⋮♫⋮

⋮♫⋮

Finn Hudson was stuck.

He had gotten the New Directions to Regionals, which had been the goal from the moment Mr. Shue had given him the job. The problem was, however, that he had no idea where to go from there. Finn's lack of direction for the Glee club was what led to him and Keilani sitting in his office, trying their best to come up with lesson ideas.

"There's ten days until Mr. Shue's back for his wedding," Finn told her. "And I'm kind of hoping that he doesn't kick me out on the street, but he probably wants his Glee club back."

"I hope he doesn't. You've been really great coach. Everyone loves you in there. Plus, you helped lead an inexperienced team all the way to Regionals and help expose the Warblers for the steroids."

"That's the thing, though. Regionals is a completely different ball game. You need these big, brassy voices to bully the competition. Rachel, Santana, Mercedes...even Kurt."

Finn tried to take a sip of his coffee and winced at the bitterness of the drink. Keilani pulled a spare sugar packet out of her backpack that she had used for her coffee that morning and handed it to him, earning a grateful smile from him. As he poured the sugar into his coffee, Keilani said, "Like I said before, most people are super inexperienced with being in the spotlight. Even though most of us have been in the New Directions for years, none of us have really been in the 'spotlight' before besides Unique and Blaine. I think we're just a little new to it."

"It's more than just the singing though..." Finn said. "It's about the attitude, you know? We didn't just want to win, we wanted to crush them. And I don't think the New Directions right now are in that headspace yet."

"Honestly, I think you're right," Keilani responded. "It's not like we don't have a bunch of huge voices and talents. It's just that the Glee club is...a lot nicer to each other than we used to be, minus a few exceptions. It's not perfect, and while I loved the New Directions in the past, we had a lot of moments where we were awful to each other. And even though I'm happy that everyone's not constantly backstabbing each other like we used to, the constant fighting and 'attitude' created some really great performances."

"So...what are you suggesting?" Finn asked. "We have another Rumours week where we just feed a bunch of fake gossip to the club and make them all fight with each other?"

As much as she tried not to, Keilani let out a small laugh at the ridiculousness of the suggestion, "Are you kidding? We both know how badly that ended last time."

"You're right...maybe we just need something that'll toughen them up?" Suddenly, Finn had a light-bulb moment. "We need a competition. Something light-hearted, but gets them in the headspace to crush the competition at Regionals."

"That sounds awesome! Competition weeks are like my favorite weeks. Just one thing: can there actually be a winner this time? I don't think we've actually had a winner before besides the time you and Rachel rigged the duets competition."

Finn laughed and agreed. "Don't worry, I'll make sure there's a winner this time around."

⋮♫⋮

After recruiting Ms. Pillsbury as a "celebrity judge" for the upcoming Diva Competition, Finn was ready to present that week's lesson to the Glee club. He wrote the word 'Diva' on the whiteboard and then turned around to explain, "So, now that we're back in the game, we've got to come on strong. Diva Week is all about finding your inner powerhouse. Ms. Pillsbury?"

"That's right!" Ms. Pillsbury agreed enthusiastically, excited to not only be taking part in the Glee club's lesson but also to have a small distraction from the craziness of wedding planning. She held up a small notecard and read out, "The Online Urban Dictionary defines as 'Diva' as: A fierce, often temperamental singer who comes correct. She is not a trick-ass hoe, and she does not sweat the haters."

Jake groaned and rolled his eyes. "Great, so I guess the guys are screwed this week."

Leaning forward in his seat, Blaine cleared his throat and challenged, "Um...guys can be diva's too."

"That's right, we all have inner divas!" Ms. Pillsbury said with a smile. "I myself have been considered quite a diva at many a local restaurant because I know what I want and I will send it back."

With a smug look on her face, Unique turned to look at the group and commented, "You might as well quit while you're ahead because there are only two ways to spell Unique, and one of them is d-i-v-a...m'kay?"

"I have more diva in my little finger than you have in your whole body, Unique," Tina challenged, already set on winning this competition.

Starting to feel defensive of her best friend, Marley interjected, "Tina, you've been kind of talking some ridiculous trash for months, unchallenged, and that stops now."

