When Finn walked into the house earlier than he was supposed to, Carole knew something was up.
She watches from the kitchen as he tries to quietly go up to his bedroom, dropping his bag off at the foot of the stairs.
Carole sighs as she gears up to call out to him, walking out of the kitchen towards the stairs as she calls out, "Finn?" she sees his back stiffen and she continues, "What are you doing back home so early?"
She watches as Finn slowly turns around to face her, "School let out early, that's all."
She furrows her brow, "Why did that happen?"
He shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know. All I know is that the teachers started tellin' everyone to leave, so I did."
Finn then quickly turns back around and runs up the rest of the way.
Carole stands there for a measure, not entirely sure what to make of her son's explanation before deciding that she could get better answers from the school.
Checking the time on the mantel, she once again shakes her head in disbelief. The phone rings a while before anyone picks up.
"Hello, this is William McKinley High, how may I help you?"
Carole clears her throat, "Yes hello. This is Carole Hudson, my son Finn Hudson goes to the school? He just got home and has told me that school has been let out early? I was wondering as to why that is."
The woman on the line doesn't reply immediately and that alone sets Carole's nerves on edge.
"Mrs. Hudson, uhm your son is correct. School has let out early. The reason for that occurring…well, you see, there's been an accident in the school," Carole holds her breath as the woman continues, "involving a female student. It's pretty serious and so the administration has decided to let everyone go home since there would be zero ability to focus on anything else for the rest of the day."
Carole takes that in, then asks quietly, "Do you know what happened?"
"I'm sorry Mrs. Hudson, I'm not at liberty to say since I don't know."
She hangs up the phone after thanking her, and ends up staring at it. A part of Carole believes in her heart that the person who had this accident was one of the girls involved with her son. She hopes that she's wrong, but her gut is telling her she isn't.
At the same time as she's thinking this, a feeling of dread settles over her because she doesn't think it was really an accident. She shuts her eyes as tears begin to build.
"Where did I go so wrong?" she asks out loud to herself, desperate for guidance.
If Finn had anything to do with this, regardless of who the student is, he's going to be facing the consequences. She will not stand for this. He may be her son, but if he's done wrong, she will make sure he does get punished for this.
She really hopes he doesn't have anything to do with this.
Taking a deep breath, she shakes her head and starts on some laundry before she needs to start thinking about what they can have for dinner. She doesn't want to think about whether her son is involved in this at this moment, because what parent would want to believe their child is capable of such things.
Xoxoxox
Officer Moore rolls back his broad shoulders before he takes the final step towards the Hudson residence. He rings the doorbell, then stands back.
He hears shuffling before the door clicks and is opened.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Hudson."
The color has drained from Carole's face the second she saw Officer Moore before she unlocked the door, "Officer. How can I help you?"
Bowing his head slightly, he points towards the house, "Would it be alright if we sat down and talked for a bit?"
She nods as she steps aside to allow him passage. She then leads the way to the living-room, where they both take a seat turned towards each other on the couch.
"What did you want to talk about?" She asks almost immediately, not at all wanting to postpone whatever it may be, although she's already got a feeling about it.
Sighing, the officer looks her in the eyes, "There is no easy way to say any of this Mrs. Hudson. And I truly wish this wasn't happening to you. Your son- Finn, has been involved in the very serious matter of physical assault on a female colleague on school grounds. He's been named by the victim, as well as third party eyewitnesses"
Carole's eyes widen as she takes in what is being said to her.
Officer Moore continues, "I'm going to be placing him under arrest Mrs. Hudson, and I just wanted to let you know before I do so, out of my respect to you as a single mother. Again, there's no easy way about this."
She nods her head, as she is unable to really say anything right now.
Clearing his throat, he asks, "Where is your son now Mrs. Hudson?"
She shakily points to the stairs as she barely lets out, "In his room."
He nods his head, "I-I'm going to be taking him with me, one way or another. Either I go upstairs and bring him with me, or you can try calling him down. Either way, I'm going to be performing my duties, and neither option is really any easier on you. But, you can decide how you'd like for me to proceed. Unless something happens, in which case I'll be taking action."
He gives her some time before she stands up and goes to the stairs to call her son down.
"Finn! Finn Hudson come downstairs!"
She calls out to him and waits a beat before the sound of his foot falls echo as he makes his way down the stairs, "Yes?" He asks as he continues down the stairs so he's standing just at the last step.
His mother points to the living-room and he furrows his brow before walking in- only to stop in his tracks when he sees the police offer.
