Hi guys! Thanks a lot for all your support so far! This is one of my favorite Season 2 episodes, so I was excited to get to this episode! At the same time, I got to add in things I wish we could have seen! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and review if you want me to continue. And enjoy glee tomorrow - I heard they're doing something special for Finn!
Chapter 27: Duets
"How are you feeling?" Rachel asked Burt as she sat down to dinner with Finn, Carole, Burt and Kurt. It was their first family dinner since Burt had gotten out of the hospital, and Finn had invited Rachel to join them. Rachel was always happy to spend time with Finn, so she naturally agreed to come.
"I'm feeling a lot better, thank you for asking," Burt said. "From what I heard, the glee club was really great to Kurt."
"Kurt's an important member of the group," Rachel said. "We wanted to help him in any way we could."
"So, how is Glee going?" Carole asked.
"We still only have eleven members," Finn sighed. "Sectionals isn't for a few weeks though, so maybe we'll get someone before then. Otherwise, we can't go."
"What about that new guy on the football team that you thought might join?" Kurt asked Finn. "Now that he's injured, maybe you can get him to."
"I'll give it a try," Finn said.
"Speaking of football, congratulations on getting quarterback again, Finn," Burt said.
Finn smiled his famous half smile. "Thanks."
"He always points to me in the stands when he scores a goal," Rachel said, smiling with pride. "It makes me so proud to be his girlfriend."
Finn put his arm around Rachel. "And I'm proud to be her boyfriend."
Rachel noticed the look on Kurt's face. Did he maybe feel bad that Finn and Rachel were together and so happy, and that he didn't have a boyfriend? "So, Carole, you were asking about glee," Rachel said. "I'm actually wondering what this week's assignment is going to be. Our last few were kind of controversial, but I do have a few song ideas in mind for Sectionals."
"Duets for you and Finn, I bet," Kurt said coldly.
Rachel decided not to say the duets she had in mind. "I do have some group numbers in mind."
"Well, we're definitely looking forward to Sectionals," Carole said.
"I'm just hoping we have enough members to go," Finn added.
x
The next day in glee club, Mr. Schue was a little late. "All right, let's gather round," he said as he came in. "Sorry I'm late, guys. I was with Principal Figgins. Bad news, guys. Puckerman's in Juvvie."
Juvvie? Finn wasn't necessarily surprised, but he did feel somewhat bad hearing this.
Tina didn't sound very sympathetic though. "It really was just a matter of time."
"What did he do?" Quinn asked.
"He drove his mom's Volvo through the front of a convenience store, and drove off with the ATM," Mr. Schue said.
Now Finn was wondering - did Puck really think that he could do things like that and getting away with it? "And when is he getting out?" Rachel asked.
"Unknown," Mr. Schue said.
"He's the dumbest person on the planet, and that's coming from me," said Brittany.
"Guys!" Mr. Schue demanded. "Let's have some sympathy."
Now something else came to Finn's mind. Without Puck, there were only ten members. They might have to recruit two people instead of just one. "For a guy who put his needs before the team's? We need his voice, and his bad-boy stage presence."
"We can't look at this as a crisis," Mr. Schue said. "It's an opportunity."
"For what? Further embarrassment and humiliation?" Quinn asked.
"For welcoming our new member, Sam Evans!" Mr. Schue said.
Finn breathed a sigh of relief as Sam came in.
"How's it going?" Sam asked. "Hey, everybody. I'm Sam. Sam... I am. And I don't like green eggs and ham."
"Oh, wow. He has no game," Santana mumbled.
Finn decided to do his best to make Sam feel welcome. "Okay! This is gonna be great. You're not going to regret joining, Sam." He patted the seat next to his. "Sam, you sit right here."
"All right!" Mr. Schue said. "Question for the group. What's a duet?"
"A blanket," Brittany said.
"A duet is when two voices join to become one. Great duets are like a great marriage. The singers complement each other, push each other to be better," Mr. Schue said. "So, this week I want you to pair up and sing a duet. And since you guys all seemed to love our little Defying Gravity diva-off, I'm making this a competition."
"What's the winner get?" Mike asked.
"Dinner for two, on me at Breadstix," Mr. Schue said.
Finn couldn't help but think of himself and Rachel when Mr. Schue talked about great duets. He did have a list of songs he wanted to sing with her and he was sure that they would win.
