Chapter 80

The Bribe

Kurt padded downstairs, barefoot, in a pair of dark, houndstooth pajama pants and a Ziggy Stardust t-shirt, pinching the bridge of his nose as he blinked the sleep from his eyes. His dreams were getting more intense and he decided that if he was going to lose sleep, he may as well do it on his own terms. He walked into the kitchen to find the lights were already on and Finn was sitting at the extended counter in jeans and a white t-shirt, concentrated on his laptop.

"Hey," Kurt greeted him, retrieving a glass from the cabinet and pouring himself some water.

"Hey," Finn replied, looking away from the computer, "Couldn't sleep?"

"No. I guess I'm just nervous about this election."

He didn't want to tell his family about his astral projections and freak them out with the invasion of privacy.

"Don't be, man," Finn shrugged, "I'm not gonna lie, Rachel's pretty intense about this whole thing, but you still have a shot. And even if you don't win, it doesn't mean you're not gonna get into NYADA. Things usually work themselves out."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Wow, you sound pretty optimistic. I mean, no offense, but these last few months, it's like you've been having some sort of existential crisis. Celeste was telling Blaine what a jerk you were on your date."

Finn grimaced. "Yeah, I guess I was pretty upset after hearing that Puck had that free ride to OSU. But, that was before I talked to Coach Beiste."

"What did she say?"

"Honestly, I can't really get into detail, but… she knows a lot more about stuff than I thought."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Well, she has this other job. When she's not coaching at McKinley, she's at OSU."

"She coaches football at OSU?"

"Not football…. More like this elite fraternity."

Kurt frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Like I said, I can't really talk about it," he said, smiling coyly, "But she saw that I was off my game, so she told me about it. Said they could use guys like me. She's recommending me to the school."

"Well, what does that mean?"

"I think it might mean that I could get a scholarship to OSU."

"A scholarship? Really?"

"Yeah, they call it the Initiative Grant. I guess for students who… show initiative," he said, spinning his laptop around on the counter to show Kurt a page on Ohio State University-Lima's website, "I just submitted an application."

Kurt widened his eyes. "Finn, that's great!"

"Yeah, I just have to wait and see what happens, but I think it's looking good," Finn smiled, "I think I'm going to college."

xxx

Kitty opened her motel room door to find Buffy on the other side, wearing a leather jacket and an unamused frown.

"Buffy," Kitty smiled, pulling at a white cotton bathrobe with a swirly 'K' emblazoned on the breast, "What brings you to the Honey Boo Boo side of town?"

Buffy's bottom lip jutted out. "Can I come in?"

Kitty shrugged and held the door wide open, gesturing for Buffy to walk inside. The older slayer paced into the room and turned back around to face Kitty. The motel was like any other - springy mattress, TV with fuzzy reception, water-stained ceiling. Only Kitty's stuff sprawled around the room - the Cartier watch, the jewellry, the Jimmy Choos, the clothes from Barney's and the Smartphone - gave the room a touch of class. Buffy wondered why she couldn't afford a nice hotel if she could afford all of her designer things.

She folded her arms and glared at Kitty. "Cloven guy. Goes by the name Kakistos."

Kitty's eyes widened, proving Buffy's suspicions right. There was no coincidence.

"What do you know about Kakistos?"

"That's he's here," Buffy replied.

Kitty visibly gulped, reeling back the natural attitude.

"Not happy to see old friends, are we?" Buffy asked, feeling smug, "What did he do to you?"

"It's what I did to him," Kitty said, hastily taking off her bathrobe to reveal her flowery leggings and red sweater, and shoved it into a duffel bag that was resting against the dresser.

"And what was that?" Buffy asked, as the blonde quickly strapped a pair of black, high heel boots onto her feet, "Kitty, you came here for a reason. I can help."

"How about you mind your own business, Captain America?" Kitty snapped, shoving her things into her duffel and suitcase, "I can handle this."

Buffy snorted. "Yeah, you're a real badass when it comes to packing," she scoffed as Kitty grabbed a bunch of toiletries from the bathroom, "What was that you said about my problem? I should move on. Get over it. Well, it looks like you've got the moving on part down but did you ever consider dealing with your problems? Are you just gonna dump this on me?"

Kitty stood up straight from her bag and glared at Buffy. "You don't me. You don't know what I've been through. I can take care of myself."

