You've Got A Friend 1/3
Author: laotse4
Pairing: Sam/Rachel
Rating: PG-13/T
Summary: This is the sequel to When You Tell the World That You're Mine. This takes place during Nationals. Sam and Rachel sing another duet, and he has something planned for her.
You’ve got a friend
[1/3]
They had won the duet competition, it had been landslide win if you asked Sam, and the date that Friday night had been the first of many dates that Sam and Rachel went on, and the two of them and the rest of the Glee club and Mrs. Pillsbury-Howell together with Mr. Schue would act like chaperons during this trip to New York for Nationals.
This was the first time that Rachel’s fathers Leroy and Hiram were going to meet Sam’s parents, Tammy and Joseph, the six of the were all going to go out and eat dinner after the competition. Sam had asked both set of parents if it were okay for them if he took Rachel to a Broadway musical later that night, he didn’t want to promise Rachel something that he couldn’t fulfill, and this was something that he needed okay from both his own parents and Rachel’s fathers. He hadn’t been sure of what musical he should pick and both Leroy and Hiram had told him that it didn’t matter, Rachel would be happy just to be going to a musical with Sam.
He smiled as he remembered how the conversation had gone, and he had paid for the tickets himself, he had saved as much money as he could without looking cheap when they went out in Lima.
“How are you feeling?” Hiram asked as he walked passed Sam who was sitting on a bench and his left leg was moving up and down, he was almost shaking.
“Nervous” Sam answered as he looked at Hiram. “I don’t know how Rachel does this, she didn’t seem nervous at all.” He hadn’t felt this nervous when he performed with Quinn at Sectionals, this was even worse than the championship game they had played earlier that year. The game that Rachel and the rest of the girls from Glee had played with them so that they could play.
“You haven’t seen her in a while?” Hiram asked as he sat down next to Sam. The blonde boy shook his head in a negative response. “She is just as nervous as you are if not more.”
“But everyone said that she is the coolest one out of all us and the one that could pull out a ballad from her pocket and perform it like it was the song that we were going to sing.” Sam said, he had heard the stories about how Rachel had sung Don’t rain on my parade, at sectionals last year and they had won, and it been one of the best performances that New Directions had ever done if not the best.
“That might be true but she is nervous.” Hiram said, “You know Leroy is with her and he is trying to calm her down. If I were you I would try and find her, I think that she needs her boyfriend right now.”
“Thanks.” Sam said with a smiled and got up from the bench, and he turned to Hiram. “Do you have any idea where they are?”
“I would check the green room first.”
////
Sam stood on one side of the curtain, and on his left side Rachel stood and the looked at each other, this was it, they were soon going to be going out on stage for their first song at the National competition for Show Choirs, and he would sing a duet with his girlfriend that he loved, more than he could have ever thought that he would.
Sam smiled at Rachel, he just had to say it before they sang, and he couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Rach?” Rachel looked at him and saw the love in her big brown eyes, and in that moment he couldn’t say it, it was not the right time.
“Sam.” Rachel said as she had her eyes at the blonde boy.
“I just wanted you to know that were are going to kick ass, and win this, no one has anything on us.” Sam said and he took a few quick steps towards Rachel, and he gave her a quick peck on the lips before he walked back to his position, and they could hear that the MC was introducing them.
“And on stage now we have New Directions, from Lima Ohio.”
Both Rachel and Sam could hear the first tones for the song, they were about to take their first steps out on the stage to sing their duet in front of a huge crowd and all they could do was smile, they didn’t have anything to lose.
The only thing that hadn’t been a smooth sailing was when Mr. Schuester three weeks before the competition didn’t think that the song was strong enough for this kind of competition even if Sam and Rachel had a great stage present and killed the song every time, wasn’t Mr. Schue happy about it. There for it was decided on that they would change the song.
Thinking back to how that had gone Rachel couldn’t help but to smile, Mr. Schue had told them that they should do Up where we belong, Rachel could agree that it was a beautiful song but she didn’t feel like it would be as good as the song that they had.
Sam had asked him; when it was just the three of them alone I choir room what it was with all of the 80’s movie theme love songs. Sam had even said that he and Rachel should be able to pick what song they wanted to sing, it would be a much better performance if it was a song that they like, and Sam had gotten Mr. Schue to agree to that and that was the reason that they were about to go out on stage and sing, Everything I do I do it for you. Mr. Schue had his ‘classic rock, and Rachel and Sam could sing a love song that the both liked even if it wasn’t a duet and there was still a possibility for Mr. Schue to throw in Mercedes at the end to belt out the last note as he always did.
“Are you ready?” Sam mouthed to Rachel just before he took the step out on the stage, and Rachel nodded a yes and she gave him a really show face smile, just like Vocal Adrenaline had on their faces last year, you do learn something from spying. “Look into my eyes- you will see.” Sam turned slowly to his right where he knew that Rachel would be coming out any second now. “What you mean to me.” And he could see Rachel take one step at the time and he meet her eyes and he smiled as he continued to sing. “Search your heart - search your soul.” That was just what he was doing at the moment, he knew that Rachel was the one that he wanted and he was going to show her that as long as she let him do that. “And when you find me there you’ll search no more.”
