"All right, let's uh, let's gather around." Mr. Schue said, walking into the choir room, causing everyone to break their conversations and get to their seats. "Sorry I'm late, guys. I was with Principle Figgins. Bad news, guys. Puckerman's in juvie."

"It really was just a matter of time."Tina said aloud.

"Huh? What did he do?" Haley asked, confused. Although, part of her wasn't surprised.

"He drove his mom's Volvo through the front of a convenience store and drove off with the ATM." Mr. Schue answered. Hearing this, Santana, and Brittany snickered, while Haley rolled her eyes.

"And when is he getting out?" Rachel asked.

"Unknown."

"He might be the dumbest person on this planet, and that's coming from me." Brittany stated.

"Oh Britt, your pure naiveness and innocence is immaculate." Haley said sarcastically under her breath, but loud enough to receive a small smile from Santana.

"Guys! Let's have some sympathy." Mr. Schue said firmly.

"For a guy who puts his needs before the team's?" Finn asked in disbelief, receiving a slap on the arm from Haley. "We need his voice and bad-boy presence."

"We can't look at this as a crisis. It's an opportunity." Mr. Schue said.

"For what? Further embarrassment and humiliation?" Quinn asked, and Haley nodded in agreement.

"For welcoming our new member...Sam Evans!"

At this news, Haley's face lit up. She leaned towards Santana. "Well my mood was just lifted." Santana sent her a knowing look, sending herself a note to get them together.

"Hey. everybody. I'm Sam. Sam, I am." He gave them a friendly smile after shaking hands with Mr. Schue. "And I don't like green eggs and ham." he added.

At this, Haley giggled lightly. He sent her a small smile, knowing how easy it was to get a reaction out of her.

"Oh, wow. He has no game." Santana scoffed.

"Okay! This is gonna be great." Finn said as he shaked Sam's hand.

"Oh, good." Sam replied.

"Sam, you sit right here." Finn gestured to the chair beside Haley, he sent her a wink, which she rolled her eyes at.

"I thought you weren't joining." Haley whispered to him.

"Changed my mind." Sam replied, sending her a smile.

"All right! Question for the group. What's a duet?" Mr. Schue asked/

"A blanket." Brittany answered, as Haley giggled softly.

"A duet is when two voices join to become one." Mr. Schue continued on with the lesson, ignoring Brittany's answer. "Great duets are like a great marriage. The singers complement each other, push each other to be better. Now, some people may think.. He continued on with the lesson, but Haley didn't catch the rest as she was distracted when Kurt whispered to her. "Psst. He's on team gay." he said to her and Mercedes

"Why would you think that?" whispered Haley.

"No straight boy dyes his hair to look Linda Evangelista circa 1993." He responded. Haley didn't want her answer to affect him, so she frowned and turned back to Sam, as they continued to talk.

"You're crazy, circa 2010." scoffed Mercedes, as Kurt just sent her a wink and turned his attention back to the lesson.

"That is what duets are all about. So this week I want you to pair up and sing a duet. And since you guys all seemed to love our little Defying Gravity diva-off, I'm making this a competition."

Hearing this, Haley lit up.

"What's the winner get?" Mike asked

"Dinner for two, on me...at Breadstix." He answered, causing everyone to cheer.

"Breadstix, yes!" Tina grinned.

"I have to win.: Santana said, as Brittany nodded in agreement.

"I love this ideas!" Tina said, excitedly, and repeated her sentence again.

Haley began to see that everyone had found partners, and glanced at Sam. She wasn't the only one who had her eyes on him, she caught Kurt staring too. She knew she probably wouldn't have a chance. It wasn't that bad to ask though, right? She figured that if it came to the worse, she would do a solo or just watch the competition.

----

Later on as she was looking through her locker, she flinched as she saw Karofsky and Azimio walking towards her with slushies. She closed her eyes and looked away, only to see them walk past her and down the hallway. She followed them and saw them slush Sam right in his face. "Boom!" Karofsky laughed. "Welcome to glee club, lady lips!"Azimio added as they both walked off laughing, leaving Sam shocked and frozen in his place.

