WS6 – Chapter 02-04: All Out Of Love 1-3 (Original Version)

Chapter 2: All Out Of Love [The Hurt Locker 2]:
by Wilde Abrams

Author’s Notes: Thank you again for everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and subscribed to my first season 6 one shot installment. Sorry for the delay in posting this next installment, but let’s just say I got inspired and this one is significantly longer than I intended. Thank you also to Holly (MyGoldStar) who gave this and the last chapter the beta treatment, and for Sarah (Fire Girl125) who offered some suggestions about some elements of this story.
## ## ## ## ##
Kitty Wilde was walking down the hall of William McKinley High School on her way to her next class when the bell rang and she heard a familiar voice over her shoulder.
“Hey! Your name is Kitty Wilde.” It was a very breathless Rachel Berry, who ran up to her from around a corner as she walked down the hall. Kitty glanced over at the older woman, but kept on walking. Right on time. She’d been expecting this. She continued walking down the hall with a bemused expression on her face as Rachel followed her. “You were named after a Bruce Springsteen song. You don’t trust newspapers because you think that they lied about Watergate. You once beat up a mascot at a little league softball game for trying to start the wave with everyone. You say that your favorite color is Jesus. Oh, you prefer Triscuits over Wheat Thins.”
Kitty’s bemused smile got broader. She had to hand it to her. The older woman had done her homework.

“And sometimes you don’t wear underwear,” she added. “But I got that last one from Artie, so …”

Mentioning her ex, though, wasn’t the smartest move.

“Are you trying to pick me up?” Kirty asked dryly, “Because if you’re gonna go lezzy with a cheerleader, I think the world’s kind of rooting for you and Quinn Fabray.”

She entered the astronomy classroom and Rachel followed. She stopped and turned to face her.
“I just want you to know that I’ve taken some time to get to know you, and that who you are is important to me,” Rachel assured her.
“So that I don’t feel like I’m being used when you ask me to join the Glee Club?” Kitty called her out.
“… Pretty much,” Rachel admitted.

At least she was honest about it.
“- Look, Rachel,” Kitty told her, momentarily turning away and broadening the distance between them before turning back to face her again. “You have a reputation for being an inherently selfish person. You rarely ask people what they think, and when you do, it’s usually in the context of ‘what do you think about me?’ I took a chance and joined Mr. Schuester’s Glee Club because I knew that even though it was gonna hurt my rep, that it was being led by a kind man committed to teaching and his protégé; and that there were a bunch of kids in there that would have my back when things got hairy.”
Rachel winced slightly at the mention of her late ex-boyfriend, Finn, and stood there fidgeting uncomfortably as Kitty went on.
“Now, what’s there? A chubber, a transfer student and a Bizarro Jaime and Cersei Lannister, and an advisor who’s gonna jump ship as soon as the real world invites her back to the stage.

“No, thanks.”
Kitty turned away again as the second bell rang. Students began filing into the room. She walked out the other door to the classroom, headed down the hall. After only a moment’s hesitation Rachel rushed after her.

“Kitty, we need you,” Rachel pleaded, as Kitty continued down the hallway. “All right? Your energy, your enthusiasm. I don’t know you very well, but I know that you love performing.”

She stopped. That got her attention.
“I did,” she admitted, softly, biting her lower lip,thinking. “I did love it.”
Rachel closed the distance between the two of them.
“You can sing, you can dance,” Rachel continued. Kitty slowly turned to face her. “And-and, yes, Santana’s cruelty definitely scarred me for the rest of my life, but I know that the Glee Club needs a top bitch to keep everyone in line.”
“I invested everything into Glee Club,” Kitty told her, hesitantly. “And what did it get me?” Her throat choked up. “They all deserted me.” Tears began to well in her eyes. “The only reason I’m still here is because Sue needed me for Cheerios. I miss singing and dancing and the feeling of being in the choir room.”

She really did. But she wasn’t going to give into flattery and emotional manipulation.
“But I know Sue, and I know you,” she explained beginning to tear up. “And I don’t want to jump back in just to have my heart broken again in a couple weeks when it all goes away.” She was on the verge of tears.

Rachel could really tell how deeply Kitty had been hurt, and really felt for her.
“Look,” Rachel said, stepping closer and making eye contact with her. “This is real. Okay? I’m not going anywhere until my job here is done and the Glee Club is back at McKinley permanently.

“Look, you have my word. You come back, and we’ll see this through together.”