Rachel had hear Sam sing the first couple of lines as she walked and when she locked her eyes with him, she knew that this was it, nothing would ever come as close as this, what she was feeling for Sam in this moment. “Don’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for.” The first couple of weeks after the duet had been hard for them but she knew that it had been worth all the pain and name calling that they had heard. “You can’t tell me it’s not worth dyin’ for.” Sam smiled at her and his whole face lit up like a flash in the night as he listened to her. “You know it’s true.” Rachel they had almost reached the stage, Mr. Schuester always used the same choreography for these numbers and she was happy about that in this moment, she knew that they had the rest of New Directions standing behind the curtain on the stage, waiting for them to reach the stage and sing a few lines together before the rest of the group would come in and make the chorus even stronger. “Everything I do - I do it for you.”
They stood next to each other and they were now slowly going up the stairs to the stage as the music was playing, they would soon sing together and during that time the curtain would rise and their team mates would be reviled. “Look into your heart.” She sang and Sam came in after her. “You will find.” He reached for her hand as the stood on stage face to face as they sang together. “There’s nothin’ there to hide.” Sam smiled at her, he wanted to lean in closer with his girlfriend but he couldn’t do that right now, maybe at the end of the song. ”Take me as I am-“ Rachel had the next line and she gave him a smile, this was their song from now on. “Take my life.” The turned a little so that they were looking out over the audience. “I would give it all- I would sacrifice.”
Behind them the curtain started to rise and as they walked away from each other for a minute or so they could see the smiles on the rest of New Directions.
Rachel locked her eyes with Sam from afar and she smiled at him as he sang. “Don’t tell me it’s no worth fightin’ for.” And he looked at her as she sang the next line. “I can’t help it-“ And the rest of it they sang together. “There’s nothin’ I want more.”
Sam and Rachel walked towards each other as the rest of New Directions sang. “Ya know it’s true. Everything I do” And the next part they sang together. “I do it for you.”
They stood facing each other, smiling before they sang together with smiles on their faces. “There’s no love- like your loved.” And a smile from Sam was all that it took for Rachel to feel the tears slowly forming in her eyes before she sang. “And no other - could give more love.” And she had the rest of New Direction backing her up and she knew that Sam was going to sing the next line and he was supposed to let her go and look out over the audience as he sang but he never did let go of her hands, he stood there just looking into her eyes. “There’s nowhere - unless you’re there.”
And all of them sang together, making it as powerful as they could with the 12 members that they were in the club. “All the time - all the way.”
The next verse of the song was something that they all were going to sing together before, having Sam and Rachel close the song, as they had done a few times before during rehearsals for this specific moment. Rachel looked out over the audience and she could see her fathers and Sam parents but there were also a couple of familiar faces that she hadn’t thought that she would see. She shook her head discreetly, she was sure that she was imagine what she was seeing, there were no need to focus on that right now, they still had more of the song to preform and one more song after that.
“Oh- you can’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for.” Sam had seen his parents and Hiram and Leroy and they were all smiling, and it almost looked like they were crying but he couldn’t be sure of it. “I can’t help it- there’s nothin’ I want more.” They were all paired up and one half of the pair was singing to the other half or that was how it was supposed to be like but he couldn’t focus on anything else than Rachel. “I would fight for you- I’d lie for you.” And the last line of the verse was song by the half that hadn’t sung the previous line he looked at Rachel as she sang, “Walk the wire for you- ya I’d die for you.”
Sam lead Rachel a few steps from the rest of them before he took her hands and spun her around so that they were standing as close to each other as they possible could as they sang together, it was a soft tone, and it was almost a whisper. ”ya know it’s true.” He gave her a smile that she returned. “Everything I do- I do it for you.” When the last note had been sung and they stood there leaning their forehead against each other he had to say it, there was no time like the present.
“I love you.” He whispered and he could see what a big smile that broke on her face, and he could tell that she wanted to say something back to him but she didn’t have the time before all of them had to take new positions for the next number.
///
The boys stood on one side of the stage and the girls on the other side, at first they were going to do a mash-up but they couldn’t find two song that they wanted to mash-up so that they had decide on doing some song that they could have some fun with.
The first few notes of the song started and they all couldn’t help but to smile. Finn opened up the song, this time, Sam had had his moment to shine for now “I see you comb your hair and gimme that grin.” And they were on, they were going to show all of them that you couldn’t or even shouldn’t forget about New Directions. “It’s making me spin now.” Finn sang and the rest of the boys were backing him up. “Spinnin’ with in.”
And Finn continued to sing his part of the song, as the rest of them were backing up when it was needed. “Before I melt like snow.” And there were a few smiles shared between all of them, “I say Hello-” and all of the boys and the girls took the next line. “How do you do!”
They had all agreed that everyone that wanted would have at least one line that they were singing solo. “I love the way undress now, baby begin.” Artie sang as he wheeled him closer to the girls and the rest of the boys walked behind him. So that they were all standing in front of the girls, “I love you blue-eyed voice,” Mike sang before the whole group sang together. “Like Tiny Tim shines thru.” And they all lined up next to each other. “How do you do!”
There was some of the famous New Direction dancing going on as the moved around on the stage, taking whoevers hand that was closest to you, they were just enjoying themselves for now, they had made it to Nationals, and so far it seemed like the audience was enjoying their performance.
“Well, here we are crackin’ jokes in the corner of our mouths.” Sam sang as the boys had grouped up once again and the girls were doing the same. “And I feel like I’m laughing in a dream.” As Sam sang that line there were some laughs from the rest of them, not a fully belly laugh just to point out the lyrics somewhat.
All of the boys took care of the next few lines together. “If I was young I could wait outside your school.” Sam was looking at Rachel the whole time that he was singing, and Mike was looking at Tina, that was the only thing that Sam himself could tell because he saw the smile on the girls face. “cos your face is like the cover of a magazine.”