"You guys, I'm going to win Diva Week," Brittany spoke up with a confident smile. "And you know how I know that? It's because I'm a diva."

diva | performed by unique, blaine, tina, brittany, marley, and kitty

⋮♫⋮

Even though Blaine was set on proving that men could be divas, the cold he was starting to get seemed to be holding him back. Still, Blaine stood at his locker, trying his best to push through his illness for his upcoming performance despite the fact that he couldn't stop coughing and had a minor headache.

Worried about the state of their friend, Keilani and Sam found him leaning against his open locker with a dazed look on his face, looking paler than usual. Blaine hadn't even noticed the concerned couple until Keilani tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned his head, Blaine saw her holding a Tupperware container in her hands. "Hey guys!" He greeted. "What's up?"

"This is my mom's famous Sick Soup," Keilani explained with a wide grin, holding out the Tupperware container towards him. "Legend has it that it can cure almost any minor ailment, including the flu, in like a day. You looked like you were about to pass out almost all day yesterday, so I went home and had my mom help me make some."

Blaine gratefully accepted the container, but still asked, "Any chance it'll cure me in the next hour so I can perform without passing out in front of the whole club? I used some of Tina's Cold Buster kit, but I don't think the effects haven't kicked in yet."

"You can definitely try! Honestly, I think that anything could help."

"And if you faint, Lani will prop you up and I'll do my best Blaine impression and keep singing," Sam offered in complete seriousness. "Then once the song is done, we'll take you straight to the nurses' office. I promise."

"It'll awesome to be a diva for a little while, even if it means you're passed out," Keilani joked. "Being a diva sounds kind of fun."

Sam made a small noise that sounded like a laugh. When Keilani turned to look at Blaine, he was biting his lip as if he was trying to hold back a smile. "What's so funny?" She asked. "Why are you guys trying not to laugh?"

The two guys shared a look and silently decided that Sam would be the one to break the news to her. "Lani, I love you, but you definitely aren't a diva."

"Are you kidding? What if I wanted to be a diva?"

That's when Blaine couldn't hold back his laughter anymore. "You're like the least diva-like person I know. You care way too much about making sure other people are okay and are happy to be a diva," Blaine managed to say once he had finished laughing. "The closest you came to being a diva was when you played Rizzo, and even then, you became like a completely different person."

"When you're angry, we know we've messed up bad," Sam said, earning a nod of agreement from Blaine. "It's just...terrifying. You don't beat us up physically – you beat us up with words."

"The one time you actually beat someone up was hilarious," Blaine added with a small laugh as he remembered the famous incident the year before during Michael week. "But Sam's right. It really takes a lot to make you angry. With divas, the smallest mistake can infuriate them."

Keilani crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, even though she knew deep down that the two boys were totally right. "Fine," She eventually said with a small smile. "I'll settle for being a really great assistant for Blaine. You have my full permission to throw your hair gel at me in a diva fit."

Blaine shook his head. "That would hurt you too much. Maybe I'll hit you with a hairbrush or something like that."

"That sounds incredible. I'll be looking forward to it."

Despite his cold, Blaine let out a loud laugh. He then said goodbye to the couple, leaving them standing by his locker. As the two made their way towards Sam's nearby locker, Keilani said, "Since you and I aren't competing in the competition, I figured we'd put together the coolest celebration ever for whoever wins." She gasped excitedly as she thought of a new idea. "Let's get confetti cannons!"

Grinning, Sam opened up his locker and gestured to the contents of it. "Way ahead of you, Lani," Sam exclaimed proudly. "I've been waiting forever to use these."

As Keilani started to grab the confetti cannons, she couldn't help but ask, "Why do you have so many of these?"

"You never know when you're going to need to celebrate! I want to be prepared!"

⋮♫⋮

Santana Lopez wasn't sure how she felt about being back in Lima. Hearing the way the Glee club praised her performance made her feel happy in the moment, but it was only a brief distraction from how insecure she felt about dropping out of college and not having any idea what to do next. No one, however, seemed to realize this.

Well, everyone except for two people.

Brittany had already talked to Santana earlier that day in the library, but Keilani didn't manage to find her until after the day had ended in the auditorium. Santana was standing alone onstage, so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't realize Keilani was there until she was standing right next to her and said, "That was a totally awesome performance earlier."

