Chapter Text
The New Directions lost at Regionals and, consequently, their precious club was disbanded. Usually Mr Schue was able to fight Figgins and get him to change his mind, but this time it was just hopeless. It was official: the McKinley Glee club was no more.
While the school jocks celebrated, the cheerleaders danced, the teachers cheered and Sue Sylvester positively burst with joy the minute the news was announced, the New Directions themselves were absolutely devastated. The world became much darker, the school became a place of terror and fear once again. All hope seemed to be lost for the club that had fought so hard to be taken seriously at McKinley.
Obviously they never had been taken seriously, but still!
Mr Schue was broken, he nearly quit. He told Figgins "If you get rid of the Glee club, I'm quitting!" then it got taken down and, well, he debated on following through but simply couldn't afford to. It's safe to say that such a shallow lack of follow through crushed the kids' spirits even more.
Luckily, those same crushed kids weren't quite as weak minded as their teacher was. Hence why Rachel - because of course it was Rachel - sent a message to the Glee group chat telling them to meet her in the choir room before school. She wanted to bring Glee back to life, and she knew they'd want exactly the same. They were a family and family couldn't give up on family.
Apparently, however, family could give up on the family home, or at the very least be forced to give it up. Their family home was the very choir room Rachel arranged for them to meet in, yet there it was, a shell of the fabulous place it once was. Because Sue Sylvester had swept in the second it was available and claimed the choir room for her own, transforming it into the trophy room she so desperately needed. Finally, it was all hers!
"This place is... different." Mike acknowledged as he entered the room. He was right, even with Rachel standing in the middle where she always used to, it was weird. Display cabinets of trophies lined the walls, huge trophies that reached the ceiling rose like pillars from the floor they stood on. It wasn't the choir room he knew. "I don't like it."
"No, I don't either." Rachel agreed, looking around the room. "But we can work with it, when everyone gets here it will feel as though nothing has changed at all." She smiled and pulled Mike further into the room excitedly. "Everything will return to normal soon, with or without the normal choir room and normal decor and-"
"Normal teacher?" Mike interrupted.
"Right..." Rachel nodded, sadness in her movement. "Mr Schuester can't ruin his job by getting involved in Glee again, trust me... he refused to show up when I invited him."
"Really?" Tina was next to appear, coming up behind Mike and circling her arms around his waist, clinging to him for comfort. "Why? This is important to him."
"Well, maybe it's just a little bit more important to us." Rachel sighed.
"Hey, we won't let that get us down." Mike held the hands hugging him close and smiled hopefully at Rachel and his girlfriend. "The New Directions aren't giving up without a fight, we can get through this. We don't need supervision."
"Like we ever really had it in the first place." Mercedes grinned and joined the gang, making her way to Rachel to pull the girl into a brief hug. She'll admit it, okay, she had missed the annoying bitch just a little. "We always got through stuff on our own, we can do that again."
"Yeah, just because we lost Regionals doesn't mean we lost, you know..." Tina struggled to finish that sentence. "Um..."
"Spirit!" Mike finished it for her.
"And love!" Rachel added with a clap of her hands.
"And, most importantly, our talent." Mercedes smirked. "I can still hold one hell of a note and I hear Rachel do the same every damn day in the locker room showers." She nudged Rachel's shoulder teasingly.
"You gays sounds worse than normal." Puck mocked, walking through the door just in time and smiling fondly at his dorky friends. "Not getting all sentimental on me, are you?"
"Sentimental, big word." Tina teased.
"Almost five whole syllables." Mike joined.
"Aww, see! We're already returning to normal." Rachel basically swooned at the platonic chemistry.
"Normal is making fun of Puck?" Mercedes grabbed Puck's chin and giggled at his pouty expression when she did. "I'll note that down."
"Hey guys!" Blaine beamed, joining everyone with the brightest of smiles. "Thank God you're all here, I was worried no one would show."
"I was worried you would." Puck mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
"Wait." Rachel held up her hands. "Why would we not show up? Everyone wants this to work, we want Glee back." She looked around at everyone. "Right?"
"Well, yeah, we do." Mike acknowledged with a shrug. "But that doesn't mean all of us will want it."
