In the Words of... 9/18
Title: In the Words of
Author: laotse4
Rating: pg-13
Chapter 8
All of the members of New Directions were in the green room, they were all waiting for their turn to go out on stage and preform the songs that they had written. Sam looked to his right, where he knew that Rachel had been sitting just a minute ago but when he turned in that direction he saw that she had left.
Sam got up from the couch where he had been sitting, he walked over to where Puck was sitting and there were a few more members of the Glee club that was sitting there with him. “Have you seen Rachel?” Puck looked up at the blonde boy.
“no, I thought she was here.” Puck said and he ran his one of his hands over the strip of hair that he had. “But she will be back; she won’t miss a chance to perform a song that she has written.”
“You know here better than me.” Sam said, and he closed his eyes for a second, everything that Puck said did sound possible but it was something that felt of for Sam. “I’ll try and find her.”
“Sam, where are you going?” Sam turned around when he heard Mr. Schuester say his name.
“I was going to try and find Rachel.” Sam said as he looked at the teacher.
“She is missing?” Mr. Schuester asked, and Sam just shook his head, this was the teacher that they were stuck with, a teacher that didn’t know when the star of the group went missing.
“I’m sure she just went to get something to drink or see of her fathers are here.” Sam said and walked out from the green room, and he could hear almost the whole group talk when he left.
///
Sam saw both of Rachel’s fathers as he looked around trying to find Rachel, and he gave both of them a wave.
“Sam.” One of them greeted and Sam was pretty sure that it was Leroy that had said that.
“Mr. Berry and Mr. Berry.” He said when they looked at him, both of them were smiling and so was Sam. “I was just wondering if either one of you have seen Rachel?”
“I saw her when we just got here.” Hiram said, he was the shorter one with glasses. “I think she was talking with Kurt and one of his friends.”
“Thank you so much, I kind of have to find her.” Sam said and gave them a polite smile, and he glanced quickly at his wrist where he had a watch, he saw that they were supposed to go on in less than ten minutes. “I would suggest that you would go and find your seats while I try and find Rachel, we are going on really soon.”
////
Sam walked around the theater where the competition were held, he couldn’t understand why it was so hard to find Rachel, she was normally very talkative, so he should be able to hear her, seeing her might be a bit harder, she was after all pretty petite, if there was one thing Sam had learned when he was spending time with Rachel was that she didn’t like being called short.
Sam couldn’t find Rachel, and he decided to walk back to the green room, there might be a chance that Rachel would have walked back, they were supposed to be on stage really soon. As Sam got closer to the green room he could see Rachel standing outside it, she was leaning against the wall, with her eyes closed.
“Rach.” Sam said as he walked up to her and touched her shoulder, it was almost like Rachel was woken up from some kind of dream, she shook her head and shoulders.
“I didn’t know that anyone was out here.” Rachel said as she saw Sam, she tried to give him a smile but it didn’t really reach her eyes.
“We should go in, so that we all can go to the stage.” Sam said as he started to guide Rachel to the door, but as they were about to walk through the door, Rachel froze.
“I can’t do this.” Rachel said and grabbed hold of the door handle so that Sam wouldn’t be able to open it. “There are too much that has happened.”
“I know the story about last year’s regionals, but this is a new year.” Sam said as he turned Rachel around so that he was looking her in the eyes. “And I know that you are going to kick both of the other teams’ asses.”
Rachel just shook her head, there were still things that Sam didn’t know about last year, Rachel knew that Sam knew about Jesse and that Quinn had given birth but there was still the fact that Finn had told her that he loved her. “Finn, told he that he loved me last year just before we sang our duet.” She whispered out, Sam took a step forward and put his arms around the brunette and drew her closer.
“You know that you shouldn’t think about that now.” He whispered as he continued to hold her. “And I can tell you that I like you and you are my best friend.”
“Thanks.” Rachel said and leaned up a little before she placed a kiss on his cheek. “And you are my best friend too.”
“I should be careful then and not tell Puck that you said that.” Sam said and Rachel started to laugh and he had reached his goal. “Your dads are here and so are my parents and my siblings too.”
