"Hi Grams, Grandpa," Ryan said as he entered Sarah and Tom's house in Akron that Sunday.
"Hello, dear," Sarah said happily, wrapping her grandson in a hug.
"Hi, kid," Tom said, content to let his wife hug the stuffing out of the boy as they all stood in the hallway from the front door. "How's your week been? You're back a school right?"
"Yeah. School's okay. The glee club just had its first performance of the year on Friday," Ryan answered.
"You should have been there, the performance was to die for," Shelby said dryly. "I'd say I wish I'd had a video camera, but considering that choreography, it's probably for the best that I didn't." She started pushing everyone into the living room.
"It wasn't that bad!"
The front door opened again. "We're here!" Josh said cheerfully, Shelby winced, as he'd said it almost in her ear. Paige smacked him gently on the arm.
"Not so loud!"
"Okay, everyone in the living room," Sarah directed, and the group shuffled into said room.
"So, kiddo, what's new?" Josh inquired as he sank down on the couch.
"Yes, tell us about your performance," Sarah said.
"You performed?"
"This is what happens when you're late," Shelby told him, as Ryan told them all about the Toxic performance.
At the end of the story, Josh piped up. "Can you show us a sample of the dance?" Shelby just rolled her eyes.
..
"So, how's the wedding coming?" Shelby asked Josh and Paige as the three of them sat at the table later that afternoon. Tom and Sarah had decided to pick some things up at the grocery and Ryan had gone with them. "Less than three weeks left, right?"
"Yeah," Josh nodded. "It's all set, right, Paige?"
"Everything's pretty much set," his fiancée nodded. "Let's just pray nothing falls through at the last minute."
"You're looking really relaxed for someone who's getting married in three weeks," Shelby noted. "Remember when your friend Lorraine was getting married?" she asked Josh. "She broke out in hives the day before the wedding because the band cancelled on her the day before."
"How could I forget?" Josh asked wryly. "She made me run out and get a dozen tubes of concealer because I was the first person she could find. I didn't even know what the hell concealer was."
"We've got everything under control," Paige said. "Besides," she glanced at Josh. "We've sort of got another reason we need to stay relaxed."
"Oh?" Shelby looked at them curiously.
The couple shared a glance. "It's kind of a secret, don't tell anyone yet, okay?" Josh said.
"Okay…"
"We're having a baby," Paige said softly, with a smile.
Shelby looked between them in shock, before breaking out into a smile. "You're having a baby? Congratulations! That's amazing!" She was mature enough not to think of what her baby brother had done to cause the formation of a baby…No she wasn't. Ugh. She pushed it out of her mind. "When are you due?"
"I'm two months along, so April," Paige answered, smiling wider.
"Why don't you want to tell Mom and Dad?"
"We just wanted to keep it to ourselves for a while," Josh said. "And besides, I thought maybe they wouldn't take it too well, since we're not married yet."
"They wouldn't care," Shelby answered. "But your baby, your choice." She smiled wider. "I'm going to be an aunt."
"Okay, okay, let's not jinx it," Josh said teasingly. "Now, on to other news. You're bringing James to the wedding right?"
Shelby nodded. "Yes, if that's okay."
"You need to bring him, we already put him on the guest list as your plus one," Paige said. Josh had told her all about Shelby's complicated love story. "When do we get to meet your paramour, anyways?"
"Yes, Shelby," a voice said from behind them, making all three adults jump. "When are you bringing James around?"
"God, Mom, don't do that, you're going to give us heart attacks," Shelby grumbled at her mother, making the older woman smile.
"That's the fun part."
"Where's my kid?"
"Out in the back with your father. Ryan said he was thinking about joining his school's basketball team, did you know that?" Sarah asked.
"Yes, he asked me a few days ago if he could join one of the teams."
"Hey, that's cool," Josh said interestedly. "But I thought he didn't really go for sports."
Shelby shrugged. She knew why he was doing it, though. She'd been teaching in high school long enough to know that the cheerleaders dated the jocks. She suspected Ryan was trying to play it up for Quinn, since she'd gotten her spot back on the Cheerios.
"Anyways, he's out in the backyard, your dad's giving him some pointers."
..
"You just move it in an arc, and follow through with your hand, that's important," Tom advised Ryan, watching as the teenager threw the ball. It bounced off the rim. "Good for a first try, most people can't even get it to hit the net."
Ryan smiled. "It's really nice of you to help me out." He'd been really surprised to find out his grandfather had been a star point guard for his high school basketball team in Wisconsin decades ago. His team had gotten to the state championships twice while he was on the team, and he'd gone to the University of Michigan on a basketball scholarship.
"Of course I'd help you out," Tom said, easily catching the basketball on the rebound. He was sixty-two years old, but he was still going strong. He threw the ball, getting it neatly into the net.
"Wow."
Tom caught the ball again, dribbling twice before passing it to Ryan. "Here, try it again." Ryan complied, and this time the ball circled the rim twice before falling into the net. "Nice! A little training and you'll be able to get it in most of the time."
Ryan grinned broadly. "Thanks. But like I said, I'm still not sure I'm going to go for it. Basketball season starts in November, I'm still thinking about it."
"That's okay."
