It was the morning after Nationals and Hiram Berry was knocking on Rachel's door. His daughter had came home last with a tear stained face. She went straight to her room and didn't speak a word to either man. They had heard from Mr. Schuester that they lost Nationals and figured that was why she was so upset. However both men were confused as to why the two new residents in their household, Alex and Quinn, never came home last night. Hiram was getting impatient and decided to just open the door and walk right in. Hiram's heart broke at the sight before him. His little girl was curled up in a ball covered by her blanket and tissues were surrounding her and the floor. Her eyes were red and puffy indicating she was probably crying all night and barely got any rest.
"Oh honey," Hiram closed the door behind him and headed towards her. As soon as she looked up and looked at her father she broke down in tears yet again. Hiram got on the bed laying behind her and wrapped his long arm around her. Rachel turned around and cuddled into him burying her face in his chest.
"Rach, honey. It's okay."
Rachel shook her head, "N-no it's not..I-daddy." Rachel could barely speak, her voice was almost a whisper.
"Rachel, you'll go to Nationals next year and win it all baby girl. You can't let this stop you."
Rachel shook her head and looked up at her dad, "This isn't about Nationals."
"Then what is it?"
"She-she broke up with me. Alex..she broke up with me," Rachel clutched onto Hiram shirt as she continued to cry.
"What? Why? I don't understand. She was mad about you."
"I messed up daddy...I messed up real bad. She's never going to forgive me."
"Talk to me. What happened?"
Rachel sat up Indian style and wiped her face. She took a few deep breaths trying to calm herself down and looked at her dad, "I kissed Quinn.."
"She kissed Quinn," Alex groaned as she got off the couch headed to Puck's mini fridge.
"I'm sorry dude. I know how much you liked her."
"I just. I don't get it, why would she do that."
Puck shrugged as he placed two Egos into his toaster, "The girl's confused. She ended things with Hudson, went straight to you and found out the person she thought hated her actually liked her. Guess she didn't know what to do."
Alex raised a brow as she faced him, "Are you defending her right now?!"
Puck shook his head quickly, "No no. Relax. She was wrong, no doubt about it. I'm just saying you gotta understand the mindset she was in."
"Fuck her mindset. I'm so pissed off, I went easy on her last night in New York. I wanted to just curse her out and Quinn?! I was an inch away from punching her. I just need to stay away from both of them."
"But we still need to get your stuff."
Alex groaned, "Fuck. I'm not ready to face her yet."
"So we'll wait. Look go check on your brother and Ellie, you promised you'd tell them about Nationals. I'll stop by and talk to Rachel."
"Really?"
Pucked nodded and tossed an ego to her, "Eat up and let's move."
Back at the Berry residence. Rachel finally relax and had explained everything to her dad.
"What do I do? Dad, I-I was falling for her too. I can't lose her now."
Hiram sighed, "Sweetheart, you really hurt her. You have to wait until she's ready. She's going to be angry for a while and if there's a chance of you two getting back together. You need to understand it won't happen right away just because you are ready. It'll be on her terms and her time frame."
Rachel nodded, "Should I text her? You know to apologize."
Hiram shook his head, "Give her the space she needs right now."
"Okay. Thank you for listening."
"Of course baby. Now go take a shower and I'll order us some take out."
Rachel kissed her father on the cheek and went into her bathroom. Hiram sighed and headed downstairs to inform his husband of all that happened on one trip to New York. Later on that afternoon there was a knock on the Berry door. Leroy stood from his spot on the couch and answered the door.
"Noah? What can I do for you?"
"Hello Mr. Berry. Uh, can I talk to Rachel?"
"I don't know if she's really up for guest."
"It's okay dad." Rachel was standing by her staircase looking at both of them. "Come on in Noah."
Puck smiled and gave her a warm hug. She nudged him to follow her up the stairs to her bedroom. She took at seat on the edge of her bed while he grabbed the chair from her computer desk.
"You cam because of Alex right?"
"Yeah. She's uh..she ain't good Rach. You really fucked her up."
Rachel nodded trying to control her emotions,"I know.."
"She's going to be moving in with me. So I told her I'd talk to you about coming to get her things. She doesn't want to come and it be awkward, you know."
"I need to talk to her Puck."
Puck sighed, "I don't know if she's ready fro that Rach."
"I just need to explain myself. I just need her to listen that's all. Please just ask her."
Puck scratched his head, he hated being in the middle of stuff like this, "I'll tell her, but I make no promises. I gotta ask though, why'd you do it? Why'd you kiss Quinn?"
