Would you like to be my best friend?
The glee club were sat together in the choir room, chatting between one and other. Sat next to Puck, Charlotte was listening to him talking about something that she really did not care about, but let him ramble on anyway. Whilst she was looking for a distraction from the boy next to her, her eyes landed on Finn, who had raised his hand.
"Mr Schue? I have something to say," he announced as he walked up to the front of the room, to stand next to their teacher. Charlotte tilted her head slightly, having no idea what he was about to say. "something's happened to me and I can't really get into it, but it's shaken me to my core."
With wide eyes, turning to Charlotte, Puck muttered "Oh, my God, he's coming out."
"Why yes." Finn said, unfazed. "There is a man that's come into my life and that man is Jesus Christ."
"That's way worse." Puck frowned.
"And I know there's others in here who dig him, too." Finn continued, unbothered by Puck's comments. Charlotte was confused but listened as he carried on. "And so I thought, maybe this week,we could pay tribute to him in music. You know, pay tribute to Jesus."
"Sorry, uh, but if I wanted to sing about Jesus, I'd go to church." Kurt said, first to state his opinion "And the reason I don't go to church is because most churches don't think very much of gay people. Or women.Or science."
"I don't see anything wrong with getting a little church up in here" Mercedes shrugged, excitedly.
"I agree." Quinn added, with a nod of her head "I've had a really hard year, and I turned to God a lot for help. I, for one, wouldn't mind saying thanks."
"Thanks for what?" Santana scoffed, turning in her seat to look at Quinn. "That it didn't come out a lizard baby?"
"Whenever I pray, I fall asleep." Brittany said, simply.
"Well, guys,maybe our song selections don't have to be about Jesus. We could do songs about spirituality." Mr Schue suggested.
Puck pulled a face which Finn caught a sight of, causing him to immediately question his best friend "You got a problem with Jesus?"
"Oh, I got no problem with the guy. I'm a total Jew for Jesus. He's my number one Heb." Puck said "What I don't like seeing is people using J-money to cramp everybody else's style, 'cause it seems to me that true spirituality or whatever you want to call it is about enjoying the life that you've been given.I mean, I see God every time I make out with a new chick."
"Okay, okay,that doesn't make any sense." Rachel said with a roll of her eyes "In fact, it's stupid."
"Are you calling Mr. Billy Joel stupid?" Puck challenged the girl as he stood up and walked over to pick up a guitar "At this time, I'd like to continue my streak of doing only songs by Jewish artists. Hit it."
(Only The Good Die Young~ performed by Puck)
Once Puck at got into the song, the group of teens couldn't help but jam along, taking this opportunity to have fun. Charlotte totally could see where Kurt was coming from with his point, but as someone who wasn't religious but supported everyone's views, Charlotte just enjoyed the moment with her best friends.
***
By now a lot of people had heard about Burt Hummel's heart attack and Charlotte was extremely shocked, considering how close she was to him. He was literally like a dad to her and she couldn't imagine her life without him in it, but more than that, she felt awful for Kurt, unable to even imagine how broken he must be feeling.
After her mom had confirmed the news, Charlotte tried to keep her emotions inside until she was in some place private to let them all out. However, she saw Finn angrily storming towards the choir room and knew he definitely wasn't thinking straight.
She tried to catch up to him to stop him before he did something stupid, but he was walking extremely fast, "Finn! Wait, I've got littler legs than you!" she called after him, in hopes he would slow down.
That didn't work, and he stormed right into the choir room with Charlotte trying to stay behind him to attempt to get him to stay calm.
"What the hell happened?" Finn demanded, approaching Kurt, extremely worried.
"My dad's in the hospital." Kurt explained, quite calmly considering the circumstances.
"I know. My mom just called me." Finn said "I feel like I'm the last one to know!"
Charlotte felt a need to intervene as she stood by the pair, not really knowing what to say "Finn, stop, just calm down, okay?"
"Well, I'm sorry, Finn. It didn't occur to me to call you, because he's not your father." Kurt shot back.
"Yeah, well, he's the closest I'm ever going to get, okay?" Finn raised his voice, and Charlotte stood with the two, sending Kurt a sympathetic, sorry smile. "I know it may not look like what everybody else has,but I thought we were...sort of a family."
Kurt rolled his eyes and sat down, causing Finn to realize that maybe he shouldn't have reacted the way he did "Look, I... I guess I just...I didn't like overhearing other people talking about it in gym class."
Reluctantly, Kurt moved his bag from the seat beside him onto the floor, letting Finn sit there, getting Charlotte to sit the other side of him.
"i'm so sorry, Kurt." she whispered to him, and he acknowledged her with a small, sad smile.
"Hey, guys." Mr Schue said once the kids had all sat down and the atmosphere in the room was very melancholy. "Our thoughts are all with Kurt, and, uh,I know it's sort of hard to really focus on anything else..."
