Her breakdown happens when their all together. It's the first time in a couple of years that everyone's actually made it to the annual New Directions get together and yeah, seeing Rachel pregnant was some of the draw. But so far she'd seemed normal, well normal for Rachel.
But as they finish their appetizers and start their salads at Sam's restaurant, she starts to cry loudly. It's actually really unexpected because everyone had been laughing and getting along. Then suddenly she's looking up and sobbing as she tells them, "I can't do this. I can't have a baby. I can't have your baby," she says looking directly at Puck.
A shocked gasp resounds along the table. There's no way she said that, they all think. Then as Puck pushes roughly away from the table, rage and pain clear on his face they know it happened and that someone needs to fix it.
"Rachel. . ." Quinn starts thinking she's somehow qualified for this, when Kurt interrupts because the two girls can still be volatile together even without the added benefit of hormones. He also thinks whatever she thinks she knows will wind up hurting Puck further and probably not help Rachel.
"Wait, no one move," he says. Puck halts somewhat unwillingly and at least partially due to the fact that unless he wants to forcefully shove Santana out of the way he's stuck. Rachel's sobs are the only thing heard before Kurt approaches the diva ignoring the 'Let me' from Finn. "Rach," he says cautiously seeing a wildness in Rachel's eyes that reminds him of a cornered animal, "why? Why can't you do this now?" he asks laying his hand gently on her five and a half months pregnant belly. He doesn't hesitate to touch her as they've remained friends and see one another almost daily. She'd been greatly excited about this child from the time she found out until well, now, apparently.
"You'll hate me," she sobs.
"I don't, I won't," he tries to assure.
"The baby."
"Rach?" he asks confused.
"You did. You hated me. Noah definitely hated me-remember the slushies? You all hated me until we were in our twenties. Some of you might still. I can't. . .what if the baby hates me that long? That's a lot of his or her life. And I love him or her so much already," she finally gets out among sobs seeming to collapse in upon herself. At a loss Kurt attempts to hug her, but she's not finished, "Or what if they don't hate me, but I do it wrong? What if everyone hates them like you did me! I can't raise a baby to fit in when I never did. I don't want someone throwing slushies on my baby," she wails to Kurt, seeming to forget the others, and very nearly hyperventilating.
"Um is everything okay over here?" a stranger asks staring at the sobbing Rachel.
"Fine," Quinn responds drily.
"But. . ." the man questions still unsurely.
"Look, I'm sure you've never been pregnant. So you've never had to deal with the raging hormones. We as her friends got this, thanks for asking," she tells him the Ice Queen exterior from high school back and serving them well as she dismisses the man.
The interruption has given Finn time to think. He's certain despite having not seen Rachel in the last two years and only once a year in the five years before that, he can somehow help. So while the others are distracted with the stranger's intrusion he lays his arm around her shoulders and gets ready to murmur something that remains unsaid as she pushes his arm and Kurt's off forcefully and the sobs that had eased as Kurt had her explain return full-force. The bubble Kurt created effectively broken by his touch.
"Move," they hear growled from where Santana has Puck quarreled.
"Puck, you heard. . ." Santana tries to intervene.
"Move," he says again more forcibly, but still low and dangerous. She remembers enough about him and knows him well enough that she does though reluctantly.
The group watches him stalk around the table and breathes a sigh of relief when he comes to Rachel's side instead of leaving. Kurt happily let him take his place-knowing that this man soothes Rachel in a way no one else has ever replicated.
"Baby," he spoke and Rachel immediately relaxed into the arm he placed around her scooting to the edge of her seat to be as close to his body as possible though she was still crying, "no one's going to hurt 'em. I promise. And they'll love you, babe. Just like we all do."
"But. . ."she started.
"You don't need Shelby to know how to be a mother, babe. You learned that bossing us around in high school. No one will mess with our kid. Please, with our genes? Guaranteed to be a badass because of me, and get away with it because of you. They'll be awesome. And the part me thing helps with the loving you also. They'll adore you, because even when we mess up, we'll be trying and we'll be there," he explained and her sobs had gradually quieted as he talked to the point they'd mostly disappeared when he'd finished. They'd all been surprised at his mention of Shelby. But thinking about it, Kurt wondered if that hadn't been the real issue all along and only Rachel's Noah had known her well enough to realize.
"We can do this?" she asked looking up at him teary eyed.
"Bring it," he assured before kissing her. "We'll be amazing."
"He really loves her, doesn't he?" Finn asks later.
"Puck?" Kurt asks in question. Finn nods. "Yeah," Kurt tells him.
"He didn't even sit by her though."
"Have you ever seen them together? They can't keep their hands off each other; the baby has only made it worse. And if they're not touching, but in the same room they're totally distracted by where the other is. Rachel can at least keep some semblance of a conversation going as long as he's in sight. Puck though starts to twitch and will walk away from you in mid-conversation."
"They weren't touching today, though," Finn argued.
"That you saw, I can almost guarantee before the breakdown their feet at least were in contact, if not a hand under the table."
"Puck's that possessive?"
"You're lucky Rachel was so upset or he might have hit you for touching her," Kurt nodded.
"Isn't that a bit. . .much? Doesn't she hate that?"
"Rachel? Hate being the center of attention? No, she loves it. Having his attention so completely makes her not demand everyone else's so obnoxiously. The one party he couldn't attend I had to talk her down from starting karaoke. Since then they get invitations not just her and a guest. And I think Sam has stories of his parties that Rachel didn't attend- I think one involved a barely avoided fight."
"It makes that much of a difference?"
"Did you not see Diva melt into his touch? The words were a bonus, she just needed him."
"So she's. . .happy?" Finn couldn't help but confirm.
"With her life?" Kurt questioned not following Finn's line of questioning.
"Everything."
"She loves her job and excels at it. It's Broadway and everything she ever dreamed. She adores him and he practically worships her, while maintaining his own stuff too. She's been ecstatic about the baby until today's little snafu. So yeah, she's happy."
"Okay," Finn nodded and gave him a sad smile as he got ready to walk away remembering a girl that wanted to wait till 25 for intimacy with him, and yet was having a baby at 28 that was definitely not according to her plan.
"Finn," Kurt called his brother back, "you couldn't have done better." Then knowing it might hurt, but that it needed to be said, he added, "You probably wouldn't have done as well."
And just then Rachel's laugh from under the arm of Puck rang out as she and Santana conversed, while he and Mike played X-box, and her hand rested protectively on their child.
AN: Puck and Rachel have chosen to be surprised at the baby's sex, but I'm pretty sure it's a boy in case you were wondering.