Salve! PLEASE READ THIS FIRST! This is the sequel to my other story, "A Spark of Forever." It would be terribly awkward to try to understand this story right off the bat, so I would highly recommend reading my other story first (if you do, please review, I love them so much). I hope you all enjoy this new story and that you'll review, they are the gas to my writing engine (lame, I know). So, please read, review, and, most importantly, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee/Fox/"We Found Love"/ So many other things, it's almost depressing...
01) The First Sign
Yellow diamonds in the light
Now we're standing side by side
As your shadow crosses mine
What it takes to come alive
It's the way I'm feeling I just can't deny
But I got to let it go
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
Finn smiled widely at the sight of Mr. Schu and Ms. Pillsbury kissing upon the lifeguard's chair, their love obvious as they pressed against each other forcefully with grins on their faces. His joy fort hem was overwhelming, happy that they had finally found each other. They both had pushed their fears away of marriage and past experiences to unite, showing how potent their feelings were for each other.
Without a thought, his eyes moved to the girl who was beaming at the couple, her beautiful chocolate-brown eyes melting with warmth and tears. She looked so beautiful, he couldn't help himself as his eyes drifted to the other parts of her body. Her shapely legs, the cute - maybe a little off portion to the rest of her face - nose that gave her character, lips that demanded to be kissed, the swell of her breasts that were emphasized in her suit, and the soft glow her skin gave that made him want to run his hands all over her body. But what he loved most was her spirit, a strong and potent force that could even make big guys, like himself, cringe when unleashed. She may waver and falter, he thought to himself, but not once did she crumble and allow herself to be defeated.
She was Rachel Berry, his star, his inspiration, his girlfriend. His grin grew wider. Rachel turned to look at him, maybe to see what his expression was or maybe because she felt his stare on her. Her eyes were glistening as their gazes meet, her emotions blazing like the sun in their depths. A small smile crept across her face and he saw her mouth three words that made his body rushand heart beat furiously. I love you.
He mouthed them back, wishing that he was out of the water and in her arms; shuddering slightly at the thought of her hands against his bare skin. But he waited patiently for the kiss between his teachers to end and the pool erupted with splashes and cheers as they finally separated, the adults' faces glowing. Finn smiled at it for a moment before quickly swimming his way through his fellow members of glee club and the swimming team, trying to get to the side of the pool as he quickly as he could.
After he pulled himself out of the water, his eyes shot back to where Rachel was. Her attention had returned to the newly-engaged couple, her hands clasped tight together as she smiled and enjoyed in the celebration with a cheer. Finn crept up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her body closer to his.
"Hey!" Rachel laughed, swatting at his hands hopelessly while he just grinned. "This is not supposed to be wet, Finn! You'll ruin the material and this cost a small fortune."
"Your dads bought it, shut up," Finn returned, placing a small kiss on the soft expanse of her neck. She shuddered at the touch. "You look amazing - everything, everything looks amazing. I can't believe how well you put it all together and so quickly."
"I didn't do it all by myself." Finn could see her face flush at the compliment, despite her words. "I had a lot of help. If it wasn't because of Sam and the swimming team, we wouldn't even had a clue of what to do. And without Mike we would have no choreography, without Mercedes we would be dressed in plain swimming clothes, and without Santana we wouldn't have any music. I really didn't do that much."
"You brought it all together, babe." Finn reassured, smiling as he lifted his gaze to see that Mr. Schu had grabbed Ms. Pillsbury and jumped into the pool, her scream of surprise and amusement raising another cheer from the students. "You made sure everyone knew what they were doing and where they were supposed to be, and you saved us boys from wearing those tight trunks with the flag on it that Mercedes wanted us to wear." He scowled, remembering the tiny piece with a shudder of embarrassment.
"I just didn't want the other girls to get jealous," Rachel teased, turning around so their chests were pressed against each other. The material of their clothing was so thin that Finn could feel her heartbeat against his own. Her eyes flashed mischievously. "I want you all to myself."
"Oh, really?" Finn grinned in response, unable to resist a flash at her tempting lips before returning to her eyes. "And what do you want me for?"
"This." Rachel brought a hand to the back of his head, running her hand through the wet hair, then tugging his face towards her in a meeting of lips. Though, before they touched, Rachel's eyes suddenly flung open wide and she backed away from him, clapping a hand across her mouth. Before he could ask her what was wrong, she speed out of the pool area and into the woman's locker room.
