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chapter twenty three !
( takes place during 1x22 'Journey to Regionals')
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LUNA WAS NO STRANGER TO SLEEPING in Lia Abrams' bed. Seeing as the two girls had been friends since Luna was seven, and Lia was six, the girls had plenty of sleepovers over the years. Mostly when Luna was a lot younger, and before she started high school, and before she had started high school.
So as she lay in Lia's double bed, back-to-back with her best friend, she felt perfectly comfortable. Aside from the fact that it was almost four in the morning and she couldn't bring herself to fall asleep.
So many thoughts were running through Luna's head as she gazed at Luna's light purple walls. She kept thinking about her parents, if she could even call them that anymore, and how they were probably sleeping soundly in their bed right now, not giving the now-empty bedroom down the hall a second thought.
As much as Luna appreciated the Abrams' giving her somewhere to stay after the night's events, she couldn't help but long for her own bed, or see the comforting fairy lights that were wrapped around her bed posts so she would never have to fully sleep in the dark.
Lia knew of her best friend's disdain for the dark, so she had taken it upon herself to plug in one of her childhood nightlights in a socket near Luna's side of the bed. And Artie had even offered to use his Amazon Prime membership to get some quickly-delivered fairy lights for Luna to use the next night. But Luna had kindly declined her wheelchair-bound friend's offer with a tight hug to him.
Luna also missed her stuffed animals. She didn't have many, but the few she did own held such deep sentimental value for her. Her stuffed frog, a favourite of hers, was a birthday gift that was given to her from her grandparents in Italy, Antonio and Mariella, shortly before her grandfather's death. She had it in bed with her every night, especially lately, when her stress levels had been the highest they'd been in a while. And now she was finding it extremely hard to get to sleep without him.
She watched as Lia's digital alarm clock changed from 3:59 to 4:00AM, and let out a sigh as she counted another hour without sleep. The two girls were going to visit Quinn in the hospital in about four or five hours, and Luna knew she would have to get some sleep soon, otherwise she'd basically be a walking zombie. She could just blame her lack of sleep on the fact that she could hear Artie's loud snoring through the walls of the bedroom.
She wouldn't, though. The whole Abrams family had been so unbelievably kind to her after she'd returned from Regionals with the twins earlier in the evening. Nancy had greeted her with a massive hug as soon as she had hopped into the car, and Lia and Artie had kept talking to her about mundane things as they had eaten dinner, both of them trying to be as positive as possible for their friend. Despite the New Directions having lost the competition, and thus, their funding for the club.
It was these reasons, and acts of kindness by the family, that were making Luna feel as sad as she was. She wasn't a stupid girl, she never had been. Luna knew that this living arrangement was only a temporary one. Even if Nancy had insisted that Luna stay with them for as long as she needed to, Luna knew that her presence in the Abrams' residence would be a financial burden that they just didn't need. Nor could they afford it. Nancy Abrams was an extremely hard-working single mother, who had to, not only provide for her twin children, but also pay for all of Artie's medical bills, which right now, seemed to be in a state of limbo because of the current financial crisis of the country.
Luna knew that her staying with them would eventually turn into just another mouth to feed for the already struggling mother. And Luna didn't want to cause any trouble for the woman who, throughout the years, has been more of a mother to her than Claudia had ever been.
Turning to face the other way, towards Lia's sleeping form, Luna found herself sighing once again. As she opened her eyes after closing them for a few, brief seconds, the Moretti girl jolted back in surprise as she was met by Lia's whispered voice.
"Can't sleep?" Lia asked, quietly.
Luna jumped slightly, not expecting the Abrams girl to still be awake. "Holy shit, Lia!" She whisper-yelled. "You scared the shit out of me. How are you awake? I heard you snoring, like ten seconds ago."
She felt Lia shrug in the darkness. "Your sighing, and tossing and turning woke me up." Lia told her.
Luna, once again, sighed. Running a hand down her face. "I'm sorry." She apologised. "No, to answer your question, I can't sleep."
Lia's hand came out from underneath her duvet to rub Luna's arm comfortingly. "Is it your parents?" The younger girl inquired.
Luna paused for a second, debating whether or not to blame her inability to sleep entirely on them. But, she knew that another main reason she couldn't sleep, and it was a certain something that had also happened earlier that night.
Or, should she say, a certain someone.
"Uh, yeah." Luna breathed out. "It's kinda that. I miss my bed and stuff, and my stuffed animals, and my fairy lights. But, I don't really miss them." Luna paused her ramble, biting her lip. "Does that make me an awful person? Because I don't miss my own parents?"
Even with only the small light of the light-up ladybird on the wall, Luna could see her friend vehemently shake her head.
