Author's Note: So, I went around and asked a few more people to read this and leave me reviews. And it worked! XD Well, kinda. I have 2 more readers/reviewers now. Yay I'm so glad. It really means a lot to me that I now have 4 readers instead of only 2 (as far as I know from reviews). You four all rock. Anyway, if you're reading this now please don't forget to leave me a review. I need to know that you are following my story! And I'd love to know what you think. Good or bad.
Per usual I want to thank my 3 betas. You girls rock.. Please enjoy. ;)
Chapter 4: The Football Game
Quinn couldn't sleep at all that night. She wasn't sure how Finn, Puck, and Mr. Schue would act around her the next day in school. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her baby once it was born. She feared what would happen to her once her parents found out that she had slept with someone. Someone who specialized in making Chasity Ball type dresses was coming over in the afternoon and as she tossed and turned in bed in the wee hours of the morning, she prayed that something would happen and that the preparation for the ball would have to be postponed until another day. She got out of bed a few minutes early that morning, and got dressed before the sun had risen. She decided to start taking the prenatal vitamins Mrs. Schuester had given her. She took them out of the hiding place in her sock drawer and opened the bottle.
Her mother had already prepared eggs and toast for her daughter to eat for breakfast and Quinn ate a good amount, wanting to make sure her baby would get enough nutrients to continue to grow. She drove herself to school as slowly as she could, but she still seemed to get there in no time and as she exited the car, she looked around nervously for any of the three people who knew her secret. Luckily, no one was around except Santana who waved to her and started walking towards her. Santana passed by all the lesser McKinley High students quickly, clearly too popular and important in comparison to the rest of them for them to even warrant a glance from her.
"Hey, Quinn. What's up?" Santana asked, oblivious to the fact that Quinn desperately did not want to answer a question like that.
"Oh, you know, nothing," Quinn lied. "Where's Brittany?" she asked, aware that Brittany and Santana were usually joined at the hip.
"Oh, Lord Tubbington has to be taken to the vet so she's missing school today," Santana explained as the girls continued walking toward the school.
"Lord Tubbington?"
"Britt's cat."
"Oh. That's quite a ridiculous name," she mocked.
"Yeah, well... you know Brittany," she replied in agreement. Quinn wondered how a girl as stupid as Brittany could be Santana's best friend. They walked into the school hallway. "So Coach Sylvester said she'd have a new routine for us tomorrow at practice," Quinn said, changing the subject and trying to make smalltalk.
"Uh huh," Santana replied, not really listening, because just then Puck caught her eye. Santana started rushing over to Puck, but Puck looked at Quinn briefly and their eyes locked. His face almost looked apologetic, but Quinn wasn't quite sure. He seemed to have something he wanted to say to her, but there was no time, because Santana interrupted the gaze by pulling him into a passionate kiss. And Puck, being Puck, seemed to forget Quinn was standing there and instead started making out with her right there in the hallway. Quinn just stood there, staring as they kissed for a surprisingly long time without taking a breath and Puck's hands started heading towards Santana's butt. It was an obscene public display of... well... Quinn wouldn't quite call it affection.
"Quinn?" Quinn stopped staring at the father of her baby making out with someone else and turned to see Mr. Schuester looking at her.
"Oh, hi, yes?" she floundered after a couple too many seconds.
"Are you okay?" he asked her sweetly and sincerely. He'd probably seen her standing still in the hallway staring for a bit too long. She also knew he knew that she was pregnant and she was very embarrassed about that. She smiled and pretended this was just about the staring and not about the pregnancy.
"Yeah, Mr. Schue. I'm fine." She nodded and tried to assure him of that briefly, then quickly turned away and started heading towards her locker. Mr. Schue, however, called after her.
"Quinn?" She sighed and turned back to him.
"Yes?" she asked innocently.
"If you ever... need... to talk about anything, just know I'm always here." Will really seemed to mean it and the compassion and kindness in his words almost overwhelmed her. She was afraid someone in the hallway around them would notice him being too nice to her, so she quickly tried to shake off his offer.
"Thanks, but really, I'm fine," she insisted. She walked away from him quickly, wishing he could know that she truly appreciated the thought despite her almost rude dismissal.
