Hey everyone. Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. I know part of this chapter is in Kurt's POV, which is different, but I was trying to think of what would be the most likely way for the gang to get the news they get at the beginning of the chapter and I thought it would be by a phone call from Burt to Kurt. And a random question: what would you guys think of me writing my own version of Season 6? Anyway, enjoy and review if I should continue!
Chapter 45: Justice
The new apartment already seemed like a much better place to live than the old one. The neighborhood was much safer, and there were 24 hour security cameras, so if someone did try to break in, they'd be caught. In a few days, Jesse and Brody would be back to court, and everyone hoped justice would be served.
Tonight Rachel, Santana and Blaine were at work, so just Kurt and Finn were at the apartment right now. Kurt's phone was ringing. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was his dad. Ever since his dad's heart attack and cancer diagnosis, he always made sure to answer calls. It probably wasn't more bad news, but why take any chances?
"Hello?" Kurt said as he picked up the phone.
"Hi, Kurt," Burt said.
"Dad, is everything okay?" Kurt asked. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, and so is Carole," Burt said.
"Good," Kurt said. "Because things are finally going well. We're in our new apartment and I know things aren't going to go well for Brody and Jesse in court, I know they're going to be vindicted..."
"Kurt, calm down," Burt said. "I talked to Will Schuester today."
"Oh, how's he doing?" Kurt asked.
"He's fine," Burt said. "But he told me something that I think I should tell you guys."
"All right," Kurt said. Had Coach Sylvester finally succeeded in shutting down the glee club?
"He got a job offer from a prestigious performing arts school in LA," Burt said. "They tracked him down and offered him the job..."
So the New Directions might be losing their leader? If Mr. Schue went to LA, it was possible that the glee club would disappear... "Oh God," Kurt said.
Finn came in. "What's going on?"
"Dad, I'm putting you on speaker," Kurt told his father. "Finn's here and I think he would want to hear this, too."
"Hi," Finn said.
"Hi Finn," Burt said. "I was just telling Kurt that I talked to Mr. Schuester earlier tonight, and he told me he got a job offer from a performing arts high school in LA."
"What?" Finn asked. "What's going to happen to the glee club if he goes to LA?"
"We don't know," Burt said. "He hasn't told the glee club yet, but I thought you guys might like to know."
"I didn't think he'd ever leave McKinley," Finn said.
"Well, to be fair, think about how much happier he'd probably be at a school that celebrates the performing arts and where someone like Coach Sylvester isn't trying to tear it down all the time," Kurt pointed out.
"He didn't say that he's going to take the job in LA," Burt told his sons. "But he didn't say he wasn't."
"Thank you for telling us," Finn said. As they hung up the phone, the brothers looked at each other, not believing what they'd heard. The glee club wouldn't cease to exist - would it?
"Should we tell the others?" Finn asked Kurt.
"I don't know," Kurt said. "With the court date coming up..."
"Yeah, but we need to do our best to make sure glee club still exists at McKinley," Finn said. "We need to convince Mr. Schue to stay, and if he doesn't, we need to help find someone else to lead the club."
x
"Rachel?" Finn whispered as they lay in bed. Tomorrow they'd be going to court, and he didn't want to go. It would just bring back bad memories. Court was something he associated with Lucy and he didn't want to be reminded of her.
"Yeah?" Rachel whispered back.
"I really don't want to go tomorrow," Finn said.
"Me either," Rachel said. "It'll remind you of her, won't it?"
"Yeah," Finn admitted.
Rachel gave Finn a big hug. "Finn, I'm so sorry that happened to you. I know that this impacted all of us, but at least we all went through it together. We were all here for you during what happened with Lucy, but you were the only one it happened to."
"And she's Brody's cousin," Finn said. "She indirectly had a role in this."
"Why do such horrible people get attracted to us?" Rachel asked. "Brody and Jesse to me, Lucy to you..."
"Well, we ended up together," Finn said. "That's what matters, right?"
"Right," Rachel said. "Let's try to get some sleep."
x
The court date had arrived, and the group was sitting in the court room, waiting for Jesse and Brody to arrive. This time, they hadn't asked their family members to come to the hearing. They would have felt bad seeing
Rachel, Finn, Kurt, Blaine and Santana sat on a bench together on one side of the courtroom, with Tina, Artie, Sam, Dani and Elliott on the bench behind them. Rachel looked across the room at the other side and saw someone who she assumed to be Jesse and Brody's attorney. Then some people Rachel recognized entered the room. Jesse's parents. She remembered them from when she and Jesse were dating. They were spending the winter in the tropics when Rachel and Jesse had been dating, but Rachel had still seen photos of them and met them over skype once. They thought their son was the center of the universe and that no one else had the talent that he had. Jesse was their favorite child, and they made sure their other kids knew that. Jesse's uncle, the one he moved in with to go to McKinley, was with them as well.
