When It All Begins Again Chapter 10: Wounded, a glee fanfic

Hello everyone! First and foremost, as always, thank you for all the support! Every review, message, follow, favorite on fanfiction and every note and question on tumblr just mean so much to me! They really keep me going and keep me motivated.

Here's the deal with upcoming chapters, I wasn't going to post this chapter for another week or so, but I know that once I start classes again, updates aren't going to come as frequently. I wanted to give you guys what I can now. Does this make sense? I don't know, but I'm doing it anyway. I don't really know how often they'll be coming once classes start back up, but I've put SO much work into this story. Unless something drastic happens, I'm not going to abandon it. I am definitely going to do all that I can to prevent that. So, after this chapter, I'm going to try REALLY hard to post the next chapter on the one year anniversary of when I started it. I make no promises that it will get done, but I will try! I can promise to try! After that, it'll probably be closer to a month, maybe more, between each update.

Chapter 9: Wounded

Marley smiles as she enters the teacher's lounge and sees Principal Tucker sitting at one of the tables with Miss Taylor, the guidance counselor. Marley approaches their table. "Hey!" She smiles at the two of them.

"Oh, hi!" Leighton Taylor exclaims. "I saw that the glee club won their sectional last week. Congrats!" Leighton tells Marley.

"Thank you." Marley nods her head before turning and looking at Oliver. "We're halfway there." She grins at him.

The principal nods his head. "Let's just move one step at a time." Oliver tells her. "But, I was happy to see the kids win on Thursday." He admits to Marley.

Marley smiles to herself. "They were so excited." Thinking about that night and seeing all of her students celebrating their win after all of their hard work, Marley was just so proud of them.

Glee!

Audrey enters the girls' bathroom to fix her hair and makeup when she hears a girl's giggle coming from one of the stalls. Then, the hair on the back of her neck stands upright when she hears a guy's voice coming from the stall.

In all honesty, it wasn't that weird for people to hook up in the bathrooms, even though, if you really thought about it, hooking up in a bathroom was pretty disgusting.

Audrey knows that she knows the boy's voice coming from the stall so she marches over and bangs on the door. The bathroom stall swings open. "You didn't even bother to lock the door!" Audrey exclaims, looking at her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend. "God, you're such an ass." She shakes her head before turning around.

"Audrey, relax." Grant steps away from the freshman girl he'd been hooking up with. "You know that you're the one I want to actually be with."

"Ugh!" The girl scoffs at Grant.

Grant rolls his eyes while turning his head to look at her. "You're no longer needed here." He tells her. "Go to class." He nods his head toward the bathroom door. The girl just looks at him with a disgusted look on her face before hurrying out of the bathroom. Then, Grant turns his full attention towards Audrey. "Look, I have needs, and I'm trying not to pressure you because I know you don't want to do that."

Audrey rolls her eyes. "Save it, Foster." She tells him. "You promised me that it was going to be different this time, and you still cheated!" She exclaims. "I'm done, officially done." Audrey waves her hands across her body. "Don't call me or text me or come find me in a few days to talk." She tells him seriously while shaking her head. "Please, just don't talk to me anymore, at all."

"You're serious?" Grant looks at Audrey, and he can tell that she really means it this time. What really surprises Grant is that Audrey doesn't look mad or sad; she just looks defeated.

Audrey nods her head. "I'm serious." She bites her bottom lip, and then she lets out a deep sigh. "Would it be too much to ask that you try and wait until tomorrow morning to hit on every girl in school?" She asks, half a smile on her face. Honestly, there was a part of Audrey that knew this moment was coming for a while now, and really, she had accepted it, too. She couldn't really blame Grant for being who he was, especially because he'd shown that side of himself to her over and over again.

Grant chuckles. "I'll try, but I make no promises."

"Thanks." Audrey nods her head. Then, she turns and walks out of the bathroom.

Audrey takes a deep breath as she walks down the hallway. She couldn't believe that things were really over with Grant. Hunter had been right when he'd said that Grant was not a good guy and that she shouldn't take him back. Audrey had even known that when he'd said it, but then again, she'd been dating Grant, on and off, for almost two years. They'd met their freshman year, and they'd always been like this. The first time they were together was the longest, consecutively, and it was only three months long, but Audrey knew that Grant had cheated on her in that time even. He was a serial cheater. It's the way he had always been, at least since she'd met him.

Still, Audrey always thought that she could see a good guy down deep in there somewhere, and she'd just been waiting for the moment when he'd finally be ready to let her actually get to know the real him. Now, Audrey knows that she was just a fool the whole time. Grant had shown her who he really was in the beginning, and she'd just refused to see it.

As Audrey is walking through the hallway, she sees couples holding hands, kissing, and just being couple-y in general, and it is making her sick. It wasn't like she and Grant were ever the perfect couple, but she had thought that they'd shared something. Apparently she had been fooling herself the whole time.

When Audrey finally makes it to the choir room, she sees that Nathan is sitting in the middle of the second row, and Sophie is leaning over his back with her arms loosely wrapped around his neck. His head is turned, and the two are whispering to one another and smiling. Sophie will occasionally lean down and kiss her boyfriend's cheek. "Oh please, Dear God!" Audrey exclaims while falling down into her usual chair.

Sophie turns to look at Audrey. "Excuse me?" She asks confused.

"Do you two always have to be making out?" Audrey asks them, clearly annoyed.

Nathan shakes his head. "We don't make out in school, first of all." Nathan explains, and it was true. Yes, they would kiss occasionally, but his mother worked in the building. The last thing he wanted was to be caught making out with somebody with Marley around. That would be awkward… Plus, knowing she could walk into a room and see him at any moment was really a turnoff. "Second of all, what the hell pissed you off?" He asks.