"No, of course you're not a bad person." Lia adamantly told Luna. "You're parents are the awful ones for kicking you out because you didn't wanna go along with their stupid, fake facade anymore. The fact that they wouldn't even let you be a part of the glee club even though it made you happy makes them the awful ones. Okay?"
Luna swallowed hard. "Okay." She sighed quietly.
The two friends fell into silence again, Luna started to fidget as she attempted to get into a comfortable position. Lia seemed to pick up on the fidgeting, and pulled her brows down.
"Are you sure that the whole thing with your parents is the only thing that's bothering you?" Amelia asked in a skeptical tone.
Sometimes Luna hated how well Amelia Abrams seemed to know her.
"Okay, first of all," Luna started. "Sometimes I think you have some sort of psychic ability 'cause you always seem to know when something's wrong with me. Second of all, if I tell you what I'm about to tell you, you can't judge me, okay?"
She heard Lia laugh lightly. "Wow." The Abrams girl said. "This sounds like what you said right before you told me about you and he-who-shall-not-be-named having a lil smooch in his car a few weeks ago."
As Lia continued her quiet laughter, Luna felt her face go bright red, and suddenly she was grateful for the darkness that shrouded the entire room, making it impossible for Lia to see how much she was blushing at her latest comment.
At Luna's sudden silence, Lia also grew quiet, and it didn't take long for her to realise what this silence meant.
"Oh my god!" Amelia whispered, her voice sounding as though it wanted to be louder. "Did Jesse kiss you again?" She asked Luna.
"Uh, not quite." Luna admitted, causing Lia to become even more confused. "I kissed him. Well, I made out with him."
At Luna's admission, Lia sucked in a shocked breath. "Holy shit, really?" She queried.
Luna let out a noise of confirmation, and Lia brought her hands up to cover mouth.
"Holy crap, Lu. I thought you'd never grow the balls to finally do it." Amelia told the Moretti girl.
Now this surprised Luna. She was half expecting Lia to scold her for fraternizing with the enemy, or for kissing someone that had screwed over the whole glee club.
She had at least expected her friend to be somewhat shocked at the fact that she had kissed Jesse. Even though she shouldn't have been, realistically, as it had only been the week before that Luna admitted to Quinn and Amelia that she did, indeed, have feelings for Jesse.
"You guys made out?" Lia quietly badgered on. "When? Where?"
"Just before you and I left the theatre, in the dressing room." Luna answered her friends' questions quickly. "Wait, how are you not mad at me right now?"
Lia sighed. "Oh yeah, 'cause me being mad at you would really help you right now." She disputed sarcastically.
"But he-" Luna started to say.
"Screwed us all over?" Lia cut her off. "Is the part of the reason that glee club is gonna get disbanded? Yeah, I'm aware."
Luna looked down at her hands. Well, where she assumed her hands would be seeing as they were still in the dark.
"But," Lia continued. "He's also the guy that you've been secretly liking for the past two months or something. And you're my best friend, and after everything that happened tonight, I'm not about to berate you because you finally kissed the guy you like." The Abrams girl rambled on.
"Even if he is completely undeserving of you." Lia added.
As Luna mulled over her friend's words, she realised that she had most definitely been secretly pining after Jesse, like Lia had said. But, for much longer than two months.
Maybe that had been how long the two of them had been obvious about their pining to the outside world, but Luna had started to see Jesse in a much different light than she originally had way before that. Her mind went back to the assembly during the New Directions' Madonna week. The week Jesse first joined Mckinley, when he had defended her against the gross, wandering eyes of Jacob Ben Israel. And then a few weeks after that, when they'd been at the roller-rink and she'd asked him why he kept their second meeting ( after Claudia and Leo had berated her over her lower-than-usual grade ) a secret from everyone else.
He'd told her that despite everything, he was actually a good person, and Luna had started to believe him once he said that. Until everything happened during Funk week, Luna had kept the faith that Jesse was actually a good guy, and not someone that would let her down the way that she had been before. But everything had been turned on its head after he transferred back.
But the kiss they had shared the night of Regionals had been genuine, on Luna's part, at least, and she hoped it was the same on Jesse's part, too. He kissed her with too much passion for it not to have been.
"Woah, wait, did you say that you guys made out in our dressing room?" Lia's voice broke Luna from her thoughts. "Ew, you guys are animals!" She whisper-yelled.
This caused Luna to let out a quiet, breathy laugh. She could always count on Lia to make her laugh, no matter what the situation.
"Shut up." Luna ordered, before reaching out and bringing Lia in for a hug.
She inhaled deeply, as Lia reciprocated the hug, wrapping her arms around Luna's neck.
"I love you, Lia." She told her best friend.
Lia smiled cheekily even Luna couldn't see her. "I know." She answered.
