Rachel entered the school and went in search of Quinn. She checked Quinn's locker first then Sam's and finally her own. The couple were standing together, hands clasped, at Rachel's locker. The Cheerio pulled her into a hug when she walked over to them.
"Hey Rach." Quinn smiled.
"Hey Quinn, Sam." Rachel replied.
"Hey." Sam nodded.
"Erm Quinn...I think you might need to tell Puck about Shelby and Beth being in town. Shelby's kind of going to apply for a job here and she's kind of here...now." Rachel told her. Quinn's eyes widened. "I think you should tell him before -"
"Hey Quinn!" They heard a voice shout.
The three of them looked up to see Puck striding down the hallway towards them.
"I think it might be too late." Rachel said quietly.
"Did you know Shelby was back in town with Beth?" He demanded.
"Yeah, about that..." Quinn laughed nervously. "Let's talk." She held onto his arm and started to lead him away. Sam and Rachel watched them going and they heard Puck grumble something to Quinn. She replied in a defensive hiss. "I was going to tell you."
"We should head for homeroom, they could be gone for a while." Rachel said to Sam.
Sam glanced up in the direction Quinn and Puck had left before nodding reluctantly.
Quinn joined them as they were making their way to second period.
"Well, that went better than I thought it would. Puck wants to see Beth obviously but he's agreed to do it on Shelby's terms." Quinn informed them.
"Do you think he'll be ok?" Rachel asked.
"I think he's a little anxious about seeing her but he'll be fine. He'll love her like everyone else does when they meet her." Quinn smiled. "He's asked me to go with him on his first visit."
Sam's head snapped up to look at her and his eyes widened. Quinn shook her head and rolled her eyes at him.
Rachel felt someone tap her shoulder and when she turned, she smiled as she saw that it was Shelby.
"Hey baby girl." Shelby grinned. "You going to congratulate me?"
"You got the job?" Rachel asked excitedly.
"Figgins asked me to start today." Shelby answered.
"That's brilliant." Rachel beamed and pulled her mom into a hug.
"I'm just observing classes at the moment and introducing myself to the students. I teach my first lesson on Monday." Shelby explained. She noticed the hallways were starting to clear. "Now you three, off to your next class."
"Yes ma'am." Rachel giggled. "Will we be seeing you later in Glee club?"
"I'm still not sure yet." She admitted truthfully. "Now go on, get to class. I don't want to have to give you detention."
The three friends laughed as they started walking to class.
Later that day as they entered the music room for Glee club, Rachel felt disappointed when she couldn't see Shelby in the room. She sat down with a sigh and gave Will a half-hearted smile when he looked her way. She frowned slightly as she noticed he was grinning and rocking on his heels as he rubbed his hands in front of him.
"Alright guys." Will announced to the room. "Before we discuss our next assignment, I have an announcement. Nationals is only a month away and we are up against some tough competition. We need to up our game if we're going to win. I can only guide you so far so, I thought we could use some extra help to guide us even further. To become National champions. Who better to help coach than someone who has led a show choir to win Nationals four years in a row? Please welcome our new co-director, Miss Corcoran."
Rachel gasped as Will pointed to the door of the little room adjoining the choir room. Shelby was stood in the doorway, smiling. As she entered, her and Rachel's eyes met and Rachel grinned excitedly.
"We actually might have a shot at beating Vocal Adrenaline." Kurt said as he clapped his hands together.
"If she's on our side." Mercedes pointed out, her arms folded as she stared at Shelby. "How do we know she's not spying on us? How do we know she's not going to leak our set list to Vocal Adrenaline? Or give us bad advice so that we lose and they win?"
"I'm not a spy for Vocal Adrenaline." Shelby reassured them. "To prove it to you, I'm going to tell you each of their flaws and tell you how you can use it to beat them."
"Alright, she's in." Mercedes nodded quickly.
The rest of the Glee club bar Santana nodded their agreement.
"Oh that is just fantastic." Santana said sarcastically. She stood up, arms folded, and turned to face the rest of the club. "Well, we'd better all practice extra hard at swaying in the background because with Rachel's mom in charge too, there's even less of a chance of anyone else getting the solos."
"That's not how it works Santana." Will sighed.
"Oh isn't it? You've given Berry everything she wanted since the beginning and since she got herself knocked up we've all had to tiptoe around her and give her everything to make sure she's happy. Now mommy's here, there's no way she's going to say no to her." Santana argued.
"Santana, none of us voted Rachel's song because she was pregnant." Tina said. "We all voted for it because we knew it was the song that would win us Regionals, and it did."
"What about all the other times?" Santana asked.
"Actually, I think you'll find Sam and I performed a duet at Sectionals this year and you sang the solo, so it's not every time." Quinn said.
"We all know Rachel is our best performer." Finn added. "Sure, we got through Sectionals with those performances but at Nationals we'll be up against tougher competition. We all know – including you Santana – that our only shot at winning is to have Rachel take the lead."
"Look, I'm not saying she's not a good performer and I'm not saying she shouldn't get solos." Santana said. "I'm just saying that once in a while, it would be nice for someone else to get a shot in the spotlight for once."
"Is this something you all feel?" Shelby asked. Santana took her seat as the rest of the Glee club looked at each other. Some of the club members looked down at their hands and Shelby nodded to herself. "I think Mr Schuester and I could come up with something to address this issue."
"Of course." Will agreed. "Now, for today's lesson..."
