Finn stormed through the halls of McKinley high, his eyes searching for one person and one person only. He absently noticed the other Glee kids staring at him in curiosity. Some followed because of that curiosity but most of them followed because of their pathological need to gossip and they probably sensed that some would be coming soon.
He found Quinn just outside her locker and he stopped right in front of her, hoping that he blocked her escape.
"I knew you were a lot of things but I never thought you were cruel," he said and suddenly all eyes were on him. He ignored them though.
"Can we talk about this in private?" she whispered, practically begging him not to make a scene.
"No, I don't think we can," Finn denied, too angry to care who all saw. "I can maybe understand you lying to me about who's the father, but what I can't understand is you lying to Mr. Schue who has done nothing but be nice to you and support you. I don't understand how you can go along with his crazy wife's scheme of lying to him about her being pregnant, letting him think that he was going to be a father, letting him stress and worry about all of it when you knew it was only going to break his heart when he found out the truth."
The halls of the school seemed to go silent as everyone watched in shock interest. The faces of the Glee kids reflected their peer's surprise. But while the other students just wanted more gossip, the Glee kids wanted an explanation. The girls had tears in their eyes, no doubt empathizing – or was it sympathizing? – with Mr. Schue while the boys looked on in plain shock. Puck didn't seem to care, he just looked angry that Finn was yelling at Quinn. Artie, Mike and Matt, though – Finn could see them slowly starting to grow angry as what Finn had just announced set it.
"Finn!" a new voice called out and Finn felt his heart sink. Mr. Schue walked up and stood in between Quinn, who was silently crying, and himself. His hazel eyes burned as they stared at Finn, practically reproaching him for what he had just done. It suddenly occurred to Finn that he hadn't taken into account the fact that he was announcing to the whole school something that Mr. Schue would probably like to keep private. He winced. Dang!
"My office, now," Mr. Schue said, his posture brooking no argument. He turned to Quinn and said, in a much gentler voice, "You too, Miss Fabray."
Out of the corner of his eye, Finn saw the Glee kids begin to follow as well, but Mr. Schue held up a hand. "Not now, guys," he said, sounding more weary than Finn had ever heard him. "I promise I will answer your questions, but for right now, I just want to talk to these two."
Even so, the Glee-ers followed, showing their teacher that they weren't about to be dissuaded. They did, however, remain politely in the choir room, their voices a low chatter that seemed to drown out anything that was going to be said in Mr. Schue's office.
Mr. Schue closed the door to give them some privacy and then he turned to Quinn.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice so gentle it made Finn angrier. Why was he being so nice to her after what she'd helped put him through?!
She nodded, apparently unable to speak. Mr. Schue then turned to Finn.
"I think you owe her an apology." He crossed his arms over his chest, wincing when it hurt his injured hand.
"No, Mr. Schue, it's alright," Quinn objected. Her eyes met Finn's and he had the sudden desire to hug her until she stopped crying. "Finn's just being a good friend." She ducked her head then added, "I just wish he were my friend too."
With that she left, crying openly now. Mr. Schue sighed and leaned against his desk, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Mr. Schue, I'm so sorry," Finn apologized, worried that his teacher, his friend, his father figure, was upset with him for telling the whole school about his private life.
"For what, Finn?" Mr. Schue asked. He looked up at Finn and suddenly it seemed that the man had aged ten years in a matter of hours. Finn felt bad for the stress that his teacher was apparently under. Mr. Schue didn't deserve any of this.
"It didn't occur to me that you may have wanted to keep all this, private," Finn answered. "I was just so mad at her. I mean, I know that you apparently are fine with it, but I just can't bring myself to understand how she could do something like that."
At this, Mr. Schue smiled. It looked sad and worn but it was there.
"Be that as it may," he said, now sitting down in one of the chairs across from his desk. Finn joined him, feeling a bit drained himself. "Quinn doesn't need the added pressure of you yelling at her. Being a teenage girl is hard enough," he said, now looking through the glass door at all the other Glee kids. "Being a pregnant teenage girl is even harder. She's under a lot of stress right now, Finn. She doesn't need any more."
Great. Now Finn felt ashamed. He hadn't thought about it that way. It might have been more accurate to say that he hadn't thought at all, actually.
"Look," Mr. Schue said, leaning forward with his arms on his knees. "I know you're angry at her for lying to you and that you're hurt. But try and give her a small break, okay? Listen to her if she wants to talk. Things won't get better in a hurry but they will get better."
He reached out with his right hand, looking as though he were about to clasp Finn on the shoulder. Then he paused and switched hands.
"Mr. Schue, what happened to your hand?" Finn asked, concerned and curious.
