Open Arms

by DARecruit

Rachel's world turns upside down when her fathers give her back to her mother, Shelby Corcoran, who just so happens to be a huge Broadway star. Mother and daughter must figure out their new world together.

25. The Fight

Hello Readers! Chapter 25 is finally complete! I know it took a long time. Unfortunately real life rears its ugly head and interferes with my writing! I hate it as much as you do, believe me! I hope this chapter proves to be worth the wait. Without further ado, I give you:

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Chapter 25: The Fight

Santana Lopez heard the chorus of "Fight! Fight! Fight!" long before she saw it. The bell had just rang, signaling the end of study hall. Two more classes stood between her and the end of the day, and Santana couldn't wait. It had been a weird day, to say the least.

Santana rounded the corner and could see the gathering crowd around the tussle. "Move," she said, sending kids scattering before her. She smirked as she made her way to the front.

Rachel ignored the shouts around her, her sole focus on Harper and hurting her as much as she possibly could before an adult came to break the fight up. Rachel took every opportunity to punch Harper as hard and as fast as she could. She suffered several hard blows herself, but there was no doubt in her mind who was winning this fight.

Not for the first time today, Santana was seeing Rachel in a new light. She didn't know the girl had it in her, but here she was, beating the shit out of Harper Daniels. Covered in slushie, a complete mess, but throwing punch after punch at the blonde cheerleader. Santana noticed Rachel was sporting a bloodied lip and what would soon be a black eye, but Harper had blood streaming out of both nostrils and more from the side of her lip. The girl looked bad.

Shelby watched Rachel leave the main office before turning back to the smug man in front of her. "I think there's a lot of things going on in your school that you don't know about, Mr. Figgins," she said.

Mr. Figgins mashed his teeth together and his blood began to boil. Who did this woman think she was, to tell him he didn't know what was happening in his school? What did she know about running a school? She was a pampered diva who was used to getting everything she wanted at the snap of a finger. Figgins wasn't about to let her get the better of him, no sir!

"It seems I'm not the only one who doesn't know what's going on, Ms. Corcoran. If this problem has been going on for so long, as you've said, why are you just finding out about it? For a woman who thinks of herself as the perfect mother, you seem to be falling short," Mr. Figgins bit back.

Shelby clenched her fists close to her sides as she stared the principal down, fierce and unblinking. She beamed with vindictive pleasure the moment Mr. Figgins stood down. He was no match for her, and they both knew that.

"I think we're getting off topic, Mr. Figgins," Shelby said. "My concern is Rachel. My daughter deserves to feel safe when she comes to school, and she doesn't. She's attacked day after day. This school has failed her, and I want it fixed. I want the slushie machines removed from the premises immediately. And I want the students responsible for today's incident disciplined."

"It's impossible to discipline any students, Ms. Corcoran. There are no witnesses to confirm that it happened," said Mr. Figgins. "And as for the slushie machine, it's hardly fair to punish the entire student body for what a few may or may not have done to your daughter."

"You're kidding me, right?" Shelby demanded, throwing her hands up in anger. "You can't actually be serious and tell me that you aren't going to do anything about this. What happened to the zero-tolerance policy this school has?"

"I'm not sure you are aware of this, Ms. Corcoran, but the world—and this school—does not revolve around you or your daughter. I assure you that I will do everything in my power to rectify this situation, but only in terms of what I would do for any other student. Your daughter is not more important than any other member of this school, regardless of what you may think, and—"

Shelby's brain was flooded with an image of herself hurling her body across the desk at the inept oaf masquerading as principal. She wanted to spew profanities at the man and punch him squarely in the nose and remove all traces of superiority etched across his face. Instead, Shelby decided to rip him a new one.

"I'm not sure if you're stupid or just an idiot, but—"

Before Shelby could get anything else out, a young female teacher burst into the office, panting. "You better come quick, there's a fight in the hall—at least two girls, but there could be more. It's complete chaos!" the woman said in a panic.

The teacher left just as quickly as she had entered, Figgins close on her heels. Shelby stood fixed to her spot for a moment before following after. She needed to see where Rachel was as well as keep an eye on Figgins so they could finish this conversation once he returned.

Santana heard the shouts of teachers coming and made a split-second decision. She waited until after Rachel landed a final blow before swooping in and grabbing the girl's arm. "Whoa! Chill! I'm helping you!" she yelled to be heard over the chaos. Rachel had turned with raised fist the moment Santana touched her, and the Latina didn't want to be on the receiving end of her right hook.

Before Rachel could say anything, Santana was hauling her through the crowd and into the bathroom she had just vacated. "What are you doing?" Rachel asked once they were in relative safety.

"I didn't think you'd want to be caught red handed," Santana said, nodding towards the girl's bloody knuckles. "Who knew you could fight, Hobbit! I'm impressed!"

Rachel blushed and mumbled a quick 'thanks' before going to the sink to run her hands under the warm water. She hissed as the water burned at the small cuts on her knuckles and watched as the bloody water swirled down the drain. Her thoughts whirled around inside her head, going over the last ten minutes in a blur. She couldn't believe she had fought Harper and won. Though now that the adrenaline was fading away, Rachel was becoming quite aware of her own injuries. She was finding it harder to keep her left eye open as it began to swell, and her mouth tasted of blood from her split lip. Rachel also had several sore spots across her abdomen where Harper had managed to land a few well-placed punches. Still, Rachel had given far more than she got, and felt herself swell with pride.

"You really have potential, Ber—er—Rachel," Santana continued, leaning up against the wall. "I see why Quinn is friends with you."

Rachel met Santana's eyes, opening and closing her mouth several times as she searched for the right words to say. That was the last thing she ever expected to hear from the Latina.

"Don't look at me like that," the other teen said defensively. "I'm not saying I want to be friends with you. I'm just saying I get it. That's all. I'll deny everything if you say anything to anyone!"

"Good. I don't want to be friends with you either," Rachel smirked, returning her attention back to her hands.

Back out in the hallway, all hell broke loose. Students fled at the approach of the teachers and principal; no one wanted to be associated with the fight that had gone on. Harper Daniels sat slumped against the wall, tears streaming down her cheeks to mix with the sticky blood beginning to dry on her face as her two friends looked on, not knowing what to do. Shouts from teenagers and adults came from all directions, jumbling together to create a chaotic atmosphere.

Shelby came upon the chaos just as Figgins and a few teachers swarmed around a girl on the floor. Shelby immediately recognized the girl as the cheerleader that had stopped her and Rachel on the very first day of school. She heard the teen mention her daughter's name and Shelby immediately began to search the dwindling crowd for her girl.

"She went into the bathroom with Santana," a second cheerleader said, pointing towards the girl's bathroom. Shelby overheard and slunk towards the door without anyone else noticing.

"Rachel!" Shelby gasped as she caught sight of her child. She noticed the girl was once again covered in slushie and was sporting a shiner and fat, bloody lip.

Rachel jumped and spun around to meet her mother's concerned eyes. "Mommy," she sighed, tears stinging her eyes.

"Oh honey," Shelby soothed, rushing to her daughter's side. For a second time today, Shelby pulled her child close and felt the sticky residue of the slushie soak into her clothing.

Santana stood awkwardly off to the side, an intruder in this private moment between mother and child. "I'll just…go," she muttered, edging towards the door. She didn't wait for a reply, and quickly left the bathroom.

Shelby heard the door open and then close and looked up in time to see a blur of the red and white uniform of the cheerleader who had been with Rachel before she got there. "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up. What happened?" Shelby said, pulling back from the hug.

"Harper h-happened," Rachel cried, letting her mother usher her over to the nearest sink. She winced as her mom began cleaning her lip and more tears slid down her face.

"Did she start the fight?" Shelby asked as she grabbed fresh paper towels.

"N-n-nooo," Rachel sobbed, fat tears falling to mix with the blood from her lip. "I d-did. She slushied me and I snapped and started p-punching her. I'm s-s-sorry, Mommy." Rachel couldn't believe she was once again in a heap of trouble.

"Hey, hey, hey," Shelby soothed. "Hush now. I'm not upset with you, baby. I'm furious about what's happening, but not because you threw the first punch."

"I'm n-not in trouble?" she asked uncertainly.

"No, honey, you're not in trouble," Shelby confirmed, her right hand coming to rest on the back of Rachel's head to hold her still. She applied the damp paper towel to Rachel's mouth once more, putting more pressure on the cut in order to stem the flow of blood.

"Ow!" Rachel yelped, fighting against her mom's hold. "That hurts."

"I'm sorry, Rach, but we've got to stop the bleeding," Shelby said.

"Let's go home," Rachel begged. She wanted nothing more than to get into a warm shower and then curl up on the sofa with Henry and Tigger.

