Thanks to everyone whose read Chapters 1-3. I would have liked to have gotten more reviews though. I know people are reading but I don't know what you think because I haven't gotten many comments. Please read and review, and of course, ENJOY!
Chapter 4: Confrontation
Quinn woke up the next morning to find Rachel's bed neatly made. It looked as if Rachel hadn't been there all night.
Had Rachel gone home? Had she quit?
Quinn knew she had to apologize to Rachel. She went across the hall to the boys' room and knocked on the door. Nobody answered. She took Elevator 3 downstairs to the breakfast area and saw Rachel sitting with Finn, Kurt, Blaine and Mercedes.
x
FLASHBACK:
Finn, Puck and Sam were getting ready for bed when they heard a knock on the door. Sam went to get it. Then Finn heard Sam say, "Rachel, what's wrong?"
Finn got up and ran over to the door. Rachel was crying. Sam pulled her in for a hug. "How about you come in and you can tell us about what happened?" Sam said.
Rachel nodded and went into the room. "Here," Finn said. "Sam, can she sit on our bed?"
"Of course," Sam said.
"Sit down, Rach," Finn said. He sat on his bed and Rachel sat next to him. Finn put his arm around her.
"Now that it's just us, what happened?" Puck said. "WE won't make you cry."
"It - it was Santana," Rachel sobbed. "She came into our room and started throwing insults at me for apparently no reason. She told me that everyone hates me and that the world would be a better place without me. She said I'm going to die alone. I'm just so tired of her being so mean to me! I want to go home."
"Did Quinn say anything?" Puck asked.
Rachel shook her head and continued sobbing.
"I'm going to have to have a talk with her tomorrow," Finn said. "I'm done with her."
"Don't take it that far, Finn," Rachel said.
"No, I'm just sick and tired of people treating you this way and no one doing anything to stop it," Finn said. "I knew you and Quinn being roommates was a bad idea. I had a feeling this would happen. You can't go back to that room, Rachel."
"I have to," Rachel said. "If I don't, I won't have anywhere to sleep."
"You can sleep on our couch tonight," Sam said.
"Yeah," Finn said. "And tomorrow, I'll go with you to Mr. Schue and we'll see if we can work something out with a new room arrangement."
"I hate her," Rachel sobbed. "I was so stupid for letting her fool me again. I should have learned from what happened before Regionals. She's a mean girl. She's a bitch. Before Regionals she said she wanted to write a song together, only for her to be mean to me about - well, nothing I can really talk to guys about. Now she wants to be my roommate only so Santana can come into the room and say those mean things to me." Rachel buried her face in the bed and continued crying. They heard a knock at the door.
"I'll get it," Puck said. He went to the door. "What do you want? We're closed," he said to the person at the door.
"Is Rachel here?" Finn heard Quinn say.
"Yeah, she's here," Puck said.
"Can I - " Quinn began.
"You see her," Puck said. While the door was open and Finn could see Quinn, he looked up at her and glared at her. He then turned his attention back to Rachel and kissed the top of her head.
"Now you don't." Puck closed the door.
"I wanted to - " Quinn called.
"Right now, she's being with people who are actually nice to her!" Sam called.
"We didn't let her in, Rachel," Puck said.
"Yeah, you're safe here," Finn said.
"I really just want to go home," Rachel said.
"Shhhh. It's okay." Finn pulled Rachel in for a hug and kissed her tear-streaked cheek. "I love you, Rachel."
"I love you, too." Rachel kissed Finn.
"How about we go to bed? Maybe you'll feel better in the morning, Rachel," Puck said.
"Yeah, I am tired," Rachel said. She lay down on their couch and pulled up the blanket. "Good night, guys. Thanks for letting me come in here."
"Good night!" Finn turned off the light. Tomorrow, he was going to call it quits with Quinn. This was the last straw.
x
"Rachel, I know you're upset, but we need you at Nationals," Blaine said. "Our team needs you."
At breakfast, Rachel was telling Kurt, Blaine and Mercedes about what had happened the previous night. She was sitting next to Finn at the end of the table with Kurt, Blaine and Mercedes across from her.
"Yeah," Kurt said. "You and Finn rock it on that duet."
"I just - I don't want anyone to be mean to me anymore," Rachel said. "I don't want any drama right before Nationals. Maybe it would be best for everyone if I went home. We have 14 members, two more than the required twelve. You'd still have 13 if I went home."
"Rachel, if you go home, they win," Mercedes said. "Not just the other teams, the people who've been mean to you win."
"Don't leave, Rach," Finn said. "We'd be missing such an important part of our team if you left."
"Yeah," Sam said. He was sitting on Finn's other side. "Santana should be the one sent home."
"Rachel, can we talk in private?" Finn turned to see Quinn standing there.
"There's nothing to talk about, Quinn," Rachel said. "I was stupid to let you trick me again. I thought this time you were being genuine. I was wrong. You're a mean girl who gets pleasure out of tormenting others and seeing others tormented. I feel sorry for you."
"Why didn't you stand up for her, Quinn?" Blaine asked.
"Don't bother, Blaine," Rachel sighed. "There's no point. I'm going to go upstairs and get dressed." She was still in her pajamas.
