Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, any of its characters or the plot of the show. Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox.
Warnings: Some mentions of death. A later chapter will hold a scene that may be graphic. Strong language will occur frequently.
Summary: Set five years after the end of I'll Be There For You, Rachel is back in Lima, OH for the first time since she moved to New York. Puck returns after a stint in Texas and finds that Rachel has changed a lot since the last time he laid eyes on her.
This is the sequel to I'll Be There for You. I strongly recommend that you read that before you read this.
Bold paragraphs are memories. Regular font is current time in the story, five years after the end of I'll Be There for You.
What am I going to do? She asked herself while pacing the bathroom. Her stomach was churning violently, like waves against rocks as the reality of her situation hit over and over. Her mind was screaming at her with a loud force that made her cringe.
"Baby girl?" Alexander called from the other side of the white door. "What did the test say?" He asked cautiously. Rachel had never lied to her dad before and when she realized that she was late, she didn't think it would be smart to start. So, she told him that she'd been sexually active since December. He was not happy about that, but he still drove to a store out of town to buy her a few tests. She took a deep breath, hoping that it would calm the incessant churning in her gut, but it was no use. She wasn't going to feel any better about this so she just opened the door to look at him.
"Two lines." She said in a small voice. Alexander wasn't stupid, he knew that two lines meant positive, and that meant that maybe Rachel wasn't as smart as he first thought.
"Are you okay?" He asked, because it was the proper thing to say in this situation.
"Yeah. Fine." She nodded her head. She felt like that pregnant teenager from that one movie, only she was missing her white knight. No one was going to be there to help this damsel.
"What are you going to do? You and Noah have split up. That's assuming that it is his." He said in an accusatory stern tone. Rachel glared at her father.
"Of course the baby is his! He is the only person I've been with." Rachel couldn't believe that her father would suggest that she had been sleeping around. It wasn't like her. Then again, neither was the current predicament in which she found herself.
"How do you think he'll react?"
"I'm not going to tell him." She decided.
"You don't think he has a right to know that he is going to have a child?" Alexander found himself looking at his daughter with pure shock.
"We only have four months until graduation. He got a football scholarship to Texas, and he worked hard for it. Besides, he isn't exactly the type of guy to stick around, and I don't want him to resent me for taking away his dreams."
"What about your dreams, Rachel?" She looked down at the little test in her hand.
"I guess this means I'll have to find a new dream."
For the next two weeks, Rachel walked the halls slowly, so unsure of so many things. She wasn't aware of the time, but she was pretty sure that she hadn't attended half of her classes. Her thoughts were scattered and incoherent.
"Rachel, are you okay?" Quinn placed her hand on Rachel's shoulder. "You look like you've seen a ghost." Rachel looked up at the girl that used to despise her and saw genuine concern where hate once made its home. "Seriously, what's wrong?" Rachel still didn't answer, she just stared blankly. "I can go get Finn." That got her out of her lethargic state.
"No!" Rachel nearly yelled. Quinn's eyebrows shot up. "I'm just having a bad day, that's all." She said as she attempted a weak smile.
"We may not be the best of friends, but I can tell when you're lying." Quinn stated. "Just tell me what's going on." Rachel closed her eyes and exhaled.
She led Quinn into the first bathroom she could find. Before she spoke, she checked all the stalls tl make sure that they were alone.
"I'm with child." She said with her face away from Quinn.
"What?" Rachel spun around.
"I'm pregnant." She whispered.
"Oh sweetie." Quinn pulled Rachel into a hug. "Is that why you are so upset?"
"Kind of. I'm mostly upset because Puck and I are no longer on friendly terms with one another." Quinn's expression fell.
"Oh my god. Did you tell him?" Rachel shook her head.
"Look at who he is. He is going to Texas to be someone. Besides, he moved on fast enough for me to know that he wouldn't want this anyway." Rachel was reluctant to admit that truth. She knew in her heart that Puck would resent her if she shared this with him. He wasn't his father, he would be there for his child, but he would never look at her the same way.
"Okay." Quinn nodded sympathetically. "I won't say a word. But can we tell your best friend. You know that he would do anything to keep you from getting hurt. Plus, Finn doesn't share much with Puck anymore." Rachel nodded. Quinn made an important, albeit unspoken, point. Rachel was going to need her best friend to be there for her.
"I guess Finn can know."
Quinn set out on a mission to find Finn, while Rachel braced her hands on one of the cold hard porcelain sinks and stared at her reflection. She looked like death warmed over. Under her eyes hung dark circles that closely resembled the bruises that she had gotten from her broken nose, only these were obviously not as dark. Her eyes were blurry and bloodshot from the residual tears.
She heard the door begin to open and realized that she wouldn't be able to dry the tears already shed before the person got completely inside. She hoped that it was Quinn returning with Finn but when she looked at the door through the mirror, she unfortunately found Santana Lopez.
"Berry, you look like shit." Santana acknowledged as she made her way to one of the other sinks. "I hope you aren't like this because of Puck." She continued as she went about touching up her makeup and hair. Rachel nearly growled at the Cheerio.
"Not everything has to do with your boyfriend." Rachel spat. She knew her tone was venomous but she was fighting the urge to verbally rip the superficial girl in front of her apart. Was it too early to blame these feelings on hormones?
"Look, I'd say I'm sorry about what happened, but I'm not. It's painfully obviously that he just wasn't satisfied."
"Bitch." Rachel sneered before she pushed her way back into the hallway. Immediately after exiting the room, she collided into a figure. She looked up to apologize, but the words died on her tongue when she saw Noah Puckerman. "The day just gets better and better, doesn't it?" She figured he was on his way to 'see' Santana.
"Rach," He said softly, his hand almost reaching out to touch her. "are you okay? Have you been crying?" She opened her mouth to reply but simply looked at him with eyes narrowed.
"Rachel, let's go." Finn said from behind her. Rachel couldn't see, but Finn was glaring at the guy that used to be his friend. He took Quinn's hand and put his arm around Rachel and steered them both away from the jock.
They were sitting on a bench near the parking lot. Rachel was shivering; she wasn't sure if it was because of the cold February air or because she was shaken up by the run in she had with two people she just didn't want to be around.
" Now, tell me what the hell is going on." Finn demanded in the nicest tone he could.
"I'm pregnant." Rachel said. No use beating around the truth. She really should have because Finn turned red.
"I'm going to kill that bastard." He growled.
Rachel turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on her face. She hated flashing back to those first few weeks of her pregnancy. It hurt her to remember.
Upon looking at her reflection, she realized how much she had changed over the last five years. She carried herself with more confidence, real confidence, not the kind she faked in high school. Her hair was cut into a practical above the shoulder bob. The only thing that hadn't changed was the dark circles that framed the underside of her eyes, though those had only recently returned.
She took a deep breath and exited the bathroom.
"Analeigh, are you about ready to go?" Rachel called through the hotel room. She didn't get a verbal reply, but the running stomp of tiny feet told Rachel that her daughter was going to be in the room in about three seconds.
"Yup!" The little brunette announced as soon as she hopped into the room. Rachel stared down at the form of her five year old. She was bouncing with excitement. "Let's go see grandpas!"
There ya go lovely readers! The first installment of the sequel.
It isn't much, but it's a start. Let me know what you think!
Review=love. And helps motivate me to write and post more for you lovely people.