Disclaimer: If possession is 9/10s of the law...?? Nope. No, still don't own them.
A/N: I was going to wait a little bit before posting this, you know, draw out the suspense, but let's face it, I need to get to the good stuff (i.e. the making out) and that's not going to happen for a few chapters, so I need to get a move-on! Very little Will/Finn interaction in this somewhat shorter chapter, but there is quite a bit of Quinn. The song here is "Bitch," by Meredith Brooks, which I found highly appropriate. I was originally going to go with Christina Aguilera's "Can't Hold Us Down," but I really liked the "I'm a child, I'm a mother" line in the song I chose. This chapter is mostly to set up future plot development – hope you enjoy!
Finn pulls into Quinn's driveway, praying she's at home. He has a death grip on the steering wheel, and his jaw is clenched so hard he's beginning to get a headache. He can't believe Emma Pillsbury is coming back to McKinley, back into Will's life. He's beginning to feel some remorse over the temper tantrum he threw in Will's office, but he's just so damn scared out of his mind that he's going to lose everything with a single flutter of her false eyelashes.
"Jesus, Hudson. Melodramatic much?" he grumbles to himself, unlatching his seat belt and dragging himself dejectedly out of the car. He's heading up the little path toward the front door when he hears music drifting from the backyard. Curious, he ducks around the side of the house, following the music as it grows louder.
Quinn is lounging in a teal green plastic chaise, wearing a red swimsuit with tiny black polka dots and large, dark sunglasses. There's an old radio on the grass next to her, and what looks like a white walkie-talkie sitting beside it. A baby monitor, Finn thinks, remembering seeing one at his cousin's house just after she had her third kid. Quinn is wriggling her hips in the narrow chair, shimmying to the beat of the song as she hums along. Finn doesn't know the words, but it's a tune he's heard before. He smiles when Quinn starts singing along with the chorus, still oblivious to his presence.
I'm a bitch, I'm a lover
I'm a child, I'm a mother
I'm a sinner, I'm a saint
I do not feel ashamed.
I'm your hell, I'm your dream
I'm nothing in between.
You know you wouldn't want it any other way.
Finn grins, feeling some of his anger and tension melting away as Quinn gets into the song. He feels a momentary pang of regret that they haven't stayed close over the years since high school, and vows to make more of an effort to be in her life, and Carolina's.
I'm a bitch, I'm a tease
I'm a goddess on my knees.
When you hurt, when you suffer
I'm your angel undercover.
I've been numb, I'm revived
Can't say I'm not alive.
You know I wouldn't want it any other way.
Finn claps as Quinn ends the song, and she jumps nearly a foot out of her chair, a hand clutching at her chest.
"Finn, God," she says, voice shrill. "What were you trying to do -- make Noah a single parent?"
"Sorry," Finn says with a laugh, schooling his face into a picture of remorse when she glowers at him. "Nice song, though. It's somehow appropriate..."
Finn lets out a yelp and ducks as Quinn picks up the towel from the ground beside her and chucks it at him. But she's laughing as she does it, and Finn figures his life probably isn't in danger.
"What's with the monitor," he asks, nodding at the handset. Quinn frowns, and even with the sunglasses taking up half her face, he can see the worry evident there.
"Carolina's got a fever," she says, picking up the monitor and checking the volume. "Rachel said she didn't eat very well this morning, and she was sick in the car. I gave her some Tylenol and she's sleeping now, but I can't get the fever down. I dug this out of the garage -- I figured that way I could hear her if she got sick again."
"Poor kid," Finn says, nudging Quinn's legs aside so he can sit at the bottom of the lounge chair, the plastic tubing sagging under his weight. "What do you think is the matter?"
Quinn shrugs. "She probably picked up a bug or something. I doubt it's anything major, but I just hate it when she's sick."
"Yeah," Finn says, sympathetically. "It's hard to watch when you know you can't really do anything to help."
Quinn nods. "That, and cleaning throw-up out of a four-year-old's hair is not the way I want to spend my day off."
