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Sorry its taken so long
Disclaimer: I stole a part of this chapter from 'Some Girls'
Posted: 12/2/13
Breakdown
"Rachel" oh great someone else wanted to have a go at her. She just rolled her eyes and slammed her locker shut before heading off down the hallway to her first lesson of the day "hey Rachel I'm talking to you" her arm was grabbed and she was tugged back.
She violently ripped her arm away as she was bought face to face with her latest irritation "What do you want Puckerman?"
"I need to talk to you" he glanced at the thinning throngs of students in the locker lined hallway "It's about Quinn, something's wrong with her"
"What's wrong, Quinn didn't want to sleep with you, shock horror" she rolled her eyes again and tried to leave
He put his arm out, slamming his palm against the locker, as he blocked her escape "No that's the total opposite of what happened"
Rachel suddenly felt like she'd been stabbed in the gut, even though she knew she had no right "What? She slept with you?"
"No, but she tried" oh sweet relief, Rachel thought to herself "She's gone crazy, I know she's hiding it from you and everyone else but its all about Beth" Okay Puck wasn't making any sense, but at the same time he was talking better than he normally did, so she tried to concentrate "She had all this stuff in Shelby's apartment, I removed it all but she was basically trying to make Shelby look bad so she has Beth taken away from her. I might have talked her out of it but I don't know. After that she tried to get me to sleep with her, which normally wouldn't be hard but she's not right in the head and even though she doesn't think it I've grown up since I got her pregnant"
"Okay, okay, breathe Puck, just breathe a second. What are you saying?"
He took a deep breath before slowly saying "Quinn is nuts, she's trying to make Shelby look like a bad mom so social services will take her away, I talked her out of it but she might try again. She also tried to get me to sleep with her, but I figured out why so I didn't" above them the school bell rang signalling the start of first period "She wants a kid, you gotta talk to her, she won't listen to me and you're like her best friend"
So Puck turned down sleeping with Quinn, maybe he had grown up as he claimed, maybe he was crazy... well that's what Rachel thought.
"Sure" Rachel said once she blinked herself out of the information blitz "Yeah I'll talk to her"
"Okay" he nodded, his shoulders dropped with relief that maybe the problems would be solved soon, he didn't want anything bad to happen to Shelby, but that was just between him and her. "See you later" he half waved as he disappeared off to his own first class.
Rachel just stayed, with her back glued to the locker as she processed what had just been said. Quinn and Puck had looked after Beth a few times now, she thought Quinn was fine, she thought Quinn told her everything, she thought Quinn was her best friend and could trust her. So obviously this was more serious that.
She had to think what lesson Quinn would be in right now, Maths, that sounded right, with Mr Monotone. She didn't care what the guys actual name was all that she remembered was the guy had the most boring drone of a voice she'd ever heard.
When she got to that class room she knocked on the already open door
"Can I help you?" wow even hearing just 4 words from this guy and Rachel felt herself about to doze off
"Yeah, Mr Schue wants to see Quinn, its about something for glee" that was the best she could come up with right now
"Do you have a note?" he asked, glancing between Quinn towards the back of the room and the girl standing in the doorway.
She suppressed a yawn all while she thought: 'Damn' "Oh sure, it's in my bag somewhere" she pulled her shoulder bag to her front as she opened it and started fishing through "Oh damn where did it go" she huffed loudly before dumping her bag on the front desk right on top of someone's books, nearly trapping the persons hand too. She started pulling stuff out, dropping her dog eared books on the desk too "Now where did it go"
"Okay, Miss Berry, don't worry about it" the teacher gave in, too irritated to care anymore "Miss Fabray you are temporarily dismissed" the blonde gathered her things. Rachel started shoving her own books back in her bag too.
As both girls were about to make their exit, they were stopped when they heard "Mr Hudson, where do you think you're going?" They looked back to see Finn up out of his seat with his back pack slung over his shoulder.
He froze and lamely pointed at the door as he tried to explain "I-I'm in glee club too"
"Yeah" Rachel said slowly "Mr Schue didn't need you, just us" she quickly explained as she grabbed Quinn by the wrist and dragged her out the class room. She didn't have any more stories in her right now if the teacher had questions.
They didn't get far before Quinn said "Rach, this isn't the way to Mr Schue's room, or even the choir room"
"We're not going there, that was a lie" She'd kinda hoped Quinn would have been smart enough to already figure that out, perhaps not.
"Oh right... well I need Math so I don't feel like ditching" she pulled her writ back and was about to head back to class when Rachel grabbed her arm again, roughly, almost desperate.
She dragged her round a corner, ignoring Quinn's confused whining until they were tucked into a quiet section of corridor. "What is wrong with you?" the brunette snapped as she dropped Quinn's arm and
"What?" she asked irritated as she rubbed her wrist where Rachel had held her tightly.
"Trying to set Shelby up" she saw Quinn's attitude immediately change as she realised what was really going on
Quinn huffed a humourless laugh and folded her arms across her chest defensively "I thought you didn't care about her"
"I don't, I care about you and this is all about you. What the hell is going on in your head right now Quinn?" she asked in harsh but low tones not wanting the rest of the school to hear this discussion too
"I-I don't know what you're talking about?" Quinn dismissed, there was nothing wrong with her.