"Like you took care of your watcher?"

Kitty stood still, her anger drifting and her shoulders drooping. Buffy immediately regretted saying it when she realized what had really happened.

"Kakistos killed him, didn't he?" she asked softly.

Kitty looked at the floor. "They don't have a word for what he did to him."

Someone knocked on the door, making both girls jump. Kitty dropped her bag and went to the door to peer out of the peephole.

"Ugh," Kitty groaned, "It's the manager. I told him I'd pay for the room tomorrow."

"Kitty, if you run, Kakistos will run after you," Buffy said gravely.

Kitty grabbed both her bag and her suitcase. "That's where the head start comes in handy," she said, and swung the door open.

Both she and Buffy gasped to see the lifeless manager was being held up to the doorway, blood dripping down his neck, by a vampire wearing medieval robes, his hands cloven with three hooves each. He dropped the dead manager to the ground and smiled menacingly at the slayers, flanked by two other vampire minions.

"Katherine," he greeted Kitty in a syrupy voice.

He grabbed at her throat with his cloven hand, but Buffy jumped toward them, pulling Kitty away from the door and attempting to close it on Kakistos' arm. She pushed him out of the way and closed the door, but his claw bust through the flimsy wood as Buffy tried to hold it back.

Kitty wiped hysterical tears off her face, screaming, "No, no, no!"

"Scream later, escape now," Buffy demanded, taking a leap away from the door and pulling Kitty with her by the arm.

The girls ran into the bathroom and broke open the small, rectangular window, boosting each other outside as Kakistos and his minions broke down the door and ran after them. They eventually lost them in a maze of alleyways in downtown Lima, and broke into an abandoned building that was once a wine cellar, waiting while the minions looked for them.

"We're okay," Buffy said breathlessly as Kitty panted beside her, "What happened? Kitty, what happened?"

Kitty sniffed, looking pained. "I was there when he killed my watcher. I saw what he did to him… What he was gonna do to me… I tried to stop him, but I couldn't. I ran." Kitty ran a hand through her hair, looking frightened and ashamed.

"Kitty," said Buffy, "First rule of slaying? Don't die. You did the right thing. Now, you do the math. One of him, two of us. Yeah?"

Kitty's eyes drifted to the other side of the room. "No. This is his place."

Buffy turned around to see dizzy, nearly dead victims with punctures in their necks, lying around in blood stains. "He drove us here," she realized aloud.

Just as she spoke, a vampire appeared in the window behind them, snarling like a lion. Buffy grabbed Kitty's sleeve and the girls started to run again, down through a wide, open room with abandoned construction equipment and a thin flight of stairs running against the wall. The vampire, joined by two more, ran after them, gaining speed. Buffy put her foot into a dusty paint bucket and kicked out, flinging the bucket into one of the vampire's faces. She karate-kicked another and leapt over a wooden table with candles melted into the crevices, finding a crowbar on the ground beside it. She swatted at one of the vampires with it when she spotted Kitty across the room, being cornered by Kakistos, a talisman hanging from his translucent neck.

"Kitty!" she called to the other slayer, "Don't die!"

She flung the crowbar across the room and Kitty, wide-eyed and bewildered, caught it in one hand. She raised it in the air, but Kakistos quickly gave her a back-fisted punch and she fell back into a flimsy pillar, cracking the wood in half as she fell to the floor. Kakistos walked slowly toward her as Buffy fought off the other vamps and grabbed her by her shirt, pulling her up into his snarling face, a hideous scar slashed across his right eye.

Buffy staked the last vamp, and turned her head to see Kakistos viciously punching Kitty's face until he let her fall to the floor again, limp and bloodied. Buffy ran toward him before he could sink his teeth into the other slayer and threw a punch into his gut. He fought back, throwing thudding blows, but Buffy dodged most. She drove the stake into his meaty chest, but just barely pierced the skin as he tossed her against a wall. She looked on at him, bewildered, as Kitty stirred and raised her head.

"I guess you need a bigger stake, slayer," Kakistos laughed, the stake sticking right out of chest.

Kitty hopped up, a rivulet of blood dripping from her forehead, and grabbed the halved, wood pillar she had broken, tossing it at Kakistos like a javelin. It pierced right through his chest and appeared at the other side, turning him to dust. The pillar clattered to the floor along with the remains of the cloven vampire. Both girls panted heavily as they stared at the ground where he once stood. Buffy pushed herself away from the wall and approached Kitty, her chest heaving.