Audrey shakes her head. "I'm just sick of watching you two and your love fest every single day!" She complains. "It's gross."

"In that case…" Nathan grabs Sophie, pulls her down onto his lap, and kisses her. He lets his lips linger there for a few seconds before pulling away.

"Ew." Audrey looks away from them.

Sophie laughs as she stands back up and sits down in her own chair. "Seriously though, Audrey, what's wrong?" Sophie asks the Cheerio.

"Like you really care!" Audrey bites back out at her. Sophie and Audrey were friends, but Audrey could also be an ice queen. She could also let her jealousy and selfishness get in the way from time to time. She hated that Sophie had everything. She had perfect parents in a perfect house. She got the perfect boyfriend, and she was one of the most popular girls in school without even trying. To top it all off, Sophie was the one who got most of the real solos in Glee Club. Audrey was the one who was obsessed with Broadway and musicals, but she couldn't even top Sophie in stupid Glee Club.

Sophie shakes her head. "Whatever, Audrey." Sophie rolls her eyes. "I'm here if you want to talk when you stop being such a bitch." She tells her friend.

"That's me." Audrey says sarcastically. "Head bitch in charge." She rolls her eyes. Sometimes, being popular and having a reputation to uphold really sucked.

Sophie then looks back at Nathan. "So, do you want to maybe go get dinner after your practice tonight?" She asks him offhandedly. Nathan nods his head, and the two start talking about their plans for the night.

All conversations come to an end when Marley enters the room. "How are my champions?" She asks with a huge grin on her face. Most of the students in the room start cheering, shouting, and hollering (just celebrating their win) all over again.

Glee!

Later that afternoon, Sophie is walking through the hospital in search of her dad. Andrew had a follow-up appointment to see if his concussion had healed yet, and Sophie had told him that she'd meet him there as soon as she got out of school.

After a few minutes, Sophie finally finds Puck. "Hey, is he in with the doctor?" She asks when Puck stands up and hugs his daughter to greet her.

Puck nods his head. "They're doing some tests."

"What do you think is going to happen?" Sophie asks her dad. It wasn't like Puck was a doctor or anything, but he still knew a little bit about these things. He had been a daredevil when he was her age, and when Andrew had started competing seriously, he and Quinn had done a lot of research on all of the things that could go wrong. Motherhood had really turned Quinn into a worrier.

Puck lets out a sigh. "Considering he was still having some memory trouble this morning, I don't think it's gone." Puck tells Sophie. "And, you know your brother is going to be upset about that." Puck rubs his eyes. Quinn had to go back to New York a few days after Thanksgiving, given that she'd already put the trip off when she'd returned. So, things had been stressful at home. Puck didn't want to leave Andrew there alone so he was getting next to little sleep. He hated sleeping without Quinn in general, but now he was always up, worried that something may happen to Andrew and for some reason the kids wouldn't be able to wake him.

Sophie lets out a sigh of her own. "We'll get him through it." Sophie nods her head.

Puck chuckles under his breath. "Where did you get our positivity? It sure as hell wasn't from me or your mom." He jokes her while pulling her into his side. Then, the two sit down and begin talking about Sophie's day at school.

After a few minutes, a nurse comes and gets them and tells them that they can join Andrew in the exam room. A doctor would be with them in a few minutes to share Andrew's results.

"How'd it go?" Sophie smiles when she sees her little brother. She was being as optimistic as she could for him.

Andrew shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know." He tells her. "I just hope I can get back to training." He lets out a deep sigh. "I've already lost a few weeks."

"We'll see what the doctor says." Puck nods his head and squeezes Andrew's shoulder for support.

Andrew rolls his eyes. Then, the doctor enters the room. "Hey Andrew." The older man smiles at the teenager. "I'm afraid that your results conclude that you're still not ready to get back to any type of rigorous activity yet."

"Come on!" Andrew sighs out. "I feel fine, Doc." Andrew tells the man.

The doctor shakes his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable clearing you yet." The man says.

"Can we get a second opinion?" Andrew asks.

Puck looks over at his son. "I don't think that's necessary."

"Dad!" Andrew exclaims.

Puck shakes his head. "No, you couldn't remember where the cereal bowls were this morning." Puck tells Andrew. "You do not need to be flipping around in the air when your head isn't 100% yet." Puck explains.

Andrew just shakes his head. "I'm gonna go wait outside." Sophie tells her dad and brother. She could feel the tension between them, and she could also sense that Puck just wanted Andrew to focus on what the doctor was saying.

As Sophie steps out into the hallway, she accidentally bumps into someone. "Oh, sorry!" Sophie says. When she looks up at the person, she recognizes him. "Oh, it's Dominic, right? The Warbler?" She adds.

"Oh, hey." Dominic nods his head a few times. "And, yeah, that's me. I'm Dominic. I'm a Warbler." He keeps mumbling on as he points to himself.

Sophie starts laughing, but she wasn't being rude. She just thought he was being adorable. "Sorry again for bumping into you." She repeats. "I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going."

"It's okay. No harm done." Dominic pauses. "So, uh, what are you doing here?" He asks, sort of waving his hands around. Dominic was one of those people who talked with his hands and could get a little wild without even realizing it.

"My brother." Sophie nods her head towards the door she'd just come out of. "He has a concussion and was just here for a checkup." She tells him simply. "What about you? Are you okay?" She asks.

Dominic looks shocked for a minute that she'd even care if he were okay or not. Hell, he was still surprised that she even remembered who he was. "Me? Oh yeah!" He exclaims. "My mom works here. She had to come in early so I was just brining her some food, just to make sure that she had something to eat for dinner later."

"That's so sweet." Sophie gushes out. "You're obviously a really good son." She smiles.