"Want to get together after practice to pick one out?" Rachel asked.
"Of course!" Finn said. He took Rachel's hand and walked to the library. "Any ideas?"
"I have a few," Rachel said. "But I'd love to hear your ideas."
Finn thought back to the list in his bedroom. "How about Don't Go Breaking My Heart?"
Rachel smiled wide. "Oh, Finn, that's a great idea! You'll sound great on it!"
"I'll print the sheets and we can practice after school tomorrow," Finn said.
"That's great," Rachel said, leaning in to kiss Finn. "You know I love singing with you."
"And I love singing with you," Finn said.
x
At lunch the next day, Sam came up to Finn. "Hey, Finn, thanks for recruiting me for glee," Sam said. "It's only my first meeting and I have a partner for the duets competition!"
"Really?" Finn asked, glad glee was off to a good start for Sam. "Who?"
"Kurt," Sam said.
Kurt? Finn wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Kurt was a great guy, and he was a good singer, but Finn knew that the glee club was the school bullies' favorite targets. What if the bullies started accusing Sam of being gay like they did when Finn hung out with Kurt a lot last year.
"Really?" Finn asked.
"Yeah," Sam said. "He's pretty confident." Sam went off to lunch, and Finn went to find Kurt. "Kurt, you asked Sam to do a duet with you?"
"Yeah," Kurt said.
"You can't do this to him," Finn said.
"You're overreacting," Kurt said.
"If he sings with you, you're painting a bull's eye on his back," Finn said.
Kurt didn't look convinced. "Once again, your closeted homophobia seeps to the surface like the contents of a cracked cesspool."
"Don't give me that," Finn said. Maybe he shouldn't be so hard on Kurt. "Look, I know I shouldn't have used that word in your basement, but it's not like you were innocent. I really like you, Kurt. But the fact of the matter is, the way you were all over me last year? If I did that to a girl, she'd take out a restraining order."
"You have issues with me being gay, I get it," Kurt snapped.
That wasn't true at all! "No, actually, I don't. I have issues with the fact that you don't understand that no means no."
"I just want to sing with him," Kurt demanded.
Finn knew that look. Kurt was getting into Sam, like he'd been into Finn last year. "Then you don't give a damn about any of us. If he sings with you, I guarantee, within a week, he'll take so much crap, he'll have to quit Glee Club. Your call, dude." He went to the choir room, where Rachel was waiting for them to practice their duet.
"Hey," Rachel said.
"Hey," Finn said. "Ready to sing together?" After his not so pleasant conversation with Kurt, he needed to sing with Rachel to take his mind of things.
"I'm always ready to sing with you," Rachel said. She handed Finn his drumsticks. "Accompanied by you on the drums of course!"
Finn kissed the top of Rachel's head as he took a seat at the drums and began playing them as they began to sing their duet.
Finn: Don't go breaking my heart
Rachel: I couldn't if I tried
Finn: Oh, honey if I get restless
Rachel: Baby you're not that kind
Finn: Don't go breaking my heart
Rachel: You take the weight off of me
Finn: Oh, Honey when you knock on my door
Rachel: Ooh I gave you my key
Finn and Rachel: Ooh Ohh
Nobody knows it
Finn: When I was down
Rachel: I was your clown
Finn and Rachel: Ooh ooh
Nobody knows it
Finn: Right from the start
Rachel: I gave you my heart
Ohhhhhhh oh
I gave you my heart
Finn: So don't go breaking my heart
Rachel: I won't go breaking your heart
Finn and Rachel: Don't go breaking my heart
Finn: And nobody told us
Rachel: 'Cause nobody showed us
Finn: And now it's up to us babe
Rachel: Ooh, I think we can make it
Finn: So don't misunderstand me
Rachel: You put the light in my life
Finn: Oh, you put the sparks to the flame
Rachel: I've got your heart in my sights
Finn and Rachel: Ohh Ohh
Nobody knows it
Finn: But, when I was down
Rachel: I was your clown.
Finn and Rachel: Ohh Ohh
Nobody knows it
Finn: Right from the start
Rachel: I gave you my heart.