Santana flinched and clutched her hands over her chest. "I think I just felt my damn heart stop!" She exclaimed. "You can congratulate me without killing me!"

"It wasn't like I was trying to be quiet!" Keilani laughed. "I just wanted to come talk to you about your song!"

"What about it? Like how awesome it was? Because I think you could do that without killing me in the process."

"Well, yeah, you sounded amazing, but something just seemed...off with you afterwards." Santana's composure cracked a little bit when she realized that Keilani had been able to see through the confident façade she had put on to the Glee club. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Because I know you won't leave me alone until I don't..." Santana mumbled before sighing. "I dropped out of college a month ago. And Coach Sue just offered me a job as the Cheerios coach...but I don't want to do that either."

"You don't have to if you don't want to. But do you know what you want to do now?"

Santana was quiet for a few moments, debating silently whether to tell Keilani about what she truly wanted to do. But then, Santana realized that there was few people she could trust to give her an honest yet encouraging opinion, it was Keilani.

"I want to move to New York," She confessed. "I want to be famous, maybe even a star on Broadway." Santana then crossed her arms over her chest and muttered, "But maybe I won't. Maybe I should just stay in Lima for a little while longer. Figure out what I really want to do."

"But isn't New York what you really want? You just told me that it was," Keilani prodded. "If it counts, I think you'd be incredible in New York. You have this sort of star power that can't be matched. It's one of the reasons you're still so intimidating to me to this day," She told her with a smile. "Plus, from what Kurt's been telling me, Rachel's been even more of a nightmare ever since she won the Winter Showcase, and so I think he'd want you to knock her down a few pegs."

Santana didn't say anything at first, but Keilani could tell that she had been convinced. She didn't know how she could, but there was just something about the look on Santana's face that made Keilani sure that Santana would be on the next train to New York City.

"Well how I could I resist that," Santana eventually mumbled, letting out a small laugh. "I can't wait to see the look on Rachel's face when I show up on her doorstep without any warning."

"I think Kurt will just be happy that there will be someone else to help split the rent. Before you go though, I just have a quick question before you head off to New York and become this incredible. I kind of meant to ask you this back in June, but I never really found the opportunity." Santana nodded, gesturing for Keilani to continue. "Why were you never that mean to me in high school? Compared to everyone else, you seemed to insult me way less than everyone else."

"Rachel was sitting right there. It was just so much easier to go after her. Plus, you spent half your time making heart eyes at Lipsy McChapstick that you probably wouldn't have even noticed, and that's not fun."

A knowing look appeared at Keilani's face. "Okay first, I know for a fact you were trying to set me and Sam up for months, so you can't act like you think we're annoying. Also...I know that's not the only reason you didn't make fun of me."

Santana sighed and admitted, "Britt always really liked you, and whenever someone made fun of you, she'd get kind of upset. So...I just stopped for the sake of her, even though I always wanted to tell you that you dressed like you just spent a month at your grandmother's cottage in the middle of the woods with no access to technology or fashion magazines." Santana then looked Keilani up and down. "You still dress like that, too."

After a few seconds, Santana let out a sigh and admitted, "...and you and Mercedes were like the only people in that club I could bear to be around for more than five minutes." When she saw a small grin beginning to appear on Keilani's face, she added, "Even though you smile way too much for your own good, you're probably the least annoying person in that room. And you've been helpful towards Britt this year, especially after we broke up."

"From you, that's like the greatest compliment ever."

Santana looked like she was about to say goodbye and walk off the stage, but then she stopped herself and turned back around to look at Keilani "Just curious...any idea where you're going to be next year? I want to mentally prepare myself if I have to end up dealing with you and Trouty making New York even more gross than it already is."

"I don't know where I'm going to end up next year," She responded, fiddling with her hands awkwardly. "Definitely won't be in New York. It would nice to get out of Lima for a little while, though." Keilani took a step towards Santana and extended her arms out to her. "I know you don't like hugs, but I don't think I'm going to see you for a while. So I kind of want to hug you if that's alright."

Even though Santana rolled her eyes, she couldn't help but smile as she pulled Keilani into a hug. "Thank you," She said quietly, and it was all she really needed to say.

Keilani hugged her a little tighter and told her, "You know I'll always be there for you."

⋮♫⋮

After school, Keilani happened to be walking by Tina's locker when she found her beaming at her locker, practically bouncing in place as she began packing up her bag.