Dominic slowly nods his head. "I try to be, I guess." He pauses again. "So… uh… do you maybe want to go get…" Dominic starts, but Sophie's phone interrupts him.

"Sorry." Sophie scrunches up her face in apology while looking for her phone in her purse. She finally finds the phone, gets it out, and sees Nathan's name on the caller id. "It's Nathan. I better get this." She says in confusion. She knew that he should still be at practice right now. "Hey, shouldn't you be all padded up, sweaty, and running into other guys right now?" She asks him teasingly.

Of course he plays football. Dominic thinks to himself. I bet he's the quarterback. Dominic rolls his eyes discreetly.

"What do you mean you're at the hospital?" Sophie asks concerned. "No, I'm coming down there right now… I'm still here from Andrew's appointment." She pauses. "I'll be right there." She tells him before hanging up her phone. Sophie then looks at Dominic. "I'm sorry, but my boyfriend is downstairs in the ER." She shakes her head. "I need to go see him."

"Of course. Do you know where it is? I can walk you down there?" Dominic offers. "I know this hospital like the back of my hand." He holds up his hand and points at it to make his point.

Sophie chuckles. "Sure, that'd be great." She agrees, taking him up on his offer.

"So, what happened?" Dominic asks Sophie as he leads her down a hallway.

Sophie takes a deep breath. "Apparently a couple of the guys thought it would be hilarious to tackle him from both sides." She rolls her eyes. "I'm going to hurt my cousin and Tony so bad." She shakes her head angrily.

Dominic thinks before saying anything. "Maybe it was an accident." Dominic offers. "I mean, football can be pretty violent, right?" He asks.

Sophie looks over at Dominic with a serious look on her face. "They were on a water break." She deadpans. "It's one thing to tackle the running back during a play, but a water break?"

So, he's not a quarterback at least. Dominic thinks to himself while he clicks his tongue. "Oh, nevermind then." He bites his bottom lip. After a few more seconds, they reach the ER. Sophie immediately sees Joey outside of Nathan's cubicle.

Sophie walks over to Joey. "I'm surprised to see you here so soon." She says.

"I was on the soccer field when I heard the ambulance." Joey tells Sophie. "I ran over, and when I saw that it was for Nathan, I just… I rode along." He shrugs his shoulders. "He said that it was a bad tackle." He says.

"Definitely a dumb one." Sophie mumbles under her breath. Dominic is still standing next to Sophie. He hadn't really known if he should leave or not. "Oh, I'm sorry." Sophie shakes her head. "Joey, this is Dominic. Dominic, this is Joey Lynn, Nathan's twin brother." She introduces the two boys.

"Twin?" Dominic squints his eyes and tilts his head while looking at Joey. He sort of saw a resemblance, but they definitely didn't look like twins.

"Fraternal." Joey looks at Sophie. "So, how do you know each other?" He looks at Dominic with an odd look.

"We met each other at a party a little while ago." Sophie explains Joey. "Can I go in there and see Nathan or…" She lets her sentence drop off. She didn't want to even think that she wouldn't be able to see her boyfriend, yet, especially when she knew that he was in some degree of pain and right there.

"Oh yeah." Joey nods his head. "He just kicked me out because I was cautioning him about safety protocols and how he should follow them."

"Of course you were." Sophie shakes her head before pulling the curtain back enough to walk past it. "Hey." Sophie says when she sees Nathan. He's half lying down but from his chest up, he's doing his best to sit up. "How are you feeling?" She walks forward, dropping her purse on the floor. She wanted to hug him, but she wasn't exactly sure where all he was injured.

Nathan shakes his head. "I'm fine." He winces out.

"Clearly." Sophie leans forward and gently kissing her boyfriend's lips. "Now, tell me what the hell Austin and Tony were thinking." She stands back up and places her hands on her hips.

From outside the cubicle, Joey looks over at Dominic, who is looking inside the cubicle after Sophie. "You know they're totally in love, right?" Joey asks skeptically.

"Huh?" Dominic then looks back at Joey. "Oh no, yeah, totally." He nods his head a few times. "I was just wondering how your brother was." He pauses after lying. "I mean, he seemed like a cool guy when I met him at that party." Dominic tells Joey, even though he barely remembered Nathan from the party. He'd spent most of that night thinking about Sophie.

"Sure." Joey tells him noncommittally. "Look, I need to call my parents and see where they are. Will you let Nathan and Sophie know if either of them asks?" Joey questions the other boy.

"Sure, yeah." Dominic says. That meant that he had to stay there longer, but at least he'd maybe get to see Sophie again.

Back in the cubicle, Nathan has finally relented and is telling Sophie about the tackle. "We were just goofing off all practice, and I was teasing Austin about his crappy tackle technique. I was just joking around, of course. Then, the next thing I know, he and Tony are barreling towards me, and then I just felt a lot of pain in my hip." He tells Sophie.

Sophie sighs. "He has some serious problems, right now." Sophie shakes her head.

"It was an accident." Nathan tells Sophie. "And, I'm sure after some ice and relaxation, I'll be as good as new." He shakes it off.

Sophie shakes her head again. "You don't understand how angry he was on Thanksgiving." Sophie tells Nathan. "It was like he was a different person, Nathan. I've never seen him act that way." She pauses. "And, then Rio told me that he's been acting really weird towards him for weeks now."

"Babe, it's probably just a weird phase, hormones and all that stuff." Nathan reaches forward and grabs Sophie's hand. "You know that Austin would never try to intentionally hurt me. We're friends." Nathan tells her.

Sophie bites her lip. "How's your hip now?" She asks him to change the subject. She didn't want to talk about Austin anymore.

Nathan does his best to shrug his shoulders. "Soph, I promise you, I'm fine." He tries to sit up to prove his point, but his face scrunches up in pain.

