"So," Mr. Schue said on Friday afternoon. "Our assignment for next week is a number for the Alcohol Awareness Assembly. Let's spend the weekend brainstorming songs about the dangers of alcohol, and we'll have number ready for the assembly on Wednesday."
The glee club stood up, shuffling to their respective classes. Ryan stayed behind, sitting down at the piano. He'd been working on his original song, and he had an idea of how he wanted the melody to be. He still didn't have lyrics though. He pressed a few random keys before he heard someone coming back into the choir room.
"Hey bro."
"Noah," Ryan nodded as the Puck came over to the piano. He sat down next to Ryan on the bench, Ryan sending him a confused frown. "We're bros now?"
"Well, yeah. After you gave me that advice about Lauren, I talked to her and she decided we'd start it off slow."
"Ah." Ryan nodded, going back to his sheet music.
"So, word is Miss C's going out of town for the weekend, and you're all alone in your house," Puck commented.
Ryan looked at him strangely. "She's going to Cleveland for a teaching seminar tomorrow evening, not that it's any of your business. How'd you even find out about that?"
Puck smirked. "It's the kind of information a guy like me tends to know. So, party this Saturday?" He said cajolingly. "I'll bring the beer, and the mini keg."
"Forget it."
"Oh, come on," Puck wheedled. "Just the glee kids. We're losing our minds, all stressed about Sectionals and stuff –"
"Regionals," Ryan corrected, unimpressed. "And besides, you're just looking for somewhere to have sex and get drunk."
"Yeah, there's a word for that. A party."
"I don't think so. Besides, you really want to get on my mom's bad side?"
Puck stood up, hoisting himself up on a desk. "Aw, come on, she can't be that bad." He looked at Ryan persuasively. "So…?"
Ryan hesitated for a moment. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. "No, no! My mom's leaving me at the house because she trusts me to be responsible." Not to mention his mom would probably kill him if she found out.
Puck scowled. "She trusts you 'cause you suck, and are a total bore," he shot out, turning to leave the room.
Ryan's face fell slightly as he stayed in his position at the piano. Okay, that had hurt.
Quinn found him there a few minutes later. "Hey, are you okay?"
Her boyfriend looked up in time to see her coming over to settle herself next to him on the piano bench. She could see as he put a fake smile on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"No you're not," Quinn said, frowning slightly. She liked to think she could tell when he was faking it by now. And he wasn't exactly doing a fantastic acting job.
Ryan sighed. "It's nothing. Puck was just a little upset that I turned down his suggestion of holding a glee club party at home when Mom goes to Cleveland this weekend. Apparently I suck and am a total bore."
"Not true," Quinn denied. "Well, you do suck, but you're the opposite of a total bore when you do it," she amended coyly, remembering her birthday a few days ago. She smirked as Ryan's jaw fell open, giving her a surprised stare.
"You've been hanging out with Santana too much," he accused.
"Guilty," Quinn answered flippantly, smirk widening as he licked his lips, obviously having less than pure thoughts. She picked up the papers where he'd scribbled down a few notes for the original song he was trying to compose. "Any luck?"
"Uh, not much," Ryan replied, still a little flustered. "It's harder than it looks. But the music's easier than the lyrics. I don't suppose you have any ideas, do you?" he asked hopefully, watching with his mouth slightly agape as Quinn bit her lip.
"I might," she hedged. She liked to write things out, had for the past few years. Maybe she had something. "I'll check it out when I get home."
"Perfect," he smiled, kissing her on the cheek. "What are you doing here, anyways? I thought you had class."
"Just forgot something," Quinn said, standing up to retrieve a folder from the chair she'd been sitting at during the glee club meeting. She smiled slyly. "And then you were here."
"Lucky me," Ryan smiled, following her. He took her hands, pulling her closer for another deeper kiss, after a surreptitious glance to check that the choir room door was closed. Quinn knew it was, she'd closed it herself. And she might have turned the lock, too. Satisfied that no one was around, Ryan wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's waist as hers wrapped around his shoulders. He tilted his head, moaning giddily as their lips slid smoothly together.
