Author's Note: I sincerley apologize for the delay in updates my depression and anxiety got the better of me these past few weeks. It's sad because this is one of my favorite episodes was the Glee Christmas special. I was hoping to get this chapter done before Christmas I think the fact that I didn't spiraled me into a frenzy and it made me upset. I apologize to my loyal readers who have continued to follow the story. I'm excited to start writing the second half of Season 2 after this chapter. I hope that I will not have as long of a delay as this chapter was. I'm also very excited to continue writing about Christmas after this chapter to talk about Quinn's first Christmas back home with her mom :)
After our performance at sectionals it was up to the judges whether or not we were going to advance. My heart was beating fast in anticipation. If we had lost this time around it could be on my shoulders and that was a lot of responsibility to handle. I held onto Sam's hand nervously as Pete Sznowski from the Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles came out to announce the winner. "Thank you, and thank you to all the groups who performed here today, we all had a serious, good time. You know what else, is a serious good time? Taking two minutes to save a life by filling out an organ donor card, because it's never too late, to donate. Drumroll please. In third place, the Hipsters," Pete said as I sighed of relief we didn't get third so this was a good sign.
The leader of the Hipsters came up to accept their award "Thank you, drive carefully," Pete said as the Hipsters walked offstage. "And now, the winner of this year's west central Sectionals is..." Pete said as he opened the envelope. I could feel my heart drop. If we didn't advance this was it for Glee Club. There would be no turning back, no second chances. I closed my eyes hoping to hear 'New Directions'. "It's a tie," Pete said much to my surprise. What did this mean? "Congratulations! You're all going to the Regionals!" Pete said as we all clapped. Once again we would be competing against Kurt and the Warblers at Regionals. I was relieved. We had done it. We made it to Regionals once again. I smiled at Kurt who smiled back looking excited that we had all made it to Regionals. Regionals was going to be a tough road for all of us but we were ready for it.
Getting back to school after our advancement at sectionals wasn't as smooth as we thought it would be. Sure, we had advanced but there was a lot of drama within the group. It turns out Miss Pillsbury got married to Doctor Howell over the weekend which was shocking to all of us. We couldn't help but feel sorry for Mr. Schue. On top of that Rachel and Finn had broken up, which surprised me.
"Quinn...can we talk," Rachel frowned as she approached me. "Sure," I said as I walked with Rachel. "You know how I told you things between Finn and I might be okay," she frowned. "Yeah....you guys seemed to be okay on the ride back from Sectionals," I smiled a bit for her. "Yeah..." Rachel sighed. "What happened?" I asked as Rachel frowned. "While Finn and I were fighting I kind of invited Puck over to my house and ..." Rachel began. "Rachel....you didn't," I frowned. "No...nothing happened. We just made out and Puck didn't want to do anything since he had hurt Finn so bad the last time with you," Rachel said. I shook my head "How did Finn find out?" I asked. "I told him...now we're over," Rachel said. "Rachel you shouldn't have done that," I said upset. "I was just trying to make him feel as bad as he made me feel by getting with Santana," Rachel defended herself. "When Finn and Santana had sex you two weren't together. What you did was when you guys were together. I did it to him too. He didn't deserve that and you know it," I told Rachel seriously. "I know," Rachel sighed "I just thought you'd understand." I laughed a bit "What I understand is you did it for selfish reasons. Sure, Puck and I had sex when Finn and I were together but it was because he was there for me," I said. "Quinn..." Rachel began. "Goodbye Rachel," I said as I walked off back to the choir room trying to hold myself together.
It was times like these when my depression would seep back through. I hated what I did to Finn, I truly did. If I could've taken it back I would have. The girl who I was last year only cared about being on top in the school, no matter who I hurt in the process. Being in Glee Club had taught me how wrong I was for being that way. Sure, I was still determined to be on top but I became more sensitive to how my actions could hurt others. After having to give away my baby I realized how much your actions could lead to a consequence. It was then I decided that if we made Nationals I was going to see my baby whether Miss Corcoran liked it or not.
The next week was the week before Christmas. I was looking forward to spending Christmas back at home with my mom this year. Last year I had truly missed out on the Christmas festivities, especially since I was living with the Puckermans who were dedicated Jews celebrating Hanukkah. I was looking forward to going to Christmas mass to see all the familiar faces who would be welcoming me back into the church. I was also looking forward to singing the Christmas hymns during the mass as I had done from the time I was a little girl. My parents had always been involved with the church so it wasn't too much of a surprise when I had become the church's star performer.