“So I’ll be able to meet your brother and sister?” Rachel asked as she looked up at him and there was this small sparkle in her eyes.
“That might happen.” Sam said and was about to open the door so that they could go inside to the rest of the group when the rest of the New Directions walked out the door.
“Thank god that you are here.” Mr. Schuester said as he saw both Rachel and Sam.
“You know Schuester was about to have a heartattack.” Puck said as he was next to both Sam and Rachel. “You should have texted just so that we knew that you were okay.”
“Sorry about that Noah, I didn’t think of that.” Rachel said and she looked down on her feet. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that, I should have let you all know that I was okay and the same for Sam.”
“Hey, don’t be like that.” Puck said and placed a hand on her left shoulder before he drew her in for an awkward one armed hug. “I knew that you wouldn’t let us down, so we should head to the stage so that you can kick some ass.”
////
Rachel stood to the left of the stage she was less than a minute from going on the stage and she would be singing an original song that she herself had written the lyrics to and Sam had helped her with the music. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she was to walk out to the stage.
Rachel was about to walk out on the stage when she felt someone take a hold of her arm and stopped her from going out on the stage. She turned around and she was facing a smiling Sam.
“I just wanted to say break a leg.” Rachel nodded; she didn’t want to say thanks there was just something about that, she had said that to Finn last year and his reply, I love you, not the right one.
Rachel schooled herself, this was not the time to think about that, she needed to focus on what she was about to do. She gave him a smile before he let her arm go.
“Rach, just so you know, you will blow everyone away.” Sam said.
The stage was dark, there was no light, and Rachel had walked to the center stage, the mike was there, she closed her eyes, and slowly there was a light that was on her, she turned her head to the side where she had gone out from, and she could see Sam standing there smiling. Rachel looked to the other side where Brad, the piano player was sitting waiting for her to let him now to start to play, she gave him a small nod.
And she could hear the first note to the song, and she could hear that she was about to start to sing.
“What have I done.” Rachel sang, at first she had her eyes closed, just letting the music carry her. “Wish I could run.” The first couple of lines was done, Rachel felt a bit more confident but there was still a lot left. “Away from this ship going under. Just trying to help. Hurt everyone else.” Standing alone on the stage singing her heart out was what she was born to do and with every word she had sung so far, she knew that this was what she was going to do. “Now I feel the weight of the world. Is on my shoulders.” She opened her eyes and looked out over the audience from what she could see no one hated it that was a good thing.
“What can you do. When your good isn’t good enough. And all that you touch tumbles down. Cause my best intentions. Keep making a mess of things.” As Rachel sang, all of the things that had been running through her head as she had written the lyrics came back to her. “I just wanna fix it somehow. But how many times will it take.” Rachel had no idea on where this was coming from, she had been sure that she had moved passed this. ”Oh how many times will it take. For me to get it right. To get it right.”
Rachel looked out over the audience again trying to find her fathers, just to see what reaction they were having, as she saw them she smiled before she was back to her song. “Can I start again. With my faith shaken.” Rachel knew that the rest of the girls from New Direction were about to come on the stage and stay there before the boy would be there. She saw Brittany walking in from her right in the corner of her eyes and then she saw Tina coming in from the left just seconds after that. “Cause I can’t go back and undo this.” She could hear how both Brittany and Tina were backing her up. “I just have to stay and face my mistakes. But if I get stronger and wiser.” Hearing how a small part of the Glee club was there on the stage with her, made Rachel feel even safer and happier. “I’ll get through this what can you do.” She could see how the rest of the girls had made it to the stage and was standing behind her. “What can you do? When your good isn’t good enough.” That was something that she had been thinking about and Rachel had yet to find the answer to that but she was happy, well as happy as she could be. “And all that you touch tumbles down.”
Singing had always been where she felt the safest and now that she had her own song, she had an anthem, well not really an anthem but it was her song and no one could take that away from her. “cause my best intentions. Keep making a mess of things. I just wanna fix it somehow.” Rachel looked out over the audience she let her eyes move away from her fathers and she think that she saw Sam’s family and she knew that Kurt would be there somewhere. As she saw their former teammate sitting with the Warbelers, she could see that he was saying something to the boy that was sitting next to him but she couldn’t tell what it was that he was saying. “But how many times will it take. Oh how many times will it take. For me to get it right.” If she was going to be honest with herself, she hoped that she would get it all right this time.
