
(Uh!) Whhhy?
(Uh!) Whhhy, baby?
(Oh!) I love you
I still love you.
Hey!
I see you driving 'round town
With the guy I love and I'm like,
Forget you!
(Forget you, oh oh yeah)
I guess the change in my pocket
Wasn't enough
I'm like,
Forget you and forget him too
(Oh, baby)
I said, if I was richer,
I'd still be with ya
(Yeah you!)
Ha, now ain't that some shhhh?
ain't that some shhhh?
(Oooo whoah)
And although there's
Pain in my chest
I still wish you the best
(Wish you the best)
With a
Forget You!
(You ooh, ooh, ooo.)
"Hello Will, Emma."
"Hey Burt," Mr Schue said, giving Burt the traditional 'man hug'. "Are they downstairs? I think I could hear them from the other end of the road!"
Burt laughed. "Yeah. They're having fun though. Go down, it sounds like they've just finished."
"Cheers. You joining us?"
"Na, I don't want Kurt or Finn to feel like we're watching over them. We'll just take a DVD to bed or something. You're looking well, Emma."
"Thank you." She smiled and gave Burt a more ladylike hug than her husband had.
"Anyway, we'll see you around. Better get down there."
"Yeah sure, and just shout if you need anything."
"Hey guys, how you holding up?" Will walked down the stairs, Emma following him, both smiling brightly at the singers already in the basement. Carole stuck her head down and waved to everyone, motioning that she'd leave them alone. Will reached the bottom of the stairs and captured the group in a large hug. He was pleasantly surprised to see Rory, who hadn't been back from Ireland since his time at WMHS, and also spotted Santana, who was hugging Brittany close to her as if she was scared of ever letting her out of her sight again. Then he saw another person.
"Mercedes?"
"Hi, Mr S."
A puzzled look crossed his face, being replaced almost instantly with one of happiness. He approached her and hugged her, rocking from one foot to the other. "How've you been? What have you been up to all this time?"
"Yeah, 'Cedes. Everyone else has told their story; your turn I think, gal!" Lauren walked past her, hitting her on the shoulder before collapsing on the sofa.
"Well I'm not sure there's really much to tell. You sure you're all interested?"
Without speaking, the rest of the group settled down on chairs, sofas and on the floor. Finn sat on the stage and dragged Rachel onto his knee. Mike and Tina leaned against each other on the floor. Lauren was sitting dangerously close to Puck, who was trying to shuffle away from her. Quinn, Sam and Joe had taken one sofa, with Sugar, Rory, Santana and Brittany taking the other (they only took up two of the three spaces as Sugar had positioned herself on Rory's knee, and Brittany was sitting so close to Santana that they might have well been sitting on each other). Artie chose a lone chair, Kurt on another one with Blaine sitting on the arm. Will and Emma were sitting next to each other, cross legged, on the floor. They all looked up expectantly at the woman who they hadn't heard from in years, wanting to hear her story, her excuses for ridding them all from her life.
"Okay. Well." She looked around nervously, feeling exposed just standing there. Blaine stood and fetched her a chair, receiving a tentative smile of thanks before he went back to sitting on the arm of his boyfriend's seat. "When Sam uploaded that video to YouTube, I got talent scouted. I became a backing singer in California after I graduated, and took classes at UCLA. I was an instant hit with everyone there, people started to want to know more about me. I saw Puck one day on his way to some pool or other, and chatted with him. He looked sad, like there was something huge holding him back with what he wanted to do, even though he said business was good. I could tell he was lying and was suffering from the economic situation. But I knew there was a bigger problem than just money. I could tell he wasn't enjoying work, so I persuaded him to enrol at UCLA. He got in, of course, but made me swear not to tell any of you. That was before the first reunion, and several times I found myself almost telling everyone. Just me and my big mouth I guess."