I entered the choir room to see most of the others in the Glee Club setting up a Christmas tree for this year. "What's all this?" I smiled a bit. "That guy who lived next door to me finally killed off his elderly mother. When they carted him off they left the doors wide open," Santana said with a shrug. "So you took his tree and decorations?" I asked baffled. "What? It's not like he was going to use them anyway from jail," Santana shrugged. "I know.." I said. "God Fabray you are too much of a goody goody," Santana laughed a bit as I rolled my eyes. "I just don't want someone taking the tree away," I defended. "Sure...that's what you're worried about," Santana smirked. "Just ignore her babe," Sam told me seriously. I knew he was right. I couldn't just let Santana get to me.
"Guys I found the perfect Christmas song we should do," Brittany beamed as she handed out the sheet music. "Britt how did you get the sheet music," I asked amused looking at the song 'The Most Wonderful Day of the Year' from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. "Artie helped me," Brittany shrugged. That I believed. "Let's sing it while we decorate," Brittany beamed as we all nodded as we began to sing 'The Most Wonderful Day of the Year'.
"We're on the island of misfit toys here we don't wanna stay," Tina, Brittany, Santana, Rachel, Lauren, Mercedes, and I sang as the boys sang the next part as we then joined them. "In his magic sleigh," we all sang as Artie then took the lead. "When Christmas Day is here the most wonderful day of the year," we harmonized as Sam then took the lead. "Wake up! Don't you know that it's time to come out," I sang as I carried a present smiling. "When Christmas Day is here the most wonderful day of the year. Toys galore scattered on the floor, there's no room for more and it's all because of Santa Claus," we all sang. "A scooter for Jimmy," Sam sang as we wrapped a present together. "A dolly for Sue," I sang. "The kind that will even say," Sam sang. "How do you do?" Brittany said. "When Christmas Day is here the most wonderful day of the year," we all sang. "Or a water pistol that shoots..... Jelly?" I said as Sam and I walked by. "We're all Misfits!" We yelled excitedly. "If we're on the island of unwanted toys. We'll miss all the fun with the girls and the boys. When Christmas Day is here the most wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful day of the year," we sang as we all smiled at each other grateful to have each other this year.
Mr. Schue then entered the choir room asking what was going on. We told him about the tree, the decorations, and of course the presents we were wrapping. "Guys, I appreciate the effort, but this isn't what Christmas is supposed to be like," Mr. Schue said shaking his head. "For us it is. This tree is like a mascot for Glee Club. We won sectionals two years in a row and according to everyone at this school, we still suck," Mercedes said shaking her head as she told us about her, Tina, and Mike getting slushied. "I'm pretty sure they just added food coloring to real slush from the parking lot," Mike said upset. "You can eat that, you know," Lauren added as we all gave her a look.
"No. I am not gonna let you guys throw yourselves a pity party. Look, I'm the first one to say that things haven't turned out exactly how I would have liked them to this year. But Christmas is all about being grateful for the things that did," Mr. Schue said. "I thought that was Thanksgiving," Puck said confused. "And this year Glee Club is gonna lend a hand to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Children and Youth Program right here in Lima," Mr. Schue grinned. "How are we gonna do that?" Rachel asked. The only way we know how...by singing about it," Mr. Schue said as we all looked nervously at him "We're gonna go classroom to classroom, caroling, to raise money for McKinney-Vento." "Wait. Classrooms in this school with students in them?" Tina asked upset. "Well, if there are no students in them there will be no one to put money in the collection box while we sing," Mr. Schue said. "We're gonna be killed," I said looking up. I knew exactly how this was going to go down. If we went from classroom to classroom singing we'd become even more of a joke than we were before.
"No, guys, it's Christmas, a time for miracles. We gotta try this," Finn said as I looked back at him. I did want to raise money for those kids but risking total humiliation wasn't the way I wanted to go about it. "Finn's right. So let's start rehearsing. This year, Glee Club's going full Santa," Mr. Schue grinned as the rest of us cringed. We began rehearsing 'We Need a Little Christmas' which featured Mercedes and Tina on lead vocals. I definitely felt a little more secure with Mercedes singing lead. She had one of the strongest voices of the club. If there was one person I believed could turn this all around it was Mercedes.
We arrived at our first classroom as we swayed in the background as Mercedes sang the lead. "YOU SUCK," one girl called out. "Seriously who goes caroling with a band?" a guy asked. "I'd seriously rather be learning," another girl said. I rolled my eyes as I began joining in on the chorus. "For we need a little Christmas," I sang trying not to let us all get discouraged. "You're making me hate Christmas," another guy called out. "Right this very minutes. Candles in the wind-," we sang as the teacher threw a shoe at us as we all ran off. The students screamed at us as we left and headed to the choir room.