“How do you do, do you do, the things that you do.” Santana sang she was the first of the girls that sang something alone for the girls in this and after that all of the girls sang together. “No one I know could ever keep up with you.” As they sang that they had walked over to the boys and gave them a small push as they sang. “How do you do!” They were all smiling as they walked backwards to the other side of the stage as they sang. “Did it ever make sense to you to say bye.” And a bit of backing up from the boys as the girls waved goodbye. “bye, bye.”
Puck took pride of the fact that he had a bit of a solo during Nationals, he almost as much as Finn had in contest of singing but he knew that he would have a bigger part later in the song. “I see you in that chair with perfect skin.” He had no idea on who he was going to look at as he sang but he didn’t care about that. “Well, how have been, baby, livin’ in sin?” Puck sang, and he could have looked at anyone of the girls that he had been dating over the years as he sang that but he looked out over the audience and he was sure that he saw a familiar woman out there but he couldn’t take a closer look, as he ran to the side of the stage, he grabbed an electric guitar and threw it over his shoulders before he was back in his original position. The boys began to sang, “Hey, I gotta know,” before the girls joined them, “did you say hello.” As the last note of that were sung, Puck took the steps that he needed before he started to play the guitar, they had decided together without Mr. Schue knowledge that they were going to show some of their other talents and Puck guitar playing was one of them, and the mohawked boy played his first real guitar solo, at least according to him.
As that were leading to an end, Finn and Sam took care of the singing, “Well, here we are spending time in the louder part of town.” That couldn’t have been more correct, it was kind of loud at the moment. “and it feels like everything’s surreal.” Rachel couldn’t agree more with that last line that Sam and Finn had sung together. Sam took over alone for the next line as he looked at Rachel when he sang “When I get old I will wait outside your house.” There was one more line left for the boys to sing before the girls were going to sing again.
“cos your hands have the power to heal.” This time it had been Finn that was singing and Rachel thought that it looked like he was looking at Quinn but she couldn’t be sure if that was what he was doing but this was not the time to think about that.
“How do you do, do you do, the things that you do.” The girls sang together as they moved over the stage closer to the boys on the other side of the stage.
“No one I know could ever keep up with you.” Tina sang while she was pushing Mike away from her, as he was trying to get closer to him. “How do you do!” The rest of the girls sang as the turned away and the boys followed behind them.
Brittany and Lauren turned around so that they were looking at the boys as they sang together, "did it ever make sense to you to cry.” And they turned around as the rest of the girls sang, “bye, bye” and all of them waved good bye to the boys and walked away.
Mercedes walked up to Puck at first and sang, “how do you do,” and she moved on to the next guy beside him and looked at Finn, “do you do,” next in line to get some in the face was Mike, “the things that you do.” She started to back away from them and she turned to Sam and Artie that were standing more to her right. “No one I know could ever keep up with you.” And the rest of the girls had a bit of fun as they were singing, “how do you do!” As they looked at the boys, that were taking a few steps back, before the girls continued to sing. “did it ever make sense to you to say bye.” And all of them waved this time as they started to arrange the group for the end of the song, everyone had their own place for the end of the song. “bye, bye.” Were sung by the girls before everyone in New Directions started to sing.
“How do you do, do you do, the things that you do.” Smiling and jumping up and down, and just having the best time they could on the stage they could think of. “no one I know could ever keep up with you.” Sam placed his arm around Rachel’s waist and she had her arm over his shoulders, and they were all holding on to each other, as the all sang the list line of the song, “how do you do!” As they pointed out to the audience.
////
As they all walked back to the green room where they had to be during the time that the judges were deliberating, Puck grabbed hold of Rachel’s arm and he could see that Sam was looking at the two of them.
“I need to talk to you.” Puck said, Rachel looked at him, waiting for him to continue on with whatever it was that he wanted to say to her. “I think I saw her in the audience, but I must be wrong right?”
“That depend on who it was you think you saw.” Rachel said as they continued to walk, “Noah, you do know that there were a lot of people in the audience, I mean her could be the Queen of England or something.”
“You know, my fellow Jew, you dating Sam, have made you a bit more fun.” Puck said as he tossed his arm over her shoulder.
“You can take your pawns of me, please.” Rachel said and looked at him. “And don’t play that Jew card we both know that you only go to temple when there is something in it for you.”
“You are right but you did see her too.” Puck pushed on, but Rachel didn’t say anything. “You do remember that I know you, and I saw that you froze for a second but I’m sure that no one else saw it.”
“I thought I saw her, but I’m not sure.” Rachel said and she quickened her pace as she walked, she wasn’t going to talk to Puck anymore about this. “And please leave this out here, we can’t have that in the green room there are enough tension as it is already.”
“But I need to know if it was her.” Puck said and Rachel could tell that he was telling the truth. “I need to know if she is okay.”
“Maybe you should talk to someone else about this.” Rachel said and walked away from Puck, she needed to be close to Sam right now, everything that Puck was saying brought back old memories from a year ago and those memories wasn’t pleasant.
Sam sat down on one of couches and he took Rachel around her waist and placed her on his lap, he had learned how to read his girlfriend, and he knew that something was upsetting her, and he wanted her to talk but to pressure her to talk was never the best idea to do. The best way to get Rachel to talk about what was upsetting her was to wait and let her talk when she felt ready and that didn’t really take long.