Haley thanked god that she had her cheer bag with her and approached Sam. She grabbed his hand, guiding him towards the girls washroom. She then reached into her bag and pulled her towel out as he washed the heavy ice from his face, when he finished, he turned to Haley who smiled and approached him with her towel. She began to help clean him up a little bit better.

"The blueberry flavor is the worst, especially if it gets down your pants. "She said, breaking the silence. "I looked like a creature out of Avatar down there when I got slushied."

"I saw Avatar, like six times." He smiled at her as she giggled.

"Oh really, you did?" she asked, continuing to wipe the pieces of ice that remained in his hair. Anyways, you get used to it."

"You're co-captain of the Cheerios, aren't you?" he asked, as she sighed and nodded. "Why do you even bother? I mean, you don't need glee club."

"I like to sing...maybe not always in front of everyone." She said. "And the fact is, no one in that cheering squad is really my friend. They are constantly teasing me about my struggles and-and." She rambled, and stopped herself before continuing, fearing she had said too much. "Not like they are in glee club. And when you realize your teammates on your football team aren't' your friends either, I can guarantee that you'll be grateful to have a family in glee.

As she finished, she left her towel on the sink. Sam smiled and frowned when she left it. "You forgot your towel." He said, as she gave him a small smile.

"Keep it. You'll need it a lot more than me this week" she smiled and shrugged her shoulders, leaving the room.

-----

Later on, after watching Mercedes and Santana's incredible rendition of River Deep, Mountain High, Haley was wandering the hallways as she bumped right into Sam.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry." Haley said.

"It's totally fine." Sam replied, smiled down at her.

An awkward silence lingered the empty hallways as Haley, silently scolded herself for being so short and occasionally awkward.

"So, do you have a duet partner yet?" she asked, silently praying he was still free.

"Actually yeah, I'm singing with Quinn." he answered. Hearing this, her heart began to break, as she looked away, finally mustering the courage to look back up at him.

"I tried to kiss her, and she freaked out and ran out of the room. However, after some convincing from both Finn and Rachel, we are back to being partners for the assignment." He added.

"Oh..." she replied, not sure what to say. "Well I'm glad you are back to being partners then."

"Yeah." he said.

"Well I have to go... but good luck... and maybe if you are fortunate, something will grow out of your partnership in this assignment." She rambled. "I-- I have to go now." She took off down the hallway, with tears beginning to flow down her face.

She didn't hear him calling for her, because she was too shocked and zoned out. She took off down some hallways and made a run for the bathroom, she locked herself in a stall and cried her eyes out. She eventually went to look at her tear stained face and washed her face, reapplying her makeup. She was sad that he only saw her as a "friend." She thought something could happen. "Why do the good people always experience the hardest difficulties." she said quietly. As she glanced at herself once more, she put on an exaggerated fake smile and walked out of the bathroom.

---

Haley had been granted permission to sing a solo song to the group, for which she was nervous. After seeing Kurt's solo performance, she knew she couldn't beat that talent.

As she prepared for her solo performance, after Finn and Rachel's horrifying duet, she grabbed her ukulele from Santana and made herself comfortable on a stool in the middle of the room

"Mr. Schue has granted me permission to sing a solo song, and this is my first solo in front of everyone, so I hope you enjoy it." She said trying to mask her pain as she spoke. However, Santana could see the pain behind her eyes, and noted that she would get to the bottom of this. She began to strum her ukulele, and sang a gentle version of the song she picked.

{CAN"T HELP FALLING IN LOVE-

SUNG BY HALEY ALDRIN}

As she was singing, Santana and Britt looked at her with proud faces. She noticed Kurt tearing up, Rachel whacking Finn who was into the song. She saw Sam smiling at her, almost as if he was trying to comprehend the song. His eyes said otherwise, as he glanced at Quinn, giving her a smile. At this gesture, Haley closed her eyes and continued to sing.

Once she finished everyone clapped, Brittany and Santana clapping the loudest. Rachel was even clapping.

"Thank you everyone." she said, as she got up and went to sit down in her original spot.

