And Here's What You Missed on...GLEE

“Alright, gang!” Mr. Schue exclaimed with a clap of his hands as he entered the room where we were all sitting. “We got drawn to go first, so everyone, warm up!”

My stomach started tingling, and I got extremely nervous. “Oh my God.” I grasped Puck’s arm, not even watching Grayson as he ran around the room, throwing himself on the floor in spirals to try to show off for everyone.

“Breathe,” he urged me, mimicking to breathe heavily. “C’mon. Now’s not the time to get nervous. You’re going to be great.”

I closed my eyes for a second and composed myself. Puck was right. It was not the time to be nervous. My voice would crack, and then it would make everything a thousand times worse.

“Why is that man so short?” Brittany whispered to Santana, pointing at Grayson. Instead of answering her, Santana just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest.

We ran some vocal warmups and talked for a while. The entire time, I made sure that I had an eye on Grayson.

“Okay, New Directions,” a guy started as he adjusted his headset. “You guys are on in five.”

“I’ll take Grayson,” Mr. Schue assured me, taking him into his arms. “You guys…I’m so proud of you.” Damn, I thought I skipped this. Apparently not. “You’ve come this far when no one thought you could. So when you go out there…just have fun. Don’t think of the audience. We’re just havin’ fun in Glee Club.”

The same man from before started pointing toward the stage, and it was obvious that it was our time to set up. Artie was in the front, behind the first curtain, and the rest of us were going to be in formation behind a second curtain, which would rise after the first verse.

I could hear the hum of the audience, each of them conversing amongst themselves. My heart was beating too quickly, but I wasn’t letting it distract me.

Puck seemed to notice that I was worried, clasping his hand around mine and giving it a reassuring squeeze. As quickly as I could, I went up and kissed him on the cheek.

“Thanks,” I whispered in his ear as the music started to go.

“No problem,” he mouthed.

And then, Artie began to sing:

As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
'cause if there's one thing that she don't need
It's another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto

The curtain raised in front of us, revealing the bright lights and hundreds of people watching our every moves. I ignored it as I opened my mouth to sing along with the rest of the group.

People, don’t you understand?
This child needs a helping hand
Or he’ll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me
Are we too blind to see?
Do we simply turn our heads,
And look the other way?

When that song finished, a grin filled my face as Puck grabbed my hand and ran to the side of the stage and took our places for our next number.

Finn’s face was bright with joy as he started:

The warden threw a party in the county jail
The prison band was there and they began to wail
The band was jumpin’ and the joint began to swing
You should’ve heard those knocked out jailbirds sing

The chorus was for everyone, followed by a solo by Rachel, then it was Puck’s turn.

Number 47 said to number 3
“You’re the cutest jailbird I ever did see
I sure would be delighted with your company
Come on and do the Jailhouse Rock with me”

He winked at me, which made my heart beat faster, and he pulled me in close to throw me back out in a twirl for the dance.

When Jailhouse Rock ended, the atmosphere quieted for a second, the air now tranquil as everyone caught their breath.

As I started to sing, my voice was soft, almost as if I was pleading. My eyes were fixed in Puck’s, the images in my head playing the time when we first rehearsed this. Him in his jeans and t-shirt, me in my pajamas…the first time I kissed him.

We’re caught in a trap
I can’t walk out
Because I love you too much, baby
Why can’t you see
What you’re doing to me
When you don’t believe a word I say?

The song was over too quickly. The feeling that was still rushing through my veins, the intense adrenaline, was almost overbearing. Scratch that…it definitely was overbearing.

“See?” Puck whispered as we were rushing off the stage, the applause finally dying down after what seemed like five minutes. That was a good sign, right? “You were perfect.”

Spontaneously, I turned around and threw my arms around him, pressing my lips against his. He didn’t question it, just followed along with what I was doing with his arms tight around my waist.

“Ellie,” Grayson interrupted, pulling on the bottom of my pants. I pulled away from Puck, though reluctantly, to look down at the toddler with his arms raised, feet stomping away.

“Was he well behaved?” I asked Mr. Schue when we entered the room where we were allowed to stay while the other performances took place.

