A/N: Since I got so many lovely reviews of last chapter, here is chapter three! Thank you so much for your input on this story. I appreciate it. Please read and review and I'll see if I can get the next chapter up in the next week. Happy reading.
Rachel headed into the house nervously. When she walked in, most of the lights were off, giving her a sigh of relief that maybe her dads had gone to bed. However, when she stepped a bit further into the kitchen to get a glass of water before bed, a light flipped on revealing her dads sitting at the kitchen table.
She could tell they were mad by the expressions they wore on their faces although almost no emotion showed. Instead a hard, long stare was given. She gulped nervously as she walked over to them, water in hand.
"Rachel, do you know what time it is?" Hiram asked as calmly as he could. He wasn't a man known for keeping things cool and collected.
"Umm I don't know," Rachel said trying to cover up her slurs. Even though they weren't as apparent, they were still there.
"Three in the morning, Rachel," Hiram answered.
"I can explain," Rachel said quickly.
"Three in the morning! What are you doing out at three in the morning?" Hiram said with even more anger.
"I was at a party," Rachel started to say but was cut off.
"Why didn't you answer our texts so at least we wouldn't be worried?" Leroy said joining in.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be out this late," Rachel said as she took a sip of water to calm herself. Then she thought back, her father's texted her? She had no idea or any idea actually where her phone was, which added even more complication.
"That doesn't cut it, Rachel. You better explain yourself," Leroy said angrily. Rachel nodded. Just tell the truth, Rachel thought to herself. She had never seen her dads so mad before but maybe they would ease up if she told the truth.
"Okay, well I'm only going to be completely honest with you because it's the right thing to do," Rachel started to say. She noticed Hiram's eyes widen a little and etched with concern. He wondered how bad the news Rachel was about to tell them really was.
"I had a couple of drinks at the party and I was too drunk to drive. Kurt offered me a ride but I didn't take it," Rachel said as her dad cut her off.
"Rachel, please don't tell me you drove home drunk?" Leroy asked worriedly.
"No, I would never. Kurt called Mr. Schuester and he came and offered to take me home," Rachel said afraid to look into their eyes because she knew what would be shown there.
"Mr. Schuester came and picked you up?" Leroy asked slightly confused. He was her teacher, why would he come get their daughter? Why didn't she call them?
"Yes," Rachel said.
"Why didn't you call us?" Leroy asked.
"I didn't want to be in trouble and disappoint you," Rachel said realizing that she would be in trouble either way the situation would have turned out. Hiram and Leroy looked at each other, unsure of what to make of the conversation and Rachel's night out.
"You're lucky, Rachel, to have a teacher like him. One who cares so much about his students that he would go pick them up in the middle of the night," Hiram said after a couple minutes of silence. Rachel looked up at him and nodded.
"I know and I already feel guilty for him having to come get me but I already thanked him and everything," Rachel said remembering their surprisingly nice conversation in his car. She smiled to herself and thought once again how great Mr. Schuester really is.
"Well, I think you should go up to bed. We'll talk more about this in the morning," Hiram said with Leroy nodding. There was no point in laying out a punishment tonight when Rachel most likely wouldn't remember it in the morning.
"Alright, I really am sorry," Rachel said again as she dragged herself up the stairs, head hanging low.
She sighed once she got into her room and shut the door. She dumped her purse out on her bed, and searched though its contents to find her phone. She sighed again when she didn't find it and came to the conclusion that she either lost it at Noah's or it is somewhere in Mr. Schuester's car.
I guess I'll get it Monday, Rachel thought before going into the bathroom to get ready for bed. She hardly slept at all that night, as she was replaying the events of the night in her head. The car ride home particularly stood out for her.
She never really understood Mr. Schuester's intentions towards her because she always thought that he was out to destroy her career, but being able to openly talk to him every now and then, showed her a different side of him. He was always out to help his students achieve the best and that was a quality that Rachel admired.
She tried to push the thoughts of her teacher out of her head, but found that she couldn't no matter how hard she tried. It was taking over her mind and she needed it to stop before she ruined their friendship and turned it into something awkward.
