fic: What Would Rachel Berry Do?
TITLE: What Would Rachel Berry Do?
AUTHOR: Brio
WORDS: 1717
RATING: G
PAIRING: Lea/Dianna
SUMMARY: Lea enlists the help of her castmates to show Dianna how she feels
NOTES: Old fic I decided to finish and post. Beta’d by this one. Usage of this song. Takes place during rehearsals for the tour.
You flop down on the stage next to Cory, exhausted because you didn’t sleep well last night, because your alarm went off far too early this morning and because Zach appears to be channelling Sue Sylvester. Cory offers you a smile before turning his attention back to his phone, tapping away quickly with an intense look of concentration on his face. Some of the others have gone to raid the vending machines. You throw your arm out to the left, feeling around for your bag and rummage inside, grabbing a granola bar. Lunch is in just over two hours. You can stick it out until then.
Cory finishes what he’s doing and grins down at you now.
“You look like shit,” he says, lying down next to you and offering you a headphone. You ignore what he’s said and push the headphone into your ear, wondering what band he’s going to try and introduce you to now. “How are things with you and…?”
“Fine,” you snap, unnecessarily abrupt. You exhale and turn to look at him. “Sorry. Things are fine. Perfect.”
“Really?” he asks, turning his attention to the lighting rigs above the stage. “You two aren’t fighting then?” You close your eyes, remembering last night. She stormed off to her bed and you were too tired to go after her and fix things so you left her apartment and drove home, curled up fully-clothed in bed, watching the minutes tick over on your phone, just incase she decided to call.
“We don’t have to spend every waking moment with each other,” you say, your voice strained. “I’m pretty sure that’s what they want anyway. It would be better if we just…” You can’t even finish the sentence, the thought of it makes your stomach flip and you shake your head. “We had a tiny fight.”
“Want to talk about it?” he asks, changing the song.
“New York,” you say, hoping that you won’t need to elaborate. Cory doesn’t say anything. Instead, he drums his hands in time with the beat of the song. He’s waiting for you to continue. “And while we agreed that we’d just… keep this private,” you cringe at the sound of your own words, “It’s not enough for her. It’s not enough for me either. She thinks that she’s more in love with me than I am with her. And I don‘t think that‘s true. I am in love with her.” Cory starts to hum along with the song, “Cory!” you nudge him in the ribs and he turns to look at you. “Are you even listening to me?”
“What would Rachel Berry do?” he asks. You stare blankly at him, trying to connect what you’d just said to what he’d responded with. “Imagine you’re Rachel, not that it’s too much of a stretch,” he waits for you to roll your eyes, which you do. Twice. “How would Rachel Berry prove how much she’s in love with someone?”
“I’m not even sure how this is remotely relevant, Cory,” you say. “This is real life. This isn’t a TV show. My girlfriend and I are on the verge of breaking up and you want to know what my neurotic, over-achieving, bossy character would do?” You glance over to where your girlfriend is sitting, head buried in her latest obsession. She dragged you into an old bookshop the last time you were out for lunch together. It feels like months ago. Your stomach lurches when you realise that it has been months. Things have been so hectic lately: filming, rehearsing, photoshoots, weekend trips to New York, award shows… you barely have time to sleep, let alone see each other or spend any quality time together alone. There’s always someone else there. And even now at rehearsals, you’re hanging out with Cory when you could be lying next to Dianna, listening to her favourite songs, all of which seem to remind her of you. You only have one song that really sings ‘Dianna’ to you.
“What would any of our characters do?” Cory asks. You glance back at him as the song changes again and you smile. No, you grin, the plan formulating instantly in your mind.
“You’re a genius,” you declare and kiss him quickly on the cheek before jumping to your feet, completely forgetting that the other headphone is still attached to Cory.
“Jesus, Lea,” he exclaims, clutching his ear. You bite your lip as you grimace before smiling sheepishly down at him.
“Sorry!” you say, tossing the headphones back to him. “Harry!” you call, running to the other side of the stage where he and Dijon are practising the routine that Zach has been drilling into all of you since 7am. You quickly explain what you want to do and the two jump on board immediately. They say that they’ll spread the word to everyone else.
