Now

It's been a few days since Beth's breakdown in the kitchen. There's still a somewhat nervous tension in the air, but things are so much better than they have been for the past year and a half. Beth is wondering whether to open up about what started it all. Knows there's no reason good enough to excuse her behavior. To excuse the fact that she's responsible for every single tear the three of them have cried over the previous eighteen months. But she wants to try. She wants to try and redeem herself, knowing that it's going to be a hellish job, but wanting it more than she's ever wanted anything before.

Her mind drifts off to a time and place chiseled into her mind. The memories make her shiver, still. In her young life, she's never been more scared than she had been in that moment. The moment that started her crusade against her parents. The moment after which she could only think of ways to rid her life of Rachel to save herself.

Back then, it had taken her a lot of begging and promising on her part to convince her parents to let her go to the mall without parental supervision. Rachel had been dead-set against the idea, replying with a firm and unwavering "No way!", when the idea had been cast during dinner the night before.

No surprise from either Fabray there. Rachel had changed a lot over the years, but on the inside, the dark haired diva remained that sixteen year old girl who carried mace in her purse and wore a rape whistle around her neck. Just the thought of Beth roaming the Lima mall without them sent 'Momma' into a serious bout of hyperventilation. Quinn, the less dramatic of the pair, tried reasoning with her and, after a thirty minute crying spell and an even longer PowerPoint™ presentation on the do's and don'ts of interacting with strangers, Beth had been allowed to go. Sleepover included. With her friend Amy. After promising to call when Amy's mom dropped them off, to call again after two hours of being there and once again when they'd leave. And once more before bed. And even then Rachel grabbed hold of her just before her daughter had walked out the door and crushed her in an embarrassingly long embrace. As if the girl had been leaving, only to never return, Rachel turned to Quinn once Beth was out the door, and threw herself into her wife's arms with Oscar-worthy flair.

Chuckling at Rachel's, admittedly brilliant, performance, Quinn had pulled her little drama queen into her lap, tenderly stroking the dark locks pressed against her chest, all the while whispering words of reassurance into her ear.

"Stop crying, Momma. Let the girl have some fun. She's going to be just fine…"

Had Quinn known what would happen that day, she would've never uttered those words.

Then

Beth is giddy. So is Amy. It's the first time either of them have been allowed to go out without their parents. The girls have been laughing and smiling and chattering away on the whole ride to the mall, actually making Amy's mom feeling a bit relieved she only has to drop them off instead of having to go with them. There's only so much teenage giddiness a parent can handle, after all.

They feel a bit more 'adult' now that they have the freedom to decide on which stores to visit and which clothes to try on. They end of having a laughing fit over a silly Beth trying on a too-short skirt, knee-highs and a dorky pair of Mary Jane's. Amy's practically wetting herself over the picture Beth presents.

"Let me take a picture!", Amy gasps, while whipping out her cell phone.

"Your moms are going to love this!"

After an hour and a half of browsing store after store, they decide to grab something to eat. It's still early, which means an almost empty food court. Beth grabs Amy's hand and tugs her in the direction of a sandwich bar. In all their innocence and excitement, neither girl realizes they have yet to let go, letting their clasped hands swing between them while they make their way over to the desired table.

"Well, well, well", an unknown, yet decidedly unfriendly voice greets them from behind.

Turning around, still holding hands with Amy, Beth eyes the person addressing them. A tall man, with a disapproving look on his face, stares back at her. Lifting one eyebrow in question ~ a trait she's picked up from her Mom ~ she unabashedly returns the stare, asking what he wants without using words.

The man in front of her reads her easily. After all, he's seen this particular expression only too many times, even if it hadn't been on this particular face. The resemblance is almost uncanny. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear he's caught up in some kind of time warp, throwing him back fifteen years into the past.

"You really do take after your mother", the stranger offers, his eyes fixed on the girls' clasped hands. His tone of voice suggests it's not something to be proud of.

Squinting her eyes at the man, Beth studies his face, trying to remember where she knows him from. She's absolutely sure she's seen him before, but try as she might, she has no clear memory of this man. Letting her eyes travel from his blondish hair to his worn face, her steady gaze ends up lingering on his bloodshot eyes. The harsh gleam in them, scares her a little and everything inside of her screams to get away from him as fast as possible while her Momma's PowerPoint presentation runs through her mind in frightening clarity.

Squeezing Amy's hand tighter in her own, Beth attempts to pull them both away from the scene, but she's not fast enough. Amy, apparently, doesn't feel threatened by this man or the situation they're in, because before Beth can lead them away, her friend joins in on the conversation.

"Which one do you mean?", she hears Amy asking and she knows that her best friend is genuinely curious.

"Because I think she takes after both of them. A lot!", Amy chuckles.

If the man looked disapproving before, Beth knows that he's practically fuming now. The gleam in his eyes turns cold as ice, his cheeks redden with anger and he's starting to tremble a little.

"A child can only have one mother!", he spits at them.

"Everything else is a joke. An abomination!", he continues, leaning into them, not caring that they can now smell the alcohol on his breath and caring even less for the apparent fright radiating off of his pre-teen victims.

"Your mother is going to hell!" he hisses, loud enough to make sure Beth hears him, but quiet enough to make sure no one else does.

"She's going to hell and she's going to take you with her! She's going to take everyone with her if she doesn't stop defying God. If she doesn't stop going against His will! You're all going to hell, do you hear me, little girl? If your mother doesn't come to her senses and soon, God will never forgive her and you will all burn in hell!"

Scared beyond belief now, Beth can't help but cower in the presence of this man. Being the daughter of a Christian Mom and a Jewish one, she's picked up on religion. Not enough to defend her parents against the rage directed at her, but enough to have heard about heaven and hell and right and wrong. There's a children's Bible tucked away in the book case in her bedroom. Next to it, a watered down, handmade-by-her-Momma children's Torah, explaining the basics of her beliefs. Neither mother has ever pressed her to make their religion her own, wanting Beth to choose for herself. Either or neither; Beth's decision.

She's watched her Mom pray. Has been to church with her. She's been witness to her Momma celebrating Hanukah and Passover, not really getting what it's about but knowing it's very important. What she's learned of religion so far, has her thinking it's a lot about love. About family. About loving your family and being grateful for the good things in life. About enjoying those things, but to also remember that others aren't as equally blessed and to help where one can. Whether it's helping an elder cross the street or to donate her allowance to a good cause when tragedy strikes somewhere around the globe. And she knows that it's bigger than that and there's a lot about religion that she doesn't understand, yet, but she knows it could never be anything like what this man is spewing at her… Could it?

Because, what if he's right? He seems to know a lot about it. He's throwing Bible passages at her like he's written them himself, condemning her family and everyone who approves of their living in sin.

Beside her, she feels Amy trembling. She feels how scared her friend is and she feeds off of it, somehow, wanting to protect Amy. Shaking herself out of her fear induced stupor, she yanks Amy away from the craziness happening in front of them. Dodging the, still, bible quoting mad man, they run towards the exit, falling into each other's arms once they hit the parking lot.

After crying for what seems like forever, Amy asks if she should call her mom to come pick them up. Receiving a timid nod from Beth, she immediately makes the call. It will be a fifteen minute wait, at least. It gives them a little time to compose themselves. It also gives Beth the opportunity to make Amy swear on her Justin Bieber collection, to never tell anyone about what's happened just now. It takes some convincing, but Amy concedes in the end, after having Beth promise in return to not worry about a single word that came out of the lunatic's mind. Beth agrees, but her mind's already in overdrive. When she returns home tomorrow, her laptop will be waiting for her. Time to do a little research…