Finn, looking forlorn as he was left alone with water still dripping off his limbs and clothes, wondered what he did wrong this time as everyone cheered happily around him, excited for the new couple as a feeling of dread slowly wrapped around him. The same dread that plagued him months ago like a bug, the same feeling he had when Rachel was in her "dark time," as he always called it. He thought that she had overcame it all, but there was times where she would shrivel up unexpectedly for no reason, like when a Range Rover passed by and she clung to him like the ground was suddenly going to drop below her feet. Her face was so ashen and fearful that he didn't dare to ask her what was the matter, only holding her and reassuring her that everything was going to be okay. Then there was a time where she snapped at him when he brought up the idea to do a Madonna song for Regionals; she denied it so quickly and gave him a such an intense look, all he could do was apologize and change the subject.
Okay, maybe she wasn't as better as he thought, or hoped. But it was undeniable that Rachel was doing her best to overcome it, always trying to be that same sprite of a girl with a fiery temper. There had been a month where everything was like it used to be, however, lately, she had been acting even odder. She had been looking pale and sickly more often, complaining of backaches and random vomiting that worried Finn. He begged her to allow him to take her to a doctor and run some tests, but her body only froze at the time, eyes flashing with realization and fear.
That almost had Finn having a heart attack, but Rachel, oddly, perked up and said that everything was alright, grabbing his arm and jerking him through the swimsuit aisle at the mall to find the perfect outfit for them. He watched her carefully that day, making no comment against her, but noting any differences in her behavior that might hint that she was going to be sick or ill. He saw no difference, except for her possibly being more optimistic and perky; it was a huge relief.
That was almost a week ago, and she had showed no other signs of being sick - that he noticed - until now. And he felt helpless, staring at the locker room's door and wishing that Rachel would just emerge and say she ate bad vegetables or something for lunch. The only thing that kept him from running in there and tearing down all the stalls to find her was that he knew Rachel wouldn't want it and there was also about five other teachers, who helped with the flower session of the engagement, standing about the door with tears in their eyes and smiles upon their faces.
"Finn? You okay?" He glanced to his side to see Quinn, wet hair plastered to her face with a laughing Puck thrashing around in the water behind her. She appeared annoyed but there was an amused tint to her eyes, a secretive glint that he was familiar with since sophomore year.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" He questioned, trying not to let his worry show, especially to his ex-girlfriend who he was on the fritz about if she still had feelings for him or not.
"Because you look like a sad, lonely" - she flicked her gaze up and down his body, a smile forming upon her face- "and wet puppy. Where's the Thing?"
"Who?"
"Your girlfriend."
"Oh, bathroom, I think."
"Finn, do you honestly think I can't tell when you're not telling me something? You obviously are bothered." Quinn teased, raising an eyebrow as she peered up at him. A frown graced her face, looking serious as she realized he wasn't smiling back. "What's wrong?"
"Nothin-"
"Finn."
He sighed. "I don't know, Rachel just freaked out and ran into the bathroom. I'm deciding whether to break the door down and ask her what's wrong or wait."
Quinn glanced at the door, her frown turning into a confused expression. "Freaked out? Doesn't she do that on like a daily basis, I mean, she did scream that one day in the choir room when we wanted to wear dark red for sectionals instead of maroon-"
"No, this was different." Finn interrupted, shaking his head. It was strange to be talking this long with Quinn...about anything. The last major talk they had ended with them both crying and her leaving his truck in a fury, torn between sorrow and anger. Ever since then their relationship could only be called awkward, but Finn had hopes that, one day, Quinn would get over everything and be happy - just not with him, he already found his happy.
Even if that "happy" happened to be locked away in a locker room, running away from him.
"Different how?"
"I don't know, this seemed more like her being sick, not being dramatic," said Finn, rubbing the back of his head and making his hair stand up on end, but he didn't care. He only had thoughts for Rachel. "We were, uh" - he shot Quinn a worried look - "about to kiss but when she got close to me, her eyes opened really wide and she put a hand to her mouth like she was about to throw up. Then she ran into the bathroom..." A sudden thought struck him, and he put an arm cautiously to his nose. "I don't smell, do I?"