"Even I kinda thought about blowing this off." Puck admitted. "Me and Mike showed up but, the other kids with different clubs probably won't bother."
"That's not true." Tina argued. "We all care about Glee, none of us will give it up."
"Guys!" The shout came from further down the hallway, echoing around the walls belonging to an unknown source. Blaine, Mercedes, Tina, Mike and Rachel quickly spun to look at the door, through which Sam stumbled, out of breath and crazy looking.
"Sam?" Blaine hurried over and tried to help the guy regain his breath. "What's up?"
"Glee is over!" Sam announced.
The others exchanged looks momentarily, then looked back at the blonde.
"Yeah sweetie, we know." Mercedes nodded. "It's sad but we have to keep going, that's why we're here."
"No, you don't understand." Sam shook his head. "They aren't coming."
"Who?"
"Any of the others." Sam elaborated, causing the others' jaws to drop open in shock. "I saw Quinn on the way over and asked if she wanted to walk with me. She said she wasn't going, and none of the others are either."
"B-but..." Rachel stuttered. "We need them." She took a few steps forward, pleading for answers with her eyes. "Why aren't they coming?"
***
"Because Glee is over but High School isn't, we have to do something to leave our mark here and, you know what, it's a lot easier to do that in a club people actually give a crap about." Santana explained as she slammed her locker shut, turning to lean against it and face Tina and Mike more directly. "You guys are nice, sure, but this isn't about being nice."
"So what is it about, being popular?" Mike asked abrasively. "You can't sacrifice what you've got with Glee for Cheerios and meaningless attention."
"I sure as hell can." Santana defended.
"But it isn't fair." Tina pleaded, tears already welling in her eyes. Of course. "We need you and you need us."
"Okay, no, I don't need you, I never did." Santana practically rolled her eyes. "I only joined Glee 'cause Q wanted to keep tabs on her man, I only stayed 'cause it was fun and the embarassing stuff got easier to tolerate, even RuPaul." That was Rachel. "But it's been shut down by Fig and I'm not holding on, I'm moving on." She looked behind her. "We both are, right Britt?"
"Totally." Brittany agreed as she rose from her locker door to Santana's side, slipping a hand into her girlfriend's. "We deserve to run this school, like Tana says."
"You can't just do whatever Santana tells you to." Mike instructed.
"Well, wouldn't you give Glee up too if Tina hadn't showed up to Rachel's thing this morning?" Brittany inquired.
Mike looked down at Tina, and she looked back up at him. They'd been sent by Rachel to figure out why Brittany and Santana hadn't showed up, and now he was being asked existential shit that he just couldn't be answering!
That's what he got for meddling. It's what they all deserved. Santana and Brittany were boss ass bitches who could rule McKinley given half the chance, and this was that half a chance. Honestly, the New Directions meant a lot to them, but so did popularity and reputation, and since the school kinda made the choice between fun and fame for them by ending the Glee club, it was easy to just follow that and give up on it. Seeing Rachel's message gave them a fresh sense of hope, but that didn't matter.
What mattered was that the New Directions were done for, who cared what happened next?
"Maybe I would." Mike confessed quietly, prompting Tina to simultaneously elate and frown. "But that's exactly why you should both help us bring it back for Sectionals."
"Yeah, we need your amazing vocals, Santana." Tina reasoned. "And your dance moves, Brittany." Brittany grinned at the comment. "We need Brittana."
"Gross." Santana grimaced. "Can you do that cheesy begging shit somewhere else? We need to get to Cheerios practice."
"But-"
"Listen." The latina interrupted once more, crossing her arms and resisting the urge to do something stupid like slap a bitch... or cry. "I liked being in Glee," She confirmed, almost sadly. "When it was official and an actual option. The truth is that now, it's neither. Even Schue doesn't wanna help you guys and he raised that club like it was the kid his crazy bitch wife pretended to have." She let her eyes wander between Tina and Mike freely, looking for something, anything, a reason. "We have High School careers to keep up with, if we can't be in the New Directions any more, we might as well make the most of what time we have left. You can live in the past if you want, but I'm an Hispanic lesbian and Britt's bi so if we live there with you, we'll get stoned." She shrugged and turned away. "Sorry, I hope it works out." She looked over her shoulder at them again. "I really do."