“Noah is a jerk.” Rachel said, as she had her head resting on Sam’s shoulder, he had called it, there was something that was bothering her and now she was going to talk.
“I thought that you already knew that Puck was a jerk.” Sam and placed a kiss on the side of her head.
“I know, but he is worse than normal.” Rachel said, and she didn’t look at Sam or at Puck for that matter. “He doesn’t know when to stop talking.”
“Now, I’m lost.” Sam said confused, he hadn’t really heard anything that would lead to Rachel saying that. “Maybe you could tell me so that I know why I’m kicking his ass.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Rachel said, and quietly adding. “It’s not that is going to help.” Sam heard the last part but he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to.
“So what can I do to help you?” He asked and lifted her head so that he was looking in her eyes. "And I do want to help.”
“I know but this is just some bad memories.” Rachel said she didn’t want to tell him again, she had told him about some of the stuff that had happened but not all of it and she guessed that Quinn had filled him on it earlier.
“Sweetie, I want to know and I don’t care what it is.” Sam pushed, he wanted Rachel to get all of this out before the evening, if she didn’t it was a high possibility that it wouldn’t go as he had planned it would.
“It’s just that Noah thought that he saw her.” Rachel said and she turned her head around so that she no longer was looking at her boyfriend. “And he wanted to know if I saw her too.”
“So did you see her?” Sam attentively asked as he held her close, he had heard the story and if it was any possibility that she had seen her, and then Rachel would need him.
“I don’t know, I thought I did but I’m not sure.” Rachel said and hid her face in his neck and she snuggled closer to him. “It was just for a split second but I am almost positive that it was her.”
“Okay.” Sam said and moved his arms so that he was having a better hold on Rachel. “So if it was her, then we will find out after the competition.”
“Will you be there with me?” Rachel asked, he almost didn’t hear her but he couldn’t help but smile, as he realized that she wanted him to meet her, well he wasn’t sure what to call the woman.
“If you want me there then I will be there.” Sam said and moved her head of his shoulder so that he could look at her before she placed a peck on her lips. “I won’t let you go through that alone, do you understand me?” And Rachel nodded; she couldn’t believe what an amazing boyfriend Sam was, she was truly lucky that she had met him.
The sat close together, not saying anything just waiting for the call to let them know that they were needed on stage once again for the result and after that they would know if they were National champions or not, this was their first time ever at this competition, and to Sam it didn’t matter how it went but he knew how much a victory would mean to Rachel, so he hoped for the best and even if they didn’t win they would have next year to win, their senior year.
Will came running in to the green room they all looked up at him as they could hear him gasp for air, he should really start to work put regularly, so that he could talk to his students after running, before his started to talk he fixed his tie.
Almost every one of the students in New Directions were looking at him waiting for him to tell them what it was that was so important that he had to run to them. He now had his hands on his knees and shook his head before he looked up every single one of the before she said. “They have a decision, and we are needed out on the stage.”
Sam somehow managed to get up from the couch before Rachel and he held his hand out so that she could take it and they walked hand in hand to the stage they stood a bit more to the left and there was one choir between them and Vocal Adrenaline, and they hadn’t seen or heard any part of their performance and that was a good thing. The blonde boy looked out over the audience and he saw his own parents and Rachel’s parents and a few rows behind them a woman sat with a small child on her lap and she was pointing to the stage, and he could tell that the woman was saying something to the child but it seemed like the child, a girl, didn’t really seem to understand what she was saying. The woman had a great resemblance to Rachel, and he now was sure that he was going to meet the woman, and that Rachel had been right and so had Noah, and he was wondering if Quinn had seen her too.
The chairman of the panel of judges stood center stage with three different envelopes in is hand, and Sam knew that were the first, second and third place, those were the only places that were going to be announced.
“On third place we have…” the chairman said and Sam didn’t really listen, he could feel the hold on his hand that Rachel had, he changed the grip a little so that their fingers were laced together and he gave her hand a squeeze. “…Sound Revolution.” The grip on his hand got tighter. He closed her eyes and took a breath, and looked at Rachel and smiled and she did the same. “And the runner up this year is…”
Sam could hear Rachel’s pleads about it being New Directions, he had never thought that he would hear his own girlfriend that wanted to win this plea for a second place. “…G-clef.”
He could hear Rachel mumble something under her breath, “What kind of name is that, who would call their choir, G-clef.” And he could just smile, she was cute, and there was nothing that no one could say that would change that for him.
They all looked at the chairman, this was the moment of truth would the beat the odds and win, and that would lead to that Vocal Adrenaline not placing at all, from what Sam understood that would be even better than just winning.
The chairman opened the envelope and looked at the card and read, “the winner of the 2011 national show choir competition is…” and he took one more look at the card, Sam felt Rachel’s grip on his hand is was almost like she was hanging on his arm and hand, that if he wasn’t holding her she would fall down. “…Vocal Adrenaline.” And just like that he could feel the grip on his hand loosen, and Rachel slumping next to him, not looking at anyone. He wanted to say so many different things to her but he had no idea what to say.
“We didn’t even place.” He could hear someone say, he was pretty sure that it was Artie that had said it he placed his arms around Rachel’s waist as he drew her closer to him.
“Next year, we will have next year and then we will show them” He whispered to her, he hoped that he said all the right things. “And I love you, just remember that.” He could see a small smiled on the brunette’s lips but it was not big.
“Thank you and I love you too.” Rachel said and she rested her head on his shoulder as they walked of the stage back to the green room, they were just going to grab their things before heading back to the hotel.