"She kissed me."
"You know what I mean Berry."
Rachel looked down at her hands as she played with her fingers, "I just..I felt this feeling like I was being drawn to Quinn. Like I needed to know how she felt. Look I'll be honest, I enjoyed the kiss and did feel something but it's not what I feel for Alex now. I know how I feel for her, I love her Puck. I really do."
"Yeah, but it might be too late now Rach."
Alex passed the front desk waving to the security guards and entered the elevator. She hit the seventh floor and waited as it slowly headed up. The elevator stopped on the fourth floor. The doors slid open and Alex let out a groan as short blonde hair came into sight.
"Oh.. Alex. Um I can just take the stairs."
"Just get in Fabray." Quinn entered the elevator quietly making sure to leave plenty of space between the two. After everything in New York, Quinn knew spending the night at Santana's had been the best option. Santana had actually been texting Puck all night trying to see how Alex was doing. Quinn knew that Alex probably wanted to kill her and let her off easy before.
"So...you here to see Ellie?"
Alex glanced over at the blonde, her expression showed no emotion which actually worried Quinn a bit.
"Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Try to be polite and civil because of what happened. I don't need that fake bullshit."
"Look Alex, I know you are upset-"
"No, no you don't know. You don't know shit! If you knew anything, you'd know that you should never kiss someones girlfriend. So don't try to sympathize with me. You don't know how angry and hurt I am. You don't know how close I am to beating your sorry ass. I helped you when your parents threw you out. I was trying to be your fucking friend! I knew how you felt about Rachel and I still let you be her friend because I knew it'd be good for both of you. Instead of showing appreciation, you stab me in the fucking back by making a move on Rachel." Alex was fuming now, she was clenching her fist so tight her nails were breaking skin. "People warned me about you when I came to McKinley. They told me you were a bitch, they said you only cared about yourself and your own feelings. Maybe they were right."
Quinn remained silent not knowing what to really say. She never intended on hurting anyone, she was just trying to figure her feelings out. Alex took a deep breath trying to calm herself down as she waited for Quinn to say something. Anything. As they arrived to the 7th floor, Alex shook her head.
"Look at that. The infamous Quinn Fabray has nothing to say." Alex exited the elevator leaving Quinn there still speechless. Alex said hi to the nurses she knew all too well and entered Ellie's room to find not only Chase but her mother there.
"Mom? What are you doing here?"
Her mother quickly stood up from the chair in the corner and smiled, "I came to drop off Chase..and to see you."
"Me? Why? Is something wrong?"
Her mother shook her head, "No no. I..um, I wanted to know how you were doing. Chase informed me that you and your friends went to New York City for Nationals. That's exciting."
Alex looked over at Chase and Ellie who were too focused on the cartoons playing on the television to know what they were talking about. She looked back at her mom, "Can I talk to you outside?"
Her mother nodded and followed her outside the room. Once they were clear of the door, Alex turned to face her mom with a confused expression. "Why are you really here?"
"I don't know what you mean Alexandra."
Alex sighed, "You let dad kick me out and now you are here asking me about Nationals? It doesn't make sense, so what's up?"
"You know I didn't want you to leave but you know how your father gets when he's upset. There was nothing I could do."
"Oh bullshit mom! You were scared and chose fear over your daughter. So thanks for that." Alex began to head back to the room but her mom grabbed her arm stopping her.
"Please honey, I miss you..I think about how you are everyday. If you are somewhere safe, if you are being taken cared off."
Alex looked at her and could tell her mother did love her, she was just scared thanks to all the years of abuse from her father. There life was never easy, it was always his way or no way. Since Alex could remember her father always hit her mom when ever she 'disobeyed' him and as she got older she received the same treatment. However she always made sure Chase was never hit, she'd take the beating for him. She took a step towards her mom holding both her hands, "I'm fine. They treat me like one of their own. I eat three meals a day, studying hard, and yes I'm looking into Universities." Her mother smiled warmly and gave her a hug. She thanked her and told her they will speak soon. Alex nodded once and headed back into the room.
"Where's mom?"
Alex smiled at Chase, "She went home. I'll take you home today."
Ellie smiled as she jumped up and down on her bed, "So come on. Tell me, tell me, tell me. Did you guys win Nationals? Did you win?!"
Alex smiled sadly at Ellie shaking her head and sitting on the edge of the bed. "No kiddo. We lost. We lost a lot.."