I LIKE YOU MORE THAN I REMEMBER!

{tw: this chapter talks about eating disorders. please, please let me know if im not portraying this topic correctly and i will educate myself further and rewrite <3}

HAVING SECTIONALS ON THANKSGIVING WAS A PERFECT EXCUSE FOR SOME OLD FRIENDS TO HELP OUT WITH THE NEW DIRECTIONS. Gathering in the choir room, Finn Hudson was stood in front of the glee club with the alumni stood besides him facing their younger friends and the newer members of the glee club ready to help with the rehearsals for the upcoming Sectionals and mentor the new members.

With the introductions complete, Finn was eager to move on to his plan for the week and the set list for Sectionals itself. After pairing up a new member of glee club with a mentor, he began to explain, "now your mentors are here to help you with whatever you need: singing, dancing..."

"Birth control." Quinn finished off through a chuckle.

Particularly delighted with her mentor, Kitty gazed up at Quinn with shining eyes, "your so funny and self-deprecating, we're so alike!"

Disguising her snort of laughter with a cough, Tessa pushed her face into Jake's shoulder to stop herself from laughing anymore as he chuckled along, both of them using the back of the classroom to stay hidden whilst Santana raised her eyebrows, "wanky." She smirked, just pleased to be able to slip her catchphrase into conversation.

Moving past this, Finn held his hand out towards two members of the glee club with proud smiles, "Blaine and Marley will handle our duet." He announced. Leaning forward, Tessa put a hand on each of their shoulders, giving them an encouraging shake, pleased for both of them. Once the words of encouragement (and a half sigh of irritation from Tina) had died down, Finn tried to contain his excitement, "and for our showstopper... Gangnam style."

This time, Sam, Tessa, Jake and Mike all struggled to control their laughter, sat right at the back of the choir room, having to avoid eye contact with one another so not to let the laughs escape their lips.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Santana was eager to say exactly what she thought about the set list, "okay Lumps, let me say out loud what everyone here is thinking: you finally got an okay haircut, you're not doing that annoying half smirk as much as you used to, but you're still an idiot. No one in this room can handle a massive dance number except Tess and Britt. That includes your little hand-jive that, to me, looked more like a handj—"

"God, I've missed her." Tessa whispered in full adoration, overshadowed as Joe came to save the day, cutting Santana off, "Is there anyway that Mr Schue can come back for this?"

Filled with confidence in himself and the group, Finn held his hands out to calm them all down, "listen to me, we've never lost Sectionals before and there's no way that we're gonna do it under my watch. We can and we will succeed. We need an ambitious number with a strong dance element, that's the Warbler's calling card and we need to blow them out of the water. Tess has offered to choreograph the two numbers and Mike has said that he could easily teach it to one of the guys."

Both furrowing their eyebrows as all eyes turned to them, Tessa and Mike spoke at the same time, "I did?"

Realizing he knew that he'd forgotten something, Finn squeezed his eyes shut and facepalmed, "crap, I uh, I forgot to ask you guys about that."

"It doesn't matter, I'd love to help." Tessa reassured him, quickly, so not to lose the spot she'd been given. Beaming to herself, she could barely hide how excited she was and how pleased she was that Finn had even thought of her. Mr Schue never would've even considered her to even help choreography, he only found out that she could really dance at Booty Camp despite teaching her for two years before. Finn had known that she'd wanted to be a choreographer or a dancer for as long as they'd been friends and she was grateful that he'd immediately thought of her. Snapping her out of her thoughts, Sam had seen her try to hide her pride and wrapped his arm over her shoulder, proudly placing a kiss to her temple, leaving his arm draped around her as he turned back to listen to Finn.

"But one of our guys is gonna have to take the lead with Tess or Britt, who's it gonna be?" Finn asked.

Immediately spinning round to face Jake, next to her, Tessa locked eyes with him and gestured her head forwards to try and encourage him to take the spot for himself. Self-conscious, Jake shrugged his shoulders, waiting for someone else to speak up first, so he wouldn't have to. Luckily for him, before Tessa could nominate him, Sam had lifted his arm from around her and brought all attention to him, "hello? White Chocolate!"

Beginning beatbox, Sam stood from his seat and did his signature body rolls for the choir room to admire, leaving them full of smiles but still without a dance lead.

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SANTANA LOPEZ WAS SUSPICIOUS. Cheerios practice was finishing up for Tessa and Santana had immediately gotten up from the bleachers to follow Sam Evans as he left the field to wait for her outside the changing rooms.

Having guessed something was up since she'd seen her after the breakup with Brittany, Santana had been watching her best friend closely and carefully. She'd also watched the looks of confusion and worry that sometimes covered Sam's face. And after finding laxatives in Marley's bag, her Mexican Third Eye told her that something was wrong at Mckinley that she needed to get to the bottom of and she knew that Tessa could help Marley but also herself in the process.

Leaning on the opposite side of the door frame to where Sam was, Santana took the opportunity to begin her investigation, "you waiting for Tess, Trouty?"