"You hungry?" she asked.

Kitty smirked and nodded. "Starved."

xxx

"The Council approved our request," said Will.

The Scoobies had all gathered in the choir room that morning before classes started so Buffy could tell them about her night with Kitty and Kakistos.

"Kitty will stay here indefinitely, her hotel room will be paid for and I will be a watcher for you both until they can find a replacement," the teacher continued as he walked into the room and set his briefcase down on the piano.

"Good," Buffy nodded as Kurt finished off the last remnants of his espresso beside her, "Kitty really came through in the end. She had a lot to deal with, but she dealt. She put a lot behind her."

Will nodded. "Well, I'm glad to hear it."

Buffy looked thoughtfully down at her lap, a ball forming in her throat as she decided to quickly say, "Santana was cured."

She continued to stare at her jeans as the room became unimaginably silent. All eyes were on her, she was sure.

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked, barely audible.

Buffy opened her mouth to speak again, but her hands had started shaking. She'd decided last night that she would tell them all what really happened. Tell them why Santana's death had been so much harder than it would have been if she had remained the cruel and evil Snix. But now that she was telling them, it was like feeling that fresh pain all over again.

"When I killed her, she was cured," she said, her voice small, "Your spell worked."

Quinn continued to gape at her, disbelieving. Buffy turned toward Will, who was slackjawed.

"I was about to kill her, and then something happened, and she was Santana again," Buffy said, almost smiling at the memory as her eyes fogged over, threatening tears, "She didn't remember anything she'd done. But it was too late, and I had to. So I told her that I loved her, and I kissed her…" Buffy paused, a flood of remorse and relief washing over her, "And I killed her."

The Scoobies continued to stare, their faces fallen, as Tina reached over to put a hand on Buffy's shoulder. Buffy lowered her head and sniffed.

"I don't know if that helps with your spell," she said.

Will gulped. "I… I think it will."

"I'm sorry," Rachel whispered on Buffy's other side.

"It's okay," Buffy nodded, convinced that it really was, "I've been holding onto that for so long. It felt good to get it out. Uh, I gotta go, okay?"

The others nodded respectfully as Buffy excused herself, her head still bowed as she left the room.

Blaine sighed heavily. "Poor Buffy," he said.

Quinn's brow was knitted in frustration. "It worked…" she said under her breath.

Rachel looked up at Will. "Mr. Schuester," she said, "What spell are you trying to do?"

Will looked down at the surface of the piano. "...I'm not doing a spell."

xxx

"Hey."

Quinn shook as she looked up from where she sat under the bleachers, hugging her knees as she smoked a cigarette. It wasn't the herbal variety. It was the kind full of nicotine that she'd gotten from one of McKinley elusive goth girls and hid from Rachel. It was Kurt, though, who had found her and was walking over to join her where she was squatting.

"Oh, hey," Quinn greeted him, quickly tossing her cigarette down onto the grass and squishing it under her Doc Martens, "Don't tell Rachel, okay? I've only smoked real cigarettes, like, three times, but I know she'd freak."

Kurt smirked. "I think the lemongrass ones are bad for you, too."

Quinn frowned. "But they don't have any nicotine."

"Yeah, I don't think it's the nicotine that kills you. I think it's the smoke. But that's beside the point. I wanted to ask you-"

"If you wanted me to reconsider helping you with this spell-"

"Quinn, you heard Buffy. Your spell worked. You got a hold of Santana's soul and you got it back to her. If you can do that, why can't you help my mom?"

"Because it's a different kind of thing, Kurt," Quinn grimaced at the ground, "Santana's soul wasn't attached to anything. Your mom's soul - her fragment of a soul or whatever it is - is in you. I could hurt you. Why don't you understand that?"

"I do understand that and I'm ready to take that risk."

"Kurt-"

"No, I am. I'm tired, Quinn, and every time I fall asleep I can feel how much pain she's in. I can't take it anymore."

Quinn shook her head. "I had help before."

"I can help you."

"You wouldn't know how."

Kurt balled his fists, frustrated. "You could help me if you wanted to-"

"Of course, I want to-"

"No, you don't, because the stakes aren't high for you. It's not your mother or your dreams. You have nothing to lose-"

"Kurt-"

"I'll drop out of the race."

