• Smooth Criminal • Sebastian Smythe-BOOK ONE✔

n i n e t e e n

Marina was glad the party was on a Friday, meaning the next two days were filled with lazy Warblers not bothering to do anything. Arabella was extremely hungover, and it had taken both the Saturday and Sunday for her head to stop pounding. Everyone else was fine by Saturday evening. Thad had drove everyone back to Dalton on the Saturday, spending the day in Marina's dorm.

When Marina looked at Arabella, she realised the girl nearly always stayed at Dalton. She led the girl to the dorm corridor, pointing to the four spare rooms. "Choose one, Bella." Arabella was shocked, but chose dorm 34d, the spare dorm besides Thad's. The spare time the group had was spent making the girl's room more than sufficient. Edward had no complaints, letting the girl stay there as her parents didn't mind much either.

When the pair arrived in the choir room on the Monday morning, Mercedes and the rest of the group were decorating the Christmas tree. "That. Was. A. Great. Party." Puck grinned to Marina, who nodded slowly, uncaring. Arabella grabbed a string of golden tinsel, wrapping it around Marina's neck as the brunette wrapped a string of silver tinsel around the other girl.

Everyone danced and joked around as Mercedes sang, Finn kissing Rachel as Mercedes finished the song, placing a mistletoe over their head. "Best Christmas ever."

As well as Kurt, Blaine, and Artie, Marina had been called to Sue's office for an unknown reason. The woman stared at the four, who were all looking at her with unease. "Wheels, Porcelain, Other Gay, Warbler, the Yuletide is upon us, and everyone knows that Christmas is a time for forgiveness, so I have decided to forgive you for having no talent and ruining the American songbook one mash-up at a time. I've also forgiven you for forcing me to run in and promptly lose a humiliating state-wide election." The four looked at Sue, confused. Marina was the first to speak.

"Why call me Warbler when Blaine was a Warbler?" Marina asked confused. Sue only gave her a look.

"Don't question my authority, Warbler."

"We... accept your forgiveness." Artie said slowly.

"Now, Christmas isn't just a time when Jewish kids get slightly uncomfortable and dwarves get jobs as Santa's helpers in demeaning non-union commercials that make them quietly die inside. No, Christmas is also a time to give back. Which is why, this Friday, I am volunteering at the Lima Homeless Shelter. And I thought maybe you and your fellow glee clubbers might want to pitch in by giving the gift of song." Sue explained.

"Coach Sylvester, I've heard you say on several occasions that you don't believe in homelessness." Kurt leaned slightly towards Sue, confused.

"You said you considered homeless people urban campers."

"Can I be honest with you, Stumbles, Gelfling, young Burt Reynolds, soon-to-be Vivienne Westwood?" Sue asked with a sigh. Blaine and Marina looked pretty happy with Sue's nicknames. "I lost my sister this past year, and this will be my first Christmas without her. And honestly, I'm just trying to keep myself occupied I... I made plans to shoot reindeer from a helicopter with Sarah Palin, but she cancelled. Apparently, Todd gets fussy when she misses his ballet recitals."

Kurt sighed, looking to Sue. "We'd be happy to help."

Sue grinned, "Oh, that's fantastic. And now, in the spirit of Christmas, get the hell out of my office." The bell rang, and so the group left, hastily moving out of Sue's office.

When Marina entered the choir room the next day, she was in shock at the large Christmas tree. It looked better than it had the day before, Marina was certain. Rachel stood at the base of the tree, smiling. "We might have spent r entire decorating budget for the whole year, but with something that looks as absolutely fabulous as this, I have to say, brav-ho-ho-ho."

As everybody else entered the room and sat down, Finn spoke, an arm around Rory's shoulders. "Hey, everybody, listen up. My man, Rory Flanagan here, wants to say a few."

"Thanks, Finn Hudson." Rory grinned to the male who had moved to sit down. "So, guys, my mummy was going to come visit for the holidays, but plane tickets are expensive, so it's my first Christmas without any family. I'd like to cheer myself up by dedicating this song to them... and to the King."

Kurt leaned forward in confusion, "Jesus?" Blaine elbowed him lightly, having to hold in a laugh as Rory began to sing. 

Everyone sang lightly as Rory did, swaying along to the song. Everyone clapped when he finished as Santana spoke. "Gosh, that song was so depressing. I may actually be dead right now."

Rachel nervously interrupted Santana. "I-I think, what Santana means is, although that... that was mournfully beautiful, now that the whole glee club is back together, I think that we should focus on the more joyous and the pageant aspect of this holiday season."

Tina nodded in agreement, saying, "Rachel's right. Last Christmas was super sad. Kurt was at another school, Coach Sylvester trashed everything, and Artie got a pair of magic legs that broke the next day. We were the island of misfit toys. This year is going to be..." Tina didn't get to finish as Mr. Schue came into the room, speaking loudly.

"This year, it's a whole new sprig of mistletoe. Guess who's not getting coal in their stockings for once... us. Rory, have a seat." He told the Irish boy, who skirted to his seat. "Just got off the phone with Don Borowski, the local station manager at Lima's PBS affiliate. Turns out that their annual broadcast of the Yule log burning has been cancelled."

"The hell?" Puck asked, unhappy with that revelation.

Mr. Schuester nodded. "Yeah, they can't afford the licensing fees anymore. But thank you, Scrooges who own that copyright, because Don came to Sectionals, he loved what we did, and he is offering us..."

Rachel excitedly interrupted the man. "A Christmas special featuring all of us? Okay, please say you said yes."

The man grinned. "Not only did I say yes, but when Don said that they were looking for a director for the special, I nominated you, Artie."

"Me?"

Mr. Schue nodded. "Yeah. He saw West Side Story, loved your work, and he wants to take a meeting."

Artie gaped. "But I... I swore I would never sell out and do television. I'm really going to have to think about this, Mr. Shue."