Kitty’s face started twitching; she really wanted to believe her, but didn’t know if she could. She knew that Rachel had a reputation for manipulating people to get what she wanted. Was she being genuine, or doing the same thing here? She didn’t know her well enough to be able to tell.
“Please think about it,” Rachel plead. “I can see that Glee club means a lot to both of us, and between you and me I don’t think we can pull this off without you.”
Kitty nodded, and Rachel finally left her alone with her thoughts.
# # # # #

That evening Kitty lay in bed, watching old New Directions performances on YouTube with her phone, and considering what Rachel had said. She really, really missed performing. It was exhilarating and gave her the freedom to express feelings she normally kept locked away out of fear of being judged. But, as much as she wanted to believe her, her better judgement told her to stay as far away as possible.
# # # # #
The following afternoon Kitty was walking through the halls when she found herself approaching the auditorium. She hadn’t planned to be anywhere near this part of the school, but something subconsciously drew her there.
She cautiously and quietly entered the auditorium, staying out of sight. From the black blazers with red trim she recognized the Dalton Academy Warblers performing on the stage. She couldn’t help but notice that the Warblers had changed their style and were no longer singing exclusively a Cappella numbers. She’d almost forgotten how much she’d missed show choir until her encounter with Rachel the day before, and had been subconsciously drawn in by their number – a cover of The Knack’s “My Sharona.”
The Warblers:
My Sharona
My Sharona

Head Warbler (with The Warblers):
Ooh, my little pretty one, pretty one
When you gonna give me some (time, Sharona?)
Ooh, you make my motor run, my motor run
Gun it coming off of the (line Sharona)

Head Warbler with The Warblers:
Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind
Always get it up for the touch of the younger kind

My, my, my, ay, ay, woah!
M-m-m-my Sharona

The Warblers:
My Sharona

Head Warbler (with The Warblers):
Come a little closer, huh, ah, will ya, huh
(Close enough to look in my eyes, Sharona)
Keeping it a mystery gets to me
(Running down the length of my thighs, Sharona)

Head Warbler with The Warblers:
Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind
Always get it up for the touch of the younger kind

My, my, my, ay, ay, woah!
M-m-m-my Sharona
M-m-m-my Sharona

The Warblers:
Na, na, na, na, na-na
My Sharona

Head Warbler (with The Warblers):
When you gonna get to me, get to me
It is just a matter of (time Sharona)
Is it d-d-destiny, d-destiny?
Or is it just a game in my (mind, Sharona?)

Head Warbler with The Warblers:
Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind
Always get it up for the touch of the younger kind

My, my, my, ay, ay, woah!
M-m-m-m-m-m-m-my, my, my, ay, ay, woah!
M-m-m-my Sharona (The Warblers: Sharona)
M-m-m-my Sharona (The Warblers: Sharona)
M-m-m-my Sharona (The Warblers: Sharona)
M-m-m-my Sharona

Oooaah, my Sharona
Oooaah, my Sharona
Oooaah, my Sharona

Whoo!

She stood there in the shadows watching the performance. The music was so moving and powerful. It reminded her of the good times two years ago before things began to fall apart. The singing, the dancing, the feeling of being on the stage, whether it was in front of a competition audience or just her fellow glee club members. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, cheerleading had never brought her that much joy.
But as the song came to a close, she found that it was too much for her as she felt the tears beginning to well in her eyes again and she silently walked out before the second number began. It was just too painful.
# # # # #

Kitty skipped her next class and walked the familiar halls of McKinley considering what she was going to do. Somehow she ended up at the empty choir room. She went inside and walked around. She loved singing and dancing. She missed glee club.

The last time Kitty had been in this room, it had been almost completely cleared out. It had later been tuned into a computer lab, which she had avoided using at all costs because she didn’t want to be reminded of what she’d lost. Now most of the furniture and other furnishings were back, including the Baldwin grand piano and the ugly purple plastic chairs. The trophy shelves were conspicuously empty, however.
She walked around the room so familiar to her she was washed over by memories of things that happened in that room: … her very first performance of “Holding Out For A Hero” with Marley. … Bonding with Quinn Fabray before Sectionals … ‘dancing’ next to Artie while Blaine performed Don’t Stop Me Now … Performing a mash-up of “Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend” and “Material Girl” with the New Directions girls … Watching Ryder playing the drums with the band … She and the other girls singing “Wannnabe by Spice Girls, and Artie being impressed by her performance … Performing “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” for Stevie Wonder week….Practicing for Sectionals with the other New Directions … Smiling and sitting on Artie’s lap as he rolled the two of them out the door … Taking Artie’s hand, pouring out her heart to him and giving him permission to make them ‘Facebook Official’ … Helping clean Tina up after she was ‘Carried’ at prom … Watching Rachel sing “Make You Feel My Love” for Finn … Artie telling the group that it was ‘physically impossible for him to twerk’, and she responding with ‘I beg to differ’ … Holding hands with Artie as Unique sang If I Were A Boy… Singing “Raise Your Glass” with April and the New Directions and finally, cleaning out the room with Jake, Marley, Ryder, and Unique.

She knelt down next to the risers and noticed the marks on the floor next to where Artie generally parked his wheelchair. Artie. So many of her memories of Glee Club involved him. Their breakup had been the second most painful experience of her life. He’d been there with the other alumni when they launched their recruiting efforts a few weeks ago. If she got involved with Glee club again, it was inevitable that she would have to interact with him. Was she ready for that? She didn’t know.

