Can't Believe

Kurt sat in the Twin's bathroom in the Anderson house, moisturizing his face. The twins stood on either side of him, doing their makeup. Blaine leaned against the door, playing with the friendship bracelet around his wrist, one of many that Mia had given him over the years.

"Almost done, Blaine! Don't hover!" Mia laughed as she finished putting in her contacts. As one, the Twins grabbed hold of Kurt's arm and pulled him out of the house.

That day they had a Glee meeting.

"Okay, New Directions! As you know, last year Vocal Adrenaline came in second last year at nationals." Mr. Schue patted Puck on the shoulder so he would go sit with the rest of them. He sat himself next to Jenna and put his arm on the back of his chair. She rolled her eyes and leaned forward, breathing down Mia's neck to escape it.

"The Only good thing about that lost weekend." Finn commented. Rachel glared at the spot in front of her and elbowed Finn in the side. He corrected himself quickly. "Besides us getting back together."

"Well the boosters at Carmel don't donate tens of thousands of dollars every year to come in second. So they fired Dustin Goolsby-"

"So handsome," Artie murmured. Mia grinned at him and crossed her legs.

"- And they're having trouble finding a replacement. Nobody wants to take on that pressure cooker."

"That means they're vulnerable!" Tina smirked.

"Yes. And if we work hard enough we can beat them. Which is why I realized that, um..I can't direct the musical this year."

"Mr. Schue!" Rachel protested. "You can't cancel the musical, my New York Dreams depend on it!"

"I'm not canceling the musical, I'm just not directing it. My sole focus has to be here. Nationals, Nationals, Nationals! And it's not just me that needs to focus harder this year. I've been too easy on you." He grabbed a dry erase marker and writing on the board. "So every day after choir practice I'm instituting a mandatory booty camp, so we can work on our dancing. Now it's not for all of you. Just the people that I think need help. Like-"

"Finn," Finn smiled and nodded. Mr. Schue smiled too, sympathetically.

"How did you know? And Puckerman, Hummel-"

"I must protest!" Kurt announced. Jenna grinned up at him.

"You kind of have one move, Kurt." Mike sighed. "It's like this....Sashaying thing-" He demonstrated. "And it's super distracting."

"Jones." Mr. Schue finished.

"What?" Mercedes demanded. He nodded. "Hell to the nizzy-no!"

"You told me once you were Beyonce. You don't think she spends extra time in the dance studio? Mike Chang has offered to be my assistant. We start tomorrow in the auditorium, and yes, Puckerman, it is mandatory."

Puck cursed and put his hand down.

"Uh, Mr. Schuester, would you mind if the girls and I sometimes stopped by? We really need to catch up with you guys." At this request, Jenna and Mia turned to stare at their cousin. "Well, I mean....Mia will probably wanna help with the musical, but..."

"Okay, Mr. Schue, I'm glad you're concerned with our special needs members, but what about me?"

"What about you?" Mia gave Rachel a seething look. Although the Jewish girl could be really quite nice, her total lack of caring for anyone aside from herself when it came to performing was starting to piss her off.

"I mean who's going to direct the musical?" Rachel continued.

"Ladies and gentlemen! May I present your co-musical directors! Ms. Pillsbury and Coach Beiste. I thought since Ms. Pillsbury did so well helping me with Rocky Horror last year, I knew she'd be an excellent choice."

"And I'm here to keep the football guys in line. And I talked them into being the Jets."

"Mr. Schue, with all due respect to Ms. Pillsbury and Coach Beiste, this is crazy! They have absolutely zero experience in directing a musical."

"Oh, my God, Rachel, how would you know?!" Mia demanded.

"As a matter of fact, in college I was in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." Coach Beiste responded. "I was the Forum."

"A lot of the teachers here are already on a tight schedule. And unfortunately, a lot of them agree with sue that the arts are a waste of time." Mr. Schue sighed. "But don't worry. I've decided to appoint a student director this year. And they'll have the help of Mia."

"Oh, Mr. Schue, I'm honored, but Barbara was 40 when she directed herself in Yentl, so it's just....It's too soon."

"I hate you." Brittany stated, obviously annoyed at Rachel, like the twins were.

"Rachel, I think Mr. Schue realizes more than you do that not everything is about you, and that, oh Lord, dare I say it, YOU'RE NOT THE STUDENT DIRECTOR!" Jenna announced. Mia gasped, and Brittany and even Tina followed suit. Rachel glared.

"I was, actually hoping Artie would take the job..."

"Me? I've molded my entire persona around conflict avoidance." Artie chuckled nervously.

"Come on, Artie, you've made short films! Directing is your dream! You can do it!" Tina encouraged. Artie looked around at the hopeful faces. Even Rachel wanted him to do it. So he nodded.

"I'm in!"

"Alright!" A round of applause went around, and the twins kissed Artie's cheeks. He blushed, a wide grin on his face.

---

That day at lunch, Mia was pulled into the bathroom by the Skanks- the female bullies at the school.

"Heard you were going to school here now." Quinn stood right in the front, a beanie on her hair. "You and your sister.

"Hmm." Mia smirked and crossed her arms, leaning back against a sink. "What happened to you? Not that I don't like your new look."