Quinn broke the kiss a second later for air. "So are you ready for the game tomorrow?" she asked, breath hitching as Ryan kissed her neck. This was getting her very hot. A devious smile spread across her face as she thought of what to do.
"Completely," Ryan answered with a smile. He pulled back slightly. "We are going to kill it, the opposing team isn't going to know what hit them." Quinn smiled, drawing him back into a kiss, before asking another question.
"Has Kenzie tried anything with you lately?"
"No," he mumbled. "You scared her off pretty well last week." His hand started slipping up into her top, hungrily roaming across smooth pale skin. "And I thought it was really hot." Quinn moaned at the sensation of his fingers dancing along her abs. She pulled his lips back up to meet hers, before pushing him down onto a seat.
"Good," she said, shaking her hair back as she straddled his lap. She smiled innocently at the absolutely dazed look in his eyes.
"W-wha… what are you d-doing?" he stuttered, as she settled herself against his hardening length. Her smile widened again. She loved how she could reduce him to incoherency, he was just so adorable when he was like this. She leaned down to kiss him again, swiping her tongue across his lip and into his mouth. He groaned, hands wrapping around her waist to pull her even tighter against him.
"I can stop if you'd like," Quinn suggested, biting lightly on his lower lip as she rocked slowly against him.
"N-no, don't sto-op," he choked out as she pressed down into his lap. She smirked.
"Didn't think so." She moved her lips to his neck, sucking at the spot just under his jaw that drove him crazy. He thrust upwards into her, making her gasp as he hit right where she needed him to. He was close, she could tell. They probably needed to stop soon…
RIIIIING!
The two teenagers froze as the warning bell for the next class rang. Quinn smiled mischievously, giving Ryan a light peck on the lips before standing up. "I gotta go."
"W-what?!" Ryan stared at her disbelievingly.
Quinn smiled nicely, patting him on the chest. "It's all about the teasing, right?" Yeah, she hadn't gotten her release either, but that was okay. She'd deal with it. "I have class. I'll see you later." She smirked again as his jaw flapped open, unable to speak. She ruffled her hand through his hair one more time, before turning around to leave him in the choir room with his rather visible problem.
..
Ryan and Quinn stopped by the Lima Bean later that afternoon after his basketball practice. Quinn had just gone to the ladies' room when Ryan spotted someone he very much did not want to see enter the establishment. Fuck, what was he doing here? He quickly looked away, but true to his luck, the person spotted him anyways, and approached him after a slight hesitation.
"Hello Ryan."
Ryan kept his face impassive as he stared into the face of one of the last two people he ever wanted to talk to ever again. "Hiram."
Hiram Berry flinched slightly at that. "I guess I deserved that."
Oh, he deserved so much more, Ryan thought sourly. He didn't say that, though. "Why are you here? Are you following me or something?"
"No, of course not." Hiram paused uncertainly. "Just a coincidence. I'm just here for a coffee." He glanced subconsciously behind him, and Ryan quickly followed his gaze, spotting a guy who had come over to the Berry house a few times last year.
"That your new boyfriend?" he asked rudely. "Although I suppose 'new' isn't really the word, since I'm pretty sure you were seeing him even while we were still living together." Before you were divorced, he thought nastily. He was actually a little surprised at his own viciousness right now.
Apparently so was Hiram. "That was uncalled for," he said sternly.
To his surprise, Ryan felt himself backing down, a residual instinct from fifteen years spent with the older man as his parent figure. It was confusing. A part of him wanted nothing more than to let Hiram have it. But another more childish part of him just wanted Hiram to notice him positively for once. He looked down, conflicted, before flicking his gaze back up, not meeting Hiram's eyes. "What do you want?"