She sighed and shuffled in her seat, uncomfortable. "By the time the next reunion came around, I was a big name in Cali. I thought that I was better than all of you, and got bored of the childish playing we were still doing. And so after that second one I didn't come again. I let the fame get to me, and I regret that so deeply. I mean, you guys were the ones who believed in me in the first place. Without you, I'd've probably looked for a more 'realistic' career path. Kurt, I can't apologise enough. I can't count how many emails or texts that I got from you that I either ignored or replied back in a really diva and bitchy way. I said you weren't living out your dreams, that you'd thrown them away, but I see now just how wrong I was. Dreams develop; I never really had the concept of that. And Puck, too. Seeing you around school, I was a real bitch. I bet not many girls can claim that they helped their friends get into uni and then spent the rest of the time talking them down. I feel awful. I thought that being a star was what I wanted. I thought that I was better than all of you. I'm not. I never was and I never will be. I just hope you can understand just how much I regret what I did and... forgive me?"
The room was silent. Then, Kurt stood up. He approached his once-best friend, standing over her. She sat, glued to her chair. He reached out a hand for her to take and pulled her up. And he hugged her.
Everyone else took this as a sign to get up. They created a ring around her and embraced her. "You're back now, that's all that matters, right?"
Mercedes sniffed, wiping tears away from her eyes. "I sure hope so. And I don't plan on leaving you again. Not ever. You won't be able to get rid of me," she joked.
"Good." Kurt took her under his arm and directed her towards a sofa.
"Shall we get started on the drink then?" Finn clapped his hands and rubbed them together. Puck wandered behind him, cup in hand.
"Way ahead of you dude."
"Oh. Right. Well, then I guess it's help yourself!"
The table got swamped by eager hands grabbing drinks, filling cups. Chatter descended; everyone catching up, reminiscing, or making out. Soon everyone had a drink, those who wanted to stay able for longer choosing the punch or various other soft drinks, others opting straight for the alcohol. Will had grabbed a can of beer and was now relaxing on the floor again, holding Emma - drinking orange juice - to his side. "So, what we gonna do?"
"Sing some more?"
"Oh, come on. You must have been doing that all morning. No, I say it is late enough for a game. Truth or dare?"
His ex-students looked around questioningly. It didn't feel quite right to play such a game with their teacher. But he wasn't their teacher any more.
"Let's do it!" Finn yelled.
They sat down in a circle on the floor, various partners sitting next to each other.
"Okay, ground rules." Everyone groaned at Will's comment. "No, no complaining. You can't dare something dangerous. No really revealing truths. You can't skip something or change your decision, so you must do what you've been told to. Erm, nothing leaves this room. And, let's make it easy to start off, yeah? PG standard." The group nodded. "Okay, I'll start. Artie: truth or dare?"
"Dare, man!"
"Right, I dare you to get up there and sing 'Barbie Girl'."
Artie raised an eyebrow, but climbed on the stage all the same. Taking the mic in his hands, he put on a high voice. "I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world. Life in plastic, it's fantastic! You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere. Imagination, life is your creation!" He stood back from the microphone and did a deep bow to the sound of wolf whistles. "I thank you." He sat back down. "Riiight. Puck: tr-"
"Dare."
"You want to think about that?"
"Nope."
"Okay. Sugar, make a mix of any two drinks; one alcoholic, one soft."
She stood up, mixed apple squash with lager, and handed the cup to Artie, who gave it to Puck. "Drink up."
Puck took the cup and downed it in one. "Easy. Now Kurt, wadaya want?"
Kurt winced. "Er, truth?"
"What pet names do you have for Blaine, and him for you? And what are the origins?"
Kurt looked confused. "Really? I thought it was going to be much worse than that." Puck shrugged. "Anyway, there's one name that originated from Gina when she first met Blaine - she's my bestfriend at home. Anyway, Blaine walked into the coffee shop that we always go to and I started crying and she gave him a hug and said he smelt nice, which of course made me cry even more, stupid emotions. Blaine identified the smell as the aftershave I had bought him. She said it smelt of cookies, which made Blaine laugh because, obviously, being the child that he is, he can't stay away from the things. Then she saw me crying and said "you're always tears, aren't you". About five minutes later, Blaine noticed that she'd been staring into his eyes a lot and mentioned it. Apparently she couldn't work out what colour they were. Although I've always told her mine were glasz, she's always said they reminded her of a running stream, and always changing. She said his were more like honey and then, suddenly, she shouted out "cookies! They're the colour of cookies! Tears and Cookies!" and the whole shop looked at her like she was mad. But we like it and it has stuck. So, yeah; I'm Tears and he's Cookies."
