Chapter Two: Living Arrangements
Mr. Shue's excitement and generally upbeat mood was quickly picked up by the other members of Glee, and that day's practice went by with much more enthusiasm than it had been.
Not to say there wasn't the usual clashes; Rachel claiming nearly every solo, Mercedes demanding to use her 'chocolate thunder' and the football players and Cheerios complaining about practice conflicts. All in all, a normal day at Glee.
That is, until the practice ended.
As the other students gathered their belongings and made their way to their homes/shopping malls, Mr. Shue made his way to the mattress in his classroom, hoping to get at least a few hours sleep.
"Mr. Shuester?"
Surprised, and not for the last time that day, Mr. Shue turned to find half of his 'Gleeks' standing in the doorway, most of them with confusion on their faces as they took in the mattress and collection of personal effects scattered around it.
Mr. Shue sighed; he knew this day was coming, but that didn't mean he liked that it was happening right now, after the rest of the day had gone so well. "What can I do for you, kids?"
"Mr. Shuester, are… are you living here?" Rachel asked, taking in the fact there was a toothbrush in a cup against a wall, and a suitcase full of clothes at the head of Mr. Shue's 'bed'.
Trust Rachel to get right to the point. "Yes, I've been living here for a while now."
"Why, Mr. Shue?" This came from Finn, looking confused at the thought of anyone wanting to spend more time at school then they absolutely had to.
The look that crossed Mr. Shue's face made Finn want to take back his question, but before he could apologize, Mr. Shue answered him. "My wife and I are getting a divorce."
Finn looked at his feet, Rachel's face had that look that she usually reserved for when her solo was 'taken' or watching Finn talk with Quinn, and even a few Cheerios seemed to find the news unbelievable.
"Mr. Shue, how is that possible? You're, like, the nicest teacher in this school!!" Quinn was utterly shocked; she needed Mr. Shue to stay with his wife so that her baby could have the one teacher Quinn trusted as her daughter's father.
That was the main reason Quinn had even agreed to Mrs. Shue's suggestion; Mr. Shue had cared even more than her own father, even going as far as taking her and Finn to doctor appointments and not even expecting anything for dealing with all their drama.
Mr. Shue met her gaze, letting Quinn know that the developing life growing within her was somehow involved in her teacher's marital problems. "Sometimes, grown-ups find that they're different people than when they were younger and those changes can make them realize that they may not be the people who they fell in love with…"
Mr. Shue's voice cracked at that point and, despite the fact that he
quickly looked away at that moment, the gathering of students knew that he was fighting tears.
"Oh, I'm going to cut me a bitch!" Mercedes' declaration was quickly backed by the majority of the female population of Glee, including Kurt, who added that he might just have to give Mrs. Shue a slap or two because his shirt was Armani-and brand new-and it was nearly impossible to get blood stains out of silk.
Mr. Shue was so shocked at how his kids were defending him, automatically coming to his defense, that it took them yelling a war cry and stampeding their angry way out of his office before he was snapped back into action.
"No, no!" He lurched to his feet and, by some fancy footwork normally reserved for when he sang with them, was able to block the doorway before any of his Glee kids made it out of the room. "This is something that I need to take care of myself… How do you know that this isn't my fault?"
"It's like Quinn said," Artie replied, looking to his fellow 'Gleeks' for support, "you're the nicest teacher here and you're always helping us with our problems, how can you be blamed for this one?"
Mr. Shue's jaw literally dropped at the trust and dedication his kids were showing him; he was tearing up again, only this time, it was tears of joy instead of sorrow.
"As much as I appreciate the death threats against my wife," Mr. Shue managed to choke out, "she isn't worth the trouble you kids would get into, and we don't need any more trouble, especially with Sectionals being only days away…"
The Glee kids groaned good-naturally at Mr. Shue's constant referral to the Sectionals that Saturday, before Rachel brought them back to their original problem.
"You can't stay here, Mr. Shue; sleeping on the floor can't be healthy, think of all the germs you could get, and you could catch a cold if you're not careful…"
"You could stay with one of us," Finn offered, more than ready to open his home to the man who helped him with his pregnant girlfriend and tried to juggle practices so that he and the rest of the football players could do both of the things they loved.
"I've got that extra room above our garage," Mercedes offered, raising her hand like they were taking a survey in a classroom, "It might be a little cold, but we could plug in a spare heater and it's all good…"
"I've got that rec room we never use," Kurt offered up, coming to stand by Mercedes and put a hand on her shoulder, "We'll have to move the ping-pong table and get these adorable sheets I saw at Macy's…"
Each of the children started talking over the others, giving examples of how they could redo one room or the other to make a space for their Spanish/Glee teacher that was just realizing what an impact he made on each of his students lives.
"Kids, kids!!" Mr. Shue had to clap his hands a few times to get his students attention, but they finally quit their debate on who had the best place and looked to Mr. Shue, who suspected that there was something in the dusty classroom that was making his eyes water so much…
"As… touched as I am by all of your hospitality, I'm going to have decline; I need to figure this out on my own and I don't want to burden any of you with any more problems then you're already dealing with. You are children and deserve to live your lives as freely as possible."