"Okay, baby. Do you want to try to clean off some of the slushie first?" Shelby asked, throwing away the wad of paper towels. Rachel's lip had at least stopped bleeding; she would need to clean it better when they got home, but for now, it would do.

"Why bother? It's everywhere," Rachel said with a drawn out, dejected sigh.

"Okay," Shelby conceded with a nod. Shelby wanted to get home just as much as Rachel, but there was one more thing they needed to do.

Shelby walked back out into the hallway with Rachel and felt like time had stood still while they were in the bathroom. The only thing that had changed was that the school nurse was now tending to Harper as Figgins and several other teachers looked on. Students still milled around, gossiping with one another, and Shelby noticed that the girl who had left the bathroom just as she was coming in was in a heated debate with a tall, stern-looking woman in a red tracksuit. Shelby hadn't met the woman formally, but she had deduced that it was Sue Sylvester from what Quinn had told her earlier.

"There she is!" a student proclaimed, an accusing finger pointing towards Rachel. Shelby instinctively stepped in front of her daughter to shield her from the prying eyes of those around them.

Sue turned at the shout and her eyes fell on Rachel and her mother. Leaving Santana mid-rant, the woman stalked over to the pair of brunettes. "You're going to pay for this, Yentl. You disfigured one of my best athletes! If we lose our championship because of this, I will destroy you—and your mother!" Sue shouted at the tiny teen peeking out from behind her mother's back.

Shelby stepped forward at the coach's advancement, standing as tall as she could (and not caring that the woman towered over her). "I'd be careful what you say to my daughter. You may think you hold all the power here, but I can guarantee I'll wipe the floor with you. I'd think about that if I were you," she growled.

Sue recoiled as if the brunette slapped her, at a loss for words. Sue prided herself in her ability to turn even the most macho of men into sniveling babes crying for their mothers, and here she was backing down from a woman that barely came up to her chest. Shake it off, Sue, she chided herself. With renewed confidence, Sue squared her shoulders and puffed her chest out. She was ready to battle.

"I'm a celebrity in my own right, and I bet the viewers of Sue's Corner would love to know what kind of person you are, Ms. Corcoran," Sue sneered. "Not to mention the kind of mother you are, to threatened teachers at your daughter's school when we are trying to protect our students. But you don't seem to care about any other student but yours, do you?"

"When my daughter is the one being threatened and attacked by the students in this school, yes, she is the only one I worry about," Shelby bit back.

"Ah, but it was your kid who did the attacking today, wasn't it? Look at that girl over there!" Sue yelled, waving her arm in the direction of Harper. "Your daughter broke that girl's nose!"

"Rachel was defending herself, and she had every right to do so!"

"Defending herself?" Sue spewed. "She jumped my cheerleader without provocation!"

"That's a laugh!" Shelby barked. "Rachel has been repeatedly slushied by your cheerleaders. Where was their provocation?"

"I have witnesses!" Sue bellowed. Several members of her squad hurried over at their cue.

"So does Rachel!" Santana interjected, her heart beating rapidly inside her chest. She caught Rachel's eye briefly and winked before turning her attention back to her coach. "Harper has attacked Rachel three times today alone!"

"Santana, how dare you—"

"ENOUGH!" Mr. Figgins roared. Silence fell over the hallway immediately, and all looked towards the principal in shock. "Sue, your Cheerio is being taken to the nurse's office and her parents will be called. I want you to go with her to wait for her parents to arrive."

"I want that girl expelled!" Sue raged, pointing to Rachel.

"Sue, you're not helping the situation!" Mr. Figgins exclaimed. He turned his attention to mother and daughter and added, "I need to see you both in my office."

Rachel sat quietly in the furthest most chair from the door, looking back and forth from her mother to Mr. Figgins as if watching a tennis match.

"Ms. Corcoran, please be reasonable," Mr. Figgins chided. "Rachel started the fight—we have witnesses to confirm that she threw the first punch. I have no choice but to suspend her."

"Rachel started the fight because she was attacked by Harper. And she has been every day since school started!" Shelby fumed.

"Regardless of the provocation, we have a zero-tolerance policy on violence, Ms. Corcoran. Rachel will be punished for her actions," said Mr. Figgins.

"And what about Harper? Will she be punished for her actions?" Shelby demanded.

"Miss Daniels is being taken to the hospital to have her nose taken care of seeing as how your daughter broke it," said Mr. Figgins.

"That is not what I asked. She is just as guilty for that fight as my Rachel, if not more so! If Harper hadn't slushied Rachel for the third time today, Rachel wouldn't have thrown the first punch," Shelby countered. "She's frustrated—I'm frustrated! How can you sit here and allow the popular students to victimize the quieter kids? This school should be a safe place for everyone. Instead it's focused on pandering to the elite group, the cheerleaders and football players. What about the band kids, and art kids, and all the other kids that don't fit into that one group? What about them?"

"We need to stay on topic, Ms. Corcoran," said Mr. Figgins. "Rachel will be suspended for the remainder of the week for her actions today. As for Harper, I will be discussing her involvement in today's events with her parents when she is able to come back to school. I assume she will miss a few days so she may recover from her injuries."

"The hell she is!" Shelby yelled, hands flying in the air. "You have proof that Rachel has been bullied and attacked, and she's the one being suspended?"

"I will deal with the bullying now that we have culprits, Ms. Corcoran, but yes, Rachel is suspended for her actions today. She was involved in a fight and will be held accountable."

"This is ridiculous!" Shelby declared. "C'mon, Rach."

Rachel's eyes trailed up from her mom's extended hand to the woman's steely gaze that immediately softened once Rachel met them. She placed her own hand in her mother's and allowed her to pull her up.

Shelby gave her girl a small smile to let her know everything would be okay before guiding them towards the door. She heard Mr. Figgins clear his throat behind her and turned a threatening eye to him.

"Where do you think you are going?" the man demanded. "We are not done here."

"Oh yes we are," Shelby said curtly. "From this moment onward, Rachel is no longer a student at McKinley."

Open Arms * Open Arms * Open Arms

Quinn sat waiting on a rocker on the Corcorans' front porch, and sprang up the moment she saw the black SUV driving down the street. "Rachel, oh my God! You were amazing in that fight!" she yelled as soon as the car had pulled into the driveway. She was at the passenger side door in an instant, banging on the window for her friend to open up.

Rachel unbuckled her seatbelt well before they reached their house, and the door was open before Shelby had put the car in park. Her mother's scoldings barely registered in the girl's brain; she called out a hurried 'sorry' as she scrambled out of the car.

"Did you really break her nose?" Quinn demanded, unable to contain her excitement.

"I didn't mean to!" Rachel said.

"Mean to or not, it was badass, Rach!" Quinn laughed, clapping Rachel on the back. "You looked awesome!"

"What do you mean 'she looked awesome'?" Shelby questioned as she came up behind the teens. "How did you see any of it?"

Quinn looked up to meet Shelby's eyes with a puzzled expression. "It's all over Facebook," she said in a 'duh' tone. "Rachel's been tagged in at least six different videos that I could see."

"What?" Shelby gasped. "When did you get a Facebook?" she added, shocked eyes falling on her daughter.

"Haley made me a Facebook last month," Rachel answered.

"Fuck!" Shelby exclaimed, causing both girls to giggle nervously. "Alright, both of you inside," she sighed, shepherding the kids towards the front steps.

Once inside, Shelby sent Rachel upstairs to shower and Quinn straight to the sofa to lay down. "Watch whatever you want on TV, Quinn. I'm going to go change and then you are going to show me those videos," Shelby said before trudging upstairs.

Half an hour later, Shelby returned to the living room after taking a shower of her own. Rachel was right behind her, finally slushie free. She would have been down sooner had her mom not forced her to sit on the closed lid of the toilet seat in the master bath while Shelby thoroughly cleaned Rachel's split lip and then examined the girl's left eye.

Rachel plopped down on the sofa next to Quinn and the two immediately began whispering to one another.

"Oh, hey Shelby?" Quinn's head popped up from the sofa, "Your phone's been going off non-stop since you've been upstairs."

"Fuck," Shelby sighed under her breath as she rubbed her hands over her eyes. "Thank you, Quinnie," she added after a moment.

Shelby rummaged through her purse for her phone and hit the redial button on her missed calls list. She listened to the ringtone chime, holding the phone away from her mouth slightly. "Rachel," she said, "My computer is in on the sofa in the sunroom. Go get it for me, please."

Rachel was up and skipping off towards the back of the house as Shelby's publicist picked up on the other line. "Hey Jackie. No, I haven't seen it yet. Rachel's getting my computer. I don't know, her cousin set her up with one—we're going to have to recreate one with all the privacy settings. Yes, I'm looking now," Shelby answered, her brain going a mile a minute.