Puck stared at them. "Tears and Cookies? That's the craziest shit I've ever heard."
Kurt laughed, his voice like chimes. "Britt: truth or dare?"
"Uh, dare."
"Okay, I dare you… to… eat a lemon segment from the table."
The blonde stood without a second thought, walked over to the table, picked up a slice of lemon, bit into it and threw the rind in the bin, sitting back down again. "Tana: truth or dare?"
"Truth!"
"Why did you say it?"
The rest of the group looked on confused, but Santana seemed to know what she was talking about. Fat tears tumbled down her cheeks and she buried her face in her hands to try and hide them.
"I said not to ask any questions that someone really doesn't want to reveal."
"No, it's okay Mr Schue." Santana took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry. I had just done that performance and it had gone well, so I went back to the dressing room to get ready before going out for a party. We were just about to leave, a group of us standing together, when this girl ran up, and said that a woman was there who wanted to see me. I enquired the name and she said Brittany. I knew right then that I couldn't see you. I would have wanted you to stay and I'd've been kicked out of the theatre. I mean, everyone was there, with me. They would have known about us. And I couldn't be hit into hospital again Britt, I just couldn't." More tears fell but she impatiently smeared them away. "So I said the first thing that made sense. "I don't know anyone called Brittany." My heart broke right then, you have to believe me. I so nearly took back my words and ran after her down the corridor. But I didn't. And I deeply, deeply regret that. More than you can possibly imagine." Exhausted, Santana looked at her ex-girlfriend.
Brittany had a look on her face that nobody could quite describe. It seemed full of emotion, yet strangely emotionless. What she did next took everyone by surprise. She leant forwards and captured Santana's lips with her own. She pulled away only to whisper "don't ever leave me again" before going in a second time.
"Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Fake Boobs. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"
Sue walked down the stairs, Susie on her hip. The three-year old was put down and immediately she ran off to attack Joe with kisses. Kurt laughed and leant towards Blaine, whispering in his ear "I told you so" before getting up to hug his old cheerleading coach.
"How are you, Sue?"
"Great thanks, Porcelain. Yourself?"
"Yeah, doing well."
"Good. Susie and I can't stay long. She has chicken pox." Joe immediately dropped the girl and shrank away from her. "I'm only kidding. But it's getting late and my little girl needs her beauty sleep, don't you Susie-poo?"
Blaine stifled a giggle at watching the woman he had known as evil being all cutesy with her daughter whom she had named after herself. However his laughter was shortlived when Sue turned on him and pointed a finger in his direction. "Oy, you. You take care of my boy or else." Suddenly she was all smiles again. "Legs, I want to see you dance, okay? There was a song I heard on the way over and I want you to dance it for me. Sing along too, in fact everyone sing. But just ex-Wheels to dance."
"Uh, sure." Artie stood, uncertain. "But what song is it you want, Coach Sylvester?"
Sue walked behind the drinks table. She nodded to Rory who happened to be the closest person to the iPod and said "Safety Dance."
S-A-F-E-T-Y
Safety dance
We can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
'Cause your friends don't dance
and if they don't dance
Well, they're no friends of mine
I say, we can go where we want to
A place where they will never find
And we can act like we come from out of this world
Leave the real one far behind
And we can dance
We can go when we want to
The night is young and so am I
And we can dress real neat from our hats to our feet
And surprise 'em with the victory cry
Say, we can act if want to
If we don't nobody will
And you can act real rude and totally removed
And I can act like an imbecile
I say, we can dance, we can dance
Everything's out of control
We can dance, we can dance
We're doing it from wall to wall
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody look at your hands
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody's takin' the chance
It's safety dance
Well, it's safe to dance,
yeah it's safety dance
We can dance if we want to
We've got all your life and mine
As long as we abuse it, never gonna lose it
Everything'll work out
I say, we can dance, we can dance
Everything's out of control (Out of control)
We can dance, we can dance
We're doing it from wall to wall (Wall to wall)
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody look at your hands (Look at your hands)
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody's takin' the chance
Oh, well it's safe to dance, oh yes it's safe to dance
Oh, well it's safe to dance, oh it's safe to dance
Oh, it's safe to dance!