Luna rolled her eyes playfully, finally breaking away from the hug. "Okay, that's enough outta you, Han Solo."
Despite breaking out of their previous embrace, the two girls remained holding one another's hand. And that's how they stayed as they slept till the morning.
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Luna hated the smell of hospitals.
Even though she had never been in one because of her own health, she had been in many because of other family members. Her most vivid memory of one, was a hospital in Italy that she had to go to, so that she could see her grandfather only a few days before he passed away. So her memories of them weren't great.
Nevertheless, she was here for Quinn. Luna couldn't help the awful guilty feeling that she had because she wasn't able to go with her pregnant friend to the hospital the night before, as a result of her parents confrontation with her. So, she had basically wolfed down the toast that Nancy had prepared for the kids that morning, so she could get to the hospital and see Quinn faster.
It did take her a few seconds to get over the fact that there was a parent that had even bothered to make her breakfast before the day ahead, but eventually her hunger took over the surprise.
As Luna and Lia made their way to Quinn's hospital room, following after the kind nurse from the lobby that had offered to guide the two girls to their friend's room, Luna felt a sudden rush of excitement to see her blonde friend too long of not being able to see her.
The nurse rapped her knuckles Quinn's room door, poking her head in the door. "Quinn? There are some friends here to see you."
The nurse moved to the side so that Luna and Lia could walk into the room. Quinn's face lit up at the sight of her two best friends. While Lia reciprocated the smile, Luna had a nervous expression on her's.
Quinn reached out and greeted Lia with a massive hug after the Abrams girl had nearly ran over to see her. As the two of them broke away from each other, Quinn's gaze flitted to Luna, who was standing a bit away.
The two girls met eyes, and Luna was the first to speak.
"Quinn, I'm so, so sorry." The Moretti girl apologised.
Quinn frowned in confusion. "What the heck are you apologising for?"
Luna felt as though she was being scolded by a teacher or something, so she shrunk back. "Um, for not being here for you last night. I swear, I wanted to be, but-"
Quinn's hand came up, cutting Luna off, mid-explanation. "Luna, you have nothing to apologise for." The blonde told her friend adamantly. "What happened with your parents wasn't your fault. I know you would have been here if you could've. And, anyways, I had Lia. So, I had one of my girls here with me. So don't worry, okay?"
Luna found herself smiling softly at Quinn's words. "Okay." She agreed.
Quinn grinned. "Now, get your cute little butt over here and give me a hug."
Luna did as she was told, rushing over to Quinn's bed, bringing the blonde in for a long hug. Both girls grasped each other tightly, as if trying to comfort each other over the events that had happened in their lives in the past twelve hours.
They pulled away from the hug when they heard the room door open. Luna turned to see the same woman from the previous night, Quinn's mom, enter the room. She had a bottle of water in her hand, along with a few packets of sweets, presumably at Quinn's request.
The woman didn't look surprised to see the two other girls in her daughter's room. She sent a fond smile at Amelia as she quickly kissed her daughter's forehead. Then, she turned to Luna, greeting the Italian girl with a large smile.
"You must be Luna." Quinn's mother said. "Quinney's told me a lot about you."
Luna smiled at this, and she nodded. "Yeah, that's me."
"I'm Judith, but you can call me Judy." The older woman told her. "I also wanna thank you for being there for Quinn, these past few months." Judith sincerely said to her.
Luna was taken aback by this. She really hadn't done much, only been there for Quinn when she needed a friend, something she was hopeful that anyone else would have done.
"Oh." Luna felt her face redden. "Uh, that's okay. You don't have to thank me, I love being Quinn's friend, so. . ." her sentence trailed off, and it was then that Luna realised she didn't enjoy meeting parents, or adults, really.
Judith nodded, sending Luna another grateful smile, before walking over to the opposite side of Quinn's bed and sitting in one of the hospital chairs. The two teenagers took this as their cue to sit down as well.
"So, how have you been, Q?" Amelia asked.
"Yeah, I've been good." Quinn told them. "Shelby's coming by later to finalize everything with the adoption. I think Puck will come too. To, uh. . .say goodbye."
Lia nodded sympathetically, and Luna gave her friend a sad smile.
Amelia had informed Luna on Quinn's plans to give the baby, who she and Puck had named Beth, up for adoption. And Shelby Corcoran was going to be the one to adopt her. Clearly giving Rachel up as a baby had left more of a void in the woman's life than anyone really knew.
Luna felt happy for Shelby, that she was getting a second chance at motherhood, especially after her attempt at getting back into Rachel's life. Only for her to realise that the daughter she had given up as a teenager was no longer the little baby she had given up. Even if the methods Shelby had went to in order to achieve these goals had been ones that wound up hurting multiple people, including Luna, and the exact daughter that Shelby was trying to salvage said relationship with.