"Was that song intended for anyone?" asked Santana. "Um, no, I'd rather not say." she replied feeling her cheeks grow red.

:Well, getting back on track, who's next?" asked Mr. Schue. He smiled as Sam and Quinn stood up and walked to the centre. "Alright."

"Okay, I just want to say I'm really excited, and that I couldn't have asked for a better partner." Sam said while picking up his guitar. He sent Quinn a smile, and she blushed and looked down.

{LUCKY-SUNG

By QUINN AND SAM}

Haley didn't really know what to feel. She couldn't conjure the right emotions or formulate adequate words. She just knew that should be her. After all, she struggled constantly, and she thought she would have a chance with him. Of course it had to be one of her best friends instead.

She crossed her arms, trying to avoid the fact that she wanted to sink into the floor or walk out.

"So freakin' charming." Santana scoffed as Haley nodded.

Haley silently groaned, and tried to ignore her heart slowly breaking. It was truly painful to watch, but they were really good, she had to admit

---

Once they finished, Santana dragged her into an empty classroom.

"Okay, no lying, I want the truth. Spill." she demanded, as Haley sighed, turning to look at the chalkboard and looking back at her.

"Fine, since there is clearly no way out of this I'll spill. I'm angry...no wait, envious. That should be me. All my life, I have never felt truly loved. In fact, I feel resented by my family. And I thought Sam liked me, and that we would have a chance. Oh, but no, he had to choose freaking Quinn Fabray."

Santana went to interject, but Haley continued her rant.

"You don't know what it feels like to grow up in a family where you are invisible, especially to your mom. I feel like I don't matter, still I strive to impress, knowing my talents and attempts won't be acknowledged...My mom is so unaware of my presence. I had to independently grow up, teaching myself everything, yes and even in puberty I had no mother figure. She is always gone, and if she is around, she is unaware that I'm literally still in existence. My dad, if you want the real truth, he's abusive. Mentally and verbally, occasionally physical. That--that is why I stick around school longer, why I try to join you and Britt on your Breadstix outings. It is because I have struggled not only with mental health, bullying and insecurities, but because I don't feel genuinely loved. In fact, you know, I'm a burden to many, and maybe I don't deserve to be loved...I just---I--I." and with that she broke down.

This side of Haley was new to Santana. She knew her as always putting on a smile and trying to help others instead of prioritizing her needs. She was someone who wasn't vulnerable 24/7 and tried to mask the pain.

Instead of scolding her, Santana walked over to her and wrapped Haley into her arms as she comforted her, while Haley continued to cry. Santana could have sworn she felt her heart breaking at her friend's vulnerable outburst. She didn't want to ruin anything, so she continued to calmly talk to her friend and comfort her.

She wasn't the only one who had seen Haley's outburst, a few of the Glee members had also passed by the classroom door and saw her break. They knew they needed to confront her later on, when the time was right.

---

Quinn and Sam had won the duet assignment and they just happened to be in a booth at Breadstix a few booths over from Haley and Brittany.

Haley had agreed to bring Brittany, and because of her Lady and the Tramp obsession, she wanted to play with spaghetti and meatballs in hopes they would turn into dogs. Haley had complied to this, but didn't expect to see Quinn and Sam there as well.

"Am I transforming into a dog yet?" Brittany asked her as she rolled the meatball around her plate with her nose.

"No sweetie." Haley sighed, too distracted by the couple laughing and giggling. She overheard Quinn say something about a first date, and that got to her.

After sitting there a few more minutes, Haley decided she couldn't be there, but didn't know how to explain it to Brittany. So she came up with a simplistic sentence."

"Okay, Britt, I'm sorry but we have to go. I'll watch you reenact Lady and the Tramp another time." she said apologetically, and without an answer Brittany complied to her. After they paid and walked towards the doors, Brittany was convinced she was a dog so Haley had to practically drag her out of Breadstix in hopes that her dignity wasn't ruined by public humiliation.

••••••••••

What did you all think?! My girl Haley had her first solo! Thoughts and song ideas?