Rachel let Will's voice drift off as she looked around at her classmates. Mr Schue had always told them that Glee club gave them – the kids that felt like they didn't fit in anywhere else – a chance to shine. Was she taking all their moments to shine? She'd never thought about it before. She'd been too obsessed with her own goals and dreams to think about anybody else's. She sighed sadly as she looked down at her hands.
Later that night, Will, Rachel, Shelby and Beth were sat around the dining room table eating dinner.
"You looked a little sad in Glee club today." Will said to Rachel.
"What Santana said...I never realised that's how everybody felt." She admitted.
"Me neither." Will sighed. "I hadn't realised I'd been neglecting some of the kids. I don't know how to make it up to them."
"I think I might have an idea." Shelby told them.
At Glee club the next day, Will was once again waiting excitedly for the kids to arrive and settle down. Shelby was smiling beside him.
"Ok, so yesterday, Santana brought to light an issue that has been affecting some of you in this room." Will said. "Miss Corcoran and I talked about it and she has come up with an idea. However, I don't want to put this idea in place just yet. We're only a month away from Nationals and we have our set list, rehearsals are going well and all we need to do is write one more verse for our group performance. I don't want to risk all that hard work starting on a new idea this close to Nationals. I will however, swear to you to implement this idea right after and we will continue to use it for our competitions next year. Miss Corcoran, the floor's all yours."
Will stepped aside as Shelby took a step forward.
"Right. So we all know that some of you feel like you're not being given a chance to shine. I thought it would be a good idea to take those of you that do and – let's say – form a little group within the group. At each competition, this group will perform one of the numbers on the set list." Shelby explained.
Everyone glanced at Santana, waiting anxiously for the Cheerio's verdict.
"What's the catch?" She asked.
"No catch." Will answered.
Santana narrowed her eyes and looked between Shelby and Will. Her gaze turned to Rachel and the rest of the club followed suit.
"You're willing to give up one of your Rachel Berry shows?" Santana asked sceptically.
Rachel rolled her eyes and sighed but decided not to argue.
"Yes. I've already agreed with it." Rachel answered.
Rachel's eyebrows shot up into her hairline when she saw a small smile appear on Santana's lips. The Latina looked away quickly and nodded to Will and Shelby.
"Alright. I'll go with that." She said.
The whole room seemed to breath a sigh of relief and Shelby and Will shared a smile.
At the end of Glee club, Quinn called Shelby to the side and waited for the others to leave. When only Will and Rachel were left in the room, the blonde glanced at them and turned her back to them.
"Ok, I need to ask you a favour." Quinn said quietly. "I need you to keep an eye on Mr Schue and Miss Pillsbury. I can only watch them in the hallways between classes but you can watch them in the teacher's lounge."
"Why do I need to watch them? What's going on?" Shelby demanded.
"Nothing yet." She replied. "But I'm worried it might. You should see the way Miss Pillsbury fawns all over him. I don't want Rachel to get hurt."
"Quinn, I know you're worried about Rachel but I honestly don't think you have reason to be." Shelby reassured her. She smiled as she looked over Quinn's shoulder to see Will and Rachel sharing a sneaky kiss. "Will loves Rachel, I don't think he could cheat on her."
"I don't think he could either." Quinn admitted. "But we can't just leave the temptation right there in front of his face. Will is...special. He doesn't act like a typical guy but deep down, he is still ultimately a guy. Not to mention the fact that it wasn't that long ago Will was pining after Miss Pillsbury. It could just take one word or one single look to reignite those feelings and before you know it Will's off in Hawaii with that ginger freak while we're comforting Rachel as she sobs into one of those ridiculous sweater-vests he wears that he's left behind. Do you really want to risk that happening?"
"No." Shelby sighed. "And I admit I...I didn't really like the way Emma was behaving around him at lunch. Alright, I'll keep my eye on them."
"Ok..." Quinn nodded then a grimace crossed her face. "Now for the next sensitive issue. Puck's visit to see Beth..."
With just days before the big competition, the club were working harder than ever to perfect their performances.
It was after school on one of these days that the football team had after school practice. The Cheerios were also asked to stay back for practice. Will had been asked to run the after school detention.
"Do you want to go home now or wait for me?" He asked Rachel as they stood in his office.
"I think I'll find a classroom to do some studying in and wait for you." She answered.
"You're more than welcome to use the Spanish room of course." Will grinned.
"You know that was the room I was going to use anyway." She laughed.
"Alright sweetie, I'll come get you when it's time to go." He told her. He kissed her lightly on the lips before she started to leave the room. "I love you."
Rachel turned and dazzled him with her most radiant smile.
"I love you too." She replied.
He watched her go before sighing and heading to the detention room.
Rachel sat down at one of the desks in the Spanish room and pulled some of her books from her bag. She also took out a pen and her notebook to write things down. She grabbed her Geography book and with a sigh, flipped it open.
She tried to concentrate on what she was reading, she really did, but her thoughts kept turning to Will, a smile spreading across her lips as they did. Even though they'd been dating for a while now, she still felt butterflies when he smiled at her. Her heart would always skip a beat when he said her name and she simply melted every time he touched her. There was always so much love in his eyes when he smiled at her and every day as they watched their child growing inside of her, that love would grow too. Rachel sighed dreamily as she started to chew on the end of her pen, her eyes staring into space.
Time slipped away unnoticed while Rachel drifted in her own little world. She was brought back to reality when a pair of hands landed on her shoulders and started to rub. This might have made her jump if she hadn't instantly recognised the touch or the scent that washed over her. Lips trailed kisses from behind her ear and down her neck. She smiled as she closed her eyes, a hand moving to cover one of his on her shoulder.