Josh came out of the house a second later. "Hey, Dad, Ryan." He held out his hands, and Tom passed him the ball.
"You play too?" Ryan asked curiously.
"I can, but I didn't really play in high school. I was more into the academic stuff, like debate, not basketball."
"Quite the disappointment," Tom teased him, as Josh shot the ball, missing by a few inches. Ryan caught it, shooting the ball again and just managing to get it into the net.
"Good one," Josh complimented. "Let's try some one-on-one." He got into a defensive position as Tom moved to join the three ladies, who were watching from the patio.
"Thanks, Daddy," Shelby smiled.
"Not a problem, Honey," Tom said, wrapping an arm around his daughter. "It's nice to know someone got my skills, anyway." He looked sideways at his daughter. "You should bring James around, then we could play doubles," he said sneakily.
"Daaaad." Shelby rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I will bring him around after he gets settled in Lima, okay?"
"Good."
The next day, Ryan approached Quinn's locker, only to find Finn Hudson already there, talking to Quinn. Curious, and not just a little bit jealous, he stayed behind the corner, listening to them.
"– Coach Beiste just let me back on the team, and she let Artie join too," Finn was saying. "And you got your spot on the Cheerios back, right?"
"Finn –"
"Come on, Quinn, I know we'd be perfect together, we were before," Finn said. "If I play really well, maybe I could be quarterback again. It could be like before, we could be at the top of the school."
"I told you already, I'm with Ryan now," Quinn said a little irritably. "Just get it in that pea-sized brain of yours that the two of us are over."
Finn huffed. "Fine." He walked off, and Ryan watched him go before going to Quinn.
"Good morning," he said, smiling. Quinn smiled at him in return, pulling a few books out of her locker. "What did Finn want?"
"Oh, nothing," Quinn said dismissively. "Just something stupid. It doesn't matter."
Ryan kept his smile on his face. Finn really did want Quinn back, he thought unhappily. If it came right down to it, Finn had a lot more status in this school than Ryan did, even if he'd lost his position as quarterback. He lightly tranced his finger over Quinn's Cheerio uniform.
"Are you sure you're okay with me joining the Cheerios again?"
He drew his hand back. A moment later he asked, "Are you happy?"
Quinn turned around to look at him. "Yes."
"Then yes. I just want you to be happy. I told you that already." Never mind that he was scared stiff that she was going to decide he wasn't worth her time and run off with Finn or one of the other jocks. He smiled at her, getting a kiss in return. "We should get to class."
..
The next day during his free period he went down to the guys' locker room, a place he never went outside of gym class, looking for Coach Beiste. He opened the door to the locker room, suppressing a shudder at the feet-smell of the room.
"Hey Ryan," Sam said, spotting him from one of the benches. He was sitting with Mike Chang, who smiled and gave Ryan a wave.
"Hi Sam, Mike. Have you seen Coach Beiste around?" asked Ryan.
"Yeah, think she's in her office," Sam nodded towards a door. "Why?"
"I thought I'd ask her if she's got any more spots open on any of the teams."
"That's cool," Sam said. Mike just looked surprised, but then he was always quiet. "Which ones?"
"Not sure yet."
"Okay," Sam nodded. "Well, she's in there."
"Thanks guys." Ryan said, knocking on the door Sam had pointed out.
"It's open!" He heard the coach call from behind the door, and he went inside. Coach Beiste looked up from her paperwork on the desk as he came in. "Corcoran, right?"
"Right. Ryan Corcoran."
"What can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if you've got anymore spots open for any of the sports teams here at McKinley," Ryan said.
"Played anything before?"
"Not really," Ryan admitted. "Some soccer in grade school. I run regularly, so I think I'm in good shape. I used to take dance classes."
Coach Beiste nodded thoughtfully. "Well, the football team's filled up, but we could use a few reserves. Don't have a soccer team though. Too few kids in this town, and most guys would rather play football than soccer."
Ryan shook his head. He didn't like the guys on the football team, other than Mike Chang and maybe Sam Evans. And he didn't really like the thought of getting smashed into the ground by a 200-pound linebacker. "Football's not really my thing."
"Fair enough," Coach Beiste shrugged. "Basketball starts up in November, if you're interested. I'm thinkin' of doing tryouts in October. Football team needed a lot of work; the basketball team probably does too."
"I'll probably try out for that." He'd found out that weekend with his grandfather that he was actually pretty good at the game. And it made him feel more connected to his family.
The coach nodded. "What else…Ice hockey in winter, but that's at the same time as basketball. Don't have a baseball team yet for spring, but I'm thinkin' of changing that."
"That would be cool," Ryan smiled.
"What year are you in?"
"I'm a junior."
"You think about joining, and then you come see me." She pulled open a drawer and fished out a sheet of paper. "Get one of your parents to sign this too, and bring it to whatever tryouts you want to come to."
Ryan took the permission slip. "Thanks."
..
Shelby went into the teacher's lounge during her free sixth period. The place was empty except for a large woman sitting at one of the tables reading a newspaper. Not seeing the sense in sitting alone, Shelby approached her. "Mind if I sit here?"
The woman looked up at her before nodding. "Sure." Shelby sat down.
"You're the new athletics coach, right?" she asked.
"Yeah. Shannon Beiste." The coach held her hand out. Shelby took it.