With that, she started to walk away from a dispirited Tina and Mike with her girl not close behind. Brittany took a second to look backwards and make eye contact with the Asian couple, mouthing "Sorry" before looking away once again. Before they knew it, Brittany and Santana had rounded a corner and disappeared into their own, seperate world.
That did not go as planned...
***
"Because Glee was awesome and it made me more confident when I hated who I was, but now I can be better than that." Artie answered Sam's question as he prepared for football practice in the locker room, Sam sitting opposite from him. "I'm on the football team and I'm in the best shape I've ever been in, I mean, look at his bod." He slapped his defined torso proudly and flexed his biceps. "I can't waste all this on Glee, yo."
"But you're important to the team, dude, you gotta come back." Sam argued. "We need you."
"Need me to sing a few notes in the background and be the token cripple?" Artie scoffed and shook his head. "I'm done with that, I'm not risking the rep that being a Titan could get me on tryna bring Glee back." He pulled on his shoulder padded jersey and smacked each pad for effect. "It's dead bro, we should move on, focus on football."
"I like football, but I like singing and guitar and dance too, don't you?"
"Of course I do, but it's gay and it annoys everyone on the team." Artie justified. "I can't have them hating me if I wanna move up the social ladder, I thought dating Brittany would help me but her leaving me for a girl... that really knocked me down." He huffed sadly. "So I gotta do what I gotta do, and what I gotta do is live my life."
"The New Directions helped you do that before." Sam urged. "It could do it again."
"Or it could make things worse."
Well shit, this wasn't working out. Sam had wanted to change Artie's mind, bring him back, he figured if anyone could do it, he could. He was on the football team, he was popular, he was in Glee and the Titans and still maintained his reputation. That was awesome, right? So why could he not do this?
Everyone figured he'd be the easiest to bring back, but apparently he was just as difficult as Santana. Seriously, Santana, no one was usually that much of a nightmare! This was gonna be an actual problem, wasn't it? Oh God, Sam wasn't equipped for this! Glee always made things worse... yet here he was, tryna save it.
This was like a toxic relationship.
"I'm honestly surprised you aren't giving up on it just like us." Arties shrugged and nodded towards the back of the locker room. "We realised what club to pick, you and Puck should do the same."
We? That's right, Artie wasn't alone. Sam followed the direction of the wheelchair bound boy's nod to see the other Glee abandoner over there, chatting with his friends. Well, "friends". Azimio and Karofsky weren't exactly the sorta chums one would typically consider friendly. Nothing like the Glee kids, and still Finn was with them instead.
Luckily, Sam was there to change his mind, so he leant forward into Finn's line of sight and waved at him. Eventually Finn noticed and made eye contact... then immediately looked away again. Sam tried to beckon him over but Finn resisted entirely. Hell, Sam even stood up from his chair and made aggressive gestures to call Finn to him for a conversation, but you know what he did? He shook his head.
Finn shook his goddamn head, refused to talk, and walked off onto the field with the Titans. Ignoring Sam's existence. Because it wasn't as important as the game.
This could've been expected a few months ago, when success seemed distant and nothing seemed set in stone. Finn had always seemed like the kinda guy to prioritise his lust for popularity over his love of Glee, and now he'd been given the perfect chance to choose the first one without being blamed for it. Glee was over, so Finn was free, finally, to live the life he'd always hoped to return to. A life without the friends that loved him, the songs that comforted him and the dances he catastrophically failed at every time he attempted them... everything, it's like it meant nothing to him at all.
"Sorry, Sam." Artie mumbled as he rolled off to join Finn and the guys on the pitch, leaving a hurt and bewildered Sam behind. "Things have changed."
***
"Because I don't want to do this any more." Quinn stated plainly, then continued to hang up the try out sheets Sue ordered her to along the corridors.
Wait, that was it?
That was all the explanation they got?
After years of dedicating herself to Glee so much that she quit the Cheerios and opened up to them about her pregnancy and terrible home life; after her love for all her new friends had blossomed, sometimes into more; after she and the Unholy Trinity found a place to express their fabulousness through dance as well as cheerleading. After everything, all she can say now is that she doesn't want to do it any more?