Now you just have to convince Zach to give up some of his rehearsal time. And get some sheet music for the band.
Rachel Berry would be proud.
**
You sit with Dianna at lunch but neither of you say much. You wonder if this idea is actually going to be enough to convince her of your feelings.
“My mom called last night, after you left,” Dianna says, though she doesn’t need to. She speaks to Mary most nights, even if it’s just for a few minutes. You love that she’s as close to her mom as you are to yours. “She’s visiting this weekend. She wanted to know if you’d join us for dinner.”
“Of course,” you say quickly. She smiles but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“I told her you might be in New York this weekend,” she says and it feels like a lead weight has dropped into your stomach. You don’t know what else to say and you definitely don’t want to cause a scene in the lunch room. She finishes her lunch and heads off to speak to Chris before rehearsals start again.
“Ready?” Cory slides into the chair that Dianna just vacated.
“Yeah,” you say, pushing away your tray of food. You’re not hungry anyway.
**
Zach is waiting when you return. He gives you a quick smile and waits for everyone to get into position for the next number. He counts the band in and everyone starts to move. You notice the confusion on Di’s face as Mark comes towards her. This isn’t how the number is supposed to go.
“Mark, what are you..?” the rest of her question dies in her mouth as Mark lifts her up and carries her to the front of the stage. “Mark, what the hell? Put me down!” You grin as you watch her thump Mark a couple of times on the back before he sets her back on her feet.
Then Kevin starts to sing as the rest of the group go through the moves that Heather, Harry and Dijon have worked out and hastily shown to everyone as covertly as possible. It’s quite a feat for such a short period of time.
Mark rejoins the group and Dianna folds her arms across her chest, running her teeth over her bottom lip as she tries to figure out what’s going on.
“What I want, you’ve got but it might be hard to handle,” Kevin sings, moving to the centre of the stage. “Like the flame that burns a candle, the candle feeds the flame…” Naya’s next and for a second, you are mesmerised like the first time you really heard her sing while recording the Madonna episode.
“What I got - full stock of thoughts and dreams that scatter, and you pull them all together, and how I can’t explain, oh yeah.” Heather, Amber and Jenna join in. “Well, you, you make my dreams come true.” The guys sing the backing ooh’s and Dianna’s face breaks into a grin and she starts to laugh, a blush rising from her neck as Kevin walks forward to take her hands and pull her back towards the group. “Well, well, well, you, oh yeah, you make my dreams come true.” He twirls her around and then she’s in Cory’s arms.
“On a night, when bad dreams become a screamer, when they’re messing with a dreamer,” Cory croons, “I can laugh it in the face.” He jumps away from her to join everyone else in the middle of the stage to join them for the next part of the dance.
“Twist and shout!” everyone joins in. Amber steps forward to take Dianna’s hands this time.
“My way out and wrap yourself around me,” Amber gives Dianna a quick hug, “Cause I ain’t the way you found me and I’ll never be the same.” All the girls surround Dianna to sing the chorus while the boys continue to do backing ooh’s. You’re still waiting at the side of the stage, watching Dianna laugh as Harry flips across the stage, followed by Dijon. Heather and Naya break away from the girls to do a couple of cartwheels before tangoing together. Then it’s time.
You run onto the stage, sliding on your knees in front of Dianna.
“I’m down on my daydream, all that sleepwalk should be over by now and I know…” She shakes her head, still grinning as she reaches down to pull you up. You kiss her softly on the lips before joining the others to finish the song.
“I’ve been waiting for, waiting for you, girl!” everyone sings along. “You make my dreams come true!” As the band start to fade out, everyone starts to do Dianna’s now-infamous shoulder dance. She walks straight to you when it finishes and slides her arms around your waist.
“You huge dork,” she whispers while everyone else fades away into the background.
“Your dork,” you say, closing your eyes as you realise how much you’ve missed this, missed her.
“My dork,” she confirms. “No New York this weekend?” You shake your head quickly. “Or next weekend?”
“It’s my dad’s birthday,” you say weakly, “So you have to come too. I’m not going without you.” She pushes the hair out of your face and leans in to kiss you. It feels like fire is spreading all over your body. “Stay tonight?”
