A/N: Holy crap, guys, chapter 20! I can't believe I've written so much for this story. Sorry this is late.. crazy weekend and so much to do all the time :(. Trust me, I'd much rather be writing this. Thanks sooo much for all the awesome reviews :D! Keep em coming, they make me happy!

A/N2: This chapter contains the song Hero by Mariah Carey. Go listen to it to familiarize yourself with it again, listen to it while you read.. or whatever lol. youtu[.]be/0IA3ZvCkRkQ

Rachel and I got to Glee club early, she pretty much skipped the entire way to the choir room, and trying to hold someone's hand while they're skipping, and you're not, is more difficult than you think. I couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm anyway, I loved the spirit she always had, it was really beautiful. The choir room was empty when we got there, it was only a couple minutes since the last bell went and she had made me rush, even putting my books in my bag for me impatiently, and wouldn't even let me stop at my locker to put my bag in there.

"So what was that big rush about," I asked as she dropped her bag on one of the front row seats, front and centre where she loved to be. I put my bag down in the seat beside hers and watched her skip towards the piano, letting her finger trail across the smooth black top until she reached the front of the piano. She tapped the highest key twice to test it out and then turned back to me with another one of her bright smiles.

"I like being in here when there's no one else here," she said, sitting down on the bench and patting the open space next to her, beckoning me to sit beside her.

"I thought your favourite place was the auditorium," I replied, walking around the bench to take the seat beside her and staring down at the keys as if they would start playing on their own. I hoped she didn't expect me to know how to play because although I was semi-confident that I could remember how to play 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' she wouldn't be able to get anything else out of me.

"Of course it is," Rachel said, exaggerating the words as if the question should never have been needed asked, "but this is a close second. It's kind of like where all the magic happens."

I looked over at her and she was staring up at the ceiling so intently with this reflective expression and I turned my gaze up towards the ceiling, wondering what she was seeing instead of ugly beige tiles with water stains.

"What do you see," I asked softly, maybe it was a dumb question, maybe she was just staring off into space and not even realizing she was looking at the ceiling, but for some reason I felt like I needed to know. It seemed so important. I wanted to be inside her head.

"Stars," she whispered, in the dreamiest voice I'd ever heard her use. My eyes turned back to her and I suddenly felt very small beside her, even though I towered over her everyday. She had so much confidence, so much certainty in life and right at that moment, I realized that one day Rachel Berry was going to be the biggest star. I may have said it many times, that she was born for stardom and she was going to be famous and all that, and I guess I believed it, but sometimes in life you get this strange moment of clarity when you suddenly understand the words you've been repeating over and over again. I could clearly see her up on a stage every night, singing her heart out and wiping the tears out of her eyes after every heart wrenching solo. Even more surprising, in this moment of clarity, I could see myself standing in the wings, watching every performance with the same amount of admiration, like watching a legend perform.

I leaned over and kissed her lightly on the cheek. It snapped her out of her daze and despite all we had done together already, she blushed, smiling down at the white and black keys as her fingers ghosted over them, "What was that for?"

I was so close to saying those three words, they were on the tip of my tongue and it seemed like it was the most natural thing. But I couldn't. Something inside of me was stirring up doubt and I couldn't do that to Rachel, tell her those words if I didn't truly mean it. I wasn't going to play with her heart like that.

"Just because," I smiled, putting my hand on her thigh and giving it a gentle squeeze.

She stared at me hard, waiting for a better answer, but when I didn't give her one, she finally turned back to the keys and said, "Do you want to play Heart and Soul?"

"I can't play," I admitted, a little embarrassed by the tone of her question, as if she expected me to know how.

"That's alright," she said taking my hands in hers, "I'll show you how."

She gently took both of my pointer fingers in her hands and pressed my left hand to one of the keys.

"This is 'C', you press it twice," she said, pushing my finger down into the key twice as a demonstration and the sound of the note rang out through the quiet room. She took my other hand and placed that finger on a key higher up that looked the same as the last, "This is 'C' also, it's just an octave higher, you're going to press it twice too, just like the last."