The two of them share a laugh, and then Quinn stops, cocking her head at him and pushing her sunglasses up on her head, hazel eyes narrowing.
"What are you doing here?" she asks bluntly. "I thought you weren't coming for dinner until 6:30."
Finn can feel his expression darken, and he looks away, not sure he's ready to discuss it.
"You're pissed," Quinn says, and it isn't a question. Finn sighs, telling himself he should have known better than to think he could keep anything hidden from her.
"I'm not pissed," he says, though he can hardly keep the irritation out of his voice. "I'm just... upset."
Quinn raises an eyebrow. "Okay," she says. "Why are you," she raises her fingers, making air quotes, "upset?"
Finn chews on his bottom lip, not quite sure where to start. In the end, he begins with his arrival at Glee rehearsal, and doesn't leave anything out, even though he blushes furiously when he tells Quinn about his encounter with Will in the office.
"He kissed you back?" she says, leaning forward with a note of awe in her voice. "How was it?"
Finn, thrown a bit off-track by her question, thinks back. It's funny -- in the moment, he hadn't even stopped to realize it was the first time Will had really responded to him physically.
"It was... perfect," he says, remembering the feel of Will's lips against his, the way the older man had given into him so willingly. Suppressing a shiver, Finn shakes his head. "But what happened after that..." he sighs, "not so perfect."
Quinn gives him a quizzical look, and he explains the bombshell Will had dropped on him, including his conviction that Will would ultimately choose Emma, who could give him the "normal" life he so desperately longed for. When he finishes, Quinn gives him a long look, and he squirms a little under her scrutiny.
"You really are a complete moron, aren't you?" she asks, shaking her head.
Finn stares at her, too surprised to be angry. "Huh?"
"All Mr. Schue was trying to do was to be honest with you, and you're too thick-headed to realize that's a good thing."
Finn struggles to process what Quinn is saying. "You know, you don't have to call him 'Mr. Schue' anymore," he says, blurting out the first thing that comes to mind. He falls silent again as Quinn glares.
"Clearly," she says, her voice clipped but even, "you have taken one too many footballs to the head. He was giving you exactly what you wanted! He hugged you in front of the entire Glee Club, he kissed you back when you made your move, and he was up front with you about something that was probably incredibly difficult for him."
Finn sighs, feeling uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. "Well, when you put it like that..." he mutters.
"You feel like the ginormous toolbox you are?" Quinn finishes for him. "Have you talked to Kurt? What did he say?"
Finn nods. "I called him on the way over here. He said -- and I quote -- 'That Bambi bitch is bat-shit crazy.'"
Quinn makes a face that is half-disapproving, and half-amused. "Colorful," she says. "And alliterative."
"Yeah," Finn says, shaking his head and wondering for the second time that day why he bothers to ask Kurt's opinion on... well, anything.
"But it's not very fair to Ms. Pillsbury," Quinn goes on. "I mean, how do you even know that's what she wants? People change, Finn. And you know how things are -- a job is a job. She might be just as uncomfortable with the idea of coming back here as you and Mr. Schue."
Finn ducks his head, feeling a little ashamed, but knowing that Quinn is right. Still, he can't help but feel a sense of impending doom when he thinks about Ms. Pillsbury's return. The two of them sit in silence for a moment, the radio playing softly in the background, until there's a crackle of static over the baby monitor.
Quinn has it in her hand in a flash, turning up the volume and holding it close to her ear. "Stupid batteries," she mutters, giving it a shake. Finn hears another crackle, then a cry that's so pathetic it nearly rips his heart out. Quinn is up and through the back door before he can even stand. He follows her, feeling bad for Carolina, but selfishly glad to have a distraction from his current predicament.
Later that night, Finn lays in bed, the smell of vomit still in his nose, even after two showers and an impromptu load of laundry. He's never seen a kid puke so much, and he has to wonder how someone so tiny could have so much grossness inside. Shuddering a little, Finn tries to think about something else, but his only other option is Will, and he's not ready to start fretting over that again just yet. He tries in vain to fall asleep, but his mind is going a mile a minute, and he feels like he's about to come out of his skin.