Phone sandwiched between ear and shoulder, Shelby walked around the sofa with computer in hand, Rachel close on her heels. Shelby sat down next to Quinn and snapped her fingers at the girl, pointing towards the computer screen. Rachel plopped down almost on top of Shelby in her eagerness to see the video; the mother had to nudge her daughter's side several times to get her to move, all while pinching her shoulder to hold the phone in place.

"Look, look, look!" Quinn squealed excitedly. "BAM! Wow! What a punch, Rach!" the girl cheered, reaching over Shelby's head to high-five her friend.

"That's Rachel's friend Quinn," Shelby answered Jackie, swatting Quinn's hand away. "Be still girls," she added to the teens on either side of her.

"And there's where you broke her nose—Look! Crunch!" Quinn continued, ignoring Shelby's words.

"Wow, it looks even better from this angle!" Rachel exclaimed, feeling quite proud of herself in this moment.

"Girls, be quiet! I'm trying to listen," Shelby scolded, pulling her phone away from her mouth. Neither child paid her any mind and continued to comment on the video. With a loud groan, Shelby untangled herself from between them and left the two to their devices, deciding she'd have better luck talking in the other room.

Shelby returned twenty minutes later to find the girls still watching the videos. "Okay, that's enough," she said, reaching over the kids' heads to shut the laptop.

"Mom," the girl whined, turning to give the woman a pitiful pout.

"I need your sign-in information for your Facebook, Rach," Shelby said, unswayed by her daughter's jutting lip.

"What? Why?" Rachel asked as she spun on the cushion and got to her knees, falling against the back cushions in her rush to face her mother.

"I'm having my team delete your account and all of the videos popping up. It's already gone viral, but we may still be able to get a handle on it before the media makes it worse," Shelby explained.

"What? But Mom, you can't delete my Facebook! That's not fair!" Rachel argued, standing on the sofa.

"What are you doing?" Shelby chided, grabbing hold of Rachel's arm to steady her as the girl swung a leg over the back of the sofa. She shook her head as her daughter climbed the rest of the way over and then stood in front of her with a deep scowl on her face.

"We can talk about everything later, honey, but right now you need to do exactly as I say," Shelby said in a gentle, but firm tone.

"But—"

"No buts, just march," Shelby said, ushering Rachel into the kitchen with her. She'd get the girl's password information and some ice for her eye all in one fell swoop.

Shelby parked Rachel on a stool as she went around the island to the refrigerator to get the girl an icepack. She grabbed a tea towel on the way back and wrapped it around the pack before handing it to Rachel. She then turned and pulled out a small pad of Post-Its from the drawer.

"Okay Rach," the mother said as she turned back to her daughter. "What's your email and password?" She held a pen poised and ready to jot down the information as she regarded her daughter with an expectant look.

"You can't delete my Facebook account," Rachel whined, glaring at her mother with the eye not currently covered by the icepack.

"I'm afraid we have to, Rach. That video has gone viral, and your profile isn't private. The media will have a field day with this if we don't nip it in the bud," Shelby said gently.

"My profile is private!" Rachel argued. "I'm not stupid, Mom. I made sure to turn on all of the privacy settings."

"There's a different account type for high-profile persons. Normal users can't access it. I'll get my team to make you a new account once everything blows over and once you and I go over internet safety," Shelby explained.

"What? You're joking, right?" demanded the teen. "I know how to use the internet!"

"Honey, things are different for us. You've never dealt with being a celebrity and all the responsibility that comes with that. It's not anywhere near as bad for us here as it would be in New York, but we still need to be careful. You can't be on social media sites without the right protection. Now please, tell me your information so I can have Jackie and the team start doing damage control," said Shelby.

"Can you ask them to make me a new account today?" Rachel asked in a lighter tone.

"Not yet."

"But why?" the teen whined.

"I already told you, because you and I are going to go over how to be safe on public sites. I'll ask them to make you one in a few days," Shelby said.

"Why can't they make me one now though? I know how to be safe. Besides, Haley and Lexi and JJ all have profiles and they're fine."

"Haley and Lexi and JJ had their accounts created for them by my team," Shelby informed the girl.

"Why didn't you have them make me one? Then none of this would have happened!"

"Honey, I didn't know you wanted a Facebook or I would have," Shelby sighed.

"Well I didn't know I wanted one until Haley said I needed one," Rachel pouted.

Shelby couldn't help but laugh at her daughter's words. Shaking her head, she stepped forward and placed a kiss on Rachel's head. "Alright Rach, what's your login?"

Rachel let out a forlorn sigh and mumbled out her email and password. Shelby scribbled the info down on her pad before giving Rachel a sad smile. The girl looked like she had just given up the secret location to her buried treasure.

"This whole thing is so unfair," Rachel moaned, slamming her icepack down onto the counter.

"I know, sweetie. We'll get this all squared away before you know it," Shelby promised as she pulled Rachel off the stool and into a hug.

"I hate that you're famous. I can't do anything normal," Rachel sighed.

Shelby held her daughter closer and rubbed her back. "I hate it too," she said. She planted a kiss to Rachel's head before pulling back to look her girl in the eyes. She opened her mouth and was just about to speak when the doorbell rang. Shelby sighed.

"Hold that thought," she said.

Shelby's phone vibrated and began to ring in her back pocket just as she reached the door. Reaching back to grab her phone, Shelby opened the door with her free hand. "Hey, c'mon in," she greeted Frannie with a smile, stepping aside to let the woman in. She glanced at her phone as she did and saw her sister's name lit up on the screen.

Frannie waved in understanding as Shelby motioned for her to go ahead into the living room. She smiled as she caught sight of Quinn, who looked much better than she had this morning.

"Lu," Shelby sighed as she answered her phone. "You've seen, huh?"

"Of course I did! Oh my God! What the hell happened? What was Rachel covered in?" Lauren fired immediately.

Frannie's eyes fell on Rachel as the girl came into the room. "What happened?" she gasped, her hand wrapping around Rachel's wrist to pull her closer. With gentle fingers, Frannie inspected the girl's eye and lip.

"She beat the shit out of Harper, that's what!" Quinn gloated. "What? She did!" she added at the look her sister was now giving her.

"Language, Quinn," Frannie scolded.

Quinn ducked her head quickly before turning her attention back to the TV. Frannie shook her head at her sister and looked back to Rachel.

"You should have ice on that eye," she said.

"Mom just gave me an icepack, but I don't want to use it," Rachel said with a shrug.

"You need to ice it, Rach. It'll swell if you don't. Where's the icepack?" said Frannie.

"I left it in the kitchen," Rachel answered.

"Go get it, please."

"It's fine," Rachel waved her off, twisting out of Frannie's grasp. Her attempt to sit next to Quinn was thwarted as Frannie snatched her arm and tugged her back to her side.

"Go get the ice, Rachel," Frannie ordered, landing a quick swat to the girl's bottom before letting her go. Frannie stood in shocked silence as her brain worked hard to catch up to the actions of her hand. She couldn't believe she had just swatted Rachel.

Rachel was standing just as still, her brain going over the past couple of seconds. It had felt like everything was going in slow motion for her; she had felt Frannie tug her over, then heard the sound of Frannie's hand make contact to her sweatpants-clad bottom, and finally, felt the sting spread across her cheek.

"Ow," came the girl's delayed response as she reached back with both hands to cover her backside.

Quinn's jaw dropped and her eyes grew wide as she watched the scene unfold between her sister and her friend. She clamped her mouth shut and tried to remain as quiet as possible so as to not draw attention to herself.

"Go on, Rachel," Shelby said, causing all three to jump in surprise.

Rachel looked towards her mom with betrayed eyes, only to be met with a raised eyebrow. With a loud huff, she stomped off towards the kitchen, hands still held protectively behind her.

Frannie met Shelby's eyes and felt herself blush. "Shelby, I'm sorry. I can't believe I did that. It won't happen again," she apologized.

Shelby smiled and waved her friend's words aside. "Oh please, Fran, I saw the tail end of what happened. I'd have done the same. And if she's with you and acts up, feel free to swat her if you need to," she said.

"Mom!" Rachel whined as she came back into the room. She couldn't believe her mother just said that. Her mom only shrugged at her and Rachel flopped onto the sofa next to Quinn with a groan.

Quinn giggled at Rachel's reaction and elbowed the girl in the side. She smiled when Rachel stuck her tongue out at her.

"You can do the same with Quinn if she ever needs it," Frannie offered, ignoring the girls.

"Not laughing now, huh, Quinnie?" Rachel goaded, slapping the blonde's arm with the back of her hand at the look she was given.