Instead of just listening to Mercedes and Rachel, who spent half of lunch tracking her down just to explain their side of the story, she continued to do as Sue instructed, just like she always used to. Quinn Fabray had been shown the back door and she'd walked right through it without even bothering to look back at what she left behind.
"Why?" Mercedes asked, her and Rachel stepping closer every time Quinn moved up the hall to pin another sheet up. "Don't you like Glee?"
"I do." Quinn confirmed, ever the blunt one.
"So why would you leave it?" Rachel insisted.
"I didn't leave it." Quinn straightened the try out sheet as she pinned it up, sparing a single glance at Rachel. "Glee was cancelled, Rachel, nobody left it, we just accepted that it was over. I need to dedicate my High School career to something and if that something can't be Glee, it has to be something else." She shrugged. "I loved being in the New Directions, but I would hate trying to save it like we have so many times before and failing, like we always do." She turned around and looked at the desperate girls before her. "It would hurt. It will hurt."
"That's no reason not to try." Rachel pleaded and stepped forward again, sending the soft scent of grandma sweater and delusion up Quinn's nose, a surprisingly nice smell. "I know I can be quite... you know..."
"Arrogant." Mercedes finished the sentence.
"Yes, I can be arrogant."
"And annoying.'
"Sure-"
"And insane."
"Right-"
"And-"
"Okay, Mercedes, I get the point." Rachel spat. "I am a lot to handle and I have a tendency to push other talents to the background, but the truth is, your talents are needed just as much as mine. And Kurt's, and Mercedes', and Santana's and Artie's and everyone else's." She took Quinn's hand and stared hopefully into her eyes. "We need you." Don't say it. "I need you."
"Alright." Quinn pulled her hand swiftly from Rachel's hold and took a deep, shaky breath. "I, um, I can't commit to something so temperamental any more." She shook her head. "It's difficult and I can't do it, whether you, uh, need me or not." She took a step away and returned to the sheet, shoving s final pin into it with a little more aggression than before. "That's all there is to it."
"But we don't have enough people, we can't compete." Mercedes explained.
"You also don't have an adult or a plan or funding or support or acknowledgement of any kind that you exist in the school curriculum." Quinn shot back. "You can't compete anyway."
"Then why not join just to have fun and be with your friends?"
"Because that doesn't do anything for me in the long run."
"It doesn't need to." Mercedes added.
"Yes it does." Quinn argued, crossing her arms. "This is our Senior Year, we have to do the things that really matter now or never. Tina, Blaine, Artie, Sam, probably Brittany when she's inevitably held back, they don't have to worry about this year or doing anything important because they have another year to do it." She held up the try out sheets and softly slid a hand down her Cheerios uniform. "This is how I want to finish my education before heading off to college, as a cheerleader and as prom queen." She looked down the corridor, planning her escape from the painful discussion, then looked back to her friend and whatever Rachel was to her. "If you'll excuse me, I need to get on with my life, I suggest you do the same."
Rachel and Mercedes stared hopelessly as Quinn walked away from them, sauntering down the corridor in her uniform with those sheets in her hand. She was gorgeous, smart, funny, talented and quite possibly the most ambitious girl in that school other than Rachel. She was going to achieve great things.
And she was gonna do it without Glee.
***
Are you not going to ask me why I didn't show up?"
"What's the point? You didn't go to the choir room, you don't care about Glee any more and, honestly, that's just not fair." Blaine scalded, standing in front of Kurt in the empty classroom with his classic Anderson pout. "That club gave you so much, I thought you'd want to save it."
"It's complicated, okay? I love the New Directions but there are other things to consider." Kurt shrugged, walked backwards until he found a desk and perched on top of it, looking down at the floor. "I can't go back to it."
"I just think it's a little weird that I've only been coming here for a few months and I'm prepared to fight for it, you've been here for years and you're refusing." Blaine crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "You're my boyfriend, I want to do this with you."
"I'm sorry Blaine, but I won't join again." Kurt stated. "You could always leave, accept that Glee's over and we could just hang out instead of going to rehearsals." He suggested hopefully. "It would be nice to spend time with you outside of the New Directions, we never really had the chance to do that before."
