As the hands on the clock inched closer to six o'clock and Jake rushed around setting everything up to be perfect by the time his guest was set to arrive, it dawned on the frantic teen that maybe he wasn't the best decision maker.

After riding his razor scooter to the dollar store and back to pick up an assortment of candles and candy, straightening up his room, and laying out an outfit, Jake hopped in the shower with only thirty minutes to spare before Kitty would be waiting at his front door; and if Jake knew anything about her from their short time as friends thus far, it was that she wasn't the type of girl to wait around. While he hosed himself down he wondered why he even cared so much if this night went smoothly at all, let alone at the level of perfection he was putting on himself. Part of him worried that if he screwed things up with her not only would he not be getting laid, but he would lose his only friend at McKinley. He also recognized that essentially, he led Marley on, even if he didn't mean to, and had a feeling Kitty would be rubbing this night in her competition's face no matter how things went. All things considered, he figured he might as well try to make the best of it.

Jake stepped out of the tub and began drying himself off. He clicked on the fogged-up screen of his phone to check the time:

" 5:40 P.M." Jake sighed heavily, second-guessing his decision to accept Kitty's advances in the library earlier that afternoon.

It's not that he couldn't see himself being compatible with her – it was quite the opposite, actually. Their dynamic as friends reminded Jake of the friends he used to have in his old town. Kitty was sharp, had a light-hearted sense of humor, and didn't take life or herself too seriously. She had pull in her social standing at McKinley, but didn't seem all that concerned with what people thought of her. She was still on her toes from the falling-out she had with her old friends from middle school, yet she wasn't desperate to make new ones. That's why Jake enjoyed spending time with her – their friendship seemed organic, like he wasn't trying to gain anything from hanging out with her, and Kitty wasn't afraid of what she could lose by having the outcast kid by her side. She effortlessly commanded respect from the people around her while letting her skill as a cheerleader speak for itself. She didn't not care about her grades, but she also didn't mind the fact that being Coach Sylvester's lackey granted her a get-out-of-class-free card a few times a week.

But behind her seemingly chill exterior, Jake felt there was more to his friend that she wasn't willing to reveal outright. He could tell she was at least a little uptight by the way she insisted his jokes went too far a few times when they conflicted with her religious views. He wondered if she wasn't as confident as she fronted if him singing with Marley was what prompted her to put the moves on him. And even though he hadn't called her out on it yet, he knew she made nasty comments about Marley's mom on more than one occasion.

Above all, Jake couldn't believe he was running around trying to appease a girl he didn't see as anything more than a friend five hours prior. He recognized the fact that he had an impulsive streak and could be quite the adrenaline junkie. He knew his decisions have hurt the people around him, namely his mom, even if his intentions were never in the wrong place. And as much as he refused to admit that he might be an addict, staying sober the past three months had been a serious struggle. As he went through the motions of getting dressed, spraying cologne, and spreading candles through the house, he looked back on some of the dangerous predicaments he'd found himself in in the past, and prayed this night wouldn't end up on that list.

Jake felt bad when he realized he was using Kitty to distract himself from how out of control the rest of his life felt. I mean, that was the plan all along, he thought. He just didn't expect to be doing it with his best friend, which added on all these extra layers of anxiety and guilt. He was used to sleeping with girls that were his friends, but those girls were more carefree and loose than Kitty seemed to be. But even the way Kitty came on to him made Jake feel like life was just happening to him these days. It felt surreal, but he was down for the ride.

Jake was still tossing dirty clothes from his bedroom floor into the basket and discarding empty packs of cigarettes when the doorbell rang at 6:03. He took a deep breath, letting all his lingering thoughts escape with an exhale, and made his way to the front door. I can do this sober, he thought to himself, and decided to embrace the moment in front of him with full enthusiasm. After all, Kitty already liked him as a friend, and she was the one insisting they take things further, so what was there to worry about?

He opened the door with a grin and motioned for Kitty to come inside. "Hey girl."

"What's going on?" she replied, matching Jake's grin. She glanced around the living room before locking eyes with Jake. "Well don't you clean up well?"

Jake chuckled, brushing it off, even though he was pleased she took notice of what he was wearing. He wanted to look and feel comfortable, going for a chill date at home vibe, but wanted her to know he put effort into looking good – but not too much effort. He had to strike the right balance, and her commenting on it right away meant he was doing something right so far. "You look hot too," he answered. "It's nice getting to see you in street clothes." Kitty wore a form-fitted black tee shirt that accentuated all her curves with a baggy pair of mid-rise jeans, and Jake almost couldn't take his eyes off her. She did maintain her high pony from school, but added on a black, lacy choker to her neck.