"Have you gotten any pain medication yet?" Sophie asks him, clearly worried. She knew he was in a lot of pain. "And, stop acting like a tough guy, and tell me the truth. On a scale of one to ten, how bad is it?" She asks.

Nathan takes a deep breath. "Probably an eight." He honestly tells her "And, they can't give me anything until one of my parents show up and gives consent."

"Well, where are they?" Sophie asks. She knew both Marley and Ryder really well, and she knew that they'd both be there as soon as they could. They'd drop everything to be there and take care of him.

Nathan shakes his head. "My dad was a couple hours away at a new job site." He pauses. "And, my mom was taking Alice for her driving test." He sighs out as another shot of pain runs through his body when he moves his hip just slightly. "I'm sure Joey is calling her again right now."

Sophie shakes her head. "He better be." She looks down at Nathan, hating that he's in pain and that there's nothing she can do. Sophie frowns. "Is there anything I can do to help you right now?" She asks.

"You're already here." Nathan smiles. When Sophie rolls her eyes at his cheesiness he lets out a soft chuckle. "Well, first you could kiss me, and then you can tell me how your brother's appointment went." Nathan tells her.

"Oh shit." Sophie whispers. She bends down and grabs her purse. "I forgot to tell my dad that I was leaving." She shakes her head as she sends the older Puckerman a text telling him where she was and that she'd see him at home later. Then she smiles at Nathan. "As for you…" She leans over and softly kisses his lips. Nathan lifts his hand and holds Sophie to him.

When Sophie pulls away, Nathan just grins at her. "Your kiss made me forget about the pain." He tells her, innocently shrugging his shoulders as best as he can with the way he's positioned.

Sophie rolls her eyes at him again while letting out a small laugh. "At least you've got your sense of humor." She jokes.

Nathan smiles. "But, really, how's your brother? What'd the doctor say?" He asks.

"He still has the concussion." Sophie shrugs her shoulders. "Andrew is obviously upset because he can't train." She takes a deep breath. "I left the appointment to give my dad and Andrew some space, and then you called me." She pauses. "I came right down here so I don't know if they found anything else out."

"Go back." Nathan tells her. "Andrew's your brother, and I'm sure he needs you." Nathan tries to tell Sophie, but she shakes her head.

"Andrew has my dad, and he's relatively fine." Sophie tells Nathan assertively. "I'm staying here with you until we know what's wrong."

"Soph…." Nathan starts.

"Don't argue." Sophie leans in and pecks Nathan's lips. "It's futile."

Nathan shakes his head. "If you really insist…."

"I do." Sophie nods her head.

"In that case…" Nathan pulls Sophie closer and makes it to where she's practically sitting on him.

Sophie shrugs his arms off of her and stands up. "Stop! I don't want to hurt you." She tells him while shaking her head.

"I'm going to keep pulling until you sit down." Nathan tugs on her arm again once he catches ahold of it again.

Sophie shakes her head. "Fine." Sophie very carefully maneuvers her body so she's sitting next to Nathan, but she isn't touching him anywhere but where she's holding his hand.

"This is not what I meant." Nathan shakes his head.

Sophie shrugs her shoulders. "Too bad. It's all your getting."

Nathan rolls his eyes before the two just start talking about anything and everything. Sophie was trying to think of anything that she could say that would help distract Nathan from his pain, even if just for a second.

Glee!

Grant Foster walks through his front door a little while later. After Nathan had been driven away in the ambulance, the coach had tried to keep practice going, but some of his teammates had been too freaked out and worried. It was less than a half hour later when the coach had finally called it.

"Grant? You're home early!" One of his mothers, Naomi calls out.

Grant walks through the entryway and sees her sitting on the living room floor with his little brother, Royce, the eight-month-old's safety helmet making his head seem twice as big as it really was. "Nathan Lynn got hurt, and an ambulance had to come get him." Grant shrugs his shoulders. "Practice was pretty much a wash after that, so Coach just cancelled it." He explains to Naomi. "How's tummy time?" He nods his head towards Royce.

Naomi shrugs her shoulders. "The helmet makes his head kind of heavy for him to hold up sometimes." Naomi tells Grant.

Grant shakes his head. "I still don't understand why that woman isn't in jail!" He says somewhat angrily. "She dropped him down a flight of stairs! He could have died!" He tries to keep from full-on shouting.

"She claims that it was an accident." Naomi tells Grant while her steely blue eyes look sad. Naomi pushes her brunette hair out of her eyes before standing up and picking the baby up. "The most important thing is that Royce is here with us now, and he's always going to be safe here." Naomi nods her head.

Grant shakes his head. "I can't stand when people don't take care of their kids." He mumbles out.

"I know, Honey." Naomi squeezes his shoulder before she walks by him. "But, unfortunately, there are just bad people out there."

Grant nods his head. "Yeah, women who accidentally set their apartments on fire and forget to get their kids out, women who drop their kids down stairs… Or there's just the ones that abandon their kid thinking she might have a single problem they'd have to deal with." He shakes his head.

"Hey, no matter what your biological parents did, to any of you, you know that you have better moms now." Naomi reassures Grant. "Your mother and I love you three kids more than anything." She tells Grant while walking back over and leaning up to kiss his cheek. The third child she had been referring to was Grant's 12-year-old sister, Gemma. Gemma was a very quiet kid, and when she hadn't started speaking like the other kids her age, her biological parents had abandoned her thinking that she might be deaf. She wasn't, and she knew how to speak. Gemma just didn't like to talk a lot. She saved her words for when they were most needed.

Grant takes a deep breath. "I'm going to go up and take a shower." He points upstairs. "I'll help you with Royce when I get out."

"Sounds good." Naomi smiles at her son.