It's safe to dance!
Yeah it's safe to dance!
It's safe to dance!
The cheers were huge and Artie stood on the stage, smiling like he never had before. If dancing on the street was incredible, this was… out of this world. "Thanks guys."
Sue stepped away from the table and slipped something away in her pocket. "Yes, excellent. Now what was that song you won Nationals with? Do that one. Do the Meatloaf song. And don't forget to put some energy into it!" She sat down on one of the sofas and pulled Susie on to her lap. "Go on!"
"We can't Sue. Rach did too much movement in that song."
"Hey, Finn, I can manage. I mean, I pretty much just danced with other people or held your hand anyway."
Finn was about to protest again when he saw the determination on her face. She wanted this. She wanted to prove to everyone, to him, that she wasn't a total invalid. "Okay."
Aaaaaah
Shaboo oo sha sha
Shaboo oo sha sha
Shaboo wa sha sha
Sha sha sha sha
Finn: Well I remember every little thing
As if it happened only yesterday.
Parking by the lake
And there was not another car in sight.
And I never had a girl
Looking any better than you did.
And all the kids at school
They were wishing they were me that night.
Puck: And now our bodies are oh so close and tight
It never felt so good, it never felt so right
Kurt and Blaine: And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
C'mon, hold tight,
Well c'mon, hold tight!
Brittany and Santana: Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night
Kurt and Blaine: I can see paradise by the dashboard light
Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night
In the deep dark night
Paradise by the
Dashboard light
We're gonna go all the way tonight
We're gonna go all the way
And tonight's the night
We're gonna go all the way tonight
We're gonna go all the way
And tonight's the night
We're gonna go all the way tonight
We're gonna go all the way
And tonight's the night
We're gonna go all the way tonight
We're gonna go all the way
And tonight's the night
Rachel: Stop right there.
I gotta know right now.
Before we go any further
Do you love me?
Will you love me forever
Do you need me?
Will you never leave me
Will you make me so happy
For the rest of my life?
Will you take me away
And will you make me your wife?
Finn: Let me sleep on it (Sleep on it)
Baby, baby let me sleep on it (Sleep on it)
Let me sleep on it
I'll give you an answer in the morning
Rachel: I gotta know right now
Do you love me (Do you, do you love me)
Will you love me forever
Do you need me (Do you, do you need me)
Will you never leave me
Will you make me so happy (Will you never leave me)
For the rest of my life
Will you take me away (Do you, do you, do you)
And will you make me your wife
Do you love me
Will you love me forever?
Let me sleep on it!
Will you love me forever?
Let me sleep on it!
Will you love me forever?
Finn: I couldn't take it any longer
Lord I was crazed
And when the feeling came upon me
Like a tidal wave
I started swearing to my god
And on my mother's grave
That I would love you to the end of time
I swore I would love you to the end of time
Finn: So now I'm praying for the end of time
To hurry up and arrive
'Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don't think that I can really survive
I'll never break my promise or forget my vow
But God only knows what I can do right now
Finn: I'm praying for the end of time
It's all that I can do (All that I can do!)
Prayin' for the end of time
So I can end my time with you! (You! Yeah!)
It was long ago and it was far away (It never felt so good, It never felt so right)
And it was so much better than it is today. (And we were glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife)
It was long ago and it was far away (It never felt so good, It never felt so right)
And it was so much better than it is today. (And we were glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife)
It was long ago and it was far away (It never felt so good, It never felt so right)
And it was so much better than it is today. (And we were glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife)
Felt so right!
Felt so good!
Paradise!
The song ended and Will, Emma, Sue, Susie and Lauren all cheered from where they were sitting. The group bowed, remembering the first time they had performed that song and what they had ended up with at the end of it. They glanced over at the tall trophy.