They made small talk for a few minutes before agreeing on pizza for dinner. Jake called Breadstix to place an order for delivery while Kitty continued to scope out the living room. It was small, but cozy, and she appreciated the candles he laid out to set the tone.

"Alright, they said to give it thirty to forty minutes," Jake said, hanging up the phone. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Sure, what do you have?"

Jake got up from the couch, leading Kitty to the kitchen. "Uh, water, coffee, soda, wine–"

"Did you seriously just offer me wine?" Kitty asked sneeringly, a smile still on her face.

"Hey, I don't know what you like!" Jake lifted his arms in self-defense. "I'm just trying to give you the same hospitality I would offer anyone else who's ever come into my house."

"I guess your friends from your old school liked to drink?"

"…You could say that."

"What does that mean?" Kitty teased back.

"It means," Jake trailed off for a second, taking time to think how he wanted to word what he had to say, "that we're young, right? So alcohol was sometimes harder to get as a minor than other things, because you have to buy it from a store."

"Hm, I never thought of it like that." Kitty paused, to which Jake nodded slightly. "So did you do other things then? You said you were on probation for drugs, right? So what was your biggest vice?"

"Yeah, I did a lot of drugs," Jake shrugged. He didn't want this conversation getting too deep, worried it would scare Kitty off. Then again, she knew what she knew and still liked hanging out with him, and even now, he didn't feel like he was being judged. "I'm clean now, mainly because of forces against my own will. But I always considered myself a drug abuser instead of an addict. If I ran out of stuff or ran out of money to buy more, it didn't bother me. It's way worse now that I can't do anything, ever, and I have no choice unless I wanna go to juvie. Or worse."

Kitty raised her eyebrows. "What's worse than juvie, at our age?"

" Well, uh, when I went to court, the judge threatened to take me away from my mom if I don't get my act together."

"You mean like, foster care?"

"Yeah."

"Damn dude, that's deep." She crossed her arms and pressed her lips together. "I didn't mean to pressure you into telling me any of that."

"No, it's cool," Jake assured her. "But when are you gonna tell me about your middle school baggage?" he teased.

"What baggage?" She kept her tone light but Jake took notice of the way she diverted her eyes to the floor for a second.

"The drama that made those other girls on the cheerleading team stop talking to you."

Kitty rolled her eyes before looking back at Jake. "It's a long story."

"Okay," Jake shrugged, not wanting to push her despite his curiosity.

"I'll say this – I know I act like a bitch sometimes, but that's not why I lost my friends in seventh grade. I'm still not cool with what happened and I don't wanna open the wound back up right now."

"Fair enough," Jake replied. "And I believe you." He nodded at her sincerely. "But if you decide you do want to let it out, at least you know I have wine." Jake smiled big, hoping to lighten the mood back up.

Kitty smiled back, and they shared a laugh. "How about just water for now?"

Jake grabbed bottles for them both, handing her one, and led the way back to the living room. "So, you wanna watch a movie, or find some crappy show on cable?" he asked. "Or we can like, go for a walk or something."

"Hm, let's watch a movie. Something we can cuddle up to."

"If you wanna cuddle we should go with either horror or a rom-com."

Kitty thought for a second. "I'm cool with horror."

Jake nodded, going for the drawer that held his DVD collection. "Now that I think about it, it's probably better you went with horror, since I don't really own that many rom-coms."

They laughed together again, and looked through Jake's movies. After a few minutes, they agreed on The Nightmare on Elm Street after Kitty decided she wanted to watch a classic, but not something she'd seen before, like Scream or Halloween.

Jake popped the disc into his Playstation and went to make them some popcorn while Kitty skipped all the commercials leading up to the title screen.

The pair got cozy under some blankets Jake brought out for them, watched the movie, and shared some pizza and snacks. Kitty kept her word as far as cuddling was concerned straight away, realizing the movie she picked was way scarier than she'd anticipated.

"I genuinely didn't think movies this old could be this scary!" she exclaimed, shoving her face into Jake's shoulder and raising the blanket over her head.

Jake rubbed her back a few times, chuckling, though trying to soothe her. "Yeah, that's psychological horror for ya."