"Glee happened to me. It'll happen to you too. Look at you, you're halfway there already. Dye those lovely lavish locks a different color and you'll be one of us. Glee ruined me. Stole everything."

"I don't think that's what happened, Quinn. I think you may have just given up. Besides, from what Brit says, the reason you even joined Glee was because of Sue. Maybe it's her fault. Maybe everything that happened was her fault. But you went with it. So it's yours too. And, if I recall correctly, you were pregnant. And Sue dropped you. The Glee Club picked you back up." Mia pushed her way through the Skanks so she could leave. "Think about that."

---

"Mr. Schue, I'm all for participating, but Shay says I'm more of a park and bark, and I tend to agree." Mercedes sat on a chair, doing an amateur attempt at stretching. It was better than Puck who lay on the ground, arms behind his head.

"A what and what?" Finn asked, standing up from tying his shoes.

"A park and bark." Jenna informed from the ballet bar. He view of the world was currently upside down due to the stretch she was doing. Her knee was hooked on the bar. Her back was almost touching the back of her other leg. A satisfying crack came from her back, and she straightened up. "Where Mercedes sits in one spot and the rest of us dance around her."

"It's worked so far." Mercedes shrugged.

"Booty camp is about all of you dancing, Mercedes. In unison. Look at Vocal Adrenaline. When they're in sync, they're unbeatable." Mr. Schue helped Puck up from the floor. "Mike, do your thing."

"The jazz-square, the grapevine, step-touch, the kickball change, and pivot. Grapevine to the right! Five, six, seven, eight!"

The Anderson's could do the grapevine easily. Blaine was quick on her feet, and Jenna was a dance major at Dalton Girl's.

"I--Am--In--Hell!" Puck stated around the fifth time repeating the moves. He said it in time to the music, which made Jenna laugh.

"FINN! You look like you're stepping on Bees! Come on Mercedes! Blend! Good, Jenna!" Mike shouted out critique after half an hour. Kurt started doing jazz hands on accident.

"Kurt!" Mr. Schue warned. Kurt's hands snapped back to his sides.

"Fine!"

---

Artie, Mia, Coach Beiste and Ms. Pillsbury were all sitting in the auditorium, listening to the auditions. Rachel sang somewhere. Mia nodded at the end of the performance. She pulled out her phone and texted Jenna.

'Mom would be impressed with Rachel. She's trying to get into NYADA. Should we put in a good word with the rents?-M.A.'

A reply came back near instantly.

'Not quite yet. Probably never. You know that mom and dad only select the best of the best, and we can't bribe them, but if Kurt or Rachel find out, they'll hate us whether they get in or not.-J.A.'

'Oh, good point.-M.A.'

'Puckerman..Wants me to go see Beth with him.- J.A.'

Mia's eyes widened. Holy crap, Jen...

'What'd you say-M.A.'

'Said I'd go, and that it was just as friendly support. He said it was just him needing support, that he was done with the loving and leaving thing. He wants to be a part of that baby's life and he's taking this seriously. I think he's really changing his ways.- J.A.'

'That's a little hard to believe. But knowing Puckerman, if he wants something bad enough, he'll do what it takes to get it.-M.A.'

---

Puck rang the doorbell three times before Shelby answered.

"Hey!" He stepped forward, into her house. Shelby took in the pretty brunette that stepped in after him, a smile on her face.

"Sorry to just drop by like this, Miss Corcoran." Jenna apologized. "And before you ask how he knows where you live, I have friends in law enforcement." Shelby nodded, closing the door.

"Noah, I told you, I want you to be a part of Beth's life, but on my terms! You can't just barge in on me like this."

"Here's a drug test!" Puck showed it to her. "See?! Totally clean. I also haven't had a drink since we talked. Besides beer."

"He also did some homework before we came over here." Jenna said helpfully, not adding in the fact that she had forced him to do it.

"Turns out Napoleon isn't just a desert! He was a real dude!"

"Well that is great. I'm-honestly- I'm truly impressed." Shelby smiled. "But having a relationship with a child isn't about little bursts of energy. This is a long term commitment." Beth started crying, and Shelby sighed. "She's awake."

Puck looked at Beth with wide eyes, then down at Jenna. Jenna grinned up at him as Shelby went to get Beth. The baby stopped crying as Shelby cooed to her. Jenna gave him a little shove, walking forward with him.

"My God, she looks like Quinn." Puck breathed.

"And you." Shelby nodded. "She's got that same dopey smile. Can you say hi?" She cooed to the baby. Beth stared at her like she was crazy, making the three laugh.

"I was happy, you know? That she was with you, and it made it easier. I drew her a picture!" Puck opened it up. "It was supposed to be a clown, but it sort of ended up looking like a pig, then Jenna helped turn it into a clown pig. Kind of our own made up animal. It won't freak her out, will it?"

"No," Shelby smiled as Puck hung it on the fridge. "She's tough....Do you wanna hold her?"

Puck stepped up, but when he got close, Beth turned away. So he backed up.

"I don't wanna freak her out." He retreated further, behind Jenna, making both women smile.

"We'll work up to it."

"I'll do anything. Anything I can do to prove to you that I can be in her life. Please just give me that chance."

Shelby nodded at Puck, smiling at him.