Hiram hesitated. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. I'm in town for a few weeks, I have some business to follow up on." That figures, Ryan thought disdainfully. Of course he was only here for work. "And I'm overseeing the sale of the house."
"Oh." Ryan played with a napkin, ambivalent to the news. He had a new house now. Once where he was happy. "I'm fine."
"How's Shelby treating you?"
"Really good." Better than you guys did, he thought resentfully. He couldn't bring himself to say it, though.
The two spent a minute in awkward silence before Hiram nodded and stood up. "Good. I should go." He pulled a card out of his pocket and offered it to Ryan. "Like I said, I'll be here for a few weeks, give me a call sometime." Ryan stared at the card, and when he didn't take it, Hiram laid it on the table, then went back to his companion.
Ryan stared at the card for a moment before looking up to watch Hiram grinning at his apparent date. The sight made him upset, somehow. He wasn't sure why. He shouldn't care. Hiram wasn't his dad, it wasn't any of his business who he dated. So why was he feeling something?
"Ryan?"
He jumped at the voice, jerked suddenly out of his thoughts. He looked up, seeing Quinn looking at him curiously. He flicked his eyes back towards the counter. Hiram and his friend were no longer there, probably long gone by now. He mustered up a smile. "Hey." He stood up, pulling a seat out for his girlfriend.
"You okay?" Quinn asked as she sat down, Ryan quickly occupying his former seat.
Ryan hesitated for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah. I'm fine." He surreptitiously took Hiram's card off the table, crumpling it up with a used napkin as he pushed his previous thoughts away. Didn't need that. He nodded again. "I'm fine."
Quinn looked at him for a moment, before nodding as well. "Okay. If you say so."
"Are you sure you're going to be okay here by yourself?" Shelby checked again as Ryan helped carry her bags out to the car. She had found out that she needed to attend a teachers' seminar in Cleveland to keep her license up to date. The seminar would take place over the weekend, and since it took several hours to get to Cleveland she had to leave right after classes ended.
Ryan nodded patiently. "Yes, Mom, it's just two days. I've been alone longer than that."
Shelby clenched her jaw at the reminder of the Berrys. "I know. I don't want you to be alone if you're not okay with it. Are you sure you don't want to stay with your dad?"
"Yes, I'm sure." Ryan had pointed out that James had the night shift over the weekend anyways, so it didn't really matter. This also removed the idea of James staying over at Shelby's house. Also, James didn't have a spare room at his apartment, which meant Ryan would end up sleeping on the couch or something. "Relax."
"Okay. Relaxing." She shook herself. He'd be fine. She raised her eyebrow at him. "You're not planning a party as soon as you get me out of the picture, are you?"
Ryan sighed. "We're going to be late."
..
That afternoon was the last basketball game of the season. The game had been a close one, with the current score 23-25 in McKinley's favor, with eleven seconds left on the clock. Ryan dribbled the ball across the court, quickly passing to his teammate. The ball quickly came hurtling back at him, and he shot it into the basket, scoring another two point.
Finally the buzzer rang out, signaling the end of the game, and the crowd cheered loudly. Finally the Titans had had a basketball season where they'd won more than one game. Ryan found himself engulfed in a hug by his girlfriend. "Congratulations!" she yelled.
He grinned broadly. "Yes!" He pulled her into a kiss, wrapping his arms around her. Soon he found himself exiting the lockers, fresh from a shower. Suddenly he found himself flanked by Puck and Santana.
"So, Corcoran, any more thoughts on that party?" Puck asked.
"What party?"
Ryan looked around as Santana seemingly popped out of nowhere. "Where did you come from?"
"You mention free booze, I be right there," the Latina said cockily. "So, when and where's the party?"
"There isn't any party," Ryan said in frustration.
"Come on, man, you gotta let loose a little. It's harmless, no one's gonna get hurt. It'll just be the glee club," Puck said, still trying to convince Ryan. "It'll be fun."