She pressed my finger down again, even though we both knew I could do it myself, it was much better when she helped me. She showed me 'A', 'F' and 'G' and their higher counter parts and a minute later I had my part of the song down. I pressed the keys down in sequence and she told me to just keep repeating it over and over again and not to stop until she told me. She nodded as she watched, a smile across her lips as her head bobbed with the notes.

"You've got it," she said with approval, then turned to her end of the piano, placing her hand over a section of keys and waiting for her time to start in. Once I got back to the beginning of the sequence again she started and I almost lost my rhythm as she began to play. She giggled as my pace slowed and gave me a little nudge with her shoulder, "Keep going."

I tried my best to concentrate as her fingers moved and I listened to the music we were making, but it didn't take long for all the keys to start looking the same and suddenly I began pressing the wrong ones. I groaned, but she just laughed that amazing, gorgeous laugh of hers that always makes my stomach tingle, and I realized I was far more interested in keeping her laughing than trying to remember the notes. I took my hands from the piano and put them to better use, tickling her sides as her body jolted and she tried to move away from my torturous fingers. Her hands pressed to my shoulders as her elbows tried to lock at her sides, and she tried to push me away, but I refused to end my torment. She screamed and gasped for air in between giggles and I probably should've been a little bit worried about how that sounded.

"What's going on in here," Mr. Schue demanded and I instantly pulled my hands away from Rachel, as if we had been caught doing something really bad.

Rachel cleared her throat and smoothed her hair down before pushing her skirt down, which had ridden up some in the tickle fight, "Nothing Mr. Schuester, I was simply teaching Brittany how to play the piano."

"There's too many keys that look the same," I shrugged, "I like uncomplicated instruments like the kazoo, plus it's a fun word to say. Kazoo."

Mr. Schue gave us a weary look as we stood from the bench and made our way over to the seats we had put our bags on. It wasn't long before all the rest of the club members began to file in, one after another, and fill in most of the empty seats. We never filled up all of the empty seats, because Glee was never that big, but I liked our size anyway, it was family sized.

When Santana swayed into the room with Quinn at her side, she stopped in her tracks when she saw Rachel sitting beside me, her jaw clenching and her eyes narrowed at us. It was like she had entirely forgotten that we were together and she was learning about it again for the first time. She looked like she was about to lunge at Rachel like a wild cat and rip her throat out with her bare hands, but in an instant her entire demeanour changed and her body relaxed. She walked towards us, Quinn keeping stride beside her with a nervous look on her face, obviously unsure of what Santana was going to do next as well. Santana gave me a tight smile as she took the seat beside me, it was fake and forced, and looked twisted on her lips. She never looked at Rachel.

I think Rachel was a little bit scared of her, because I suddenly felt her hand in mine and it was ice cold, which was very unusual for Rachel, she was normally so warm. I looked over at her as my thumb began to rub against her hand, trying to massage some warmth into her, and her face was pale as she stared at the lone hand in her lap.

"What's wrong," I whispered in her ear, the answer was obvious, but I needed her to confirm it anyway.

"Santana," she whispered back and her voice was shaking a little as she said it, "She looks like she's going to kill me."

I offered her a confident smile back and said, "Santana wouldn't actually hurt you."

I hoped I had said that believable enough, because I sure didn't feel it. Santana had been acting so strangely today, and it wouldn't be the first time she turned to violence to solve her problems. Or the second. Or third. There had been many times. It was different though with Rachel, because no matter how many times she berated and threatened her, she never really tried to hurt her or get in a physical fight with her. Even those times when we had to hold her back, I could feel the way she struggled against us, that she was putting on a show. Another reason why I always suspected Santana had a hidden liking for her.

I kept hold of Rachel's hand in my lap and saw Santana give a side glance our hands, then she turned her gaze straight ahead of her, "Hey Britt-Britt."

"Hey San," I replied back uneasily.