She peeled her face away from Jake's shirt slowly, asking, "Safe to look yet?"

"Yeah, you're good for now. You like it though, right?"

"Yeah, it's cool."

"I'm just saying, we can always change it if you're not feeling this movie anymore."

"No, I mean, I wanted to be scared. And at this point I want to see what happens to Nancy. And I wanted to cuddle," she finished, smiling big up at Jake.

Jake smiled back. "Yeah, I'm liking this too." He wrapped an arm around Kitty and brought his face up close to hers. He leaned in slowly for a kiss, which she reciprocated. After a moment, he pressed his lips harder into hers, deepening the kiss. He slid his tongue in her mouth for a second but pulled away just as quick. This went back to striking the right balance. He didn't want to do too much too quick and scare her off, and he also wanted to leave her wanting more.

Kitty seemed receptive to that whole interaction, which was good news for Jake. It meant the ball was in his court in terms of how and when to proceed. Just kissing for a minute already managed to turn him on, considering the chemistry they shared, how good Kitty looked in her outfit, and the fact that Jake hadn't had sex in a long time. He grew eager to make this happen for them tonight, but figured they could finish the movie before he made any serious moves.

A few minutes later, Jake and Kitty heard a car pull up outside and a fumbling of the door handle.

"Oh yeah, I forgot my mom doesn't work late tonight," Jake stated.

"7:45 isn't late?" Kitty questioned.

"Not when you're a waitress," he answered. "I hope you don't mind."

"Nah dude, it's cool."

Danielle strode inside and surveyed the scene before her with a surprised yet welcoming look on her face.

"Hey Mom," Jake started, sitting upright. "This is Kitty, we're just hanging out. I forgot you get home early tonight." He and Kitty smiled at each other.

"No problem, honey." She turned her glance toward the new face before her. I'm Danielle. You can stay as long as you'd like," she said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, thanks," the blonde replied with a grin.

"So what's the deal here?" Danielle asked. "Are you two dating?"

"I don't know," Jake shrugged, turning to Kitty. "Do you wanna be my girlfriend?"

"Sure," she replied nonchalantly.

Danielle's jaw dropped for a moment, before just shaking her head. "You kids are crazy."

She was interrupted by a piercing scream emitting from the TV as Freddy Kruger chased his protagonist around in her dream with a knife, making the situation even more amusing to the single mom. "Have fun, you two." She passed by them to make her way to the other side of the house, Jake offering her some pizza before she headed to her bedroom.

"Your mom's like, super chill," Kitty said. "My parents are…not the same, let's put it that way."

"Yeah, I think she's just relieved now that I'm sober," Jake replied. "I put her through a lot of shit these past few years, and she wasn't so chill when I was doing…dangerous things."

Kitty nodded. "That makes sense."

Soon after, the movie drew to a close, and Kitty sighed in relief. "That was…intense. I mean, it was a great movie, and I'm glad we watched it," she said, backtracking.

"Yeah, if you weren't expecting it to be that scary I can see it being a lot."

"Maybe next time we can watch the sequel. I mean, now that we're dating…" She leaned into Jake for a kiss, which Jake quickly escalated into a full blown make-out session.

This time when he slipped his tongue in her mouth, he felt her breathe heavy, which he took as a sign that things were moving in his favor. He positioned his hands on her hips, hoping she would want to feel her body close to his.

Jake interrupted their heated moment, thinking long-term. "Do you wanna go to my room?"

"Sure," Kitty answered, playing it cool.

Jake noticed a bit of hesitance in her tone, but kept that thought to himself for the time being, in case his intuition was off. After all, maybe she was just nervous the way Jake was nervous about messing something up before Kitty got there. That didn't mean she wasn't excited like he was too. He took her hand in his and led her down the hallway to his bedroom. He let her inside first and followed, shutting the door behind them.

"Did I mention you look hot tonight?" Jake asked, trying to set the tone and gauge where Kitty was at in terms of moving forward. He dimmed his overhead light and lit some candles around the bed.

Kitty smirked shyly, answering, "You did…"

"When I say hot," Jake started, grabbing Kitty's hips again, pulling her close. "I mean, like, smokin'." He kissed her, to which she reciprocated, but he didn't let it last long. He pulled off his shirt and took a seat on the bed, sitting up against the headpost. He tapped his lap a couple times, motioning for her to come sit.