////
Kurt was sitting with Blaine next to him, he couldn’t believe it at first when he had heard the first verse and chorus, New Directions were doing an original song, and from where he was, he knew that Rachel was killing it, there was no chance that the Warbelers would beat New Directions.
He felt someone poke him on his upper arm and he looked to the right where Blaine was sitting. “What song are they doing?”
“It’s an original song.” He whispered, and he had heard that Mercedes had said something about them writing an original piece but Kurt hadn’t believed that New Directions would actually perform it Regionals.
“It’s pretty good.” Blaine said and Kurt could just nod, as he agreed with his friend.
“So I throw up my fist.” Rachel’s hand was in the air, and the rest of New Directions did the same behind her. “Throw a punch in the air and” There was a punch in the air from the fist that they had in the air. “Accept the truth that sometimes life isn’t fair.” Truer words hadn’t been sung so far in the competition. “Yeah I’ll send out a wish. Yeah I’ll send up a prayer. And finally someone will see. How much I care.”
////
Rachel took the mike and she took a few steps closer to the front of the stage. There was just one more chorus left of this song before they were going to sing their group number. “What can you do. When your good isn’t good enough. And all that you touch tumbles down. Oh my best intentions.” Rachel closed her eyes, the song was about to come to an end and this was the moment of truth for her, if she had succeed. “Keep making a mess of things. Just wanna fix it somehow. But how many times will it take. Oh, how many times will it take.”
One more line, she told herself, then this is over for now, just one more line, you can do this, she glanced back quickly and she could see almost everyone with a big smile on their faces. “To get it right, to get it right.”
Rachel looked out over the audience, and she could see how one by one they were all starting to stand up and clapping their hands, she was getting a standing ovation, there had been a couple of those earlier but this time, she got it, for her song, her own song. A song that she had written, it somehow meant so much more to her then the last time it had happened.
////
They were all back at the school in the choir room, they had won regionals and they were now on their way to Nationals that would be held in New York this year.
Rachel had been the last one to arrive, which had been a strange occurrence, as she normally was the first one that would be the choir room but it appeared that she had had something to do or at least that was what both Sam and Puck had said.
“great, you are all here.” Mr. Schuester said as Rachel took a seat next to Sam, the boy took one of Rachel’s hands in his own before he gave it a small squeeze. “As you remember I asked you to vote for who you thought was the MVP for this competition, and I can tell you that I was an unanimous result, well except one vote, you do remember that you couldn’t vote for yourself.”
“So who is the winner?” Puck asked, he had an idea on who it was but he needed to have it said, mostly because he knew that he and Sam and voted for the same person.
“It is with great pleasure that I can give this award to Rachel.” Mr. Schuester said and held what looked like a cheap knockout of a Grammy award. Rachel for one was surprised that she had won, and she got up from her seat and walked up to Mr. Schuester and he gave her the prize.
“If it is okay I would like to say a couple of words.” Rachel said and looked at Mr. Schuster and he nodded.
“And now she is going to say something that will make me regret that I voted for her.”
“Just shut up, and let her speak.” Sam said as he glared at Santana, there were a few surprised faces in the room, no one had really expected Sam to snap like that, they had known that he and Rachel was somewhat friends.
“It’s okay.” Rachel said. “All I wanted to say was thank you and that it means a lot to me that all of you made this decision together more or less.” Rachel knew that there was more that she wanted to say but she had learned a lesson, that it was better to keep her mouth closed and not say everything that she thought.
“That was great Rachel.” Mr. Schuester said as Rachel sat down again. “And there are a couple of months left before there is time for Nationals and I think that you all need to think about what songs we should have for that competition.”
“Original songs.” Was something that was said by almost everyone.
“As good as those songs were I think that we need to find some songs that we haven’t written.” Mr. Schue said. “And I think that there are a couple of ideas that I have for you, for these two coming weeks I want all of you to find a song as a solo or as a group that you can sing together that will be about friendship and what that means to you.”