"Hey, Tina!" She waved. "What's up? You seem really excited about something."

"I am really excited!" Tina exclaimed in a happy voice as she slammed her locker shut. "Blaine's still feeling pretty sick, so I'm going over to help him. I think some Vapo-Rub, more soup, and even more cold medicine might help."

When she saw the delighted smile on Tina's face and begin to skip down the hallway, Keilani narrowed her eyes suspiciously and ran to catch up with her. "Tina...please answer me seriously: are you still in love with Blaine?"

"Well, 'in love' might not be the correct term but–"

"Tina–"

"It's fine–"

Tina's crush on Blaine had been a running joke in the New Directions ever since her infamous song asking him to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Keilani had naively thought that Tina was over Blaine after he rejected. However, Keilani realized that she needed to slap some sense into Tina immediately. 

"Are you okay?" Keilani interjected in a loud, shocked voice before Tina could continue on. "Like are you legitimately okay right now?"

"What do you mean?"

"What happened to you? You were the sweetest, most supportive person ever for three years, and then you suddenly went off the rails the summer after junior year. Half the time, you're so rude and mean to everyone in the club that no one wants to be around you. You treated Marley horribly after what happened at Sectionals, even though you and I both know that what happened wasn't her fault. And now you're crazy in love with Blaine Anderson – someone who will never love you back the way you want him too? What's going on with you?"

Tina was quiet for a few seconds as she toke in Keilani's words. Keilani was a little terrified, as she hadn't meant to have all her thoughts spill out so suddenly, and she didn't want Tina to get angry at here or hate her.

Then Tina burst into tears.

"You're right! I have become this awful person!" Tina wailed as Keilani tentatively wrapped her arms around the sobbing girl, feeling a little guilty that she had caused such a huge reaction from Tina. "All I care about is myself and how many stupid solos I get and I'm so obsessed with a guy who'd never feel the same way about me the way I feel about him! I'm a self-obsessed hag! Oh God, I'm worse than Rachel Berry!"

"You're not worse than Rachel," Keilani reassured, trying her best to get Tina to stop crying. Mainly because Keilani hated seeing her friend in this state, but also because Tina's tears were starting to stain the shoulder of her dress. "You actually seem to feel guilty for how you're acting. And you're not a horrible person. You just needed a bit of an attitude check."

"I just want to feel appreciated for once," Tina sniffled. Keilani pulled a pack of tissues out of her backpack and handed them to her, which Tina gratefully accepted. "I thought that maybe if I asserted myself the way that Rachel did, then maybe I'd get the same praise that she did. I used to have Mike who made me feel that way, but after we broke up...I think I just want someone to love me."

"We all love you in the Glee club. If we didn't, you would've been kicked out of the club at this point for some of the stuff you've said," Keilani told her. "We're a family, and being a family means that we call you out on your shit."

Even though Tina was still wiping the tears off her cheeks, she couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "You guys are the best thing to ever happen to me," She said. "I should probably start treating you guys like it."

"I think you should. If you want...me and Britt are getting milkshakes and fries tonight. Do you want to come with?" Keilani offered. "Sure, we can't replace the way Mike made you feel. But we can make sure that you feel less lonely and a lot more loved."

"Drowning my sorrows in milkshakes sound really nice," Tina chuckled, finally beginning to smile. "Thank you. You're seriously the best."

"I try my best," Keilani smiled, poking Tina on the cheek. "I wouldn't be trying this hard to help you out if I didn't already know you're totally awesome. You've just been having a crazy horrible time lately."

The two stood up with their arms wrapped around each other, and Tina couldn't help but feel thankful that she had friends who stuck with her through all her craziness.

⋮♫⋮

a/n:

hi guys!!

so i moved into my college dorm last week, and it's been boiling hot in my room because the temperature been anywhere between 85-100 degrees and my dorm building doesn't have ac. i haven't turned off my fans in **days**.

also, from this point on, tina's arc/personality in s4/s5 is getting changed because what the FUCK happened to her on the show ???!!! she's going to be a way nicer person and be more like the tina we loved in the past three seasons.

i hope you guys all enjoyed the chapter!! i'll see you at the next update, and i hope you all have a lovely day!!

- g ♡