Despite looking like they wanted to argue more, Mr. Shue's kids nodded and made their way home, a few of them offering names of hotels, Rachel urging him to'at least find someplace that isn't on the floor' and Finn insisting that he sleep over at Finn's place if unable to find his own.
Nodding at the offer, Mr. Shue sighed as Finn also made his way out of the classroom as well. Slumping down on the mattress, Mr. Shue pulled out an old photograph of a smiling, young couple looking every much in love as Mr. Shue thought they still were.
"After all, you won't be children forever…"
Unbeknownst to Mr. Shue, a couple of laggers had stayed behind and heard his last statement. Thinking for a few seconds, they came up with a plan to make sure that their Glee teacher got some happiness to make up for how horrible his life had been going lately.
Ken Tanaka was having a generally good day; he and Emma would be married in just three days time, his team was playing fairly decently despite the fact that most of them were still in that damn Glee club, and he was mostly confident that they would win next Friday's game.
Last minute tux fitting tomorrow afternoon, the game on Friday and his wedding on Saturday. The students of McKinley High were treated to a rare sight that school year; Ken Tanaka walking down the hallways, whistling a happy little tune as he made his way to pick up his bride-to-be.
He had just made it to the hallway right outside the councilor's office and only a few doors away from the woman of his dreams when a group of laughing voices caught his attention.
"Aw, come on, Brittany, it's so obvious a blind man could see it!" The very loud, very demanding young girl that stomped through the halls like she owned the place was making the taller blonde girl she was booming at cower, despite the height difference, "You got to admit that Ms. Pillsberry looks so cute with Mr. Shue! It's like… Oh, it's like Raul and Christine from Phantom of the Opera!"
Ken froze where he stood, the voices coming from just around the corner in only a few feet in front of him. Scanning the hallway, he spotted a nearby men's room and ducked inside, hoping that the voices to would continue on pass him.
They didn't; instead, they stopped right outside of the room he was hiding in and proceeded to dig through the lockers on the other side of the hall, still chattering away as they did so and Ken could hear every single word being said…
"Did you see the look on her face when Finn told her that Mr. Shue was sleeping in his classroom?" A tall, brunette female dressed all in blue asked, merely watching as the others gathered things to take home. Ken had never seen her before and decided that she must be the new student his football players were talking about. "She looked soo concerned, it was just too cute!"
"Everybody knows that she's deathly afraid of germs, it's her kryptonite; so it's kinda sweet the way she immediately went all Nurse Nightingale when she found out that Mr. Shue was sleeping on the classroom floor." That wheelchair kid rolled himself behind the girls, backpack on his lap as they all laughed at the scene in their heads.
Inside the men's room, Ken clenched his fists in frustration. Great, even the children were picking up on the fact that Emma was mooning over Will Shuester. The fact that he and Emma were getting married meant nothing here because, hey, she wouldn't let him tell anyone!
"Yeah, Brittany," One of the children was a Cheerio, he could tell by the cheerleading uniform as she swung her ebony hair over her shoulder in an extremely haughty manner, "Even though it's kinda gross to think of teachers even dating, Ms. Pillsberry would totally fit on Mr. Shue's arm like some glamorous fashion accessory."
"But isn't Mr. Shue, like, married or something?" The blonde girl-that would be Brittany-asked, voicing the question that had popped up in Ken's mind the minute this whole conversation started as she shut her locker to look at the other two girls.
"No," The first girl's voice had lost the gleeful-Ken was really started to hate that word-tone she had started with as she whispered, "Mr. Shue is going to divorce his wife because of some sort of domestic crisis, and I stand by my statement that Ms. Pillsberry would be the perfect person to help him feel better."
Despite the completely nonsexual way the brunette had stated that comment, the other two girls giggled like she just suggested that Will and Emma decided to go skinny dipping in the Bermudas and even that wheelchair kid was grinning like an idiot.
"Yeah, I bet she'll really enjoy playing nurse with Mr. Shue," Noah Puckerman, the only kid out there Ken recognized, piped up as he rounded the corner. Wiggling his eyes at the new girl, he continued with, "The quiet ones are always the naughtiest."
As the children groaned about the mental image that Puck gave them and the new girl rolled her eyes at the comment, Ken barely had enough self control to wait until the group had left the hallway before stomping off to find Emma and make sure Will wasn't within five feet of her.
If he was, Ken wasn't sure if he'd be able to control himself…
Stomping the last few feet to Emma's room, Ken was about to enter when the light, lilting and absolutely beautiful sound of Emma singing came drifting through the door:
The smile on your face
Lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes
Saying you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand
Says you'll catch me if ever I fall…
You say it best
When you say nothing at all
Ken's good mood steadily returned as he listened to his soon-to-be-wife sing so happily, and it lasted right up until he opened the door, cutting her off mid-verse.
Emma's eyes widened dramatically as soon as she saw him in the door, alerting Ken to the fact that something was very wrong. His unease grew as soon as she started methodically cleaning all the pencils on her desk, before moving onto the desk itself, something she only did when she was extremely nervous.