"Not like it changes anything," Quinn shrugged. "Shelby's already gotten me a couple of times."

Frannie's head snapped over to look at Quinn; she narrowed her eyes at the girl suspiciously before turning a questioning look to Shelby.

"She's always deserved it," Shelby said. "Haven't you, Quinn?"

Quinn's jaw dropped in joking outrage as she gave Shelby a 'who, me?' look.

"I'm sure she has," said Frannie, once again turning her eyes onto her sister.

"What? I have not!" Quinn exclaimed.

"No? That must have been a different girl throwing a fit over wanting a ride to school this morning even though she knew she was supposed to—"

"La la la!" Quinn yelled, jumping up and running towards Shelby. She clapped her hand over the woman's mouth and shushed her. "Rachel, c'mon!" she called out as she dashed towards the stairs, narrowly missing Shelby's hand.

The two adults looked towards Rachel, who was still sitting on the sofa. Barely a second passed before the brunette was running up the stairs after her friend.

"Would you like a cup of coffee, Frannie?" Shelby asked once they were teenager-free.

"I'd love a cup," Frannie replied as she followed Shelby into the kitchen.

Shelby spent the next half hour going over the events at school with her friend as they sipped casually at their coffee. They were just about to get up for a refill when there was a knock on the door and then it opened. "Hello!" came Lauren's voice, the sound of her children's laughter mingling in.

"Hey!" Shelby called back, smiling when Lauren appeared in the hall. "C'mon in. Haley, Michael, how was school?" she greeted, getting up to hug her niece and nephew.

"Where's Rach?" Haley asked.

"She's upstairs with Quinn. You two can head on up if you—"

"Hey! We thought we heard voices!" Rachel squealed as she and Quinn clambered down the stairs.

"Holy cow, look at your face! You look really rough, Rach," Michael exclaimed when he saw his cousin.

"Michael!" Lauren scolded over the laughter from everyone else.

"What? It's a compliment," Michael shrugged.

Lauren rolled her eyes and turned to her niece. She grabbed the girl from the step and pulled her closer to her. "Have you put ice on this yet?" she asked.

"Yeah," Rachel whined as she tried to pull away. Why were all the adults so obsessed with the ice? She did it already.

"You've got quite a bruise forming," Lauren continued. "Shel, you've got olive oil, right?"

"Yeah, in the pantry," said Shelby.

"Good. Rachel, come with me," Lauren said, wrapping a hand around Rachel's wrist and leading her towards the kitchen. "Sit there," she pointed to a stool when they reached their destination.

"Why? What are you doing with that?" Rachel whined, watching her aunt retrieve the olive oil from the pantry. She backed up as the woman advanced on her.

"This will help. Now sit down," said Lauren, ignoring her niece's protests. Lauren poured a bit of oil into her cupped hand and then dipped her index and middle finger of her right hand into it. She then very carefully lifted her fingers to Rachel's left eye, applying a little pressure to the area as she massaged the oil on the darkening skin under the eye.

"Ouch! That hurts!" Rachel complained, swatting at her aunt's hands.

"It won't after a minute," Lauren shushed the girl. She dipped her fingers once more and repeated the process. "Oh Rachel," she sighed when her niece hopped off of the stool and stepped away from her.

"I'm fine, Aunt LuLu, really," said Rachel, taking two more steps backwards.

"Alright, go on. I'll rub some more on before I leave," Lauren said with a shake of her head.

Rachel was out of the kitchen and back with her cousins and Quinn seconds later, making sure to put as much distance between herself and the adults as humanly possible.

As the adults sat down to chat in the living room, the kids headed off to the basement to have privacy. Haley and Michael were dying to hear all about the fight and Rachel was all too happy to regale them with the tale. She had just gotten to the best part when footsteps on the stairs were heard. All four teens fell silent and looked to see who was coming.

"Hey guys," JJ smiled when he and Lexi stepped into the room. "I've got a surprise for you, Rach!" He held up his laptop as he joined his cousins on the sofa.

"So I saw the video of your fight—who knew you could deck a girl like that, short stack? Anyway, I thought it needed something extra," JJ said, opening up his laptop. He went to his YouTube page and hit 'play' on his newest video.

A song Rachel didn't know (some kind of heavy metal rock music) began to play just as Rachel's first punch connected with Harper's face. Expecting to see the rest of the video play out, Rachel was surprised when it was clipped so that each punch matched in time to the song's beat.

"Ooooh!" Michael cheered as the sound of Harper's nose breaking was amplified over the raging music and the scene was played back three more times. "That's sick!"

"How did you even do this?" Rachel asked in awe as the video ended.

JJ smiled cheekily and shrugged. "I like to mess around with some editing software on my computer. I couldn't pass up this opportunity," he said.

"That's the best one you've made yet," Haley congratulated, high-fiving the older boy.

The kids' conversation turned to other topics—school, homework, the upcoming camping trip—but talk of the fight was never far from anyone's lips. Rachel hadn't expected it to be such a huge hit among her cousins, but she was enjoying the attention nonetheless.

During lulls in the conversation where the cousins were talking about their approaching trip, Quinn turned her attention to her phone and the ongoing conversation she was having with Santana. Much to Quinn's surprise, much of their chat had revolved around Rachel and how she was doing since she left school. Santana had updated Quinn on the talk around McKinley while Quinn filled Santana in on what was going on at the house. Santana had even mentioned stopping by to see both Quinn and Rachel, but Quinn advised against it since the house was already overflowing.

"So I think Santana is gonna come over my house after school one day this week," Quinn said to Rachel.

"Oh," Rachel said. "Um…that's cool? Why are you telling me?"

"Because she wants to see you, you doof," Quinn laughed.

"Did someone punch her in the face too? I don't see why she'd want to see me unless she was knocked in the head and has a concussion."

"She wants to make sure you're okay, I think," answered Quinn with a shrug.

"But you told her I was, right?" Rachel asked, completely floored by the topic of discussion. She couldn't wrap her brain around the idea of Santana willingly wanting to see and spend time with her outside of school.

"I did, yeah. Whatever happened between the two of you today has gotten to Santana. She's really not as much of a bitch as she likes people to think she is," said Quinn. "You should give her a chance."

"Yeah, I guess," Rachel agreed uncertainly. "But don't you think it's a bit…weird?"

"Maybe, but look at us. A month ago I would have thought the idea of you and me being friends was weird, and now you're…Well...You're my best friend, Rach."

Rachel felt her face heat up and looked away from her friend. "Well, I mean…you're okay," she finally managed in an effort to lighten the moment.

"You want another black eye, Corcoran?" Quinn laughed, holding her fist up. With a smile, she gently tapped it to the other girl's cheek.

"Like you could take me!" Rachel said cheekily.

"Hey guys!" Robbie called as he, Tyler, and Luke bounded down the stairs like a herd of elephants. "Are you down here?"

The boy's small, eager face appeared at the bottom of the stairs and he turned to his brothers. "They're down here!"

"We know," Luke said out of breath. "Aunt Shelby said so."

"Oh yeah," said Robbie.

"Rachel, what happened to your eye?" Tyler asked as he got up close to his cousin's face to inspect the bruise. "Can I touch it?" he added, his finger already inching closer to Rachel's eye.

"Let's not touch," Rachel said, grabbing the boy's hand just before he poked her. The boy slumped his shoulders and let out a sad sigh.

"You wanna see the video that shows how Rachel got that black eye?" JJ jumped in, knowing what would cheer the little boys up.

"Yeah!" all three chorused as they climbed over the big kids on the sofa to crowd around their boy cousin.

"Hey, watch it!" Lexi yelped after being stepped on.

"Alright, but you guys have to promise not to tell anyone. It's a secret, okay?" JJ said as he pulled up his YouTube account.

"We promise," they breathed solemnly. "Should we pinky swear?" Robbie added, holding his tiny finger out.

"Yeah, let's pinky swear," said JJ, linking his pinky with each boy in turn.

The music started playing as the video began and the huddle of kids grew quiet. "Whoa, cool!" Robbie cheered just as Luke said, "Rachel, can you teach me how to do that?"

"Rach, you are like Black Widow!" Tyler said in awe as he wrapped his tiny arms around Rachel's neck.

"Let's watch it again!" Robbie said as the clip ended.

The rest of the family continued to trickle in until just after five-thirty, and the kids were called upstairs to wash up before dinner. Rachel was passed off from adult to adult so each could take a look at her injuries.

"Hey, Slugger," Uncle Jack greeted as he hugged the teen. As he pulled back, he grabbed Rachel's chin and tilted her face to the side to get a better look at her eye. "How's the other girl look?"

"Worse," Rachel smirked. "I broke her nose. Did you get to see the video?"