Twenty minutes later, Grant is getting dressed when he hears a knock at his bedroom door. He zips and buttons his pants before walking over to it and opening the door. He was still shirtless, but it wasn't like that was going to bother anyone in his family.

When Grant gets the door open, he's surprised to see Via standing on the other side. "Oh… You're not dressed." Via averts her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Grant asks. He turns around and walks over to his dresser and pulls out one of his t-shirts.

Via looks back up and sees that Grant's upper body is pretty much covered in tattoos. When he'd opened the door a moment before she'd noticed the sparrows on his chest and the large cross on his side. She could also tell that he had another tattoo down by his hip. It was words of some kind. But, now that his back was turned to her, Via could see that he had another two tattoos on his back. Skulls on his shoulder, and the words "The sun sets only to rise again" written across his back. "You have a lot of tattoos." Via comments offhandedly.

"So what." When Grant turns to look at Via, she can see that he also has two more tattoos on the inside of his biceps. Each was a single word that she couldn't read from where she was. "I asked you a question. What are you doing here?" He asks again.

"Our science project." Via tells him. "You've ditched every study session that we've planned." She pauses. "I decided I would just take matters into my own hands and ambush you at home." She smiles at him.

"I was hoping you'd take the hint and just do it yourself." Grant tells her. "And, how the hell did you know where I live?" He asks her.

Via shrugs her shoulders. "It's a small town. All I had to do was ask a few people." She pauses. "And, I told you that you were going to be pulling your own weight in this partnership!" She exclaims. "Either that, or I can open my big mouth and tell everyone your little secret." She smiles.

"Which is a lie." Grant pointedly tells her.

Via shrugs her shoulders again with a smug smile on her face. "I don't really care." She pauses. "I just want you to do your part of the work."

Grant shakes his head. "I was going to help my mom with my brother so I can't really do homework right now." He says, hoping Via will buy that excuse.

Via shakes her head. "You must think I'm an idiot." She tells Grant. "We can study here. I love kids." She says. "So, where shall it be then? The living room? Kitchen?" She asks with a grin on her face. She loved getting her way.

Glee!

It's later that night, and Jake is walking through his house, making sure that everything was cleaned up. He was still trying to get Austin to talk to him, but his oldest son wasn't budging. He'd kept his mouth shut the entire time he'd been at his dad's. Rio had asked both Jake and Valerie if he could skip going to his dad's this week. He just really didn't want to be around Austin. Jake had understood, and even though he really wanted that time with Rio, he'd consented. He didn't want Rio to have to deal with everything that Austin had said when Jake didn't even understand it himself yet. But, soon, the three of them would sit down and deal with everything as a family. Jake was not going to let his sons keep going on like this.

All of the sudden, there's a knock at the front door. Jake walks over and opens it. He hadn't been expecting anyone, and knew that Austin hadn't been either, so he was surprised to see his niece on the other side when he had the door fully open. "Soph, what brings you by?" He asks.

"Austin's here, right?" She asks her uncle.

"Yeah." Jake nods his head. "Let me call him down for you."

"Thanks, Uncle Jake." Sophie smiles at him.

A couple minutes later, Austin is standing in front of Sophie. "Hey, what's up?" He asks her. Sophie takes a step forward before roughly pushing her cousin with all her strength. Austin catches himself before he can actually fall, but it had been a hard push. "What the hell was that for?" He asks, angry now. He'd been surprised at how strong Sophie actually was.

"It's not so fun when it's you, huh?" Sophie asks him, still angry and annoyed with Austin. "That was for putting my boyfriend in the hospital!" She exclaims.

"What!" Jake, who had been walking towards the stairs from the living room asks the duo. "What is Sophie talking about, Austin?" Jake asks.

Sophie doesn't even bother to look at Jake. She keeps her attention on Austin. "I get that you're angry for some God forsaken reason, right now." Sophie shrugs her shoulders. "Whatever, that's your business! I don't care." Sophie tells him while shaking her head. "But, go see a freaking therapist if you can't control your rage! The next time you see Nathan, you better have a damn good apology planned because he can't play anymore!" Sophie tells him.

"He's out? For how long?" Austin asks, worried about his friend. He really hadn't meant to hurt Nathan earlier.

Sophie shakes her head. "I don't know for sure." She tells him. "He has something called an acetabular labral tear, and he's probably going to need surgery." She pauses. Both Austin and Jake are looking at her like they don't understand. "It's his hip. He's going to have hip surgery, and then he'll be on crutches for a little while." She pauses while shaking her head again. "He's going to miss whatever is left of the season."

"Damn!" Austin shakes his head. "We were just joking around, Sophie." He tells his cousin. "I would never hurt him on purpose."

"It doesn't matter." Sophie tells Austin. "You did hurt him, and now he needs surgery." She pauses. "Whether you meant it or not, you have got to get your anger under check before you hurt someone even worse next time."

Sophie lets out a sigh before looking at her uncle. "I'm sorry to drop by without calling first." She tells him. "I won't make a habit of it." Sophie was part Fabray after all. Etiquette and manners was practically ingrained in her DNA.

"Don't worry about it." Jake shakes his head. "You know that you're welcome here anytime." Jake tells his niece. He really did love seeing her and having a relationship with Puck and his family. It's something he hadn't expected to have when he was younger, before Puck even knew that he existed.

"Thanks Uncle Jake." Then she looks at Austin. "I'm serious. Get your crap together." She tells him before turning and leaving the house.

Now, Jake turns to his son. "Living room, now." He points and Austin does as his father says. Once both Puckerman's are sitting down, Jake looks at Austin. "Now, please explain to me what happened today that led to your friend needing surgery." Jake says as calmly as possible.

Austin shakes his head. "We were just joking around at practice, and then Tony and I decided to tackle Nathan when he wasn't looking." He pauses. "I think he landed all wrong, and that's how he got hurt."