Mercedes cut him off, softly saying "Mr. Schue."
"Yeah."
"I've been struggling, trying to figure out what I wanted to say to Kurt all day" she said, sadly "and I realized I don't want to say it, I want to sing it."
Mr Schue let her take to 'center stage' of the choir room while he moved to the side, letting Mercedes perform. "This song is about being in a very dark place,and turning to God." she said and Charlotte looked to Kurt, placing a hand on his, knowing he wouldn't really be happy about this. "It's a spiritual song, Mr. Schue. Is that okay?"
"It's fine."
Mercedes invited Tina and Quinn to sing backup vocals and performed a beautiful rendition of 'I Look To You' , which was very moving and thoughtful, but Kurt didn't like the spirituality aspect of it. After explaining his beliefs, Charlotte did get him and understood why he would be uncomfortable and made sure that from now, she wouldn't let anyone make him feel bad just because he has a different opinion to everyone else.
***
After a stressful few days of worrying about Burt but trying to be there for Kurt and her mom, Charlotte couldn't be more relieved to have the distraction of the football game. She had been sitting with Santana, Quinn and Brittany whilst they got ready for the game, listening to their constant attempts to convince the younger girl to join the cheerios, despite her millions of denials.
With one last eye roll as she refused to join the cheer squad, Charlotte chuckled as she left the room, heading out to the field to join Tina in the stands. However, on her way out, she saw Sam, who gestured her over to him.
"Excited?" she asked with a smile.
"I'm a bit nervous" he admitted, "but I have an awesome personal cheerleader, so I think I'll be okay"
"i may not be a cheerio, but i'm hoping if i yell Go Sam I Am at the top of my voice will do the trick" she told him and he chuckled.
"you don't have to be a cheerio, you can be a...lucky charm!" he grinned, excitedly. She giggled at him and he added "i'm so glad you're a dork too so you won't judge me for saying really stupid, cheesy stuff."
"well, i love stupid, cheesy stuff so you could say anything and i'd probably find it hilarious." she smiled before shrugging. "well, i should go meet Tina before she starts crying because i'm late"
"alright, i'll see you soon, cheerleader!" he called, after she had waved and started to walk away.
"good luck, Quarterback" she said in a sing-song voice, skipping off towards the field and to the bleachers.
***
As promised, Charlotte had spent the whole game yelling her cheers for Sam, getting some very confused looks from the people around her, especially Tina who would most definitely be telling Mike about her budding friendship with the new boy, just to give them something to tease her with.
After the boys had stood around in a huddle, Tina and Charlotte kept their eyes on the field intensely. Neither one of the girls really knew much about football, so they tended to cheer when the crowd cheered, or booed and groaned when the crowd did too.
The game had gotten back into swing and the girls kept their eyes on their glee boys and Sam, staring down at the pitch, hoping McKinley would win this game. Suddenly, Sam was tackled harshly to the ground, causing a group of people to crowd around him to see if he was okay. Grabbing Tina's hand in fear, Charlotte tried to work out what was going on, hoping that her new friend was okay.
When Sam got taken off to the ER and Finn was given the title of quarterback again, Tina decided to get Charlotte to go find Sam, considering how had she just been staring off into the distance with a whole new, fearful demeanor from the moment he had hit the floor. So, that's what Charlotte ended up doing. Escaping the bleachers, Charlotte ran off to the nurses office, where she found Sam, probably waiting to be picked up and taken to the Hospital.
"Sam?" she called softly as she had her head peeping around the door.
Getting his attention, he looked over, smiling despite his pain, "hi" he muttered.
"you okay?" she asked, walking over to the side of the bed that he was laying on. She shook her head quickly "sorry, stupid question."
He chuckled slightly, budging over and sitting up on the bed, tapping the space next to him. With some hesitation, she climbed on and took a seat next to him, crossing her legs and smiling at him.
"maybe I'm not a lucky charm" she pouted and he shook his head with a smile.
"maybe I'm just not a good quarterback." he suggested shrugging his shoulders, then wincing in pain.
"try not to move your shoulder, silly" she teased with a small laugh. "you did amazing, Sam. That guy who tackled you was cheating, even I could see that and I don't even know how to play football!"
"heard Finn took over the spot as quarterback."'Sam sighed, with a frown.
She shrugged and sent him a sympathetic smile "yeah" she nodded, but she didn't want him to be too bummed out about it "but Coach Bieste wouldn't just kick you off the team, so you still have that."
"then i might have to find a new, personal cheerleader next time" he teased, giving her a light thump in the shoulder.
With feigned offence, she opened her mouth and dramatically put a hand to her heart, "wow, Evans! Maybe i should just leave you here to be bored and lonely whilst i go cheer for someone else then."
"no, no, no! I was only kidding." He said quickly, grabbing her hand to make sure she stayed while she laughed at him. "I need someone to talk to until my mom gets here."