Kitty obliged, although she didn't remove any clothes of her own. She straddled Jake's lap and matched his intensity and enthusiasm as he crashed his wet lips into hers once again.

They smiled into each other's lips kissing playfully although Jake was clearly taking the reins. He wanted to rev her up like she had alluded to in the library, so he slid his hand down her thigh. Kitty moaned lightly which elicited Jake to slightly buck up his hips, meeting hers. He moved his hand back toward her ass to which she abruptly moved away. He took a break from their kiss, and with a breath of air, went to pull off Kitty's shirt.

"–Wait, Jake," Kitty started, pulling away. "Can we talk about this?"

Jake nodded with a gentle look in his eyes. "Yeah, what's up?"

Kitty hopped off his lap, taking a seat next to him instead. She averted her eyes away from Jake, gazing down at the floor. "I'm really sorry for not telling you this before, but…I'm a virgin."

"Oh…" Jake was kind of surprised but not so much so. He wouldn't have necessarily assumed otherwise if she hadn't seemed so willing to get down with him earlier. "I mean, it's cool with me as long as it doesn't bother you that I'm not." He rubbed her thigh, hoping it would ease her up a little bit.

"No, I mean," she started, looking back up to meet Jake's gaze. "I'm not ready to have sex with you tonight."

"Oh…okay." He shrugged.

"…Or do much else besides what we've already done."

"What…?"

"Look Jake, what we're doing is hot. You're hot. And I can't deny the fact that I'm having fun doing what we're doing."

Jake raised his eyebrows, motioning for her to continue.

"But I'm nervous,"

"That's okay," Jake replied. "If you've never done this with another guy before, it's understandable. But I can take care of you, baby." He rubbed her thigh again with a comforting glimmer in his eyes.

"It's not just that." She removed his hand but held onto it still. "Between me religious beliefs and the fact that we just started dating half an hour ago…I'm just not ready."

"Okay, then why did you say you had more to offer than Marley then, or whatever?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said those things…"

"The way you made it sound, I was fully expecting us to have sex tonight. You get that, right?" Jake tried to keep his tone light but couldn't help but feel flustered at what he was hearing.

"I…I'm sorry."

"No, because, like, you do realize this makes you the textbook definition of a tease." He was getting kind of heated, and he didn't want to be mean, but Kitty had to hear the truth.

"Okay, I see that now…" she trailed off. "If you wanna go back to just being friends I understand. If you even want to be friends still at all…"

Jake thought to himself for a second before replying. "Y'know, it's funny…" He took a beat to think. "When I was getting ready for you to come over tonight, I was overthinking everything. I was so nervous that I would do something that would mess up our friendship. And then you go and pull this…"

"So would you rather just be friends then? Is it better that way?" Kitty asked with some anxiety in her eyes.

Jake sighed. "Honestly, I really like you Kitty. And I don't wanna be an asshole about the whole sex thing. So if you still want to date…I'm down." He put his shirt back on and invited Kitty to lay down next to him for some cuddles. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead as she wrapped her arms around his upper body and rested her head on his shoulder. They laid there for a few minutes in peaceful silence before Kitty realized she should be getting home soon.

Jake asked if she wanted to go for a walk around the block while she waited for her mom to get there, to which the blonde happily accepted. As they walked along the golden-dripped sidewalk from the sun setting on the horizon, Kitty prompted her boyfriend to tell her about how meeting his brother went. He explained how it was awkward and uncomfortable, but despite those feelings he didn't have cravings to drink or anything after, which was huge. It meant that either Jake was finally adjusting to this whole sobriety thing, or that he really liked his brother. Maybe it was a little bit of both. And while Jake still felt like it wasn't Mr. Schue's place to call Puck in from LA by surprise, Jake wasn't mad that he did. It was surprisingly nice getting to talk to him for the first time, and he was happy they exchanged numbers.

As their stroll drew to a close, Jake asked hesitantly if Kitty thought them dating now would get the jocks off his back. He didn't want her to think he was using her, but decided if they were going to be a couple he wasn't going to walk on eggshells or dance around difficult topics.

"I'll see what I can do," she grinned, as her mom's car pulled up on the side of the house.