"Just bruised it," the teacher answered, looking down at the carefully bandaged limb and sounding dismissive about it. "It's fine." He sighed and looked back at the rest of the kids. "I suppose it's time to go in there and explain some things."
He sounded as though he really didn't want to and once again Finn felt bad for doing this to his friend.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Schue," Finn said, hoping that he didn't sound like a skipping CD.
"It's okay, Finn," the teacher forgave. "I don't suppose I should have kept it from them anyways. I butt in into your lives often enough, it's only fair for you guys to do the same."
He got up, giving a small wince as he did so. Finn winced with him.
"Hey, I'm gonna go grab something real quick," he said, figuring the least he could do was help his friend.
"You don't have to come back, Finn," Mr. Schue said, looking a little confused.
"No, I want to," Finn assured, an idea just popping into his head. "I think I may have a song for the Hello project."
"Okay," Mr. Schue said, now sounding curious. "I'll keep the kids occupied until you get back."
Finn smiled, returning Mr. Schue's clapping of the shoulder. He thought he saw the older man wince again and so Finn quickly took his hand off, but he kept the smile on his face. "I'll be back soon."
He left without another word, heading straight for the nurse's office while a plan began to formulate in his mind. Hopefully this Hello song would help him get out of his funk.
oOo
Will walked into the choir room and instantly the chatter died. The kids looked at him, silently waiting for him to explain what was going on. As he'd told Finn, he supposed they had a right to know. The trouble was that, right now, at this moment, it hurt too much for him to talk about. He knew that he was more than likely to end up crying during the whole thing and that was not something he wanted these kids to see.
"Mr. Schue," Artie said, drawing Will's rapidly erratic focus to him. "What happened to your hand?"
Ah yes, that was yet another thing he did not want to discuss. Telling Emma was bad enough. He really didn't want to tell these guys. He was supposed to be their role model, after all. How was it going to look when he told them that he'd possibly fractured his hand when he lost his temper, his control, and punched a locker? Not good – that was how.
In spite of all that. Like Emma, he found he couldn't lie to these kids. They deserved his honesty. They were honest with him, after all. It was only fair he did the same for them.
Will pulled up a stool and sat down. He glanced at the hand in question and noted that Emma had wrapped the compression bandage around it almost perfectly. He doubted that he could keep it that way since he was sure that he needed a bit more stabilization for the injury, but for now it would do. The throbbing was down to a dull ache that only hitched when he accidentally used the hand. Given that it was his dominant hand, it happened a lot but the sharp, painful reminder was slowly starting to sink in with every unintended use. He could see that the hand was still swollen and he winced at the thought of what it would look like if Emma hadn't administered first aid while he'd been asleep. He really should ice the injury, but he just hadn't had the energy to make it to the nurse's office yet.
"Ah, that," he said, showing the kids that he had heard. He laughed self-deprecatingly as he fingered the bandage and tried to find a comfortable position to place the limb in. "I, um, I hauled off and punched a locker."
The kids' mouths dropped open in shock. Some of them had smiles beginning to form on their faces, while others just continued to look surprised.
"What on earth would make you want to do that?" Rachel asked disbelieving that anything in the world could make a person want to, need to, do that. Clearly she hasn't experienced enough anger for it yet.
Will sighed, knowing that his next answer wouldn't exactly suffice but it was the only one he felt like he could give.
"It's been a hard week," he said, closing his eyes as a wave of exhaustion rolled over him.
"Would this have anything to do with the conversation you and Coach Sylvester had in the hall earlier?" Kurt asked, apparently having been close enough to know what had happened.
"How did you know about that?" Will asked, hating that he sounded just a little bit paranoid.
"I was late getting to class and I heard you guys talking," the young boy answered. His blue eyes softened in sympathy, clearly showing that he'd heard everything and saying how sorry he was about the whole conversation.
Will shook his head, trying to clear it a little.
"Anyways, yeah, it had something to do with that and no, I'm not going to tell the rest of you what was said."
"Can I tell them if they ask?" Kurt ask, his penchant for gossip taking over briefly. Will just stared at him, figuring that his expression gave the kid his answer. "Okay," Kurt said, "I guess not."
Will cleared his throat.
"As many of you know, Terri and I are having some.. troubles. I found out shortly before sectionals that she'd been lying to me about being pregnant and, honestly, I've been avoiding her ever since."
Will bent his head when his throat closed and tears welled in his eyes. A few spilled down his cheeks as he looked at the floor. If it wasn't for the fact that he didn't want to look like he was having a complete mental breakdown in front of the kids, he wouldn't have bothered with trying not to cry. But he wouldn't make these kids, his kids, uncomfortable like that.