Ryan opened his mouth to protest again, before faltering. What was the harm, really? "But it's Alcohol Awareness Week," he argued feebly. Puck lit up, his shark senses knowing that Ryan was crumbling.
"Yeah it is," Santana smirked, "And I'm totally aware of how awesome alcohol is. Puck's right, you gotta have some fun."
Again, Ryan thought about protesting. It would be fun, right? And it's not like anything would happen, teenagers had house parties all the time. And it wasn't like alcohol was all bad. Hell, his dad had let him have a can last week! He bit his lip, still undecided.
"We'll be in and out, no one's ever gonna know," Puck promised. "Everybody's gonna love it. Stop being so uptight and just go with it."
"Yeah, come on, Frodo, you gots to let loose a little."
Finally Ryan made his decision. "You know what," he said. "You're totally right. I have been too uptight lately! Let's do it. Party at my house tomorrow night!"
"Awesome!" Puck cheered, grinning widely. "I'll score us some beer and wine coolers."
"I'll snag us some tequila," Santana added. "So now here's what's gonna go down. "Tonight, Puckerman's gonna go tell everybody and get the joice. Imma go with Sam to my house to gets my mack on. Then tomorrow, that's Saturday, we're gonna gets our party on!"
Santana rolled up to the Corcoran house at eight-thirty on Saturday evening, Puck in the front seat of her car. Finn's pickup was already there, so it looked like the party was ready to start. "Come on, Puckerman, move your ass!"
The two of them lugged several cases of beer, courtesy of Puck's fake ID, up to the front door and rang the bell. Ryan quickly answered, smiling at them as he let them in. "Welcome," he said nicely, showing him into the living room, helping carry a few of the cases.
"Whatever, Hobbit, I just needs to gets my drink on!"
Ryan held her back though, and Santana looked at him like he was crazy. "Hang on, let's just go over the rules. Tonight, everyone gets two drink tickets, to keep this from getting out of hand," he said brightly, handing her and Puck two pieces of paper each. Santana stared at him.
"Are you serious right now?"
"Come on," Puck complained. "No one's gonna get buzzed off of two wine coolers!"
Mercedes stood up, Kurt just behind her. "Yeah, we're just gonna go. Dinner rez."
"But we haven't even started yet!" Ryan exclaimed. "Brittany, no sitting on the furniture," he called out when he spotted Brittany perched on the desk.
"Look, if you're only gonna give us two drinks, this party's gonna blow," Puck said. "Just let loose already."
"Midget, you wanna have a good time?" Santana barked. "Then give it up and let's get our party on."
Ryan looked conflicted for a second. Then he nodded resolutely. "Let's party!"
..
A couple of hours later the part was in full swing, Shelby's high end stereo blaring out the latest dance hits. They'd even done a few song numbers, and everyone was nicely buzzed and/or already drunk. Quinn nursed a drink, watching in amusement as the other kids went crazy. Finn was the designated driver, and he'd been sober enough to tell her he missed her. She'd brushed him off though. Ryan came stumbling across the room to flop down next to Quinn.
"So you sure you're not drinking?" Ryan asked, hanging an arm on her lazily.
"One's good, thanks," Quinn answered, raising a red solo cup. She liked alcohol as much as the next seventeen-year-old, but something about getting pregnant under the influence put a damper on things. "Besides, I'm kind of enjoying watching the rest of you get wasted," she smirked, raising her voice over the blare of the stereo playing Like a G-6.
"Really now?" He pulled her down beside him onto the sofa. The world wobbled for a second before coming back into focus. "How about you enlighten me as to what you find so fas – fani – fatsi – cool?" he finally settled on.
"I'm guessing you're trying to say fascinating," Quinn smirked. He nodded, quickly stopping. "Finn explained this once," she started, smirking again in amusement at her normally articulate boyfriend. "When people get drunk, they sort of fall into archetypes." She looked around, pointing at Santana. "Santana turns into the Weepy Drunk." Ryan turned his head to observe the Latina, who was dancing with Sam.