Jake waved Kitty goodbye, and was hit with the sudden realization that he felt actually, truly happy for the first time since he moved to Lima. He felt glimpses of it at certain points, like when he first became friends with his now-girlfriend, and when he stayed up all night practicing for his Glee audition. Besides those fleeting moments that were far and few between, he had been going through the motions, sure. Some days sucked less than others, and it's not like he had cravings to drink or use every single day, but he also didn't feel like he was functioning like a normal human being. And maybe he never had a semblance of 'normal' to begin with, but if this is what normal, sober teenagers did, he felt for the first time that he didn't mind being one of them. Hell, he didn't even care that he didn't get laid. Dating Kitty, despite how newly and utterly spontaneous their relationship formed, made him think he didn't need to use her or anyone as a distraction from anything. Life still felt like a roller coaster, but maybe while he strapped in for the ride he could stand to notice a pink cloud in the sky as before took him in every which direction.

When his head hit the pillow that night Jake felt a sense of grounded-ness that was completely foreign to him but certainly welcomed.

xxx

One of the first things Jake did the next morning when he woke up was send Kitty a good morning text.

"morning babe. hope u slept well. see ya soon xoxo"

This is what good boyfriends do, right? he thought to himself. It's not that he'd never had a girlfriend before, but in middle school, more often than not, he found himself in friends-with-benefits situations instead of actually dating. The rules were different now, in that taking the leap to be someone's actual boyfriend, exclusively, meant there were certainly strings attached, and consistent effort had to go into making sure his partner felt cared for. Once again, Jake kept in mind the fact that if he messed this up, he could potentially lose his best friend. He made a mental note to talk with her about these feelings, but brushed them to the side for the time being.

"hey baby 3 having a busy morning. want to meet me in the cafeteria to get some coffee before class?"

"for sure be there in 20"

By this time Jake knew how Kitty took her coffee, so when he got to the cafeteria before her, he decided to buy a cup for each of them.

"A medium cup filled halfway, with two packets of sugar, a little bit of cream, and a splash of hot chocolate mixed in," he stated proudly, handing the warm, steaming cup to his girlfriend with a smile on his face.

"Ohmygod, you're a lifesaver," she thanked him with a hug before taking a sip. "It's perfect. I haven't had a second to catch my breath since I woke up, but I'm glad I got here in time to catch you." She smirked.

"Yeah, you said you've been busy, what's up with that?"

"Well, we had Cheerio's practice at six in the morning," Kitty started, taking a seat. "But I couldn't even be in all the routines, even though we're trying to land this super hard dance for the assembly later, because Robin doesn't go to daycare today so Coach Sue pulled me out a few times to take care of her," she explained. "Not to mention Brittany just got kicked off the team so I have to lead the stretches and come up with warm-ups alone while Sue picks out a replacement for my co-captain. And then I had to shower and do my hair and…here we are."

"Okay, is any of what you just said even legal?" Jake asked in utter disbelief. He knew the Cheerios had an intense rehearsal schedule, and he knew Kitty took care of the coach's infant child sometimes, but somehow, hearing her say all of that in one breath made him question once again how this school was a real place that they attended.

"It's fine, I just can't wait for this dumb assembly to be done and over with."

"First of all, I thought you were on the Cheerios because you liked cheerleading. If Coach Sue is making it so you're not having fun, is it even worth it?"

"I do like it, most of the time. I think I was also just tired from hanging out late last night. I don't usually do stuff like that on weeknights," Kitty replied. "But it was so worth being a little tired to be with you," she added.

Jake grinned back at her. "What's this assembly you keep talking about? You're performing?"

"It's the Fall Assembly, dude. They've been announcing it for like two weeks on the loud speaker."

Jake stared back at her blankly.

"It's about school spirit or whatever. We get to miss seventh period for it. You're not wearing school colors, by the way," she joked, sizing him up.

"Good," he laughed back.

"Well, you look cute anyway."

"And I know you're gonna look cute up there on that stage. Is it weird I'm more excited to see my girlfriend killing it up there than I am to miss class?"

They laughed together for a moment.

"The Glee club's performing too, by the way," Kitty continued. "In case you're still thinking of joining. Are you?"

The first bell of the school day rang, signaling that students had five more minutes to get to class before they were late. This prompted Jake and Kitty to walk toward the main building together.

"Well Mr. Schue said I'm welcome to join if I want to, even after I had that meltdown at the audition. And I do want to. I like performing, or at least I like the idea or performing, since I've never really sang or danced in front of anyone besides dance class."

