Months passed and Rachel and Puck were still not talking to one another. They floated idly by each other in the hall, in classes they shared and even in rehearsal. They kept any talking they needed to do at a minimal. The rest of the glee kids were beginning to worry. None of them had ever seen two people in a deeper funk than Rachel and Puck.
"We need to do something guys! It's been three months already and they're looking more and more depressed every day," Mercedes said.
"Yeah guys, I have to agree. Last night when I came home from Cheerios practice, Rachel was just lying there in sweats. She wasn't doing anything, not watching TV, not singing, not reading, nothing! She just stared at the ceiling all night until dinner," Quinn added. Shortly after being released from the hospital and losing her baby weight, Quinn had begged for her position back. Ms. Sylvester who always regarded Quinn in a respectable manner finally relented and gave her a spot on the Cheerios but not as the head cheerleader.
"Yeah, and yesterday when we were playing Call of Duty, Puck died within the fifth round and he always gets passed that easily. He didn't even yell or throw his controller, he just sat there," Finn said. Mike and Matt nodded in agreement. The fellow glee clubbers nodded thinking of a solution.
"Well let's face it. As much as we say we don't care about each other, we do. We all became a family so if two people in our family are messed up then we need to do something to fix it," Santana said. Over the past few months, she shocked everyone in Glee with her attitude. She was one of the Cheerios that took pleasure in taunting the Glee kids before, but she was also one of the first to accept the fact that they were a family.
"How about we like get Rachel a puppy," Brittany added. The rest of the group looked towards her motioning her to continue. "Well, because when my sister broke up with her husband, she bought a puppy. Something about not being able to reproduce, but why would she want to break up with her husband over produce." Santana looked at her best friend wondering where the girl's head was at times.
"You know that's actually a good idea though. We all know how dedicated Rachel is. If we find her something else to dedicate her time to then she will forget about Puck eventually," Artie replied. The rest of the group took a moment to consider this option.
"But what about Puck?" Tina asked.
"Puck is just Puck. He'll realize eventually that he made a mistake and will own up to it but he takes a long time to realize," Mike added.
"Alright then, Operation Get Rachel and Puck out of Their Funk is undergo," Kurt finished. They all agreed and separated to their respective groups.
Rachel skipped school much to Quinn's surprise and protest. Once she saw that she was fighting a losing battle, she agreed and went to school without Rachel by her side. As usual, Rachel's dads weren't home; they went back to their mini vacations and business trips a few weeks after Quinn got out of the hospital and reacquainted herself with her past life. Finally alone, Rachel moved around uncomfortably on the couch and couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Three months had passed since the last time she really spoke to Puck. Three months had passed and she never got her period. Rachel was never late. Sure she was tired all the time and had constant mood swings, but that was just because she was overdoing it. She wasn't experiencing anything out of the blue. She had no morning sickness, so she possibly couldn't be pregnant. She fought with herself back and forth and finally decided that she had enough. She got into her car and drove as far as she could.
She drove for what felt like hours until she reached a town close enough to Lima but far enough that she was sure no one would recognize her. She walked into the local drugstore and picked up five pregnancy tests. She looked down as the cashier rang her up muttering words of "poor girl, she's so young, what a waste." Rachel could feel the anger bubbling inside of her but held back from saying anything because she was not a waste, she was going to get out of cow town and be a star.
She made her way to a local fast food restaurant and ran into the restroom. She drank a liter of water after leaving the drugstore and she felt like she was going to explode. While waiting for the results, Rachel began crying uncontrollably. She was not the kind of girl to be crying in a bathroom of a restaurant. She was certainly not the kind of girl to get knocked up at 16 but here she was an absolute contradiction to everything that she was not supposed to be. Minutes passed and she could feel her heart pounding out of her chest. When her cell phone timer finally went off, she took a deep breath and looked in the mirror trying to regain her composure.
