New Directions

Blake had been very sad without his Eliza at school with him for the past few days. He'd been trying to be good and giving her time to rest and get better. Uninterrupted rest was better than interrupted rest and all that. Or so he'd heard.

He'd thought about bringing his guitar but he figured he'd rather just see her then mess about. It was a fairly cold night but nothing too bad, so he jogged his way over to her house and knocked lightly on the front door.

Blake hadn't been doing much. Just sitting at home and trying to plan out everything that was going to happen when his friends came from New York. In fact, he'd been skyping with Aiden when he'd invited Eliza over. Aiden would understand his abrupt disappearance -- after all, Eliza was involved!

And it was very abrupt. He heard the knock on the door and barely took the time to close out of his computer before dashing down the stairs. "My Eliza!" he said cheerfully as he opened the door.

Blake was a fan of Valentine's Day. Sure, it was a made up holiday, a conspiracy by the card companies and candy companies to make a killing, but he still couldn't help but love it. Any day that was there for the sole purpose of doing something special for the person he loved was a great day in his mind. Sure, he could use any day to do such things, but there was already this one set aside specifically. If he didn't bring down the house on Valentine's, of all days, he's sure there would be some disappointment. He was a bit of a romantic, after all.

He'd planned it all out and that's why he found himself walking up the sidewalk to Eliza's house, a dozen roses in hand, pure happiness unable to be wiped off his face. In love? Absolutely. There wasn't a doubt in his mind. He knocked on the door and then slipped his free hand into his pocket, waiting.

The McKinley High gym has been nicely decorated for the evening, the Valentine's Day committee having spent the intervening hours between school and the start of the dance wielding streamers and balloons and setting up tables. The very center of the gym has been cleared out for the dance floor, and circular tables surround that for people to sit at, eat and talk between dances. A long table at the back of the gym has been set up for the DJ, and one other table to the side is for the basketball team's fund raising table, selling roses and other Valentine's Day goodies. The usual gym concession stand is now stocked with punch and snacks.

The teachers who have been enlisted to serve as chaperons are keeping a watchful eye on the activities on the dance floor...though they're not really keeping a close eye on the doors leading into the rest of the school. They might want to keep an eye on that.

There is a red carpet leading from the outside into the dance...let's get this party started!

The stage was bare but for a few chairs , a couple of microphones, and some instruments (a piano, some drums, electric guitars, that sort of thing) and Fenton was perched on the edge. As the kids filtered in, he gave them a little wave and waited until everyone was settled into the auditorium seats.
( Once everyone was seated, he cleared his throat and spoke. )

Eliza was not fond of cold. Not fond at all. And her guitar didn't like it much either; she was going to have to tune it when she got to Blake's. She had her mother drop her off because she was heading out to the store anyway, plus, it didn't make much sense to drive by herself. The car would hardly get warmed up before she'd have to stop it.

She hurried up to the door of Blake's house and knocked, bouncing on her toes to keep warm.

The one good thing about cold weather...was having Blake warm her up when she came inside.

That was worth a little cold.

Blake was tired. Very tired. It was past midnight so far as his mind and body was concerned, but he had to go see Eliza. He'd considered going over first thing but he'd promised his parents he would help with the laundry, as a lot of it was his, and he'd wanted to make sure he wasn't too mangy looking or smelly. Showers were wonderful things, after all.

So he'd put on his coat and trekked over there, knowing the walk through the cold January air would wake him up a little more. He knocked on the front door, bouncing from foot to foot a little, waiting.

Eliza had changed her clothes at least five times while getting ready to go to Blake's house. She'd never been this nervous before about seeing Blake but she'd never done this before, not really.

Which, in retrospect, was sad, because she was with John for two freakin' years.

But Blake was different. She'd never felt for anyone the way she felt for him. It was good, and solid, and real and she never had to worry about making him upset by doing some idiotic Eliza-thing. And generally, she wasn't nervous around him. He made things more comfortable. He made things right.

But still...tonight, she was nervous. She put her guitar in her car and drove over to Blake's house, hoping that she wasn't going to completely freak him out by saying what she needed to say.

(Somehow, she didn't think so, but she was still worried about it anyway.)

She headed up to the door of Blake's house and knocked, bouncing on her toes a little bit.

The day of Sectionals had finally come. Three show choirs from mid-state Ohio were gathered to compete for the honor to compete some more! Regionals loomed in their futures, and after that, Nationals. In New York. It was a very big deal, and anyone who doubted that fact had never competed for anything in their lives.

Blake loved Christmas. A lot. He loved the holiday cheer and how festive everything was. Plus, Santa! Putting up the Christmas tree was one of his favorite holiday traditions and he always got way too excited when it came time to do it. But his parents couldn't blame him. With Christmas carols broadcasting from the speakers and hot chocolate cooling in mugs on the coffee table, it was just the perfect setting for decorating.

His parents had been easy enough to agree when he asked if they could delay the tree putting up until Eliza got there, so now it was just a waiting game. He was a tad bit bouncy, but that had a lot to do with the chocolate he'd eaten.

