Title: Standstill
Author: awkwardllama
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1,339
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything but the story.
Summary: God. She loves her friends. Sequel to Break.
Despite what Dianna said when they last spoke, they still see each other every day. One of the downsides of working on Glee was their extremely long hours, and Dianna felt the full weight of their breakup because of it. She takes a week off work soon after that day and just wallows in her apartment. Right before she leaves set on her last day of work, Harry and Dijon catch her by her car. They lift her up and dance with her and goof around until she’s crying from laughter. They both kiss her cheek before she speeds away in her car. She spends the first two days of her vacation listening to the Spring Awakening soundtrack and crying at the sound of Lea’s voice.
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On the third morning of her break, her doorbell rings and Mark is standing outside her door with his guitar hanging from his back and his arms wide open. She bursts into tears when he hugs her and whispers, “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.” They sing sad love songs and talk about broken hearts. Mark isn’t anything like Puck. Dianna realizes why so many girls are in love with him. She wishes she could’ve loved him instead. He stays with her until she falls asleep to the sound of a soft lullaby played on his guitar.
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When Dianna wakes, she can hear pans clattering in the kitchen. There’s a loud bang followed by a muffled expletive and she hurries out of her bedroom. She sighs and almost smiles when she sees Heather sitting on the floor surrounded by pots and cutlery. There’s flour dotting her face and an open box is spilling from the counter onto the floor. Heather looks up at her with a sheepish smile and shrugs. “Sorry?” Dianna just laughs and pulls her up before starting to clean up. She flinches when a handful of flour splatters against her back. She slowly turns and sees Heather smirking and holding the box of flour.
“You did not just do that.”
“Oh really? I think I did.” Heather reaches inside the box again and Dianna spins grabbing a bottle of syrup and spraying it in Heather’s direction. Heather squeals and a food fight breaks out. When they’re exhausted and slumped on the now dirty floor of the kitchen, Dianna gives Heather a hug.
“Thank you.” Heather presses a kiss to Dianna’s temple. They clean up and Dianna cooks them breakfast. Afterwards, they play Dance Dance Revolution until Dianna passes out on the couch.
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She wakes up around eleven that same night in her bed. She can feel more than hear the bass line coming from the speakers in her living room. She wanders out of her room and finds Naya sitting on her couch, mixing drinks. She smiles when she sees Dianna’s sleep rumpled hair. “Finally. I thought you’d never wake up. Let’s drink!” She hands Dianna a shot glass filled to the brim with some mysterious liquor. Naya gives her a sad smile. “To love?”
Dianna raises the glass. “To love.” She pounds it.
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She wakes with a splitting headache. She groans when the sunlight streaming through the window hits her in the face. She throws an arm over her face and stiffens when she hears a husky chuckle. She painfully asks, “Lea?”
Suddenly, the sunlight is being blocked and she opens her eyes and sees Cory towering over her. “I know you’re really hung over but did you seriously think I was a girl?” He sounds offended but Dianna can see his face crinkling with a smile. He hands her a glass of water and two pain killers. “How are you feeling?”
“Well my head is pounding and my legs ache like mad. What did I do yesterday?” She downs the pills, followed by the glass of water.
Cory smiles sadly. “I meant your heart.”
“Oh. I don’t want to talk about it.” Dianna looks down at her sheets. She glances up and flinches when their eyes connect. “I never noticed.”
“Noticed what?”
She gives him a sad smile. “You have the same color eyes as her.”
“I guess you were too busy looking at hers.” Cory covers her hand with his. They just sit in comfortable silence until his phone goes off. He walks out of the room, giving her an apologetic smile. He whispers, “Hey Chris. Yeah, I’m with her right now. I think she’s…she’s doing better. Of course I’ll stay with her.” Dianna presses her ear into the crack of the barely open door. Her eyes fill with tears. God she loves her friends.
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Twenty minutes after Cory leaves, the door creaks open and Jenna and Kevin poke their heads in. Dianna, fresh from a shower, is sprawled out on her coach with Johnny lying across her lap. She looks at them and smiles. “You better have ice cream.”
They smile and shuffle in, their arms littered with bags. Kevin begins unloading the ice cream on the table. “Okay. We have over twenty selections of various flavors and taste sensations!” He waves his hands around in a jazzy motion.
Jenna laughs and tosses her bag on the floor. “We brought tons of movies too. Sappy, sappy movies.” When Dianna starts crying over the Lea’s favorite flavor of vegan ice cream, they don’t say a word. They just wrap their arms around her as she sobs, her tears mixing with melted chocolate.
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Two days before she’s supposed to go back to work, Amber and Chris waltz into Dianna’s apartment singing Lady Gaga’s latest hit song. Chris grunts when he trips over Dianna, who is furiously doing crunches on the floor. She doesn’t even stop but murmurs a greeting as she continues her exercising.
They both hover over her. Amber speaks, “Huh. Would you look at those abs? Mother fucking steel.”
Chris laughs. “Lady Di, you’re lucky I’m not straight, or else I would jump you right now.”
Amber interjects, “I’m straight and I would totally do her.”
Dianna leaps up with a laugh. “Haha guys.” She takes a swig from her water bottle. “I have too much energy. Probably because I haven’t had dance rehearsal.” She smirks. Walking toward a nearby doorway, she pulls herself up on the pull up bar hanging from the door frame.
Chris clucks. “Where did you get that? I thought only exercise freaks used those.”
Dianna shrugs as she does another pull-up. “I’ve watched tons of infomercials this week. You want to try the Magic Bullet?”
“Ooo girl! You bought a Magic Bullet? How does it work? Is it as good as it looks?” Amber rushes towards the kitchen. “Oh it’s gorgeous!”
Dianna laughs, dropping to the floor. “It’s not bad. Why are you guys here? Is it your turn to watch over me today?”
Chris gasps indignantly. “I resent that. We are here to stage an intervention. You haven’t been out of your apartment in days. Come out to lunch with us.”
She begins to refuse, but the pleading looks on their faces make her reconsider. “Yeah okay. Just let me take a quick shower.”
“Good. You stink.” She pokes her tongue out and walks into the bathroom. She turns on the shower and steps under the warm blast of water. She presses her forehead to the cool tile of the wall and just breathes.
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They’re stepping out of the restaurant when Dianna sees her. She looks like shit. Dianna watches as the paparazzi swarm across the street. Lea has one hand shielding her face as Jonathan guides her through the throngs of people with the other.
Dianna hates how her heart still thuds at the sight of her. Hates how her breath catches in her throat when Lea turns and they make eye contact. Hates how her heart breaks when Lea turns away.
Chris guides her back towards his car and for the entire ride home all Dianna can think about is the pain swirling in Lea Michele’s eyes.