But she’d be spending most of her time with Rachel, Kurt, and the new Glee Club members. She had seen the looks on the faces of the new New Directions members. They were in awe at the Warblers, whose performance was good, but not amazing. She could only imagine what their reaction to Vocal Adrenaline had been. She could clearly see that Sue had set up this invitational to sabotage the new Glee Club by shattering the spirits of the newbies, and it was working.
Rachel was right. They really needed her. But was she really willing to risk her current standing at the school by irritating Principal Sylvester by getting involved in the Glee Club again? Was she willing to face her ex-lover again? Could she trust Rachel to keep her word and see things through to victory?
She really didn’t know.
# # # # #
Later that evening, Rachel was distracted, looking through sheet music when Kitty entered her office.
“Oh, this is a fun one,” she heard Rachel mumble.
“Okay, fine,” Kitty said. “I’m in.”
Rachel turned around and gave her a big hug. “Oh, my God, amazing.”
The two of them smiled broadly. Kitty laughed happily. She was surprisingly excited!

“Where is everybody?” Kitty asked, noticing that the choir room was empty as the two of them walked out of the office.
“Oh,” Rachel explained, “I called everyone and pushed glee rehearsal for an hour because I’m still trying -”
“- To come up with a set list for a performance you’re giving tomorrow?” Kitty ventured. “That’s so Mr. Shue I can’t decide if that’s sad or adorable.”
“The answer is adorable,” Rachel told her. “It’s just that Sue is judging, and if she wasn’t, then I’d have it, but I know she’s gonna hate anything that I pick.”
“I know,” Kitty said simply, with a mischievous look on her face.
“You know what songs she’d like?” Rachel asked.
“No,” Kitty answered, “but I know where to find them. Follow me.”

# # # # #
A few minutes later the two of them stood in Sue’s outer office. Rachel held a flashlight while Kitty proceeded to pick the lock.

“I probably shouldn’t be letting you do this,” Rachel told her, “being that you’re a student and all. Plus, we’re probably being recorded.”
“No,” Kitty reassured her. “I already cut the main line to the security cameras and the alarm.”
Kitty finished picking the lock and gestured to the wall where Rachel could see that, she had indeed sabotaged the security system. Then she led Rachel into the inner office.

“Look,” Kitty continued as they approached the desk. “I may not have lived in some vague outer borough of New York City, but there’s a reason I’m the only glee kid who survived Sue Sylvester’s regime at McKinley.” She open the laptop and sat down. “Because I’m ruthless, too.”

Rachel stood looking over her shoulder.
“Wait, how do you know her password?” Rachel asked.
In response, Kitty removed a folded slip of paper from inside her top.
“I bribed Becky with a box of smuggled Mexican Twinkies,” Kitty answered. “She’s got a thing for third-world snack cakes made with real sugar and animal shortening. I don’t want to know what ‘ThunderBolton69’ means, but she hasn’t changed it in years.”
“Okay, so what exactly are we looking for?” Rachel asked.
“Sue has a secret playlist of songs that she’s so emotionally vulnerable to that they’re hidden in an encrypted, password-protected folder only she can access,” Kitty revealed.
“Wait, how do you have that password?”
“Nicaraguan Ding-Dongs,” she answered matter-of-factly. “Take a look at these.”
After only a few moments, the two of them had agreed on the perfect set list.

# # # # #
Chapter 3: All Out Of Love – pt 2 [The Hurt Locker 2]:
by Wilde Abrams

## ## ## ## ##

Twenty minutes later, Kitty marched into the choir room, a stack of photocopied sheet music in her hand when she was spotted by twins Mason and Madison who were entering from the other door with Jane right behind them.
When Madison saw Kitty she sighed, gave her a disbelieving look, and said, “I thought you said you’d never join the Glee Club again.”
“Well,” Kitty retorted, “someone has to stop you from marrying your brother.”
The twins gave each other an offended look.
“Oh, uh, Rachel, there’s a policeman in your office,” the chubber known as Roderick said as he slid his headphones off of his ears now that everyone else was arriving.

Rachel sighed. “Finally.” She excused herself to join for police officer in her office. “Thank you so much for coming…..” Kitty was only able to partially follow the conversation. He was that half deaf coach of a Gee Club from a deaf school, with whom Rachel was acquainted, moonlighting as a police officer, here to investigate the disappearance of Kurt and Blaine. Apparently he must have had some sort or psychiatric disorder because he alternated between insulting Rachel and insinuating that the two of them were not missing, but had in fact, eloped, despite the fact that the two of them were broken up and dating other people. When he changed tracks to accusing her of kidnapping them for some nonsense sounding nefarious reason, Rachel emerged from the office.
“You get a lawyer,” he told her.
“I’ll do that,” she retorted.
“Don’t you leave town.” He warned her.
“Okay,” she told him over her shoulder.