Quinn frowned. "What?"

"I'll quit the campaign, for class president," Kurt nodded, "If you help me. Rachel will win. She's already winning, this will just be the last nail on the coffin lid, or something. You know she's been killing herself trying to win. She needs to get into NYADA, Quinn, and this will seal the deal for her."

Quinn pursed her lips. "You can't… blackmail me."

"This isn't blackmail. This is bribery. You help me and I help you."

Quinn paused. "Don't you want to get into NYADA?"

Kurt shrugged. "Not as badly as I want to help my mom."

Quinn wrinkled her brow like she was mulling it over, before she rolled her eyes. "This is insane. Kurt… I can't."

Kurt was about to continue arguing when Rachel bounced down the bleachers in a silk skirt, her brown eyes wide with alarm. She spotted Kurt and Quinn crouched underneath the steps and squatted down to peer at them from between the metal steps.

"Finally! Where have you guys been?!" she demanded, "Never mind. The cast list for West Side is up. It's up!"

Quinn and Kurt scrambled off of the ground and followed Rachel, who was quick on her ballet flats, to the announcement board nearest to the choir room. The rest of glee club and a few less enthusiast theater kids crowded the two-page cast list. Rachel elbowed her way through them and Quinn waited eagerly a few feet away to hear if her girlfriend had gotten the part. Her question was answered when Rachel turned away, looking crestfallen. Tina, Blaine and Piper looked sympathetically after her as she padded away.

"What? What does it say?" asked Buffy, who came sprinting down the hall, her backpack clanging.

Rachel pouted. "Kitty got the part," she said, almost disbelieving, "I didn't even know she auditioned."

Kurt frowned. "Sorry, Rachel… Did you see who got Tony?"

Blaine approached them, wringing his hands together, looking guilty. "I got Tony."

Kurt widened his eyes in a mix of surprise, disappointment and pride. He tried to smile widely, but it looked wooden.

"I didn't even audition for Tony, I swear," Blaine shook his head vehemently, "I auditioned for Bernardo, but…"

"No, it's great," Kurt nodded, "You deserve it. We should… go to dinner to celebrate. I'm happy for you, I am."

Blaine nodded, still looking guilty, as Tina approached the rest of them. "Rachel, it's not that bad. At least you got Anita," she said, trying to sound sympathetic.

Quinn smiled hopefully at her girlfriend. "See, you got Anita. That's great. That's a great character."

Rachel breathed out of her nose in frustration. "But it's not Maria," she snapped, "I'm sorry, excuse me. I have to practise my speech, and then my supporting character lines."

Rachel stalked off in her squeaky flats and Quinn turned to follow and comfort her, but not before turning back around to Kurt, meeting his eyes and giving him a tight nod.

xxx

Buffy picked at her nails outside of Mr. Perry's History classroom, perking up when the bell sounded and Juniors flooded out of class. She kept her eyes peeled for a head of dirt-brown dreadlocks and was surprised when the first thing she noticed about Joe when he walked out of the classroom was his silver lip ring.

"Joe, hey," she greeted him, smiling jovially as she gripped her handbag, "I was, um, waiting for you to get out of class."

Joe looked up at her, uncertain but expectant, his face not as soft and friendly as usual. "Oh, um, why?"

Buffy swallowed and paced herself for what she was about to explain. "Look, there was someone, a while ago, and the ring… sort of confused me, but I liked what you said about friendship. I liked it a lot. And Hitchcock? Big fun. I'm capable of big fun even though there's no way you could possibly know that and if I knew I was going to be babbling this much, I would've brought some water. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you would still like to go to the film festival, and I would totally understand if you didn't, I would still pretty much love to go with you."

Joe sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Look, I don't know, Buffy. I'm gonna have to think about this," he said stoically, and then broke into a wide, trademark smile, "Okay, I thought about it. I'm in. When do you want to go?"

xxx

The doorbell rang out as Shelby bounced her crying daughter on her hip. Beth squeezed tears out of her pink face, her mouth open wide to emit a cry like a police siren as the bell rang over and over. Shelby sighed heavily and carried Beth to the apartment door, peering through the peephole to see that it was Puck. Filled with relief, she swung the door open and smiled gratefully.

"Puck, thank God," Shelby smiled, her dark hair falling out of its bun, "You're a lifesaver."