"Because we both cared about it, and our friends." Blaine argued back. "We would never abandon it. At least I thought we wouldn't." He uncrossed his arms and gesticulated with them angrily. "We need you to join, Kurt, we don't have anyone else."
"So this isn't about me, this is about numbers?" Kurt scoffed, almost in disgust. "Of course, how silly of me to assume my boyfriend just wanted to see me."
"Don't make this about us, this is about everyone."
"You made it about us, Blaine!" Kurt shouted, holding a hand to his heart. "I did nothing but not attend a cancelled Glee rehearsal! Just like half of us did! Because we know how stupid it is to keep this going!"
"I can't believe you." Blaine shook his head. "I can not believe you would just give up. I thought you were better than that."
"Oh my God, am I going crazy? Is this real? Are you seriously this angry at me just for not turning up at Glee? It isn't the epicentre of our lives and it certainly isn't the epicentre of our relationship." Kurt snapped. "I think I want you to leave. Now."
"Fine, I think I want to leave too." Blaine shot back, then spun on his heel and marched out of the room like a moody toddler.
Kurt sighed in exhaustion, as he did most times Blaine and he hung out. Their relationship was something of a yoyo, sometimes they were fine, bouncing along on a string of compliments and grand gestures and sweet words. Other times, they were flat on the floor and broken to the point it was better off being disposed of. They fought over the stupidest crap, over solos and texts and outfits and bars and parents and friends. Now, Glee was gonna be added to the list? How annoying!
With another dramatic sigh, Kurt leant back further and further on the desk he sat on until his back was pressed against the wood. His legs dangled over the side as he stared up at the ceiling, just a little sick of everything going on in his life. He never imagined Blaine would be one of the things he'd grow weary of. First love was so fucking overrated, he needed something he had to actually fight for, sink his teeth into.
Oh no no no, he couldn't think like that! It was harmful! It was that kind of risky, hopeful, lustful shit that kept getting him into messes at that school. He didn't need drama or passion, he needed to keep his head down.
Speaking of heads, one entered his field of vision before long, peering over his body from the other side of the desk. Kurt could feel the heat of someone's crotch against the top of his head (delightful) when that face appeared with a concerned stare and casual expression. What was he doing here?
"What are you doing here?" Kurt asked, not bothering to move for his guest, who he'd started getting on with surprisingly well recently, considering their history.
"Heard gel boy shouting, figured he'd run out of cement for his head or something and rushed to insult him." Puck smirked.
"You know, you sound a little more like Santana every time you talk." Kurt smirked back, and Puck simply nodded in agreement.
"Taking that as a compliment." The taller boy kept looking over Kurt as he spoke. "What was he all upset about then?"
"Oh, you haven't heard? I'm a traitor." Kurt responded, drawing an amused grin from Puck. "Apparently I'm an abandoner that doesn't care about Glee and gave up on it too easily. Apparently that is also a good enough reason to bitch me out." He slowly lifted himself up from the desk, sitting upright on it, and swivelled to look at Puck. He looked back. "Are you here to do the same?"
"Actually, Rachel's exact words were 'do whatever it takes just get them back on the team, dead or alive'." Puck slid onto the desk, dragging himself up until he was next to the fabulously pampered former New Direction. "So I'm here to kill you."
"Thank God, I couldn't stand another lecture."
"Death before effort, I get it." Puck teased, making both boys laugh softly. "Though, gotta admit, I'd rather bring you in alive."
"Well, that's not happening."
"You'd... rather I kill you?"
"No, Puck, I'd rather not have people keep pressuring me to join this zombie Glee club Rachel's desperate to make work." Kurt pushed off the table and walked away a few steps, leaving Puck without the nice heat his body provided besides him. "It's over now, can't we just forget about this and move on?" He spun and faced the other boy. "I might be running for Senior Class President soon, there's a few local theatres and clubs everyone else could try, why is everyone hung up on the New Directions?"
"Because it changed us all, it brought us together."
"Now you sound like Schue."
"Whatever dude, I just don't wanna leave Glee behind." Puck shrugged. "It sounds dumb but that club really changed my life, I never woulda been friends with anyone in that room if I hadn't joined, I wouldn't be who I am without music, it's important."
"To you."
