Falling-Prequel

Journey to Regionals

S1x22~ JOURNEY TO REGIONALS
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The New Directions sat in Mr. Schue's living room in rather negative moods. They were sulking over the fact that they would probably not win Regionals. Plus, all of them were a little disappointed at the prospect of Glee being gone for good.

None of them had touched the pizza, even though Quinn had come from the kitchen with paper plates. Their teacher sighed as he glanced at their faces.

"No one wants any pizza?" He asked, as no one responded. "Alright, well let's get started. Thank you for coming to the first annual New Directions Regionals' setlist nominations party."

"What's the point, Mr. Schue?" Artie asked. "Coach Slyvester's one of the judges. She's gonna crush us."

"Artie, you don't know that." Mr. Schue argued.

"We do, actually." Haley nodded.

"Yeah, she told us at Cheerios practice." Santana added.

"Yeah, she said I'm going to crush Glee Club." Brittany commented.

"A whole freaking year. All that hard work for nothing." Puck said with a scoff.

"I'm sorry." Tina sniffled through her tears, causing everyone to look at her. "I just really love you guys. You know how many Facebook friends I had before I joined Glee Club? Two. My parents. Rachel was right. Being a part of something special, it made me special. I just can't believe it's going to be over in a week."

"Wait." Finn spoke up. "Who says it's going to be over?"

"Please." Mercedes rolled her eyes. "You think Puck and Santana are going to even acknowledge my existence once we're not in Glee Club together anymore?"

"She has a point." Puck shrugged as the room went quiet again.

"Mr. Schue?" Rachel asked, breaking the silence. "Do you think instead of nominating songs, we can just... All go around the room and talk about things that we loved about Glee club this year?"

Seeing that no one objected against the suggestion, Mr. Schue nodded. One by one, everyone took turns sharing their favorite memories from the past year.
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Haley sighed as she walked into her house where her parents were sitting. They looked at her as she entered the kitchen.

"Good you're home, make us dinner." Her mom demanded, as Haley sighed.

"I actually had dinner already, but there's leftover pasta and chicken from earlier." Haley said, pulling the container out of the fridge and sliding it over the island.

"Damn leftovers." Her dad muttered, as Haley scoffed.

"I'm sorry...do you have a problem?" She asked sternly, as her mom and dad muttered a few words.

As she heated their dinner up for them, she debated telling them about the competition. I mean, it couldn't hurt to have some optimism that they'd show up, right?

"On a different note, I'm in a Regionals competition on Friday afternoon at 2pm. If you're actually willing to consider your daughter." Haley slid the tickets over to her parents.

"Oh is this your little Gleek club?" Her mom slurred, a little intoxicated, and high on marijuana.

"Yes, mom." Haley nodded.

"Maybe we'll be there." Her dad shrugged, sending her a fake smile.

"I doubt it, but if you do, please come dressed appropriately, and not high on drugs...or alcohol." Haley said, heading towards the stairs.

"vi vzhe velichezne rozcharuvannya." Her dad yelled after her. It was Ukrainian for "You're already a huge disappointment." Haley dreaded that same repetitive sentence everyday.

"yo roblu vse mozlive." She spat, which was Ukranian for "I'm doing my best."

"Tal decepción." Her mom called after her, in the same angry tone as her dad. It was Spanish for "Such a disappointment."

"Callate." Haley retorted in Spanish, saying "shut up." She got upstairs and slammed her door before she locked it, and sat down at her desk, wiping some of her tears.
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Haley stood on the side stage and discreetly peeked out at the audience. She scanned the auditorium. Part of her was hoping that her parents would be there, but as the time to perform drew closer, they hadn't shown up.

"They're not here." Haley whispered to Santana who pulled her into a comforting hug.

"It's okay Hay...they're jerks, they don't deserve you. We're still going to go out there and give it our best, bien?" Santana asked, as Haley nodded, wiping some of her stray tears, while the girls made their way to the green room.