"Shelby Corcoran. I'm the English teacher, I'm new too."
"Corcoran? You related to Ryan?"
Shelby nodded. "My son." She smiled. She was never going to get over the high of having her child back. "You've met him already?"
Shannon nodded. "Yeah. Nice kid, met him the first day. He looks like you."
"Yes he does," Shelby agreed. "I think he might talk to you sometime soon, he was asking me the other day if I was okay with him joining a team."
"Yeah, he was down at the locker rooms this morning, asking if I still had room on any of the teams. I told him I've still got reserve spots for the football team this fall, and basketball and ice hockey for the winter season."
Shelby nodded. Her kid worked fast. Will came into the room. "Hi Shelby, Shannon. Anyone sitting here?"
"Nope," Shannon answered. "And I gotta go anyways. See you guys around." She stood up and left as Will sat down at the table with a mug.
"Hi Will," Shelby smiled.
"Hey, listen. I wanted to apologize," Will said a bit awkwardly.
"For what?"
"For going off at you the other day when you tried to talk to me about the Britney Assembly performance," Will explained. "I shouldn't have done that. You were right. It was a mistake, I shouldn't have gotten up there with the kids. I don't know what was wrong with me."
"You were trying to attract Emma's attention," Shelby said lightly, taking a sip from her own coffee mug. "Oh, don't look at me like that, it's kind of obvious, Will. The Corvette, the performance…"
Will nodded. "Yeah. You're right again."
"I usually am."
"Modest," Will said, chuckling. He could see where Ryan got it from. "I figured it out this weekend that I'm not pining over her anymore. She made her choice, and it's Carl." He made a face. "I need to move on with my life."
"Good for you," Shelby said approvingly. Will smiled at her. "How's the glee club looking this year? Think you can beat VA this time around."
"Oh, most definitely." Will grinned broadly. "She didn't have a solo at the assembly, but we've got the new exchange student, you know, the one from the Philippines? She's phenomenal. You should have heard her kill her audition song," he said happily. "And everyone else is doing great, too."
"That's good," Shelby nodded. "I should tell you though, Vocal Adrenaline has their set list planned out months in advance, and if my replacement is worth anything he's already getting it together. You might want to start doing the same."
"We usually get the set list together a few weeks before the competition, the kids stay fresh that way," Will explained. "But we'll think about it. Any other tips?"
"Oh, I wouldn't want to interfere with your glee club," Shelby said teasingly.
Will winced slightly. "Fair enough. But seriously, if you ever want to help, the choir room's always open," he smiled. "And my office too."
Shelby blinked at the offer, before smiling at him a bit uncertainly. "Thank you."
A few days later found Ryan back at work in Burt Hummel's garage, working on a tire change. He was situated on his back under an SUV with muffler problems when he heard Kurt and Mr. Hummel come into the garage talking.
"– dinners' six instead of seven on Friday, Carole and Finn are coming over and she has to work the night shift," Burt was saying.
"No, I can't do Friday. It's the annual Sound of Music Singalong night at the theatre. It's a once a year event."
"And last year you had to camp out at the video store so you could be first in line for those Grey's Anatomy DVDs."
"Season six, Dad."
"Those Friday night dinners are a ritual in our family. One your mother started."
"I know," Kurt said, sounding a bit uncomfortable. "But I'm a teenager. Friday nights are important to me. Why are you making me feel guilty about this?" He started to sound defensive.
"Those dinners are more than important," Burt said seriously. "They're sacred. The whole point of having something sacred is that it takes precedence over everything else. And let's face it, we don't got a lot in common. If we miss those, our lives, they just go right by each other."
Ryan was feeling pretty uncomfortable under the SUV. Every once in a while he'd end up witnessing one of the Hummels' family conversations, and it was weird, to say the least. He knew he shouldn't be listening, but he couldn't very well make his presence known this far into the conversation. That would just be awkward.
"I'm sorry not missing something I look forward to all year just for another dinner," Kurt said obstinately.
"I gotta tell you, I'm real disappointed in you, Kurt." Burt turned around and went into his office, leaving Kurt standing in the garage with a mulish expression on his face.
Ryan accidentally-on-purpose dropped his wrench, making the other boy turn around. Then he slid out from under the car.
Kurt looked at him. "I didn't know you were there."
Ryan shrugged. He stood up and started putting away the tools he'd been using. "I think you're taking your family for granted too much."
"That's none of your business."
"Maybe not, but your family's important. You shouldn't fight him so much." Burt was a great dad, Ryan knew that, and it annoyed him a bit that Kurt didn't seem to appreciate it. "A lot of people wish they had what you two had."
"What would you know about that?" Kurt threw back irritably. "You've got two perfect dads, not to mention your mom."
Ryan's anger flared as he met Kurt's gaze. "You don't know anything about me," he almost snarled, before checking himself. He looked away from the other boy's surprised expression. "Look, never mind. I know it's not my business."
"You're right, it's not," Kurt answered. "See you at school, I've got to meet Mercedes." He left the garage, leaving Ryan alone. He sighed. He hadn't meant to get angry at Kurt. It was just almost inconceivable for him that he would pass up a family tradition. He had always admired the Hummels' relationship. He would have given anything to have Hiram and Leroy care about little things like that when he was younger, and now he valued every visit he and Shelby made to his grandparents, every visit James made to Lima, hell, even every time Shelby just sat down to talk to him. He shook his head. If Kurt couldn't see what a great dad he had, then it was his loss.