"What's going on?" he questions, face already flushed in anger.
Officer Moore steps forward so that the two of them are properly face to face, "Finn Hudson. You are under arrest for-"
The boy yells out, "NO! You can't arrest me! Mom! Mom, you can't let him do this!"
"-for unprovoked physical assault on another student. You have the right to remain silent-"
Finn turns away from the officer to look for his mother, only to see her holding back tears as she witnesses this. He suddenly feels his arms being pulled back, and cold metal touching his wrists as he struggles to get away, "I didn't do anything! She fell on her own! Mom! Santana tripped and fell and wants to blame me and get me in trouble! You have to believe me!"
"-anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
Carole shakes her head as she watches Finn being read his Miranda Rights, watching as he stares at her in disbelief at her inaction.
"You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?"
Finn doesn't answer verbally, he just grunts and nods his head. The minute Officer Moore is done, Carole walks up to her son and looks him in the eyes as she whispers, "How'd you know it's Santana, Finn?"
His eyes widen but before he can say anything she looks away and Officer Moore walks him out to the cruiser.
The officer wants to celebrate the fact that Finn is finally going to be made to pay for what he's done but it's hard to do when he knows how Carole must be feeling right now, knowing that her son has done such an atrocious thing.
Finn, once in the backseat, ends up crying silently to himself, and it's a testament to them that neither officer brings it up or mentions it.
Xoxoxox
Carmen Lopez is a strong woman. She knows this and she's proud of it. She also made sure she taught her girls the same, that they are all strong, fierce, independent women, who could do anything they so desire.
So seeing one of her girls so downtrodden makes her sad and confuses her, "Mi estrella, what's wrong?"
Rachel's head snaps towards her direction immediately, "Oh! I didn't know you were there Mrs. Lopez."
Carmen gives her a little smile as she steps closer and sits down beside her.
"I was walking around, stretching my legs. Now, what's wrong? Why aren't you with the girls?"
Rachel shrugs halfheartedly, "Santana fell asleep and Quinn and B are decorating her cast. I needed some air."
Carmen tilts her head, "Right. So would you like to talk about it?"
The tiny brunette bites her lip, "You should know that under normal circumstances I would jump at the chance to talk- but I admit this is not the time, nor the place."
Mrs. Lopez gives her a smile, "Child, there's no better time than right now. You need to talk and I'm right here. We've been through this, us mother hens are great listeners."
Rachel gives her a chuckle, before she acquiesces and proceeds to speak, "It's just. I care about those girls very much, and- I hate when one of them is hurt. I know that if they weren't so protective of me, they wouldn't be in this position right now. If we weren't as close, Finn wouldn't have gone after Santana like this. He wouldn't have thought to hurt her at all. If only we weren't friends."
Carmen sighs internally but Rachel continues, "Then I realize how much I don't like that notion because there's no way, no matter the universe, that I wouldn't care about them, or them me. And what Finn does is not our fault. But I'm still mad and saddened by the fact that to Finn, this wouldn't have occurred, if he just got me for himself. I just-I feel very mad at him for doing this and I'm not entirely sure how to proceed from here."
Carmen can't help giving Rachel a small smile after hearing what she had to say.
"I'm glad you recognize that it isn't your fault. These things that have happened are not to be blamed on you, or any of the girls. He has done wrong."
Rachel shrugs her shoulders, "It's still rather hard to deal with though, because what could we have done any different that would have stopped this from happening?"
The older brunette lets out a breath as she says, "Honey, the only way any of this would have been avoided is if you girls stopped thinking and sticking up for yourselves…if you let him have his way; if you gave him what he wanted, despite it not being what you want. But that's no way to live your life. And sadly some boys, and men, think behavior like Finn's is fine and acceptable."
Rachel nods as she takes it all in. After a little while Carmen gently places a hand on her shoulder as she stands, "Care to come back to the room with me, or would you like a bit more time?"
Giving her a smile, Rachel shakes her head as she too stands up, "No, I think I'll be coming back now."
They walk into Santana's room to see the blonde's draped on either side of the brunette, somehow managing to balance themselves precariously on the edge of the bed, trying to watch an episode of Jeopardy.
"Who is Agatha Christie?"
"Damn Q, give a girl a second to inhale so she can answer."
'Who is Carol Higgins Clark?'
'Oh no, the correct response would have been 'who is Agatha Christie.' It's still your turn, choose again.'
Quinn grins as Santana pecks her on the cheek again, "Smart ass."