Author: laotse4
Rating: pg-13
Chapter 8
All of the members of New Directions were in the green room, they were all waiting for their turn to go out on stage and preform the songs that they had written. Sam looked to his right, where he knew that Rachel had been sitting just a minute ago but when he turned in that direction he saw that she had left.
Sam got up from the couch where he had been sitting, he walked over to where Puck was sitting and there were a few more members of the Glee club that was sitting there with him. “Have you seen Rachel?” Puck looked up at the blonde boy.
“no, I thought she was here.” Puck said and he ran his one of his hands over the strip of hair that he had. “But she will be back; she won’t miss a chance to perform a song that she has written.”
“You know here better than me.” Sam said, and he closed his eyes for a second, everything that Puck said did sound possible but it was something that felt of for Sam. “I’ll try and find her.”
“Sam, where are you going?” Sam turned around when he heard Mr. Schuester say his name.
“I was going to try and find Rachel.” Sam said as he looked at the teacher.
“She is missing?” Mr. Schuester asked, and Sam just shook his head, this was the teacher that they were stuck with, a teacher that didn’t know when the star of the group went missing.
“I’m sure she just went to get something to drink or see of her fathers are here.” Sam said and walked out from the green room, and he could hear almost the whole group talk when he left.
///
Sam saw both of Rachel’s fathers as he looked around trying to find Rachel, and he gave both of them a wave.
“Sam.” One of them greeted and Sam was pretty sure that it was Leroy that had said that.
“Mr. Berry and Mr. Berry.” He said when they looked at him, both of them were smiling and so was Sam. “I was just wondering if either one of you have seen Rachel?”
“I saw her when we just got here.” Hiram said, he was the shorter one with glasses. “I think she was talking with Kurt and one of his friends.”
“Thank you so much, I kind of have to find her.” Sam said and gave them a polite smile, and he glanced quickly at his wrist where he had a watch, he saw that they were supposed to go on in less than ten minutes. “I would suggest that you would go and find your seats while I try and find Rachel, we are going on really soon.”
////
Sam walked around the theater where the competition were held, he couldn’t understand why it was so hard to find Rachel, she was normally very talkative, so he should be able to hear her, seeing her might be a bit harder, she was after all pretty petite, if there was one thing Sam had learned when he was spending time with Rachel was that she didn’t like being called short.
Sam couldn’t find Rachel, and he decided to walk back to the green room, there might be a chance that Rachel would have walked back, they were supposed to be on stage really soon. As Sam got closer to the green room he could see Rachel standing outside it, she was leaning against the wall, with her eyes closed.
“Rach.” Sam said as he walked up to her and touched her shoulder, it was almost like Rachel was woken up from some kind of dream, she shook her head and shoulders.
“I didn’t know that anyone was out here.” Rachel said as she saw Sam, she tried to give him a smile but it didn’t really reach her eyes.
“We should go in, so that we all can go to the stage.” Sam said as he started to guide Rachel to the door, but as they were about to walk through the door, Rachel froze.
“I can’t do this.” Rachel said and grabbed hold of the door handle so that Sam wouldn’t be able to open it. “There are too much that has happened.”
“I know the story about last year’s regionals, but this is a new year.” Sam said as he turned Rachel around so that he was looking her in the eyes. “And I know that you are going to kick both of the other teams’ asses.”
Rachel just shook her head, there were still things that Sam didn’t know about last year, Rachel knew that Sam knew about Jesse and that Quinn had given birth but there was still the fact that Finn had told her that he loved her. “Finn, told he that he loved me last year just before we sang our duet.” She whispered out, Sam took a step forward and put his arms around the brunette and drew her closer.
“You know that you shouldn’t think about that now.” He whispered as he continued to hold her. “And I can tell you that I like you and you are my best friend.”
“Thanks.” Rachel said and leaned up a little before she placed a kiss on his cheek. “And you are my best friend too.”
“I should be careful then and not tell Puck that you said that.” Sam said and Rachel started to laugh and he had reached his goal. “Your dads are here and so are my parents and my siblings too.”
“So I’ll be able to meet your brother and sister?” Rachel asked as she looked up at him and there was this small sparkle in her eyes.