She went to her first period without once seeing Finn or Puck again and she appreciated that. Her US History teacher was at the front of the classroom showing the class a few maps on the overhead projector. As Quinn took her notes and absorbed the new information he was teaching them, all was temporarily fine. On her way to her second period, however, she saw Finn in the hallway. He started walking towards her. They both didn't know what to say to each other once he caught up to her, though.
"Hi," she said to him meekly.
"Hi," he said back with the same hesitance.
"So... I'll see your surprise on Friday at the game?" she asked, trying to keep the subject of conversation light and trivial.
"Yeah," Finn replied.
"Well..." Quinn said, slowing down as she approached a particular door.
"This is your classroom?" Finn asked, although he knew very well that it was.
"Yeah."
"Okay, see you later?" he asked, almost unsure.
"Yeah... see you later." Finn turned away from her and she stared after him for a moment, wishing things didn't have to be so different between them now, so awkward. She then entered the classroom.
When school was over, Quinn went straight home and sure enough a petite young woman with a huge smile and a bunch of dresses behind her was waiting for Quinn as she walked into her living room. A very excited Judy was standing there too, awaiting her daughter. Quinn felt like this was a nightmare. She was only one month pregnant now and she wasn't showing at all yet, but the ball was almost two months away, and her dress might not fit the same way by then. She tried on a couple of dresses for the lady and tried her best to act interested in how they looked on her. Even if it did still fit by the time the ball came around, she didn't want to go. This was going to be a Chastity Ball. She couldn't go to it, it wouldn't be right. She tried not to think about it too much and instead just stood there, forcing a few fake smiles as the lady measured her and decided to custom-make her a dress.
"She's just too pretty to wear any old off the rack dress, don't you think?" the woman asked Quinn's mother. Judy's eyes lit up with pride.
"You're right, custom making one just for Quinny would be so perfect," Judy said with a huge smile.
She asked Quinn some questions about her preferences in styles and Quinn answered them with great effort. This whole ordeal was killing her internally. The lady kept talking about how proud her dad would be of her and how beautiful she'd be and all she kept hearing was how her dad would instead be so disappointed and how fat and ugly she was going to be by the end of her pregnancy. When the dress measurements were all made and the sweet oblivious lady who was driving Quinn insane finally left with Judy walking her out, Quinn sat down on the couch and tried to let herself feel relieved that it was over. However, Quinn knew it wasn't over. Her pregnancy and all the stressful things that would come with it were really barely beginning.
She went to school for the rest of the week and not much happened. She shared a few looks with Puck but they never had a conversation. Quinn wasn't sure what Puck was thinking. Finn seemed to be avoiding her a bit, but she couldn't really blame him. Whenever they did meet up, they'd only talk about mundane things like homework and the weather and she hadn't kissed Finn at all since she told him her news. Quinn tried not to make eye contact with Mr. Schue much in Glee club and Spanish class, but whenever she did, he seemed to look concerned for her. Maybe she was imagining it, but it really felt like he was looking at her very differently than he did the previous week.
She went to Cheerios practice on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and really enjoyed herself. While she was cheering and standing on the top of the pyramid, she was temporarily escaping her problems and instead just enjoying the exhilaration that came with working hard as a part of a team.
Friday night was the football game. Quinn cheered a bit, waiting for the surprise to happen. At one point Finn looked at her a few times and she smiled at him, expectantly. He then called a timeout and before she knew it the whole McKinley High football team was singing and dancing to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" of all songs. She looked at Finn dancing all cute and she couldn't contain her laughter. She pulled the pompom in her left hand up to her face to hide it. After their musical performance was over, the team proceeded to score points and actually win the game. The feeling of excitement and pride in the stands and on the field was amazing. She glanced over towards Kurt being hoisted up into the air and she smiled. She then saw her boyfriend taking off his helmet and approaching her, and she smiled even wider for him and raised her hands toward his face. She pulled him into her and their mouths met. She'd missed kissing him so much and it was a wonderful feeling. They pulled away from each other slowly, both of them still grinning. Finn looked at her with confidence.
"I love you," he said, and Quinn was sure he meant it. It was the first time he'd said those words to her since finding out she was pregnant, and Quinn was so relieved and grateful that he still felt that way about her.
"I love you too," she replied quietly with tears in her eyes; for once, tears of happiness. "I'll see you Monday?" she asked. He nodded and smiled in reply. They slowly parted ways and headed back to their own homes. Quinn slept soundly that night.