After much tossing and turning, Rachel finally fell asleep. The morning came too fast though and although Rachel didn't know it, Will's prediction of her hang over was true. She immediately felt sick to her stomach when she woke up and ran to the bathroom before letting the contents of her stomach spill out into the toilet.
Why did I let Noah talk me into drinking? Rachel thought as she threw up again. When her stomach settled down, she slowly made her way down stairs. Her dads were in the kitchen again making breakfast. They noticed Rachel and took in her appearance. Messy hair, most of the make-up she had on the night before still smeared on and a face that said she had a pounding headache.
"Morning," Rachel said sleepily.
"Good morning," Hiram said shortly, still mad about Rachel's behavior the previous night.
"Would you like some breakfast with that hang over?" Leroy asked sarcastically. Rachel gave him a slight glare but shook it off because she didn't want to be in even more trouble than she already was. She looked over to the pan of eggs that Leroy was scrambling but quickly looked away, as the sight of the eggs were making her stomach turn again.
"I think I'll just have some tea," Rachel said as she walked over to the kitchen cabinets. She pulled one open and pulled out a blue and gold star painted mug. She looked at it for a moment as it reminder her suddenly of the blue and gold music note tie she had given Mr. Schuester last year. She quickly shook her head and went over to fill the kettle up with water. Talking so openly with him last night opened a whole new perspective of him to Rachel and everything she ever did around him in the last year was reminded again.
The water was slowly starting to heat up and so were the looks on her dad's faces again. She knew they were going to be questioning about the previous night again so she braced herself for what was about to come.
"Rachel, as you know your father and I are not happy with your behavior of last night," Hiram started to say. Rachel just stared at him, wanting him to continue.
"We realize that you are a teenager, but you still live under our rules and the rules for drinking and curfew are clearly stated. You are to have no alcoholic drinks without permission from either of us and your curfew is 12:30 am. You broke both of those rules, Rachel," Hiram explained.
"I'm sorry," Rachel said but was cut off.
"Since this was a glee club party, your father and I have decided on what we think is an appropriate punishment for you," Leroy said. Rachel could feel the punishment before they even said it and it hurt her heart.
"You are not to attend any glee club practices or events for the next two weeks," Leroy finished. Rachel stared at them unable to say anything. Glee club was her life and if they took that away, she would have nothing. It was only two weeks but she needed all the time she could get before they went away to Nationals in New York.
"You can't do that. Nationals are coming up and we need to practice. I'm the best singer in there and they can't do it without me," Rachel said tearing up a bit. She needed to sing more than she needed air.
"I'm sorry, Rachel but a rule is a rule and a punishment is a punishment," Hiram said.
"It's only two weeks. You don't leave for New York for another four weeks after that," Leroy said.
"Fine, I'll take your punishment but singing is my life and this punishment won't stop me from hanging out with my friends in the glee club," Rachel said as she stormed off towards the stairs and up to her room, forgetting her tea.
She dropped down on her bed and grabbed a pillow. She pulled it to her face and let a loud scream out. When she was done, she let her body fall back and relax on the headboard on her bed.
She knew she deserved a punishment but two weeks of no glee club was going to be torture. Two weeks of not being able to sing and see her friends and most importantly, Mr. Schuester. She didn't even want to think about what he was going to say about her not being able to sing. He had said before that she was the best one in there and if she wasn't there then the club would be nothing.
Rachel must have fallen asleep because when she woke up, she found Noah sitting in her room, at her computer.
"Noah? What are you doing here?" she asked sleepily, while rubbing her eyes.
"I came to drop this off," he said holding her phone in his hands. "It was on my bed. You must have left it there when we were talking.
"Oh, thank you. You didn't have to come all the way over and drop it off," Rachel said as she moved to the edge of her bed.
"It's okay. I didn't have anything else to do today," Puck said as he leaned back in the chair.
"So, how grounded are you?" he asked seeing a look of sadness appear on her face.
"Two weeks of no glee club," Rachel said shortly. "I'm surprised my dad's let you in," she added.
"It took some convincing but they let me. I can't stay long though. Two weeks? That's harsh," he said.
"I know, but I deserve it though," Rachel said.
"Why? You weren't that drunk," Puck said.
"You obviously didn't see me being taken home by Mr. Schuester then," Rachel stated.