"alright then, what do you want me to talk to you about?" she asked, settling back down, pulling her hand out of his as she adjusted her position into a more comfortable one.
"yourself."
"myself?"
"yep."
"okay..." she chuckled, taking a moment to think. "Well, my full name is Charlotte Louise Hudson, I've always lived in Lima, I can play the piano, i love to sing, and my favorite color is baby blue."
She wasn't sure that was entirely what he was looking to hear, but he smiled "awesome!"
"your turn." she grinned, resting her chin in her hands, ready to listen to him.
He chuckled at her and started to talk about himself "My full name is Samuel Jessica Evans. I was born in Nashville, Tennessee and i went to an all boys boarding school, I have a younger brother and sister...and i can play the guitar and sing."
"so you're like, a cowboy?" she asked with a giggle. "I've never visited the south."
He chuckled at her, "i'll totally pack you in my suitcase next time i go"
"perfect." she grinned as they started to plan how they'd get a big enough suitcase to fit her in so she made the journey in one piece.
After a while of laughing at stupid jokes and Sam's genius impressions, Sam had something on his mind. "I've got a question!"
"i'm all ears." she smiled at him.
"well, since you're the coolest person I've met in Ohio...would you like to be my best friend?" he asked, with a hint of nervousness in his voice which made Charlotte pout happily at how adorable he was.
"of course, I would love to!" she smiled sweetly at him. "do you maybe wanna be my best friend too?"
He beamed at her answer before nodding his head, "i guess we are best friends now, huh?"
"i guess so" she giggled.
***
In a panic, Finn ran over to his sister needing to rant to her. When she was standing putting some things into her locker, he crashed into the one next to her, making her jump, beginning his quick paced speech about his grilled cheese sandwich.
"okay, so you know how i'm quarterback now? and you know how Sam is hurt? it's all my fault! I prayed to grilled cheesus for a bunch of things to happen, and they all did!"
"what the-" she started but he cut her off.
"i made myself a grilled cheese sandwich a while ago, and when i looked at it, I saw God!" he explained, pulling his grilled cheese from behind his back and showing her with an expectant look on his face.
Her eyes widened and she couldn't help but laugh "oh my god! this is awesome!" she said, taking the plate in her hands to admire the sandwich.
"dude, i literally almost had the guy you're into killed, and you think it's awesome?" he questioned, not understanding her priorities as he snatched the plate out of her hands, protective of his grilled cheese.
Finally taking her eyes off of his sandwich and looking up at her brother, Charlotte rolled her eyes. "okay, one, i'm not into Sam. Two, it's just a sad coincidence that Sam got hurt. Listen, you can believe in whatever God you like, but I don't think he's coming to talk to you through grilled cheese."
"So grilled cheesus isn't real?" he asked, looking down, disappointed.
Immediately, an idea popped into Charlotte's head and she grabbed the plate again, "let's test it, shall we?" she offered and he nodded, uncertainly. "Hi, Grilled Cheesus. My brother Finn has been talking to you for a while, and i just have one more thing to ask."
"Lottie, you look insane." Finn whispered.
She ignored him and continued speaking, "could you please make sure Finn and I are forever the coolest siblings in the world who always have fun and always have a laugh together?" she looked to Finn who chuckled at her, satisfied with her wishes. "Now, grilled cheesus, as cool as you are, you might need to be thrown away because you're gonna start going moldy, but we totally still believe in you!"
***
With Burt's condition remaining the same, the glee kids all still had a lot of hope that he'd push through and make it out the other side. After Kurt being quite quiet this week, Charlotte had been spending her after school time and evenings with him, making sure he wasn't alone and joining him on some trips to the hospital. Now, Kurt had prepared a number for his dad.
"On the day of my mom's funeral,when they were lowering her body into the ground, I was crying. I mean, that was it. It was the last time I was ever going to see her, and I remember I looked up at my dad and I... I just wanted him to say something,just something to make me feel like my whole world wasn't over,and he just took my hand and squeezed it. And just knowing that those hands were there to take care of me... That was enough. This is for my dad."
(I Wanna Hold Your Hand~ performed by Kurt)
By the end of the performance, there was not a dry eye in the room as everyone felt for Kurt who was finally showing everyone his emotions from throughout this week. Charlotte made sure that once he had finished his performance and the glee meeting was over, that she gave him a big, warm hug so he knew she was proud of how strong he had been recently, which he did appreciate.
***
By the end of the longest week of everyone's lives, Burt had woken up. He was okay. There was a wave of relief that had washed over Charlotte as she realized that the nightmare of almost losing someone she really cared about was over. If this week had taught her anything, it was that you don't have to believe in a God, but everyone should believe in something, and Charlotte knew that- for her- she believed in her friends and that was honestly the best thing she could believe in.