Finn and Rachel: Ohhhhh oh
Rachel: I gave you my heart
Finn: Don't go breaking my heart
Rachel: I won't go breaking your heart
Finn and Rachel: Don't go breaking my heart
Oooh Ohh
Rachel: I gave you my heart
Finn: Don't go breaking my heart
Rachel: I won't go breaking your heart
Finn: Don't go breaking my
Finn and Rachel: Don't go breaking my
don't go breaking my heart
Rachel: Don't go breaking my
Finn and Rachel: Don't go breaking my heart
Rachel: I won't go breaking your heart
Finn: Don't go breaking my heart
Rachel: Don't go breaking my
I won't go breaking your heart
Finn: Don't go breaking my
Finn and Rachel: Don't go breaking my heart
Oooh Ooooh Yeah
"We're totally going to win this thing!" Finn thought out loud as they finished.
Rachel sat down. "I know."
Finn was surprised by Rachel's sad look. He sat down next to her. "Wow. Don't be sad. I mean, Breadstix has these vegan meatballs, they're okay."
"I'm not really a nice person," Rachel sighed. "I'm selfish. The fact is, is I'm only really generous if there's something in it for me."
Finn knew Rachel COULD be selfish, but couldn't everyone? Especially at their age. "Yeah, but I still like you."
Rachel looked at Finn. "But you, you're so kind and open. Well, it's made me want to be a better person. We have to throw the competition."
Finn was hoping they would win. "But I love Breadstix.
"No, if we wanna win at Nationals, then Sam has to win this contest," Rachel stuttered. "Okay? He has to feel like he belongs and, and the team has to believe in him."
Finn knew Rachel was trying to be a team player. She didn't want to push toward winning? "Wow, Rachel, I never seen you like this. I'm kind of impressed."
"Well, like I said, you inspired me," Rachel said.
"But technically, you're doing this because it'll help us win Nationals, which means there's something in it for you, so it doesn't really count as you doing something nice," Finn admitted.
"Okay, so I'm just gonna ignore what you just said repeat what I said before: we just have to find a way for me to lose a singing competition so that the new kid sticks around," Rachel said, kissing Finn.
"Right," Finn giggled.
x
After football practice, Finn went to the locker room to see Sam. "Hey, you can't do a duet with Kurt."
"Why not?" Sam asked.
Finn didn't want to sound like he didn't like Kurt. Of course he did. He just didn't want Sam to be bullied so much he'd have to quit glee. "I don't know if you've figured it out, but Kurt's gay, and people might think you're gay if you sing together."
That didn't seem to bother Sam. "I don't see the big deal. He e-mailed me, like, 60 MP3's of him singing, and I thought it was Faith Hill."
"The kid's good," Finn said. "Look, this isn't about how good Kurt is. Being in Glee Club is like walking down the double yellow lines of a highway. If you get just a little off course you're gonna get crushed."
Sam looked confused. "I got to be honest. You're kind of confusing my head right now. I mean, do you remember what you said when you talked me into joining Glee Club? I joined up because I'm new here and you said it would make me popular, and now you're telling me that it's going to get me killed."
Finn remembered he'd bent the truth a little. Now what was he supposed to say? "Well, eventually you're going get popular from it, believe me, but until then, you got to lay low a little bit and singing a duet with another dude is not laying low."
"I didn't realize you had a problem with gay dudes," Sam said.
"Look, I don't have a problem with gay dudes," Finn said. "Everyone else does, and we're living in their world, and in their world, you singing a duet with Kurt is a death sentence."
Sam started to leave. "Well, I gave him my word. In my world, that's that."
Finn had to find a way to help Sam out. And fast.
x
Mercedes and Santana had performed their duet today, and Rachel had to admit, they sounded good. Not as good as she and Finn sounded when they sang together, but good. Rachel didn't know who would decide who won, but she did want Sam to feel part of the group. It wasn't just about winning Nationals. "This is a disaster," Rachel said as she paced around her room.
"Could you stop pacing?" Finn asked. "It's stressing me out."
"It's just, being the it couple is so much harder than I thought," Rachel rambled. "I am so stumped at how to lose this thing."
Finn half smiled. "Wait, I got it. You remember we saw Grease and it was good, and then we saw Grease 2, and I fell asleep, but you said the difference was that the songs were bad."
Rachel knew where Finn was going. "Yeah. If we want to lose, we have to do a song that's bad."
"Not just a bad song, an offensive song," Finn exclaimed.
"Yes!" Rachel cheered as she hugged Finn.
"Let's do an offensive performance, too," Finn added.