"Why was Sophie so angry with only you though?" Jake asks. "She seemed to put all of the blame on you."

"I don't know." Austin shakes his head. "I mean, it was my idea to tackle Nathan." He shrugs his shoulders. "I swear that I wasn't trying to hurt him, Dad." Austin honesty tells Jake. "Maybe Nathan's comments about my crappy tackling bothered me a little bit, but… He's my friend!" Austin exclaims. "I would never want to put him in the hospital."

Jake takes a deep breath. "Austin, Sophie is right." He pauses. "You have got to deal with your anger." He shakes his head. "On Thanksgiving, you said some things." He pauses again, and Austin takes this time as an opportunity to speak up.

"Can you really blame me for being angry?" Austin asks. "One night, I had a family, a real all-together family, and then the next second, you were with somebody else building a new family!" Austin exclaims.

Jake shakes his head. "Why now?" Jake asks. "I was with Val almost your entire life, and you seemed to be fine with it, up until now anyway." Jake says. He'd been thinking about this ever since Austin's outburst on Thanksgiving, and he just couldn't figure it out.

Austin lets out a deep sigh. "It was one thing when I thought that Valerie was the one for you or whatever." He pauses. "I mean, if you were meant to be with her, then who was I to hate anyone for that? I just figured that Rio was supposed to bring you two together, and… That was one thing." Austin looks out one of the front windows, not wanting to look at Jake. "But, then, that didn't work out, either." Austin now looks at Jake. "You and Valerie got divorced, and it seems to me like you broke my mother's heart for nothing." He shakes his head. "What, so you could get somebody else pregnant and give that kid everything I never had?" Austin taps his chest lightly. "It's not right!"

"Oh Austin…" Jake sighs out. "It's not Rio's fault."

"No!" Austin exclaims. "If he hadn't been born, maybe you and Mom could have worked things out, you know, with a little bit of time." Austin argues. "It happens all the time."

Jake shakes his head. "It wouldn't have happened with us." Jake tells Austin solemnly. "Austin, I really loved your mom when I married her." He nods his head. "But, we moved so fast." Jake sighs out. "I was married to her before I was even twenty years old." He shakes his head again. "We were young, in love, and we just rushed things."

"So, you're saying that the marriage, and me by extension, were mistakes?" Austin asks.

"No, of course not!" Jake exclaims. "I'd never regret having you in my life, Austin." Jake proclaims. "You and Rio are the best things I've ever had in my life, and I wouldn't give up or trade either of you for anything in the whole world." Jake shakes his head. "But, your mom and I, we were never going to go the distance, Austin." He tells his son somewhat sadly. It wasn't that he still wanted Ally or that he still had feelings for her, but for Austin's sake, there really were times that he wished that things had ended differently. But, if they had, Rio probably wouldn't be alive, and Jake just couldn't imagine his life without both of his sons.

"When your mom got pregnant, she grew resentful towards me for still being able to carry out my dance dreams, while having a baby essentially ended hers." He pauses. "She never blamed you, not for a second." He quickly tells Austin. "She just hated that she couldn't dance anymore, not like she used to anyway, while I still could." He pauses while thinking back on that time in his life. "And, then, because of her resentment and me not understanding her feelings, we fought, a lot." He clarifies. "Then, I went out, and I met Valerie. I cheated." Jake shrugs his shoulders in disappointment in both himself and just in the entire situation. "I'm not proud of it, but I came from a similar situation with my parents…" He shakes his head. "I didn't want to lie to your mother about what I'd done because I didn't want to ever become my father. I wouldn't be someone who cheated on my wife and lied to her face about it." He tells Austin. "When I told your mother, she couldn't forgive me. For months I tried to get her back, but later I realized that I wasn't trying to earn her forgiveness because I was in love with her."

"Then why?" Austin questions his dad.

Jake takes a deep breath. "Honestly, I think because it was what I thought I was supposed to do. She was my wife, and I was supposed to want her back and to love her." He pauses. "I mean, I know that I wanted to give you the life that I never had, and that was part of it, but…" Jake bites his lip before continuing. "Even if your mom had forgiven me, I couldn't stay with her just out of obligation, because of our vows or because of you." Jake gives his son a sad smile. "I did realize this about the time I learned about your brother, but Valerie and I didn't immediately begin a relationship, Austin."

"But, you were together when Rio was a baby. I remember it, and there are pictures to prove it." Austin argues with Jake.

Jake nods his head. "We eventually fell in love and got married, yeah. But, I had learned my lesson. I wasn't going to rush anything." Jake shakes his head. "And, I had a really great marriage with Val, one where I got to raise both my sons together. Yeah, we only had you part-time, but I have so many great memories of you and Rio growing up together." He sighs. "I just hope that both of you do, too." Jake looks over at Austin, a tear threatening to fall from his eyes. "I didn't get to grow up with my brother and sister, and I just wanted that for you two so badly."

Austin lets out a sigh. "But, if you loved Valerie so much and had such a great marriage, why are you divorced now?" He asks. "I don't get how you can be in love with someone one day and just not feel that way the next." Austin questions.

"It's not like that." Jake tells Austin. "I still love Valerie, and I even still love your mother."

"You hate my mom." Austin interrupts Jake. "It's obvious with the way that you always fight when you're together."

Jake shakes his head a few times. "I'm sorry that we do that." Jake genuinely apologizes. "But, there's a part of me that still loves her. I'm not in love with her, but I'll always love her for bringing you into my life." He pauses. "With Valerie, it's different. I mean, I love her for Rio, but we had a long, good marriage." He pauses again, thinking over that time in his life. "She was like my best friend." He shrugs his shoulders. "But, in the end, we just… we fell out of love with one another."