"You want Beth back, is that it, or you want another kid, that's why you tried to sleep with Puck"
She didn't let her eyes widen at Rachel's accusation, where the hell was this punk brunette getting this information from anyway. She also didn't get why Rachel was attacking her, Rachel was normally the only person gently and nice to her "Rachel, why are you talking to me like this?"
"Because I need to get through to you" in the short time between Puck talking to her and her finding Quinn she'd managed to play out every possible scenario for Quinn, as consequence of what she was trying to do. So far Quinn wasn't denying it either so Puck had been correct "You're a mom without a kid aren't you Quinn, you wanna just be a mom but that's not working, it's not happening because of what you decided nearly a year and a half ago. I get it, okay, I get that that's what you're feeling"
"Don't you dare say you know how I'm feeling, you don't know anything, you've never lost anyone-"
"Or really, you wanna bet-" she bit her lip before she said something she really didn't want to, this was about Quinn not her, she reminded herself, "At least Beth's not dead, at least she's out there for you to have contact with"
"Don't you get it Rachel, she's all I've got, I've got nothing else left." Quinn crumbled, she sounded so definite that that was what she was meant to do.
"No Quinn, you've got so much, you've got your whole life ahead of you" she softened her voice now that Quinn was listening and looking vulnerable "If you'd held onto her Quinn, maybe she could have been the making of you, but it's too late now, you can't take her away from the only home she's ever know, you just can't. You may think you're ready but you don't know what the future holds Quinn" Quinn's eyes started to turn red and watery, Rachel hated herself but Quinn needed to hear this, so Rachel forged ahead "One day you will meet someone and you'll love them and they'll love you and you'll have a family with them, and it will mean something, something more, even more that Beth"
For a moment the vulnerability was burnt to ashes by a fire burning in Quinn's eyes and voice "Beth meant something!" her eyes were so red, so angry and sad
"But Puck didn't" Rachel told her firmly "It was a mistake, she was a mistake-" a harsh slap across the face only made her falter for a second "I know she's your daughter, but you gave her away-" another slap, she had to stop that time, to compose herself, she ran her hand over her own stinging reddening cheek but looked back at Quinn with determination "It's over, don't do something now that you'll only regret in the future"
Quinn's eyes erupted with tears as she broke down "I just want her back" she seemed to fall forward for Rachel to catch her and hug her tightly
"It's okay" the brunette hushed as Quinn burier her head into Rachel's soldier "It's okay, we'll get past this" she meant it, she'd stick by Quinn and guide her.
"I just need her" Quinn's voice was muffled by Rachel's jacket and her own sobbing "Everything will be okay then"
That line just proved to Rachel the severity of Quinn's problem, that she was going through some heavy stress and delayed loss. Having Beth back suddenly with in arms reach was messing with her head and emotions. "No it won't Quinn, you're not ready. You need to live first" she squeezed gently letting Quinn know she was there for her.
Rachel rolled her eyes when she saw Azimio and a few of his followers come round the corner, the leader boy had his phone already in his hand, he raised it and a little red light came on, letting her know he was recording. "Yeah that's it lez it up sluts" he said as he waved the phone in front of her. She felt Quinn tense n her arms
"Get your tongues in" one of the other jocks, who's name escaped Rachel, jeered along making the others
She gently pulled Quinn round behind her, so she stood between her broken friend and the intrusive boys. She didn't want them to see Quinn like this. How would this end, she wondered, would hse fight them, would she get pinned, and damn it that phone was getting annoying. That's when she got an idea
She snatched the phone right out of his hand "Oh no" she smirked "Lost your phone?" she asked as she slipped it down her top. She hadn't really though, she just kept it covered by her hand and made it look like it disappeared. She discretely pulled it back out with her hand and while they were busy staring at her cleavage she slipped it into her back jean pocket
Azimio's eyes flickers back up to her as he snapped "Give it back!"
"Make me" she snapped back "or come get it, it's down there somewhere" she thrust her chest out provocatively
"Give me back my fucking phone!" he just snapped again, feeling all his power slip away as his supposed friends sniggered behind him.
"Just stick your hand down there" She dared him "It's in there somewhere" when his lip quivered not sure what to say she just arched an eyebrow and asked "What's the matter, you scared?"
"Aww his hands shaking" The sound of Quinn's voice next to her almost made her flinch, she looked at her friend amazed she looked perfect and composed again. She must have had a lot of practice
"Or you could just ask nicely" Rachel suggested
And to her amazement he did "Please can I have my phone back"
"Yeah, course you can" just as the sentence came out her month they all heard something, a small musical noise, it was the phone ringing. Rachel took the opportunity to pretend the phone had travelled, she clenched her legs and bowed a little "Oo, someone's calling you" her eyes were bright as she smirked "You've got it on vibrate" she bit her bottom lip "Oo, that's nice" she squeezed her knees together again and curled up a little before standing up straight again. Azimio's eyes widened in horror, while his friend's eyes widened in amusement and maybe something else.