"How are you feeling about everything?" Luna asked her friend, causing Quinn to shrug.
"I don't really know how I feel right now." The blonde admitted. "I just know that giving Beth up is the best option for me at this point in my life." Her eyes flitted over to her mom, who was listening attentively to what she was saying with a sad look in her eyes. "I'm just not ready to be a mom." Quinn finished.
Luna and Lia nodded in understanding at their friend's explanation.
It seemed as soon as she had gotten her feelings out of her system, anymore that wanted to come out were quickly repressed. Quinn turned her gaze to Luna, and the ex-cheerleader's eyes turned sympathetic.
"But, enough about me." She shook her head lightly. "How have you been?" Quinn wondered.
Luna shrugged, not unlike Quinn had done a few moments prior. "I've been okay."
The Moretti girl then looked up in confusion at her friends. "Wait how'd you know about what happened with my parents? Weren't you, like, in labour?"
"Lia told me." Quinn told her.
"Oh."
Luna obviously didn't mind that Quinn knew about her current living situation ( or lack thereof ), she was just confused as to when Lia could have explained the situation, seeing as the Abrams girl pretty much stuck to Luna's side for the rest of the night.
"Yeah, I called Quinn when you were in the shower after we got back yesterday." Lia explained, a sheepish smile on her face.
Luna found herself sighing in relief. "Oh, thank god, I thought I was hearing ghosts or something. I literally could have cried."
Everyone in the room fell into laughter at Luna's comment. The remainder of Luna and Lia's visit pretty much consisted of the three teenage girls catching up with each other, and a few jokes ( mostly thanks to Lia ), and a few sad smiles at each other when the topic of glee club came up. It wasn't until about an hour and a half later that Quinn suddenly looked back over to her mom, who looked heavily engrossed in the Cosmopolitan magazine in her hands.
"Mom?" Quinn spoke, causing Judith to look up from the article she was reading. "Did you get me apple juice earlier?"
Judith's expression faltered at her daughter's question. "Oh, no, honey. I forgot." The woman's voice was apologetic as she watched her daughter's face fall. "I can run and go get it for you now if you want me to?"
Just as it looked like Quinn was about to say no, Luna stood from her seat, turning to Judy. "I can grab it for Quinn, Ms Fabray." She offered. "I need to use the bathroom, anyways. So, I can make a pit-stop to the vending machine once I'm done."
Judith smiled at Luna's kind offer. "Oh, thank you, sweetheart." She said sincerely.
The older woman walked Luna over to the door, handing her a five dollar bill as they reached the doorframe. As they stepped outside, Quinn's mom shut the door behind them.
"Okay, the bathroom is just behind those double doors, and the vending machine should be only a few doors down from there." She informed Luna, and Luna nodded.
Luna went to make her way to the bathroom, but Judith grabbed her shoulder gently, causing her to turn back around.
"I meant what I told you in there, by the way." She asserted. "You have no idea how much I appreciate the way you and Amelia have been there for my daughter. Especially when. . .wasn't." It looked as though this was painful for Ms Fabray to admit, but she had realised her fault when it came to Quinn's pregnancy and was willing to accept her part in it. "So, thank you, so, so much."
Luna smiled nicely at Judy. "Trust me, Quinn and her friendship are important to me." Luna assured. "I'm always gonna be there for her."
Judith Fabray looked genuinely moved by Luna's assurance, and she brought her hand to heart. "Also, I'm so sorry about what your parents did to you. You didn't deserve that, honey."
Luna felt her throat go dry at the mention of them, so she cleared her throat. "Oh, thanks." She nodded. "I'm just gonna, uh, get Quinn's stuff now."
Luna's desperate attempt to change the subject seemed to go across well, as Judy caught on to her discomfort, and stepped back, nodding solemnly.
Luna gave her another smile, before she made her way to where she was needing to go.
A journey that Luna thought would have only taken her about five minutes, wound up taking about fifteen. Firstly, all of the bathroom stalls, bar one, had flooded, so she had to wait for the mini-queue that had formed to go down. Then, when she was finished in the bathroom, and she finally got to the vending machine, the stupid thing kept spitting out the five dollar bill that she had been given. When the money did eventually go in the machine, it turned out the electronics were made by cavemen from the prehistoric age, judging by how slow it was.
So, all in all, Luna's journey took ten minutes extra than she had planned it to. But, it was fine, she still had another thirty minutes left of visiting time and when Nancy had planned to pick the girls up. As she approached the door to Quinn's room, she heard a hushed conversation from inside, and didn't think much of it until the women inside the room went completely silent as she walked inside.
