Chapter One

A Beautiful Nightmare

Mr. Shuester stepped into the Glee rehearsal room with his wife, her face looking uneasy. In his arms was a pink bundle. Quinn was sitting at the piano along with Finn, who stood up and greeted the teacher, along with everyone else in the club except for Puck. People cooed and whispered in awe at the baby in his arms… The baby that wasn't his. It wasn't even Terri's baby, either. It was Quinn's.

Finn turned to Quinn and smiled. "She's so cute, Quinn! Come look, she looks exactly like Mr. Schue!" He exclaimed, turning to the baby again and holding her. A bunch of girls cooed again, all agreeing that the baby did, in fact, look like Will. Quinn's eyes went glassy as she glanced at Puck with hurt eyes. Puck approached her and offered a weak smile.

"Shall we?" He whispered, reaching for her hand. Quinn nodded, taking his hand and sitting up, feeling dizzy as she stood up. When she turned to the group, the only person standing there was Finn and the baby in his arms. However, Quinn didn't question where everyone went. She just made her way over to him, which seemed like it took hours, Puck's hand still intertwined in her own.

Finn handed the baby to Quinn, his facial expression looking as if he was about to break into tears to apologize. Holding the baby, Quinn's jaw dropped. The baby looked exactly like her dad, and she had dark brown hair, like Puck, and… the same colored eyes as Finn. Other than that, she had the same face as her sister did when she was a baby.

Her arms shaking, Quinn almost dropped the child, but Finn took her right before she stormed out of the room, into the hallway, although it was actually the living room of her old home. She slid to the ground, sobbing so hard it hurt her chest.

"Quinn? Quinn? Quinn…?" A voice echoed, sounding like Finn's voice, then a woman's voice.

"Quinn, sweetie, wake up!" Mrs. Hudson whispered, her arm placed on Quinn's shoulder. Quinn blinked, her eyes stinging from tears. She was out of breath and her chest hurt. "Quinn, oh my gosh, you scared me." She whispered, placing a hand on her forehead. "Are you feeling okay, sweetie?"

Quinn was confused. She was still breathing heavily as she sat up, looking around Finn's bedroom. "Where… What…?" She questioned, catching her breath. "Where's Finn? Where am I?" She asked, holding back tears.

"You're in Finn's room. You fell asleep on the couch while watching television with him. He carried you upstairs and he slept on the couch himself." Mrs. Hudson informed, patting Quinn's leg. "He ran downstairs to get you something to drink."

Quinn nodded, shaking a bit. Mrs. Hudson surveyed her face before speaking.

"Did you have a bad dream?" She asked, her voice filled with sympathy.

"Uh huh…" Quinn sniffed, "I'm sorry… Was I…?"

"You were crying." She noted, taking Quinn's hand and rubbing her knuckle with her thumb.

"Hard." Finn added, stepping into the room with a glass of orange juice. "You scared the living crap out of me. I thought it was the baby or something…" He laughed uneasily, sitting next to Quinn on the bed and wrapping his hand around her shoulder. Quinn shuddered at the word 'baby'. "You cold?" He asked, rubbing his hand up and down her arm. She shook her head.

"No. I'm fine, thanks." She reassured, taking a sip of the orange juice, "Thank you."

"Anytime, sweet heart. It happens a lot during pregnancy… Those nightmares. Well, that's what I hear, at least. I don't remember having them with Finn…" Mrs. Hudson trailed off.

"I'm looking forward to that, really." Quinn said sarcastically. Finn and Mrs. Hudson laughed in unison as Mrs. Hudson stood up and took some of the dirty clothes out of the hamper.

"Well, I'd better get my day started. Let me know if you need anything." She smiled, walking out of the room. It was quiet for a moment, and the awkwardness built up between the two.

"It's eight in the morning… Do you wa-"

"I can't do this." Quinn interrupted.

"Wh…Wha?"

"I can't… I can't give her up." She admitted, a tear rolling down her face. Finn froze. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, but… That n-nightmare… It was about…" She trailed off, hiding her face in Finn's shirt. She sobbed for a moment, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry, Finn!" She cried. Finn patted her back, kissing the top of her head as a tear of his own rolled down his cheekbone.

"It's okay. It's okay, Quinn. We'll work this out. It'll be okay." He promised, hugging her tightly, but not too tight. Quinn shook her head.

"No! No, I'm such… such a burden…"

"What? No you're not, Quinn! What would make you-"

"Your mom… I mean, she's a total sweetheart, really… But she told me I fell asleep on the couch, and…"

"What? That's nothing, Quinn. I didn't want you sleeping on the couch, that's all…" Finn sighed, but Quinn continued to cry. "You're just overwhelmed, and added to that are the hormones…"

"Everything's screwed up." She said bluntly. Finn stopped talking, raising his eyebrows in confusion. "If I can't give away the baby, then I have to keep her. What child wants to… wants to live in such a horrible life as this?" She asked, burying her face in her hands. "What am I going to tell Terri?" She sobbed, freezing after she said it. Finn gave her a weird look.

"Terri? Terri Schuester?"

"Uh…"

"What do you mean? Is she in on this?" He asked, the words piling over each other.

"Well…"

"Quinn, don't lie to me. Please, I want to be honest with you." Finn begged, taking her hands in his. Quinn glanced away, ignoring the irony.

"I was…" She started.

"What?"

"No, I can't…"

"Please tell me. Please." Finn persuaded, although Quinn avoided eye contact with him. She nodded, turning to him and leaning in towards him, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"I was going to… give the baby to her."

"Why would she adopt the baby? She's pregna… Oh my god! She isn't pregnant, is she?" Finn gasped, a smile forming on his face. Quinn slapped his arm, and the smile faded away.

"No, she's not. She lied to Mr. Schuester." Quinn admitted.

"So… The baby… our baby was going to be their daughter? How was she going to pull that off?" Finn asked, shaking his head in disbelief. Quinn shrugged, laughing lightly.

"Who knows… But… Finn I can't. I… just can't. I'm sorry, that's what my…"

"Your nightmare was about that? About Mr. Schue's daughter?" He asked, which sent Quinn into water works.

"I don't think I've ever been heartbroken before, Finn, but if that's how I'm going to feel in reality once we give away the baby, I… I can't deal with a heavy heart like that. It was like I couldn't even breathe." Quinn explained. Finn shook his head.

"I'm sorry. If I left you on the couch, I mean… You wouldn't have had a bad dream."

"Yeah, but I would have been unpleasant and, well, sore everywhere. This? This, I'll get over it." Quinn said, patting Finn's knee.

It was just a dream.

A beautiful nightmare.