"That's my girl!" Jack laughed, ruffling his niece's hair. "And no, I didn't get a chance to. I would have loved to see you beat that girl to a pulp!"

"Jack!" both Sarah and Diane scolded.

"You can see it, Uncle Jack!" Tyler yelled, running up to tug on his uncle's shirt. "JJ showed us a video of it!"

"What?!" came a chorus of shouts from the surrounding adults.

"Ty! You weren't supposed to tell!" JJ groaned. He backed up several steps in order to get out of arm length from his mom and grandmother who were now glaring at him.

"Oh yeah," Tyler said with a sheepish look. "I forgot!"

"What video?" Shelby demanded. She thought they had taken care of every video out there, but apparently she was wrong. Her brain was already whirling as she went through her next steps. Where was her phone? She needed to call Jackie right away.

"Why wouldn't you tell us you found another video, JJ?" Sarah asked at the same time.

JJ licked his lips nervously as every adult looked towards him, waiting for an answer. "Oh, I—uh—" he faltered, raking a hand through his hair as his brain worked fast. It occurred to him that the adults didn't know he created it, but that knowledge wouldn't remain secret for long.

"That's not important now," Shelby brushed aside. "Where's this video? I'll have my team do another sweep. I really thought we got them all earlier—Fuck!"

"Language, Shelby!" Diane chided. "Is that really what you want your daughter and nieces and nephews hearing?"

"Mom, I didn't—"

"You need to be setting a better example, Shelby Elizabeth," Diane continued, wagging her finger at her youngest. "I don't want to hear that word again, do you hear me?"

Shelby sighed and rolled her eyes. She felt all of sixteen years old again, grumbling under her breath about the unfairness of it all. "Yes, Mom," she scowled.

JJ had been watching the exchange between his aunt and grandmother with interest. He was relieved that the focus had been taken off of him for a minute. Perhaps the fact that he had created the video and posted it would remain unknown, given the current distraction.

"JJ, go get your computer, please," Sarah said, bringing the conversation back around. She met Shelby's grateful eyes and smiled.

For the third time that day, JJ opened up YouTube—only this time, he searched the title of the video instead of going into his account. He was shuffled out of the way as the adults crowded around to watch. The women gasped as the men tried hard not to cheer.

Rachel knew the part where she broke Harper's nose was coming up from the music. She watched for the adults' reactions with bated breath.

"Holy sh—smokes!" Jack exclaimed, catching himself just in time. His mother gave him a withering look that he returned with an impish grin. "Rachel, that was one hell of a punch, kid! Well done!"

"Jack!" Diane shrieked, smacking her oldest on the arm. "Don't encourage her!" She then turned an accusatory look towards her granddaughter who ducked her head and took several steps backwards.

Sarah's eyes narrowed as the video ended and she noticed the credits. She spun to glare at her son. "John Joseph Corcoran!" she growled and all three generations of Johns stared back at her. Only the youngest one looked panicked.

"Mom, I—I can explain," JJ stammered as he backed up into the island in his haste to get away from his mother.

"Oh, I'd love to hear your explanation for why you didn't tell us you posted this video," Sarah thundered as she drew nearer.

JJ had several inches on his mother, but in times like this, it never mattered that he dwarfed the woman. She was still the scariest person he had ever met when she was angry, and man, was she angry!

Sarah grabbed her son's wrist and pulled him close. Her hand fell on his backside five times before the boy even registered what was happening.

"Ah! Ma—OW—S-sorry!" JJ yelped, wiggling as best he could to get away from his mother's hard hand. His face heated up as he was let go and he felt the stares from his cousins bore into his soul.

"What were you thinking?" Sarah demanded.

"Ma, I-I'm sorry. I didn't think it would hurt anything. I just wanted to do it for a laugh," JJ explained, reaching back to rub his bottom once.

"Well that's the last time you'll be using your computer for a very long time, young man," Sarah said firmly.

JJ sighed and slumped his shoulders but he wasn't surprised. He grimaced when his dad added, "We'll talk more about this later, son."

"First Haley, now JJ," Shelby mumbled to herself as she once again began searching for her phone. "Has anyone seen my phone? It's got a purple case on it."

"Here it is!" Lexi said, holding the phone out for her aunt.

Rachel watched her mom take the phone from Lexi and suddenly an idea came into her head. She rushed over to the woman while calling out to her. "Can we get a copy of that video before they delete it?" she asked.

Shelby turned, phone at her ear, to peer down at her daughter with a surprised expression on her face. "What? Rachel, I—Jackie, hi. I have a job for you," Shelby switched gears as her publicist answered.

"Rachel Barbra!" Diane hissed, stomping over to her granddaughter.

"Nana, wha—" Rachel stopped abruptly the moment her grandmother snatched her arm.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, young lady," Diane scolded. "It's bad enough you got into a fight at school and were suspended, but now you want to keep a video of the evidence?"

"But Nana, it's not like that," Rachel insisted. "Besides, Harper deserved it after what she did to me!"

"Rachel!" Diane gasped, turning the girl to her side. She landed two hard swats to her bottom before turning her forward again. "Perhaps you deserve a sore bottom for your actions today."

"Ow!" Rachel whined, narrowing her eyes at the older woman. "You can't do that! I was defending myself!"

"Resolving your problems with your fists is never the right decision. You should have let your mother deal with the situation," said Diane.

"She slushied me! I'm glad I broke her nose!" Rachel yelled, yanking her arm out of her grandmother's grasp and moving over to her mother. "Mom, tell Nana she can't hit me for getting into a fight with Harper. It's not fair!"

Shelby turned to listen to her daughter as she continued her discussion with Jackie, and then raised her eyebrow at her mother. "Mom, leave her be," she said to her mother even as she sent her daughter into the living room with a quick pop. She had caught the girl sticking her tongue out at her grandmother when she thought Shelby wasn't looking.

"Let's add more to the statement, about Rachel overcoming adversity and…standing up for herself—Make it sound better than that, I trust your judgment. Email me what you have when you're ready, just so I can read over it before you release it," Shelby added to Jackie.

"Is that all you're going to say, Shelby?" Diane demanded, her voice rising to be heard over the din in the room. "This is a serious issue. Rachel isn't the least bit concerned or remorseful for her part in that fight today, and you send her into the other room because I'm actually holding her responsible for her actions?"

"Mom, it's more complicated than that. I haven't had a chance to talk to her about it yet, but I will," Shelby sighed, holding her hand over her phone while she answered.

"That should have been your first priority, Shelby!" Diane scolded. "She was suspended, for goodness sake! I can't believe you're just going to stand there and let her act this way."

"I'm not acting any way!" Rachel argued as she made an about-face to rejoin the group. She had planned on flopping onto the sofa to sit with Michael, Luke, and the twins who were avoiding the growing pandemonium in the kitchen when she heard her grandmother's words. She wasn't about to let the woman have the last say on this matter. "And why should I be sorry? I finally stood up for myself and I'm not apologizing for that!"

Shelby sighed as she ended her phone conversation before grabbing for her daughter. "Rachel, quiet," she scolded, pulling the girl to her side. Shelby didn't need Rachel getting into her grandmother's face and making the situation worse.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about," Diane said to Shelby. "Is that all you're going to say to her? If any of you kids had gotten suspended for fighting—or talked back like that, for that matter—you'd be staring at the carpet getting your backsides lit up!"

"Mom, you're not helping," Shelby said as she told Rachel to go back into the living room in a whisper. The girl groaned but did as she was asked, much to Shelby's relief.

"Well, someone needs to handle her and this situation if you aren't going to do anything about it," Diane said, her hands finding their way to her hips.

Shelby felt her blood boil at her mother's accusation. "What do you mean I haven't done anything?" Shelby balked. "I'm doing everything to make sure this situation is under control on the outside!"

"That's all well and good, but what about Rachel?" Diane countered. "What about that fight? You're completely ignoring the situation and Rachel is getting the impression that her actions have no consequences."

"Mom, I'm one person! Just because I'm not dealing with this situation the way you would doesn't mean my way is wrong. You have no idea what I'm going through right now. And just in case you haven't noticed, Mother, Rachel is my daughter and I will deal with her the way I see fit! I don't need your help!"

"Shelby—"

"ENOUGH!" John roared, having heard his fill of bickering. Shouts were coming at him from all around—Sarah and Jack were scolding JJ while the boy tried to explain his reasoning in one corner while the Diane/Shelby/Rachel fight happened in another. The other adults bustled around trying to finish getting dinner ready while Haley, Lexi, and Quinn stood off to the side trying to stay out of the way.

A hush fell on the entire room as all eyes turned to the eldest Corcoran. "That is enough. Diane, we came over to show our support and to see if there was anything we could do to help Shelby and Rachel—as I'm sure the rest of you did as well," he said. "Shelby's right—this is not helping. And if we aren't here to help, we might as well all leave. Shelby has enough to deal with without adding family drama."