Luna made her way over to Quinn's bed. "Sorry I took so long." She apologised to them all. "There were some technical difficulties."
As she handed Judith the change from the vending machine, she took note of how no one had uttered a word since she'd walked in. This sudden realization caused her to raise her eyebrows in surprise. She looked at all three of them in confusion.
Lia was wearing the face she always made whenever she wanted to tell Luna something important, which was enough for her to realise that something had been discussed in her absence. Something that pertained to her. Quinn looked excited, which caught the Moretti girl off guard.
"Uh, is everything okay?" Luna asked them, wanting to know what they had been talking about.
The other three looked at each other, Judith glanced at Lia for a few seconds, and Lia nodded in what Luna thought was confirmation.
"Oh my god, mom." Quinn finally broke the silence. "Just ask her, already!" She told her mom excitedly.
Judy laughed at her daughter's excitement. Which only added to Luna's confused state. "Ask me what?" The Moretti girl questioned. "What the heck is going on?"
Judith stood up, coming to stand near Luna. "Well," she started. "Whilst you were away, the girls and I were discussing your current living situation, and everything that happened with your mother and father."
Luna gulped nervously.
"And, after talking with Lia, and double-checking with Quinney-" The question Judith wanted to ask was cut off by Quinn.
"We want you to come and live with us!" She excitedly told Luna.
Luna felt her mouth fall open in shock. "W-what?" She stammered.
"Well, we know that you and Amelia's family are close. But we were thinking, the spare room that I was talking about turning into a nursery, well, you could have that room, sweetheart." Ms Fabray continued her proposition.
Luna found herself unable to speak for a couple of seconds, only staring at the older woman beside her in shock. She then turned to look at Lia, who's eyes radiated nothing but happiness for her friend. Luna knew that the Abrams girl wasn't stupid either, she also would have known that the living living situation at her house would have only been a temporary one as well. Obviously, Lia and Artie were willing to offer Luna their house initially. But, with their current financial situation, it was always only going to be non-permanent.
So, with the confirmation and permission that Luna seemed to give her as they met eyes. Luna finally began to smile. She turned to Quinn, who also looked overjoyed.
"Ms Fabray, are you sure?" Luna wondered. "I don't wanna be a burden."
Quinn cut her off. "You will not be a burden." She told Luna in a stern voice.
Judy nodded. "Quinney's right. You're more than welcome to stay with us, we wouldn't have offered if we weren't sure." The older woman told her sincerely. "And after everything that you've done for my daughter this year, it's really the least I could do for you right now."
Luna shook her head. "I don't want you to think I'm trying to take advantage, I-I'll get a job-" Luna worriedly told her.
"Don't you dare." Judith held up a finger, sternly. "You will do no such thing. What you will do is your best in school, and focus on your future, and whatever it is that you want to do in the future. You understand be?" Judith bent down slightly so that she could fully look Luna in the eye.
Luna took note of how Ms Fabray had told her to do her best at school, and not be the best. And how she said whatever Luna wanted to do in the future. How she wasn't ready and waiting without about a dozen expectations for Luna, and would be ready to berate her if she didn't meet them.
Luna already knew that Judith Fabray was going to be different to Claudia and Leo Moretti.
So she nodded. "Got it." She said, tears glistening in her eyes.
As Quinn and Lia shared looks of excitement, the former letting out a squeal of excitement. Luna was surprised when Judy brought her in for a massive hug. One that the Moretti girl reciprocated quickly, wrapping her arms around Judy's slim frame.
And for the first time in years, Luna felt like she was hugging a parent who cared about her.
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The choir room was eerily quiet the following Wednesday morning. All the members of the New Directions had walked solemnly into the room, casting sad looks to everyone else as they sat down for their final glee club meeting ever.
Tina was already crying, no surprise there. Amelia's eyes were also glassy as soon as she sat down beside Quinn, and as Luna sat on the other side of Lia, in the seat beside Santana, she felt a pit of dread form in her stomach. The sadness she began to feel was overwhelming. Even despite the happiness she felt after her offer to move in with Quinn and her mom, the fact that this final glee lesson was coming was constantly in the back of her mind, plaguing her thoughts.
The Latina cheerleader sent her a half-smile, which Luna returned, before Santana rested her head on Brittany's shoulder.
Luna didn't want it to end. She wasn't ready to say goodbye yet. Although, it appeared that Principal Figgins didn't share that thought, as it was a known fact around the school that he had already given up the choir room to the Mock UN club.
Luna had barely made it through the glee clubs performance of To Sir, With Love they had performed earlier in the week. She knew she wasn't about to make it through this lesson without shedding a lot of tears.