"You're just overreacting Berry. You're just overworked and heartbroken and stressed; that's why you're late," she said trying to reassure herself. It was then that she looked down at the five pregnancy tests that betrayed everything she just said.
"What am I going to do?" Rachel tried not to panic. It wasn't good for her or for the baby. Even though, she did not want to be a teenage mother, she most definitely did not want to abort her baby that was made out of love even if it was just for one night. So she did what she thought was best. She sped her way home and started packing as quickly as she could. She wrote Quinn a quick letter and then walked out of her childhood home for good.
Puck knew everyone was worried about him and Rachel but he didn't want them to be, at least not for him. Rachel, on the other hand, was hurting just as much as he was and every single time he saw a tear come down her cheek, he felt like punching something. Her father was right about him. Everyone was right about him. He was nothing but a Lima loser and she deserved someone so much more than that, someone who could give her the stars. Just then, he felt small hands pushing him forcefully towards the choir room where the rest of the glee kids and Mr. Schue were waiting. When the shock went away, he looked up see Quinn who gave him a deathly glare.
"What the hell was that for?"
"For this, you jackass! I got home last night and she wasn't there. She was gone!" She shoved a small folded up piece of paper in his hand. "Read it!" He carefully unfolded the paper and immediately recognized Rachel's writing.
"Dear Quinn, I know I owe everyone an explanation as to where I am and what I've done but I couldn't stay here anymore. Not in Lima, not with him." He grimaced at the part. She left because of him. He could feel his heart breaking as he continued reading the letter. "I'm safe, I promise. My parents raised a practical girl. I have money, I am fine. Don't worry about moving or anything Quinn; my dads love you as a daughter and frankly with me gone I think they'll need you around. Tell everyone that I'm sorry for leaving them and hanging them out to dry. I wish you all the best at Nationals. Please tell Daddy and Dad not to worry. I know what I'm doing; I wouldn't leave if it wasn't for the best for me. Most of all take care of Noah for me. Love, Rachel"
"S-Sh-She left?" Puck asked. Everyone nodded their heads. Half of the group was looking at him sympathetically while the other half was glaring at him.
"Why'd you do it Puck? Did you really hate her that much?" Quinn asked as tears made their way to the surface of her eyes. He couldn't blame her; Rachel was her rock when things got hard.
"I didn't mean to okay!" Puck yelled, "I love her; I love her so much it hurts to not be around her. The day after the baby was born I went back to the hospital and I heard you guys talking. I heard her dad start in on her about her future and career and I realized I can't hold her back all of that. I can't do to her what I did to the baby, to you! She worked so hard and she's going places. I'm not! I'm always going to be the Lima loser!" He was angry by all means but he never meant to throw the chair across the room. The group and Mr. Schue jumped back in surprise. Everyone was shocked by Puck's declaration of love for Rachel and they immediately felt guilty for not noticing the self loathing feelings Puck harbored inside.
"Oh Puck," Quinn said sadly as she gave him a hug. "I'm so sorry." Everyone else joined in the hug.
"It's going to be okay Puck. She'll find her way back home," Tina said.
"Like they say if you love someone let them go, if they come back you know it's meant to be," Matt said. Everyone looked at him completely floored by the romantic quote he just recited. He shrugged and hugged everyone tighter.
"Where did she go? How is she going to survive? She doesn't have any money! She doesn't have any protection. Heck she may slap hard, but she doesn't know how to protect herself," Puck said thinking of every possible scenario that could go wrong.
"Puck calm down. When Rachel turned 16, the first of her two trust funds was transferred over to her and it is a whole lot of money. Enough money to last until she turns 21. Something about her dads wanting to see how she would use spend the money now to make sure she was responsible enough for the second she would get after she finished Julliard. Anyways, I'm getting off the subject. Rachel is smart. She'll choose somewhere that's safe and clean," Quinn said trying to calm him down. He nodded. For the rest of practice, the kids just sat around wondering what they were going to do without their star.