"Bien." Haley said, smiling sadly as the judges were announced.

"And now, our panel of judges..."

"He's an international musical sensation, a platinum recording artist 20 times over, the inimitable Mr. Josh Groban! She's a four time Grammy winner who starred in the highest-grossing movie musical of all time, Ms. Olivia Newton-John! He's a two-time local Emmy winner and broadcasting icon, WOHN news anchor Rod Remington! She is fresh off her fifth consecutive national Cheerleading Title and author of the soon-to-be-published memoir, I'm A Winner and You're Fat, Ohio's home-grown iconoclast, Coach Sue Slyvester! And now, our first performance of the evening, from Westvale High in scenic Fort Wayne, Indiana, Aural Intensity!"

The New Directions were finishing getting ready, when they gasped at Aural Intensity's song choices.

"A mash-up of olivia Newton-John and Josh Groban. Are you kidding me?!" Puck exclaimed with a groan.

"Somebody tipped them off about the judges. Coach Slyvester, most likely." Haley muttered unimpressed.

"Guys, we can't get distracted by what the other teams are doing." Rachel shook her head.

"We just got to keep our heads in the game and focus." Finn agreed.

"Even though we know we can't win?" Santana asked, as all of them sighed.

"Yes." Mr. Schue said walking into the green room and turned the button of the intercom off. "If this is only about winning for you guys, then I owe you all an apology because I've failed you. And we should just all go home, because it means we've already lost. Besides, we have got something that the other groups don't."

"What?" Artie asked, causing Mr. Schue to smile.

"Finn's dancing!" Their teacher answered, as everyone laughed and teased Finn. "Right? Come on. Now let's get out there. We got two minutes. Aural Intensity almost finished. Bring it in."

Haley helped Quinn up, as the girls joined the group. They stood in a circle, hands in the middle, as they exchanged smiles. All of them were more than excited to go out despite their worry of not winning.

"Come on. Come one. Let's go, go, go, go, go and... Whoa!"

{FAITHFULLY-SUNG BY FINN HUDSON & RACHEL BERRY}

{ANYWAY YOU WANT IT/LOVIN' TOUCHIN', SQUEEZIN'-SUNG BY THE NEW DIRECTIONS}

{DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'-SUNG BY THE NEW DIRECTIONS}
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The New Directions were very happy with their performance, and still high on adrenaline as they ran off stage. All of them cheering, and celebrating.

"I'm on cloud nine! I don't care if my damn parents didn't show up. I'm too excited!" Haley smiled, as Kurt pulled her into a hug.

"That was awesome!" Finn cheered happily.

"Oh my God!" Brittany let out a squeal, hugging Santana and then Haley.

"We've got second place in the bag." Tina exclaimed excitedly.

"Screw that! We're going to win this!" An overexcited Rachel Berry screamed.

"Quinnie?" Haley and Quinn turned to see Quinn's mom, Judy. Quinn hesitated, as Haley hugged her gently, before encouraging her forward.

"Mom." Quinn said quietly, still in shock that her mom stood in front of her with tears in her eyes. "What are you doing here? Is dad okay?"

"I came to hear you sing. You were wonderful." Jude began, as Haley smiled at the two. Part of her heart broke that her parents weren't there. They would never even consider their wrongful mistakes, and come support her. She snapped out of her thoughts when Judy continued. "I'm-I'm so sorry I missed all the other times you performed. Were there a lot? I left your father. Well, I-I... kicked him out, actually. He was having an affair with some... Tattooed freak." Jude explained, as she sent Haley a smile, before turning to Quinn again. "Quinnie, I want you to come home with me. I can turn the guest room into a nursery. Oh, sweetie, say something."

Haley frowned when Quinn took longer than usual to respond. She turned to the blonde, when she felt her grip tightly onto her hand. "Q, are you alright?" Haley asked, despite the pain in her hand from friend squeezing so hard.