Rachel left the breakfast area and as soon as she was gone, Finn said to Quinn, "I'd like to talk to you."
"Okay," Quinn said.
"Let's go over there," Finn said. As soon as he and Quinn were out of earshot of everyone else, he blurted out, "I am so disappointed in you, Quinn Fabray."
"Finn, you don't get it," Quinn said. "Do you know how hard it is to stand up to Santana?"
"I gave you a second chance because I thought you'd changed," Finn said. "I'm sorry to see that what I've suspected is true. You haven't changed. I continued to put up with your obsession with being prom king and queen because I was holding on to hope that you'd moved on from that obnoxious cheerio mode. What happened last night proved me wrong."
"So are you saying you're breaking up with me?" Quinn asked.
"Yes," Finn said. "I am. Rachel is still very near and dear to my heart. I'm tired of seeing people treat her that way and I'm not going to pursue a relationship with someone who allows that to happen."
"I think you still love Rachel," Quinn said.
"Well, I don't love you, that's for sure," Finn said.
"I guess I deserve this," Quinn admitted.
"I'm glad you're at least acknowledging your mistake," Finn said.
When Finn got back to breakfast, Rachel was downstairs in a blazer, a short skirt and a camisole. "These were the most 'normal' clothes I brought," she said. "Maybe during break today, Kurt, we can go shopping and you can help me pick out some more 'age appropriate' clothing?"
"Sounds fun." Kurt smiled.
"So you're staying?" Finn said as he sat back down.
"Yeah," Rachel said. "I don't want to let this ruin Nationals and New York for me. I was actually just telling these guys about how much fun you and I had at dinner and Times Square last night."
Finn smiled to himself. He wasn't going to tell Rachel about how he broke up with Quinn. Maybe letting the subject change was best for now.
"We had a great time, didn't we?" Finn said to Rachel. They began telling their friends about their night in NYC.
x
At the end of breakfast, Mr. Schue made an announcement. "We're going to start practice soon. However, before we start, I would like to speak to all twelfth floor residents and to Santana and Brittany."
Mr. Schue led Rachel, Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Puck, Sam and Finn to another room. "What happened last night? I heard there was an incident," he said.
"Rachel came into our room crying at about quarter after eleven," Finn said. "She said Santana came into her room and started making fun of her. It started off with being mean things about her clothes and her hair, but then Santana went on to say that everybody hates her and that the world would be a better place without her."
"Brittany came with Santana," Sam added. "But she and Quinn didn't do anything to stop her."
"Is that true?" Mr. Schue turned to Santana.
"No, no," Santana said. "I wouldn't do that. We aren't allowed to leave our rooms after eleven."
"Well, I doubt Rachel would make that up," Mr. Schue said.
"She was crying!" Puck blurted out. "She may be an actress, but she wouldn't make that up. Then Quinn came to our room - "
Mr. Schue turned to Brittany. "Brittany, what happened last night?"
"Uh - I can't remember anything," Brittany said.
"I find that hard to believe." Mr. Schue then looked at Quinn. "Quinn, do you have anything to add to this story?"
Quinn sat there in silence.
"Quinn?" Mr. Schue, Rachel, Finn, Sam and Puck laid their eyes on Quinn. Quinn gulped. She knew what she had to say and Santana wouldn't be happy with her when she said it. She had to.
"It's true," Quinn admitted. "Santana came into our room and just started being mean to Rachel out of nowhere. Rachel eventually just went to the boys' room crying and didn't come back."
"I know you probably didn't want coed rooms, Mr. Schue, but we couldn't let her go back there," Finn said. "She slept on our couch."
"You should kick Rachel off the trip for sleeping in a guys' room," Santana said.
"Santana, you know you are not even allowed to go on other residential floors," Mr. Schue said. "And you need to stop being mean to Rachel. This bullying is going too far."
"Aren't you going to punish Rachel?" Santana asked.
"Under these circumstances, I don't mind that she slept in a room with boys. I'm not letting bullying continue to be an obstacle to our Nationals," Mr. Schue said. "Santana, you are going to lose the privilege of going around the city during your free time for two days and while you are sitting in your room, I want you to think about how Rachel is feeling. How would you feel if someone was continuously attacking you for apparently no reason?"
"Whatever, Mr. Schue," Santana mumbled.
"I also know for a fact this was not the first time Rachel was ganged up on," Mr. Schue continued, "So Brittany and Quinn, you'll be spending your free time in your rooms this afternoon."
"I'll be able to go out tonight, right?" Brittany said.
Mr. Schue ignored Brittany's comment and then turned to Quinn. "Quinn, I want to thank you for telling the truth. It's not always easy. Finn, Sam, Puck, I'm glad Rachel has friends like you. Rachel, would you like us to rearrange rooms?"
"I'll be fine," Rachel said.
"Okay, let me know if you'd like to switch and we'll work something out," Mr. Schue said. "Go join your teammates at rehearsal."
"You okay?" Finn asked Rachel as they headed back to rehearsal.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Rachel said. "Thanks for being such a good friend."
Quinn watched as Rachel walked off with Finn. Why hadn't she stuck up for Rachel last night? She deserved to lose her free time. She deserved to be dumped. Did she deserve Rachel's forgiveness?
Probably not, she concluded. She doubted she would get it, either.