A few days later
Ryan walked briskly along the corridors, stopping when he spotted a familiar figure. "Hello Sam."
"Hey Dude," Sam grinned when he spotted Ryan.
Ryan smiled back. The new kid really was nice. And he sang really well, Ryan had to admit. Thank god he hadn't managed to send him to that crack house. That would have been a disaster. Now he just had to figure out how to get the blonde boy onto the glee club. He fumbled for something to say. "How was the game the other day?"
"We won," Sam said proudly. "We scored five touchdowns with Finn pushing Artie down the field with the football."
Ryan blinked. "Really? Wow, I didn't actually think that would work." He didn't really follow football, but wasn't that against the rules or something?
"Yeah, Finn said Artie would be like some kind of tank, all that metal driving down the field. I kinda think the other team was scared to come near him. Sort of like an AT-AT."
"I assume Finn pushed Artie faster than an AT-AT? Those things are really tough, but incredibly slow."
Sam looked at Ryan, impressed. "You're probably the first person at this school to understand any of my Star Wars references."
Ryan shrugged, putting his books back into his locker. "I'm a mechanic, and those things were cool." Leroy had brought home a copy of the original trilogy when he was nine. Out of boredom Ryan had decided to pop one of them in and had ended up watching all three. That was maybe a year after he'd gotten interested in cars, and the idea of giant mechanical vehicles shooting lasers all over the place had appealed to him.
"I know, right?" Sam smiled happily.
"Since it looks like you're doing pretty well in football, is there any chance you might want to audition for glee club?" Ryan asked. He'd gotten over his temporary insanity and realized that they did in fact need more people. "That audition was actually just a formality, you can actually come in any time."
"Oh." Sam fidgeted uncomfortably. "I didn't really tell you the truth last time," he said awkwardly. His voice dropped lower. "Do you know how the guys in the locker room talk about you?"
Ryan nodded. "I can imagine."
"I already told Finn, I'm new around here, I can't start my time here as a loser. No offense," Sam added guiltily. "I mean, I think you're cool, but I need to get a rep first, you know?"
"I understand," Ryan nodded resignedly. "Just think about it, okay?"
Sam nodded. "Okay. Maybe. See you later, man." He walked off and five seconds later, Azimio swaggered by, offhandedly knocking into Ryan and making him hit the row of lockers with a slight grunt.
"Oops, didn't see ya there," the large boy smirked.
"Your optic lobe's probably been scrambled to mush on the football field," Ryan grumbled.
"You talkin' back to me?" Azimio advanced on Ryan menacingly.
Ryan glared back. "Just back off."
"Or what, you gonna call your fairy dads on me?" Azimio sneered victoriously when he saw Ryan' expression turn furious. "Don't even know why Fabray's dating a fag like you." He sauntered off, leaving Ryan absolutely furious in the hallway.
..
Later at glee club rehearsal, Ryan stared incredulously along with the other kids as Finn announced that he wanted to pay a tribute to Jesus this week in glee.
Kurt spoke up. "Sorry, but if I wanted to sing songs about Jesus I'd go to church," he said sardonically. "And the reason I don't go to church is because they don't think very much of gay people. Or women. Or science."
"Well, I for one don't see anything wrong with getting a little church up in here," Mercedes put in.
"I agree," Quinn said, surprising Ryan. Although he shouldn't have been surprised; he knew Quinn's family was Christian. He supposed that was why he never saw her on Sundays. She must have been at church. "I had a really tough year, and I turned to God a lot. I wouldn't mind saying thanks."
"Thanks for what?" Santana snarked. "That it didn't come out a lizard baby?"
"Whenever I pray I fall asleep," Brittney said.
"Well, maybe our songs don't have to be about Jesus," Mr. Schue suggested. "Maybe they could be about spirituality."
Puck made a derisive sound, and Finn looked at him. "You got a problem with Jesus?" he asked aggressively.
"Oh, I got no problem with the guy," Puck answered. "I'm a total Jew for Jesus. What I don't like is everybody using him to cramp people's style. 'Cause the way I see it, true spirituality or whatever is about enjoying the life that you've been given. I mean, I see God every time I'm making out with a new chick."
Ryan rolled his eyes. "That doesn't make sense, in fact it's just stupid."
"You calling Mr. Billy Joel stupid?"
Ryan just sighed, listening to Puck's rendition of Only the Good Die Young. Later, he and Quinn walked out of the choir room together after the meeting. "What did you think about Finn's spiritual thing?" Quinn asked casually.
He glanced at her. "It was all right. I don't really have any particular feelings about it."
Quinn thought about that for a moment. "What do you believe?"
"Does that matter?"
"Just answer the question."
Ryan was quiet for a moment. "I'm…not sure," he admitted. Religion hadn't been very important when he was younger, and he honestly hadn't really given it much thought. "Hiram was Jewish, but he didn't really bring us to Temple. Leroy was Catholic, though. We went to mass on the important days, like Christmas and Lent, but it didn't really affect us the rest of the time." He hesitated, realizing that he didn't know what his mom believed. "How about you? I know your family's Christian, but how about you? I know it bothers you when the others are overly irreverent at school."