"Good idea," Rachel said. Why hadn't she thought of that? She turned on her laptop. "Now let's find a song."
"Remember your Britney outfit?" Finn asked. "You could wear something like that, just a little more G-rated."
"Yeah," Rachel said. "Like a Catholic school uniform."
"Oh, I have an idea!" Finn said. "You can wear a Catholic school uniform and I can dress as a priest."
Finn was quite clever. Rachel had to laugh at that. "That's great! And we can find a song about sexual awakening."
"That's perfect!" Finn said as they searched for a song.
x
Kurt had performed a duet with himself, and Mike and Tina had performed a duet. Now the only people who needed to perform were Artie and Brittany, Sam and Quinn, and Finn and Rachel. Sam had told Finn that he and Quinn had paired up, but Mike told Finn after Glee that Sam and Quinn might not be performing together after all because Sam had tried to kiss Quinn and she'd been uncomfortable. Finn went into the weight room to talk to Sam. "You tried to kiss her? Major Glee party foul, dude."
"Look, I know I shouldn't have," Sam said. "She was just sending me these vibes. And those eyes. Maybe it's for the best she backed out. I mean, if that Puckerman kid ever gets out of jail, he's gonna beat my ass. I'm sure you still have feelings for her, too."
Did people really think Finn would want to leave Rachel? "No, no, no way," Finn said. "I'm with Rachel now. I mean, she's a lot shorter than Quinn and she talks a lot, but I'm in love with her. Look, this isn't about dating, dude. This is about you singing with Quinn to raise your musical rep in the group. Look, I'm not saying you're gonna win, but I'm just saying that, you know, even coming in second would go a long way with the rest of the team."
"I'll try talking to her again," Sam said. "I do like glee so far. We had a duet ready and everything."
"That's good," Finn said. Now all they had to do was hope Puck got out of juvie in time for Sectionals."
x
Finn had asked Rachel to talk to Quinn about the duets competition. Rachel knew that Quinn didn't like her very much, but she knew it would probably be easier for her to do it than for Finn too. When she was in the bathroom, Quinn was there, too. "Hey, Quinn, can we talk?" Rachel asked.
"What do you want to talk about?" Quinn asked coldly.
"About Sam," Rachel said. "I heard that you backed out of doing the duet with him. Look, I understand that your reputation is important to you, but wouldn't you want to do whatever it takes to be on top of the proverbial pyramid in every aspect of your life?"
"Singing with Sam won't change that," Quinn said.
"Oh, but winning the competition will," Rachel said. "And partnering with Sam is really your only shot at it."
"What's your angle?" Quinn asked.
"Angle?" Rachel asked.
"What's your angle?" Quinn asked again. "Me winning means you losing, and you'll do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn't happen, so what is in it for you?"
"Look, I agree. Okay?" Rachel admitted. "You're probably not gonna beat Finn and I, but I just thought that, as the team captain, it would be good for the team to have some healthy competition for second place." She went to join Finn in the hall as she saw Sam walk up to Quinn.
"Hey," Sam said to Quinn. "Listen, I was totally out of line with you. I promise it won't happen again, though you might have to wear sunglasses whenever we're together."
"Good," Quinn said back. "Because we're gonna have to spend a lot of time together practicing if we're gonna win that dinner at Breadstix."
Finn and Rachel heard what Sam and Quinn said and fist pounded as they walked to glee. Rachel had to admit, she was nervous about what people would think of their duet, but she was excited. She and Finn went to the bathrooms to change clothes and then headed to glee practice. As they arrived, Rachel noticed people giving them weird looks.
"Mr. Schue, Rachel and I want to perform our duet," Finn said.
Mr. Schue examined their clothes. "Okay, sure, you two."
Rachel handed the music to Brad as they began to perform.
Rachel: Come give me your sweetness (Finn: Ohh, ohh)
Now there's you, there is no weakness (Finn: Now there's you, there is no weakness)
Lying safe within your arms
I'm born again (Finn: Woman, don't you know with you I'm born again)
Rachel and Finn: I was half, not whole
In step with none
Reaching through this world
In need of one
Come show me your kindness
In your arms I know I'll find this
(Woman), don't you know
With you I'm born again
Lying safe with you I'm born again
Mike started to clap, but Tina grabbed his hand.
"Okay, do I even need to say it?" Mercedes asked.