Pairing: Sam/Rachel
Rating: PG-13/T
Summary: This is the sequel to When You Tell the World That You're Mine. This takes place during Nationals. Sam and Rachel sing another duet, and he has something planned for her.
You’ve got a friend
[1/3]
They had won the duet competition, it had been landslide win if you asked Sam, and the date that Friday night had been the first of many dates that Sam and Rachel went on, and the two of them and the rest of the Glee club and Mrs. Pillsbury-Howell together with Mr. Schue would act like chaperons during this trip to New York for Nationals.
This was the first time that Rachel’s fathers Leroy and Hiram were going to meet Sam’s parents, Tammy and Joseph, the six of the were all going to go out and eat dinner after the competition. Sam had asked both set of parents if it were okay for them if he took Rachel to a Broadway musical later that night, he didn’t want to promise Rachel something that he couldn’t fulfill, and this was something that he needed okay from both his own parents and Rachel’s fathers. He hadn’t been sure of what musical he should pick and both Leroy and Hiram had told him that it didn’t matter, Rachel would be happy just to be going to a musical with Sam.
He smiled as he remembered how the conversation had gone, and he had paid for the tickets himself, he had saved as much money as he could without looking cheap when they went out in Lima.
“How are you feeling?” Hiram asked as he walked passed Sam who was sitting on a bench and his left leg was moving up and down, he was almost shaking.
“Nervous” Sam answered as he looked at Hiram. “I don’t know how Rachel does this, she didn’t seem nervous at all.” He hadn’t felt this nervous when he performed with Quinn at Sectionals, this was even worse than the championship game they had played earlier that year. The game that Rachel and the rest of the girls from Glee had played with them so that they could play.
“You haven’t seen her in a while?” Hiram asked as he sat down next to Sam. The blonde boy shook his head in a negative response. “She is just as nervous as you are if not more.”
“But everyone said that she is the coolest one out of all us and the one that could pull out a ballad from her pocket and perform it like it was the song that we were going to sing.” Sam said, he had heard the stories about how Rachel had sung Don’t rain on my parade, at sectionals last year and they had won, and it been one of the best performances that New Directions had ever done if not the best.
“That might be true but she is nervous.” Hiram said, “You know Leroy is with her and he is trying to calm her down. If I were you I would try and find her, I think that she needs her boyfriend right now.”
“Thanks.” Sam said with a smiled and got up from the bench, and he turned to Hiram. “Do you have any idea where they are?”
“I would check the green room first.”
////
Sam stood on one side of the curtain, and on his left side Rachel stood and the looked at each other, this was it, they were soon going to be going out on stage for their first song at the National competition for Show Choirs, and he would sing a duet with his girlfriend that he loved, more than he could have ever thought that he would.
Sam smiled at Rachel, he just had to say it before they sang, and he couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Rach?” Rachel looked at him and saw the love in her big brown eyes, and in that moment he couldn’t say it, it was not the right time.
“Sam.” Rachel said as she had her eyes at the blonde boy.
“I just wanted you to know that were are going to kick ass, and win this, no one has anything on us.” Sam said and he took a few quick steps towards Rachel, and he gave her a quick peck on the lips before he walked back to his position, and they could hear that the MC was introducing them.
“And on stage now we have New Directions, from Lima Ohio.”
Both Rachel and Sam could hear the first tones for the song, they were about to take their first steps out on the stage to sing their duet in front of a huge crowd and all they could do was smile, they didn’t have anything to lose.
The only thing that hadn’t been a smooth sailing was when Mr. Schuester three weeks before the competition didn’t think that the song was strong enough for this kind of competition even if Sam and Rachel had a great stage present and killed the song every time, wasn’t Mr. Schue happy about it. There for it was decided on that they would change the song.
Thinking back to how that had gone Rachel couldn’t help but to smile, Mr. Schue had told them that they should do Up where we belong, Rachel could agree that it was a beautiful song but she didn’t feel like it would be as good as the song that they had.
Sam had asked him; when it was just the three of them alone I choir room what it was with all of the 80’s movie theme love songs. Sam had even said that he and Rachel should be able to pick what song they wanted to sing, it would be a much better performance if it was a song that they like, and Sam had gotten Mr. Schue to agree to that and that was the reason that they were about to go out on stage and sing, Everything I do I do it for you. Mr. Schue had his ‘classic rock, and Rachel and Sam could sing a love song that the both liked even if it wasn’t a duet and there was still a possibility for Mr. Schue to throw in Mercedes at the end to belt out the last note as he always did.
“Are you ready?” Sam mouthed to Rachel just before he took the step out on the stage, and Rachel nodded a yes and she gave him a really show face smile, just like Vocal Adrenaline had on their faces last year, you do learn something from spying. “Look into my eyes- you will see.” Sam turned slowly to his right where he knew that Rachel would be coming out any second now. “What you mean to me.” And he could see Rachel take one step at the time and he meet her eyes and he smiled as he continued to sing. “Search your heart - search your soul.” That was just what he was doing at the moment, he knew that Rachel was the one that he wanted and he was going to show her that as long as she let him do that. “And when you find me there you’ll search no more.”