“That might happen.” Sam said and was about to open the door so that they could go inside to the rest of the group when the rest of the New Directions walked out the door.
“Thank god that you are here.” Mr. Schuester said as he saw both Rachel and Sam.
“You know Schuester was about to have a heartattack.” Puck said as he was next to both Sam and Rachel. “You should have texted just so that we knew that you were okay.”
“Sorry about that Noah, I didn’t think of that.” Rachel said and she looked down on her feet. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that, I should have let you all know that I was okay and the same for Sam.”
“Hey, don’t be like that.” Puck said and placed a hand on her left shoulder before he drew her in for an awkward one armed hug. “I knew that you wouldn’t let us down, so we should head to the stage so that you can kick some ass.”
////
Rachel stood to the left of the stage she was less than a minute from going on the stage and she would be singing an original song that she herself had written the lyrics to and Sam had helped her with the music. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she was to walk out to the stage.
Rachel was about to walk out on the stage when she felt someone take a hold of her arm and stopped her from going out on the stage. She turned around and she was facing a smiling Sam.
“I just wanted to say break a leg.” Rachel nodded; she didn’t want to say thanks there was just something about that, she had said that to Finn last year and his reply, I love you, not the right one.
Rachel schooled herself, this was not the time to think about that, she needed to focus on what she was about to do. She gave him a smile before he let her arm go.
“Rach, just so you know, you will blow everyone away.” Sam said.
The stage was dark, there was no light, and Rachel had walked to the center stage, the mike was there, she closed her eyes, and slowly there was a light that was on her, she turned her head to the side where she had gone out from, and she could see Sam standing there smiling. Rachel looked to the other side where Brad, the piano player was sitting waiting for her to let him now to start to play, she gave him a small nod.
And she could hear the first note to the song, and she could hear that she was about to start to sing.
“What have I done.” Rachel sang, at first she had her eyes closed, just letting the music carry her. “Wish I could run.” The first couple of lines was done, Rachel felt a bit more confident but there was still a lot left. “Away from this ship going under. Just trying to help. Hurt everyone else.” Standing alone on the stage singing her heart out was what she was born to do and with every word she had sung so far, she knew that this was what she was going to do. “Now I feel the weight of the world. Is on my shoulders.” She opened her eyes and looked out over the audience from what she could see no one hated it that was a good thing.
“What can you do. When your good isn’t good enough. And all that you touch tumbles down. Cause my best intentions. Keep making a mess of things.” As Rachel sang, all of the things that had been running through her head as she had written the lyrics came back to her. “I just wanna fix it somehow. But how many times will it take.” Rachel had no idea on where this was coming from, she had been sure that she had moved passed this. ”Oh how many times will it take. For me to get it right. To get it right.”
Rachel looked out over the audience again trying to find her fathers, just to see what reaction they were having, as she saw them she smiled before she was back to her song. “Can I start again. With my faith shaken.” Rachel knew that the rest of the girls from New Direction were about to come on the stage and stay there before the boy would be there. She saw Brittany walking in from her right in the corner of her eyes and then she saw Tina coming in from the left just seconds after that. “Cause I can’t go back and undo this.” She could hear how both Brittany and Tina were backing her up. “I just have to stay and face my mistakes. But if I get stronger and wiser.” Hearing how a small part of the Glee club was there on the stage with her, made Rachel feel even safer and happier. “I’ll get through this what can you do.” She could see how the rest of the girls had made it to the stage and was standing behind her. “What can you do? When your good isn’t good enough.” That was something that she had been thinking about and Rachel had yet to find the answer to that but she was happy, well as happy as she could be. “And all that you touch tumbles down.”
Singing had always been where she felt the safest and now that she had her own song, she had an anthem, well not really an anthem but it was her song and no one could take that away from her. “cause my best intentions. Keep making a mess of things. I just wanna fix it somehow.” Rachel looked out over the audience she let her eyes move away from her fathers and she think that she saw Sam’s family and she knew that Kurt would be there somewhere. As she saw their former teammate sitting with the Warbelers, she could see that he was saying something to the boy that was sitting next to him but she couldn’t tell what it was that he was saying. “But how many times will it take. Oh how many times will it take. For me to get it right.” If she was going to be honest with herself, she hoped that she would get it all right this time.