"I knew this was going to be a disaster," I sighed as Sam and I began working on the tree. "I can't believe that that teacher let those students speak to us like that," Rachel huffed. "I can't believe she threw her shoe at us," Puck agreed. "I guess we're done caroling," Tina huffed as she put the stringed popcorn on the tree. "No, we're not. Guys, we can't let what just happened ruin our Christmas spirit. Mr. Schue got us this beautiful tree to inspire us. We're gonna practice now and gear up for round two tomorrow," Finn said as I looked at him. While Finn was always the ever optimist even this situation seemed dire to me.
"Pretty soon, no one will bully us," Brittany said as we all looked at her confused. What was she talking about? "Santa Claus can do anything and this year I asked for the Glee Club to stop getting picked on." "She's kidding, right?" Lauren said as she continued to eat the popcorn. "Guys, this is serious," Artie whispered as I looked at him.
"Listen up. Brittany still believes in Santa Claus," Artie whispered to us as we all looked confused. Brittany still believed in Santa Claus? How did I not know this? I had been friends with her for years. I guess last year I was dealing with too much of my own problems to notice. Besides that Brittany, Santana, and I weren't exactly close this time last year. "You cannot be serious," Mercedes said shaking her head. "Last week, Brittany believed a comb had magic powers. This is kind of a pattern," Sam whispered. "She's gonna find out sooner or later," I agreed. "Okay. Somebody needs to break the news to her," Lauren said. "Don't look at me. I'm cruel and all, but that's just hard-core," Puck said shaking his head. I couldn't help but smile a bit. Puck could be so charming when he wasn't trying too hard. "Right? That's my point. Hear me out. Remember when you were a kid, how excited you would get when you would think about Santa Claus, how awesome it was? Christmas was the highlight of the year. Why wouldn't you wanna keep someone's world magical for a little while longer?" Artie said. "How?" Mike asked. "I've got it all figured out," Artie said as we all looked at Brittany who smiled back at us.
"Come with us to the mall after school," Artie said. Mercedes, Sam, Santana, Tina, Mike, Lauren, and I agreed to go to the mall after school. Little did we know what we signed up for. We were waiting in line at the mall to meet Santa.
"I'm not sitting on that guy's lap. Santas' laps are always really warm, and it's creepy," I said as Lauren nodded to agree. "We all have to sit on Santa's lap. If Brittany sees that we all still believe it'll make her strong enough to withstand all the Santa naysayers in the world," Artie assured us. "Which is everyone over the age of six," Sam said. "I'm pretty sure this isn't gonna work. That guy doesn't even look like Santa," Tina said. "Trust me. All Brittany's gonna see is the suit. She wants to believe in him," Artie said as we couldn't help but agree. We had to do this. For Brittany.
Mercedes, Lauren, and Santana all went up before me. It was then my turn. "Go Quinn," Brittany grinned excitedly as I sat on Santa's lap trying my best not to feel creeped out. "Ho Ho Ho. What could Santa get you this year?" Santa asked me. There was a million things rushing through my mind. If I really could ask for anything what was it that I would want? Everything in my life seemed to be in order. If I could have just one wish it would be to see my baby girl for Christmas. I knew I couldn't say that. Not to this stranger so I just decided to go with the easier thing to say. "Do you have anything for stretch marks?" I asked nervously as Santa laughed. "Of course," Santa said. "Thanks," I said as I got off his lap sighing with relief that it was over. Sam was next up and I waited for him to come off Santa's lap.
I walked back with him as we waited for Brittany. "You know I just asked for something silly for Christmas," Sam laughed a bit. "Can't be any worse than me asking for something for stretch marks," I giggled. "Try asking for chapstick," Sam said as I laughed. "I just froze okay? It was the first thing that came to my mind," Sam defended himself. "No need to defend yourself," I smiled a bit. "You always know how to make a guy feel better," Sam grinned. "Anytime," I smiled a bit before adding "You know why I couldn't come up with anything better to say?" "Why?" Sam asked smiling at me. "Because I have everything I want right here with you," I smiled as we kissed. "I couldn't agree more. Quinn Fabray, I am honored to be your boyfriend," Sam grinned as I couldn't help but crack a grin back at him. Everything was going perfect this year and there was no way I was going to mess things up between me and Sam, not like I did before.
Brittany unfortunately asked the Santa for Artie to walk for Christmas which was something Artie definitely could not do, not now at least or maybe not ever. Artie's face fell when Santa promised her that Artie could walk again. He just didn't want her belief to be shattered when he couldn't walk after Christmas.