Kitty began handing out sheet music.
“Uh,” Roderick asked, “why don’t we just do what we rehearsed?”
“The-the Bruno Mars setlist was too predictable,” Rachel answered. “These songs are more unassuming. They create an emotional resonance.”
“Um, no disrespect,” Jane chimed in, “but we don’t have time for a weekly lesson. Roderick is right. Maybe we should just stick to our original plan.”
“Or,” Kirty interrupted, “we could shut our traps and trust our teacher.” She walked over and stood next to Rachel in support. “Because, the last time I checked, Rachel Berry has more talent in her little finger than anyone in this stinking, rotten town.”

The other glee club members stood there stunned.

Rachel sighed and took advantage of the silence. “Look, I’m gonna be perfectly honest with you.” She stepped forward and began walking back and forth in front of the group. “Sue Sylvester hates me. She always has. And now she hates you guys for joining the only club in the school that she can’t control. But it’s not about winning a competition. It’s about being able to walk down the hallway and-and face Sue Sylvester or any Sue Sylvester that you meet for the rest of your life and-and show them that we may not always win, but we’re not gonna go down without a fight.”
Kitty smiled. It really felt good being around someone else who got it.
“So if you guys want to quit,” Rachel told them, “now is the time. You’ll probably have an easier experience at this school if you do. But if you don’t want to, then we’ll just stay here and-and we’ll work super hard and put our noses to the grindstone and we might even have to pull an all-nighter.”
“An all-nighter?” Mason said. “That’s amazing!” He and Madison shared a fist bump and Booty bump.
“Yeah, and we can order pizza and root beer and have, like, a party,” another voice chimed in. Kitty recognized him as Spencer, a post-modern-gay football player that she had heard through the grapevine that Kurt had tried, unsuccessfully, to recruit.
“I’m s- Are-are you joining us?” Rachel asked, surprised.
“You want to win, don’t you?” Spencer asked.
The other Glee Club members laughed and said: “Yes! Yes! Yes, we do!” They all crowded around and welcomed the newcomer.
Kitty and Rachel shared a smile. Rachel did a small celebratory dance. Things were falling into place.
# # # # #

They did indeed order in food and set to work on their performance. The set list consisted of three songs – “It Must Have Been Love” by Roxette, “Father Figure” by George Michael, and “All Out of Love” by Air Supply.
It was agreed that Kitty and Spencer would lead things off with “It Must Have Been Love” because the two of them were seniors, and had the charisma and stage presence to pull it off. It felt weird to sing a love song with someone other than Artie, but she put it out of her mind and reminded herself that he was gay and could in no way be interested in her, not that she was looking anyway. She had closed and locked the door on that part of her life for the foreseeable future following she and artie’s break up a year and a half ago.
The second song, “Father Figure” was a George Michael song, and since Roderick had a similar voice and stage presence, they agrees that he would sing that one solo with the rest of the club providing background vocals.

The first disagreement happened over the third song. It was a sappy post breakup ballad by Air Supply. Jane and the twins thought that it should be a full group number with everyone getting solos. Kitty, on the other hand believed that to be fair it should showcase the three members who did not get solos in the other songs with the others singing backup only. That wasn’t the only reason she didn’t want to sing a solo in the third song, but fortunately the rest of them seemed to buy the argument and didn’t press it once Rachel chimed in with her agreement with Kitty. Rachel could tell that there was something else on Kitty’s mind but resolved to let it go for now. They were running out of time to perfect their numbers. They were expected to take the stage at 10am.

The second disagreement happened over staging and choreography.
Kitty kept suggesting fairly simplistic staging and Rachel kept agreeing with her.
“This isn’t going to be good enough to beat The Warblers, let alone, Vocal Adrenaline,” Jane argued.
Several others chimed in, in agreement.

“We need to work with our strengths, ” Rachel answered, firmly.
“But-” Jane said.
“Look,” Kitty told them, “The type of choreography that Vocal Adrenaline do is taught to them by professional choreographers, and is perfected after dozens of hours of rehearsal. It’s their specialty. Yes, it’s possible that the twins and I could come up with a passable routine and teach it to you in the few hours we have left, but doing so would be at the expense of the music, and there is no possible way it could compare to what Vocal Adrenaline did. That’s not a slight. It’s just a fact.”
“We need to focus on our strengths,” Rachel added, “which are our voices. That’s one place that Vocal Adrenaline has traditionally been good at, but not great. If we are going to compete with them, we need to focus on our strengths.”

“Rachel, I thought we all had a say in this,” Roderick added. “Why should we listen to what you want?” He asked Kitty.
“It’s not what I want,” Kitty answered. “It’s what’s best for the team.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Kitty saw Rachel give her a proud, but bemused look. But she didn’t have time to think too much about it.
“And what makes you the most qualified to decide that? This isn’t Cheerios.” Madison asked.
“Kitty is here because-” Rachel began.
But she was interrupted by a very irritated Kitty who addressed the group, “Show of hands. How any of you have been members of winning National Show Choir teams?”
Only Rachel raised her hand.
“Okay, how many of you have ever placed in a National Show Choir competition?”
Rachel and Kitty raised their hands.
“How many of you have ever participated in a show choir competition at all before, let alone won one?”
Still only Rachel and Kitty had their hands held up.
“How many of you have ever even been in a show choir before?”
Jane raised her hand along with Rachel and Kitty.
“As you can see,” Kitty told them, “I’ve got a lot of experience than the rest of you don’t. Now, if you really don’t want to embarrass yourselves, and possibly win this thing, you’d be well advised to listen to me.”
They all stood there looking at each other.