When he thought he could breathe again, Will looked back up. Rachel had tears in her own eyes and they were freely falling. Santana looked bored. Brittany wore her usual spaced out expression. Tina had tears in her eyes and Mercedes just looked angry. Puck's mouth hung slightly open while Matt and Mike looked at him with pity and Artie looked down at his lap.
"So what does this have to do with Quinn?" Santana asked, obviously wanting to move things forward and leave.
"After she'd found out that Quinn was pregnant and didn't want the child, Terri contacted her and talked her into giving the baby to her when it was born." Again Will's throat closed but this time he didn't have time to hide his face before the tears came. His voice cracked as he added, "I guess she hoped that I wouldn't ever notice that she wasn't actually pregnant."
"But," Rachel said, "how could Quinn do and not tell you?"
"Terri told her not to," Will answered. He didn't actually know if that was true or not but knowing Terri as he did, he was willing to bet that she'd probably come close to threatening the teen to ensure her silence. At least, he hoped so.
"That is just, so wrong," Mercedes interjected, though which part she was referring to, Will didn't have a clue.
"How could she do that?" Rachel asked, disgust in her tone now.
"Oh like you've never made a mistake, dwarf?" Santana snapped.
"Exactly," Will interrupted before an argument could break out. He looked at each one of the kids, silently imploring them to understand and forgive. "Quinn made a mistake. And she shouldn't be constantly reminded of it-"
"Except for the gigantic belly," Santana interrupted.
"-nor should she keep having to apologize or pay for it." Will sighed. "Trust me guys, Quinn is suffering enough for things she's done. We don't need to add to it."
The group grew quiet as they digested what he'd told them. Will didn't know what else to say. He hoped that the kids believed that he wasn't angry at Quinn and neither should they be. Because it was true. He was more hurt by the entire situation than angry and he just needed to move on from it all.
In the silence, Will's mind began playing the past few months over and over in his head. It pointed out instances where he should have known that something was going on and then it proceeded to taunt him with the happiness he'd felt at the news that he was going to become a father. The real kicker came when it brought up the night he'd found out that Terri hadn't been pregnant after all with Sue's words echoing in his head.
You can't even do something as simple as make a baby. What makes you think you have a shot in hell at winning Regionals?
God, that had hurt. She'd hit him below the belt and he was still feeling it.
All of a sudden, Will found himself being squeezed to death. He came back to reality to find that Rachel was giving him a tight hug. Soon, more of the Glee-ers joined in and soon it was a group hug with Will in the center.
"I am so sorry, Mr. Schue," Rachel whispered in his ear as she gave his back a gentle rub.
"Yeah," Will said, clearing his throat when his voice hadn't come out as strong as he would have liked. "Me too."
Not long after joining in the hug, the kids began to break apart and went back to their seats.
"Everything okay in here?" Finn asked, entering hesitantly. In his hands he held an ice pack from the nurse's office and Will instantly knew where he'd gone.
"Yeah, everything's fine," Will assured, giving the teen a smile that he didn't really feel but knew he would later. "Are you ready to do you're Hello number?"
"Yeah," Finn asked. "But first, here. Figured you could use it."
Will took the ice pack, gratefully. "Thanks," he said as he went to sit down. He laid his hand in his lap and then gently placed the ice pack on top, letting the cold sooth the ache and numb his hand. He listened with a small smile as Finn sang "Hello, I love you," while weaving in and out of the group. It was a good performance and Will wished that he could have clapped like the others.
"Thanks Finn, that was perfect," he said one the teen had finished and gone to sit down. "What made you decide to sing that one?"
"Well, I figured it was time to get to know myself as well as my friends again and what better way than to introduce myself. In a way."
"Well you did great," Will complimented. "It's getting late so make sure the rest of you come up with some songs for our Hello week."
"Finally!" Santana said as she and Brittany flew out of the room.
"Goodnight Mr. Schue," several of the kids said. "We'll see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow, guys!" Will called as they left.
He was packing up his back to go home, a place he no longer wanted to be quite frankly, when a voice spoke from behind him, "I'm proud of you." He spun around to find Emma there with a smile on her face.
"You told the kids the truth," she elaborated. "I know that wasn't easy."
"No, it wasn't," Will admitted, closing his bag and picking it up.
"You should get that checked out," she said, pointing towards his hand which hung by his side. The position wasn't all that comfortable but it was easiest for now.
"Yeah, you, uh, you said that earlier," he reminded her, smiling a little.
"I know," she answered. "I just wanted to make sure that you actually did it."
Will smiled at her concern. "I'll be fine." He walked closer to her so that he was standing right next to her, both of them facing opposite directions. "Good night, Emma," he whispered, leaning in and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
He heard her whisper, "Good night, Will," as he walked out and no matter how much he wanted to turn around and kiss her again, he kept going. Tonight was a night for healing. Beginning a new romance could wait.
fin