“Oh, yeah. He was fixated on the TV. I didn’t even need to keep an eye on him,” Mr. Schue smiled. “Guys, you cinched that first place, definitely. I have never seen such chemistry on a stage together at one time. Puck and Ellie…it was definitely a good idea giving you two the duet.”

“Why, thank ya,” I grinned, curtsying. Puck wrapped his arm around me and kissed the side of my head.

Santana glared at me like she wanted to say something, but thankfully, she seemed to be taking Mr. Schue’s warning seriously.

“No-ah,” Grayson cooed, reaching for him. Puck looked scared as he took the toddler into his arms.

“What’s up?”

“Milk.”

Puck looked at me. “Uh…I don’t have milk.”

I couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “He wants his sippy cup with milk in it. It’s in your car, in the cupholder in the back.”

“But…that’s outside.”

“He wants you to take him,” I shrugged.

Puck stared down at Grayson with a cocked eyebrow. Both of us walked out of the room, starting toward the car.

“You know,” Puck started, positioning Grayson’s head against his shoulder, as if to shield him from what was coming next, “you owe me big time for this. Taking care of the kid.”

“I seem to recall that you said that you’d love to help me babysit Grayson.”

“That was a tactic to hang out with you more. I like Grayson and all, but…you owe me, babe.”

“And what does that entail, exactly?” I questioned, brushing my hair off my shoulder and staring at him disdainfully.

He mulled it over for a second before saying, “I want in your pants.”

“Way to be blunt. That’s a no.”

“Come on, Ellie. I’m a man. I can’t wait forever.”

“How about this?” I sighed. “I’ll make out with you.” The second the words left my mouth, I kind of regretted them. After all, it was definitely a bribe, and for what? So that Puck would give Grayson his milk? Whatever.

“Seriously?” He looked shocked…kind of how I felt.

“Seriously.”

“Well, alright then. You can go back to the room.” He pushed Grayson further up on his hip and started mumbling some sort of nonsense to him, which was cute. Definitely adorable.

A few minutes later, Puck came back into the room. There was a chorus of “Awww”s when he arrived, since Grayson had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

“Uh…” he whispered, staring down at Gray. “I don’t know what to do.”

“You hold him while he’s sleeping,” I grinned. “You’re gonna work for what I promised.”

No one else heard our exchange, thank God. “Alright, that’s the last of them,” Rachel exclaimed. “So we just give the judges a half hour to compare results, right?”

“Right.” Mr. Schue sighed.

The next half hour was agonizing, the seconds seeming to feel like hours. Grayson slept soundly, occasionally making little snoring sounds that even made Puck smile.

Then, it was time to get the results. The butterflies had found their nest (Wait…butterflies didn’t have nests…whatever) again in my stomach, and I stared over at Puck.

“What do I do with the kid?” he questioned. “Mr. Schue’s coming with us, so…”

I bit my lip, not wanting to leave him alone, but I didn’t really want to bring him onstage either. But at that moment, it didn’t look like we had much of a choice. “Just keep carrying him,” I sighed. “Come on.”

We hurried onto the stage to join the rest of the kids, all of whom looked like they were about to puke with nerves. I knew that was how I felt.

“This year was made up of absolutely outstanding performances filled with energy and feeling. We have never been so thrilled to judge a competition like this before,” a man droned, not sounding like he meant the words at all. “And now, we present the results. In second place…” he opened a card and announced the name of one of the schools.

The girls started jumping up and down and hugging each other. Puck squeezed my hand with his free one. We both knew what that meant.

“And first place goes to…New Directions!”

I turned to envelope Puck in a hug, but he pointed to Grayson at the last second. “It’s alright,” he mumbled in my ear, “you’ll make it up later.”

Ignoring him, I turned and hugged Finn instead. “Great job!” we both awarded each other at the same time, then laughed.

Rachel gladly accepted the trophy for us, grinning widely at the audience. I almost expected her to make a speech like she’d won an Oscar or something, but she was cut off.

The audience was on their feet and clapping and I realized…there was no better feeling in the world.