"I grew up at church," Quinn smiled wryly. "So I guess it does bother me a little."
"Do you really think Finn's sandwich had Jesus on it?" Ryan asked skeptically.
Quinn scoffed. "No, I think he just burned his sandwich. Idiot."
"Is it important? That you're a Christian, and I'm not?"
"I kind of wish you were," she admitted. "But no, it's not." She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, and he smiled. She smirked at him. "If we were dealing with my dad, though…"
"Well, fortunately we're not."
"No," Quinn smiled, pulling him in to kiss him again, cupping his neck with her hand. Sparks seemed to run all across Ryan's body as she ran her tongue along his lips, gently coaxing his mouth open, and his knees almost buckled when she started swirling it in his mouth. His hands started to move up to hold her, but then she pulled back abruptly.
"What?" He asked.
Quinn grabbed his hand, pulling him into an empty classroom. "Not in the hallway." She tugged him down again, pressing their lips together.
Right, an empty classroom was probably a better idea. "Won't we get caught?" he asked between kisses. He'd had absolutely no experience with making out in the school.
"Nope."
"Well, in that case," Ryan smiled, maneuvering so that he was pressing Quinn against the classroom door. "I think you look very hot in that uniform," he breathed into her ear, feeling her shiver slightly. He kissed her insistently, tongues battling for dominance as his hands coming to rest on her hips. He closed his eyes as one of her hands ran through his hair, her other arm wrapping around his neck.
Ryan gulped loudly as Quinn's lips found their way down his jaw and onto his neck. He could just feel all his blood pounding south, and he shut his eyes for a second, trying desperately to keep himself together. What he wouldn't give to have her touching him down there right now…
Feeling daring today, he slipped one hand down lower on her leg, inching towards her thigh. Quinn caught his hand though. "Not yet."
"When, then?" he asked almost plaintively. "If you think about it we've been together for a couple of months now." Yes, he knew he'd said he'd respect her limits, and he meant it. But he was a fifteen-year-old guy who was making out with his smoking hot girlfriend. It had been two months and she hadn't let him past first base yet! He could only take so much before wanting more. He started toying with the hem of her top while kissing at the side of her neck, smiling when he felt her breath hitch. But then she pulled his hand away.
"I said not yet."
Ryan sighed disappointedly, dropping his head on his girlfriend's shoulder for a second. "Okay, okay." He took another deep breath, holding back a whimper when the motion accidentally caused a very sensitive part of him to brush against Quinn.
"Thank you." Quinn looked at him, smiling. She placed a more PG-rated kiss on his lips before pushing him off. She grabbed his wrist, checking his watch. "I need to go, I've got Cheerios." She kissed him one more time, lingering – this was really not helping his problem – before leaving him alone in the room.
He sighed again in frustration. Looks like it was time for another cold shower.
Two days later
Ryan turned away from his locker just in time for large grape slushy to hit him hard in the face. "How d'you like that, loser?" Karofsky jeered at him. Ryan took a second to wipe some of the slushy out of his eyes before glaring angrily at the larger boy. This was the second of the day, and he was getting really pissed. Before he could say anything, Quinn arrived.
"Back off, Karofsky," she glared at him.
"Looks like you're hiding behind your girlfriend again, gay boy," Karofsky sneered. "Those baby hormones must have really messed you up Fabray, for you to go out with this loser." He swaggered off.
Quinn turned toward Ryan, who was glaring daggers into the back of the football player. "You should get cleaned up." She was surprised when he rounded on her abruptly.
"You shouldn't have stopped him, I could have handled that myself," he said irately.
"What?"
"I don't always need you to fight them off for me, Quinn, I can do it myself. Just because I'm not as popular as you doesn't mean I'm useless!"
"Okay, what the hell is your problem? I was just trying to help you!" Quinn snapped back.
Ryan huffed angrily. "I'm just getting sick of people wondering why exactly you're with me, because since you've gotten back on the Cheerios, it seems like everyone thinks you're out of your mind to date me." He'd seen Jacob Ben Israel's blog that morning, outlining Quinn Fabray's baby hormone insanity causing her to date the only person who'd scored a negative on last year's Glist debacle. Ryan had told himself it wasn't going to get to him, but it did. Especially with the reminder that this time last year Quinn wouldn't have given him the time of day.
"So this is about the Cheerios? I thought you were okay with it!"
"It's not about that, okay?" he said in frustration. "And I am okay with it!"
"Then what's wrong with you?"
"Can't I just be angry? Everyone already thinks I'm a loser, and I'm starting to think you still think so too!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Quinn asked angrily.
"Never mind," Ryan said crossly. "I just need you to let me handle this myself, okay?"
"Fine," Quinn said coldly. "If that's what you want, you go do that." She walked off, passing by Finn Hudson, who had a look of awed surprise on his face.
"You okay, Quinn?" he asked.
"None of your business, Finn," she said irritably.
..
Later that afternoon though, his argument with Quinn was the last thing on Ryan's mind as he waited anxiously outside the English classroom for his mom's last class to finish. Finally the bell rang, and Ryan impatiently watched the students shuffling out of the room. "Mom?"
