⤷ the one in which the quiet girl and the dorky new guy fall for each other and sing more than a few times along the way.
♫ [s2-s6] [sam evans] ♫
published: 09.18.2020
completed: 05.21.2023
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The New Directions Sectionals performance had been going amazing right up until the moment Marley – overwhelmed and exhausted from not eating or sleeping for most of the week – collapsed on the final beat. In a panic, the New Directions rushed her back to the choir room and settled her down in one of the chairs.
"Does anyone have anything she can eat?" Kitty asked frantically, looking around at all the different teenagers.
"I've got a whole bunch of snacks in my bag," Keilani quickly answered. "Sam knows where they are."
Nodding, Sam ran over to Keilani's show choir bag, where he knew he'd find a Ziploc bag full of fruit snacks that him and Blaine would always sneak whenever she wasn't looking. But right now, he wasn't even thinking about that as he handed off the bag to Keilani.
"Stop crowding her, you two!" She said as she pushed Ryder and Jake off of Marley, who were trying their best to comfort Marley. Keilani then crouched down in front of Marley, holding the pack of fruit snacks in one hand and grabbing Marley's hand with the other. "Marley, you might say you're not hungry, but you've got to eat these, alright? Or drink the juice box. You need something in your system."
"No, I'm okay," Marley said in an exhausted voice as she weakly pushed Keilani's hand away from her.
"Eat the damn snacks!" Kitty yelled, panicked.
As Keilani convinced Marley to at least eat one of the fruit snacks, Finn charged into the room with a terrified look on his face. Out of all the scenarios that played out in his mind about what could go wrong, someone collapsing onstage wasn't even something that crossed his mind. "Marley! Are you okay? What happened?"
"She hasn't been eating," Jake sighed worriedly. "She's been skipping lunch."
Feeling her overprotective side take over, Santana turned to Kitty with a furious look on her face and snapped, "Is that because you've been telling her to? You're trying to turn her into a damn rexy?"
"What? Why...Why would I want that?"
"Because you're a crazy evil bitch!" Santana spat back.
Mr. Shue, who had returned from Washington DC that weekend so he could see the New Directions perform, came rushing into the room to check in on Marley and let her know he had gotten the school nurse. He then turned to all the other students in the room and said, "Santana, Puck, you stay here. The rest of you guys, get back up there. Keilani, you can take Marley's part in the duet with Blaine. Leaving the stage mid-competition, for any reason, is risking immediate disqualification."
"What?" Finn exclaimed. "That's a rule?"
Coach Sylvester chose that moment to come sauntering in the room and cut in with, "Yeah, it's a rule. One of the bylaws, actually. As all of you were spiraling into a self-created K-hole of crazy, the judges, by unanimous vote, have declared the Warblers victorious."
