I tried to update earlier but I couldn't find time to do it since it has been a pretty busy week. From coming out as bisexual in front of my family and a couple of friends to getting my exam results and finding out I (shockingly) didn't fail math to complaining about my mom's friend going to New York and watching Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. I would also just like to point out that Santana hasn't come out yet here.
With that put aside, enjoy chapter 10!
Rachel couldn't stop thinking about that phone call. She had to get out of bed before her father did something harmful. She didn't want anyone to end up in a hospital bed because she couldn't find a way to do what he wanted her to. She took it as a good sign that it was well past noon and nothing had happened. Maybe it was just to scare me into doing it. Still, she didn't let her guard down. She would never be able to forgive herself if something happens to one of her teammates. Especially Santana.
As much as she thought about it, the brunette couldn't wrap her head around the idea of caring about the Latina. Sure, she had felt attracted to her at one point but that was before all of the teasing and bullying. Why would one of her biggest tormenters suddenly be interested in protecting her? It just didn't make any sense.
In the past couple of years, Rachel has learned to lower her expectations, especially when it concerned people, to avoid getting hurt. She couldn't risk getting heartbroken considering the state she was in. What if it was a prank to humiliate her? It wasn't a crazy idea after all. This is Santana Lopez we're talking about. Her heart wouldn't bear someone else disappointing her or leaving her since she gets attached to things and holds on too tightly. If her father finds out she's been thinking about it, it would definitely not end well.
Rachel was suddenly broken out of her thoughts by a knock at the door. Expecting Santana to be paying her another visit, she looked up to find Kurt standing at the doorway. She wanted to speak. She wanted to ask him what he was doing here but it was proved to be impossible due to the lump forming in her throat.
Her head suddenly started to fill up with questions. Does he know? How would he know? Did Santana tell him? What if Santana told everyone? Is Kurt just here to laugh in her face? Before she could think of anything else, she felt a hand grasp hers. She instantly flinched at the sudden contact but eventually felt herself calm down once she saw Kurt wearing an apologetic look on his face and a weak smile.
That was when she couldn't take it anymore. Feeling overwhelmed by recent events, Rachel just broke down, no longer attempting to stifle her sobs. Her crying was both ferocious and noisy. She blinked briny tears from bloodshot eyes, her thick lashes stuck together in clumps as if she had been swimming. The tears made wet tracks down her face and dripped from her wobbling chin.
At this point, she wasn't only crying because of recent events. She was crying because that was the moment everything came back to her. Everything that he had ever done to her. If she could just curl up into a ball, she wouldn't have to face real life. She'd be protected from everything around her. But she'd still have to live with herself. With the wretched memories swirling around in her head. Her eyes, red and puffy from crying, squeezed shut to push more tears out. No matter what she did, there was no way she could hide from the thoughts in her head. There was no way she could hide from him forever.
"Are you okay, Rachel?" asked Kurt in a low voice, not wanting to startle the emotionally and physically drained girl.
Rachel sniffled and held back the other tears that wanted to escape. She wiped away those that had made their way down her cheeks and took a deep inhaled breath. She didn't want to sound as weak as she seemed. As much as she tried not to, her answer still came out in a quivery and shaky tone, her voice failing her and cracking at the last word.
"I'm fine." No, I'm not. Before he could say anything else, she spoke again in a familiar fast pace. "How did you know I was here? Did Santana tell you? Did she say anything else? Does anyone else know? Did you -"
"Rachel." She stopped and looked at him. "You're rambling." said Kurt and slightly chuckled as he noticed the guilty look on Rachel's face.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that."
"It's okay. I'd rather hear you ramble than see you cry your eyes out." pointed out Kurt as Rachel nodded and stared at the ceiling. "And to answer your questions; No, Santana didn't tell me you were here or anything else about you and I don't think anyone else knows." Rachel looked at him expectantly. Kurt hoped she wouldn't notice he didn't answer one of her questions. "And as to how I found out you were here, I was driving to your house so that I could check on you but all I found was police tape everywhere. It wasn't hard to put the pieces together with everything I knew."
Kurt noticed how Rachel furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, remembering he didn't tell her the whole story. So, he did. As he did, many emotions played out on Rachel's face. Scared that anyone else noticed how she kept messing up the dance routine. Confused as to why Kurt never asked her about why her father was yelling at her during Sectionals. Shocked that Santana was actually trying to hide what really happened.
"There are obviously things that I'm not aware of so would you mind filling me in?" asked Kurt but all he got in return was a shrug. "Rachel?"
"I just don't want to talk about it." quickly answered Rachel. Kurt didn't insist on the subject. It was obvious she was either not ready or didn't trust him enough. Although he couldn't blame her, he sighed. Suddenly, a thought came to mind.
"Then can I ask you a completely unrelated question?" asked Kurt, getting a nod in return this time. "Do you like Santana?" The soprano didn't miss the way Rachel's eyes slightly widened or the way her lips twitched at the question.
"How did you… Why would you…" trailed off Rachel but Kurt relieved her of her confusion the moment he opened his mouth.
"I doubt the person who has bullied you for as long I can remember would be the only one who knows about what's been going on with you if you didn't like her." Rachel opened her mouth to interrupt but Kurt didn't let her. "Don't worry. She likes you too." Kurt knew Rachel was probably going to ask him how he knew so he just continued. "She was practically staring at you the whole time we were rehearsing the dance number and -"
"Probably because I kept messing it up like I mess up -"
"Stop right there. Let me finish." Rachel huffed but let him go on anyway. "She was the first person by your side when you fainted and she was in complete panic mode. I never thought I'd ever see Santana Lopez with that look on her face." Rachel slightly chuckled to herself, imagining how it played out in her mind. "She insisted on being the one to take you to the nurse's office and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have tried so hard to hide what really happened if she didn't care about you too."
