Here's chapter nine! Thank you so much for the reviews! This chapter is a little shorter, but drama llama.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Uptown Girls
The next day, Quinn woke up in Beth's bed. But Beth was gone. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was almost ten in the morning. She must have gone to school.
Wait.
Ten o'clock? She was late for work. Her uniform was at home. Maybe she could borrow one from Jess. She always kept extras in her locker.
Jumping up out of the bed, Quinn put her shoes on and ran out the door, her hair disheveled and her make-up smudged. It didn't matter right now, she had to get to work. She practically ran down the street, barreling around corners to the coffee shop. Running inside, she bumped into her boss on her way behind the counter. He didn't look happy.
"Quinn..."
"I know, I'm late. I'm sorry. I didn't sleep at home last night and I didn't have an alarm to wake me up, and I just had a really weird few days."
The taller man glanced over her, looking at her messed up hair and make-up and her wrinkled clothes. Quinn could tell that he was getting the wrong idea, but didn't bother saying anything about it.
"Quinn, this is the second day in a row. Yesterday, I said it was fine that you took the day off at last minute, but following it up with coming in late like this..." he sighed and shook his head, "I'm going to have to let you go. He whispered, at least trying to spare her the embarrassment."
She looked up at him with wide eyes and a slacked jaw, trying to come up with something to say. "Look, I'm sorry. I fell asleep at my kid's house last night, cause we had a long day and I just fell asleep on accident. Please don't do this, just give me another chance, I-"
He shook his head again, and mumbled, "I'm sorry," before walking away.
xoPQox
Quinn walked slowly down the street. Things were going so downhill lately. Now what was she supposed to do? Maybe she would go home and video chat with Santana. It had been a few days since they'd talked. Maybe she could fill her in on what was going on.
Arriving at her apartment, she trudged to her bedroom and reached for her laptop that was on her bedside table. Pulling up Skype, she looked at her contacts list. She wasn't online. Neither was Brittany. Some other people from high school were online, but she really didn't feel like dumping her problems on them. Especially when she hadn't talked to any of them in a while. Sighing, she closed her laptop and made herself some breakfast. Technically, it would be lunch, considering the time of day. She ate her sandwich silently in the kitchen, glancing around at the big empty apartment. She had felt more lonely than normal lately.
After showering and getting dressed, she brought the photo album out to the living room, along with the prints she had made of all the pictures she had taken with Beth in the past month. Getting out the glue and some stickers, Quinn worked on adding to the album to pass the time until she had to go get Beth from school. They had taken so many that she still had half a pile to add in by the time the clock turned to 2:30.
Grabbing her purse, Quinn left everything on the coffee table. She could continue when she got home. She walked at a normal pace to Beth's school, getting there exactly at three. Beth came out with the rest of the girls, she was actually talking and laughing with one of them. Quinn raised her eyebrows in surprise and waved at the girl once she turned her head. Beth said goodbye to the other girl and ran over to Quinn.
"I see you're alive, Briar Rose."
"Ha, ha," Quinn laughed a little as they started their walk to Beth's, "Who's your friend?"
"What friend?"
"The girl you were talking to. She seemed like a friend."
"Oh, that's Amanda. We're not friends. We're partners for our science project."
Quinn smirked to herself. Beth was starting to make friends. She just didn't want to admit it. If they were just science partners, they wouldn't have been joking and laughing outside of school.
"Oh, I see. Do you have a lot of homework?"
"Yea, kinda. I'm a little hungry though."
"Wanna go out and get something and just bring it home?"
"I guess."
Quinn fished her wallet out of her purse, seeing only two dollars in the cash pocket.
"Crap, I need to go home to get some more cash. Do you mind coming with me to my place?"
Beth shrugged and turned with Quinn to go the other direction. On the way, she told her all about her day at school. It had become a habit. Like routine. She walked with Quinn every day after school and told her about her day. Yesterday when she wasn't in class, they had assigned everyone partners, and Beth got partnered with Amanda by default. They had lunch together and talked about what they were going to do for their project. But Beth still only saw the girl as a science partner. An acquaintance at the most.
Quinn unlocked the door to her apartment and lead Beth inside.
"Just wait here, I just have to pee and get my money," she ran off to her bedroom.
Beth wandered, looking around the place. She'd never been here before. It was colorful, and a bit of a mess. But she didn't expect Quinn's place to be anything like her own bedroom. She didn't even take her shoes off before walking onto the carpet. The little girl sauntered into the living room, sitting on the couch. Eyeing the photos and the photo album that were scattered on the coffee table. Curious, she picked up the stack and sifted through the photos. They were all the ones that Quinn had taken in the past few weeks. Smiling a little, she turned to the album, starting from the beginning.
They all seemed to be pictures of Quinn when she was younger. Maybe in high school. Each chapter started with a sonogram picture as Quinn's belly gradually got bigger in the photos. Beth's eyebrows knit together. She didn't know Quinn had a baby. There were a lot of pictures of that Puck guy. He had a really weird hairdo in a lot of the pictures. Flipping through plastic covered pages quickly, she came to one that caught her attention. The one of Quinn and Puck sitting on a hospital bed with a pink bundle in their arms.
Baby Beth born June 8th 2010
Feeling her heart start to race, Beth flipped the pages, seeing recognizable photos of herself being held by both Quinn and Puck. She knew that it was her. But what did all this mean? Quinn and Puck were...her parents? Who was Shelby? Beth knew Shelby as her mom. Was she adopted? How could they never tell her?
"Okay, I got some cash," Quinn called out as she came out from her bedroom, "Ready to g-"
She had to stop dead in her tracks. Beth was sitting on the couch with the photo album in her lap.
Shit.
"Beth-"
The little girl looked up at her angrily, tears in her eyes. She threw the album down on the couch and ran out the door and down the stairs of the apartment complex.
"Beth!" Quinn ran after her, not bothering to lock the door behind her. "Beth! Please wait!" She chased her out the revolving door and down the street until she finally caught her by the arm. Beth put up a fight, trying to get her arm free. "Please listen to me. I never wanted you to find out like this!"
Looking into her eyes, Quinn could see how upset Beth was, even if she wasn't looking back at her. Quinn could feel tears welling up in her own eyes. She honestly wished that she could go back in time and take the time to put the album away before leaving the apartment. The little girl still wasn't looking at her. But she lifted the arm that Quinn had a hold of and bit her hand roughly, causing Quinn to let go. As soon as she was free, Beth bolted down the street. Quinn, of course, ran after her, trying to ignore the pain in her hand. The people on the street were like blurs. The only thing that she had a clear vision of was Beth. They ran all the way to the tall apartment building, Beth caught the elevator, which closed before Quinn could get in. She knew she would never make it by taking the stairs. But she couldn't leave Beth alone. So she waited for the next elevator, and rode it all the way up to Beth and Shelby's apartment. Unlocking the door with her key, she ran down the hall to Beth's bedroom. She could hear her crying. It was the most painful sound in the world. At least to Quinn it was. She slumped against the locked door and cried as she pulled her knees up to her chest. Little did she know that Beth was on the opposite side of the door, doing the exact same thing.