"Looks like you managed to do a lot of studying." Will laughed as he spotted the blank page over her shoulder.
"I tried but my thoughts were elsewhere." She told him.
"Anywhere good?" Will asked.
"Down the hallway in the detention room. With you." She smiled.
"You always say the cutest things." Will chuckled as he knelt beside her. Rachel giggled as she cupped his face in both her hands and leant in to capture his lips in a loving kiss. When they broke apart, Will leant his forehead against hers. "I love you."
"I love you too." She whispered.
Will placed his hands on Rachel's bump and looked down at them.
"Don't worry, I didn't forget you. I love my little girl too." He said to the bump.
"What the hell?" A voice demanded from the doorway. Will and Rachel looked up quickly to see Finn standing in the doorway, his fists clenched. Football practice had finished and Rachel could see that his hair was still a little damp from his shower. Her eyes widened as Will stood up and moved as if to shield her from him. "He's the father?"
"Finn." Rachel said. "Maybe we should talk about this somewhere -"
"You were screwing my girlfriend behind my back?" Finn shouted, completely ignoring Rachel. His voice dropped in volume but the anger was still clear. "I don't have a father. My high school years are some of the hardest years I'm ever going to face and I didn't think I could do it because I didn't have my dad to guide me. Yet that didn't matter because I had you. I looked up to you – you were a role model to me. I confided in you because you always listened and you always seemed to know how to help me through it all. When Quinn got pregnant, you helped me through all that – before and after I found out it wasn't mine. You saw how that screwed me up." Finn's voice started to rise once again until he was bellowing. "You saw how much that hurt me. Now you're doing exactly the same. Is this some sort of joke? Are you laughing at me behind my back? I trusted you!"
Rachel screamed as Finn flew into the room and slammed into Will, tackling him to the floor. She flew out of her chair and tried to grab Finn's arms as he started to pound Will with his fists. Will refused to hit back, choosing only to try and block Finn's blows.
Quinn, Sam and Puck were walking down the hallway together talking about Puck's next visit to see Beth when they heard the commotion. The three of them stopped and frowned before running in the direction of the shouts and screams. They all paused in the doorway, astounded at what they were witnessing. Puck and Sam finally snapped out of it and ran over to Finn and the struggling Will. Puck dragged Finn off of Will while Sam helped Will up. Will wiped blood from his nose causing Rachel to shriek once more. Quinn rushed to her side and put her arms around the girl.
"What the hell's going on?" Puck shouted as he struggled to keep hold of Finn.
"He screwed my girlfriend! He knocked her up!" Finn bellowed, fighting Puck's hold to try and get back at Will.
"Finn stop! Finn, stop it." Puck ordered.
Finn stopped fighting and took deep seething breaths. He glared at Will then pulled himself out of Puck's hold and turned his gaze to Puck. When his friend wouldn't meet his eye, his fists tightened once more.
"You knew?" Finn asked through gritted teeth.
"We all do." Puck nodded as he stared down at the floor.
"I knew it was a mistake telling you." Quinn hissed at Sam.
"Sam didn't tell us." Puck said quickly in Sam's defence as Sam held his hands up and shook his head.
"You all knew? So you were all laughing at me?" Finn demanded.
"No, it wasn't like that." Puck told him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He shouted.
"Because we were trying to protect you – all of you. We all knew what it would do to you if you found out." Puck explained.
"You were trying to protect them? After what they did to me?" Finn laughed bitterly. "She knew Mr Schue was the only teacher in this place I could talk to and the only one I trusted. He knew how much Rachel meant to me. They both knew what the same thing did to me last year and yet – yet – here we are. It's like some big joke." Finn glared at Rachel. "Is that what this is to you? Some big joke?"
"What? You think I planned getting pregnant at seventeen by my teacher and possibly ruining both our lives just to play a joke on you?" Rachel asked incredulously.
"Well...no, not the getting pregnant part." Finn mumbled as he looked down at the floor. He shook his head and glared back up at her. "Look, I am done with you – all of you. By this time tomorrow the whole school's going to know the truth."
Rachel gasped as Finn turned and stormed out of the room.
"Finn, wait! Please don't!" She begged as she started to run after him, hysterical tears running down her cheeks.
"Rachel stop, you need to calm down." Quinn said as she grabbed Rachel's arm. "You have to think of the baby. You're getting too stressed."
"But he's going to tell everyone." She sobbed into Quinn's shoulder.
"I got this one." Puck told them and left the room. He ran down the hallways until he found Finn about to leave the building. "Hey! Stop!" He grabbed Finn by the shoulder and spun him around. "So you're planning on telling everybody? You plan on ruining their lives?"
"They ruined mine." Finn argued.
"How? So you lost your girlfriend, big deal, but there will be other girls. You tell everybody and Mr Schue will lose his job and go to jail and they'll take Rachel and their kid away from him. Mr Schuester means everything to Rachel – he's it for her. Look me in the eye and tell me you can't see how happy she's been these past few months. Take him away from her and you'll just make her and her kid miserable for the rest of their lives and you'll end up hating yourself for doing that to her." Puck told him. "I know you still care about her enough to want her to be happy." Finn sighed and looked down at the floor. "So what's it going to be? You going to ruin everything for her or are you going to let her be happy?"
"Alright, I'm...I'm not going to tell anybody." Finn sighed. "Why do you care so much anyway?"
