"Give her some room." Unique said, as Sam and Jake helped Marley walk into the choir room after having passed out on stage mid-performance. "She needs space! Breathe, girl, breathe!"
"Does anyone have anything she can eat?" Winnie asked, rushing after the boys as they sat Marley down in a chair.
"I have some leftover Halloween candy in my locker." Tina offered.
"I may have a juice box." Blaine said.
"I'll go get Marley's mom." Joe said, already rushing out of the room.
"This is bad." Artie mumbled. "Never in the history of show choir competitions has anyone ever fainted."
"We got the juice." Sam yelled, as soon as Blaine walked back into the room, throwing him his juice box. "We got the juice."
"No, I'm okay." Marley shook her head, refusing the drink Winnie was offering her after having snatched it from Sam's grip.
"Drink the damn juice!" Kitty yelled, almost panicked.
"Marley?" Finn asked, rushing into the room with Puck and Santana close behind him. "Marley, are you okay? What happened?"
"She hasn't been eating." Jake said. "She's been skipping lunch."
"Is that because you've been telling her to?" Santana accused, turning to Kitty, who shrunk a little under all the stares. "You trying to turn her into a damn rexy?"
"What?" She asked. "No. Why would I... Why would I want that?"
"Cause you're a crazy, evil bitch." Santana spat.
"Hey, Marley, you all right?" Mr. Schue asked, before Santana could properly go off on Kitty.
"The nurse is on the way, Mr. Schue." Joe said as the teacher nodded.
"Santana, Puck, you stay here with Marley." He said. "The rest of you guys, get back up there. Leaving the stage mid-competition, for any reason, is risking immediate disqualification."
"What?" Finn gasped. "That-that's a rule?"
"Yeah, it's a rule." Coach Sylvester beamed as she walked into the choir room just to see everyone's sad faces. "One of the bylaws, actually. As all of you all were spiraling into a self-created K-hole of crazy, the judges, by unanimous vote, have declared the Warblers victorious. Hey, congratulations, Finn Hudson. For the first time in its charmed, yet pitiful existence, the New Directions has lost Sectionals. But here's the good news. Christmas came early for one Sue Sylvester."
***
That Monday had been a sad Monday for everyone in the glee club and now, as they reunited in the choir room with Finn looking defeated, they knew he wasn't bringing good news.
"So, that's it?" Sam asked, sounding rather upset. "No more Glee?"
"Until next September." Finn nodded.
"Sugar already bailed." Blaine said.
"Can I just say what everyone is thinking?" Tina scoffed. "This is Marley's fault. New Rachel, my butt. I knew Rachel Berry. I was friends with Rachel Berry, and you, Marley, are no Rachel Berry."
"Tina, shut up." Winnie glared at her friend, kicking her chair a little as Marley slouched a bit on her seat beside Winnie's.
"Guys, guys, enough." Finn said, before an argument could properly start. "It's not like it's over. The holiday concert is later this week, and we are going to be preparing for it all week long. If this is our swan song, let's make it the best one it can be."
"You really expect us to go up in front of the whole school and parade our loserdom for all to see?" Kitty asked.
"Yeah, Kitty does have a point." Artie said. "We agreed to do the show when we thought it would be on the heels of another Sectionals victory. Now it just feels like a pity party."
"I love to sing and dance as much as anybody, but without a competition to prep for, it's hard to get motivated." Blaine said.
"I understand that we need a little shift in perspective, but let's just enjoy this week, and look forward to our big comeback next year." Finn said, trying to get everyone's mood up.
That clearly didn't work, however, since Sam finally spoke up what had been in the minds of all the seniors in the class.
"What about those of us who won't have a next year?"
***
Winnie was livid. Ever since her suspicions about Kitty had been confirmed after Marley passed out, she had felt incredible rage whenever she as much as looked at Kitty at all. And Kitty knew it too - she was mean and bitchy, but she wasn't stupid. She could tell Winnie was angry at her, she could tell she and Santana had pieced together that she had been the one to even push Marley to those extremes at all and she could tell Winnie had been wanting to go all out on her.
And now that glee club was over, Kitty knew Winnie had nothing more than even more reason to do so. So, she kept her distance from the older girl. That didn't stop Winnie from going after her, however, so, cornering Kitty in the hallway that afternoon, it took Winnie all of her self-control not to just land a punch across Kitty's face.
"I truly hope you're satisfied." She said and, even before Kitty could even put two words in, Winnie spoke up again. "And I'm not even talking about glee club ending. Fainting or no fainting, we could have lost, but what you did to Marley, that's unacceptable."
"I didn't do anything."