"That was really rude," Sam said.
"It was, like, really rude," Tina agreed.
"I seriously wanted to punch both of you," Quinn added.
"I have to agree," Mr. Schue said. "It's a great duet, but what you guys did with it was really inappropriate. Your costume choice was a little insensitive. Frankly, I'm disappointed."
Rachel pretended to be surprised. "What?!"
"Are you serious? I'm..." Finn pretended.
"We're shocked," Rachel said. "I really hope that this doesn't cost us the competition."
Their plan had most likely worked.
x
The next day, the votes were in, and Sam and Quinn had won the duets competition. Rachel hoped that would mean that Sam felt part of the group, but she noticed someone else might be feeling out of it lately. Kurt had done a duet on his own, and when Rachel had dinner with Kurt, Burt, Finn and Carole, Kurt had seemed to be a little upset that Finn and Rachel had something that he didn't have with someone. And she had to admit, maybe it wasn't the best idea to try to keep Sam from singing with Kurt. To try to make it up to Kurt, Rachel found a duet that might be nice for Kurt to sing with her. Even though the competition was over, at least this way he'd have someone to sing with. She went up to Kurt at his locker. "Hey, I had something I wanted to talk to you about."
"Oh, please not another pregnancy," Kurt snapped.
"I think that you and I are a little bit more similar than you think," Rachel said.
Kurt looked appalled. "That's a terrible thing to say."
Rachel tried to be nice, even though he'd insulted her. "I know you're lonely. I can't even imagine how hard it must be to have feelings in high school that you can't act on for fear of being humiliated, ridiculed or worse. We're going to win Nationals this year, and you know how we're ing to do that? Because we have you."
"That's true," Kurt said.
"That's 12 people who love you just for being exactly the way that you are," Rachel said. "Look, I'm know you're lonely, but... you're not alone. So, I was wondering if you would maybe want to sing a duet with me? I think you'll be really happy with my song selection. It's sort of everything that both you and I love."
"But the duet competition is over," Kurt said.
"I know. I just I thought this one could be for me and you," Rachel said.
"What song?" Kurt asked.
Rachel handed Kurt the music. "Do you know this song?"
"Of course I do!" Kurt said. "Can we maybe sing it today?"
"Of course," Rachel said. She naturally knew all the words as well. She was pleasantly surprised when they got to glee and Kurt went up to Mr. Schue. "Mr. Schue, I know the duet competition's over, but can Rachel and I do one last duet?"
"Of course," Mr. Schue said.
Kurt and Rachel gave the sheet music to Brad and sat in the center of the room to perform their duet. As Rachel sang with Kurt, she noticed that he was looking happier than she'd seen him in a while. She knew what it was like to be lonely. Before she joined glee, she had no friends. Even though she didn't get along with lots of the others most of the time, she of course had Finn, and there were moments when the others were nice to her. This was one of those moments.
Kurt (Rachel): Forget your troubles. (Happy days)
Come on get happy. (Are here again)
You better chase all your cares away. (The skies above are clear again)
Shout hallelujah. (So let's sing a song)
Come on get happy. (Of cheer again)
Get ready for the judgement day. (Happy days are here again)
The sun is shining. Come on get happy. (Shout it now)
The lord is waiting to take your hand. (There is no one who can doubt it now)
Shout hallelujah. (So lets tell the world)
And just get happy. (About it now)
We are going to the promise land. (Happy days are here again)
We're heading across the river, soon your cares will all be gone. (There'll be no more from now on)
Rachel and Kurt: From now on!
Kurt (Rachel): Forget your troubles. (Oh, happy days)
And just get happy. (Are here again)
You better chase all your blues away. (The skies above are clear again)
Shout Hallelujah. (So lets sing a song)
And just get happy. (Of cheer again)
Rachel (Kurt): Happy times! (Happy times!)
Happy nights! (Happy nights!)
Rachel and Kurt: Happy days! Are. Here. Again!
At the end of the song, the group applauded, and Rachel went to sit next to Finn. "That was really good," Finn said.
"Thanks," Rachel said. "You know, he's been having a rough time lately, so I thought that singing a duet with someone other than himself."
"Rachel, you are a nice person," Finn said. "I don't want you to forget that."
"You think I am?" Rachel asked. She tried to be, even though she knew she went wrong at times.
"I know you are," Finn said.
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