Another couple in their 50s came in and sat down next to Jesse's parents. Rachel knew who they were. These were Brody's parents.
"Are you okay?" Finn whispered to Rachel.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Rachel whispered back. "Are you?"
"I guess," Finn whispered.
"Finn, look," Kurt whispered, poking his brother.
Finn turned and saw Burt and Carole coming in. "Mom, Dad, we told you that you didn't have to come," Finn said.
"Honey, did you really think we wouldn't come?" Carole asked. "We don't want our sons to go through this again."
"Thank you for coming," Finn said.
"From what we've heard, we aren't the only ones who've come into town," Burt said.
"What do you mean?" Blaine asked.
Then, as if on cue, Rachel's dads, Blaine's parents and Santana's parents came in. "All our parents came?" Santana said.
"Did you really think that
Finally, the police led Jesse and Brody in. Rachel watched them out of the corner of her eye, not wanting to give Jesse or Brody any ammunition by looking at them.
The judge entered the room and the bailiff read the charges. The judge then turned to Jesse and Brody's attorney. "Mr. Boswell, your clients were caught on camera breaking into the apartment. We do not have any evidence to suggest otherwise or any motivation. Do you have any comments?"
"Let me speak," Jesse said, standing up.
"Mr. St. James, I did not ask for you to speak," the judge said.
"Yes, what my clients did was wrong, but they were provoked," Mr. Boswell continued. "They have been hurt quite a bit by the residents of the former loft in the past few years, particularly Miss Berry and Mr. Hudson. Mr. St. James dated Miss Berry in high school, and she repeatedly chose Mr. Hudson over him. During the second incarnation of their relationship, Miss Berry cheated on him rather publicly by making out with Mr. Hudson on stage at a singing competition. Mr. Weston also had a relationship with Miss Berry last year, but she also cheated on him with Mr. Hudson. Mr. Weston briefly lived with Miss Berry, Mr. Hummel and Miss Lopez, and Mr. Hummel and Miss Lopez both made him uncomfortable. Mr. Hudson also had some issues with Mr. Weston's cousin."
"I have been told about that, and it's my understanding that Mr. Weston's cousin assaulted Mr. Hudson," the judge continued. "I'm ready for the first witness."
Witnesses were called up all afternoon, including all the loft residents. Rachel listened to statements from Finn, Blaine, Kurt, Santana, Sam, Artie and Tina, always worried about her friends, but she was really most worried about Finn. Finally, Brody was called to the stand, and Rachel wondered what he (and Jesse) would say.
"Yes, what Mr. St. James and I did was wrong, but it's not like the loft residents were innocent," Brody snapped.
"And what do you mean by that, Mr. Weston?" the judge asked.
"Well, Mr. Boswell told you about our past with Miss Berry," Brody said. "And there was a court case not too long ago here regarding my cousin Lucy O'Reilly and Mr. Hudson."
"From what I remember, Mr. Weston, your cousin was the one who hurt Mr. Hudson, not vice versa," the judge said.
"He hurt her," Brody said.
"How so?" the judge asked.
"My cousin loves Mr. Hudson," Brody said. "He means a lot to her. She knows he's the one for her."
Rachel wanted to throw up in her mouth. Lucy, the woman who'd traumatized Finn and assaulted him and scarred him for life, thought that she was in love with Finn, that he meant a lot to him and that he was the one for her. No. Rachel was in love with Finn. He meant the world to HER. He was the one for HER.
Rachel looked at Finn, who had tears in his eyes. She grabbed his hand, trying with all her might to hold in what she wanted to say.
"Well, Mr. Hudson and Miss Berry are engaged to be married," the judge said. "Is there anything else you want to say in your defense?"
"No," Brody said. "I think I've said everything."
Rachel knew that Brody had purposefully left out the story about his fight with Finn because prostitution was illegal. When she was called up next to give her statement, she was tempted to bring that up, but decided against it, worried Finn might get in trouble with the law for physically fighting. After Rachel answered questions from the judge, Jesse was called up and spoke pretty similarly to how Brody spoke. At the end of the day, the judge spoke.