"Mr. Schuester took you home? In the words of Santana, wanky," Puck said giving her a sly grin.
"Noah! I know what you are thinking but I didn't even call him. Kurt did," Rachel said defending herself. She had told Noah one day after glee about the time she had had a crush on Mr. Schuester and how she cleaned his apartment. He understood, since he himself was into older women. Ever since that moment though, Rachel felt that she could tell Noah everything and the two had become very close.
"Whatever, was he mad at you?" he asked.
"Surprisingly, no. It was a lovely conversation," Rachel said trying to hide her smile. She didn't want to give Noah any ideas of her new found feelings for Mr. Schuester because even she didn't know what they were.
"How do you mean lovely conversation?" Puck asked prying in to find the details.
"We just talked and he didn't judge me. It was refreshing," Rachel said not wanting to go into details about Mr. Schuster's private live. She marveled in the thought that he had told her of his personal relationships and she didn't want to go and ruin it for him by telling Noah.
"That's because he likes you, Berry. You may not see and he may even not see it yet but everyone else can," Puck stated bluntly, making Rachel quickly defend her feelings.
"Noah! He is a teacher, he can't like me," Rachel said once again trying to cover her smile. The thought of her and Mr. Schuester together made her stomach swell.
"So? He better do a better job at covering it up then. We all saw the way he was looking at you when you sang Get it Right," Puck explained. "And many other occasions where he favors you," he added.
"He was just being proud. Proud of all of us, not just me," Rachel said now getting annoyed that he wouldn't drop the subject. "And he does not favor me," Rachel said even though he sometimes did.
"Rachel, you know that is a lie. You looked right over to him. I saw," Puck said. "And he does, you know he does."
"I was looking at Finn!" Rachel said remembering the moment. "Just because he lets me sing all the time doesn't mean he favors me," Rachel added.
"Okay, whatever you say," Puck said standing up. "When it happens though, remember I told you so," Puck added while walking towards her door.
"Noah," Rachel said stopping him and taking a breath. "Thank you for dropping this off," Rachel said as she held her hand up.
"You're welcome," he said as he walked out of her room.
When Noah had left, Rachel decided that she needed to apologize and thank Kurt. She quickly dialed his number and he immediately picked up.
"Rachel! How are you feeling?" Kurt asked, oddly chipper.
"Alright, I suppose. Better than this morning," Rachel said grabbing her stomach.
"Good. I take it you got home okay?" he asked.
"Yes, thank you for calling him," Rachel said. "I appreciate it."
"You're welcome, Rachel. You had to go home safely and I wasn't about to let you drive home drunk or with a stranger," Kurt said.
"I know. I'm sorry I got mad at you but you were right about Finn. I have fully accepted the fact that he is with Quinn," Rachel said proudly.
"Really? What changed your mind?" Kurt asked interested in what made the sudden transformation.
"I just had a really nice talk with someone who is going through the same thing," Rachel said leaving out Mr. Schuester's name.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, Rachel, you are not going down that road again," Kurt immediately said.
"What road?" Rachel asked curiously.
"The, I love Mr. Schuester because he listens to me road," Kurt said.
"I don't love him Kurt! And I didn't even mention his name," Rachel said once again defending herself. She wondered why she told her friends about her crush on Mr. Schuester a year ago. At least Kurt was the last one.
"It will never happen, Rachel," Kurt said being the exact opposite of Noah.
"It could," Rachel said quietly and slightly surprising herself. Did she want it to happen? Was her subconscious telling her something that she desperately wanted?
"Rachel, he is a teacher! He would be in serious trouble if he ever dated a student," Kurt said snapping her out of her thoughts. His remark made Rachel laugh for a moment in her head as she had just told Noah the same thing.
"I know he is a teacher, Kurt. I'm just saying it was really nice talking to him, he was very open," Rachel said wanting to end the awkward conversation.
"Okay, but please don't stalk him and clean his apartment again," Kurt said in a half joking and half serious tone.
"I promise, I won't," Rachel said scolding herself to let herself stoop so low.
"Well I have to go, Rachel. Talk to you tomorrow?" Kurt asked.
"Yes. I'll call you," Rachel said.
"Alright, bye," Kurt said.