"They've both been there for us all and done stuff for us when we needed them. I guessed it was time to repay them." Puck shrugged. "Besides, I was Rachel's first and I didn't exactly go out of my way to make it special for her like I should have done. I figured I owed her this."
"Wait – did you sleep with her behind my back too?" Finn demanded.
"No, this time I didn't sleep with your girlfriend." Puck said with a hint of a smile. "It was before you went out, when I was supposed to be her boyfriend."
Finn nodded slowly, knowing his best friend was telling him the truth this time.
"Will you tell her I'm sorry?" Finn asked. "Not for beating the crap out of him – because I still want to pulverise him – but for hurting and upsetting her. You were right, I do hate myself for making her unhappy."
"Dude, why don't you come tell her yourself?" He smiled gently.
"Because I don't think she'll listen, not after what I did. Plus, I really can't be in a room with him right now." He answered. "You'll tell her?"
"Sure." Puck nodded.
"Thanks. I'll see you around." Finn replied quietly before turning and leaving the building with his shoulders hunched and his head hanging.
Puck watched him leave then headed back to the Spanish room.
When he got there, Rachel was wiping away the blood from Will's nose with some tissue and constantly asking him if he was alright. His nose had stopped bleeding but he now had a shiny purple bruise around his eye and his lip looked busted. They all looked up at Puck as he entered the room, his hands in his pockets.
"He's not going to tell anybody." He told them. They all looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief. He walked over to Rachel so he could speak directly to her. "Finn wanted me to tell you that he's sorry. He hates himself for hurting you."
Rachel looked away sadly and fought back more tears.
"He should be sorry." Quinn growled.
"Quinn, leave it." Rachel said. "Finn had every right to be mad." She looked at Will and smiled without any humour. "I just wish he hadn't taken it out on your face."
"And my ribs." Will added as he rubbed his chest. "He got a few blows there too. Don't worry – I'm fine." He added as Rachel's eyes widened and she stepped quickly towards him.
She watched him, her gaze flickering over him, assessing his injuries. Finally she turned to Puck and blushed.
"So...you know? How?" She asked.
"Sure it wasn't Sam?" Quinn asked, shooting a glare at the boy in question.
"It wasn't me." Sam argued.
"No, it wasn't Sam." Puck agreed. "It was a few months back just before Glee rehearsals. You two were both in the music room alone and me, Lauren and Artie were just about to come in when we heard you two talking. You didn't say anything that totally gave it away but it got us thinking. The other guys didn't quite believe us when we told them but then Kurt and Mercedes were both late coming out of last period and they saw you going into Mr Schue's office. They waited for you both to come out and they said when you did, you were holding hands and before you got into his car, they saw you kiss."
"I told you we weren't alone in the parking lot." Rachel said to Will.
"We're sorry for spying on you." Puck told them.
"It's ok." Rachel smiled. "How come none of you said anything to us, or told on us?"
"We hardly ever spoke about it to each other because we didn't want Santana and Finn to find out. We knew what would happen if they did. It was a joint decision not to tell you we knew because we thought you two might not be as...secretive around us after we did and then Santana and Finn would have been sure to find out. We also wanted to show you we were your friends and you could trust us and that we've all got your backs and will support you...however weird this is." Puck explained.
"Thank you." She smiled and pulled him into a hug.
Puck's answering smile was shy and his cheeks were tinged pink. He pulled away quickly and cleared his throat when he saw Sam smirking at him.
"No – no problem." He stammered.
Will shook his hand and patted his shoulder.
"Thanks buddy." He smiled.
As the couple entered their apartment, Shelby was just coming out of the bathroom with Beth after having given the little girl a bath. Her eyes widened when she spotted Will.
"What the hell happened to you?" Shelby gasped.
"Finn found out." Will answered. "He wasn't too pleased as you can probably tell."
"Will! Don't joke about it like that. He was really upset and he could have seriously hurt you." Rachel scolded.
"So, what's going to happen now?" Shelby asked. "Finn knows, surely that's not going to end well."
"I don't know." Rachel shrugged. "Puck talked to him when he stormed out. He must have said something to make him change his mind because when Puck came back he said Finn apologised and told him he wouldn't say anything."
"Wait Puck knows now?" Shelby frowned.
"Apparently everybody knew." Will told her. "Apart from Finn."
"And Santana – but that's for a different reason." Rachel added. "It's our fault they found out. It turns out we weren't as careful as we thought we were being."
"Thought you would have learned that one eight months ago." Shelby said, accidentally out loud. Shelby looked awkwardly between them while they looked back in equal surprise. "Anyway...you were saying."
"Erm...yeah...like Rachel said, we apparently didn't hide things as well as we hoped we had so they overheard conversations, saw us kissing and stuff. It was how Finn found out today. We thought we were alone and we told each other we loved each other and then I said I loved my little girl too and...that's when he walked in." Will explained.
"Well, I know it doesn't seem like it now but, you guys were lucky that it was Finn that walked in. Puck was able to talk him out of telling everybody but if another student or a teacher walked in instead, you'd both be in big trouble right now." Shelby pointed out.
"I guess a punch in the face from an angry seventeen year old quarterback isn't as bad as what could have happened." Will shrugged. He looked at Rachel and gave her a small smile. "Nothing could be worse than them taking you and Melody away from me."
Rachel clung to the front of his shirt and buried her face in his chest. His arms wrapped around her tightly and held her to him.
"Just as things were finally getting better." She mumbled. "I've lost one of my best friends."