Nodding, Sam turned to give her a small smile, "yeah, I'm gonna grab her and try and persuade her to come to the Bean with me before she decides to live in the dance studio. The other girls came out ten minutes ago, though." He said biting onto his lip slightly, only making Santana furrow her eyebrows further, "you can come too if you want."

"As long as you're paying." Santana agreed, to which Sam chuckled, "I wanted a word with Tess about something I found in Marley's bag." Rummaging into her handbag, she pulled out the small box of laxatives and held them up to him, watching as his eyes widened, "you and I know better than anyone what these are. And how dangerous they are."

Speechless, it took Sam a moment to shake off the thoughts running through his mind, "do you-do you think that Marley's going through what Tess has been though?"

Nodding seriously, Santana let out a sigh, "I think so. The other day when Quinn, Britt and I were performing, she went so faint. And I looked over to Tess and that's when it clicked because I remember that happening to her when it was at its worst." Giving them both a moment to process what she was saying, she looked back to meet his eyes once again, "I think it's that Kitty bitch." She accused, before her voice became even more serious, "and I think she's done something to Tess too. But i just can't prove it."

Running his hands through his hair, Sam on the other hand didn't want to accuse anyone but knew that if anyone were to need to know, it would be Santana Lopez, "I don't know." He mumbled, searching his brain for anyone who could've potentially pushed Tessa backwards into her eating disorder, "I mean, Tess sometimes mentions that some girls on the Cheerios aren't the nicest, especially one girl. I can't think of her name but I think it's a cheese. I don't know if Kitty's involved. But I guess it's a high chance if I'm trusting your Mexican Third Eye. And there are two football players that have had it out for her since day one when she stood up to them."

"I'm gonna go all Lima Heights." Santana growled, furiously.

"Oh believe me, I will if you don't." Sam agreed, clenching his jaw, "I'm so close to beating the crap out of them, but Tess pulls me away before I can."

Facing him one again, a small smile came to Santana's lips as she nodded her head approvingly, seeing the amount of love that Sam clearly had for Tessa, "you know, I like you more than I remembered." She laughed, "and you may look like a dopey, oblivious idiot and you are. But when it comes to our Tessa, you're pretty damn smart. Nobody knows her better than we do."

Both Sam and Santana had suspected something was going on with Tessa. They both knew her well enough to see when she was hiding something from them.

"Promise me you'll keep an eye on her?" Santana asked, deadly serious, jabbing a finger in his face, "if you don't I'll go all Lima Heights on you instead."

"Promise." Sam assured her, reaching out and taking the finger that was previously being used to threaten him and wrapping his pinkie around it, a smile coming to his lips as he did so.

As soon as they heard footsteps coming their way, Sam broke his pinkie away and turned to the door with a large grin on his lips that only grew larger when Tessa finally came to the door. "Sorry." She apologized, "I was just, uh, sorting something."

Examining her face, Santana pursed her lips, eyes flickering to catch Sam's, "Is everything okay, Tess?"

Quickly pushing her lips into a bright smile, Tessa pushed a piece of hair from out of her eyes, "yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

"You'd tell us if it wasn't though, right?" Sam questioned, quietly, meeting Tessa's eyes with a soft smile, which she returned with a quick nod of her head, but saying nothing in reply.

Briefly meeting Sam's eyes once again, Santana narrowed her own, licking her lips and crossing her arms over her chest, "you know we'll go all Lima Heights on someone if we need to, even Coach Sue."

"There's no need." Tessa denied, chuckling lightly whilst reaching up to rub the back of her neck skittishly, rather eager to change the subject as soon as physically possible for fear she wouldn't be able to hold her smile for much longer, "right, onto the dance studio, you both coming?"

"I thought we could maybe head down to the Bean instead, Santana said she'd come too." Sam suggested, "you've been working so hard for ages now, you need a break darling."

Shaking her head apologetically, Tessa had already pushed past them both and was walking backwards down the hall towards the dance studio, "I've got to rehearse for Sectionals. The choreography —"

Tutting loudly, Santana immediately shook her head firmly, taking matters into her own hands, striding forwards and linking her arm in Tessa's, spinning her round and marching her in the other direction, gesturing for Sam to follow along, "uh, no. The choreography can wait. Your well-being us more important. My Mexican third eye can see right through you Tessa Swann and you're gonna come with me and Trouty Mouth and relax a bit at the Bean whether you like it or not. Because we care about you a hell of a lot and we know you need this and you deserve this, even if you think you don't."

Taking her other arm, Sam gave Tessa a softer smile, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he noticed her biting down on her cheek, still hesitant, "she's right, as always. You deserve a break."

Still reluctant, Tessa sighed quietly, fidgeting with Sam's hand as it slipped into hers, "I can't let anyone down. I can't get it wrong."

"Listen to me, you will never let us down." Sam assured her, firmly, "I've seen you dance. And I've seen your choreography and it's incredible. You don't have to worry about letting anyone down because that's the last thing that could happen when we perform."