Mitzi Spencer sat in the living room of her daughter's family home. She was still a little jet-lagged but it had been a nice Thanksgiving dinner, even more so because a lot of it had been cooked by her favorite granddaughter, Eliza.

It probably wasn't being a good grandmother to say it, but she couldn't help it. Eliza was the most like herself. The other two were so straight-laced, she found it difficult to have fun with them. But Eliza, she was a free spirit, she didn't take herself seriously, and it was easy to enjoy her company.

Mitzi put her feet up on the coffee table and leaned back on the sofa with her scotch on the rocks, relaxing after a nice time with her family and Eliza's new boyfriend. Besides, it was time for the football game.

Mitzi liked a good football game.

"Okay, kids, the challenge this week is 'Your Favorite Childhood Song'," Will said, once all the kids were gathered in the room. The band and Brad were there, ready to back people up.

"Let's see what you've got."

Now here was one of the things that Eliza had never done with a boy before.

Watch a sporting event.

Much less, soccer.

She had no clue what she was getting into, so it was with no small amount of trepidation that she went over to Blake's house that day.

Still...at least she'd be with Blake, and he hadn't seemed too stunned that she hadn't ever watched (or played) soccer before.

She went up to his door and knocked, bouncing on her toes.

Blake had spent most of the time after he got back from school getting the tree house and everything ready for when Eliza came over. He'd checked the weather every ten minutes or so, but each time it looked the same. It was going to be a clear night! But cold. So there were tons of blankets up in the tree house, just waiting to keep them warm.

Pillows? Check.

Blankets? Check.

Huge thermos of hot chocolate? Check.

Eliza? ....soon.

Blake had been down in his studio when Eliza had asked if she could come over. Of course he said yes! But that didn't change the fact that he'd allowed things to get a bit messy. Okay, more than a bit. When no one but him was ever down there, it made him not feel the complete urge to keep it tidy. Which was why he was running around the place, trying to make it look at least presentable. It didn't have to be pristine, just... presentable.

He hadn't been lying when he said he was listening to the Beatles, though. I've Just Seen A Face was blasting through the speakers, the Beatles playlist on his iTunes set on shuffle, and he honestly hadn't thought about how he was going to hear the doorbell all the way down in the basement with the music that loud.

On an average day, Sam was bouncing around happily. On his birthday, the day of his party and after a day of catching up with closest friends, he was almost literally bouncing off the walls.

He was also responsible for the whole house looking like a giant balloon (or the house from Up at least), the garden was filled with lights and more decorations and, after Lillian's party, Sam had insisted on a karaoke machine. The tables set up were packed with food and drink and the huge 'Happy Birthday' banner would have been more impressive, and more meaningful, if Sam hadn't made it himself at 2 o'clock that morning.

Sam was in his full pirate outfit and had been for most of the day. His friends from home (Lee, Andy, Ben, Rebecca and Lisa) were in the garden with him, or rather a cowboy and Han Solo were sneakily smoking his brother's cigarettes and making Sam feel like part of the Villlage People, Princess Fiona and John Lennon were surreptitiously attacking the chip bowl and Alice was not so much in wonderland as she was in the bathroom.

Sam himself was letting his mother kiss him goodbye and nodding that of course he'd behave as he waited for his guests. He was also wondering where Blake had wandered off it, wondering if he'd gone to retrieve the rum.

Mr. Schuester and Brad were all set for the kids to start performing. He knew there were some strong personalities paired up, and he just hoped that the kids would put aside their differences to do the assignment.

They had a lot to cover, so as soon as all the kids were assembled, he got their attention in order to start. "Okay, kids...what pair of you wants to go first?"

Blake was aware he was being impulsive and a little bit silly, but he didn't care. He just knew that it was super lame that it was Eliza's birthday and on her birthday she'd gotten potatoes dumped in her hair by some idiot meathead. That's not how a birthday was meant to be. Not at all.

So that was how he found himself on her doorstep, holding the fruits of his labor of running around his house trying to find something to take to her. Not exactly the best birthday material, but flowers from his mum's garden and a pint of ice cream wasn't too shabby as far as spur of the moment things went.

He knocked on the front door. Oh God, what was he doing? What if someone other than her answered the door -- he would seem like some creepy guy! Fingers crossed.

Eliza was sitting on the front steps of the new house, waiting for Blake to come by and pick her up to show her the town.

At first, her parents were a little worried about letting her just go off with a boy she barely knew, but then Eliza argued that anyone around here would be someone she barely knew, and they relented.

Besides, she needed to get out of the house, needed to take her mind off of the nervousness she had about school the next day. She'd been pacing around her room relentlessly, and was all too glad when the time approached where Blake would pick her up.

After having been cooped up with her parents and her two younger sisters for several days non-stop, Eliza was more than happy to get away from all of them to go shopping for school supplies on her own. Though she wasn't entirely sure what she'd need at the new school, certain things were always needed.

Which was why she was in the f.y.e. store, looking over the newer releases.

What? In her opinion this totally counts as school supplies.