“The problem,” Kitty told them, “is that you’re thinking gimmicks and spectacle; and, yes, both Vocal Adrenaline and the Warblers share that in different ways. But the most important thing here is the music. It has the power to affect people all on its own. If we’re going to have any chance of winning here, we need to strip it down. No elaborate costumes or choreography, no special effects, no gimmicks; just the music.

“Sometimes less is more. That’s a little something I learned from Mr. Schuester, Katy Perry, and Tina Cohen-Chang.”
No one argued with her after that.

# # # # #

Early in the morning, everyone was taking breaks when Rachel came back into the choir room and noticed that Kitty was still sitting in one of the hard plastic chairs, staring at her phone.

“Kitty, are you okay? Kitty?” Rachel asked with a concerned look on her face and tone in her voice as she approached the younger woman.
But her attention was elsewhere. “Hmm,” she finally responded, bringing her attention back of the present. “What?”
She lowered her phone to her lap and looked at Rachel.
“Are you okay?” Rachel asked. “I noticed that your attention was somewhere else.”
“Never better,” Kitty answered too quickly.

Rachel stared at her, making it clear that she didn’t agree.

After a few moments, Kitty scoffed, “Fine. But don’t read too much into this. I’m just telling you because I figured you’re someone who would understand.”
Rachel nodded.
“And if you tell anyone about this…”
“They will never find the body,” Rachel finished for her. “Got it.”
“It’s just that two of the three songs we are singing are about lost love.”
Rachel look confused for several seconds before her facial expression began to changed to one of realization; she understood what Kitty was getting at.
“Oh my God, ” Rachel realized. “Artie. You’re not over him are you?”

In response, Kitty showed her the screen of her phone that displayed a picture of the two of them. Artie in his chair, with Kitty behind him leaning forward with a huge grin on her face while his head was turned and he was kissing her cheek.
“Oh,” Rachel said. “You two were an adorable couple.”
“I thought so,” Kitty told her. “I really loved him and thought he loved me too. I gave up a lot in order to be with him and had no regrets. I don’t understand how he could have let go of us and moved on so quickly.”

Rachel took a seat next to her and put her hand on the younger woman’s shoulder. “I have to admit that I wasn’t paying a lot of attention when he first moved to New York, because I was so involved with “Funny Girl”. Sam could probably say more, but my impression was that it wasn’t exactly easy for him for the first month or so.”

“Maybe not,” Kitty told her, tears beginning to well in her eyes, “but it took me over six months to get to the point where I wasn’t thinking about him a dozen times a day, and crying myself to sleep at night.
“That was the one positive thing about Glee Club and the other former members being gone; there were few remaining reminders of him and what we’d had. Until yesterday it had been well over a year since I’d been in this room and I avoided the auditorium whenever possible. I put all of my energies into Cheerios and tried to put Glee Club out of my mind, so I could put the whole thing behind me.

“I thought I’d succeeded until a couple weeks ago during Homecoming week when I heard all of you singing and dancing “Take On Me” through the hallways, and when we had that encounter on the football field, it all came crashing back to me. He tried to come after me, but I was too scared and drove off before we could have the chance to talk.”
Rachel nodded, Artie, Quinn, Santana, and Brittany had regaled her, Kurt, and the others with their story of how the only former member of the New Directions left at the school had derailed their recruiting efforts.
“Well, it’s obvious that the two of you have some stuff to discuss. I don’t think he’s dating anyone. He’ll be coming back in week or so. Maybe the two of you should talk then?” Rachel suggested.

“I’m not sure my heart could take that,” Kitty told her. “It was all I could do to keep my composure a couple weeks ago when we saw each other for those few minutes on the football field.”
“Who says you need to keep your composure? Maybe it won’t change anything for you, but it might feel good to let the feelings out.

“But the most important thing right now,” Rachel continued with a concerned look on her face, “is are you going to be able for get through this performance without crying?”
“I’m an experienced performer, Rachel,” Kitty reassured her, “and I am a master of masking my true feelings in front of others. It will be fine. If nothing else, I’ll channel those emotions into the performance, and make it that much more believable.”
Rachel nodded. She’d done the same thing countless times.
Then something dawned on Kitty.
“Hold on,” she said. “Are you asking me about this because you care about me, or because you’re concerned about my performance in the invitational?”
“Honestly?” Rachel admitted sheepishly, “it’s a little bit of both. I really, really want the invitational to be a success because of the positive impact that it would have on the morale of the group and recruitment of prospective new members. But, believe it or not, I’ve always felt kind of bad about the fact that I didn’t get to know any of you ‘newbies’ or even know Ryder’s name when asked. Unfortunately it’s too late for me to makes it up to the rest of them, but I’m not making that mistake again.”
They hugged.
“Wait,” Kitty asked after the two of them had broken apart. “Did we just have a girl bonding moment?”
“Yes,” Rachel said, smiling broadly.
From the look on her face, Rachel thought that she was going to say something snarky, but was surprised when Kitty simply said, “It felt good.”