"That's a lie." Winnie accused, causing Kitty to frown. "You gave the girl an eating disorder, do you have any idea how serious this is? Marley could have ended up in a hospital."
"She... She didn't." Kitty stammered, and Winnie could see she had a bit of regret behind her eyes, but, at the moment, she didn't particularly care.
"You're lucky she didn't. But telling her she looked fat and how she'd end up like her mom... Marley told me about the scout's honor thing. Do you think it's funny telling Marley to shove her fingers down her throat so she could vomit?"
"I... I never wanted this to get that bad." Kitty admitted to which Winnie only scoffed.
"You shouldn't have started it at all." She said. "Now Marley has a serious problem to deal with because of a stupid joke you've started. And from now on, you better keep your distance from Marley. Because if you don't, you can rest assured that I will make sure you do."
And before Kitty could even say another word, Winnie spun in her heels and left. She stomped down the hallway, forcing people out of her way as she went by, but she let out a squeal of surprise when she felt a hand wrapping around her wrist, tugging her into a classroom. She thought about letting out a scream, but when she noticed it had been only Sam pulling her inside, she groaned and glared at the boy.
"Sam Evans, what the hell do you think you're doing?" She demanded, crossing her arms in front of her chest as Sam only smiled a little and leaned back against the door.
"I wanted to talk to you." He shrugged.
"You could have acted like a normal person for once and texted me, you know?"
"Would you have come?"
"I..."
"Yeah, so I had to improvise." He said, smiling when Winnie rolled her eyes again.
"Fine." She huffed. "So what was it that was so important that you decided to kidnap me?"
"First, I didn't kidnap you." Sam said. "Second... It's just... I was thinking... I'm super bummed about Glee Club ending, but I'm most sad that I will never get the chance to sing another duet with you."
"Oh, is that what's making you sad?" She raised an eyebrow as Sam just shrugged. "And I'm guessing you want to sing with me now?"
"Well, we did rehearse a whole song for Sectionals that we didn't get to perform, didn't we?" He asked, gulping quietly when Winnie smirked, taking a step toward him with a finger sliding over a desk beside her.
"Well, it would be a shame not performing it at all, wouldn't it?" She asked.
"I... I... Yes."
"Okay." Winnie nodded. "Let's do this then."
Sam
When you were lonely, you needed a man
Someone to lean on, well I understand
It's only natural
But why did it have to be me?
Nights can be empty and nights can be cold
So you were looking for someone to hold
That's only natural
But why did it have to be me?
Winnie
I was so lonesome, I was blue
I couldn't help it, it had to be you and I
Always thought you knew the reason why
Both
I only wanted a little love affair
Now I can see you are beginning to care
But baby, believe me
It's better to forget me
Sam
Men are the toys in the game that you play
When you get tired, you throw 'em away
That's only natural
But why did it have to be me?
Ooh
Falling in love with a woman like you
Happens so quickly, there's nothing to do
It's only natural
But why did it have to be me?
Winnie
I was so lonesome, I was blue
I couldn't help it, it had to be you and I
Always thought you knew the reason why
Both
I only wanted a little love affair
Now I can see you are beginning to care
But baby, believe me
It's better to forget me
Sam smiled, noticing how Winnie didn't immediately pull away from him when they were done with the song while he held her close to him. For a second, neither of them did anything, just staring into one another's eyes. That was, until Winnie snapped back to reality and pushed Sam off of her, brushing her clothes a little, nervously and coughing quietly.
"I, hum... It's truly a shame we didn't perform." She said, already moving to walk out of the room. "We would have won."
"Yeah." Sam smiled, watching her go. "Yeah, we would have."
***
"I can't believe it's been, like, what, two days, that you've all gone in completely separate, and totally insane, directions." Finn accused as he stood with everyone in the auditorium while, most of them, sported some clothes from different new clubs they had decided to join.
"We lost Sectionals." Tina argued. "Our season is over. You can't be upset that we've moved on. It's the healthy thing to do."
"Is it really?" Finn scoffed. "Is it the healthy thing to do to take orders from Sue Sylvester for the rest of the school year? And Artie, man, you basically dragged me out of the tire shop, telling me that this club was part of my destiny somehow. What did you even join? Your costume is ridiculous. It looks like a peacock died on your head."
"It's called a plume." Artie defended his new band uniform.
"Whatever!" Finn groaned, clearly annoyed. "Okay, look, I-I'm not going to waste all six minutes I was able to book the auditorium for yelling at you guys."
"Six minutes?" Joe asked.