At Glee club the next day, everybody had heard the news about Finn. They'd seen the bruises on Will's face and refused to believe any lies he told them so Rachel stood up and told them the truth. It felt good to finally get everything off her chest and she was glad when her friends accepted what she had to say – all except Santana who was furious no one had told her.
Finn hadn't turned up and they were starting to panic – again apart from Santana who sat in the corner, her arms folded and body turned away from the rest. Nationals was just a couple of days away and they needed Finn for the opening number. It was supposed to have been a duet with him and Rachel.
"He said he wasn't coming." Kurt told them.
"But he has to. We can't win without Finn, he's one of our strongest singers." Tina argued.
"I can't believe no one told me." Santana ranted. "I wasn't really going to tell everybody, I just wanted to know. I told you, I'm a nosey bitch."
Nobody paid her any attention as their concerns were elsewhere.
"It's not the end of the world. Maybe Puck can do the duet with Rachel." Shelby suggested.
"No way. Finn knew it better, he'd had time to practise it. I never had to do it so I didn't need to practise. I can't learn it in a couple of days – not to be able to perform it good enough for Nationals." Puck told them. "His and Rachel's voices always mashed together better anyway."
"We're doomed." Mercedes sighed.
Rachel listened to her team mates all admitting defeat with guilt weighing heavily on her shoulders. This was all her fault and she knew it. She had to fix this somehow. She stood up and turned to face the others.
"It's not over." She said. The room fell silent and they all looked at her. "Look, this is all my fault and I'm so sorry but I am going to put this right. I think I can bring him back. I'm going to talk to him and I am not coming back here without him."
"Ok." Will nodded. "If you think you can get him back."
She quickly left the room and headed for the place she knew Finn would be. Her nose wrinkled as she entered the boys locker room and the smell of sweat and boys in general hit her. Luckily the room was empty apart from the figure sitting on the bench, his back to her and his shoulders slumped. She approached him slowly.
"Hey." She said quietly when she reached the other end of the bench.
His head turned slightly towards her then looked back down at the floor.
"Didn't think you'd want to talk to me again." Finn said.
"Shouldn't that be the other way around?" She asked.
Finn laughed but there was no humour to it. She sat down on the bench leaving a wide space between them, not wanting to push her boundaries.
"I should be mad at you. I want to be mad but...I can't." He told her.
"I understand." She replied. "I understand why you punched Will." His jaw clenched and she saw his hands ball into fists then relax at the mention of Will's name but she chose to ignore this. "He did deserve it. I deserve it. You...you can...hit me if it makes you feel better."
"I could never hit you." Finn shouted, the disgust clear in his voice at the thought as his head snapped up to look at her, his eyes wide with shock. "I would never – could never hurt you – not physically anyway. I don't mean to hurt you anyway but somehow...I always do in the end."
"I know you don't mean to. Besides I always end up hurting you twice as bad." Rachel said.
"I guess we're as bad as each other." He replied, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
They both smiled before Finn turned to look back at the floor.
"You said you couldn't hit me. Why? Because I'm a girl?" She asked.
"Well, mostly yeah. I don't hit girls, I'm not a complete douche." He mumbled. "But the other reason I can't hit you is because I still love you. I could never bring myself to hurt you that way. I'd rather kill myself."
A few moments of silence passed between them. Rachel tucked a stray strand of hair from her face as she looked down at her hands and swallowed. Hearing him say those words to her was still painful, even after all this time. It wasn't that she didn't still love him. It was the fact that it brought back those feelings and also the pain and guilt from her betrayal and the knowledge that she'd hurt him far worse than he ever could her.
"I thought...I thought we agreed to move on." She said quietly.
"Just because I've moved on, doesn't change the fact that I still love you." He told her and paused as he glanced at her. "It's a little different than before but it's still love. I guess it's just not the same for you."
"It is. It is the same. Finn, I told you before I'll always love you. A part of me will always belong to you and just thinking about you dating another girl...well...I admit, it does make me feel jealous...but I'd be happy for you. Yeah, I might have moved on but the love is still there just...changed like you said. You know it's for the best." She explained. He nodded in agreement but kept his face turned towards the ground. A few moments of silence passed between the two of them. "How come you're not at Glee? Is it because of me? Or Will?"
"Like I said, I can't be mad at you but him...he's different." Finn muttered. "I just find it hard to look at him and not...beat the crap out of him."
"Look, be mad at Will if you want. No one can blame you for that. But don't take it out on the others." She said.
"They all lied to me too." Finn argued. "They all kept this from me."
"They didn't tell you because they knew it would hurt you, just like it did when you found out about Quinn and Puck. They were trying to protect you." She told him. Finn continued to glare at the ground and said nothing. "They're your friends Finn, we all are, and right now we need you."
"To win a stupid singing competition." Finn spat.
"Yes but to help us save Glee club. You're our captain and we need you." She answered. "Figgins might have given us another shot after we lost last year but he will close Glee club down if we don't place this year. We can't let that happen. Everybody in that choir room needs Glee club – and so do you. You said it yourself, being in Glee club makes you feel a part of something, special even. Glee club brought together a group of people who felt like they didn't fit in, like they had nobody to lean on and it made them friends. Take away Glee club and we'll all just fade into the background again. The footballers and the Cheerios – you won't look twice at us again. Think about everything everybody in Glee club has done for each other and think about if your so called 'friends' on the football team would do any of that for you. You're not just going to ruin this for everybody else, you're going to ruin it for yourself too. Think about that."
Rachel got up and started to leave, deciding to leave him to his thoughts, when his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist in a tight grip. She stopped and looked down at his hand, swallowing hard as she was nervous of his intentions.