"And anyone who thinks otherwise will have to mess with me and the razor blades hidden in my hair." Santana wiggled her eyebrows at her. Unable to hold back even a small smile, Tessa looked to the floor, feeling herself becoming less fearful and more eager to spend time with two of her favourite people in the world, feeling more certain than ever that they'd love and care for her with whatever she was going through.

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BACKSTAGE AT SECTIONALS, TESSA WAS FIXING HER HAIR IN THE MIRROR, SWEARING RATHER A LOT WHEN IT JUST DIDN'T SEEM TO GO HER WAY. Eventually having to ask Kitty to help her out, she had to listen and nod along as if she wasn't laughing on the inside as she rambled on animatedly about all the tips that Quinn had given her for the upcoming performance and how great of a mentor she was. Amused by this, Tessa made a mental note never to mention Quinn Fabray when she was around Kitty Wilde ever again despite the fact that it was rather adorable how Kitty's face lit up whenever she mentioned her name.

Finally finishing her hair, Kitty grinned at her in the mirror, patting her shoulders dramatically. Looking up, she caught sight of a tearful Blaine Anderson and grimaced slightly, "is he crying over his ex-boyfriend again? Makes you wonder who cheated on who." She murmured, widening her eyes, holding her hands up in surrender as Tessa gave her a light slap to the arm, "I'm out if you wanna go talk to him."

Not wanting to have anything to do with an emotional Blaine Anderson, Kitty had upped and left without another word, leaving Tessa to slowly make her way towards where Blaine was stood, composing himself after a phone call with Kurt. Knotting her eyebrows together, she knew that he needed a friend right now and opened her arms to let him fall into them. Sniffling his nose, Blaine pulled himself into Tessa's shoulder, letting her comfort him, rubbing her hand in circles on his back.

Once she'd felt him stop crying, Tessa held him by his shoulders at arms length whilst he dried the tears that had ran down his cheeks, "was that Kurt?"

"He doesn't forgive me." Blaine sniffled, quietly before a small smile crept onto his lips, "he believes I'm sorry though and he wants us to see each other at Christmas."

Smiling for him, Tessa squeezed his shoulders, "that's great, that's not too long away. It'll be nice to see you smiling a little more, I've missed seeing you happy."

"You're sweet." Blaine replied softly, "I've missed feeling happy. This is the first time I've felt almost relaxed in weeks. And I get why it's taken Kurt so long to even think about accepting my apology but the feeling that we can at least be friendly again is really nice."

Nodding along, Tessa grinned in agreement, trying to ignore the looming feeling in her stomach as the group o the stage before them got further and further into their performance, "we should have another sleepover to celebrate. Me, you, Sam and anyone else who we feel like letting tag along with the coolest kids in glee club." She giggled, flicking her hair over her shoulder and winking at him dramatically.

Pulling her into a side hug, Blaine chuckled, "I can't wait."

Their moment of watching the group before them coming up to an end was brought to an abrupt end when Jake rushed over and jumped into Tessa, spinning her round to face him, "there's been a change of plan — I'm taking the dance lead with you, not Ryder."

Beaming, Tessa immediately took this in her stride, a boost of confidence managing to put a crack in the wall of nerves that had been slowly building up throughout the day, "awesome, I've practiced more with you anyways... why though?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Jake wasn't too sure of the reason himself but was more than happy for the opportunity, "dunno, ask Ryder if you really wanna know. But knowing you, I don't think you care that much."

Shooting finger guns right his way, Tessa let out a loud laugh, "you got me there Just-Jake."

Slinging his arm over her shoulders, Jake pulled her in for a side hug as he laughed alongside her, both of them grateful for the lighthearted joking between them as they heard the New Directions being called to the stage.

Looking across the wings, they caught a glimpse of Sam waving excitedly over to the three of them, blowing a dramatic kiss Tessa's way before turning to Marley, eager to make her feel more comfortable after what Santana had told them, throwing his arm over her shoulder the same way Jake had done to Tessa and rubbing the side of her arm gently. Managing a smile, Marley leaned her head against his arm, waving more timidly, clearly extremely nervous.

Ready for his big moment to show off his signature White Chocolate moves, Sam jumped up and down on the spot as the music began to build up, making his way out onto the stage and starting off their performance of Gangnam Style.

Once they'd gotten into the song, it was time for Jake and Tessa to take centre stage for the dance lead. Shaking her nerves away as she performed, Tessa let herself enjoy herself and danced the choreography to the best of her ability, her and Jake occasionally improvising by adding some more technically difficult moves that the two knew that the other could keep up with. She'd almost forgotten how unusually nervous she'd initially gotten for the competition she was enjoying herself so much. Glancing out into the crowd for a moment, her smile grew as she caught sight of her mom, her brothers and her grandad sat, cheering for her proudly alongside Santana, Mike and the rest of the alumni.

It all seemed to be going so well. Until it wasn't.

hi ! ive recently published my brittany fic ! pls check it out and give it some love if you want to ! <3