"Mr. St. James and Mr. Weston, you are being charged for both burglary and for stalking," the judge said. "You will serve jail time for the combined time recommended for both crimes, and you are also being asked to return any possessions you stole to Mr. Anderson, Miss Berry, Mr. Hudson, Mr. Hummel and Miss Lopez." He turned back to the roommates. "Unless of course you don't think you need your possessions..."
"We actually have replaced them," Blaine said.
"Although they could give us financial reimbursement," Santana said with a smirk.
Rachel smiled at Santana. Why hadn't she thought of that?
"Very well," the judge said. "Please send me the receipts of the replacements for the things that were stolen, and we will get them to Mr. Weston and Mr. St. James so they can reimburse you."
"This is so stupid," Jesse snapped.
"No, Mr. St. James, what you and Mr. Weston did was so stupid," the judge said. "Police will escort you out of the courtroom."
As Brody and Jesse were escorted out, Rachel gave Finn a hug. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Now I am," Finn said. He turned to everyone. "How about everyone come over to our place for a celebration?"
x
"The new apartment is lovely, you guys," Carole said as everyone sat down for dinner in the apartment. Finn and Rachel had ordered pizza from their favorite pizza place in New York to serve their family and friends.
"We think so, too," Blaine said.
"And once we get the money from Brody and Jesse, we'll be able to probably pay a few months' rent," Santana said.
"Well, justice was definitely served," Santana's mom said.
"Indeed," Finn said. "Thanks for coming out here from Lima. You didn't have to."
"Of course we did, we wanted to fight for you guys," Blaine's dad said. "Luckily, you didn't need us to, but just in case you did..."
"Well, everything worked out how it should have," Kurt said.
"How are things back in Lima?" Blaine asked.
"Finn and Kurt told you guys, right?" Burt asked.
"Told us what?" Artie asked.
Finn had almost forgotten with the distraction of court. "Kurt and I got a call from our dad telling us that Mr. Schue got a job offer from a performing arts school in LA."
"What?" Tina asked.
"If Mr. Schue goes to LA, what will happen to the glee club?" Rachel asked.
"We don't know if Will's going to LA, you guys," Burt said. "He didn't tell the glee club."
Rachel knew that Coach Sylvester had always had some sort of vendetta against the glee club, except when she helped out with Nationals their senior year. But if Mr. Schue left McKinley, probably no one would be willing to take over the club. And it would really be destroyed.
The kids who were in glee club now deserved to finish up their high school years in glee club. Finn had told Rachel about how much Marley, Ryder, Jake, Kitty and Unique had grown during the year he'd helped out in the glee club. Rachel knew herself how much glee club had helped Kylie come out of her shell. There were so many kids not even at McKinley yet who were going to need it.
"We're going to need to make sure he doesn't leave McKinley," Rachel said. "We can't let the glee club go up in flames."
"Who says it will if Mr. Schue leaves McKinley?" LeRoy asked.
"Mr. Berry, Coach Sylvester will finally get her way if Mr. Schue leaves," Santana said. "There will be no more glee club. None of the other teachers are supportive of it except Mrs. Schuester, who'd leave with Mr. Schue, and Coach Beiste, who's too busy with football."
"We're all going to need to team up to make sure he stays," Kurt said.
"Yeah, we'll need to get in touch with Puck, Quinn, Mike, Mercedes and Brittany so they can help," Tina said.
"Wow, if you're willing to reach out to Mercedes, that shows you really care about this," Artie said.
"Glee club's what matters most now," Tina said.
Then something came to Rachel's mind. "Maybe he doesn't want us to know..."
"If he does end up leaving, he'll have to tell people sooner or later," Finn pointed out.
"Should we tell the current glee club members?" Sam asked.
"Maybe not, they're just getting ready for Regionals," Blaine said. "But we do need to make sure the glee club is safe and that Mr. Schue doesn't give up on the club and go to LA."
"He told me this school tracked him down," Burt said. "They want to revive their glee club and they've been really impressed with what he did with New Directions. He loves the New Directions, but this school is much more supportive of the arts than McKinley is, and it would pay much better..."
"But he said that when Miss Pillsbury convinced him to stay she told him that doing what you love is more important than money," Finn remembered.
"We're going to make sure New Directions stays," Rachel said. "We're going to do glee club justice."
Chapter 46 preview: The New Yorkers tell the other alumni about Mr. Schue possibly going to LA and everyone tries to come up with ideas to convince him to stay. Regionals are coming up for New Directions - will they find out about their status possibly being in jeopardy right before Regionals? Rachel also deals with opening night approaching for Funny Girl.
10 reviews unlock Chapter 46!