Shelby looked up. "Hi, sweetie. What's up?" He didn't usually come to find her after classes, preferring to either meet her in the parking lot or catch a ride with Quinn. She was pretty sure most of the school weren't aware they were related yet.
Ryan went inside, closing the door behind him. He surprised Shelby by giving her a hug. She returned it quickly. "Are you okay?" she asked confusedly.
"Yeah," he nodded into her shoulder, before pulling back. He laughed a bit nervously. "Sorry."
"It's fine," Shelby assured him. She wanted him to know he could always come to her. "What's wrong?"
Ryan went over to sit down on his mom's desk. "I'm okay." He took a breath. "I just heard that Mr. Hummel had a heart attack."
"Oh," Shelby said in surprise. "Is he going to be okay?"
"He's in a coma at the hospital."
"Are you okay?" She asked again, unsure about how this news was affecting her son. She didn't know exactly how close he and Burt Hummel were.
"I'm okay. Just a bit shocked, I guess. He seemed fine the other day." He paused, fiddling with his sleeve. "I can't help but feel sorry for Kurt. It's just him and his dad, his mom died years ago. Mr. Hummel's dating Carole Hudson, Finn's mom, but that's different, I guess." He leaned against Shelby. He needed to feel close right now. He shuddered slightly, thinking about what would happen if something happened to his mom. He didn't even want to consider it. "Love you."
Shelby wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I love you." They stayed like that for a moment, before Shelby stood up. "Do you have glee?"
"No, Mr. Schue called it off. He's with Miss Pillsbury and Kurt at the hospital."
"Just let me get my stuff from the office, then we'll go home, okay?" Shelby touched his arm.
The teenager just nodded morosely in response, following her out of the room.
The next day the glee club sat in the choir room, listening to Mercedes singing I Look to You for Kurt. But to everyone's surprise, Kurt was not very appreciative. "Your voice is stunning, but I don't believe in God," he said flatly.
"Wait, what?" Tina asked in shock.
"You've all professed your beliefs, so I'm stating mine," Kurt continued flatly. "I think God is kind of like Santa Claus for adults. And if there is God he's kind of a jerk. He makes me gay and then has all his followers saying I chose to be this way. I don't want a heavenly father. I want my real one back."
"But Kurt, how do you know for sure?" Mercedes asked. "You can't prove there isn't a God."
"You can't prove there isn't a magic teapot on the dark side of the moon, with a dwarf living inside it that reads romance novels either," Kurt said sarcastically, making some of the other kids look uncomfortable.
"Is God an evil dwarf?" Brittney wondered.
"We shouldn't be talking like this, it's not right," Quinn said sharply.
"Sorry, Quinn," Kurt said quietly. "But you can all believe whatever you want to. I appreciate your thoughts, but I don't need your prayers." He walked out of the room.
The rest of the club dispersed a few minutes later, and Ryan went after Quinn. "Hey."
"What?" she asked huffily.
"I – I just wanted to apologize. I was in a bad mood yesterday, and I know it doesn't excuse my snapping at you, but I'm sorry. I know you want to be on the Cheerios, and it's fine with me." He looked at her anxiously.
Quinn looked at him for a moment, before relenting. "Okay. I forgive you. And I will try not to get involved in your fights with the football jocks. Deal?"
"Deal." Ryan walked Quinn back to her locker.
"What about that other thing?"
"What other thing?" Ryan stalled, not wanting to talk about it.
Quinn gave him a look. "The part where you said you think that I think you're a loser too. I told you, you're not. I don't think you're a loser."
Ryan sighed. "I know, I know." He didn't meet her eyes. "Just…you won't let me touch you. And I thought…maybe it's because you don't think I'm good enough for you. I mean, everyone thinks I'm not," he ended softly. "And I heard Finn talking to you the other day, and I know you said you didn't want him back, but…"
"Oh." Quinn blinked at him. That wasn't it at all.
Ryan felt really terrible right now. "Look, I'm sorry. I know, I get it. It's just hard. But I can wait. I promise."
"I believe you. And about Finn, I promise I don't want the big idiot anymore. I don't care how cool he thinks he is." She smirked. "And don't worry, if I want to break up with you, you'll know. Trust me."
That got him to smile. He hesitated. "Is it okay for me to hug you now?"
Quinn nodded, closing her eyes when Ryan enveloped her in his arms. She hated fighting with him, and she could just feel her tension from the past couple of days draining out. A few seconds later they broke apart.
"Did what Kurt say really bother you?" Ryan asked curiously.
"It's disrespectful, and maybe he doesn't believe in God but other people do, and it's not right to talk that way about God," she said irritably. "Why, do you agree with him?"
"Not completely," Ryan answered slowly, trying to put together what he actually thought. This was a really complicated topic. "But I didn't grow up in a Christian home like you, so I guess I'm not as offended as you are. I didn't really care about God before."
"Why not?"
"The idea of a heavenly father. I didn't need another father who ignored me and left me alone all the time."
Quinn stayed quiet for a moment. "I think I took the opposite approach. I didn't like my dad either so I wanted another one."