"Please" he kept his voice low as he leaned in but it was stressed and worried "my mom will kill me if I lose it" Rachel almost laughed in his face for that comment, not so little Azimio Adams scared that his mommy might tell him off if he lost his phone
"Uh oh, I think I've lost it" Rachel's face dropped as she reached behind her, pretending to slip her hand down the back of her jeans and stretching further than she needed 'searched' for the phone "Oh wait" she pulled it out, holding the corner in a pincer grip between her index finger and thumb "There it is, do you wanna take that?" she offer it out while it was still ringing
Azimio grimaced as she cautiously took the phone from her, he hit the receive button and answered "Hello?" everyone stayed silent and watched as they heard the muffled voice on the other end of the line "yeah alright mom" he finally muttered, his friends all laughed as he quickly turned and stormed back down the corridor, the phone still to his ear. His friends finally followed, still laughing and jeering.
Satisfied with how that went Rachel finally looked back to her best friend "So..."
"That was pretty funny" Quinn muttered, Rachel wondered if the blonde was just trying to avoid the main topic though.
Rachel decided to just shrug at her comment "It's better than trying to fight them"
"Yeah" her expression grew harsh "don't fight them anymore" and then it softened as she admitted "I don't like it when you get hurt"
"I'll try" she said lightly "Are you okay?" she tilted her head trying to make eye contact with Quinn who now had her head bowed
"No" Quinn whimpered as tears formed in her eyes once again "I didn't want to think about it, but you did, I just got slapped with reality, Rach-"
"I think I'm the one who got slapped" Rachel chuckled lightly
"Sorry about that" the blonde just muttered before she sniffed
"No, I deserved it, I could have been nicer about it" she confessed. Quinn didn't say anything, which meant she agreed. Rachel let out a sigh "Just... if you ever think about doing something stupid, come talk to me first, I'm an expert when it comes to being stupid"
"Okay" Quinn mumbled
"Do you want another hug?" Rachel asked, trying to keep her hopefulness caged
Quinn just nodded and let herself get enveloped by Rachel's arms again. She just breathed deeply letting herself relax as she hugged Rachel back, for a moment Quinn actually felt she'd let herself down, Rachel was there for her and she hadn't thought to talk to her before about how she was feeling. It would take her time to let go but Rachel would be here.
When they pulled apart Rachel looked sympathetic. She then suddenly cringed as she remembered something "I said I'd meet the skanks to prep something before 2nd period"
"What is it?" the blonde asked with a furrowed brow
"They're feeling kinda let down cause we ditched them, so I was going to make it up to them with just a little prank" she cringed again waiting for Quinn's disapproval
"Rachel" she whined "You're not going to get in more trouble are you"
"Probably" she shrugged "You wanna join in" she asked with a mischievous grin
Quinn sighed and shook her head to herself... "Okay"
"Huh?" had Quinn just agreed to join in on the lame prank "Really?"
"I'm already out of Math, I don't want to go back right now" she shrugged "Lead the way"
"Okay" Rachel's eyes lit up enthusiastically "To the roof" she grabbed Quinn's hand and whisked her away
Quinn almost chocked on her own words "Wait, the roof?"
...
Quinn waited with Sheila, Ronny and The Mack on the lower roof while Rachel disappeared just before the end of first period. By their feet propped on the edge of the one story high roof were a few buckets full of a certain signature icy weapon of the McKinley so called elite. Operation Slushie revenge was in progress
They were still waiting when the first lesson had ended and students had started to file in and out of the building just below them, a few student spotted them and looked worried, but one glare form one of the skanks and they were quickly on their way again.
Then finally they heard the yelling as Rachel made her return. They saw Rachel and people behind her getting shoved out of the way before they saw half the football team on her tail.
"Now!" she yelled as she ducked through the doors below the skanks and Quinn. On her cue they tipped the buckets over forming a rainbow waterfall for the footballers to run into.
The skanks who usually stayed under the bleachers and kept quiet around the school had made a defensive strike. They felt so satisfied when they heard the yelping of the boys below, as they screamed and complained of the burning in their eyes and the ice in the ears and down their back.
For a moment Quinn felt pretty good about it too, she'd never actually thrown a slushie, just ordered the attacks. This was different to those earlier ones though, this wasn't regrettable.
"Hey" suddenly Rachel was next to her, the fire access to the roof wasn't close by so she wondered how the hell Rachel had got up here. Although if she thought back to the few times Rachel had scaled the side of Quinn's house to get into her room, just so they could chat. It was always unnecessary though, Judy had quickly become fond of the girl despite her troubles.
"Hey" she said back. They both looked back over the lip just in time to see Azimio look up with burning eyes and threaten Rachel. She let it slide, she'd be ready for him.
They then saw a few of them head inside only to slip over of the overflow of slushie that had ended up inside the building on the linoleum floor.
After a quick victory celebration Rachel picked up her and Quinn's bag "Can I escort you to your next lesson"
Quinn just snatched her bag and said dryly "We're in the same class"
"Oh yeah" Rachel smirked "Can I still escort you"
Quinn tried her best not to chuckled, to not even let a smile break out onto her lips "Fine" she lead the way though so Rachel didn't see her cave.
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