"Bye," Rachel said as he hung up the phone.
She laid back on her bed, rethinking of both conversations. Noah said go for it and Kurt said it would never happen. She was unsure of whom to listen to because both of them had made accurate points. She knew it would be dangerous to date Mr. Schuester but she felt that she had something with him. Their lives weren't that different and Rachel related the most to him out of all the boys she had ever dated. He was more caring than Jessie, had more things in common than Noah and was more understanding with her than Finn.
She knew it wasn't her call though, to make something more of their relationship. If anything were to happen, it would have to have been a move made by him. She didn't want to ruin what they already had and she knew if she came onto him again, then there would be no chance.
Rachel sighed to herself as she looked over to the clock. It was only 12:30 in the afternoon but it felt much later in the day. She pulled out her stack of homework that she had to get done for tomorrow. It was doing a fine job of distracting her when her phone went off again.
She looked at it and it read Finn. Should she answer it? Let it continue ringing? See if he leaves a voice mail? She decided that if she truly were over Finn that she would not answer it and that was what she did. She sighed happily as she felt no regrets or sadness for not picking up. She was moving on to bigger and better things and she had one person in mind to help her do that.
Meanwhile, Will was sitting at his coffee table in the living room, looking over glee club songs that he thought would be good for Nationals and trying to figure out a budget plan. He yawned seeing as he had gotten little sleep the night before because of picking up Rachel.
"Hey there hot stuff," Holly said emerging from his kitchen with lunch in hand. She sat next to him and placed the plate of sandwiches next to him.
"Thanks, Holl," Will said leaning over to kiss her. Holly smiled at the nickname he had given her.
"What are you working on?" she asked grabbing a sandwich for her and Will.
"Set lists and budgeting," Will said yawning again as he took the sandwich.
"Boring, I think you need a break," Holly said seeing his yawn. "Why are you so tired?" she asked.
"I just didn't get much sleep last night," Will said casually. He didn't want to tell her that he didn't sleep because he was thinking of Rachel all night after he got Kurt's call to pick her up. Although it was early in the morning when he picked up Rachel, he surprisingly didn't mind. The conversation in his car was nice, which he was not used to with Rachel. It showed him a different side of her and he longed to know more.
Holly noticed his behavior had been off ever since she came over in the morning and asked him what he did last night. He seemed like he was keeping something from her but she didn't pry. She figured he would tell her if he wanted but Holly surprisingly wanted this relationship to work with Will and honesty was the foundation of any relationship.
"So you didn't do anything last night?" Holly casually asked. She wasn't the jealous type but she longed to know.
"Nope, just sat around here," Will said taking a bite out of the sandwich.
"Oh, so what are you planning on doing for this budget problem?" Holly asked changing the subject. She kept his behavior in mind in the back of her head though.
"I'm not sure, but I need to figure something out. The glee club is in desperate need of money," Will said.
"Well how about you have a benefit?" she asked.
"A benefit?" Will asked confused.
"Yeah, you get the glee club to perform songs and people donate money to the cause," Holly explained.
"You know what? That is a great idea," Will said. It was the perfect chance to let the glee club prepare for Nationals and a chance to make some money.
"Well great ideas are all I know," Holly said with a wink.
"This will be a perfect chance to let Rachel try another original song," Will said excitedly.
"True, but maybe you should focus on the other kids, Will," Holly said even noticing Will favoritism toward Rachel. She sometimes wondered if there was something more but scolded herself for thinking that Will would ever stoop to liking a student.
"Right, the other kids could try original songs again also," Will said scolding himself for his favoritism towards Rachel. The previous night only made it harder for him to not focus on her performing in glee club or anything to do with her at all.
"Well I better get going," Holly said standing up.
"Thanks for your idea, Holly," Will said as he leaned into kiss her. It was a short peck and Holly wondered again if anything was bothering him.
"Bye, Will," she said as she walked out the door, deciding not to ask again.
"Bye," Will said with a wave. When she left, he put down his pen and paper and went into the kitchen. He couldn't wait to tell the club tomorrow about Holly's idea. He hoped they would be just as excited and that Rachel wouldn't mind taking another crack at song writing, but little did Will know that his idea for Rachel was about to come crashing down.