“You bet,” she says with a wicked grin.
AUTHOR: Brio
WORDS: 1717
RATING: G
PAIRING: Lea/Dianna
SUMMARY: Lea enlists the help of her castmates to show Dianna how she feels
NOTES: Old fic I decided to finish and post. Beta’d by this one. Usage of this song. Takes place during rehearsals for the tour.
You flop down on the stage next to Cory, exhausted because you didn’t sleep well last night, because your alarm went off far too early this morning and because Zach appears to be channelling Sue Sylvester. Cory offers you a smile before turning his attention back to his phone, tapping away quickly with an intense look of concentration on his face. Some of the others have gone to raid the vending machines. You throw your arm out to the left, feeling around for your bag and rummage inside, grabbing a granola bar. Lunch is in just over two hours. You can stick it out until then.
Cory finishes what he’s doing and grins down at you now.
“You look like shit,” he says, lying down next to you and offering you a headphone. You ignore what he’s said and push the headphone into your ear, wondering what band he’s going to try and introduce you to now. “How are things with you and…?”
“Fine,” you snap, unnecessarily abrupt. You exhale and turn to look at him. “Sorry. Things are fine. Perfect.”
“Really?” he asks, turning his attention to the lighting rigs above the stage. “You two aren’t fighting then?” You close your eyes, remembering last night. She stormed off to her bed and you were too tired to go after her and fix things so you left her apartment and drove home, curled up fully-clothed in bed, watching the minutes tick over on your phone, just incase she decided to call.
“We don’t have to spend every waking moment with each other,” you say, your voice strained. “I’m pretty sure that’s what they want anyway. It would be better if we just…” You can’t even finish the sentence, the thought of it makes your stomach flip and you shake your head. “We had a tiny fight.”
“Want to talk about it?” he asks, changing the song.
“New York,” you say, hoping that you won’t need to elaborate. Cory doesn’t say anything. Instead, he drums his hands in time with the beat of the song. He’s waiting for you to continue. “And while we agreed that we’d just… keep this private,” you cringe at the sound of your own words, “It’s not enough for her. It’s not enough for me either. She thinks that she’s more in love with me than I am with her. And I don‘t think that‘s true. I am in love with her.” Cory starts to hum along with the song, “Cory!” you nudge him in the ribs and he turns to look at you. “Are you even listening to me?”
“What would Rachel Berry do?” he asks. You stare blankly at him, trying to connect what you’d just said to what he’d responded with. “Imagine you’re Rachel, not that it’s too much of a stretch,” he waits for you to roll your eyes, which you do. Twice. “How would Rachel Berry prove how much she’s in love with someone?”
“I’m not even sure how this is remotely relevant, Cory,” you say. “This is real life. This isn’t a TV show. My girlfriend and I are on the verge of breaking up and you want to know what my neurotic, over-achieving, bossy character would do?” You glance over to where your girlfriend is sitting, head buried in her latest obsession. She dragged you into an old bookshop the last time you were out for lunch together. It feels like months ago. Your stomach lurches when you realise that it has been months. Things have been so hectic lately: filming, rehearsing, photoshoots, weekend trips to New York, award shows… you barely have time to sleep, let alone see each other or spend any quality time together alone. There’s always someone else there. And even now at rehearsals, you’re hanging out with Cory when you could be lying next to Dianna, listening to her favourite songs, all of which seem to remind her of you. You only have one song that really sings ‘Dianna’ to you.
“What would any of our characters do?” Cory asks. You glance back at him as the song changes again and you smile. No, you grin, the plan formulating instantly in your mind.
“You’re a genius,” you declare and kiss him quickly on the cheek before jumping to your feet, completely forgetting that the other headphone is still attached to Cory.
“Jesus, Lea,” he exclaims, clutching his ear. You bite your lip as you grimace before smiling sheepishly down at him.
“Sorry!” you say, tossing the headphones back to him. “Harry!” you call, running to the other side of the stage where he and Dijon are practising the routine that Zach has been drilling into all of you since 7am. You quickly explain what you want to do and the two jump on board immediately. They say that they’ll spread the word to everyone else.
Now you just have to convince Zach to give up some of his rehearsal time. And get some sheet music for the band.
