-/-

Just as the door gently clicks shut, the light flashes on and I nearly jump out of my skin.

"Rachel Barbra Berry!" booms from an unseen source, my eyes still adjusting to the contrast.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Do you have any idea of what time it is?"

Dad is sitting at the table, drumming his fingers rapidly, and Daddy stands leant against the archway beside the light switch. He repeats, "Do you?!"

"Uh...um...no," I stutter. "I went to Quinn's and us and Mercedes were watching a movie. We fell asleep."

Well, that's partially true. I only substituted the location and participants, along with what exactly I was participating in. But there was a movie on at some point.

"Oh, really," Dad says flatly. "And your father and I are just supposed to...take your word for it?"

His demeanor makes my mouth instantly dry. "W-why wouldn't you?" I feign naivety. He purses his lips.

"Well Rachel," he muses, "when you didn't come home from work tonight we decided to call in. Then, for some strange reason, Paula informed us that you actually hadn't been working there for the past month."

There's a deadly silence.

I swallow in an effort to draw moisture from anywhere. "I quit," I say suddenly. "I hated every second in that place and besides, it was getting too hard on me."

Daddy retreats from his position to the table. "The fact of the matter isn't that you quit," he begins slowly, "but that you've been lying to us. Rachel, where have you been all this time?"

"Quinn's," I automatically answer.

"How do you expect us to believe that?" Dad's voice rises. "If you were lying about your job, who's to say you're not lying about your whereabouts every day?"

Hot, frustrating tears begin to rise up. "Because you're supposed to trust me!"

"Trust you?!" he bellows. "Rachel, I don't believe you understand the meaning of that word! It's one thing to get drunk and ultimately become pregnant by a stranger, but to repeatedly lie to us afterward? Especially now? It'd be a goddamn miracle if your father and I had one ounce of trust for you!"

"As far as we know, you're out doing the exact things that got you into this situation in the first place," Daddy pipes in. "Rachel, what happened to you? You were such a responsible, level-headed girl!"

Suddenly, I can't help but wonder why I've spent so much time and effort defending these people to Will. Ever since the day Shelby called, my family matters have been a strained topic of conversation between us. He's told me over and over that my parents don't treat me right, and I've always argued with him. But now I wonder...what was I arguing for? Will is right. And it's like a switch has been flipped inside of me.

"Yeah?" I retort. "You wouldn't know, you're not even around most of the damn time!"

This stops them both in their tracks, and they look at me as if I started speaking in Chinese. "What?"

"I said," I repeat, low and sharp, "You're never even around! If you're really wondering why I'm so different, maybe you should've taken the time to actually interact with me before my life went to shit!"

Daddy gasps. "Rachel! Do you hear how ungrateful you're being? We work to support you! You and this baby you don't even remember conceiving let alone who fathers it!"

"Well I'm sorry for being such an inconvenience," I cry. "I'm so sorry that you have to come home from work every once and awhile and be around your whore of a daughter! I'm sorry for humiliating you in front of this hellhole of a town by having a bastard baby! And I'm sorry for being stupid enough to think you might actually love her, and not care about how expensive she is! Obviously I was wrong!"

"Rachel, what has gotten into you?!"

"Rachel, we care about you and this baby very much! How can you say such a thing?!"

I laugh bitterly. "You don't give a shit about me! Which isn't surprising because no one ever has!"

I go to leave but Dad catches my arm. "Where do you think you're going? You can't just get away with all of this without consequences!"

"I don't care! Torture me, kill me, it's all the same to me!" I yell.

"You are grounded indefinitely," Daddy announces, pointing an angry finger at me. "No Quinn, and no car! We have to be in Columbus for the weekend, but I'll call the Davidson's next door and we better not hear of you going out!"

What?!

"You're being unfair!" I protest.

"We're being parents," Dad fires back. "Isn't that what you want?"

I promptly stomp my way up the stairs and slam my bedroom door behind me. Sliding to the floor, sobs rolling so effortlessly from my throat, I feel something that I haven't in awhile. Heartbroken.

-/-

Ver in Yo form...veo.

As I finish conjugating the last verb on my Spanish quiz, I reach into my binder to pull out a sticky note. In hard letters I scrawl, 'NEED TO TALK. NOW.', and stick it to the paper before getting up and handing it to Will.

Carefully I return to my seat and wait to gauge his reaction. I see him peel off the blue note and his head bobs up to look at me. 'Now?' he mouths.

I nod my head vigorously. I raise my hand. "Mr. Schuester, may I go to the bathroom?"

He looks slightly nervous. "Go ahead."

I get up to go and as the door is closing behind me, I hear him say something about making copies. He is quickly beside me in the hallway.

"What happened? The baby-"

"No," I clarify. "The baby's fine. But something happened last night with my parents and I need to tell you now."

Will nods grimly, nudging my shoulder. "Okay. Um, my office is getting new carpeting today, but I know where we can go."

He leads me down the hallway past the science wing and takes a right turn, then a left until we come to the threshold of a hall I've never seen. The walls in this hallway are beige, and the paneling is unpainted unlike the rest of the building. All of the lockers are opened, eerily looking.

"What is this?" I ask.

"They used to use these classrooms back when I went to school," he answers. "But now they're only storage and maintenance. We can talk here."

I take a breath. "Will, my parents found out about my job. And they asked where I was all the time and I told them with Quinn, but they didn't believe me. We...we had a big fight last night."

The memory itself brings tears to my eyes. I've never fought with my parents before.

"Are you okay?" he asks. "What did they do? Why is this so urgent?"

I shake my head. "No, no. I'm fine, they grounded me and took my car. But I had to tell you right away. Will, you were right."

His eyebrows furrow. "I was right..."

"About my family," I explain, feeling my throat swell. "They don't love me. They don't care about anything except money and it was made painfully clear last night that they only think I'm some trashy slut."

I feel myself beginning to break down and Will takes me under his arm. "I'm so sorry, baby," he whispers.

"No," I choke out. "I'm sorry. I was so adamant about them and I never believed you. You were always just trying to look out for me, and I pushed you away whenever you tried to tell me. Will, I'm sorry."

He doesn't say anything to this. I reach up and kiss him gently, and he returns it. My arms wrap around his neck, his around my waist.

"Oh," I remember suddenly. "We can't do this here!"

His mouth smiles against mine. "What can't we do? This?"

In one motion, he lifts me up from under my butt and spins me around wildly. I can't help but shriek.

"Will! Stop!"

"Okay," he laughs. He stops spinning and backs us into a locker with a clang. "Will!" He starts kissing my neck and I wriggle around until he drops me.

"Not funny!" I tell him. He shoots me a goofy grin and plants a kiss on my nose. I return the smile, not too much though.

"You need to lighten up, Rach."

I bite my lip playfully. "Well you need to..."

My words trail off as my gaze catches something behind Will. A person.

-/-