They stopped at Kitty's locker so she could grab some books. She took a minute to fix her hair in the compact mirror she had hanging on the door, making sure to nod and show Jake she was still paying attention to what he had to say.

"Puck also thinks it would be good for me. But I don't know. Mr. Schue seems kinda weird, and part of me doesn't wanna give the jocks more ammo to use against me."

"I thought you didn't care what people think."

"I usually don't. I mean, I didn't before I got to this school. But it's killing me that I can't fight back against those guys. Maybe yesterday they'll finally leave me alone."

"True, and maybe you can give me a jacket or something to wear so people know we're dating." Kitty took hold of Jake's hand, intertwining their fingers as he continued to walk her to class. "And as for Glee club, it's definitely not my thing, but maybe seeing them at the assembly will help you decide."

"You are a genius," Jake replied.

The next bell rang right as they arrived at Kitty's first period class. "I try," she said with a smirk.

"See you later, you're gonna be great." Jake kissed her on the cheek and bolted down the hall before he granted himself a detention for being late.

xxx

As it turned out, Kitty was wrong about the assembly. Glee club's performance did nothing but confuse Jake even more about whether or not he wanted to join the club. That girl Brittany, Jake assumed, was having her own meltdown after being kicked off the Cheerios. She lead their performance of some Britney Spears song. Shocker, Jake thought. She was eating cheese puffs mid-performance and not even dancing straight. But what was actually shocking to Jake, was when Kitty stood up to point out the fishiest part of their performance.

"They're lip-syncing!" She shouted, riling up the crowd.

"J'accuse!" the school's resident burnout followed in Kitty's, erm…enthusiasm.

The Glee kids all started rushing off the stage, embarrassed, while Brittany all but passed out before everyone's eyes.

Kitty sat down and flashed Jake a smile. She seemed to be pleased with herself.

Jake gave her the biggest eye roll, although he wasn't necessarily doing it at her, just at the whole situation.

"What?" she asked. "It's not like I called them out on something they weren't actually doing. It was kind of pathetic." She shrugged.

Jake put his head in his hands, completely beside himself. That performance did not paint a nice picture of what he thought Glee club was supposed to represent. Kitty wasn't wrong in calling it pathetic. Jake was already nervous enough to get up in front of an audience and didn't want to end up embarrassing himself if he joined the club. He did feel bad for Marley, though. She seemed like she was taking the performance seriously and having fun at the same time. He figured she didn't realize what she was getting herself into either with that club.

xxx

Jake had a lot of thinking to do after that God-awful performance he witnessed at the assembly. He talked with his mom about it, to which she insisted he had to do what felt right to him instead of worrying about everyone else. Everyone else, meaning, Mr. Schue, his brother, the jocks at school, all the distraught kids in the club who ran off stage in shame after Brittany embarrassed them, and even his new girlfriend, despite Danielle insisting she did like Kitty after their first interaction.

Jake had his meeting with his probation officer as well as community service that night, which gave him a lot to think about. This week, community service included picking trash up off the side of the roads, and it felt like pure hell for Jake when he realized his earbuds were broken. He was bored out of his mind, and decided to call Puck while performing his duties. They talked about the assembly, and picking up trash for two and a half hours without music to distract him from the task at hand made him realize he didn't want to spend the rest of his life doing things that didn't feel good. Sure, he couldn't get drunk or high again for awhile, and he was ordered by the court to complete these mindless tasks for ten hours a month for the next year, but maybe there were still some aspects of his life he did have control over.

Puck helped him realize if an opportunity presented itself to him and Jake genuinely liked the idea of it, he needed to seize the moment. He told Jake a story about the time he showed up to school in a freaking dress to try to help the team win their competition, and that was the nail in the coffin convincing Jake that he could do that too. Well, not wear a dress per say, but that he could find his home in the Glee club without it messing up the way the rest of the school saw him. And frankly, Jake was beginning to realize he didn't care either way. He wanted to feel good, and have fun. If Glee club turned out to be more of a drag than picking up trash without music and pay, then he could always jump ship. But he would never know if he didn't give it a chance.

So the next day Jake approached Marley in the hallway, ready to take the leap and maybe, officially commit social suicide.

"Uh, do you think I could sit next to you in Glee club?" Jake asked, nervous.

The brunette, still wearing his leather jacket, smiled big.

"I don't know anybody else," he finished.

"You're going to join?" Her grin grew even wider. "I didn't realize I had that powerful of an effect over you."