"Wait." He murmured. When he looked up at her, he noticed her eyes were slightly wider than usual and he realised he'd frightened her with his gesture. He quickly let go of her, his own eyes widening as he stood up. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you – I swear. I was just -"
"Finn, it's ok." She interrupted. "I was being stupid. Just forget about it ok? So...did you want to say something?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if Glee club ended because I wasn't there when my friends needed me. You were right, you are all still my friends and we've been through a lot together and supported each other through it all. I don't want to be ungrateful and throw it all back in your faces. I don't want to lose any of you. Glee club is not getting cancelled because of me. We will place at Nationals – hell we're going to win Nationals."
"So...you'll come back?" She asked hopefully.
"I'm coming back." He smiled.
Rachel grinned and pulled him into an awkward hug over her baby bump.
"I really am sorry Finn. I know that I can never make this up to you and I know I really don't deserve it but I hope that you can forgive me someday and that we can still be friends." She sighed.
"We're still friends." He told her. "I'm sorry to say that you're stuck with me."
Rachel laughed as they separated.
"You really are too good to me." She said. "Come on, let's go and put the others out of their misery. They're all admitting defeat already."
She held out his hand for him to take and he smiled as he did. Squeezing his hand, she led him out of the locker room and they started a slow walk back to the choir room. Finn wondered what to say to break the silence as he glanced at her bump.
"So...not long left now, huh?" He asked.
Rachel looked up to see what he was talking about and noticed him looking at her. She smiled and rubbed her stomach.
"Couple of weeks." She answered.
"Are you nervous?" He asked.
"A little but I figured it's going to be ok. I've got my dads and my mom and my friends and...Will obviously, all supporting me so I don't feel so alone in this any more." She admitted.
"You're going to be a great mom, Rach." He told her. "And...well...I always...I always thought Mr Schuester would make a good dad someday. This kid's going to be like, super talented and loved. This kid's going to be the luckiest kid alive."
"Thanks Finn." Rachel smiled shyly.
"I don't like what's going on or anything but I'll always be here for you too." He said.
They shared a smiled and she squeezed his hand. Rachel looked away shyly as they continued on their way. After a few moments of silence, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and took a deep breath.
"So, um...you've sort of...forgiven me...does that mean you can...forgive Will?" She asked.
"No." Finn answered instantly, that cold hard look on his face once more. "No, he's different."
Rachel looked away sadly and let out a quiet sigh.
Meanwhile, back in the choir room the rest of the Glee club were still convinced that Finn wasn't going to return and that they would lose Nationals.
"Mr Schue, couldn't we just drop out now without having to humiliate ourselves in front of everybody?" Mercedes asked.
Will sighed as he looked around at the group, all of them wearing defeated expressions.
"What's all this talk about dropping out?" A voice asked. They all looked up and grinned as they saw Finn standing in the doorway beside Rachel. She entered the room and took a seat while Finn stepped forward to address them all. "We are not dropping out and we will win Nationals. I'm not going anywhere guys. But even if I did, you could still win this without me. We are all shining stars in this room and we all just need to believe in ourselves. The only reason you would have lost, is because you didn't have faith in yourselves. If you just believe, you can do anything."
"Finn's right." Mercedes nodded. "We need to start believing in ourselves and in each other. Maybe we could have won Nationals, but...it's good to have you back."
Soft chuckles sounded around the room. Will stepped up beside Finn and placed his hand on his shoulder. Finn tensed at the gesture and glared at Will's hand.
"Thanks Finn. I'm glad you came back. I don't think I could have convinced these guys they could do it as well as you just did." Will said.
Finn pulled himself out of Will's grasp and turned his glare to him.
"I didn't do this for you." He replied, his voice almost a growl. Will sighed as he watched the young man walk away. Finn headed to a chair at the back when a thought crossed his mind. He noticed Rachel sitting beside Quinn and on Rachel's other side, the seat was empty. He smirked as he changed direction and headed to the chair beside Rachel. "Hey Rach, anybody sitting there?"
"Erm...no." She answered in surprise.
"Mind if I sit there?" He asked.
"No, of course not." She replied.
He sat down and looked at Will with a smug smirk. Rachel saw Will return his look with a sad and slightly hurt expression. When their eyes met, she tried to give him a smile that would cheer him up and tell him that she loved him. He gave her a small smile and nodded once and she knew that he understood what she had meant.
When Glee club was over, Will let out a long breath as Rachel joined him at the piano. The rest of the club had left leaving the couple alone.
"Well, I get the feeling Finn was trying to tell me that he is never going to forgive me." Will said.
"I wouldn't say never." Rachel replied, trying to be a little more positive. "He just needs time, Will."
"Yeah, I guess." He sighed. "Still, at least he seems to have forgiven you, which I'm glad about. I know how much he means to you and I know you'd be devastated if you lost him."
Rachel nodded and leant into him, burying her face in his shoulder as his arms wrapped around her waist.
"I love you." She told him.
"Love you too." He replied.
The day of Nationals arrived but the New Directions new found confidence was badly bruised when they lost and ended up in eleventh place, meaning they hadn't made it on the leaderboard. Luckily, Figgins allowed them one more chance after a little persuasion and with a pep talk from both Will and Shelby, the group were even more determined to win the next time round.
The last week of school arrived and Rachel was forced to stay at home. The baby was due any day and both Will and Shelby agreed it would be better to go into labour at home rather than in school. She hated being at home alone, however. Will and Shelby were both at school teaching and she found herself missing Will terribly when he was away and she was also starting to miss her friends. She made Will promise to call her at lunch every day before he left for school.