"Hey, Quinn, Ryan!" The pair turned, looking at Mercedes. "I was thinking of going with Finn to the hospital tomorrow. I wanted to pray for Burt," she explained, looking at Quinn. "I thought you could come and pray for him too, Quinn, since we're different denominations. Sunshine's not coming but she's praying for him too, and she's Catholic. Odds are one of us is right, and maybe it'll help." She turned to Ryan. "I'm not sure what you believe, but maybe you could pray for him too?"
Ryan hesitated a moment before nodding. "Yeah. I can remember some of the Jewish prayers from Hiram."
"Who?" Mercedes asked.
"My…dad. Long story," Ryan added when Mercedes looked curious. He hadn't told any of the glee club besides Quinn everything that had happened. And honestly he didn't think they'd care. He gave her a half smile. "It'll add another religion to the mix, anyways."
Once they got to the hospital the next day with Finn, they found Carole Hudson already sitting with Burt. Finn actually looked very conflicted about being there. Ryan supposed he could understand. Finn had found out later than everyone else that Burt had had a heart attack, and had rounded on Kurt for not telling him, saying that Burt was as close as he had to a father.
"Hey guys," Finn said with a weak smile. "What are you doing here?"
Mercedes answered. "We just thought we'd come over to pray for Burt, since we can't do it at school or Miss Sylvester's going to suspend us."
Finn suddenly realized that he was being rude. "Mom, you know Quinn already, this is Mercedes Jones and that's Ryan B – Corcoran. Guys, this is my mom."
Carole looked at Ryan. "You're Burt's assistant at the garage, right?"
"Yes, I am," Ryan answered. Carole gave him a small smile.
"He told us about you. He says you're really good."
Mercedes went first to pray, but when she finished Kurt suddenly came in. "What's going on in here?"
"We were just praying for your dad," Mercedes explained.
"I didn't ask you to do that."
"Honey, I know you're upset, I get it," Carole intervened. "But friends help out even when you don't ask."
Just then a dark-skinned woman in a turban came in. "Mr. Kurt Hummel?"
"Dude," Finn said. "Why didn't you just tell us you wanted to pray in Muslim?"
"I'm not Muslim, I'm a Sikh," the woman said a bit disdainfully.
"She's here to see if acupuncture would improve the circulation in my dad's brain," Kurt said. "Amazingly, needles pierce the skin better than psalms. Can you all please leave now?"
Ryan stepped forward. "Kurt, we just wanted to do something. We all really care about your dad here, okay?"
Kurt took a deep breath. "Well, like I told you, I appreciate your concern, but I don't want your prayers. And I know you care about my father, Ryan, but you said it yourself, he's my father. You've already got two, not to mention your mom, so you should concern yourself with them instead."
"Kurt!" Carole scolded, shocked. Quinn's and Mercedes' eyes widened, and Quinn glanced quickly at her boyfriend, whose face was impassive. He didn't show it, but she knew Kurt's blow had hurt. Ryan nodded.
"Well, Kurt, like I said last week, you don't know everything about me," he said. "I'm really sorry about your dad. He taught me a lot. I hope he gets better soon." He quickly left the ward. Quinn glared at Kurt before following Ryan out. She found him outside in the corridor a few meters away.
"Hey. You okay?"
Ryan smiled at her, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Yes, I'm fine." He shook himself slightly, straightening up as Mercedes came out of the room. As they went into the lobby on their way out, they were surprised to see Sam Evans at the receptionist's area. Ryan went over, the two girls following him. "Sam?"
Sam turned around, and Ryan saw his arm was in a sling. "Oh, hi Ryan, Quinn."
Mercedes cleared her throat, and Ryan started. "Oh, this is Mercedes Jones. Mercedes, Sam Evans."
"Hey," Sam said with a smile.
"Hi," Mercedes smiled back.
"What happened to your arm?" Quinn asked.
"It got messed up at the game last night," Sam explained. "They wanted to keep me in here to check if I had a concussion or something, so I've been here all night."
An older guy approached the group. "Your coach just called," he told Sam. "The guy who hit you was just expelled. He wasn't supposed to be playing, since he's 23. Who're your friends?" He looked around at the other teenagers.
"Dad, that's Ryan, Quinn, and Mercedes," Sam introduced them. "Guys, meet my dad."
"Nice to meet all of you," Mr. Evans said. "Sam, we gotta go, we still need to pick up your sister from her friend's house."
"Okay. Bye guys," he waved at the other kids with his good arm.
"I guess Finn must be happy," Mercedes said. "He's probably the quarterback again."
..
"You okay?" Shelby asked her son later that night as they were clearing up after dinner. He'd been quiet since he'd gotten home from visiting Burt Hummel at the hospital.
"I don't know." Ryan played around with his food for a bit.
"How's Kurt dealing with everything?"
"I don't know," Ryan admitted. "We're…not really that close. I guess he's having a rough time. I don't think he has any family besides his dad. He had a Sikh acupuncturist at the hospital today to try to improve his dad's condition."
A few minutes later Ryan said, "It's been a weird week." He gave his mom a crooked smile. "I guess the heart attack got me thinking about all the religious stuff, which we were covering in glee anyway. Did you know Coach Sylvester threatened to have Mr. Schue fired because he had us singing songs about spirituality?" Shelby nodded. She'd heard about it from Emma Pillsbury. "I think it's stupid, everyone should have the right to believe what they want," he continued. "Kurt's an atheist, Puck's Jewish, and Quinn and Mercedes are Christians but different denominations, but it shouldn't matter."