////
Kurt was sitting with Blaine next to him, he couldn’t believe it at first when he had heard the first verse and chorus, New Directions were doing an original song, and from where he was, he knew that Rachel was killing it, there was no chance that the Warbelers would beat New Directions.
He felt someone poke him on his upper arm and he looked to the right where Blaine was sitting. “What song are they doing?”
“It’s an original song.” He whispered, and he had heard that Mercedes had said something about them writing an original piece but Kurt hadn’t believed that New Directions would actually perform it Regionals.
“It’s pretty good.” Blaine said and Kurt could just nod, as he agreed with his friend.
“So I throw up my fist.” Rachel’s hand was in the air, and the rest of New Directions did the same behind her. “Throw a punch in the air and” There was a punch in the air from the fist that they had in the air. “Accept the truth that sometimes life isn’t fair.” Truer words hadn’t been sung so far in the competition. “Yeah I’ll send out a wish. Yeah I’ll send up a prayer. And finally someone will see. How much I care.”
////
Rachel took the mike and she took a few steps closer to the front of the stage. There was just one more chorus left of this song before they were going to sing their group number. “What can you do. When your good isn’t good enough. And all that you touch tumbles down. Oh my best intentions.” Rachel closed her eyes, the song was about to come to an end and this was the moment of truth for her, if she had succeed. “Keep making a mess of things. Just wanna fix it somehow. But how many times will it take. Oh, how many times will it take.”
One more line, she told herself, then this is over for now, just one more line, you can do this, she glanced back quickly and she could see almost everyone with a big smile on their faces. “To get it right, to get it right.”
Rachel looked out over the audience, and she could see how one by one they were all starting to stand up and clapping their hands, she was getting a standing ovation, there had been a couple of those earlier but this time, she got it, for her song, her own song. A song that she had written, it somehow meant so much more to her then the last time it had happened.
////
They were all back at the school in the choir room, they had won regionals and they were now on their way to Nationals that would be held in New York this year.
Rachel had been the last one to arrive, which had been a strange occurrence, as she normally was the first one that would be the choir room but it appeared that she had had something to do or at least that was what both Sam and Puck had said.
“great, you are all here.” Mr. Schuester said as Rachel took a seat next to Sam, the boy took one of Rachel’s hands in his own before he gave it a small squeeze. “As you remember I asked you to vote for who you thought was the MVP for this competition, and I can tell you that I was an unanimous result, well except one vote, you do remember that you couldn’t vote for yourself.”
“So who is the winner?” Puck asked, he had an idea on who it was but he needed to have it said, mostly because he knew that he and Sam and voted for the same person.
“It is with great pleasure that I can give this award to Rachel.” Mr. Schuester said and held what looked like a cheap knockout of a Grammy award. Rachel for one was surprised that she had won, and she got up from her seat and walked up to Mr. Schuester and he gave her the prize.
“If it is okay I would like to say a couple of words.” Rachel said and looked at Mr. Schuster and he nodded.
“And now she is going to say something that will make me regret that I voted for her.”
“Just shut up, and let her speak.” Sam said as he glared at Santana, there were a few surprised faces in the room, no one had really expected Sam to snap like that, they had known that he and Rachel was somewhat friends.
“It’s okay.” Rachel said. “All I wanted to say was thank you and that it means a lot to me that all of you made this decision together more or less.” Rachel knew that there was more that she wanted to say but she had learned a lesson, that it was better to keep her mouth closed and not say everything that she thought.
“That was great Rachel.” Mr. Schuester said as Rachel sat down again. “And there are a couple of months left before there is time for Nationals and I think that you all need to think about what songs we should have for that competition.”
“Original songs.” Was something that was said by almost everyone.
“As good as those songs were I think that we need to find some songs that we haven’t written.” Mr. Schue said. “And I think that there are a couple of ideas that I have for you, for these two coming weeks I want all of you to find a song as a solo or as a group that you can sing together that will be about friendship and what that means to you.”