This is a one shot that wouldn't go out of my head, so I'm putting it up there. I don't usually write for Glee, although I am a self confessed Gleek. I mean, seriously, obsessed with it! And while I adore Finn, and think he and Rachel would make a great couple, for some reason all the Glee FF I'm reading is Puckleberry. I can't get enough of it and the more angst the better!
So here goes. This is inspired by Hairography. I thought that the moment between Quinn and Will was so touching and in a completely non-romantic way, may I add. She seems lost somehow, and I hope that when Fox puts Glee back on in April that she'll find something to bring her back to herself again.
Oh yeah, and I don't own Glee. If I did, Finn would be mine. As would Puck. And Will. But sadly they're not.
To Be Held.
Quinn sat on the couch in the Shuester's small apartment, looking at the hope and the glimmer of excitement in Terri Shuester's eyes and felt more alone than she had ever felt.
It had been a spur of the moment decision, to keep her daughter and not hand her over to Mr Shue's slightly crazy wife and her wacked out sister. But, on realising that Puck was probably not the greatest parental example in the world and not being sure just exactly how she felt about Finn, she changed her mind.
"You can have her." The words came out easier than she had expected, but the little stab of something she refused to try and identify made her inhale quickly.
"Are you serious?" Terri breathed, looking as if she had been given the moon and stars.
"A girl really needs a good father," Quinn said quietly wondering how she had managed to end up in this place. Pregnant at sixteen, alone, and nobody to just hold her and tell her it would be okay.
She looked at Terri's eyes, all damp and shiny with hope and relief, and felt a little piece of her heart crack. "And the only way she's going to get that is if I give her to you."
Terri nodded, lips trembling.
"You think Mr Shuester's going to be a good father, don't you?"
Terri's eyes softened at the question. "I think he's going to be an amazing dad," she whispered.
Quinn nodded, ignoring the instinct to cradle the slight swell of her belly protectively. She tried not to think of the child inside her too often, not wanting to become attached and then break Terri Shuester's heart. Because in doing that, she would hurt Mr Shue. And he was pretty cool, for a teacher. Finn had told her how he had been amazing when he first found out about the baby.
Just then, the door opened and Will walked into the living room. Terri's eyes flickered momentarily with what Quinn would describe as panic, but she masked it almost immediately.
"Hey, guys." Mr Shue sent Quinn a funny look, but the smile he gave his wife made Quinn's heart ache viciously.
"I thought you were going to be at the scrapyard all afternoon," Terri said.
"Oh, yeah." Will fidgeted a little nervously. "Change of plans. Got a little distracted with...something else."
Terri frowned, but he had already turned his attention back to Quinn. "Quinn? What are you doing here?"
"Girl talk," Terri said quickly, patting Quinn's hand. "We're exchanging pregnancy war stories." She looked into Quinn's eyes and the sadness there tore at her heart in a way she hadn't expected. The girl looked so lost. So....heartbroken.
"Oh." Will smiled again. "That's nice. Well, when you get a sec, can you meet me in the garage, Ter?"
Quinn knew that she needed to get out of there, away from the pressure of the lies and the way Terri was depending on her to make all her problems go away. "I was just leaving." She got to her feet and smoothed down the hem of the yellow sundress she wore.
She stopped in front of Mr Shuester, casting a glance at Terri. The woman gave her a pleading look, and Quinn took a deep breath. This was for the best. She turned her attention to Mr Shuester again.
"Yes?" He asked, a little confused.
Quinn suddenly gave up the fight. She wanted so badly to be held. To just feel safe again, even for a second. She wrapped her arms around his waist, praying that he would just be the nice, kind guy Terri said he was and just hold her.
After a brief pause, his arms came up and surrounded her, and she trembled slightly before taking a deep breath to stop herself from crying into his shoulder.
Over her head, Will was looking at Terri, who nodded at him, her eyes full of sympathy. Obviously Quinn's plight had touched even her.
Quinn breathed in his scent, the same cologne her daddy wore and that made the lonliness even more sharp. Sure, Finn held her. He let her cry and put it down to pregnance hormones and he tried really hard, but it wasn't the same as a Daddy Hug. This was almost like having her father around, and despite how bitter she was over his coldness, she missed her Dad.
Quinn pulled back from Mr Shue and felt the lump in her throat get bigger. She grabbed her coat and smiled brightly at him. "Later, Mr Shue."
She managed to get to the car and drive all the way to Finn's house before she felt the pressure in her chest become unbearable. Finn was sitting at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of cereal. He looked up at her entrance and frowned at her pale face.
"Are you okay?"
Quinn nodded mutely and headed for the stairs, knowing that she was going to crumble soon and knowing also that he wouldn't quite know what to do when she did. He would hold her, because it was the right thing to do, but he wouldn't understand.
Finn frowned again, but continued to eat his cereal. He heard the door of the guest bedroom close and seconds later the silence descended. He quietly put his spoon down and went upstairs, pausing outside the bedroom Quinn now occupied in their small house. He knocked on the door. "Quinn?"
When she didn't answer, he pushed in the door and found her curled on the floor, silently weeping. "Quinn."
She had to tell him the truth, Quinn thought, feeling like she was drowning under the weight of it all. It was the right thing to do. Finn was a good guy, and he loved her, but she couldn't keep lying to him. She had to tell him that he wasn't the baby's father, that she was sorry, that she hadn't lied when she said she loved him.
But his arms were going around her now, strong and warm, and the words stuck in her throat. "It's okay," he murmured, just as he had the day the whole school found out about her pregnancy. "It's going to be okay."
Quinn closed her eyes, breathing in the warm scent of him and nestled closer, desperate for comfort. He rocked slightly, feeling her shudders become little hiccups and finally her breathing deepened and she slept against his chest.
The following morning, when she came into the kitchen, his smile greeted her, and his arms came around her again. And she bit back the truth again.
Because when it came down to it, she knew that Finn loved her. And that he would hold her, just as she needed.
And there you go. Sorry, its a little angsty. I'd love to know what you guys think of it, or if I should do more like it.