School the next day was full of holiday cheer as it was the start of the week before Christmas break. Of course in most classes that meant midterms were upon us. The good news about that was that Glee Club already had Sectionals so we didn't have to worry about that. However, in Cheerios we were preparing for our Regionals competition which was to take place after the break. We had been rehearsing our 'California Girls' number over and over again hoping it would have the wow factor the judges would be looking for from us.
"Hey you were amazing out there," Sam smiled as he met me after practice. "You were watching?" I smiled a bit. "Of course I was," Sam grinned as we headed down the hall. "Wait," Sam said as he pulled me aside to a corner as he pulled out some mistletoe. I began kissing him. It was so romantic of him to surprise me with mistletoe in the corner of the room. Berry walked by us looking saddened. She had planned to get Finn back this afternoon, I just figured it hadn't gone well at all. "Hey I'll be right back okay?" I said. "Of course," Sam smiled a bit as I walked off after Rachel.
"Rachel..." I called as she turned around. "Oh...hi Quinn," Rachel said seeming upset. "It didn't go over well with Finn I take it?" I asked as Rachel shook her head. "He still hasn't forgiven me," Rachel frowned. "Look Rachel, I know it's not my place to say anything but just give him some space right now. He's hurting pretty badly especially after what I did to him," I sighed. "I'm not you Quinn. I don't have guys falling for me left and right," Rachel said as I shook my head. "Maybe you should've thought of that before trying to hurt Finn," I shot back upset. "I thought we were friends," Rachel frowned. "I tried being a friend to you Rachel, I really have but if you're not willing to take my advice and admit that you're not always right I think we're far away from being friends," I said as I walked off back to Sam as Rachel still seemed emotional.
"Everything okay between you and Rachel?" Sam asked. I shook my head "It's complicated." "I could see that," Sam said. "I wasn't always a good person. I could be selfish and ruthless to others in my way. I was especially awful to Rachel. Now that I've changed I tried to be a friend to her but sometimes our personalities still clash," I admitted. "Well you've changed for the better," Sam smiled a bit. I couldn't help but be in awe of how he always looked on the bright side of this situation. "Thanks," I smiled a bit. "Hey anytime," Sam smiled as he wrapped an arm around me as we left.
The teachers' Secret Santa was the next day. Somehow Coach Sylvester had rigged the Secret Santa so everyone would get her. She had been in rare form with the Christmas holidays coming up. She made it very clear how much she hated Christmas and how she only wanted the gifts. It was a terrible thing for her to do but it didn't surprise me. Not in the least. The teachers found a loophole that day that because they bought the gifts under false pretenses they could take them back. Unfortunately, Coach Sylvester tried to make it so they could not be returned. Mr. Schue came up with the solution that those gifts would be given to the kids from the homeless shelter who don't have anything which I thought was a great idea. Coach Sylvester was incredibly angry at the end of the day which wasn't good for us on the Cheerios. It meant we weren't going to be able to go anything done in preparing for our competition.
The next day we entered the choir room to find everything destroyed. Our tree was cut up, all the presents were going, and worst of all we had a sneaking suspicion Coach Sylvester was behind it all. Brittany, however had seen what had happened exclaiming it was Santa. Mr. Schue asked her to be sure that it wasn't Sue. "Santa's a boy. Everybody knows that," Brittany said. "Maybe it was one of the guys on the football team," Rachel suggested whispering to Mr. Schue. "So it wasn't Sue," Mr. Schue whispered shocked. Finn said he wasn't going let what happened here get us down because a lot worse things have happened and Mr. Schue agreed. "Come on guys," Mr. Schue said as he called us down to clean up the tree. Finn and Mr. Schue were right. We shouldn't let someone destroying our tree or stealing our presents get us down.
"Finn and I will get us a new tree," Rachel volunteered as Mr. Schue smiled at her. "That's what Christmas is all about guys, volunteering to do things for the greater good. Tomorrow we'll have a new tree so it's a start," Mr. Schue smiled as the rest of us weren't so sure that a new tree was going to fix everything.
If anything, I felt sorry for the homeless kids who didn't have anything. "We've got to do something for those kids," I frowned to Sam who nodded. "I think I might have an idea," he said. "Really?" I said surprised. "I think we should go full Gift of the Magi," Sam said. I froze. Was he saying what I thought he was saying. "You want me to cut my hair," I frowned. "Not just you...all the girls in Glee Club," Sam backtracked as I shook my head. "I'm going to look terrible," I frowned. "Quinn, you are so beautiful, no matter what you did you your hair you would still be the most beautiful girl in the world to me," Sam told me seriously. I couldn't help but smile at him as my heart skipped a beat. "Okay," I smiled. "Okay?" Sam grinned. "I'll cut my hair....for the kids," I said as Sam kissed me as we left the choir room that day hoping to convince the boys to donate their watches and the girls to cut off their hair so we could do something nice for those kids.