"You like her more than me, she's blonde and awesome and smart! Admit it, just admit it!" Santana sobbed out, pointing at Sam as they danced. Sam turned away to get away from his wailing date, only to be pulled back. "No, kiss me!"
Ryan giggled drunkenly, leaning further into Quinn, who now pointed at Lauren. "That's the Angry Girl Drunk."
"Who told you that haircut was cool, Geronimo?" Lauren yelled at Puck, waving her red solo cup dangerously at Puck's Mohawk.
"Hey! Chill out!"
"Brittany turns into Stripper Girl Drunk," Quinn continued, gesturing at Brittany. Ryan grinned as the dancer took off her top, leaving her in her bra and extremely short shorts. Artie tossed a bunch of dollar bills in the air as he cheered.
"Makin' it rain! Woooo! That's my girlfriend, I love you, babe!"
"And then there's – hey, eyes here, Ry," Quinn said sternly, dragging Ryan's gaze away from the impromptu strip show. Ryan reluctantly pulled his stare away from Brittany, sparkling brown eyes meeting Quinn's.
"Can you dance like that?"
Quinn scoffed. "Only in your dreams," she answered, rolling her eyes. It probably wouldn't have been as funny if she were sober, and she would have been pissed if she were drunk, but she was a just the right amount of buzzed.
"Don't worry, you're still way hotter than her," Ryan breathed, kissing her neck. Quinn smiled in amusement, patting him on the cheek.
"Good to know," she quipped back as he pulled away from her and took another swig from his cup. "As I was saying, Mercedes and Tina turn into Happy Drunks." Wild cackling erupted from the two girls sitting on one of the couches. Ryan couldn't tell what was so funny, but they seemed to think that it was hilarious.
"Well, what am I then?" Ryan asked, frowning as his normally impeccable diction slurred slightly.
"You are the Needy Type drunk," Quinn informed him with a smirk. "That's the type that finds someone to latch onto, becoming borderline creepy with the touching." Ryan just smiled and wrapped his arms around Quinn. "Usually needy drunks get really clingy to their exes. Fortunately, you've got me."
"Yeah, I do," Ryan grinned happily, burying his head in the crook of Quinn's neck. He inhaled happily, his breath making her shiver. He pulled her into his lap, grinning as he pulled her into a warm kiss, his mouth opening as he devoured hers. He pulled away a moment later, his eyes closed. He opened them, looking at her adoringly. "Your face tastes awesome," he said dreamily.
Quinn just pulled him into another kiss. She huffed softly into his mouth, tasting the cocktail he'd been drinking. She let her arms wrap around his shoulders as she shoved her tongue in his mouth, moaning as she pulled him closer. It was completely intoxicating. For a moment it was just the two of them in the room, and all she wanted was more. She wanted everything, right now.
Which was why she pulled away, closing her eyes as she tried to catch her breath. This was how it had started last time. Ryan opened his eyes, looking at her with soft concern in her eyes. "Do you need a break?"
Quinn nodded, trying to clear her head. Ryan gently pushed her off of him before standing. After swaying for a second, he got his balance and pulled her up, leading her out to the porch. "Thanks," she said softly, sitting down on the first step of the porch. Ryan plopped down beside her.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded again. She just needed a second to get her head on straight. Because she wasn't going to repeat her mistake again.
"Maybe this was a bad idea," Ryan fretted. "I didn't think clearly about how this could affect you, oh god, Quinn, I'm sorry –"
Quinn pressed a finger to his lips, effectively stopping his ramble. "Ry. It's okay. I wanted to do this. I need to show myself that I can do this. I don't want to be scared of drinking. I just need to find my limits."
Ryan looked at her. "Aren't you scared of it happening again?"
"A little," she admitted, latching onto his arm and leaning her head against his. "But I know it won't happen."