She looked up as Mr Schuester came walking in, he had a solemn look on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. Luna had assumed that he'd taken the approach to numb out his sadness over their loss, much like Puck and Matt had decided to do.
Their director brought a stool to sit in front of his class, taking a long look at all of their sad faces. Luna thought he was about to launch into a massive, and cheesy speech about how much this past year had meant to him, and how he would never forget any single member of the club.
She wasn't expecting him to suddenly say:
"We've got another year."
Luna blinked. Then she blinked again, twice. Her mouth parted in shock.
"Uh, come again?" She heard herself ask Mr Schue.
The rest of the New Directions started to talk confusedly amongst themselves at his statement.
This only caused him to smile wider. "Come on, we got another year!" He yelled.
"Oh my god!" Rachel's high-pitched voice screeched, and Luna found herself smiling wider than she ever thought possible.
"What?" Artie asked from the row in front.
"Holy crap!" Lia exclaimed, shooting up from her seat, Luna in tow.
Luna felt herself being brought in for a hug by her younger friend, which she returned, before turning to Santana who grabbed her by the arms and the two girls started to jump up and down in excitement at the news. Luna then looked down in front of her, and met the eyes of Matt, who shot her a happy smile and she smiled back at him.
"Are you serious?!" Rachel asked Mr Schue amongst all of the excited chatter.
As their teacher nodded, the Berry girl leaped forward and brought him in for a massive hug.
"Okay, you guys, I think this is the perfect opportunity for us to start rehearsing for next year's Sectionals immediately. . ." Rachel said to them all.
No one found it within themselves to even complain about Rachel's bossiness this time. They were all way too happy. Mr Schue, however, brought it upon themselves to gently guide Rachel back to her seat as the girl protested.
"Guys, you've all worked really hard this year, and you deserve a break." He told them all earnestly.
"Damn right, we do." Luna told him,jokingly.
Mr Schue shot her a smile. "Take the summer off. Have some fun." He instructed everyone, causing Luna and Quinn to grin at each other, both thinking about how they were gonna be living together shortly. "Oh, but before you go, I have something for you. You all sang for me the other day, so today I'd like to return the favor. Puck, if you're ready."
Will took a ukulele out of its case, as Puck walked up to the front with his guitar, sitting down on one of the other stools.
"Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh." The two of them harmonised whilst strumming the chords to the song on their respective instruments.
"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high." Mr Schue sang. "There's a land that I dreamed of once in a lullaby."
The Wizard of Oz was one of Luna's favourite childhood movies, so hearing being sung after the good news everyone just received was enough for her eyes to start watering. She felt Quinn reach past Lia and grab her hand, which Luna readily accepted, and Lia smiled at the two of them, bringing her head to rest on Quinn's shoulder and Lia placed her hands around Luna and Quinn's.
"Somewhere over the rainbow." Puck now joined in with Will.
The football player looked over at Quinn with a soft grin on his face, and this caused the blonde to grin. Luna noticed this small interaction and awkwardly looked away, in somewhat confusion. She took a quick glance at Lia, who seemed oblivious to it, and instead was smiling down at her twin brother, who was swaying back and forth to the music.
"Skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true. . ."
"Oh, someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me. . ." As Luna listened to Mr Schue's singing, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket, but not wanting to be rude, she ignored it.
It was only about twenty seconds later that her phone buzzed again. This time she huffed quietly, letting go of Quinn and Lia's hand to fish her phone out of the pocket of her jean jacket.
She felt her heart jump into her throat as she saw who had texted her.
jesse 💙
meet me in your school's auditorium after glee club.
it's important.
Luna sighed, maybe getting through this day without any more stress wasn't on the cards for her.
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Possibly stupidly, Luna had decided to meet Jesse where he had told her to come after school.
Here's hoping that he wasn't kidnapped by an axe murderer who stole his phone and decided I was going to be their next victim, Luna found herself thinking as she stepped into the auditorium through one of the side doors.
She highly doubted that was going to be the case, worst case scenario, she'd just get eggs cracked on her head and humiliated. But, hey, at least it's not murder, right?
When she entered the auditorium the first thing she saw was his leather jacket, and he must have heard her come in from where he stood on the stage, because he turned as her footsteps approached him. When she finally came to a stop, there was about half a foot of space between them.
"Hi." Jesse greeted her, swallowing thickly.
"Hey." Luna replied, licking her dry lips. "So, uh, what's up?" She asked him.
Jesse's face went from one of nerves, to one of confusion. "What do you mean?" He questioned.
"In your text, you said it was important that I meet you." The Moretti girl reminded him.
Recognition flooded Jesse's face at her reminder. "Ah, yes. Well, truth be told, I just wanted to make sure that you would actually show up." He admitted, causing Luna to frown.