"No problem," he smiled crookedly at her and pulled a frowny face at Beth, "What's wrong little blondie? You want to see your daddy?"

Shelby handed Beth over to Puck and held the door open so he could come inside, bouncing her in his arms, a guitar case strapped around his chest.

"She's been fed and changed," said Shelby, "I think she's just tired and cranky."

"Nothing a little acoustic guitar can't fix," Puck smirked as Beth continued to cry.

"I just really need some concentration, if I ever want to get through these college essays," said Shelby, who'd put on an oversized purple sweatshirt and a black pair of yoga pants as soon as she'd gotten home - her official 'not at work' uniform, "And I wanted to give Sofia a break, you know? She's a babysitter, not a nanny, I can't bother her at this time of night. Besides, Beth is always happy to see her dad."

She kicked a few plushie toys out of the way as she walked into the living room, Puck following idly.

"Yeah, no problem. Call whenever you want. I'm always happy to see my little lamb," he smiled at the toddler, who's screaming had died down to a hiccup-y weeping, "How 'bout I take her to her room? Sing a little, maybe read her a book."

Shelby smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling. "That sounds great," she said, crossing her arms.

Puck headed to the nursery with Beth and Shelby took a seat on the sofa, tending to the pile of essays she had to get through. She plucked from the top of the pile to see the first one was by Morgan Ru. She sighed and flicked the cap off of her red pen when she heard Puck strumming his guitar in the other room. He played a familiar melody and when Shelby struck a red line through the first typo, he started to sing.

"So long. I've been looking too hard, I've been waiting too long. Sometimes I don't know what I will find. I only know it's a matter of time, when you love someone."

Shelby bit her bottom lip, trying to mask a nostalgic smile. The same song had played at her high school prom. She'd only crashed the prom so she could spike the punch bowl and even back then, the song had been old-fashioned and corny, but for whatever reason, the memory made her feel good. She set the essay back down on her coffee table and stood up, walking into the hallway. The door to Beth's nursery was open and the guitar strummed melodically out to her. She walked up to the door jamb and leaned against the wall, listening intently.

"Maybe I'm wrong, won't you tell me if I'm coming on too strong? This heart of mine has been hurt before. This time I want to be sure."

She breathed in quickly when she remembered what was so special about that song. She had just spilled all of her bourbon into the crystal punch bowl when the song came on and couples paired off to slow dance, and her boyfriend at the time, Kyle Sampson… Simpson? She couldn't remember. But she did remember how he'd whisked her off into the hallway and kissed her, telling her she was the coolest girl he'd ever met, the love song crooning loudly from the gymnasium doors. Shelby smiled.

"I've been waiting for a girl like you to come into my life. I've been waiting for a girl like you and a love that will survive. Yeah, waiting for a girl like you to come into my life."

Shelby smiled and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the wall as she listened. The last time she'd felt as special as the times when Kyle kissed her were the times when Jesse kissed her. Both of those boys had worshipped her until it got to be too much. Until she felt like she was leading them on. Still, she missed how good she'd felt when she was with them.

"You liked that?"

Shelby's eyes snapped wide open and Puck was standing in front of her, his guitar case on his back and the door to the nursery closed.

"Oh, Puck," she said quickly and quietly, "I'm sorry, I was just… Yeah, it's a good song."

Puck nodded, narrowing his eyes at her and smiling playfully. "Okay, well, Beth is asleep."

"That fast?"

"What can I say? She's a Foreigner fan. Girl gets her epic musical taste from her dad, I'll tell you that," he grinned.

Shelby sighed and crossed her arms again, her eyes wandering to the crown molding over the nursery door. "Thank you. Really, I appreciate it. It's everything I wanted. To be a mom. Ever since Rachel, I knew that that's what was missing from my life. It's just so damn hard. It's hard to do it alone. The mess, the crying, the books about ducks wearing yellow rubber boots… It's great but it's all on me, you know?"

Puck nodded, listening intently as Shelby talked, almost to herself.

"That's not even the hardest part, though," she said, "It's all the amazing parts. Like when Beth first stood. I just wanted to be able to look over and share that moment with someone that loves her just as much as I do. But… no-one's there."

Puck wrung his hands together and cocked his head. "Listen, if you ever need any extra help, I'm here for you," he said, and took her hand, making her look up at him, to see how serious, how committed, he was, "Always."

xxx

"This place is actually kind of nice. Do you ever catch kids bumping uglies behind the trees?" Kitty asked eagerly.