Rachel had hear Sam sing the first couple of lines as she walked and when she locked her eyes with him, she knew that this was it, nothing would ever come as close as this, what she was feeling for Sam in this moment. “Don’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for.” The first couple of weeks after the duet had been hard for them but she knew that it had been worth all the pain and name calling that they had heard. “You can’t tell me it’s not worth dyin’ for.” Sam smiled at her and his whole face lit up like a flash in the night as he listened to her. “You know it’s true.” Rachel they had almost reached the stage, Mr. Schuester always used the same choreography for these numbers and she was happy about that in this moment, she knew that they had the rest of New Directions standing behind the curtain on the stage, waiting for them to reach the stage and sing a few lines together before the rest of the group would come in and make the chorus even stronger. “Everything I do - I do it for you.”
They stood next to each other and they were now slowly going up the stairs to the stage as the music was playing, they would soon sing together and during that time the curtain would rise and their team mates would be reviled. “Look into your heart.” She sang and Sam came in after her. “You will find.” He reached for her hand as the stood on stage face to face as they sang together. “There’s nothin’ there to hide.” Sam smiled at her, he wanted to lean in closer with his girlfriend but he couldn’t do that right now, maybe at the end of the song. ”Take me as I am-“ Rachel had the next line and she gave him a smile, this was their song from now on. “Take my life.” The turned a little so that they were looking out over the audience. “I would give it all- I would sacrifice.”
Behind them the curtain started to rise and as they walked away from each other for a minute or so they could see the smiles on the rest of New Directions.
Rachel locked her eyes with Sam from afar and she smiled at him as he sang. “Don’t tell me it’s no worth fightin’ for.” And he looked at her as she sang the next line. “I can’t help it-“ And the rest of it they sang together. “There’s nothin’ I want more.”
Sam and Rachel walked towards each other as the rest of New Directions sang. “Ya know it’s true. Everything I do” And the next part they sang together. “I do it for you.”
They stood facing each other, smiling before they sang together with smiles on their faces. “There’s no love- like your loved.” And a smile from Sam was all that it took for Rachel to feel the tears slowly forming in her eyes before she sang. “And no other - could give more love.” And she had the rest of New Direction backing her up and she knew that Sam was going to sing the next line and he was supposed to let her go and look out over the audience as he sang but he never did let go of her hands, he stood there just looking into her eyes. “There’s nowhere - unless you’re there.”
And all of them sang together, making it as powerful as they could with the 12 members that they were in the club. “All the time - all the way.”
The next verse of the song was something that they all were going to sing together before, having Sam and Rachel close the song, as they had done a few times before during rehearsals for this specific moment. Rachel looked out over the audience and she could see her fathers and Sam parents but there were also a couple of familiar faces that she hadn’t thought that she would see. She shook her head discreetly, she was sure that she was imagine what she was seeing, there were no need to focus on that right now, they still had more of the song to preform and one more song after that.
“Oh- you can’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for.” Sam had seen his parents and Hiram and Leroy and they were all smiling, and it almost looked like they were crying but he couldn’t be sure of it. “I can’t help it- there’s nothin’ I want more.” They were all paired up and one half of the pair was singing to the other half or that was how it was supposed to be like but he couldn’t focus on anything else than Rachel. “I would fight for you- I’d lie for you.” And the last line of the verse was song by the half that hadn’t sung the previous line he looked at Rachel as she sang, “Walk the wire for you- ya I’d die for you.”
Sam lead Rachel a few steps from the rest of them before he took her hands and spun her around so that they were standing as close to each other as they possible could as they sang together, it was a soft tone, and it was almost a whisper. ”ya know it’s true.” He gave her a smile that she returned. “Everything I do- I do it for you.” When the last note had been sung and they stood there leaning their forehead against each other he had to say it, there was no time like the present.
“I love you.” He whispered and he could see what a big smile that broke on her face, and he could tell that she wanted to say something back to him but she didn’t have the time before all of them had to take new positions for the next number.
///
The boys stood on one side of the stage and the girls on the other side, at first they were going to do a mash-up but they couldn’t find two song that they wanted to mash-up so that they had decide on doing some song that they could have some fun with.
The first few notes of the song started and they all couldn’t help but to smile. Finn opened up the song, this time, Sam had had his moment to shine for now “I see you comb your hair and gimme that grin.” And they were on, they were going to show all of them that you couldn’t or even shouldn’t forget about New Directions. “It’s making me spin now.” Finn sang and the rest of the boys were backing him up. “Spinnin’ with in.”
And Finn continued to sing his part of the song, as the rest of them were backing up when it was needed. “Before I melt like snow.” And there were a few smiles shared between all of them, “I say Hello-” and all of the boys and the girls took the next line. “How do you do!”
They had all agreed that everyone that wanted would have at least one line that they were singing solo. “I love the way undress now, baby begin.” Artie sang as he wheeled him closer to the girls and the rest of the boys walked behind him. So that they were all standing in front of the girls, “I love you blue-eyed voice,” Mike sang before the whole group sang together. “Like Tiny Tim shines thru.” And they all lined up next to each other. “How do you do!”
There was some of the famous New Direction dancing going on as the moved around on the stage, taking whoevers hand that was closest to you, they were just enjoying themselves for now, they had made it to Nationals, and so far it seemed like the audience was enjoying their performance.
“Well, here we are crackin’ jokes in the corner of our mouths.” Sam sang as the boys had grouped up once again and the girls were doing the same. “And I feel like I’m laughing in a dream.” As Sam sang that line there were some laughs from the rest of them, not a fully belly laugh just to point out the lyrics somewhat.
All of the boys took care of the next few lines together. “If I was young I could wait outside your school.” Sam was looking at Rachel the whole time that he was singing, and Mike was looking at Tina, that was the only thing that Sam himself could tell because he saw the smile on the girls face. “cos your face is like the cover of a magazine.”