Just then they were interrupted by the return of the other New Directions members.

# # # # #
Chapter 4: All Out Of Love – pt 3 [The Hurt Locker 2]:
by Wilde Abrams

## ## ## ## ##

Just before 10am that morning, Principal Sylvester took the stage and addressed the crowd, which consisted almost exclusively of rival glee club members and Sam Evans.
“Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of everyone at McKinley, I sincerely apologize for the New Directions.”
There was scattered applause from the audience.
But Sam was excited. “Yeah!” he whooped.

The curtain parted and Roxette’s “It Must Have Been Love” began to play.
The five new New Directions members stood on stage dressed in all blue outfits, reminiscent of a picture Kitty had seen of the first New Directions invitational six years previous.
Kitty and Spencer sang lead vocal and Rachel gave Kitty a reassuring look from offstage. As the song began, Kitty noticed Sue give her a confused look. Clearly she hadn’t expected Kitty to be there or that the New Directions would be singing the song that they were.

The members did simple choreography as they walked around the stage, Kitty and Spencer moving near each other. Several times throughout the song, Kitty noticed Sue becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

Kitty and Spencer:
It must have been love
But it’s over now

~~~~~~ FLASHBACK: Kitty alone in a bed obviously meant for two people ~~~~~
Lay a whisper on my pillow
Leave the winter on the ground
~~~~~~ FLASHBACK: Kitty awakens in a bed, glancing at a second pillow, expecting to see a second person there. ~~~~~~
I wake up lonely, there’s air of silence
In the bedroom and all around
~~~~~ FLASHBACK: Kitty closes her eyes, remembers a man touching her face ~~~~~
Touch me now, I close my eyes
And dream away

Kitty and Spencer with New Directions:
It must have been love but it’s over now
~~~~~ FLASHBACK: Artie turns away, Kitty is in tears. ~~~~~
It must have been good but I lost it somehow
It must have been love but it’s over now
From the moment we touched
~~~~~ FLASHBACK: Artie touches Kitty’s arm across a lunch room table ~~~~~
’til the time had run out
~~~~~ FLASHBACK: Artie turns away ~~~~~

Kitty with Spencer (New Directions):
~~~~~ FLASHBACK: Kitty in Artie’s strong, protective arms ~~~~~
Make-believing we’re together
That I’m sheltered by your heart
But in-and-outside (In-and-outside)
I’ve turned to water
~~~~~ FLASHBACK: Kitty is crying ~~~~~
Like a teardrop in your palm (In your palm)

And it’s a hard winters day
I dream away
Oh, oh

Kitty and Spencer with New Directions (New Directions):
It must have been love (Must have been love)
But it’s over now (But it’s over now)
It’s all that I wanted

Spencer with New Directions:
Now I’m living without (Kitty: Living without)

Kitty and Spencer with New Directions:
It must have been love but it’s over now

Kitty with New Directions:
It’s where the water flows (Spencer: It’s where the water flows)

Kitty:
It’s where the wind blows (Spencer: Whoa-oh)

Spencer with Kitty and New Directions:
Where the wind blows

Kitty:
Yeah, yeah

New Directions:
Where the wind blows (Kitty and Spencer: Blows)

Kitty with Spencer and New Directions (New Directions):
It must have been love (It must have been love)
But it’s over now (But it’s over now)
It must have been good but I lost it somehow

It must have been love (It must have been love)
But it’s over now (But it’s over now)
From the moment we touched til the time had run out

Kitty and Spencer:
Yeah

Kitty with Spencer and New Directions (Kitty with New Directions):
It must have been love (but it’s over now)
It was all that I wanted now I’m living without
It must have been love but it’s over now

Kitty with Spencer (New Directions):
It’s where the water flows
It’s where the wind blows (Where the wind blows)

It must have been love (Must have been love)
But it’s over now
Oh-oh
It must have been love (Must have been love)
It must have been love (Must have been love)

Kitty and Spencer:
Must have been love
As the song ended, a very dishevelled Kurt and Blaine rushed through the door. Sue, quite uncharacteristically, seemed very happy to see them.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kitty saw Rachel gesture toward her, telling Kurt about her new recruits. She didn’t have time to say anything before the music changed and Father Figure by George Michael began to play.
Roderick stepped up in front of the group and took lead vocal and the others sung background and swayed behind him.
Roderick:
That’s all I wanted
Something special, something sacred in your eyes
For just one moment
To be bold and naked at your side