"Well, we'd better leave you to it. See you next time, yeah? Oh, and Will?"
"Yes Sue," he winced.
"I like your vest."
She disappeared upstairs carrying her daughter, leaving an open-mouthed Mr Schuester looking at the spot where she had stood in shock. Puck stood and went to the drinks table, grabbing a cup and filling it with punch. Blaine spoke up. "Puck, I wouldn-"
He stopped talking when he saw Puck lift the cup to his lips and take a sip. He burst out laughing. "I don't believe it!" He put the cup on the table and then rolled around the floor with laughter. Everyone else looked on, confused.
"Puck, I think I saw Sue put something in there."
Puck stopped laughing for long enough to gasp out a reply. "I know. I saw. But I couldn't believe. She's spiked the punch. She's only gone and sp-" He was cut off by another fit of laughter. "I spent years trying to get some booze in that bowl of hers. Years! And yet she comes here and does it, escaping soon after."
Everyone eyed Puck warily. Will took action. "Right, the non-alcoholic punch now has alcohol. If you want a soft drink, don't go for the punch. Can I get anyone a top up?"
The table got crowded again. Emma stood to help herself to some orange juice, but the carton was empty and there were no spares that she could see. She grabbed Kurt's arm. "Kurt, do you happen to know if there are any more cartons of orange juice?"
"Oh, it's alright. I've got a glass a wine for you darling." Will handed her a glass and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Well, is it okay?"
She looked in horror at the drink in her hand. "I'd… I'd really rather some orange juice if that's okay." Her voice was timid.
"Oh, just give it a taste?"
Her voice grew stronger. "I can't Will."
"Why not?"
"I can't." Stronger still.
"But why?"
"I'm pregnant!"
Silence fell like a lead blanket. Emma looked around and attempted a tentative smile. Will's face turned from shock to complete jubilation and picked up Emma by her waist, spinning her around. In utter contrast to this, Quinn burst into tears.
"Quinn? Hey, it's alright." Joe was at her side in an instant, holding her close to him. Her sobs shook her body and Joe saying "shh" gently in her ear did anything but calm her.
Half of the New Directions were congratulating Will and Emma, the other half watching Quinn and Joe. When Joe tenderly kissed Quinn's cheek, everyone's attention was on them.
"Dude," Puck breathed. "Aren't you both married?" Joe looked at him and it was as if thousands of little daggers were shooting from his eyes. He looked back at the blonde in his arms and his expression was immediately calm and loving. "Oh." Puck put two and two together. "Oh!" He was shocked. "Why keep it from us? And why start crying?"
Joe rubbed his wife's back, soothing her. Slowly, her sobs stopped. She gulped air into her lungs. "Thank you," she whispered, leaning in and pressing a chaste kiss to her husband's lips.
"But… why?" Puck repeated his question.
"Because we knew you'd react like this." Quinn's bloodshot eyes looked up, into Puck's dark ones. "I was always so against marrying young, marrying your childhood sweetheart, and then I went ahead and did it. I didn't want you to judge me. Besides, you all think that Sam and I are 'made for each other'. I didn't want to disappoint." She turned back to Joe and nestled her head under his chin.
"Besides, we knew the sort of things that happened at these parties. We didn't want to make it awkward."
"Awkward? Joe, half of these guys have partners, the other half already have their eye on someone." Puck sounded really upset.
"I know. And we probably shouldn't've kept it a secret. I mean it's not like we're ashamed or anything. Nothing like that."
Joe pressed a kiss into Quinn's cheek. "Are you okay?"
She nodded mutely at him, a lone tear then making its way down her already sodden cheeks.
"Hey, it's okay. It's okay, it's going to be okay."
"How can it?"
Joe felt a tear fall down his own cheek and pulled her even closer.
"What's wrong, Quinn?" Emma knelt next to the crying girl.
"I'm just being stupid."
"Hey, you're not. Don't you ever say that. You're not stupid. You couldn't ever be."