"Dinner's ready anyway. Let's all settle down and eat," Lisa added.

"Yes, let's eat," Ben agreed, sending the nearest kids off to the dining room without a word. He then made his way into the living room. "Boys, Rach, have you all washed up? Go do that if you haven't," he said.

Rachel passed through the kitchen on her way to the dining room, giving her grandmother a dark glare. She quickened her pace at the glance she received from her own mother and made it into the relative safety of the dining room without further incident.

Shelby rubbed a tired hand over her face as she watched Rachel hurry into the other room. She let out a long sigh as her mother picked up where she left off.

"Shelby, we need to finish this conversation," Diane said.

"No we don't, Mom. I'm not talking to you about this anymore. I'm going to go sit down for dinner and I hope you will come join us and leave this be," Shelby answered.

Shelby didn't wait for her mother to respond and walked out after her daughter. She wanted to get dinner over with so hopefully everyone would go home and she could have the rest of the evening alone with Rachel. Shelby loved her family and loved that they were all so close, but sometimes it drove her crazy!

Diane watched her youngest turn and walk away from her, feeling a surge of annoyance. She hated when her children walked away from her when they were having a conversation. She turned to her husband for support and another swell ripped through her when he gave her a disappointed look.

"Someone has to take control," she declared.

John sighed and shook his head. He loved his wife, but sometimes she took matters too far. Now was one of those times. "Not tonight, Di," he said.

"John," his wife exhaled. "Shelby is too close to the situation. She isn't seeing things clearly. I'm only trying to help her and Rachel."

"Diane, I love you, but you aren't always right," John sighed. "Not to mention, we all showed up unannounced. Let her be. You don't always have to swoop in and fix everyone's problems. Let this one go."

Dinner seemed to quell everyone's moodiness and by the end of it, the family was laughing and joking like normal. The kitchen swarmed with bodies as dishes were collected and put in the dishwasher or sink. Shelby's anger towards her mother had all but disappeared as she found herself drying while Diane washed.

"Shelby, about earlier—"

Shelby felt herself tense at her mother's words and was quick to cut her off. "Mom, it's okay, really," she insisted. "Let's not talk about it."

"We need to talk about it," Diane asserted, passing her daughter the next plate.

Shelby focused her attention on the dripping plate now in her hands; she watched as the water fell in rivulets down the face of the dish and soaked into the brown dishtowel she had wrapped around it.

Diane studied her daughter's body language while Shelby was busy eyeing the dish, knowing that the younger woman didn't want to have this conversation. Still, Diane knew she needed to press forward.

"I owe you an apology, Shelly," she said, ignoring when Shelby's head snapped up. Diane met her daughter's eyes and gave her a brief smile. "I realize it was wrong of me to question your choices, especially in front of Rachel like that. I sometimes forget that you're all grown up and a mother yourself. I'm sorry, honey. Can you forgive me?"

Shelby set the plate and dishtowel down and hugged her mom. Truth be told, she was longing for and needed comfort that only a mother could give—her mother.

Diane sighed in relief and held her youngest close. "I love you so much, Shelly Bean. I'm sorry for how I behaved this evening. I never meant to accuse you of not acting in Rachel's best interests. I had a moment where my better judgment left me," Diane continued.

"It's okay, Mama," Shelby whispered.

"I love you," Diane said as she pulled back. She placed a kiss to Shelby's cheek and then licked her thumb and scrubbed at the lipstick smudge she had left behind.

"Mom," Shelby whined, swatting her mother's hand away. "I love you too."

"Hey Shelby," Jack called as he came up behind his youngest sibling. Shelby turned just in time to be swept up into her brother's arms.

Jack spun around once with Shelby shrieking in his ear before setting her down on her feet and placing a kiss to her forehead. "Sarah and the kids and I are gonna get out of your hair now, but call me later this week so we can get together over the weekend. I want to teach Rachel a thing or two about blocking punches," he laughed.

"Oh good, I was getting tired of you," Shelby ribbed. "And cook us dinner on Saturday and I'll let you teach Rachel whatever you want."

"What am I being taught?" Rachel asked as she wandered into the kitchen with her cousins.

"How to protect your mug so this doesn't happen again," Jack said, reaching out to cup his niece's chin. "I want you to know how to handle yourself if there's a next time."

"There better not be a next time!" Diane interrupted, her tone stern. She silently reprimanded her eldest with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sure there won't be," Jack conceded. "Still, it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Kids fight, it's part of growing up."

"You kids never got into any fights when you were young; I don't see why it should be different now," said Diane.

Rachel rolled her eyes and didn't hide her little snort of derision. Her anger from earlier had only increased and she found herself grumbling under her breath every time her grandmother said something stupid, which was often.

Diane's head turned at her granddaughter's snicker and she narrowed her eyes at the girl. She knew Rachel was upset with her, and Diane had ignored the girl's eyerolls and disgruntled huffs all evening, but enough was enough. She opened her mouth to scold her granddaughter when Ben walked in and interrupted.

"Yeah, that you know of," said Ben, catching his brother's eye. The two shared a knowing smirk. "We all got into fights. Dad always cleaned us up before you came home and found out. Those stitches I got above my eyebrow that time? I didn't run into a low-hanging tree branch while riding my bike like we told you. I was playing with Mikey Davis down the street and we got into it and he hit me with his helmet and busted my head."

"What? I can't believe—All of you?" Diane screeched, eyeing her two boys and Shelby in turn. Her eyes then fell on her husband snoozing in the chair in the living room. "Where's Lauren? John!" she yelled, startling the man awake.

"Ma, calm down. It's normal kid stuff. Besides, it's all in the past now," Jack remarked, his voice soothing.

"Mom did too?" Rachel asked, her face lighting up at the thought of her own mother getting into fights as a kid. Nana doesn't know everything like she thinks she does, she thought to herself, a self-satisfied smirk plastered across her face.

"Yeah, your mom too," Ben confirmed with an impish grin. "She has some of the best fight stories, I think."

"I don't care how long ago it was!" said Diane. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves!"

"Wait, what'd I miss?" Lauren asked. She came to stand by Shelby and gave her sister a questioning look.

"She just found out that we all got into fights as kids. Looks like all of our hard work to keep it hidden from her paid off," Shelby whispered.

"Like what, Uncle Ben?" Rachel continued, talking over her grandmother's squawks.

"C'mon, I'll tell you in the other room," Ben promised. He threw his arm around his niece and the two scurried out of the room, Diane's reprimand chasing after.

John sighed as a sense of déjà vu crept over him. Hadn't he dealt with this issue earlier this evening? He was weary and wanted nothing more than to go home and relax. He knew the odds of that happening were slim to none. The patriarch had no misgivings that his wife would talk his ear off tonight and it would be his job to talk sense into her. That was his lot in life, but he found that he didn't really mind. It kept him young.

"Alright," John interrupted, holding his hands up to quiet his brood. "It's getting late and I think we all need to say our goodbyes."

Shelby let out a long breath of relief as she closed the door and locked it. She leaned back against it and stared up the stairs. Rachel had darted upstairs fifteen minutes prior so she could avoid having a conversation with her grandmother. Shelby had let it go and told her mother she should as well; Rachel would come around in a day or two and things would go back to normal. It had been a long day and Shelby was done with drama.

With another deep sigh, Shelby mounted the stairs. She stopped outside Rachel's partially closed door and waited for a moment. After collecting herself, she rapped lightly on the door and pushed it open.

Rachel was stretched out on her stomach, propped up on her elbows as she stared intently at her phone. She didn't even realize that Shelby had come in.

Shelby was able to walk up to the bed completely unnoticed. She reached out and plucked her daughter's phone from her hands and set it down on the nightstand. Rachel's head popped up and she stared at her mother with a deep pout.

"Hey," she whined, extending her arm towards the phone only to be stopped by her mom.

The phone chimed as a text message came through and Rachel tried once more to retrieve her phone. Shelby took a seat on the edge of the bed, blocking Rachel's view of the device.

"Mom, I was having an important conversation," Rachel complained with sad eyes.

"Oh yeah? And who are you having this important conversation with?" Shelby asked.

"Lexi and Haley," said Rachel.

"You didn't talk to them enough while they were here?" Shelby laughed. "What are you talking to them about now?"

"Nana and how annoying she is," Rachel scowled.

"Mmm. Well, I think that conversation can wait for another time. Tell them goodnight and then go brush your teeth," Shelby said, patting the girl's bottom.

"But my bedtime isn't until ten. It's not even nine yet," Rachel said.

