Graceland (A GLEE Fanfiction)

Broadway Babies

A/N: Dedicated to @CamrynLynn19 for being my only significant reader of this fanfic. Thanks :D

Days after the funeral, Ryder found himself walking through the halls during glee club practice, wondering if he should rejoin. Maybe I'm overthinking this, he thought. I mean, I want to rejoin, but I'm still not over the fact that Wade freaking catfished me.

He took a peek inside the choir room and found himself staring at the new girl. Oh, she joined. He saw her go to the front and sing some showtune from a musical, and he was SPEECHLESS. He didn't realize how good she was until that day. He then felt someone bump into him, and he came face-to-face with Rachel Berry and that guy that was at the funeral with her.

"Sorry," he quickly apologized.

"It's fine," Rachel replied. He smiled and turned back to the choir room, seeing the guy stare at him from the corner of his eye when Rachel then asked, "Hey, weren't you Danny?"

"Huh?" he asked, turning his head towards her.

"Grease? The school musical?"

"Oh! Yeah, I was. Ryder Lynn," he said, holding his hand out.

"Rachel." She shook his hand. "Aren't you gonna go in?"

He shrugged. "I kinda quit after Regionals."

"Why?"

"Ask Unique."

He noticed that she was confused, but then came to a realization when he pointed her out. She put her hand on his shoulder and said to him, "I hope everything works out soon," with a smile. "You have a voice that could give the New Directions another Nationals win." Removing her hand, he briefly turned his attention to the guy behind her, who was looking at Ryder with a glimpse of recognition.

"Come on Gabe," Rachel said, giving Ryder a name as she pulled the guy out of his thoughts and inside the choir room.

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Once out of his mental interrogation, Gabe had caught the last of Melissa's performance of Fly, Fly Away and wanted to make a few notes. Before Rachel could stop him, his words were the first of the commentary following the outro. "Catch Me If You Can. Not a bad choice." Taking a seat inside, he added, "But I did notice your voice was slightly shaky during those high notes."

"Oh great, another Jesse St. Omelet," Santana commented, earning an evil glance from Rachel.

"I'm sorry," Melissa asked, not taking the judgement well, "but who are you and what right do you have to make this comment?"

Gabe replied ever so calmly, "I thought commentary was supposed to be a good thing. I mean, everyone always has room to improve. Even for someone like you."

"Excuse me?" Melissa snapped, gaining the attention of the entire room. "Do you even sing?"

"Now, Melissa," Mr. Schue softly spoke, "you just need to calm down."

"I bet he can't even sing," she continued, ignoring Mr. Schue's words. "You're just another pretty face who came here to make this one happy." She pointed at Rachel, then put her hands down and directed her voice toward her. "And what about you? I've heard stuff. I mean, I'm sorry that your friend is dead, but at least he died before he could hear about your Broadway flop. It's a shame. The girl currently playing Fanny Brice is at least ten times better than you will ever be. And while she's out there, winning, you'll be forced to crawl back to Lima and become a nobody." Feeling a sense of victory, Melissa held her head up high and watched as Rachel's tears came back, making her exit the room.