Shit, she's flirting, Jake thought. She's wearing my jacket to school and she's blatantly flirting with me. They hadn't talked at all since their duet on the bleachers a few days prior, and now Jake had to figure out a way to let her down easy.

"It wasn't you…"

Marley's smile went down, disappointed.

"I mean, it helped!" he conceded with her. "It's just, I don't know. I get these impulsive feelings sometimes to punch someone, or resist arrest when the cops find me high in the park, or…kiss someone."

Marley looked back at him slightly concerned, but curious nonetheless.

"…And your Glee club might help them go away. Even though it totally sucks balls," he added, lightening the mood.

"I promise," she started with a chuckle, "it's not that bad. Just stick with me and I'll help you get through it." She pulled a notebook out of her locker, wrapping her arms around it as she looked back at Jake with stars in her eyes. She shut her locker and headed for the choir room.

Jake nodded, following her down the hallway. "It's nice to have a friend looking out for me," he said, putting the slightest hint of emphasis on the word friend.

"Well, I owe you for what you did for my mom. Oh," she stopped in her tracks. "I just realized I'm still wearing your jacket."

Jake kept up his smile, attempting to soften the blow of the curveball he was preparing to throw. "Yeah, uh, about that…"

"Yeah, and I bet it looks better on me." Kitty approached the pair, looking Marley square in the eyes with her queen bitch smirk. Jake knew this hadn't been their first confrontation, but it was the first that he was about to witness, and it was going to be over him. "We're dating now, didn't Jake tell you?" she asked, striking a tone that was equal parts innocent and assertive.

Marley was stunned, glancing at Jake for some confirmation, or consolation, or something that would indicate to her that he wasn't the biggest jerk on the planet. That he didn't seriously drop their whatever it was to date her bully. That the other girls weren't right about him being a total womanizer. "N-no. He didn't…"

Jake didn't know what to say. He felt awful, and he didn't mean to do this to Marley – it just sort of happened. But there was no way of spinning it that would justify it in Marley's eyes. "I, well…I haven't seen you in a few days. Life's just been crazy, and everything happened so fast and–"

"You two make a great couple." Marley nodded, putting on a brave face. She promptly removed Jake's jacket and handed it off to Kitty. "Bye," she smiled sadly, looking Jake square in the eyes before heading off.

The final bell of the day rang, and Jake kissed Kitty goodbye before walking to the choir room. Alone. As if he wasn't already nervous as hell, knowing he already managed to hurt someone in the club wasn't exactly a great start. He had to let it go though, at least for the time being. He wandered through the door, grinning at Mr. Schue, who interrupted a talk he seemed to be having with some really tall guy to grin back and give Jake a formal introduction to the club. It seemed like Jake was the last of the students to show up for practice, as everyone was already gathered in small groups talking amongst themselves. Jake wondered who that guy talking with Mr. Schue was – his clothes looked way too juvenile for him to be some kind of teaching intern, but he was also definitely too old to be a student at McKinley. Nonetheless, he looked super bummed out, which only added to the mystery of his presence.

"Hey dude," he received a pat on the back from some blond guy greeting him. "Me and your brother are practically best friends. Is it weird that I know him a lot better than you…?"

"Welcome bro," this white kid with a full head of dreadlocks approached him. "God made you, and God doesn't make mistakes." He grinned and walked past, taking a seat.

Jake didn't know what to say to any of this. Now it was his turn to find a seat, and reality started setting in about how bad he hurt Marley. Looks like he was going at it alone after all. He received all kinds of looks, smiles, and… coughs…from various members of the club. Part of Jake felt like this was going to be one of those decisions he would regret, but his gut told him to push through.

"All right guys," Mr. Schue began. "Our first order of business for today, we have to decide what the Fall musical is going to be!" Everyone clapped as he handed out a list of possible shows, to which a couple of the girls threw out their own suggestions. "The challenge is picking something that plays to our collective strengths, and that won't set off a fire storm in the community like Rocky Horror did.

Jake rolled his eyes. Rocky Horror, was he kidding? Even Jake knew enough about that show to know it would never fly for a school production. Once again, he wondered if this place was real or if his mom's intention all along had been for him to attend high school in some weird simulation.

"We should do Grease." Everyone looked toward that super tall guy Jake saw talking to Mr. Schue as he spoke up.

"Grease?" Mr. Schue repeated, curious.