He watched her clean for a little while, waiting for her to say her customary, "Hello, Ken." before he decided on anything, but several minutes went by that left them in an uncomfortable silence until he couldn't take it anymore.
"Hey, M&M," Ken's nickname for Emma made her flinch and his worry kicked up a notch at the trying-not-to-look-guilty smile she shot his way. "What's going on?"
Taking a deep breath, the love of his life met his gaze with a look that sent a spear of ice right through his heart. Ken knew, at the end of this visit, his life was going to change… badly.
"We need to talk…"
Finn sighed as he entered the his house at the end of another long, tiring day. Leaving the wheelchair he spent most of the evening in and pushing it to the side of the door, Finn called out, "I'm ho-o-ome!" to the women sitting in the kitchen.
"We're in here, Finn!" His mother called back, as Quinn got up to hug her boyfriend, which he only halfheartedly returned, before making his tired way to a seat, flopping down with an exaggerated sigh and nearly taking up half the kitchen when he stretched his legs out.
"How is it possible to be tired when all I did was sit around most of the day?" Finn asked, groaning as he laid his head on his arms and yawned widely, before turning his head to open one bleary eye to gaze at his mother.
His mother had moved over to where her son was sitting as soon as he sat down, now she began to massage the cramps out of his shoulders as she tried to explain, "I think it's because you're used walking around all the time, using your legs without even thinking about it, and now you have to pretend you can't walk at all so it takes an effort."
"It was the only way I could get a job, the only way," came Finn's muffled response as he turned his head to lay it on his arms again, along with a small groan when his mother hit a particularly sore spot. "I need to be able to pay for doctors…"
"I know, honey," Finn's mother sighed tiredly as well before kissing the top of her son's head and then laying her cheek against the spot where she kissed as she wrapped her baby up in a hug he gladly returned, "I know…"
Quinn, who had been keeping quiet and moved to the side when Finn first spoke, felt a tear slip down her cheek as she watched how Finn's mother took care of her son, how tender she was with him instead of demanding answers or that he quit his job if it was so hard on him. It was something that she had wished of her own parents, but had been denied as soon as they found out she wasn't their 'perfect little girl'.
Sighing, Quinn swallowed the rest of her tears and made her way to the small guest room that had become her haven in the last few days, needing to get away from the man in the kitchen that was causing the lingering pain in her chest.
Finn, despite his lack of brains on some things, was trying so hard for a child that had conceived by his best friend. A fact that he still didn't know about, despite the fact that Quinn was well on her way into her eighth month of pregnancy.
Curling up on the fold-out bed, Quinn wrapped her arms around her ever expanding stomach and whispered, "I hope everything turns out alright, I hope Finn never finds out that you're really Puck's, and I swear to God, if you come out with a Mohawk-"
"Quinn?" Finn's disembodied voice came floating through the thin walls of the house, making Quinn sit up as quickly as possible and wipe away the residual tear tracks that fell without her notice, "Quinn, where are you?!?"
"In my room!" Quinn called, pulling out a mirror and making sure every single bit of evidence of her tears were gone when Finn walked into the room, smiling his trademark goofy, but loving smile.
"Hey, Quinn," He said, the weariness still evident in his voice as he settled down beside her, resting his head on her stomach and sighing happily, "How's our little girl doing in there?"
Ever since their argument about the name 'Drizzle', Finn hadn't offered up any more new names for 'their' baby and had just referred to her as 'our little girl'. Quinn didn't mind that much, the only thing that made her wince was whenever he said 'our'.
Every single time that simple word left Finn's lips, a tiny voice inside her heart kept urging her to tell him the truth, the whole and unfiltered truth, tell him before she was buried under all the lies. It made her feel so guilty that she lashed out at him, demanding that he get a job to help with baby appointments and paternity vitamins.
"She's fine," Quinn answered, brushing Finn's hair behind his ear and wondering at the man in her lap. He could barely keep his grades up in school, but still managed to hold down a steady job to help care for a child that he thought was his.
Once again, that little nagging voice started sounding in her head again; it was screaming that he needed to know the truth, that the baby would still be his, even though Finn hadn't been the one who made her. The feeling became so strong it force a word past her lips before she even thought about it.
"Finn?" Once more, Quinn stroked Finn's hair, reveling in the feeling of his silky tresses for what she hoped was not the last time. "Finn, there's something I need to tell you…"
Looking down, Quinn let out a soft sigh as she took in Finn's closed eyes and the soft exhales of his breath, Finn's head still resting ever-so-gently on her stomach.
It can wait, Quinn decided, rearranging their bodies so that they were laying side-by-side, Finn's arm wrapped protectively around her body, For now, I'll enjoy the fact that Finn doesn't hate me with every fiber of his being and the fact that I'll probably end up with a Lima Loser instead of one of few men that'll probably get out of here…
Quinn blamed her hormones that was making her feel all guilty, causing her tears to flow so erratically, but that nagging little voice in her head told her that it had nothing to do with the baby, and everything to do with how she was made…
A/N: Song is 'You Say It Best(When You Say Nothing At All)' by Allison Krauss.