Sometimes I think that you’ll never
Understand me

New Directions:
Understand me
Understand me
Understand me

Roderick:
Maybe this time is forever
Say it can be, woah

That’s all you wanted
Something special, someone sacred in your life
Just for one moment
To be warm and naked at my side

Sometimes I think that you’ll never
Understand me

New Directions:
Understand me
Understand me
Understand me

Roderick:
But something tells me together
We’d be happy, woah

New Directions (Roderick):
(Baby) I will be your father figure
(Oh, baby) Put your tiny hand in mine
(I’d love to) I will be your preacher teacher
(Be your daddy) Anything you have in mind
(It would make me) I will be your father figure
(Very happy) I have had enough of crime
(Please let me) I will be the one who loves you
Until the end of time (Til the end of time)

Roderick:
That’s all I wanted
But sometimes love can be mistaken for a crime
That’s all I wanted
Just to see my baby’s blue eyed shine

This time I think that my lover
Understands me

New Directions:
Understand me
Understand me
Understand me

Roderick:
If we have faith in each other then we can be strong

New Directions (Roderick):
(Baby) I will be your father figure
Put your tiny hand in mine
(My baby) I will be your preacher teacher
Anything you have in mind
(Hee) I will be your father figure
I have had enough of crime
(Baby) I will be the one who loves you
Until the end of time (Til the end of time)

Roderick (with New Directions):
If you are the desert, I’ll be the sea
If you ever hunger, hunger for me
(Whatever you ask for), that’s what I’ll be

New Directions:
That’s what I’ll be
That’s what I’ll be

Roderick (with New Directions):
So when you remember the ones who have lied
Who said that they cared but then laughed as you cried
Beautiful darling
Don’t think of me

(Because all I ever) wanted

New Directions (and Roderick):
I will be your father figure
(Put your tiny hand in mine)
I will be your preacher teacher
(Anything you have in mind)

Will be your father figure

Roderick with New Directions:
And I have had enough of crime
So I will be the one who loves you
Until the end of time

New Directions (Roderick):
I will be your father (I will be your)
I will be your preacher (Father)
I will be your father (I will be your daddy)

Roderick (with New Directions)
(I will be the one who loves you)
Til the (end of time)
Throughout the song Kitty noticed Sue becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Their plan was working.
The song ended in polite applause, and the music for their final song All Out Of Love by Air Supply began to play.
Kitty took a deep breath and glanced at Rachel who gave her another smile of support. Kitty let herself go into autopilot and let the words flow out of her mouth without thinking about them. To do otherwise was just too painful.
This time around the New Directions members elected for even simpler staging and each member sat on a stool and held a mic in their hand. This time Madison, Mason, and Jane took turns on lead vocals while the others sang background.

Kitty and Rachel shared a smile again. Sue was so moved by the music that she was forced to sit down. As the chorus began, Sue began to sing along. Kitty was ecstatic. Their plan was working! Towards the end of the chorus Sue placed her face in her hands and began to cry, confusing Mason, Madison and Jane, who had not been brought in on the plan.

Mason:
I’m lying alone with my head on the phone
Thinking of you ’till it hurts
I know you hurt, too, but what else can we do
Tormented and torn apart

Madison:
I wish I could carry your smile in my heart
For times when my life seems so low
It would make me believe what tomorrow could bring
When today doesn’t really know

Madison and Mason:
Doesn’t really know

Madison with Mason and New Directions:
I’m all out of love, I’m so lost without you
I know you were right believing for so long
I’m all out of love, what am I without you?
I can’t be too late to say that I was so wrong

Jane:
I want you to come back and carry me home
Away from these long, lonely nights

Jane with New Directions:
I’m reaching for you, are you feeling it too?
Does the feeling seem oh-so right?

Jane and Mason:
And what would you say if I called on you now
And said that I can’t hold on?

Mason:
There’s no easy way

Jane and Mason (with New Directions):
(It gets harder each day)
Please love me or I’ll be gone, I’ll be gone

Jane with Mason and New Directions:
I’m all out of love, I’m so lost without you
I know you were right, believing for so long
I’m all out of love, what am I without you?
I can’t be too late to say that I was so wrong

Mason with Madison:
What, what are you thinking of?

Jane with New Directions:
What are you thinking of?

Mason with Madison:
What are you thinking of?

Jane and Mason (with New Directions):
What are you thinking (of?)