"I know it 'cause the song I auditioned for Glee club with was from Grease, remember?"

"Yeah."

"Guys like it, girls like, people like my mom like it. It's about high school and growing up and…being true to yourself. Plus the songs rock."

"The wisdom of Solomon," some guy in a wheelchair commended.

"Uh," Jake started, turning around the face Marley. "Do you know this guy?" he whispered to her.

She rolled her eyes at him, attempting to brush him off, before simply shaking her head and mouthing out a 'No'. But as quickly as she acknowledge Jake's question, she looked away.

"Alright," Mr. Schuester gave his seal of approval. "Looks like Grease is the word!"

Everyone cheered along without question, although Jake had many. First, who the hell was this guy, and why did he get to pick the school musical with nothing but praise when Jake swore he looked like he was going to cry just minutes before? Why was he sulking around the high school when Jake was willing to place bets that he had already graduated? It was weird.

"And I'm appointing Artie, once again, as our student director."

Artie, the wheelchair kid added, "And I'm appointing Finn as my co-director."

The tall weepy-looking graduate looked stunned. So he had a name. It was something Jake could take to Puck and grill him to figure out what his deal was. "I…me?" Finn asked.

"We'll talk later. We'll need to start recruiting kids from outside Glee club for the ensemble, stat."

"Great stuff guys!" Mr. Schue chimed back in. "Now, back to Glee club business. We're gonna have to work extra hard to crush our Invitational if we want to rehabilitate our image after yesterday's assembly."

"–Which reminds me!" That Brittany girl piped up, raising her hand up high with dancing fingers to get Mr. Schue's attention. "I have to make an announcement."

"Alright Brittany," the teacher sighed, stepping aside. "The floor is yours."

Brittany trotted down to the center of the room, holding some flashcards. "So, um…" She looked down at the pieces of paper in her hand, rummaging through them for a second. "First of all, I'm sorry for what I put you all through yesterday." She looked at that blond guy for reassurance that she was saying the right thing, to which he gave her a thumbs up. "While I stand by the fact that lip syncing has its place in modern musical performance, it was wrong to bring you all down with me in my attempt to deliberately downward spiral."

"Alright, thank you Brittany," Mr. Schue attempted to take hold of the class back.

"Wait, there's more," she pleaded, flipping through her flashcards once again. "Luckily, Sam saw through what I was doing, and he helped me see the light." She smiled at her blond companion who Jake now assumed to be Sam. "So no more drama, or staged self-destruction, or…Cheetos." She smiled, pleased with herself as she tucked the flashcards into her Cheerios uniform. "So to celebrate my glorious, glorious comeback, as well as to apologize for tarnishing the good Glee club name, I decided to throw a huge party tomorrow night."

Almost everyone in the room cheered. Someone in the room asked, "Wait, this isn't going to be like the Rachel Berry Trainwreck House Party Extravaganza, is it?"

"Of course not, Tina. Because this isn't just a Glee club party. All of the Cheerios and football players are gonna be there. And I better see all your beautiful faces too! Even you, new people." She motioned in Jake's direction and at some of the other freshmen faces around him.

"And especially you, Finn!" She walked back to her seat exchanging a fist bump with Finn on the way up. Before she took a seat, she added, "So it's BYOB. Or don't. I'll have cocktail mix and jungle juice, too, so it's up to you."

Jake sighed heavily. Great. He got invited to a party just to find out it would be extremely uncomfortable for him to go. And considering the fact that Kitty had probably already been invited too made things even more complicated. This had been one of the craziest weeks of Jake's life, and he wished he would be able to blow off some steam the way normal teenagers were able to. But he blew his chance at acting like a normal teen all because he decided to be a wildly abnormal preteen, and now he was paying the price. He figured he would talk to Kitty about all this after Glee club and they could decide together what to do.

The only thing that was clear to Jake in this moment was that the rollercoaster that was his life wasn't slowing down, and he had to decide whether he would hold on and enjoy the ride, or let go and fall off, plummeting to the ground. He didn't even know which option represented which in this analogy in his brain – all he knew was that sometimes he wished he could just get the hell off.

A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter! it's a long one I know, and also featuring a ship you probably didn't sign up for when choosing to read this story. BUT the next chapter is gonna be super fun and will finally feature some heavily Jyder interaction! The story is going to become much more Jyder-centric from this point on so buckle up and enjoy! any feedback would be cool as well. thanks for reading 😊