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

The next couple of weeks passed by quickly, filled with perfecting all of our dancing and singing so that we didn’t make complete asses out of ourselves. We were actually pretty good, and I learned pretty quickly how to keep my brain from melting whenever Santana sang.

I was such a nice person.

We were gathered in the chorus room an hour before show time, everyone dressed in their costumes; for the girls, it was sleeveless, flowy dark purple dresses, and the guys had purple button-downs and black slacks.

The butterflies were stuck in a tornado in my stomach, but I didn’t let them cloud my judgment. All my senses were sharp, so much that I started slightly when Puck wrapped his arm around my waist right before we were about to go on.

“Good luck,” he whispered in my ear, kissing me on the cheek.

“Was that a joke?” I snapped at him. Was he so out-of-tune with the world that he didn’t know the time-honored tradition of saying ‘break a leg’ because saying good luck was, in fact, bad luck?

He opened his mouth to answer, but it was too late. Rachel’s soft voice filled the auditorium as she started Perfect, entering from stage left. Finn soon joined her from stage right, and electricity crackled between them when their intense gazes met.

I watched carefully, still shrouded in the darkness. When the lights finally shone on us, my memory took over, making sure that I didn’t make any mistakes and embarrass myself in front of the hundreds of people.

While I sang my solo, I thought I saw a couple of people from Vocal Adrenaline lurking in the corner, so I made sure I smiled really hugely in their direction.

Though I only looked at them for a split second to make it seem not-so-suspicious, it didn’t pass my notice that they glared back at me. It was clear that the New Directions were making them pretty damn nervous.

All too soon, the songs were done, and the crowd was on their feet, clapping, hooting, and hollering. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins, and I wondered for a second if I was ever going to get addicted to that feeling, that rush.

After bowing for what seemed like ages (not that I minded), we were ushered backstage once again, and Puck pulled me in immediately for a deep kiss.

“You know,” I smiled, running my fingers over the soft silky material of his dress shirt, “purple might be your color.”

“Everything’s my color, babe,” he snickered, leaning in to kiss me again.

“Hey, PDA much?” Santana sneered.

“Whoa, lonely much?” I snapped back.

Mr. Schue pulled the curtain back to get to the rest of us, a smile on his face, so Santana and I shut up really quickly.

“Guys!” he exclaimed, putting one arm around my shoulder and the other around Rachel’s. “That was amazing! I am so proud of you guys! Your energy was amazing… I could feel it in waves from the back of the auditorium!”

He spewed some more very emotional stuff before going out front again to address the audience, where he could be all inspirational somewhere else.

“Well,” Rachel voiced, grinning broadly at all of us, “that was fun.”

“And Vocal Adrenaline was totally freaked out,” I seconded.

“You saw them?” Artie questioned.

“Yup. Skulking in the corner with their heads ducked and grimacing. They looked like they were being tortured or something.”

“Because they realize that they actually have to work even harder than they have been to beat us,” Matt grinned.

“True that!” I exclaimed, high-fiving him.

We talked for a little while longer about the performance before Puck pulled me aside. He pressed me up against the wall and kissed me fiercely.

“What is with you?” I laughed, pushing him back a little, my hand remaining on his defined chest.

“What?” he asked innocently. “A guy can’t kiss his girlfriend in public?”

“Not like that!” Kissing him gently, I sidestepped a little bit, but I was unsuccessful, since his arm stayed locked around my waist.

“God, I want you right now,” Puck told me as if he was informing me that the family had run out of soap or something.

“That’s your adrenaline talking,” I informed him, my heart pumping faster than fast in my chest. For a second, I glanced down, just to make sure that it couldn’t be seen through the top of my dress.

“Is it?” he murmured, and the butterflies were back.

Then, ever so softly, I went up on my tiptoes and breathed in his ear, “Okay.”

“Okay?” Puck’s eyes went like saucers as he stared down at me.

“You heard me.”

He looked like he was going to pass out. “Whoa.”

“What can I say? Someone’s corrupted me.”

“Alright, gang!” Mr. Schue hissed backstage. I looked over to find that the group had been too caught up in their own conversations to hear what I had been saying to Puck. Thank God. “You can go meet your families now.”

Puck and I turned to each other and snorted a little. His mom was out with friends, his sister was at a friend’s house, and my family…was a total disaster area.

But everyone dispersed quickly, running into the arms of parents that congratulated them on a job well done. Puck and I hung back a little bit, waiting for the crowds to clear a little.

Once almost everyone was gone, Puck took my hand and grinned at me. “We gotta get home soon if we’re going to do it. My mom’s gonna be home sometime tonight.”

I nodded, wondering what in the world had possessed me to say yes. Was it my adrenaline talking? Probably. But strangely…I wasn’t sure if I regretted it.

Whether I’d feel the same way once we were in the moment or whatever, I didn’t know.

“Ellie!” an unfamiliar voice called. Puck’s hand tightened around mine, obviously not recognizing the voice either. “Ellie!”

Finally, a woman stopped in front of me, her bright red hair curling delicately halfway down her back, the way I always wished mine was. Her eyes were exactly the same color as mine, and she was only a smidge taller than me. It was kind of like looking into a mirror.

Talk about a mindfuck.

“Ellie, you were amazing up there! Whoever knew that you were so talented?”

“Thank you,” I blushed. “But do I know you?” The woman didn’t look familiar in the slightest.

“Sorry,” she grumbled, running a hand through her hair. “I forgot that Mom and Dad didn’t tell you.”

“Mom and Dad didn’t tell me what…exactly?”

She just smirked, and everything kinda settled in.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.