“How do you do, do you do, the things that you do.” Santana sang she was the first of the girls that sang something alone for the girls in this and after that all of the girls sang together. “No one I know could ever keep up with you.” As they sang that they had walked over to the boys and gave them a small push as they sang. “How do you do!” They were all smiling as they walked backwards to the other side of the stage as they sang. “Did it ever make sense to you to say bye.” And a bit of backing up from the boys as the girls waved goodbye. “bye, bye.”
Puck took pride of the fact that he had a bit of a solo during Nationals, he almost as much as Finn had in contest of singing but he knew that he would have a bigger part later in the song. “I see you in that chair with perfect skin.” He had no idea on who he was going to look at as he sang but he didn’t care about that. “Well, how have been, baby, livin’ in sin?” Puck sang, and he could have looked at anyone of the girls that he had been dating over the years as he sang that but he looked out over the audience and he was sure that he saw a familiar woman out there but he couldn’t take a closer look, as he ran to the side of the stage, he grabbed an electric guitar and threw it over his shoulders before he was back in his original position. The boys began to sang, “Hey, I gotta know,” before the girls joined them, “did you say hello.” As the last note of that were sung, Puck took the steps that he needed before he started to play the guitar, they had decided together without Mr. Schue knowledge that they were going to show some of their other talents and Puck guitar playing was one of them, and the mohawked boy played his first real guitar solo, at least according to him.
As that were leading to an end, Finn and Sam took care of the singing, “Well, here we are spending time in the louder part of town.” That couldn’t have been more correct, it was kind of loud at the moment. “and it feels like everything’s surreal.” Rachel couldn’t agree more with that last line that Sam and Finn had sung together. Sam took over alone for the next line as he looked at Rachel when he sang “When I get old I will wait outside your house.” There was one more line left for the boys to sing before the girls were going to sing again.
“cos your hands have the power to heal.” This time it had been Finn that was singing and Rachel thought that it looked like he was looking at Quinn but she couldn’t be sure if that was what he was doing but this was not the time to think about that.
“How do you do, do you do, the things that you do.” The girls sang together as they moved over the stage closer to the boys on the other side of the stage.
“No one I know could ever keep up with you.” Tina sang while she was pushing Mike away from her, as he was trying to get closer to him. “How do you do!” The rest of the girls sang as the turned away and the boys followed behind them.
Brittany and Lauren turned around so that they were looking at the boys as they sang together, "did it ever make sense to you to cry.” And they turned around as the rest of the girls sang, “bye, bye” and all of them waved good bye to the boys and walked away.
Mercedes walked up to Puck at first and sang, “how do you do,” and she moved on to the next guy beside him and looked at Finn, “do you do,” next in line to get some in the face was Mike, “the things that you do.” She started to back away from them and she turned to Sam and Artie that were standing more to her right. “No one I know could ever keep up with you.” And the rest of the girls had a bit of fun as they were singing, “how do you do!” As they looked at the boys, that were taking a few steps back, before the girls continued to sing. “did it ever make sense to you to say bye.” And all of them waved this time as they started to arrange the group for the end of the song, everyone had their own place for the end of the song. “bye, bye.” Were sung by the girls before everyone in New Directions started to sing.
“How do you do, do you do, the things that you do.” Smiling and jumping up and down, and just having the best time they could on the stage they could think of. “no one I know could ever keep up with you.” Sam placed his arm around Rachel’s waist and she had her arm over his shoulders, and they were all holding on to each other, as the all sang the list line of the song, “how do you do!” As they pointed out to the audience.
////
As they all walked back to the green room where they had to be during the time that the judges were deliberating, Puck grabbed hold of Rachel’s arm and he could see that Sam was looking at the two of them.
“I need to talk to you.” Puck said, Rachel looked at him, waiting for him to continue on with whatever it was that he wanted to say to her. “I think I saw her in the audience, but I must be wrong right?”
“That depend on who it was you think you saw.” Rachel said as they continued to walk, “Noah, you do know that there were a lot of people in the audience, I mean her could be the Queen of England or something.”
“You know, my fellow Jew, you dating Sam, have made you a bit more fun.” Puck said as he tossed his arm over her shoulder.
“You can take your pawns of me, please.” Rachel said and looked at him. “And don’t play that Jew card we both know that you only go to temple when there is something in it for you.”
“You are right but you did see her too.” Puck pushed on, but Rachel didn’t say anything. “You do remember that I know you, and I saw that you froze for a second but I’m sure that no one else saw it.”
“I thought I saw her, but I’m not sure.” Rachel said and she quickened her pace as she walked, she wasn’t going to talk to Puck anymore about this. “And please leave this out here, we can’t have that in the green room there are enough tension as it is already.”
“But I need to know if it was her.” Puck said and Rachel could tell that he was telling the truth. “I need to know if she is okay.”
“Maybe you should talk to someone else about this.” Rachel said and walked away from Puck, she needed to be close to Sam right now, everything that Puck was saying brought back old memories from a year ago and those memories wasn’t pleasant.
Sam sat down on one of couches and he took Rachel around her waist and placed her on his lap, he had learned how to read his girlfriend, and he knew that something was upsetting her, and he wanted her to talk but to pressure her to talk was never the best idea to do. The best way to get Rachel to talk about what was upsetting her was to wait and let her talk when she felt ready and that didn’t really take long.