Rachel Berry would be proud.
**
You sit with Dianna at lunch but neither of you say much. You wonder if this idea is actually going to be enough to convince her of your feelings.
“My mom called last night, after you left,” Dianna says, though she doesn’t need to. She speaks to Mary most nights, even if it’s just for a few minutes. You love that she’s as close to her mom as you are to yours. “She’s visiting this weekend. She wanted to know if you’d join us for dinner.”
“Of course,” you say quickly. She smiles but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“I told her you might be in New York this weekend,” she says and it feels like a lead weight has dropped into your stomach. You don’t know what else to say and you definitely don’t want to cause a scene in the lunch room. She finishes her lunch and heads off to speak to Chris before rehearsals start again.
“Ready?” Cory slides into the chair that Dianna just vacated.
“Yeah,” you say, pushing away your tray of food. You’re not hungry anyway.
**
Zach is waiting when you return. He gives you a quick smile and waits for everyone to get into position for the next number. He counts the band in and everyone starts to move. You notice the confusion on Di’s face as Mark comes towards her. This isn’t how the number is supposed to go.
“Mark, what are you..?” the rest of her question dies in her mouth as Mark lifts her up and carries her to the front of the stage. “Mark, what the hell? Put me down!” You grin as you watch her thump Mark a couple of times on the back before he sets her back on her feet.
Then Kevin starts to sing as the rest of the group go through the moves that Heather, Harry and Dijon have worked out and hastily shown to everyone as covertly as possible. It’s quite a feat for such a short period of time.
Mark rejoins the group and Dianna folds her arms across her chest, running her teeth over her bottom lip as she tries to figure out what’s going on.
“What I want, you’ve got but it might be hard to handle,” Kevin sings, moving to the centre of the stage. “Like the flame that burns a candle, the candle feeds the flame…” Naya’s next and for a second, you are mesmerised like the first time you really heard her sing while recording the Madonna episode.
“What I got - full stock of thoughts and dreams that scatter, and you pull them all together, and how I can’t explain, oh yeah.” Heather, Amber and Jenna join in. “Well, you, you make my dreams come true.” The guys sing the backing ooh’s and Dianna’s face breaks into a grin and she starts to laugh, a blush rising from her neck as Kevin walks forward to take her hands and pull her back towards the group. “Well, well, well, you, oh yeah, you make my dreams come true.” He twirls her around and then she’s in Cory’s arms.
“On a night, when bad dreams become a screamer, when they’re messing with a dreamer,” Cory croons, “I can laugh it in the face.” He jumps away from her to join everyone else in the middle of the stage to join them for the next part of the dance.
“Twist and shout!” everyone joins in. Amber steps forward to take Dianna’s hands this time.
“My way out and wrap yourself around me,” Amber gives Dianna a quick hug, “Cause I ain’t the way you found me and I’ll never be the same.” All the girls surround Dianna to sing the chorus while the boys continue to do backing ooh’s. You’re still waiting at the side of the stage, watching Dianna laugh as Harry flips across the stage, followed by Dijon. Heather and Naya break away from the girls to do a couple of cartwheels before tangoing together. Then it’s time.
You run onto the stage, sliding on your knees in front of Dianna.
“I’m down on my daydream, all that sleepwalk should be over by now and I know…” She shakes her head, still grinning as she reaches down to pull you up. You kiss her softly on the lips before joining the others to finish the song.
“I’ve been waiting for, waiting for you, girl!” everyone sings along. “You make my dreams come true!” As the band start to fade out, everyone starts to do Dianna’s now-infamous shoulder dance. She walks straight to you when it finishes and slides her arms around your waist.
“You huge dork,” she whispers while everyone else fades away into the background.
“Your dork,” you say, closing your eyes as you realise how much you’ve missed this, missed her.
“My dork,” she confirms. “No New York this weekend?” You shake your head quickly. “Or next weekend?”
“It’s my dad’s birthday,” you say weakly, “So you have to come too. I’m not going without you.” She pushes the hair out of your face and leans in to kiss you. It feels like fire is spreading all over your body. “Stay tonight?”
“You bet,” she says with a wicked grin.