"I know. But it just, it seems so ridiculous. I mean, I should be happy for Emma." She turned to the gingerhaired woman. "I should be happy for you. I wish I was."
"What do you mean, sweetheart?" Emma stroked her arm tenderly.
"I can't have kids." Quinn had spoken quickly to get the pain over with, but now tears fell readily again, as if admitting it to everyone suddenly made it more true. She started chanting to herself mournfully, "I can't have kids, I can't have kids, I can't have kids…"
Mercedes frowned. "But, why?"
Joe kissed Quinn's head. "We don't know. Probably a combination of having a child young and the accident."
Shock and pity was etched on the faces of everyone in the room. Will thought about his own child and how he'd wanted her, or him, for so long. He thought of how much pain Quinn had been after she'd given up Beth. His heart went out to her.
"Look, can we… can we just move on? Please? I'll be fine. I'll go and clean myself up." She laughed. "I must look ridiculous. Stupid mascara. I'll be fine. Can we just go back to having fun? I mean, this is a party!" She stood and walked to the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind her. Joe was expecting hundreds more questions, but they didn't come. Sam approached and patted him on the back in comfort, but other than that no-one changed.
"Drinks, anyone?"
Two hours later, everyone was very drunk - apart from obviously Emma. A surprising amount of the alcohol had gone, considering Burt had bought so much. Sugar and Rory were in one corner making out (well, you couldn't knock the girl for trying) and even Puck had managed to shake off Lauren, and she was instead on one of the sofas with Sam, but it looked more like she was eating him than kissing him. Mike and Tina were dancing together even though there was no music. Finn was sat at the piano showing off his new skills, or rather hitting the keys randomly and making a horrible noise. Kurt was sitting across Blaine's lap on the floor, nose tucked under his chin and kissing his neck. Joe and Quinn were singing loudly to each other, completely out of tune. Will and Emma were swaying gently together, as if soft classical music was playing. Brittany and Santana were getting reacquainted, both sitting on the stage, legs on the floor, and pressing soft kisses on each other's faces. Mercedes and Artie were attempting to tell each other jokes, but neither could ever remember the punch line, but it didn't matter as they'd both laugh hysterically anyway.
Suddenly Rachel stood up. "A song! We need another song!" she shouted.
A cheer went up, their drink-addled minds making them stand up and jump in excitement.
"First one that comes up, yeah? And we've- we've got to do it exactly. As. We. Did." Drink causing her to stumble over her words, Finn couldn't risk her trying to walk to the stereo. He stood up and stopped her, walking over to it himself. Music started playing and he paused it, grinning.
"I knew keeping those hats was a good idea!" he exclaimed. Everyone looked confused, alcohol making their brains work slowly. "Mr Schue, you mind if Rory stands in for you? It's just kind of awkward with you doing this one."
"Sure, whatever." Will didn't work out what song it was, just waved Rory on to the stage and handed him a hat from the pile he found behind him.
"And Brittany. Uh, Santana. Me and Rachel of course. Artie, you were there. Kurt and Mercedes. Mike, Tina, Quinn, Puck. I think that was it."
"But what song is it, Finn?" Rachel asked when everyone had received their hats and all the people who weren't needed sat down to watch.
Finn grinned and put on his best impression of Prinipal Figgins' voice. "Please give it up for: The New Directions."
"Baby can't you see
I'm calling
A guy like you should wear a warning
You're dangerous
I'm loving it"
"Too high, can't come down
Losing my head
Spinning 'round and 'round
Oh, do you feel me now?"
"With a taste of your lips
I'm on a ride
You're toxic, I'm slipping under
Tasting the poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic"
"Din-din-di-li-li-lin, ohh"
"And I love what you do
Don't you know that you're toxic"
"Oh, no, ohh"
"It's getting late to give you up
I took a sip
From my devil's cup
Slowly, it's taking over me"
"Too high, can't come down
It's in the air
And it's all around
Oh, can you feel me now?
Oh!"