"How does that happen?" Austin asks.

"I don't really know." Jake admits to Austin. "All I know is that while I still might love Valerie a great deal, I'm no longer in love with her. And, she felt the same way. So, we decided to get divorced and just be friends so that we could each find people that we were in love with to spend our lives with."

Austin nods his head slowly. "Okay, I get it..."

"So, are you going to talk to your brother and apologize for what you said?" Jake asks. "Explain your feelings to him rationally."

Austin takes a deep breath and just nods his head again.

Glee!

Via leans back as she closes her science book. Then, she looks over at Grant. "Was that so bad?" She asks him. They'd been studying and working on their current science project for the last couple hours.

"Torture." Grant sarcastically tells her.

Via lets out a chuckle. Then, she lets out a sigh. "I guess I should get going." She moves to stand up, but when she does, she starts to feel lightheaded.

Grant notices and reaches up to steady her as she wavers from side to side. "Hey, are you alright?" He asks.

Via closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and then reopens them. "I'm alright." She tells him when she starts feeling less dizzy.

"Are you sure?" Grant asks. "You looked like you were going to pass out."

Via looks over at Grant. "All the blood just rushed to my head when I stood up." She tells him. "No big deal."

Grant looks at her wearily. "Maybe you should have something to eat or drink before you go." Grant suggests. "It's probably been a while since you've had anything."

"Thanks, but I'm alright." Via shakes her head. "I have to meet somebody soon anyway."

Grant decides to believe her. She really did look better now. Grant, realizing that she's being vague, decides to tease her. "You know, if you're uncomfortable with our sexual tension, you don't have to make excuses to get away from me. We can just take care of it upstairs right now." He points to the ceiling.

"Sexual tension?" Via playfully shudders. "Don't you know that you repulse me?" She asks. "The mere sight of you makes me want to throw up." She teases him.

Grant shakes his head. "Then why are you still thinking about me naked?" He asks.

When Via starts blushing, Grant grins. "First of all, you weren't naked. You were shirtless." She corrects him. "Second of all, I'd forgotten all about it until you brought it up." She insists.

"Sure you did." Grant nods his head then takes a small step closer to Via. "I bet you're thinking about me right now, thinking about all of my tattoos…" He lowers his voice just a little now. "Wondering if I have anymore anywhere else." He wiggles his eyebrows teasingly.

Via looks up at Grant. He sees a certain sparkle in her eye and wonders what she's thinking. She then smirks before stepping away from him. "I'm actually seeing someone, and you don't even compare." She shrugs her shoulders.

"Since when are you dating someone?" Grant asks. He was one of the most popular guys at school, and he ended up hearing every bit of gossip that went around, about everybody.

Via lets out a chuckle. "I didn't know you cared." She eyes Grant and sees him shake his head. "And, we're not really dating yet." She tells Grant. "It's still new, and we're just hanging out."

"So, you decided to bring up this mysterious someone with no name to make me jealous?" He asks. Then, Grant shakes his head. "Well, here's a bit of news for you: I don't care, and I don't get jealous." He pauses. "Just ask Audrey."

"Oh, yeah, Audrey." Via nods her head in understanding. "I heard she dumped you today."

Grant shakes his head. "We decided to end things, for good." He says on the matter. He didn't really want to talk about it any further.

Via rolls her eyes. "Well, I need to go meet Callum." She says. "I will see you tomorrow in class, Partner." She tells him before picking up her stuff and walking out of the house quickly.

"What kind of name is Callum?" Grant shakes his head. It sounded like a dork name if he'd ever heard one.

Glee!

The next day, at Cheerio's practice, Audrey walks up to Stella. "Hey!" She smiles.

Stella looks over at Audrey, sort of confused. "…Hi." She says back. Audrey was a not a real friendly girl most of the time, and this nice act was sort of freaking Stella out.

"So, I have a question." Audrey starts saying, and Stella just nods her head in response. "Do you remember that cute guy you were talking to after Sectionals?" She asks.

Stella starts to shake her head. The only people she had talked to after the competition had been her friends and family. Then, it dawns on Stella. Audrey was talking about Ryker. "Believe me, you don't want to know him."

"So you do remember then." Audrey confirms. "Well, now that I'm officially single and never going back to Foster, I need a new boyfriend. Your sister got the cute Warbler so I was thinking your friend is just my type." She smiles.

"He's not my friend." Stella shakes her head vehemently. "And, Ryker is not anymore boyfriend material than Grant was." Stella tries to make clear to Audrey.

"Do you like him or something?" Audrey asks. "I mean, you two didn't give off that vibe, but maybe I just didn't see it."

"God no!" Stella exclaims with a disgusted look on her face. "Ryker Marx is a jerk, Audrey." She informs the other blonde. "Just trust me on that, okay."

Audrey rolls her eyes. "If I could handle Foster's crap for two years, I'm sure I could handle this Ryker guy." She says over her shoulder as she starts walking away from Stella.

Stella just shakes her head at Audrey. The other Cheerio had no idea what she was trying to get herself into.

Glee!

Later on in the week…

Marley had cancelled Glee for the week, seeing as she was with Nathan as he had surgery and headed home to recuperate. She'd told the kids, through Joey and Alice, that they deserved a small break after they had worked so hard to prepare for Sectionals but that when she returned the next week, the whole club better be ready to work even harder to prepare for Regionals. The students, instead of going to Glee Club, should report to study hall everyday during the class.

Of course, the students didn't listen to that last part. The study hall monitor barely paid any attention to the students in the actual study hall. They knew they could get away with having a free hour and just doing what they wanted.

Now, being that the club had gone all week without Glee Club, they were kind of missing it.

Stella and Tony are on stage, each with a guitar sitting in their lap. Stella looks over at her best friend. "How is it that I actually miss singing and dancing around?" She asks him. "It hasn't even been a full week."