"How's your dog," she spat out and then turned to face Quinn without waiting for an answer, effectively cutting me out of whatever they were going to talk about. I saw Quinn lean over and give me an apologetic half smile and I nodded in acknowledgement of it.

"Alright guys, today is the big day," Mr. Schue said, excitedly, clapping his hands together, "Who's ready to sing some love songs?"

That caused Rachel to immediately forget her troubles with Santana and she suddenly sat straight up in her chair, wide smile and hand in the air. Almost everybody else seemed to grumble about it and I heard Mercedes start laughing, and when Rachel noticed their reactions she slowly lowered her hand, but the smile never disappeared.

"I think everybody saw Brittany's valiant performance in the cafeteria this week, so she's off the hook," Mr. Schue said, giving me a nod of approval, "As for the rest of you, who's first?"

I thought my arm was going to get ripped out of its socket, and it was my good arm at that, as Rachel leapt from her seat pulling my hand and the rest of me with her.

"Although my girlfriend technically went first, I would like to be the first person today to perform the song I have chosen," Rachel said, speaking quickly in that way she always did when she was excited.

"Okay, Rachel," Mr. Schue said, extending his hand in a gesture of giving her the floor as he took a seat on the end next to Quinn.

"As some of you may or may not know, Brittany heroically saved my life yesterday with great risk to her own well-being," Rachel said, holding up my broken arm and I could almost see the smoke shooting out of Santana's ears as she realized that I hadn't told her the entire story, "I will spare you the disturbing details, but I will just say that Brittany stood in between me and a flying dirt bike, unbelievably saving my life, but unfortunately resulting in a concussion and broken arm."

"My god, Brittany," Mr. Schue gasped, "Are you alright?"

"It's not like she has any brain cells to lose," Santana growled and I decided to just stare at her blankly and shrug.

"Yes, she's fine and thanks to her I am too," Rachel beamed.

"There is no god," Santana shot out again, causing a hard look from Mr. Schue, as if that would do anything.

Rachel didn't even flinch, she just continued on her rant, "The piece I have chosen to sing to Brittany today, may not be classified as a love song exactly, but since I will be singing it to the girl that I l-"

She paused and looked at me before the word came out but quickly recovered and turned back to the club members, "The girl that I like and I will be singing it from the heart, I believe that that is what will make it a love song."

She turned to look at Mr. Schue for approval and he gave her a go ahead nod.

"Then in light of the events that took place yesterday," she said, turning towards me and taking both my hands in hers, or a cast and a hand, her smile softened and her eyes had a glow to them, like everyone else in the room had disappeared, "I will be singing Mariah Carey's Hero."

I groaned inside because I knew the song, everybody knew the song, but I knew she was going to make it so sappy and I knew she was going to start crying, that was inevitable, but I was a little afraid that I might start crying. I just felt so naked, standing up there in front of all my friends as they watched Rachel and I open our hearts to each other. I knew I was making things worse than they would be, I mean I had stood up in front of the entire school and told everyone that I had feelings for her, this should've been a breeze. I didn't even have to do anything but stand there and look at her. I can't even explain why I was so nervous about it, I just was.

She gave Brad a quick tilt of her head to start playing and the room filled with the piano's soft melody and I could see her taking slow deep breaths. She was nervous too. It was strange because I don't think I'd ever really seen her nervous before she was to perform. Even when we had competitions at regionals and even nationals, she always looked excited, not nervous. When she was on stage it was like she was home. So to see her here, to feel the slight tremble in her fingers as she breathed, she felt so real and normal. It also made me feel special, like I could do something to her that no one else could.

I smiled at her and squeezed her hands and her tense shoulders relaxed slightly as she closed her eyes for a moment, opening them as she began to sing.

There's a hero

If you look inside your heart

You don't have to be afraid

Of what you are

That first part of the verse came out quite shaky and a little gravelly, very unlike Rachel, and I could see the panic in her eyes as she realized it wasn't sounding perfect. I gave her hands another squeeze, when I really wanted to wrap my arms around her instead, and ran my thumbs over the soft skin on the backs of her hands.