"Why not?"
"'Cause you're here," she said softly. "You're not gonna let that happen to me again, and I know you wouldn't do that to me. I trust you."
She smiled as Ryan seemed to puff up at her confidence in him. "Right. I'm here, I'll take care of you." He wrapped an arm around her again, pulling her closer. "I love you," he added sweetly. Quinn sighed, settling against him with a smile.
"I love you too." They stayed like that for a few minutes. "Want to go back inside now?"
Ryan smiled. "Okay."
..
Some time later, Ryan and Quinn were back in the living room, cheering as Santana did a tequila shot off of Brittany's stomach. The stereo was booming away in the background, and Mike and Tina were busy making out in the corner of the room. Ryan had had another wine cooler and another cupful of whatever Puck had mixed up. Mercedes held up her empty wine cooler bottle. "Who wants to play spin the bottle?" she yelled.
The proposal was met with enthusiastic cheers, and a checkers board was quickly located to serve as a spinning surface. Soon different combinations of the New Directions had kissed, including Puck and Mercedes, Finn and Tina, and Mike and Quinn. Ryan wasn't exactly thrilled about the last one, but it was just a game. And if he absolutely had to pick a guy here to kiss Quinn, it would probably be Mike. Or Blaine. Blaine. Because Blaine was gay.
Brittany spun the bottle, turning it onto a blur on the checkers board, before it slowed and came to a stop pointing at Sam. Brittany got up, grinning.
"Okay, you know what, a reminder. I owns that Guppy Mouth, got it?" Santana said sassily as she went up to get another drink. "Those giant airbags belong to me, so." Ryan giggled in amusement. Santana and Sam had bizarrely started dating a week ago, and when Ryan had asked her about it, she'd just said that it was like kissing a big puffy pink cloud.
Sam just grinned back at Brittany as he got up, leaning forward to catch her lips in a kiss. The rest of the kids started catcalling as Sam tilted his head to one side, their mouths opening as the kiss deepened. Ryan laughed along with everyone else as the two blonde's continued kissing.
"Hey, hey honeys?" Santana snarked, coming back with her refilled cup to break them apart. "You know what this is not? A Big Red commercial! No es un comercial!" Sam and Brittany just grinned goofily at each other.
"My turn," Ryan exclaimed, taking hold of the bottle after a misaimed attempt. He quickly spun it, everyone watching in boisterous anticipation as it slowed. Cheers erupted as it ended up pointed towards Blaine, who grinned, his hands up in delight.
"Whoa there," Kurt said, trying to get between them. "How about we put down some ground rules –"
"Come on Kurt, it's just a game," Blaine broke in, leaning over.
"Come on Blaine Warbler," Ryan said, grinning widely. "Let's show 'em how to dance!" An instant later, their lips met, and Ryan closed his eyes. He'd never kissed anyone but Quinn before and this was… completely different. Blaine's hand came around to cup his neck, burrowing into his hair. Ryan angled his head to the right, sliding their lips together as the kiss continued longer than necessary.
"I think that's good," Ryan heard Quinn say, and he sobered slightly, quickly pulling away from Blaine a little guiltily. Blaine's eyes were closed, his mouth slightly open.
"Yeah, I think we've had enough of that," Kurt jumped in, clapping his hands.
"I'm gonna have to agree."
Ryan's head whipped around at the new voice, and all the alcohol effects seemed to rush out of his system at once. He stumbled to a standing position as he beheld the newest member of their party.
"Dad."
..
Half an hour ago
"Thanks so much, Kyle," James said sincerely to his co-worker. Kyle Daniels had agreed to a last minute shift switch for the weekend. James would be working the graveyard shift from Tuesday to Thursday, but that was fine with him. He really wanted to be available if Ryan had any problems.
"Yeah, no big deal," Kyle said amiably, signing into the log. "Don't have any kids, but I guess you gotta be there for 'em if you do."