"With a taste of your lips
I'm on a ride
You're toxic, I'm slipping under
With a taste the poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic"
"Din-din-di-li-li-lin, ohh" (Heeey)
"I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic
Intoxicate me now
With your loving now
I think I'm ready now (I think I'm ready now)
Intoxicate me now
With your loving now
I think I'm ready
I think I'm ready now"
"It's a Britney Spears sex riot!" Lauren screamed before everyone else joined in, screaming and yelling and laughing, too drunk to realise what dance they'd just performed.
Will laughed at his old kids. "Rory, you did an excellent job there, mate. Much better than me, I have to say. You got moves!"
Burt trod down the stairs, wincing as he saw the room full of drunken adults. "Guys, it's three in the morning. Maybe it's time to call it a night?"
The room flew into action and the boys dragged the mattresses out from where they'd be propped up against the far wall. Bags were opened and blankets were laid out. Content, Burt went back upstairs again. Why did he have to be such a light sleeper when his wife slept so soundly?
"You okay sleeping here, Miss P? I'm sure you could sleep in the lounge if you'd prefer?" Finn offered.
"No, I'm fine here thanks. And I'm Mrs S, if anything other than just Emma."
"Oh, yeah, right. Well, we'll leave you guys to it then. There's another bathroom a floor up if some of you want to use that? Night everyone." Finn took Rachel upstairs. Kurt and Blaine stayed to say goodnight to everyone individually before going up themselves.
They took their jeans and shirts off so they were stripped to their boxers. They were warm from the alcohol they had consumed so didn't feel the need to wear anything else. They got into their separate beds.
"Blaine?"
"Mm."
"I'm too awake."
"Me too."
In the darkness, Blaine couldn't see the look that passed over Kurt's face. Silently, he pushed the duvet off himself and stood up. In the dim moonlight, he saw that Blaine was facing away from him and smiled. He padded over to Blaine's bed. He paused. Then, he pounced.
After a moment's shock, Blaine began to kiss back. His hands were pinned to his sides by Kurt's strong arms, and he felt the weight of his boyfriend sitting on his chest. They moaned into the kiss, Blaine managing to wriggle his hands out of Kurt's grip so that he could capture his boyfriend's face and pull him even closer still. Kurt let his hands roam down Blaine's body, settling on his well toned, naked chest.
He broke the contact of their lips and placed his instead where Blaine's neck met his body, sucking and nibbling at a spot there. His boyfriend writhed in pleasure beneath him, letting out moan after breathy moan. Satisfied, Kurt removed his lips and stuck his tongue out to lick down Blaine's chest. Using all his force, Blaine tumbled, turning so that he was on top of Kurt, but careful that they didn't end up on the floor.
He left a similar mark on his boyfriend's naked chest, continuing to nibble up instead of down until he ended up nibbling at Kurt's ear. The older boy moved his head to capture Blaine's lips with his again and they kissed, tongues playing, for many more minutes.
Blaine pressed a final, loving kiss, this time to Kurt's temple, and rolled off him. "I love you," he whispered into his ear, wrapping his arms around Kurt's middle. Kurt smiled, wriggling closer to his boyfriend and burying his head under Blaine's chin. They both softly fell asleep.
Right, I need to thank you all so, so much! I've climbed to 38 reviews, and have grown from 2,858 views to 3,233. I seriously cannot thank you enough!
I apologise for the formatting of this chapter :/
GLEE. WAS. AMAZING! I loved it so much, and was bouncing all week, so excited. No way was I about to wait for January! CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT EPISODE!
For those of you who had been waiting for this for ages, you now know the origin of the title of this story! This was actually the only thing I knew about this story when i first starting writing it, so I can't believe it has taken me this long to include it in the story itself, but I hope the title now makes sense :)
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!
I never feel like I do enough for charities. Sure, all my old stuff goes to Cancer Research and I am always in the charity shops in my town. But I want to just go up to collection pots and put money in. So, for every review I get for this story, I will donate 10p to a charity. If you have a favourite, please let me know in your review and I'll see what I can do. Let's see how much we can donate, eh?
Did you know that they had to change the movement for Push It because the original choreography was said to be "too sexy for television"? True story.
If you have read to here, say "dancing mushrooms" in your review! Yeah, we're back to the plain obscure!