"What do you believe?" Shelby asked curiously.
"Hiram was Jewish and Leroy was Catholic, but I'm not really sure," Ryan said. "I think there is a God out there, though. How about you?"
"Same. I think there is something bigger than us out there. Actually, we're Jewish on your grandmother's side, you can probably tell from the nose," Shelby smiled slightly. "But we're not really practicing."
"Kurt said if there is a God then he's a jerk. For making him gay when the world is so against gay people."
Shelby looked at him inquisitively. "What do you think about that?"
"That's it, I don't really know," Ryan said. "I sort of understand why he'd say that. But then why does God make some people sick for no reason at all? And why do some people try so hard, but they don't get anything for their efforts?"
"Those are hard questions," Shelby agreed. "But good things happen too. I mean, look at us. We found each other, even if it took a while."
"Yeah," Ryan smiled. "But is God responsible for that?" he wondered.
"The way I see it is you can't blame God for the bad things and then not credit him for the good. It's sort of unfair that way, isn't it?" said Shelby. "You either believe or you don't. I do think everything happens for a reason. And I'd like to think there's someone out there guiding things. Otherwise we'd be even more screwed than we are now."
"I guess so," Ryan said thoughtfully, before he changed the topic abruptly. "You don't have any history of heart disease, do you?"
Shelby glanced at him. "No," she said slowly. "Why?"
"Nothing," the teenager answered. Shelby got it, though.
"Hey." She waited until he looked at her. "I'm not going anywhere, okay?"
His dark brown eyes bored into hers. "You don't know that." Look what had happened to Burt.
"No, I can't promise you that," Shelby admitted. She wasn't naïve enough to do that. "But we can't live in a constant state of worry all the time either."
"I know," Ryan mumbled. "Just…I can't…never mind." He shook his head, frustrated at his inability to say what he wanted to.
"It's fine," Shelby said soothingly. "I get it." She gave him a hug. She didn't know what she would do if she ever lost him. He'd only been with her for a few months but it felt like he'd been there forever. "I can't lose you either."
..
Later that night Ryan was sitting in his room, toying with his phone, thinking about what had happened that week. He really hadn't been expecting it. But then, those things were never expected, were they? This was the first time anything like this had happened to anyone he knew personally. He flipped his phone around in his hand. He knew what he wanted to do right now, but he felt really stupid.
He sat there for a few more moments, idly playing with the phone, before he finally pressed the call button. He waited for a couple of rings, almost backing out before it was answered.
"Hello?"
Ryan cleared his throat a bit. "Hi Dad."
"Ryan? Hey buddy, what's up?" James' voice filtered through the phone.
"Uh…" Ryan suddenly didn't know what to say. He hadn't really thought this through. "You know what, it's nothing. Never mind. Sorry to have bothered you."
"Hey, hey, wait," James said hurriedly. "It's not a bother, okay? And I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have called if it was nothing."
Ryan sighed. "I just…I guess I just wanted to hear you. I wish I could go over there, but I thought this was the next best thing." James waited patiently for him to continue. "Remember, I told you I work in an auto shop?"
"Yeah."
"The owner, my boss, uh, he had a heart attack today. He's in a coma." Miss Pillsbury had sent Shelby a message about Burt Hummel's unchanged condition a few hours ago, and his mom had told him.
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah. Anyway, the owner's son, Kurt, he's one of my classmates, and he's in glee with me. His mom died a few years ago, so it's just him and his dad. And I don't know, it's probably kind of stupid. I just missed you all of a sudden," Ryan admitted.
"It's not stupid," James assured him. "I wish I could be there for you too right now. But don't worry, it's just a week or so and I'll be there for keeps." Ryan smiled a little at this. "Does your mom know about this?"
"Yes." The two of them talked for a little more, just chatting about this and that, Ryan needing to feel close to his dad, and James knowing that his son just needed him right now.
..
Shelby stood just outside of Ryan's bedroom door, listening. She'd gone upstairs to check on Ryan, when she'd heard him talking to someone. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but she was curious. She had initially thought he'd be talking to Quinn, but had been surprised to find that he'd called James.
She smiled slightly, very happy that Ryan was comfortable enough with James enough to initiate a call. He hadn't admitted it, but she knew he was still a tiny bit cautious about his relationship with his father. And after a moment, she left, leaving Ryan to talk with James. She knew he'd be alright.
Another chapter done! Hope you liked it. I'm glad you all enjoyed the last one, the last few chapters have been a different experience to write, since I'm using the plots from the series, but it's interesting to figure out how the characters as I've written them will react. They're both similar and different from the ones on the series.
I like how a lot of people are wondering if Sam's going to break Ryan and Quinn up, and it's sort of fun to keep you guys guessing. But don't worry, you'll get your answer in the next chapter. Might take a bit, though, since I need to write a lab report on Bacillus thuringiensis and another on duck embryo development. I don't suppose anyone here's versed in those? :P Just kidding, don't mind me. Leave reviews, tell me what you think, and of course, I'm always open to suggestions. Thanks for reading!