"I didn't say you had to go to bed, silly," Shelby chuckled. "I do want you to get into your pajamas and brush your teeth though so we can have a conversation about everything that happened today."

"Oh," came Rachel's response.

"I'm going to go do the same. I want you to come to my bedroom when you're done," Shelby said, planting three firmer pats to Rachel's backside to get her moving. She waited until Rachel was up and in the bathroom before heading to her own room.

Rachel padded into her mom's bedroom several minutes later. She had traded her skirt and sweater for a pair of blue and green flannel pajama bottoms and a gray t-shirt. Henry was tucked safely in her arms and she carried her favorite fleece blanket (purple with lime green stars) over her shoulder.

Shelby's bathroom door was shut and Rachel could hear the water running inside. She took a running leap towards the bed, bouncing on the landing, before flopping back into the mound of pillows. The girl wiggled and kicked her way under the covers and tossed the shams and accent pillows onto the floor. Finally she spread her blanket out over top of her and snuggled down with Henry nestled against her cheek.

The teen reached into her pocket to grab her phone and was quickly lost in a game of Candy Crush. Much too soon, she found it snatched from her grasp once again and in the hands of her mother.

"I almost beat that level," she groaned, her lip jutting out as she watched her mom turn the device off and stick it in the nightstand.

"You can try again on Wednesday," Shelby replied as she climbed into bed besides Rachel.

"What? Why?" Rachel asked, brows furrowed.

"Because that's when your grounding is over," the mother answered, bracing herself for the evitable whining that was about to start.

"Aw, Mama, please," came the girl's cajole.

Shelby's heart fluttered and she pulled Rachel to her and held her tightly. "I'll give it back to you in the morning," she said, surprising even herself. She had had every intention to stay consistent and follow through with the rest of Rachel's grounding. While today's events were awful and she wanted to console and even coddle Rachel, she knew she needed to remain firm on the girl's current punishment. The events of today had nothing to do with Rachel's behavior from last week and the two should stay separate. However, Rachel had just called her Mama and all of Shelby's self-restraint and good sense melted away along with the rest of her.

Rachel gawked at her mom's announcement, glad that her face was hidden from Shelby's view at this moment. She didn't want the woman to know that Rachel was surprised at her decision or she may decide to rescind it. Rachel couldn't believe her pleading had actually worked—it never did in the past! She silently wondered why this time had been different.

"Alright," Shelby shook her head to clear it, "Let's talk about today, Rach." She sat up and Rachel copied her.

"Do we have to? I really don't want to," said Rachel.

"We do. It's important, honey," Shelby insisted.

"Am I really not going back to McKinley?" Rachel asked.

"Do you want to?"

Rachel sighed and picked at the pilling on her blanket as she searched for the right words. "Well, no," she said. "Not really. But I don't like the idea of starting over again either. You're going to make me go to Carmel, aren't you?"

"I think that's the best place for you. I think you'll really like it there. They have fantastic academics and a wonderful music program. Besides, your cousins go there. And Jesse," Shelby said, reaching her hand out to grasp Rachel's.

"Yeah," Rachel sighed, still not looking at her mother.

"You don't think so? Talk to me, Rach," Shelby said gently.

"Can't I be homeschooled?" Rachel whined.

"Is that what you want, Rachel?" Shelby asked, trying to get her daughter to look at her. She finally hooked a finger under her daughter's chin and forced her to meet her eyes. "I can find you a tutor if that's really what you want. Do you want to give up show choir? You won't be able to participate in that if you're homeschooled."

Rachel sighed again and jerked her head away from her mother's grasp. She didn't want to look into the woman's eyes at the moment. Truth be told, Rachel didn't know what she wanted. She wanted things to go back to how they were before her mom knew her secret. Or she wanted to go back before she started school…maybe she should have chosen to transfer schools before all of this started. Better yet, Rachel wished she could go back to when she was born. She wished her mother could have been in her life from the very beginning, and then maybe none of the hurt she had experienced would ever have happened.

"Honey?" Shelby prodded. She held in a sigh as she eyed her daughter. She wished she could take all of the girl's pain away. Since getting her, it seemed that there was always something that came up that caused the girl to suffer, and Shelby hated that she felt useless. In truth, Shelby didn't know what to do most days. She was doing her best, but she was afraid that her best wasn't good enough. Surely there was more she could do to help Rachel through her problems. Not being able to get the teen to open up proved one of the worst issues that Shelby had yet to solve. How was she supposed to get Rachel to talk to her when the girl refused?

"Let's move to New York. I can be homeschooled and you can be on stage. Please, Mama," Rachel said, sitting up on her knees and scooting closer to her mom. She placed her hands on her mother's crossed knees and leaned in, her eyes imploring.

There it is again, Shelby thought to herself. Rachel called her Mama. The mother felt her heart flutter once more and she willed herself to be strong. She couldn't give in to this request like she had the grounding. Moving to New York was not the same as letting the girl off the hook a day early.

"Our home is here, Rachel," Shelby affirmed.

"But—"

"Hush now, we're getting off topic," said Shelby. "We can talk about the school issue more later. I want to talk about the slushies. Rachel, why didn't you tell me that was going on at school?"

Rachel let out a huff and sat back on her bottom, her legs tucked up on each side. "It doesn't matter," she muttered, once again picking at her blanket.

"What? Of course it matters, honey," Shelby said, lifting her daughter's chin. "Everything that happens in your life matters."

"Mom, it's fine. It's over. I won't have to deal with it anymore. Why do we have to talk about it?" Rachel brushed off.

"Because it did happen, Rach, and you had to deal with it longer than you needed to. You should have told me," Shelby said in exasperation.

Rachel crossed her arms and scowled. "I don't need to tell you everything," she grumbled.

"No, you don't, that's true," Shelby conceded. "But in this instance, you do. You shouldn't have had to put up with the bullying. It's my job to protect you from that and take control of the situation if it happens."

"Okay, fine! God!" Rachel shouted. "It's done now. You handled it. Are we done talking about this?" Without waiting for an answer, Rachel stood and grabbed her belongings. She stomped around the end of the bed and was planning on an epic storm out complete with the slamming of the door, but Shelby was up and had a firm grip on Rachel's arm before she had a chance.

"No, we are not done talking about this," Shelby said in a firm voice. "Sit down."

Rachel groaned and tried to pull away. "No. Mom. Let me go," she ordered, now close to tears. She was angry and frustrated and she didn't want to sit and talk. She wanted to yell and throw things and she knew her mom wouldn't like that, so her next best option was to stomp off to her room where she could be alone. But…being alone wasn't really what Rachel wanted either. "I don't want to—Ow!" she yelped, shocked at the swat that fell on her backside.

Shelby's hand was still raised, ready to swat again if she needed to. She hadn't spanked her daughter hard, just enough to get her attention. It had certainly surprised the girl and she cried out from the suddenness of it more than anything else.

Shelby wasn't naïve. She knew Rachel didn't want to talk about this issue, but she also knew that the girl needed to—whether she realized that or not. In the few months that Rachel had been in her life, Shelby had learned that her daughter yelled and lashed out when she was frightened or upset about a situation that was well over her head. Rachel hadn't had to have these tough conversations with her fathers so she tried to make them nearly impossible for Shelby. What the fourteen-year-old didn't seem to realize was that Shelby was just as stubborn and determined as she was, and only one of them could win. Unfortunately for the teen, it wouldn't be her.

Rachel continued to fight against her mother's restraint, stomping her foot and grunting out a frustrated screech.

Shelby sighed and kept her eyes closed a second longer than necessary. She needed that moment. As much as Shelby understood that Rachel's reactions were a product of the underlying situation, she realized that she couldn't ignore them either. Rachel needed to learn that she couldn't bottle things up and then explode when they got to be too much for her. She was responsible for each of her actions and those actions have consequences. Rachel wouldn't always be fourteen and it wouldn't always be as easy to sweep her tantrums under the rug. She would need to learn how to deal with her feelings and express them in an appropriate way. Yelling at her mother and trying to storm out was not appropriate.

Opening her eyes, Shelby pulled Rachel closer to her and then let her hand descend once more to make contact with Rachel's pajama-clad bottom. This time the swat landed with a solid splat that caused Rachel to rock up on her toes.

The cry that escaped her child's lips this time was filled with pain and Shelby could see the first tears roll down Rachel's face. A hot knife pierced through Shelby's heart at the sight of her girl hurting, but she had to push that feeling aside if she hoped to get Rachel to open up. Shelby needed to be stern with her daughter in this moment. She hated to be, but it was the only way.

"I don't want to be the bad guy here, Rachel, but if you keep fighting me, I'll have to be," Shelby said.

"I d-don't want you to be the bad guy, Mom," Rachel sniffed. "But I don't want to talk either," she added as several tears escaped.