"Yeah," James agreed, shrugging on his jacket. He checked his watch, waving at the receptionist as he went out. It was half past eleven, and he could just go in and check on Ryan before heading home to crash. Just to make sure there weren't any illicit sleepovers with his son's girlfriend. He got into his car, turning up the radio for the drive. It took him about fifteen minutes to make the trip, since there was hardly any traffic at this hour, and he turned the corner onto Shelby's street, quickly pulling up to the appropriate driveway.
And as soon as he did, he knew what was going on. Unfamiliar cars were parked on the curb, lights were on in the living room, and the music was up way too loud. James got out of his car just as one of Shelby's neighbors came down their walk.
"Hey, hey buddy," he called.
James turned to the middle-aged man resignedly. "Yeah?"
"You're Shelby's boyfriend, right? And the kid's dad?"
"Yeah," James nodded.
"Good, can you get them to shut up, please?" the guy said tiredly. "I like Shelby, and your kid's not a crazy delinquent, so I don't really want to call the police. But I will if I have to, so if you could rein it in, that would be great."
"That's exactly what I'm going to do," James assured Shelby's neighbor. "I'm really sorry about my son, Shelby's out of town and I just got off work. I'll put a stop to this."
"Thanks," the other man nodded with a relieved smile. "Don't worry about it, it's the first time in this neighborhood, and like I said, Shelby's really nice. Just don't let it happen again, huh?"
"Got it." James nodded at the neighbor, before walking up to Shelby's house. He tried the door, which was unlocked. So he went inside, totally unprepared for the sight that greeted him.
He wasn't stupid. He knew what was going on. It was a teenage party, and therefore there was a 99.9% chance that alcohol was involved. So the wine cooler bottles and beer cans strewn about didn't exactly faze him. No, what did cause his eyes to bug out slightly was the sight of his teenage son engaging in a rather spectacular kiss with another teenaged boy in the middle of the living room. James thought he recovered quickly enough, and he folded his arms across his chest, waiting for the conclusion of the liplock.
"I think that's good," Quinn said.
"Yeah, I think we've had enough of that," another boy piped up.
James cleared his throat. "I'm gonna have to agree with that.
The speed at which Ryan's head spun around to face him would have been comical in any other situation, but here, James just felt grim satisfaction at the slightly fearful look on the boy's face. He went to the stereo, shutting the music off. "Does anyone want to explain what's going on here?" he asked quietly, his voice loud in the silence of the room.
Ryan's mouth worked open and closed for a few second. "Dad – I – it's not –" He trailed off, seemingly unable to say anything. James nodded.
"Everybody, get up, stand over there."
The teenagers all stared at each other, balking at his request. James nodded, straightening up instinctively as he glared at the group. "Did you hear me?" he barked, all his years of experience ordering platoons of men around evident in his voice. "Everybody, line up over there, NOW!"
That did it. Twelve teenagers were suddenly scrambling for the indicated side of the room, forming into a more or less straight line, with another wheeling into position in a wheelchair. He silently walked up the line, noting the intimidated gazes that looked back at him before shooting a withering glare at his son, who shrank back. He turned again to face the rest of the group. He bent down, picking up an empty beer can from the floor. "Where did this come from?"
Again, nobody answered. "I know Miss Corcoran doesn't keep this in her house," James continued. "So somebody bought this, probably illegally, and brought it over. So who was it. Speak up, RIGHT NOW!"
Finally a boy with a Mohawk raised his hand. "I did, uh, sir," he said quietly.
"And me," he heard a Latina girl add just as softly.
He nodded, folding his arms again as he stared impassively at the group of teenagers. He checked his watch. 12:26. He sighed, going over to the shelf in the corner to pick up a pen and a piece of paper.
"All right. Here's what's going to happen," he ordered. "I know that all of you are drunk off your asses. So, I am going to pass this sheet of paper around. You will each write the name of your parent and their phone number on this piece of paper. I will then call each of your parents to pick you up." James smiled inwardly at the dismayed looks on most of the faces in front of him.