"Yeah." Finn nodded. "Emperor Sylvester swooped in and carved the reservation hours into tenths. So the only other time I was able to get was 9:54, Friday night, and I'll be here ready to rehearse, and I hope you will, too. Cause if you don't, I think you're going to regret missing that opportunity for the rest of your lives."
"I'll definitely be here." Marley said.
"Yeah, well, we'd all be here if you hadn't face-planted at Sectionals." Tina scoffed.
"Tina, enough." Winnie glared at her before turning around to smile a little at Marley then. "I'll be here too."
"Great." Finn smiled at the two girls. "The three of us will be waiting for you, then."
***
"Hey!" Winnie smiled stopping by Marley on her locker and trying to ignore the fact that the younger girl didn't even acknowledge her presence at all. "Hey, do you want to go have lunch with me? I was thinking about getting some McDonald's and..."
"Why do you bother?" Marley asked, sighing quietly as she looked over at Winnie and noticed the frown on the older girl's face. "Come on, Winnie... Everybody hates me and you probably do too."
"No, I don't." Winnie shook her head. "And nobody hates you, Marley."
"Yes, they do." Marley sighed. "They hate me because I was the reason we lost Sectionals."
"Okay, I've said it before and I'll say it again. You are not the reason we lost, okay?" Winnie assured. "Anyone could have fainted. We couldn't have stopped this. It's okay."
"No, it's not."
"Yes, it is." Winnie insisted. "Because what happened at Sectionals... It was our wake up call. Your wake up call. You fainted, it happens. But maybe it happened as a sign for us to not let it slip any more. You need help, Marley. And I want to help you."
"Why?"
"Because you're my friend." Winnie shrugged. "You're my best friend this year and it pains me to see you in pain."
"I'm your best friend?" Marley asked, a smile finally starting to form on her lips as Winnie chuckled.
"Yes, silly, you are." She said, looping her arm through Marley's and practically dragging the girl along with her toward her car in the parking lot. "Now, do you want to go and get McDonald's with me or not?"
"I..."
"We can share some nuggets." Winnie offered, not willing to let Marley go that easily. "And some fries. And a coke. And oh! Do you like their ice cream? We could have some of that too."
At that, Marley smiled, happy to have Winnie beside her. She knew the older girl was right. She needed help and she was going to get it. But having her there, supporting her all the time without judging her at all... She knew that was going to be helping her a lot more than any doctor her mom found for her ever could. So, even though she didn't really feel like eating at the moment, she nodded her head just barely.
"Only if it is the chocolate one." She said, giggling quietly at the way Winnie turned to look at her with a beaming smile on her face.
"Okay." She nodded, all excited. "Chocolate ice cream it is."
***
Finn was alone in the auditorium when Marley and Winnie walked in. It was a rather sad scene. Expected, but sad all the same.
"No one else is coming, are they?" Finn asked, as the two girls sat beside him in the dark auditorium.
"I don't think so." Winnie shook her head.
"We had some good news for us, but maybe it doesn't matter anymore." Marley admitted, causing Finn to turn around to look at her, curiously. "We found a place where Glee Club can practice."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Winnie nodded. "It's not great and far from ideal, but I know for a fact that no one can kick us out."
"Well, so what are we waiting for?" Finn smiled, jumping up from his seat, suddenly energized again as Winnie and Marley chuckled at his enthusiasm. "Tell me where so I can tell the rest of the guys."
And so, the three of them moved from the auditorium toward the patio outside. Finn had written the glee club an email, asking them to meet the three of them in the court in twenty minutes so, the three of the waited.
Sitting together at one of the tables, all up in each other's spaces to try and keep warm against the little, but consistent snowflakes that insisted on falling all around them, they kept in silence. Winnie was truly worried no one would come. After all, if they hadn't come to the auditorium, why would they come and meet them outside, at night, in the middle of winter? It seemed a little hopeless, but Winnie decided not to comment on it.
"It gets dark so early now." Marley said, probably tired of the silence. When neither of the older kids answered her, however, she sighed. "I'm really sorry, Finn."
"Marley, don't." Finn said.
"I told her to stop apologizing but she won't listen to me..." Winnie said.
"No, but I mean it." Marley insisted. "You've being so nice about this, but it's my fault. I was... Naive and insecure and self-centered, and now Glee Club's over."
"Well, you, Winnie and I are still here, right?" Finn asked, smiling at the two girls as if an idea just popped up on his mind. "So, we shouldn't even dream it's over, right?"
"That was so cheesy." Winnie rolled her eyes, even if she couldn't really hide her amused smile. "If you start singing now, I swear..."
"It's glee club, Winnie." Finn said. "Singing is what we do. Now, come one, you two. If no one shows up, at least we can practice together."