Shelby gave her daughter a sad smile as she swiped at the girl's tears with her thumb. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Rachel, but it's going to happen anyway," she sympathized.

"But Mommy," Rachel moaned, the fight gone completely out of her. She leaned into her mother and let the woman envelope her in a hug.

"C'mon, let's sit down," Shelby said after a moment, moving the pair back to the bed. She sat and pulled Rachel towards her.

Rachel felt her mother tug at her arm gently and immediately dug in her heels. "No, I can't!" she pleaded. "It hurts!" A hand slunk behind her and began to rub at the sore spot on her backside without thought. Several minutes had now passed, but the spot her mother had spanked throbbed with a pulse all its own.

"You can curl up next to me then," said Shelby, scooting back on the bed and holding her hand out for Rachel. She was patient as Rachel climbed up besides her and found a comfortable position against her. As Rachel settled down, Shelby took a moment to rub her daughter's bottom to ease the sting. The mother suspected that while her daughter may still have a twinge of lingering pain in her posterior, the majority of it was in the girl's head. Still, if it made her feel better to lay down and cuddle with her mother while they had this conversation, Shelby wasn't about to object. She was more than willing to provide Rachel with all of the comfort and reassurance she needed.

Rachel sighed contentedly as she rested her head against her mother's chest, listening to the gentle thud of her heartbeat. She would stay like this forever if she could.

"Alright honey, let's talk," Shelby broke the silence.

If only Mom wouldn't ruin it, Rachel thought to herself. "I don't know what you want to talk about," she said out loud.

"I want to talk about the bullying and why you didn't tell me about it. Why did I have to find out on accident? Honey, were you ever going to tell me?" Shelby asked, adjusting herself slightly so she could meet Rachel's eyes.

"I didn't want to bother you with it. I was handling it," Rachel said as she lowered her gaze.

"Honey, taking several changes of clothes to school and getting Quinn to wash them at her house so I wouldn't find out is not handling it. You should have told me the first day it happened. Hell, you should have told me before school started if it has been going on as long as you say. You never had to go through any of it, Rachel. Don't you see that?" Shelby said.

"I-I couldn't," Rachel insisted. "I was too afraid to tell you!"

"What? Rachel, why? You can tell me anything, honey!" Shelby said, her voice thick with tears. She sniffed and quickly wiped at her eyes.

Rachel sat up and looked at her mother anxiously. "Mama, you're crying," she said, reaching out to touch her mom's face. She wiped a tear away and then pulled her hand back to look at the droplet resting on her finger.

Shelby sat up as well and took Rachel's hands in hers. "Rachel, honey, are you really scared to talk to me and tell me things? I'm not doing my job if you feel that way, we need to get help and—"

"Mom, no! Of course not, I—I didn't mean it that way," Rachel hurried to say. "Mommy, please don't cry. I'm not scared to tell you things."

"I'm okay," Shelby assured her daughter with a watery smile. She took a deep breath to settle herself; she didn't want to cry in front of her daughter. Now wasn't the time to break down. Rachel needed her to be strong.

"I was scared, but…I'm not anymore," Rachel said, focusing on her hands still clutching her mother's.

"Can you tell me why you were scared?" Shelby prodded.

"I didn't want you to know that I wasn't popular like you. I was afraid I'd ruin your life and you wouldn't want to have me around," Rachel talked down to her lap.

"Oh honey," Shelby sighed, pulling the girl into her arms. She held her tightly and willed all of her love to seep into Rachel and mend the hurt pieces within the girl's heart. "You are the best thing that has happened in my life, and I will never not want you around."

"Mom—I can't breathe," Rachel whined.

"Sorry," Shelby said sheepishly as she pulled away. She cupped Rachel's face in her hands and kissed the girl's head. "Do you still feel that way?"

"No," Rachel said. "I feel really stupid now for feeling that way at all. And for thinking any of those things."

"You don't need to feel stupid for those thoughts and feelings, Rach. You are allowed to feel that way. I just wish you had come and talked to me about it so I could have helped sooner. It shouldn't have taken all those slushies and a fight for me to find out about it," Shelby said gently.

"I guess," Rachel said with a shrug. "But it was sorta because of the slushie and fight today that I don't feel that way any more."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Rachel began, lowering her gaze, "You came to school and stood up for me with everyone. Everything you said to Figgins about the slushies and then after I started the fight…those things I was afraid of seemed really silly then. And I know you're my mom and that's your job and all, but it made me stop and think. No one else has stood up for me like that—Well, besides you and Quinn."

"I love you, Rachel. I will always be there to stand up for you," Shelby said, leaning forward to kiss Rachel's head. "I'm glad you have Quinn in your corner too," she added.

"Me too," said Rachel, wiping at the spot her mom just kissed. It had been a wet kiss and Rachel thought it was gross. Okay, and sweet, but that didn't mean she wanted mom cooties on her face!

"You know, Quinn had been telling me to tell you the truth since the first day of school. She kept saying you'd understand and take care of the problem—she said you'd go in and own the school by the time you were finished. I guess she was kinda right, huh?" Rachel added after several minutes of silence.

"You think?" Shelby asked, her fingers finding her daughter's ribcage and digging in until the girl broke into a fit of giggles.

"M-Mom, no! Un-uncle! I call uncle!" Rachel panted. She had fallen onto her side and curled herself up into a tiny ball in an effort to guard as many of her ticklish spots as possible, but her mom found them with apparent ease. She gasped for air between peels of laughter and was thankful when she felt her mother cease her attack.

Rachel uncurled herself as she caught her breath and looked up at her mom with a wide smile. "Can I sleep in here tonight?" she asked.

Shelby returned her daughter's smile and nodded. "You can. We're not going to bed just yet. We still have one more thing to talk about," she said, stopping her daughter from rolling off of the bed.

"What?" Rachel asked as she rolled back to look up at her mom.

"You need to sit up," Shelby answered, patting the girl's bottom until she did as she was told.

Shelby waited until Rachel was situated and paying attention before she continued. "About the fight today—"

"Am I in trouble?" Rachel interjected nervously. "You said at school that I wasn't! You can't change your mind now."

"No, Rach, you aren't in trouble," Shelby eased the girl. "That doesn't mean we aren't going to talk about it."

Rachel felt her body relax at her mother's confirmation that she wasn't in trouble. The talk didn't scare her—how bad could it possibly be? Rachel suspected she'd suffer through a scolding and that'd be that.

"Rachel, I really do understand what happened today and I don't fault you for your actions. You were standing up for yourself and defending yourself. I would have done the exact same at your age," Shelby said. The satisfied smirk playing across her daughter's lips did not go unnoticed by her.

"However," she began, and the smirk grew smaller on Rachel's face, "That doesn't mean I condone fighting. Today was a special circumstance. During normal circumstances, it should never be your solution to a problem. Sometimes you just can't avoid a fight, but at your age—and especially at a new school—there should be no cause to resort to your fists. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Rachel answered obediently.

"Good girl," Shelby smiled. She kissed Rachel's head once more before climbing out of bed. A glance at the clock on her nightstand told Shelby it was nine thirty-four; their talk had lasted a little over an hour.

"Where are you going?" Rachel asked as she scrambled off the bed.

"To the bathroom, is that okay?" Shelby said as she disappeared into the en-suite.

"Are we going to bed?" Rachel followed her mother into the bathroom. She turned the faucet on to get a drink. She cupped her hand and brought it to her mouth twice before turning to her mom with a frown. Why hadn't she answered her question yet?

Shelby was staring incredulously at her child standing two feet from where she was sitting on the toilet, trying to do her business. Her mother's words echoed in her head, "One day, Shelby, you are going to have a child just like you, who follows you around and doesn't let you have a moment's peace. And when that happens, I am going to laugh for days!"

Tonight was clearly a night of firsts for mother and daughter. Tonight was the first time Rachel had called Shelby Mama, and now it was the first time Rachel had followed Shelby into the bathroom. Both instances had caught the mother off guard, but thinking about it now, Shelby was glad they happened. They showed progress. Almost three months into their new life and new relationship and Rachel was finally starting to feel completely comfortable in her role as Shelby's daughter.

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That's it for this chapter. What did you think? Quite a lot happened to Rachel in 25. What was your favorite part? Thing you're most excited to see in the following chapter? I haven't started writing 26 yet, but the goal is for it to focus on the camping trip (with lots of family fun and mischief, of course!). We should also find out the school situation for Rachel, and a bit of Jesse if I can figure out how to work him in! Check out my Tumblr page for sneak peeks into the next chapter and other news relating to my stories (I've got TWO little Shelby one-shots in the works). Stay tuned! Until next time, dear readers! Much love from DARecruit