"Thank you." was all Rachel said once Kurt finished talking as the boy simply nodded with a half smile on his face.
Now that Rachel properly thought about it, maybe Santana did like her after all. All that Kurt mentioned added with how the Latina kept insisting on what happened to her in the bathroom, how she drove to her house since she was worried, how she took her to the hospital and how she easily comforted her. Even with all of that, she still had low expectations for good reasons. But then, it hit her. Where is Santana? She figured the dark skinned girl would've been back by now. What if he did something to her? She didn't even want to think about that.
Kurt felt Rachel tense up which made him change the subject. They talked about things like Blaine recently joining, Mr. Schue letting Sugar in because of his insane policy of anyone who auditions getting in and what songs they would like to include in this year's Sectionals set list. Most of the songs they had in mind originated from the Broadway catalogue. Time just passed by without any of them noticing.
Suddenly, another knock at the door was heard. But this time, Rachel was met with the sight of a red eyed Quinn Fabray who looked as if she had been crying, shocking the other two in the room. Kurt just got out of his chair and left, not wanting to intrude on the girls' private conversation. Quinn gave the boy a grateful look before sitting in the seat besides Rachel's bed. The blonde broke the silence soon enough.
"Before you ask, Santana only told Puck, Brittany and I about what happened and we don't plan on telling anyone else without your permission." Rachel nodded but was still curious as to why Quinn was in tears and where Santana was. She intended on finding out.
"What happened, Quinn?" After taking a deep breath, Quinn recalled to Rachel what happened after she and Brittany left Santana in the locker room.
Quinn and Brittany were walking down the empty parking lot when a masked man suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of Quinn, crowbar in hand. The smaller blonde's heart raced at tremendous speeds. A vivid imagination made her wonder whether it was just her mind playing tricks or reality. She couldn't ignore the beating of her own heart as it pounded with futility against its cage of bone and cartilage. Her head became little a giddy and her stomach nauseous. Her head shook from side to side, almost too slight to notice, part tremble and part deliberate.
Before she knew it, Quinn was being pushed to the ground as a stray of blonde hair appeared in front of her. She hit the concrete with a thud but almost immediately looked up to find Brittany being smacked in the side of the head by the unknown man with his weapon. Quinn wanted to stand up and defend herself but fear prevented her from doing so. She looked at the unconscious Brittany with worried eyes. Blood was oozing out of a cut on the side of her head and her eyes were closed shut.
The concern was soon replaced by panic as their attacker started approaching her. He raised his crowbar, ready to finish what he started. Quinn put her arm in front of her in a desperate attempt to shield her face. She closed her eyes, waiting for the impactful blow. A minute passed by and nothing came. Quinn reopened her eyes to find out that the masked man had disappeared.
Her first thought was Brittany. Quinn ignored the pain the cut she had obtained on her knee from being sent to the ground gave her and crawled as fast as she could to the unconscious blonde. The sight of the blood almost initiated a gag reflex. Quinn covered her mouth with her hand in shock. She then began to shake Brittany, desperately trying to wake her up.
"Wake up, Brittany!" Quinn didn't even realize her eyes were brimming with tears. She had a hand over her mouth, the other rigidly clutching Brittany, her eyelids shut so tightly they began to fidget and shudder from the bullish force. "C'mon! Wake up!" Her voice started growing more and more shaky. She continued to relentlessly shake her best friend with both hands, pleading for her to wake up. Quinn was openly sobbing at this point. Slim and bare shoulders shook in each rake of emotion through her frame. "Please."
Quinn eventually stopped shaking Brittany, finding it useless to continue doing so if it was having no effect. She needed to get help. The smaller cheerleader wiped away her tears and breathed in, trying to compose herself. She then bent down and placed a kiss on her wounded friend's forehead, stifling a sob as she did so. Quinn then picked Brittany up in her arms and made her way to the locker room so that she could inform Santana.
A fresh batch of tears had made their way down Quinn's cheeks as she recounted the story. She turned to Rachel, wanting to see her reaction. But nothing. Rachel felt confused and shocked at the same time but none of those two expressions made their way to her facial features. She was having a hard processing the news.
"Rachel?"
"My father did this…"
Felt appropriate to end it there. All will be explained soon enough. I know this chapter lacks of Santana but you'll see her in the next one. I would also like to mention that I have the entire story planned out. The majority of the characters and events have a purpose. But don't hesitate to let me know if you have an idea you'd like me to include. I might try to find a place for it. Speaking of wanting ideas, I've been thinking about what stories I'm going to write after I'm done with this, 'Make Or Break' which is a Faberry story that I'll continue after I finish this, 'When Lightning Strikes' which is a Flash/Glee crossover with Barry and Quinn as endgame that I'll write afterwards. I'm willing to take plot ideas for stories that are angst, crime, drama, romance, family, friendship, hurt/comfort or even horror concerning either Pezberry, Faberry, Quinntana, Brittana, Puckleberry, St. Berry, Finchel, Quick or Fabrevans. It can be from dealing with self harm to a zombie apocalypse to getting kidnapped to joining the army or even a plot based on a specific movie or TV show. You can have the two characters be siblings or friends and you can even give me more than one idea. It can be absolutely anything and the choice is yours. I would love to hear your suggestions in the reviews or in my PM box if it contains specific details and I might just pick one or more if I like them. The person will of course be credited if I use their idea. Anyway, please leave a review if you enjoyed! Before I end this long author's note, I'd like to urge anyone who hasn't seen Spiderman: Homecoming yet to go watch it. Until next time!