Pity and Promise
Rated: T (for language)
Pairing(s): Faberrittana, Finchel (implied)
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the songs used in this story.
A/N: I lost my muse for a couple days so I wasn't really in any mood to write. Still, I got myself to get up and write this chapter. A note is that the red streaks in Rachel's hair are extensions. That was what Quinn pulled out of Rachel's hair in the previous chapter. :3
School was less eventful than Quinn would have guessed-starting with the fact that none of glee kids could be found. Usually they were grouped in the hallway talking together, but this time, no one was there. Kurt and Tina's lockers were normal "hangouts" and they weren't there either.
The only other party glee had was last year, and that resulted in them complaining to each other about their hangovers. It was like a normal thing for them.
It was kind of nice that people got out of her way, because she was sure that otherwise, she would be running into people with how distracted she was right now. It's not like she was that curious; the glee kids were probably in the choir room waiting to start glee. But there was something she had to do first.
Hard to believe, yes, but Quinn was currently knocking on the glass door of Ms. Pillsbury's office. The redhead was currently fixing the tape and pencils on her desk, and smiled in approval when the blonde walked through the door.
"Hello, Quinn."
"Hi, Ms. Pillsbury."
"What can I do for you today?" The counselor asked while folding her hands. "Is it relationship troubles?"
"No, it's not that." Quinn sat down awkwardly, still trying to find some way to say what she needed to without it sounding strange. "It's...um... it's Rachel."
"I can't help you with any practical jokes, Quinn. I know you and Rachel have your differences, but-"
"That's not it." She replied before she finished speaking. The words rolled around in her head, and she knew very well that Ms. Pillsbury was curiously watching her.
"Quinn, you know you can talk to me. Everything said in this office is private." Her friendly encouragement gave her confidence.
"I know that you aren't really allowed to say anything about other students, but I was wondering if Rachel has talked to you at all in the past week."
"Hmm... no, Rachel hasn't come to me. I noticed she's been dressing and acting differently, though. Is there a need for concern?" She asked.
"I don't really know..." The blonde responded. "But I was talking more about her being sick; like, having problems or something."
"Is there something you're leaving out? Something I should know about?" Quinn bit her tongue. Should she say more, or just leave it at that? If Rachel didn't talk to her in the last week, maybe she really didn't know anything. But the suspicion remained.
"I walked to lunch last week and Brittany told me and Santana that Rachel was skipping lunch. She said she was in the bathroom, so I went to find her. When I walked in, it looked like she was sick. Like... puking sick."
Ms. Pillsbury paused, and then spoke again. "I had a similar experience two years ago."
"You were puking in the girls' bathroom?" She raised a brow in confusion.
"No," she sighed. "I walked into the bathroom and found Rachel trying to puke her guts out. Very messy affair."
"You mean this isn't the first time?" Quinn raised her hands, disbelieving.
The redhead looked up to see out her glass doors, and then looked back at Quinn. "Rachel told me that she had bulimia a while back."
The blonde stopped and found that this piece of information didn't offer any comfort or assurance, and she found herself wanting to ask more.
"She told you that?"
"She did." The counselor said. "I really shouldn't be saying any of this, though. I promised students that everything said in here is kept private."
"I'm only trying to help Rachel." Quinn was surprised at how defensive she sounded, but she wasn't going to scold herself. "I'm worried and Mr. Schuester isn't doing anything to help."
"Now, Quinn, I don't want you to get too worked up about this." She responded. "There is a chance that Rachel is having a problem, but we can't be sure right now. But if you want, I can see if she'd be willing to talk to me this week. Is that alright with you?"
The blonde sighed. "I guess that's the best you can do right now." She stood up and gave a slightly grateful smile to the woman. "Thanks, Ms. Pillsbury."
"You can come in if you need to talk to me again." With that, Quinn closed the door.
Quinn was not a girl to constantly skip class. That was more Puck and Santana's thing. But for one reason or another, she couldn't bring herself to care about class. Maybe it was because of damn Rachel Berry who was unknowingly stirring up tension between the glee kids, or because the information Ms. Pillsbury wasn't enough to actually come up with any type of explanation.
Maybe she should just stay quiet and watch from afar. As much as Santana would try to deny it, she liked being friends with Rachel and Quinn was sure that the latina would agree if she told her to keep an eye out. Or, it was a possibility that she could just talk to Rachel. She was walking down the hall anyway...
Wait. She just turned the corner and entered the girls' bathroom. Even if she was just using the bathroom for the same reason everyone else did, it still made Quinn uneasy every time she watched the girl open and close the door.
By now she had learned to trust her instinct instead of common sense, because let's face it-she wasn't very good when it came to common sense. You could ask Puck, and he would talk about how she had given him her virginity. She growled in frustration and finally relented.
The bathroom was empty when she walked in, besides the one closed stall which she had to assume Rachel was using. It gave her some relief and she took the opportunity to fix and re-apply her makeup. Once she finished she put the eyeliner back into her bag and took another look around, ultimately spotting Rachel's bag hanging off the counter.
It wasn't necessarily the bag that she was interested in, but more like the contents of the bag. Especially the specific content that was innocently sitting on the counter.
Of course, she chose a bad moment to inspect the small box, because her small gasp was released in unison to Rachel walking out of the stall.
She was going to deny it. Quinn knew that much. Rachel would deny that she knew anything about it, and it would leave her with nothing to go off of. Picking up all of her defiance, she held the box in front of the brunette's face.
"Laxatives?" She couldn't keep the shock out of her voice if she tried. She knew Rachel might of had a problem, but this wasn't something she could ignore.
As soon as Rachel registered the blonde in her mind, her hand snatched the box out of her hand and was now stuffing it in her bag as quickly as she could. "Back off, Quinn."
"Rachel, what the hell are you doing with laxatives?"
"None of your damn business!" Even the child-like response held anger, and Quinn didn't have time to respond when Rachel pushed past her and exited the bathroom.
I'm sorry, Rachel. Quinn thought. You might hate me for this, but it's for your own good.
She set off for the choir room, dialing Shelby's number in the process.