“Noah is a jerk.” Rachel said, as she had her head resting on Sam’s shoulder, he had called it, there was something that was bothering her and now she was going to talk.
“I thought that you already knew that Puck was a jerk.” Sam and placed a kiss on the side of her head.
“I know, but he is worse than normal.” Rachel said, and she didn’t look at Sam or at Puck for that matter. “He doesn’t know when to stop talking.”
“Now, I’m lost.” Sam said confused, he hadn’t really heard anything that would lead to Rachel saying that. “Maybe you could tell me so that I know why I’m kicking his ass.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Rachel said, and quietly adding. “It’s not that is going to help.” Sam heard the last part but he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to.
“So what can I do to help you?” He asked and lifted her head so that he was looking in her eyes. "And I do want to help.”
“I know but this is just some bad memories.” Rachel said she didn’t want to tell him again, she had told him about some of the stuff that had happened but not all of it and she guessed that Quinn had filled him on it earlier.
“Sweetie, I want to know and I don’t care what it is.” Sam pushed, he wanted Rachel to get all of this out before the evening, if she didn’t it was a high possibility that it wouldn’t go as he had planned it would.
“It’s just that Noah thought that he saw her.” Rachel said and she turned her head around so that she no longer was looking at her boyfriend. “And he wanted to know if I saw her too.”
“So did you see her?” Sam attentively asked as he held her close, he had heard the story and if it was any possibility that she had seen her, and then Rachel would need him.
“I don’t know, I thought I did but I’m not sure.” Rachel said and hid her face in his neck and she snuggled closer to him. “It was just for a split second but I am almost positive that it was her.”
“Okay.” Sam said and moved his arms so that he was having a better hold on Rachel. “So if it was her, then we will find out after the competition.”
“Will you be there with me?” Rachel asked, he almost didn’t hear her but he couldn’t help but smile, as he realized that she wanted him to meet her, well he wasn’t sure what to call the woman.
“If you want me there then I will be there.” Sam said and moved her head of his shoulder so that he could look at her before she placed a peck on her lips. “I won’t let you go through that alone, do you understand me?” And Rachel nodded; she couldn’t believe what an amazing boyfriend Sam was, she was truly lucky that she had met him.
The sat close together, not saying anything just waiting for the call to let them know that they were needed on stage once again for the result and after that they would know if they were National champions or not, this was their first time ever at this competition, and to Sam it didn’t matter how it went but he knew how much a victory would mean to Rachel, so he hoped for the best and even if they didn’t win they would have next year to win, their senior year.
Will came running in to the green room they all looked up at him as they could hear him gasp for air, he should really start to work put regularly, so that he could talk to his students after running, before his started to talk he fixed his tie.
Almost every one of the students in New Directions were looking at him waiting for him to tell them what it was that was so important that he had to run to them. He now had his hands on his knees and shook his head before he looked up every single one of the before she said. “They have a decision, and we are needed out on the stage.”
Sam somehow managed to get up from the couch before Rachel and he held his hand out so that she could take it and they walked hand in hand to the stage they stood a bit more to the left and there was one choir between them and Vocal Adrenaline, and they hadn’t seen or heard any part of their performance and that was a good thing. The blonde boy looked out over the audience and he saw his own parents and Rachel’s parents and a few rows behind them a woman sat with a small child on her lap and she was pointing to the stage, and he could tell that the woman was saying something to the child but it seemed like the child, a girl, didn’t really seem to understand what she was saying. The woman had a great resemblance to Rachel, and he now was sure that he was going to meet the woman, and that Rachel had been right and so had Noah, and he was wondering if Quinn had seen her too.
The chairman of the panel of judges stood center stage with three different envelopes in is hand, and Sam knew that were the first, second and third place, those were the only places that were going to be announced.
“On third place we have…” the chairman said and Sam didn’t really listen, he could feel the hold on his hand that Rachel had, he changed the grip a little so that their fingers were laced together and he gave her hand a squeeze. “…Sound Revolution.” The grip on his hand got tighter. He closed her eyes and took a breath, and looked at Rachel and smiled and she did the same. “And the runner up this year is…”
Sam could hear Rachel’s pleads about it being New Directions, he had never thought that he would hear his own girlfriend that wanted to win this plea for a second place. “…G-clef.”
He could hear Rachel mumble something under her breath, “What kind of name is that, who would call their choir, G-clef.” And he could just smile, she was cute, and there was nothing that no one could say that would change that for him.
They all looked at the chairman, this was the moment of truth would the beat the odds and win, and that would lead to that Vocal Adrenaline not placing at all, from what Sam understood that would be even better than just winning.
The chairman opened the envelope and looked at the card and read, “the winner of the 2011 national show choir competition is…” and he took one more look at the card, Sam felt Rachel’s grip on his hand is was almost like she was hanging on his arm and hand, that if he wasn’t holding her she would fall down. “…Vocal Adrenaline.” And just like that he could feel the grip on his hand loosen, and Rachel slumping next to him, not looking at anyone. He wanted to say so many different things to her but he had no idea what to say.
“We didn’t even place.” He could hear someone say, he was pretty sure that it was Artie that had said it he placed his arms around Rachel’s waist as he drew her closer to him.
“Next year, we will have next year and then we will show them” He whispered to her, he hoped that he said all the right things. “And I love you, just remember that.” He could see a small smiled on the brunette’s lips but it was not big.
“Thank you and I love you too.” Rachel said and she rested her head on his shoulder as they walked of the stage back to the green room, they were just going to grab their things before heading back to the hotel.