It was a day in the middle of the week when Rachel text Quinn's cell to say Will hadn't called yet. Quinn made her way to his office in search of him. When she found it empty she decided to look in the choir room. Shelby was there alone, making her own little tunes on the piano.
"Hey, have you seen Will?" Quinn asked as she entered the room.
"Not since this morning. Have you tried his office?" She replied.
"Yeah, he's not there." Quinn answered.
"He's probably in the teacher's lounge." Shelby told her.
"The teacher's lounge? Great. I just know that doe eyed clean freak will be all over him. I told you to keep an eye on them!" Quinn said angrily.
She growled and quickly left the room heading for the teacher's lounge. She stormed into the room, eyes narrowed and jaw clenched as she spotted Emma with her hand on Will's arm, leaning in close and laughing at something he'd said. How could Will not see Emma's shameless flirting? Or did he know? Did he enjoy the attention? Was he flirting back?
She arrived at their table and cleared her throat loudly to announce her arrival. Emma looked up in surprise and pulled away quickly as Quinn glared at her.
"Quinn, what can we do for you?" Emma asked innocently.
Quinn ignored her and turned her blazing eyes to Mr Schue.
"Mr Schuester, your girlfriend – your heavily pregnant girlfriend – just asked me to remind you that you promised to call her during lunch period." Quinn told him.
"Oh crap. I got distracted, it completely slipped my mind." Will said, quickly gathering his things as he started to leave his chair.
"You're expecting a baby?" Emma whispered.
Will froze and his eyes widened as he looked at her.
"Um...yeah, any day now." He nodded.
"How come you didn't tell me?" She asked, offended.
"It's complicated." Will sighed. "Can we talk about this later, Emma?"
"Wait, how is Quinn involved in all this? She seems to know your girlfriend very well and she seems to know more about you these days than I do. I haven't seen your girlfriend – I don't even know her name." Emma said. Will's mouth opened and closed as he looked between the two women in panic. "How is this even working? So, you're living with your girlfriend, who's expecting a baby, you have Rachel staying with you, who is also having a baby, and her mom and Beth are also living at your apartment?"
"Well...Shelby actually has her own place here now which she'll move into once Rachel has had the baby." Will explained. "Rachel is...Rachel's..." He looked to Quinn who folded her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. "Look Emma, I've got to go. We'll talk later."
Emma looked down at her hands as Will started to leave.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me." She whispered.
Will felt terrible as he heard the hurt in her voice. He sighed and left the room with Quinn. Emma was a good friend and he didn't want to lose her. He felt like he owed her some explanation but he had no idea what he was going to tell her. He doubted she would be as understanding as everyone else had been.
"What's going on between you and Miss Pillsbury?" Quinn demanded, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"What? Nothing. We're just friends." He answered.
"Then why didn't you tell her you were having a baby?" Quinn asked suspiciously.
"How would I have explained that one?" Will replied. "She's already suspicious about how many people I have supposedly staying at my apartment."
"Alright, I'll accept that." Quinn nodded. "So you're not flirting back?"
"No, of course not." Will answered. By this time they'd reached Will's office and he shut the door once they were inside. "I'm completely in love with Rachel. I don't want anybody else."
"Then you need to tell Miss Pillsbury that. Maybe not about Rachel but about how you feel about your girlfriend. Your intentions might be completely innocent but hers aren't." She told him.
"I know." He said quietly. "I just don't know how to tell her without hurting her. This would be so much easier if things had worked out between her and Carl."
"Well forget about that for now, you need to call Rachel." Quinn said. "I'll see you later."
"Bye Quinn." He replied as he pulled out his cell.
Quinn left the room to give him some privacy. He dialled Rachel's number and smiled fondly as it was answered almost straight away.
"Hi honey." Rachel's voice greeted him.
"Hey baby. I'm sorry my call's late." He told her. "Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, everything's fine. I just miss you so much. When you didn't call, I thought you'd forgotten about me." She said sadly.
"I would never forget about you. I think about you all the time. You're my little Ray-Ray of sunshine, remember." Will smiled. He heard Rachel giggle on the other end and he could picture the beautiful smile she would have on her face. "I really do miss you baby. I love you so much."
"I love you too." She breathed. "I really wish you were here right now so I could kiss you."
"I'll be home soon so you can give me all the kisses you want." He chuckled. "How's my little Melody? I take it she's not on her way yet."
"Not yet and she's fine. She's been moving around a lot today." She told him. "I can't wait for her to get here."
"Me neither." He smiled. "I can see her now. She'll look exactly like you and be the most beautiful, perfect little girl."
"Stop saying sweet things like that. I already wanted to kiss you, now I want it even more." She giggled.
"Should I say cruel things instead?" He joked.
"No because mean Will is super hot and that would just make things worse." She replied. "Great, now I'm just thinking about how super hot you are."
"Now you know how I feel all those times I think about how hot and sexy you are when I can't have you." Will said as he sat back in his chair, swivelling it around so he had his back to the door.
A few moments of silence passed and all he could hear was her breathing.
"Are you...are you thinking that now?" She asked, her voice sounding almost breathless.
"Baby, I'm always thinking about it." He smirked.
"What – what else do you think about?" She asked.
"I think about the things we could be doing when we're alone. Sometimes I sit here alone in my office, thinking about what we could be doing right here, right now if you were here." He told her.
"Like what?" She urged. "What would you do to me?"