"Why wouldn't I have turned up?" She quizzed him, and he gave her a look that said 'really?'.
"Well, judging from how quickly you were to leave the room after we kissed," he countered. "Both times."
Luna folded her arms across her chest, defensively. "That doesn't mean that I wouldn't have shown up this time." She objected. "I think we should. . .talk about what happened on Friday." She told him.
"I agree." The St James boy nodded.
They fell into a thick silence again, and Luna cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Luna, I don't regret our kiss." Jesse told her truthfully. "If I'm being entirely honest with you, I've been wanting to kiss you like that since I joined your little glee club. Ever since I realised you were a part of it."
His admission caused Luna's palms to start sweating nervously.
It looked as though he was about to start rambling more, so Luna decided to speak up.
"I don't regret it, either." She affirmed.
Jesse's eyes snapped to her immediately, and he looked like he wasn't expecting that to be the words that came out of her mouth.
"Really?" His voice was soft as he took a step forward.
Luna nodded in confirmation. "Really." She told him. "Honestly, I should have text you sooner, but everything's just been so hectic, what with glee club being reinstated, and now I'm gonna move in with Quinn and her mom-"
Luna's ramblings were cut short. "Your glee club's getting reinstated?" Jesse asked her in surprise.
Luna nodded. "Yeah, I don't know how, or why. But Figgins is giving us another year." She explained.
"Well. . .I'm happy for you." He told her, and she eyed him suspiciously.
"You are?" Luna asked, her voice skeptical.
"Yes, now that I'm at college I won't have to worry about you guys being our competition anymore."
Luna gave him a disappointed look. "Wow, and to think that I thought you were actually about to be nice about us for once in your life."
Jesse smiled slightly at her remark. "You should know me better than that by now."
His joke made Luna's face fall slightly. She decided to finally bite the bullet.
"Yeah, you'd think that," she agreed. "But I don't. Which is why what happened after Regionals can't happen again." She told him.
Her voice shook as she said it, and she wanted to take the words back as the look on Jesse's face changed from joking to incredible disappointment. Like someone had just kicked a puppy right in front of him.
"What?" He faltered. "What do you mean? Luna, we both feel the same way for each other, Friday night just proved that-" Jesse started gesturing wildly with his hands, something she hadn't seen him do before.
She assumed this must be one of his nervous tics.
Luna bit her lip. "Jesse, please. I know that you like me, and I like you, I swear, I do." She attempted to convince him. "But everything that's happened, with you transferring back, my parents, glee club almost getting cancelled." Luna wanted to stop talking as she saw Jesse's face getting sadder, but she had to get it all off of her chest. "Plus, how do I even know that I could trust you?"
It was this last question that caused him to take more steps towards her, coming to a stop right in front of her.
"Luna, you can trust me, I swear." He promised her. "I would never hurt you."
Luna had to look away for a few seconds to regain her composure, which was on the edge of breaking.
"How do I know that this isn't exactly what you told Rachel? And look what you did to her?" Luna questioned him.
When Jesse flinched back, and was unable to come up with an answer after a few moments, Luna nodded, biting her lip.
"I'll see you later, Jesse." She said finally, turning to leave the stage.
But, she was stopped by Jesse's voice.
"You know I want you." He sang, his eyes directly on her back. "It's not a secret I try to hide."
Luna felt herself gasp involuntarily, he was singing to her. Had she suddenly stepped out of her real life and into some movie-musical?
"I know you want me, so don't keep saying our hands are tied." Jesse continued, taking more steps forward as he notices that Luna has stopped and is facing him again. "You claim it's not in the cards, and fate is pulling you miles away and out of reach from me."
"But you're here in my heart. So who can stop me if I decide that you're my destiny?" Jesse's message to her was obvious as he sang. He wasn't about to give up on them, even if Luna was about to. "What if we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine, nothing could keep us apart, you'd be the one I was meant to find."
As Jesse stepped closer to Luna, the Moretti girl made no move to back away, he reached for her hand, and she let him take it. "It's up to you, and it's up to me. No one can say what we get to be."
Luna knew that she shouldn't let what happened between Jesse and Rachel determine what she did in regards to Jesse and herself, but Luna couldn't help but think about the way he was so quick to betray them all.
"So why don't we rewrite the stars? Maybe the world could be ours tonight."
As Jesse's part came to a close, he still had a grip on Luna's hand. Not too tight that it would be uncomfortable for her, but also not loose enough for her hand to slip easily out of his. She knew that if she decided not to sing this next part with him, then that would solidify what she had been saying before, that she didn't want to be with him.
But she did.
"You think it's easy?" Luna's voice sounded throughout the auditorium, and she gently took her hand out of Jesse's. "You think I don't wanna run to you?"
