―

―

"YOU'VE GOT THIS, OKAY?" Katie told Hunter as he stood outside of the choir room.

"Okay," Hunter nodded, letting out a nervous breath, "I'll see you later." He told his girlfriend, kissing her on the cheek before entering the classroom and making his way to Mr. Schuester's office.

The boy lightly knocked on the doorframe, making the Spanish teacher look up.

"Hunter," Mr. Schue greeted him with a smile, "How can I help you?" He asked, gesturing for the boy to sit in the empty chair across from him.

"Uh, Tina told me you guys are doing Rock Horror as a musical?"

"That's right." Mr. Schuester nodded.

"Well, I um," Hunter swallowed thickly, rubbing his sweaty hands on his jeans, "I was wondering if you needed any help, like, backstage, or directing or anything. It's stupid, I know, i just wanted to-"

"Hunter," Mr. Schuester cut him off, "I would love for you to be my co-director."

Hunter let out the breath he was holding, "Okay, cool. Great. I'll see you at lunch then." He nodded, before leaving the choir room, Mr. Schuester smiling after him as he did.

―

Mr. Schuester entered the choir room, seeing the Glee club getting ready for their rehearsal, "Alright guys before we start, I have an announcement," He said, heads turning towards him, "I'd like for you all to welcome our new assistant director, Hunter Larklee!" He grinned, holding his hands out towards the door, where the boy was stood awkwardly in the doorway.

The brunette sent them small wave, "Hi."

The club burst out into smiles and laughter, all of them greeting him with a warm hug.

"Proud of you." Quinn whispered to him.

"Alright, places," Mr. Schue told them all, Brittany taking Hunter's hand and leading him to sit down next to her, putting her head on his shoulder, "Finn and Rachel. I'm going to start with 'Damn It, Janet;."

"Oh, I cannot wait until Finn takes he top off so we can all see the hot mess underneath." Santana smirked.

Finn paled, "What are you talking about?"

"You can't have sloppy -joe's every day for lunch and think you can get away with it." Brittany chortled, making Hunter lightly elbow the Cheerio next to him.

Rachel let out a scoff, "Um, that's incredibly rude!"

Quinn raised an eyebrow, "Is it? Guys whisper behind our backs about how we look every day! They objectify us all the time."

"She sort of has a point. Tina agreed.

"Yeah, earlier today, Artie asked me if he could make a gigantic omelette when I'm done with the ostrich eggs I'm smuggling in my bra." Santana glared over at the said boy, the other members of the Glee club raising an eyebrow at him as he tried to look innocent.

"Dude." Hunter wined, sending him a look.

"I'm super looking forward to seeing Sam in his gold bikini." Brittany grinned over at her fellow blonde.

Sam smirked, "It's going to be abulous."

"Can we get on with rehearsal?" Finn tried to change the subject.

Rachel nodded, "Yeah!"

"I agree, yes," Mr, Schuester said, "Let's stay focused, guys. Alright, Riff Raff, Columbia and Magenta team one, take yours places. Let's rock n' roll."

[ damn it, janet, rehearsed by finn and rachel, with tina, quinn and santana ]

―

Hunter sat next to Santana as they watched Mr. Schuester, Miss. Pillsbury and her hot dentist boyfriend - Carl - were talking about the musical.

"Oh my God, he's so hot." Hunter whispered, staring with wide eyes.

"I know, right." Santana agreed.

"I don't understand." Mr. Schuester said.

"Well, you guys have a hole to fill and I'm just trying to help fill it." Carl shrugged.

"Wanky." Santana smirked.

Miss. Pillsbury sent the Cheerio a glare, "Santana!"

"Well, you know, I can't just give you a role!" Mr. Schue said, "You have to try out."

"Well, fair enough," Carl nodded, "But, I'll need a lady to sing to. Ems?"

"Okay."

Carl turned to Brad, "Hot Patootie, B flat."

[ hot patootie, sung by carl, with the new directions ]

"Holy crap, he's good." Hunter panted as he wrapped an arm around Quinn's shoulders, out of breath the dancing he did - dancing, not singing.

"Wait, wait! This will not do!" Coach Sylvester cried out, stopping anymore joy.

Carl raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"For this musical to continue we need a Frankenfurter, not an Eddie!" Sue exclaimed, "Eddie was eliminated in my rewrites!"

"Sue's right," Mr. Schue nodded, making Hunter raise an eyebrow, "You want to play in our sandbox? Sing a Frankefurter number."

"Well, I'm sorry, bro. I think it's fine to wear that Franken-bustier in the privacy of your own home – I'm freaky like that. But, don't you think it's a little inappropriate in a high school musical? At least if I play Eddie, I won't have to grind up against the students." Carl said to him.

Santana eagerly raised her hand to volunteer, Mercedes pushing her hand down.

"You know Eddie's an important role," Carl told Mr. Schue, "If I did it, I'd be showing my support for the arts."