Finn called her the next day and Quinn asked him to make sure he was alone in a room with a door closed. Then they really discussed some things that had been on their minds. Quinn admitted to Finn that she was so scared about how her parents would react when they found out and how she dreaded the idea of not being able to stay on the Cheerios. Finn apologized for telling Puck and Will and swore those were the only two people he'd told. Quinn forgave him. Finn explained that he wanted to try and get a football scholarship now more than ever so that he could end up going to college and getting a real job. He wanted to be able to make money for her and their child and not be a Lima Loser for the rest of his life. Their conversation lasted a long time and when she hung up the phone she felt so much more sure that everything would eventually work out okay. It would be difficult, but everything would be alright in the end.
Back at school on Monday morning, Finn walked up to Quinn while she was at her locker.
"Hey," he greeted her. She smiled in response and he started to pull something out of his backpack's outside pocket. "Here," he said, holding the little light blue piece of cloth out to her. "It's my gee-gee." Quinn looked at it with intrigue and gently started to feel it with her fingers. "It's the baby blanket my dad got me the day I was born," he told her, and she realized that the soft little thing was very sentimental to Finn. "It was the only thing I had to remember him by. I used to cry without it and..." he paused, and Quinn realized this was hard for him. "I took it everywhere with me, so it's a little dirty... but I want our baby to have it," Finn finished, and Quinn looked up from the blanket and met his eyes. It was such a sweet gesture and it pained her a bit. Finn shouldn't be giving this to a baby that wasn't even his, that would just be wrong, and she felt a bit guilty. He was being so sweet though, this was such an amazing gesture on his part. "I'm gonna do everything I can to be a good father," he then added and Quinn didn't know what to say. Finn was being too perfect, and she couldn't love him more than she did right then. She half-laughed with tears of appreciation in her eyes and shook her head in disbelief at how wonderful he was being.
"Thank you, Finn," she said as she leaned into him for a hug. She had barely touched her head to his chest though when suddenly, Puck interrupted their intimate moment.
"Hey guys," he said smugly, walking up to them wearing a bright blue t-shirt. "How you doin'?" Quinn could feel his eyes glance over her and she bit her lip. His tone sounded... fake somehow. "You know, lately I've been getting really sick in the morning."
"Must be a virus," Quinn managed to retort. She couldn't believe he was doing this to her there, then, right in front of Finn.
"Hey, you putting on a little weight?" he asked, looking her up and down. She didn't think she had gained any weight yet but she was very self conscious about being fat still and she hated that Puck was purposely hitting her right where he knew it would hurt her the most. "You should watch your carbs. They're not going to be able to hoist you to the top of that cheerleading pyramid much longer," he informed her matter-of-factly.
"Hey," Finn replied to him, defending her. "Don't talk to my girlfriend like that." Quinn didn't look in either boy's eyes, but merely continued to stand there, hoping for Puck to disappear and leave them alone soon.
"You know what?" Puck said. "You're right, I was outta line." He started walking away from them. "See you guys around," he said in parting. Quinn wondered what Finn might be thinking. She hoped that he didn't even remotely suspect the truth – that Puck was upset because he was the actual father of her baby. It seemed clear that Puck was mad at her, but she wasn't sure why. He hadn't seemed mad at her like that the whole previous week, their glances from across classrooms and hallways had not prepared her for him acting like this.
"I'm sorry I told Puck," Finn apologized. "I had no idea he'd... be so mean."
"It's okay," she assured him, even though it wasn't really okay at all. "I don't blame you for... him." She felt bad as she looked up at her confused boyfriend's face.
"I've gotta be heading to class," Finn realized as the crowd thinned out in the hallway.
"Oh yeah, me too," Quinn said. Finn turned away from her and started heading towards his classroom. Quinn just stood there with her back up against the locker, watching people pass. The bell rang and Quinn was officially late for class. She watched the few remaining stragglers head into their classes, about to be marked "tardy". She thought about how Puck didn't seem to be letting her get away with her lie and how a part of her didn't want to get away with it. A part of her knew it wasn't fair to Finn and she thought about her baby and Finn's blanket. That's how she remained for a little while- just standing there sadly against the lockers, thinking, not even caring that she was missing her class by standing there, doing nothing in the hallway.