"My water just broke." Quinn muttered. That one sentence was all it took before everyone began freaking out. After some quick panicking and decision making, everyone but Rachel went to the hospital to be with Quinn. Rachel stayed behind to represent their team. If Haley was being honest, winning was the last thing that mattered. What mattered was that her best friend was okay.
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After some traumatizing events in the birth room, Haley stood with Puck and Quinn as they looked at the newborn baby girl.

"Well...now I know that giving birth is going to be one hell of a ride." Haley mumbled as Quinn chuckled, before silence washed over the trio. She swore she felt her heart melt when the baby opened her eyes for a short second. This human, this new tiny human being was adorable, and Haley damned hoped for kids in the future.

"She looks like you." Puck whispered after a few moments, as Haley nodded.

"Do you want to keep her?" He asked, when Quinn didn't respond. Instead the blonde shook her head, as she crossed her arms.

"No. Do you?" Quinn asked.

That question caused Puck to go silent. As he sat with the question, and contemplated it. Trying to consider both sides of the situation.

"Did you love me?" Quinn interjected his thoughts, as he shook his head.

"Yes. Especially now." Puck answered, as Quinn turned to him with a smile.

"Ms. Corcoran?" Haley asked with a frown as the older woman approached the trio with a smile. She stood beside Puck and Quinn in front of the babies.

"Which one is yours?" She asked Quinn.

"What are you doing here?"

"I can see her now." Ms. Corcoran continued, ignoring Quinn's question. "She looks like you. Does she have a name?"

"No." Quinn said.

"Beth." Puck spoke up.

"Pretty. I like that name." Ms. Corcoran said with a small smile.

Haley noticed that Quinn was beginning to look sad at the thought of leaving her daughter. She wandered up to the blonde, and pulled her into a gentle hug, before they left to go back to Quinn's room so she could rest.

"How are you feeling?" Haley asked quietly.

"Sad...but part of me is happy." Quinn shrugged.

"Beth looks like she has a potential home." Haley tried to increase the low mood.

"Yeah...I know for sure that when I have real babies in the future, they're going to be best friends with your kids."

"Oh one hundred percent." Haley chuckled softly, as both girls imagined what their future would hold.
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In the end, the New Directions had lost Regionals, which meant that Glee Club was no longer a go for next year. Although the group was quite sad, Mr. Schue was taking the loss the hardest. The members decided to give him a little thank you, for the past year, to try to increase his mood.

"So we have something we need to say to you." Rachel said, as Mr. Schue watched his students on the stage with watery eyes.

"In the beginning of this year, I was just another football player." Matt began.

"I had a stutter." Tina shrugged.

"I was a closeted diva." Mercedes continued.

"I used to be captain of the Cheerios." Quinn said, as Haley sent her a smile.

"I was afraid to dance outside of my room."

"I hated everyone in this club." Santana confessed.

"So did I." Brittany agreed with a nod of her head.

"I was a bitch...I guess I still am...but Glee changed me for the better." Haley admitted.

"I wasn't honest about who I was." Kurt spoke next.

"I was tossing kids into dumpsters." Puck said.

"I had never kissed a girl before." Artie said with a smile.

"And I was getting slushied." Rachel said.

"I didn't... I didn't have a father. Someone I could look up to. Model myself after. Someone who could show me what it really meant to be a man." Finn let out a confession that only Haley knew about.

"We don't care what the judges say. We won." Rachel said, as her voice cracked. "Because we had you as a teacher."

"And Glee Club will never end, Mr. Schue, because.... You are Glee Club." Mercedes added through her tears, as Haley let out a small sob. "And you're in all of us now."

As the New Directions sang To Sir with Love while crying, they could Mr. Schue smiled at them through his own tears, proud of what the group had become over the past year. Haley thought to herself about the events that had unfolded. If she was being honest, she was damn grateful for the new friends she had made, and hoped that no matter what happened, they would remain a group for years to come.
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