"Well, first I'd kiss you. Slow at first, my hands on your waist. Things would start to get a little faster, hotter...wetter. I'd move my hands into your hair and kiss you so hard until we can barely breath. We'd remove each other's shirts and our hands would be all over each other. I'd push you up onto my desk and lay you down." He breathed, not noticing his door open behind him as he listened to Rachel's heavy breathing. "I'd start to kiss down your neck, caressing your skin with my tongue." This time he heard the door when it was clicked shut and he spun around to see Emma staring at him, her eyes wide and her cheeks flushed pink. Will couldn't be sure how much she'd heard and prayed she'd not been there long. He tried to think if he'd said anything that might have given them away but luckily he hadn't. He suddenly remembered Rachel on the other end. "Honey, I have to go. I'll talk to you later."
"Damn, just as it was getting good." Rachel sighed causing him to chuckle. "I guess I could do with taking a nap now, I'm pretty tired. I'll see you later. I love you Will."
"I love you more. Take it easy ok, and enjoy your nap." He smiled. "Sweet dreams."
There was silence then he heard Rachel sigh again before hanging up. Will lowered his phone and looked up at Emma, unsure of what to say. Emma stared back, chewing her lip and wringing her hands in front of her.
"Was that – that was your girlfriend?" Emma said finally, breaking the uncomfortable silence and stepping closer to his desk.
"Yeah, that was her." He nodded, a fond smile appearing on his lips.
"You look...happy." She commented.
"I am." He agreed.
"You love her?" Emma asked.
"I'm crazy about her." He told her. There were a few moments of silence before Will cleared his throat. "Listen, Emma, I'm really sorry I didn't tell you. You're a really good friend and I trust you. It's just..." Will sighed and put his head in his hands, finally letting the stress of the situation hit him. "It's so complicated."
"Will, what's going on? You know you can tell me anything." She said gently, before reaching across and placing her hand on his shoulder.
"I know and I am very grateful for that." He replied, placing his hand over hers. "But this...I'm not sure I can...I wish I could tell you – I want to tell you."
"Look, it's obvious this is making you uncomfortable. I'm not going to force you into telling me anything but I want you to know that I'm always here if you do want to talk." She told him.
"Thank you Emma." He said, giving her a small smile.
"There is just one thing that...concerns me slightly. I'm worried about how much Quinn Fabray knows about you. I'm not so sure it's wise to have students so involved in your personal life." She said as she sat on the chair opposite him.
Will fought back a hysterical laugh. She had no idea just how much one particular student – currently absent as she was due to give birth any day now – was involved in his life. Instead he clasped his hands on the desk in front of him, turned his gaze to them and cleared his throat.
"Quinn Fabray is...she means well." He said. "When I started dating my girlfriend, I had no idea Quinn would even know anything or be involved. My girlfriend is..." Will tried to think of a valid reason for Quinn's relationship towards Rachel. He couldn't say they were best friends because all of Quinn's friends were in high school and most of the school now knew of how close Rachel and Quinn were. They were like sisters but he couldn't say it was Quinn's sister because they all knew her sister was married. That didn't mean he couldn't lie about them being related in another way. "Quinn is related to my girlfriend. They're cousins. There's...ok, I'm going to admit something to you which is part of why it's so complicated. There's a bit of an age gap."
"How much of an age gap?" Emma asked, her eyes growing even wider.
"Enough for it to be frowned upon slightly." He admitted.
"I see." She replied.
"Let me ask you something. If she was still...if she was still in school – which I'm not saying she is – but if she was and in a couple of years when she left, we came out about our relationship, would it still be frowned upon? Would there be...any trouble?"
"Well, I – I'm not sure. It all comes down to how people take it I guess. Some might see it as ok while others might...have different views. But by the time she left school, she'd be an adult and it would be her decision. Nobody could really do anything unless she...well, suggested that you might have taken advantage of her – which I'm sure you wouldn't." Emma answered.
"No, I'd never do that." He told her. Emma watched as a thoughtful expression crossed his face. He thought over what Emma had said and became more hopeful for his and Rachel's future together with their little girl. "How would you react if I told you she was still in school?"
"Well...I'd need to make sure she was ok and if that turns out alright then...I'd be happy if you're happy." She told him.
"You mean that?" Will asked. Emma nodded and gave him a small smile, though she still looked unsure. "Well thank you. She's not in school though, I was just wondering about the age difference thing and when the problems might start."
They were silent for a few moments before Emma jumped up.
"Well, I should be going now. I'll see you later Will." She said.
"Yeah, see you later." He replied. She walked away and started to open the door when she stopped suddenly. Her head turned towards him and she frowned slightly then after a few seconds, her eyes widened and she let out a small gasp. Will's blood ran cold and his face paled. He had a feeling Emma had seen past his lies and figured everything out but he tried not to let it show. The smile he sent back was more of a grimace but he pretended otherwise. "Everything ok Emma?"
"Fine...I think." She answered quietly and he knew his suspicions had been confirmed. She sent him a questioning look, clearly asking him if it was true. Not wanting to lie to her any longer now she knew the truth, he tilted his head in the slightest of nods. Emma swallowed and nodded back. "I see. Now it all makes sense. Anyway, congratulations Will, I'm sure you're going to be a great dad and...good luck."
"Thank you, Emma." He smiled.
She smiled back then quickly left the room. Will was starting to worry about how many people now knew about him and Rachel and who would find out next. They'd been lucky so far that those who knew were willing to keep their secret but next time, they might not be so lucky.