"This is my dad's," Finn frowned holding his watch. "He'd want you to do it. For those kids," Mike said as Finn placed his watch in the collection. "This was my uncle's. It's the first thing I ever stole actually," Puck admitted. Sam handed his watch to Mike who was collecting the watches in his hat. "I'm going to look terrible," I whined again, sure Sam would think I would look beautiful but what if I didn't think it looked good? I was scared to say the least. "Shut up! With your bone structure you could rock the Rosemary's Baby look and still look good. I'm going to look like Jackie Chan," Tina complained. "If Barbara can pull off a bob, so can I," Rachel said determined. "Enough yapping let's do this," Santana said as we almost cut off our hair to be stopped by Mr. Schue. "WHOA! What are you guys doing?" he called out. "We're going all "Gift of the Magi" to raise money to buy homeless kids those school supplies," Mercedes explained. "The guys are gonna sell their watches, and the girls are gonna sell off their hair," Sam said. "You can't do that," Mr. Schue said shaking his head. "No, it's cool. Most of this isn't mine anyway," Santana shrugged.
"I mean, that's not the answer. There are other ways to raise money at Christmastime," Mr. Schue said. "No, but we tried caroling, and it didn't work," Rachel frowned. "Wait. I thought you and Finn were getting us a new tree," Artie asked Rachel confused. "We went, but Finn bailed before we could get one," Rachel shot at Finn. "Nice Christmas spirit, Finn," Brittany frowned. "Wait. Guys, no more fighting," Mr. Schue sighed as he then asked us. "Have any of you ever actually read "Gift of the Magi"?" We all looked around at each other. "None of you?" Mr. Schue said shocked "You don't have to read "Gift of the Magi." Everybody knows what it's about," I shot back at Mr. Schue. "Well, if you actually read it, you'd know what it's about," Mr. Schue said. "Yeah, I know what it's about- life freaking sucks," Santana said.
"Actually, you're right. The first Christmas you remember having is the greatest day of your life. Your family's all together. There are loads of presents, cookies. The magic is alive and well. But before you know it, you grow up. Work and school and girlfriends take over and Christmas becomes more of an obligation. A reminder of what's lost instead of what's possible. And all the trees and the presents and even the mistletoe can't change that. And then when you get to my age you're so desperate to get that magic back you'd do anything to be able to feel how you did that first Christmas," Mr. Schue said as we couldn't help but agree with what he was saying. He was right.
"So, what should we do?" Finn asked. "Put your scissors down.
Put your watches back on. We're gonna go out and find some people who really need some Christmas spirit. And we are gonna sing for them," Mr. Schue smiled as we agreed. Tomorrow we would be singing for the faculty of the school, who needed the Christmas spirit. At least singing for the teachers wouldn't end in disaster or at least I would hope.
The next day the Glee Club minus Artie and Brittany headed to the Teacher's Lounge where we sang 'Welcome Christmas' for the teachers and faculty. "Oooooo. Wooaahhh. Fahoo fores dahoo dores welcome Christmas, come this way. Fahoo fores dahoo dores welcome Christmas, Christmas Day," We sang as the guys then took the lead. "Welcome," Rachel, Mercedes, Santana, Lauren, Tina, and I sang. "Welcome dahoo damus. Christmas Day is in our grasp so long as we have hands to clasp. Fahoo fores dahoo dores welcome Christmas bring your cheer. Fahoo fores dahoo dores welcome all who's far and near," we sang as the teachers began to put money in the bucket for the children. I was standing near the bucket smiling at everyone who came up. The guys once again sang. "Welcome Christmas, dahoo damus. Christmas time will always be just so long as we have glee. Fahoo fores dahoo dores welcome Christmas bring your light. Ooo. Ooo," we sang as the teachers smiled at us.
"Thank you all for your donations," Mr. Schue smiled as he got up with us. "And thank you for taking the time out to listen to the Glee Club and support us in this holiday season," Mr. Schue said as we then left the teachers lounge with our $210 that we raised for the kids and headed for the choir room to find Artie and Brittany there with some sort of mechanism called a ReWalk that Artie could use from time to time to walk. We soon learned that it wasn't from Brittany's parents. "But who could it be from?" Mr. Schue asked. "Santa," Brittany exclaimed happily. We all gave Mr. Schue a look to let it go. Brittany needed to still believe in Santa and the Glee Club truly needed to believe in miracles especially after what we went through before Christmas Break.