"I know it's important to you too, Kurt, you love that group and everyone in it." Puck stated, and Kurt struggled to argue, just crossing his arms and looking away. "So why are you pushing it away? Why don't you wanna at least try to bring it back?"
"Because!" Kurt shouted, making Puck recoil slightly. Okay, so that didn't feel great... With a deep breath and steady feet, Kurt stepped forward, just enough for Puck to notice and their eyes to meet halfway. They watched one another for a while, before Kurt finally uncrossed his arms again and bit his lip awkwardly. Cute. "Because I don't want High School to get worse."
"Worse?" Puck furrowed his brow. "I don't get it."
"Of course you don't. You've been slushied and dumpster dived a few times, but that isn't enough to understand the fear and pain I went through, that I'm still going through, every time I walk into this fucking school." Kurt's face saddened, and Puck tilted his head at the expression. "I already get hurt and threatened and mocked and attacked at every opportunity, Glee would just make that worse like it always did." He sighed. "The jocks, the Cheerios, the faculty, the Sue, everyone has told me and the Gleeks that we're losers, and now we've been told we're losers by the biggest losers around: the other Gleeks! They voted us out! We are literally the losers losers." He threw his arms up in disbelief. "We're just that pathetic, how is reforming the group that makes us such popular targets going to help any of us?"
"We'll all be going through the same thing." Puck slid off the desk and walked towards Kurt, pleading with his wide eyes as Kurt just shook his head. "That's what Glee is, being losers, but being losers together."
"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Kurt stated. "We are targetted and humiliated enough already, especially me, by the same people you used to be pals with." He accused, causing Puck to look away shamefully. Good, feel shame, Mohawk. "I want to survive High School, I can't do that singing and dancing, it just gives them more reason to torment me."
"I'll protect you." Puck promised. Kurt immediately squinted his eyes in confusion, so Puck tried to lean back and look all chill as he said "And, you know, the others, uh, they'll protect you... too."
"Right..." Kurt said disbelievingly. "I just don't think I can do this."
"Please."
"No."
"Kurt-"
"Puck!" Kurt snapped again and heaved his bag further onto his shoulder. "I'm not having this conversation, if you care about me even slightly as a friend, you'll leave me alone and move on, with Glee or not but certainly without me there singing show tunes and ruining my Senior year. You can get someone else to join, I'm sure, just not me."
"Exactly, not you." Puck leaned down slightly to make eye contact with Kurt, faces inches apart. Centimetres apart. Not far apart enough. "They won't be you, so why would we want them?" He reached his hand to clutch Kurt's shoulder. "Nobody's like you, nobody could replace you."
"Just..." Kurt pushed that hand away and stepped back. "Let this go, I don't want to have this argument again."
"I'm not tryna fight you, Kurt, I just want you to know that we're all here for you."
"Well, maybe I don't want you all to be." Kurt took yet another step back. "Maybe I want to be on my own for a bit, figure myself out, spend time with my boyfriend, do significant things that I can actually add to my NYADA application, survive my final year." He shrugged. "I'm tired of being hurt and pretending I'm fine, I want to just be fine, I need to work out how to do that. Alone."
Kurt held his hands before his body sadly, averted his eyes and turned away from his friend, walking out the room with the final word. Puck wished he'd said something else, that he'd called after him and told him that he could work it out with the team, that he needed music, that he was born to perform. Even that Puck would do anything to bring him back to the New Directions.
Anything.
***
asian1: Brittany and Santana are out.
asian2: Yeah, refused to even hear us out.
normalsizedlips: same with artie and finn, especially finn, actually
barbraberry: Quinn was so stubborn, she just stopped listening to us as soon as it was convenient for her.
jonesy: Like she was listening to us in the first place.
andersun: Kurt just argued with me.
puck_u: yh k doesnt wanna join cus he doesnt wanna keep gettin bullied
andersun: When did he tell you that?
barbraberry: Unimportant. Look, we need to make a plan and quick!
asian1: But we won't convince them.
barbraberry: Yes we will!
jonesy: How?
barbraberry: ...
barbraberry: Okay, got it, get everyone to meet us in the auditorium tomorrow after school, we are going to remind them to never stop believin!
puck_u: fuckin hell, this is gonna b a disaster