Buffy stalked through the Lima cemetery and smiled coyly to herself with the younger slayer beside her, the moonlight bouncing over their fair hair.

"No," Buffy laughed, "There's a spot up by the woods, though. Some kids go parking."

"Parking?" Kitty wrinkled her nose, looking amused as they walked, "People still do that? That's not strictly an activity found in movies set in the '50s?"

"It's a small town," Buffy explained, "People get bored."

Kitty smiled to herself, shoving her hands into the pockets of her raincoat. "Have you and Joe ever taken the trip to Makeout Point?"

"Hardly. We've only been on a few dates."

Kitty rolled her eyes. "But you like him, don't you? That crunchy, granola, stashes-weed-in-his-dreads and smells-like-he-hasn't-showered-in-a-few-days thing gives you the certified horns, huh?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer. And he doesn't smoke weed. He's really religious."

"Oh, so it's a Teen Jesus thing? I should've known. 'Cause of the sandals."

"He's nice. And he's funny. And best of all, he doesn't seem to be any kind of Hell beast."

Kitty snorted. "All men are beasts, Buff 'n Stuff."

"I was hoping to not get that cynical until at least my second divorce."

"It's not cynical," Kitty said matter-of-factly, "It's realistic. Every guy from manimal down to Mr. Downton Abbey has beast in him. I don't care how sensitive they pretend to be. They're all in it for the chase."

xxx

Rachel wrapped a yellow bathrobe over her pajamas and flung her bedroom curtains open, letting sunlight illuminate her already vibrant bedroom. She'd wallowed in self-pity all week, throwing glares at the West Side Story script that was lying on her dresser with Anita's lines highlighted in pink. Still, she decided to put on a brave face. Today was the day that she would win Class President and have a sparkling line about leadership on her college applications and her future resumes. She tried to envision her first student council meeting with full reign of the official gavel, but she tried not to get ahead of herself.

She grabbed her clear makeup bag full of toiletries and headed to the bathroom at the end of the hall to start her morning routine, but as she strode out of her bedroom, she collided into someone. She looked up to see it was neither of her fathers, but a boy her age in pajama pants and a thick wool cardigan. Rachel screamed and smacked him across the face with her makeup bag. He immediately reeled back, yelling out something that sounded vaguely like a swear word.

"Rachel, what's going on?!" Hiram demanded as he and LeRoy ran out of the master bedroom, pulling their dressing gowns tightly around themselves.

"There's a boy!" Rachel cried, pointing to the stranger in the hallway who was shielding his face from the girl's makeup bag.

"Rachel, that is Rory!" LeRoy snapped.

Rachel narrowed her eyes at the boy. He was baby-faced, with a pointy Keebler nose and perfectly gelled brown hair. The cheek she had slapped was becoming aggressively pink.

"Who- Who's Rory?" she asked.

"I'm the foreign exchange student," he said, in a thick accent.

Rachel frowned at her fathers. "We're hosting an exchange student?"

"Rachel, we told you about this. We're hosting an exchange student from Ireland. This is him, Rory Flanagan," said Hiram, "You must've totally tuned us out, like you've been doing all month."

Rachel pouted. "Well, I've been… busy."

"Well, you better not be busy today because Rory needs someone to show him around the school and you are his host sister."

Rachel widened her eyes. "Dad, today is election day! I need to make the rounds. Meet and greet and butter up my constituents. I have to win!"

"Rachel, don't be rude," LeRoy frowned, "Now, I'm going to make French toast. Rory, do you have French toast in Ireland?"

Rory nodded shyly.

"Try not to assault the boy anymore," Hiram said sarcastically to his daughter as LeRoy headed downstairs to start breakfast, "I'm going to take a shower."

Rachel pouted to herself as her fathers disappeared and Rory looked nervously at her, holding a palm to his swelling cheek. "Sorry I startled you," he said.

Rachel frowned at him. "And I'm sorry that I hit you with my makeup bag, but listen to me. Today is a big day for me. I was already robbed of my McKinley High theater debut but I will not let anyone take this election from me. So just stay out of my way!"

Rory grinned a little as he continued to caress his own cheek. "Wow. American girls… very aggressive."

Rachel raised her chin in the air and said, "Vote Rachel Berry," before storming off to the bathroom.