His cell phone starts buzzing beside his bed, and he jumps a little bit, startled. He picks it up and blinks at the bright glow of the caller I.D. It's Will, calling for the third time that evening. Finn considers letting it go to voicemail, as he had before, but he knows he won't sleep until he hashes things out with him.
He flips open the phone and presses it to his ear, swallowing down a surge of nerves as he does so. "Hello?" he says, proud that his voice only shakes a little.
"Finn," Will says, and the relief in his voice is like a sucker punch to the younger man. "I'm glad... I'm glad I got you."
"Yeah," Finn says, then pauses to clear his throat. "Sorry I wasn't around earlier. Carolina was sick, and Quinn and I --"
"Is she okay?" Will asks, sounding concerned.
"Yeah. I mean, I got a first-hand look at everything she's eaten in the last week, but I think she's starting to feel better." Finn pauses, not quite sure what to say. "Um... how are you feeling?"
"Like a complete idiot. Finn, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just sprung that on you the way I did."
"No," Finn says quickly. "I'm glad you did. You were being honest. And that's good."
"It is?"
"Well, that's what Quinn tells me," Finn says, and Will chuckles, low and deep. The sound sends a shiver racing through Finn. "I'm just... worried, I guess," he says, hating how needy and uncertain he sounds, but not able to control it.
He hears a sigh from the other end of the line. "So am I," Will says, and Finn aches to hold him, comfort him. "Please believe me when I tell you that Emma is no threat to you. What she and I had is long over."
"I know," Finn says quietly. "But... I just got you back, and I'm... I'm afraid to lose you. I don't even know if I ever had you in the first place."
"You did," Will says in a husky voice. "Trust me. Look, I know as well as you that this isn't going to be easy. I've got a lot of stuff that I need to work through. I'm scared as hell that I'm going to screw something up, or even worse, screw you up."
"Will," Finn says, trying not to sound exasperated, "you don't have to worry about me. I'm a big boy now; I tie my own shoes and everything."
Will laughs at that, and Finn feels a flood of relief. He's just about to ask Will when he can see him again, when his call waiting beeps.
"Hang on a second, Will," he says, pulling the phone away and glancing at the screen. "Quinn's beeping in."
"Sure," Will says. "Tell her I hope Carolina is feeling better."
Finn smiles, then clicks over to the other line. "I put Will on hold to take your call," he says, with a laugh in his voice. "So now you know how much I love --"
"Finn?" Quinn says, and he can hear immediately that she's crying. He sits up in bed, suddenly alert, a shiver of dread going through him.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm in the E.R." Quinn says in a shaking voice. "Carolina's fever spiked, and she just kept throwing up. I couldn't get her to stop, and I... I..."
"Okay," Finn says, soothingly, tossing back the covers and jumping out of bed. "It's okay. I'm on my way now."
"They don't know what's wrong," Quinn says, her voice so thin and wavery Finn can barely make out what she's saying.
"Okay," he says again, pulling on his jeans. "Just sit tight. She's going to be fine. I'll be there in ten minutes." There's nothing but silence on the other end, and Finn wonders if she's hung up, until he hears a sniffle.
"Quinn," he says, trying to put some authority into his voice. "It's going to be alright. I promise you." Finn grabs his keys and bolts up the stairs, not bothering to leave him mom a note. "I'm on my way."
A/N pt. 2: Okay, is it just me, or do these kids' eye colors change every episode?? Sometimes Quinn's eyes look brown, sometimes they're much lighter. Anyway, I went with hazel here – if anyone knows Dianna Agron personally and has the down-low on her eye color, let me know! Also, we should see Emma in the next chapter, or at the very least, the one after that. Puck and Rachel will return too, and maybe Kurt. I'm searching for the perfect song for Emma, but so far, nothing's clicked. I have the scene worked out though, and a corresponding song for Finn, so hopefully I won't be stuck for long! Thanks as always to those who review – it's better than fudge and kittens and cable TV all in one!