Quinn sighed, somewhat impatiently, before leaning towards him and taking a sniff. She shrugged, looking confused. "No, you only smell like chlorine."
"This whole place smells like chlorine, why would she bothered by it now?" Finn asked confused, his brow furrowing. "Is this some kind of period thing or something-"
"Finn, really! Read a pamphlet for once in your life!" Quinn snapped, the old-Quinn bursting forth as she put a hand on her hip and raised judging aquamarine eyes upwards. "I doubt it's dealing with her period, but maybe she just has a stomach flu or something. I never really experienced anything like that though, except for when I was..." A look of horrible dawning appeared on her face, the judging expression gone as she took a step back from him.
"Quinn?" Finn questioned, wondering what the hell that look was about and about to ask more when Quinn just turned on her heels and stormed into the locker room. He stared at the door blankly for a long moment, feeling angry and confused at the hopelessness of the situation. He tried not to think it but the thought tore through him before he could stop it.
What could go wrong now?
xXx
The smell had been annoying her all along.
The stench, heavy and potent in the humid room, seemed to gather in her mouth and nose, waiting hopefully for her to lose control. However, she kept her body in tight command and a smile upon her face; she was not going to allow her own problems from ruining Mr. Schuester and Ms. Pillsbury big day. She understood the need for everything to be perfect and romantic as possible - and a short girl pucking in the background was just not romantic.
Though, when Rachel moved her head up to meet her boyfriend's lips in a kiss, she took the mistake of breathing in through her nose heavily. The smell struck her like a fist into her abdomen, making her almost vomit right there, all over Finn, but she quickly brought a little bit of it under control and shot into the nearest locker room as hastily as possible.
She barely made it to the toilet before removing the contents of her stomach, the acrid taste burning her mouth and tongue. She felt tears slide down her face, but it wasn't because of her being sick. It was Finn's face the moment she took a step back and put a hand to her mouth that made her cry, feeling hopeless at expression on her boyfriend. It was of disappointment, great disappointment. He wanted her to be better so much - his expression telling her as much as any words - and she knew that he thought she was getting better.
If only he knew that she was getting worse, Rachel thought horribly to herself as she flushed her gross bile away and huddled on the moist locker room floor, arms wrapped tightly around her knees. She never felt so hopeless in her life, knowing what was wrong with her but not able to tell the one who truly cared and mattered.
The door to the locker room opened and she heard rapid footsteps come to the stall, which was the only one that was closed. Rachel saw a pair of slim and pretty feet before she heard a knock on the door and Quinn asking softly, "Rachel?"
"Yeah?" Rachel quickly wiped at her eyes, hoping that Finn may have gotten enough water on her to think that her face was just wet.
"Are you okay?" Quinn's voice was hesitant, almost fearful that made Rachel's curiosity spike.
"Why?"
"Because your sitting on a dirty floor and I can smell vomit even from here," Quinn returned, making Rachel burst into tears again for some reason. "Let me in?"
Her voice was soft and, for almost the first time, not judgmental. Rachel didn't even think as she raised a hand and unlatched the door, revealing a wet-looking Quinn. The pretty blond looked down at her with sympathy for the longest moment before she finally kneeled down next to Rachel. There was a question burning in her eyes and Rachel knew exactly what that question was but she too scared to ask it for her, waiting for the other girl to break the silence.
"Rachel...are you pregnant?"
Rachel's eyes swam with tears, unable to lie as she nodded her head. "Yes."
Quinn closed her eyes for a long moment again, looking pained as Rachel suspected sophomore year was rushing by her in a haze of dark memories. Finally, she took a breath and said softly, "I'm guessing you haven't told Finn yet?"
"No." Rachel managed to say through her tears, sobs now racking her body as she revealed her secret to the least-likely person she ever expected to tell first.
"Rachel, you have to tell him. Are you afraid of what he might think, because, by the way he looks at you, I really doubt Finn would-"
"No," Rachel interrupted, "it's not that."
"Then, why?"
"Because," Rachel lifted her watery eyes to Quinn's, slightly surprised to see tears appearing there. She felt her whole world totter and tremble, her body shaking with sobs and fear. "Because I don't know who the father is."
Hope you enjoyed and will review, I greatly enjoy them!
Hope to see you again next chapter! Vale!