There's an answer

If you reach into your soul

And the sorrow that you know

Will melt away

It sounded a lot better, not quite up to Rachel's standards, but I could see the confidence and determination return to her eyes.

And then a hero comes along

With the strength to carry on

And you cast your fears aside

And you know you can survive

So when you feel like hope is gone

Look inside you and be strong

And you'll finally see the truth

That a hero lies in you

By the end of the chorus she was pitch perfect, capturing every note with that amazing voice, and her eyes never moving from mine. I could feel every word that she sang and it was like we were somewhere else entirely. Like back in my room, lying with each other half naked again on my bed. She suddenly let go of my hands, taking a step away from me as she sang the next part.

It's a long road

And you face the world alone

No one reaches out a hand

For you to hold

I almost laughed when I realized she was making an attempt at theatre choreography, but I held it in because it entirely wasn't the time. Then she leaned in just slightly, and held her hand over my chest, without making any contact, almost as if she was teasing me.

You can find love

If you search within yourself

And the emptiness you felt

Will disappear

As she sang the last line, the hand over my heart twisted into a fist as she pulled it down and against herself, squeezing her eyes shut, before opening them again to sing the chorus. She was crying and I was a little surprised that she had managed to hold out as long as she had.

And then a hero comes along

With the strength to carry on

And you cast your fears aside

And you know you can survive

So when you feel like hope is gone

Look inside you and be strong

And you finally see the truth

That a hero lies in you

She walked a few steps further away from me and I already missed her, I was too quickly growing accustomed to how she felt. Her voice strengthened as the music began to climax and I could tell this was her favourite part. The parts where she was allowed to unleash the full force of her voice, when she could show the world that she wasn't just a little dwarf. That she was better than all of us.

Oh ho, Lord knows

Dreams are hard to follow

But don't let anyone

Tear them away, hey yea

Hold on

There will be tomorrow

In time, you find the way, hey

She was back on me again, but instead of holding my hands she had one of her hands gripping the waistband of my jeans and the other clutching at her own chest, like her heart was almost physically hurting her.

And then a hero comes along

With the strength to carry on

And you cast your fears aside

And you know you can survive

She was so beautiful when she was singing, I couldn't even be sure if I was still breathing. The only way I knew that I was still alive was the way my body tingled all over every time she belted out a high note. When her nails scratched into the skin of my hip and her hand left her own heart to press against mine, I felt my tears fall. Maybe it was sappy and stupid and everyone else could wonder why a song would make me cry, but nobody could possibly understand what it was like to be a part of her. To feel like you mattered to her. She had this amazing way of making you feel like the most important person on the planet when she looked into your eyes and told you how wonderful she thought you were. Even if the words were borrowed.

So when you feel like hope is gone

Look inside you and be strong

And you finally see the truth

That a hero lies in you

That a hero lies in you

Mmm, that a hero lies in you

As the music stopped neither Rachel nor I moved. I suddenly understood Finn's idiotic impulse to kiss her at nationals, at the end of their duet. There was like this force pulling us together and the only thing I could think about was how I needed her lips on mine.

"That was amazing, Rachel," Mr. Schue said enthusiastically, rising from his chair to clap and make his way over towards us.

The sound of his voice released us from the moment and I tried to quickly wipe the tears from my eyes as she gave her own the same treatment. We both took our seats and I risked leaning over and kissing her cheek, before whispering in her ear, "Thank you."

"Okay guys, tough to follow that," Mr. Schue joked, "Who's next?"

"Me," Santana said, standing from her seat and turning around to face us. I saw Finn slowly rise to his feet out of the corner of my eye, but Santana threw a demanding finger at him and yelled out, "Sit down Frankenteen, this one isn't for you."

Her eyes turned straight to me and that pit in my stomach that I had earlier was back full force.

This was not going to end well.