Tony laughs. "I guess you really do enjoy Glee Club." He teases her.

"Ugh!" Stella groans. "My dad would be so happy." She rolls her eyes. Sam was always the one going on and on about all the things he and Brittany had done when they were in Glee. He was big on nostalgia.

Stella and Tony turn their heads as Hunter walks out from backstage with Molly, Megan, Laura, and Blair. "Hey." He smiles at Tony and Stella. "What are you playing?" He asks them.

Tony shakes his head. "Nothing really."

Adrian joins them next with Caleb. "So, the better question is, what should you play?" He asks his twin.

"Nothing too sappy!" Stella looks towards the auditorium doors where she sees Audrey and Via walking in with Sophie and Adriana not too far behind. They quickly walk up the aisles and some of the boys help pull them up on stage.

Stella looks over at Tony, not sure what they both even know how to play. Then, they're interrupted by another voice. "What the hell is everyone doing in here?" The entire group turns to look at Austin, who walks in with Rio and Danny. All three have smiles on their faces, and Austin even has his arm wrapped around his little brother's shoulders. Sophie smiles. It appeared that the two boys had talked everything out, which made her immensely happy for her cousins.

Before anyone can answer, they hear more footsteps coming from backstage. Everyone looks over to the other side of the stage just in time to see Alice pulling Joey out. "We're supposed to be in study hall!" Joey tries to argue.

"Get over it." Alice rolls her eyes at him.

Via lets out a sigh. "It looks like we all missed Glee a little bit this week." She says while looking around at all of her friends.

Sophie takes a deep breath. "Actually, if you hadn't dragged me here, I was going to go see Nathan at home." She mumbles out.

"Oh, stop it." Via bumps hips with her friend playfully. "He'll be okay for an hour without his nurse."

"Ew…." Alice shudders as if a chill just ran up her spine. "That's my brother."

The whole group laughs. "Besides, Nath is gonna be back before we know it, right?" Caleb says about his best friend. "I mean, he's not going to let a little hip surgery keep him down."

"He's actually been a big baby about the pain stuff." Joey tells the group without even thinking about it.

Everyone starts laughing. "Hey, you remember what we were working on a couple weeks ago?" Tony asks Stella.

Stella nods her head. "Sure, you want to play it now?"

"Why not?" Tony shrugs his shoulders. Stella just nods her head in response.

The two start strumming their guitars gently. Tony sings first.

I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath
Scared to rock the boat and make a mess
So I sat quietly, agreed politely

Stella takes over for Tony and starts singing.

I guess that I forgot I had a choice
I let you push me past the breaking point
I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything

Via winks at her sister and then starts singing the next few lines with her sister.

You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, your hear that sound
Like thunder, gonna shake the ground

Tony takes the next three lines, this time, his brother starts singing with him.

You held me down, but I got up
Get ready cause I've had enough
I see it all, I see it now

The majority of the Glee Club starts singing the chorus of the song.

I've got the eye of the tiger, the fighter
Dancing through the fire
Cause I am a champion
And, you're gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
Cause I am a champion
And, you're gonna hear me roar

All of the boys sing the next few lines of oh's.

Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh

Stella and Tony sing the next line together.

You're gonna hear me roar

Now, Stella sings by herself.

Now I'm floating like a butterfly
Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes
I went from zero, to my own hero

Tony and Adrian start singing now, with Adrian adding a few runs at the ends of each line.

You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
Your hear my voice, your hear that sound
Like thunder, gonna shake your ground
You held me down, but I got up
Get ready cause I've had enough

Adrian takes the next line by himself.

I see it all, I see it now

The entire club starts singing together again. Megan Anderson starts adlibbing and adding runs to the ends of lines.

"Hear me roar!" The entire club is surprised to hear a certain boy's voice adlib on the last line. Everyone looks up to see Nathan crutching into the auditorium with Marley beside him. Along with his crutches, Nathan also has a black brace-like band secured around his hips and torso. The boy was wearing a pair of dark grey, loose sweat pants and a hoodie, but what they all saw was the giant smile on his face.

The entire club jumps down to greet him as they keep singing their song. Marley watches on with a grin on her face. This is what Glee Club was all about, and this is what they were fighting so hard to keep.

Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh

Nathan sings the next line, the smile on his face only growing when all of his friends reach out to slap his shoulder or hug him. Then, Sophie reaches him and kisses his cheek, a smile beaming on her face.

Hear me roar

The entire club keeps singing.

Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You're gonna hear me roar

Stella sings the next line by herself.

You're gonna hear me roar

"Let's go!" Tony tells his friends as he sets his guitar down.

Stella also puts hers down. The group starts singing a cappella for a few seconds before they start clapping along with all of them singing the last chorus together. Megan is still adlibbing and adding runs.

"Aren't you all supposed to be in study hall?" Marley asks her students when the song is over.

"I told you!" Everyone hears Joey exclaim.

Everyone is so busy laughing at and teasing Joey that they don't even notice when Nathan crutches off a little bit before discreetly reaching into the pocket of his sweatpants and grabs a few little white pills out.

As discreetly as possible, Nathan lifts the pills to his mouth and swallows them. When Sophie walks over a few seconds later, she reaches out and touches his arm. "Are you okay, Babe?" She asks him.

Nathan nods his head. "Yeah, I just needed to catch my breath." She smiles at her before leaning towards her as best he could with trying to keep his balance on the crutches. Sophie leans in the rest of the way and pecks his lips.

That's it for now! Leave me a review and let me know how you're feeling about everything! Hearing what each of you likes and doesn't like really helps me write future chapters! (:

-Song Used-
Tyler Ward & Two Worlds' cover of Katy Perry's Roar