Mr. Schuester chuckled, taking a step forwards, "Are you telling me how to direct my show?"

"Will, Will!"

"Mr. Schue?" Mercedes nervously stepped forward, "I'd like to play Frankenfurter. I was re-reading the script yesterday and it said, 'Don't dream it, be it'. And it's my dream to play a lead role so, I figure, why not me? I mean, I'd be all kinds of crazy sexy in that outfit. And, I can reinterpret the number a little bit, making it more modern. I'd really like the chance Mr. Schue."

"And as assistant director, I totally agree with everything she just said," Hunter told him, stepping forward and putting his hands on Mercedes shoulders and resting his chin on one of them, "Including the all kinds of crazy sexy part - but respectfully as I totally respect you, Cedes."

"Thank you, Hunter."

"Well, there you go, Will," Sue grinned, "You killed two birds with one stone here today. Congratulations! Look, you got yourself a Frankenfurter and an Eddie. This is outstanding!"

Everybody clapped and Mr. Schuester begrudgingly shook Carl's hand as Hunter let out a cheer, wrapping Mercedes in a warm embrace.

―

Hunter sat in between Mr. Schuester and Miss. Pillsbury, sorting out his part of the desk, preparing for the first dress rehearsal.

"Are you prepared for our first dress rehearsal?" Mr. Schuester asked the pair.

"Mmhmm!" Miss. Pillsbury grinned.

"Let's go!" Hunter drummed his hands excitedly on the table.

"Okay, guys. Places!" Mr. Schue called into the mic, the curtain opening to reveal the Glee club on stage in their costumes.

Finn took a step forward, calling out, "Um, Mr. Schue? I know I'm supposed to be in my underwear for this scene and I'm totally down with that but, um, I thought I'd save it for the opening, if that okay?"

His teacher nodded, giving him a thumbs up.

Sam, then made his way onto the stage, in his golden shorts, his hands covering the lower area, "Um, also, Ms. Pillsbury? Is there a way I can wear some gold board shorts or something? These are really short and I'm afraid I'm going to show off some nuttage."

Hunter's face burned bright red as he focused his gaze on his notes and Miss. Pillsbury spluttered out an answer.

"Well-"

"We'll take a note," Mr. Schue nodded, "We can't stop guys! It's a dress rehearsal. C'mon, keep going! And action!"

"Oh, Brad! Let's get out of here. I'm cold and I'm wet and I'm just plain scared!" Rachel dramatically acted.

Finn cleared his throat, his voice dropping an octave, "Well, I'm here and there's nothing to worry about."

Rachel then screamed and fainted as Mercedes came down the elevator as Frankenfurter, making Hunter grin widely.

[ sweet transvestite, performed by mercedes, with quinn and santana ]

The three people in the audience clapped and cheered - Hunter just that extra bit louder - when Carl suddenly drove through the wall on his motorcycle.

"Now, that's an entrance!" Ms. Pillsbury smiled.

Carl took his helmet off, seeing the look on Mr. Schuester's face, "Mr. Director, did I take that wall out right?"

Mr. Schue's jaw clenched, "You're two acts early, Carl! You're supposed to bust through the dinner party scene!"

"Well, I was sort of feeling my entrance in this scene." Carl shrugged.

Ms. Pillsbury nodded excitedly, applauding her boyfriend, "Such good, good interesting impulses."

"Really brilliant Carl." Hunter joined in with a similar facial expression.

Mr. Schuester rolled his eyes, "Bravo, Carl! Bravo."

―

Rocky Horror had been cancelled.

"I want to apologize for putting you guys through all of this, particularly, Finn and Sam." Mr. Schuester said as he stood in front of the club and Hunter.

"It's cool, Mr. Schue. I'm sure all the teasing will die down by the time our tenth reunion rolls around." Finn frowned.

From the seat behind him, Hunter clapped Finn on the shoulder, "I think you looked marvellous, bud."

"Thanks, dude."

"And I got asked to be June in the men of McKinley High calendar." Sam grinned.

"I'm happy for you but we still can't do the musical. I was wrong," Mr. Schuester told them, "Rocky Horror isn't about pushing boundaries or making an audience accept a certain rebellious point of view. Those were my reasons for doing it and they aren't worth risking what we have here. When I was younger and they started midnight shows of Rocky Horror it wasn't for envelope-pushers. It was for outcasts. People on the fringes who had no place left to go but were searching for some place, any place where they felt like they belonged. Sound familiar? The truth is, with that perspective Rocky Horror is the perfect show for this club."

"Well, then why aren't we putting it on?" Santana asked.

"We're still going to perform Rocky Horror we're just not doing it for an audience, we're doing it for ourselves." Mr. Schuester smiled.

[ the time warp, performed by the new directions ]

From their seats in the audience, Mr. Schuester and Hunter grinned, clapping and cheering the club on.