Madison:
I’m all out of love, I’m so lost without you

Mason (New Directions):
I know you were right
(with Jane and New Directions: Believing for so long)
I’m all out of love (All out of love)
What am I without you?
I can’t be too late
I know I was so wrong

Mason with New Directions (New Directions):
I’m all out of love (All out of love)
I’m so lost without you
I know you were right
Believing for so long
I’m all out of love (All out of love)
What am I without you?
I can’t be too late
I know I was so (and Jane: wrong)

I’m all out of love (All out of love)
I’m so lost without you (Jane: I’m so lost)
I know you were right
Believing for so long (Jane: So lost, so lost)
I’m all out of love
What am I without you?
I can’t be too late (and Jane: to say that I was so) wrong

Jane with New Directions:
Wrong
There was light applause as the song ended. Kitty notice Mr. Schue was the only one from Carmel High who seemed genuine. The few others who managed to applaud only did so out of politeness. Rachel and Kurt began jumping up and down, hugging each other, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.”
# # # # #
Twenty minutes later all three groups were gathered on stage as Sue announced the results.
Kitty and the others stood there nervously. She could see members of the other teams also agitated.
“In third place, and just not doing a very good job at all,” Sue commented, “ladies and gentlemen, from Dalton Academy, – the Warblers.”

“What?” Blaine asked in disbelief.
In the audience, Sam was the only one who applauded.
“You really didn’t do a very good job,” She told the Warblers captain as she handed him a simple blue ribbon attached to an old Utility Room door sign. “Congratulations.” He re-joined his team in disgust. One of their members was actually crying.

“And in second place,” Sue continued, “this year’s runner-up and winner of this bedazzled bowling pin I found in the dumpster, from Carmel High, Vocal Adrenaline.”
There were looks of shock and disgust from most of the members of their team. Sue didn’t even look at their team captain, who seemed shocked, angry and bitter as she held out their prize for him to collect.

As before, Sam was the only person clapping.
“Congratulations,” a very surprised Mr. Schuester said to Rachel.
“Thank you,” an astonished Rachel told him back.

Kitty began to smile and cover her mouth with her hands; her knees momentarily giving way, as the realization of what was happening hit her. They had pulled it off. They had won!

“And finally,” Sue finished, “first place for this year’s invitational; I don’t know how they did it, because they were sitting on stools, singing in unison Ladies and gentlemen, from McKinley High, New Directions!”
Rachel and the others jumped for joy.
Kitty, as the senior member of the group bound forward with a giant grin on her face to collect their prize, a small but real trophy. Sue glared at her, grabbing the trophy off the AV cart she’d set it on herself before begrudgingly letting Kitty have it. She was so happy as she took the trophy in her hands and delivered it to her overjoyed team. It felt so good to be back in Glee Club!

Kitty smiled as she handed their trophy to Rachel. They had done it! They had won the invitational, and the New Directions were back on the show choir map!

The room was filled with cheering, laughter, and applause.

# # # # #

Later In the choir room the New Directions and both of their teachers were gathered around as Rachel placed their trophy on the shelf of honor.
“This is kind of garbage,” Spencer said. “That’s not even a real trophy.”
Upon closer examination, it appeared to be someone’s old 4H trophy; complete with some animal at the top, but it didn’t matter.
“It’s a start,” Rachel reassured him. “From small things, big things one day come.”
“Hold up, Rachel,” Kitty said. “I got this.”
Everyone turned to her and Kitty addressed her fellow New Directions members, “Listen up, noobs. We just went up against the two best show choirs in the state. They were full of seniors who have been working together for years. They thought they were gonna come into our house and push us around. But now they all went home feeling like their willies are two inches shorter.”

Several people chuckled.
“Now,” she continued, “I expect to make fun of all of you at some point. Fat kid, gay boy, creepy incest twins, other girl,” she glanced at each in turn. “But I never want to hear any of you disparaging the things that we do as a team. Got it?”

Several of them nodded.

“Um, can I just say something?” Roderick asked. “I just wanted to say thank you to Ms Berry and Mr Hummel for, you know, bringing us all together and helping us do so well up there. You guys are both really good teachers.”

“Thank you,” Rachel said. “As your teachers, we just want to say how proud of you guys we are. I mean, I never would’ve thought coming back here that I would step on a stage without disintegrating into a puddle, but thank you, guys, so much just for all of your hard work.”

“I heard she tends to make everything about herself,” Mason whispered to his sister.
“Shh,” she whispered back, “if you’re gonna say things like that to me, you need to use your psychic inside voice.”
“- It’s just the beginning, guys,” Kurt took over. “Got it? Everyone put your hand in.” They all stood in a circle and placed their hands on top of one another. “I’m gonna lead you through an ancient Glee tradition. All right, on three, give me an ‘amazing.’ Kitty, count us in.”
Kitty smiled and said, “- One, two, three.”
“Amazing!” They all said in unison as their hands rose and parted performing the ‘show circle’

Kitty grinned. It felt really good to be back in the Glee Club.

Back where she belonged.

# # # # # #

Author’s Endnote: There you have it! Kitty is back in the New Directions and apparently the team captain. I’m so glad they brought her back this season! Now she just needs to make up with Artie, because it’s so obvious that she still loves him. If you’d like to continue seeing these, please subscribe and review this, as well as my other work. ~W.A.

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The home of fan fiction stories featuring Artie Abrams, Kitty Wilde, and Quinn Fabray, as well as the musings of the author…

WS6 – Chapter 02-04: All Out Of Love 1-3 (Original Version)

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