Jesse's face softened, and Luna felt the meaning of these lyrics in her heart. Right now, Luna wanted nothing more than to be able to just run to Jesse and hide from the world in his arms. But the situation was way more complicated than that, despite Jesse declaring otherwise during his verse.
"But there are mountains and there are doors that we can't walk through." Luna sang to him. "I know you're wondering why, because we're able to be just you and me, within these walls. But when we go outside, you're gonna wake up and see that it was hopeless after all."
Maybe it was all the years that she'd spent living with her parents, but Luna was sometimes more of a realist than she wanted to be. And it was sometimes to her detriment, especially when it got in the way of her happiness.
Like right now.
"No one can rewrite the stars. How can you say you'll be mine? Everything keeps us apart, and I'm not the one you were meant to find."
Jesse shook his head at these words, and Luna wanted to shake him in frustration. Jesse was about to go to college, he would find someone else. There would be plenty of girls, and boys, for him to be with if he wanted to. But, yet, he was still choosing her?
"It's not up to you, it's not up to me, when everyone tells us what we can be. How can we rewrite the stars? Say that the world can be ours, tonight." As Luna's verse came to a stop, she let Jesse close the distance that was between them.
She felt Jesse's arm wrap around her waist and bring her in close as they started to sing together. "All I want is to fly with you," Luna felt him lift her up by her waist. "All I want is to fall with you."
She looped her arms around his neck as he lowered her back down to the ground.
Luna had to admit, they did sound amazing as they sang together, their voices fit each other perfectly, which came as a shock to them both.
"So just give me all of you." They continued singing.
"It feels impossible." Luna sang to Jesse.
"It's not impossible." He reassured her.
"Say that it's possible." They sang together, again.
"? Say you were made to be mine? Nothing can keep us apart, cause you are the one I was meant to find. It's up to you, and it's up to me, no one can say what we get to be. Why don't we rewrite the stars? Changing the world to be ours."
As they sang the last chorus together, the feeling of invincible-ness that Luna had started to feel as she and Jesse sang together started to wear off. There were a few beats of silence between the two of them.
Their faces were close together, and Luna could feel Jesse's warm, mint-scented breath on her face, and if she pressed her lips any higher then they would be kissing. And Luna wanted to kiss him, so much.
She wanted to be with Jesse, and call him her boyfriend, and to make him happy in the way that he deserved to be. She knew that he cared about her in a way that no one had, and the fact that she felt the same was scary to her. Luna had never sang with anyone before, not in the way that they just had. And even though she was pretty inexperienced, she had a feeling that not many people had as much chemistry with each other like her and Jesse did.
But she knew that couldn't happen. Not right now.
Luna's head wasn't in the right place for her to navigate through a relationship at the moment. Especially not one that was so important to her. If her and Jesse were to ever be together, then she wouldn't ever want to risk messing it up.
"You know I want you, it's not a secret I try to hide." Luna sang tenderly to him, her lips brushing his as she did. "But I can't have you, we're bound to break and my hands are tied."
Luna wanted to be with Jesse, and have him call her his girlfriend, but she had to make herself happy in the way she deserved, first.
Which is why, after pressing a small, delicate kiss to the St James boy's lips, on that Wednesday afternoon, Luna Moretti forced herself to look him in the eye. Telling him goodbye through a look that only they could understand.
And then she forced herself to walk away from him, ignoring the ache in her heart when she felt how cold her hands felt without his holding them.
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I do not own glee, all rights go to Ryan Murphy, FOX and whomever else made that acid trip of a show that I love so much.
I neither own the gifs in any of my chapters unless stated otherwise, all credits go to the creators of the gifs.
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A/N:
hi guys
pls don't hate me,,, okay?? lmao
but i did tell u guys that this fic would be a slow-burn, so i feel like them not getting together in season one was a given hehe.
but fr i am sorry if you're disappointed, but just think of how fun season two is gonna be now!! im so hyped.
another main i didn't have st moretti become a couple now is bc luna is finally starting to recover from the toxic ass relationship that she has finally escaped from with he parents. so she is obviously going to have trauma from that, and putting her straight into a relationship with jesse just wouldn't have been realistic, in my opinion. so i had luna decide to put her own needs in front of other people's for once. even though she does love jesse and want to be with him, she isn't ready for that yet.
and yes, i am aware that 'rewrite the stars' came out in 2016, but this is also a fanfic, soooooo, sorry if you don't like it, i suppose ( but not really, oops ).
Also, can u believe we've finally finished season one 😭 I'm honestly proud that I done it in under a year tbh😂.
I think the plan for going ahead may consist of a small interlude between act one and act two, then we jump straight into season two!!
okay ily all sm, and thank you all for reading💞
— jade💫💖