One of the boys, the tallest among them, raised his hand tentatively. "Uh, I'm not, I'm the designated driver, sir," he tacked on feebly. "I can take them home."
"Oh, but then we'd deprive all your parents of knowing just where you all are," James answered, smiling at him. "Any more objections?" He paused for a moment, daring any of them to complain. None of them did. "While I am doing that, you are all going to clean up this house. This will be done to my exact specifications, and none of you will be going home until it's done. Am I understood?"
A low mumbling acknowledgement met his words. He shook his head. "Speak up. You obviously had no problem keeping the rest of the neighborhood awake. Am I understood?" he demanded.
"Yes, sir!" the teenagers answered, in varying degrees of slurring. He nodded.
"Good." He passed the piece of paper he was holding to the boy in the wheelchair at the end of the line, waiting patiently as the group wrote down their parents' contact details. Quinn was about to hand the paper to Ryan, who was at the other end of the line, when James took the sheet from her.
"You don't need to do that," he informed his son. He scanned down the information on the paper. "Good. I hope for all your sakes that this information is accurate. Now, start cleaning this place up. I will be inspecting every inch of this place after I finish the calls, so it had better be spotless." With that, he left for Shelby's office to make thirteen phone calls.
..
"Dude, why didn't you tell us you had a crazy mom and a crazy dad?" Puck hissed at Ryan as the group fixed up the living room. With the twelve of them, it was proving to be quick work, but their inebriation wasn't helping matters. Neither was the knowledge that they were going to be in massive trouble with their parents. "And more importantly, why didn't you say your whack-job dad was coming to check on you?"
"He's not a whack-job," Ryan argued hotly, bending down to pick up a stray beer can and tossing it into the garbage. "And I didn't know he was going to stop by, okay? He doesn't live here."
"All I know is my dad's gonna kill me," Mercedes said glumly.
"Me too," Kurt moaned. "This is all your fault," he shot at Ryan, who sighed. Great. Everyone was mad at him again.
"Back off, it's not like he poured the alcohol down your throats or anything," Quinn grumbled, wiping off the coffee table with a wet rag. Ryan shot her a grateful quirk of the lips.
"Yeah, lay off, guys," Mike said tiredly. "Let's just get this done so we can go home."
That shut up the conversation, and a few minutes later James was back in the room. "I've finished calling all your parents, and they'll be here within the hour," he announced. He surveyed the room, and Ryan could practically see him zero in on everything they hadn't cleaned up yet. "You better hurry if you want to finish before they get here."
The kids set back to work. The room was clean soon, and James came back to check on it. He shook his head. "Not good enough, you missed the side tables over there, and there's a beer can behind the sofa as well as chips scattered randomly."
"Was your dad a janitor?" Santana snarked once James was out of the room. "It's like he can see every speck of dirt in here."
Ryan shook his head morosely. "Army." A second checkup revealed a beer spill in the kitchen. Finally, after a third check, James deemed the house adequate, just in time for Artie's mother to pick him up. Mike's mother was next, followed by Sam's father. Eventually the rest of the New Directions was picked up, leaving Ryan alone in the house with his dad. He glanced up at the older man, wincing at the thunderous expression on his face. "What exactly were you thinking?" James asked coldly, pure steel in his voice.
Ryan gulped. "I –"
"No, I know what you were thinking," James cut in. "You weren't. There were fourteen minors in this house with a shitload of alcohol. Illegally obtained alcohol, I'm sure. What would you have done if the cops showed up, huh? Your neighbors were about ready to when I showed up, so what were you planning?"
"I-I don't –"
"Exactly, you have no idea what you would have done, do you?" James seethed, his voice rising angrily. "Anything could happened to you kids here! Alcohol poisoning, drunk driving, hell, a rape could have occurred here! Not to mention, you took advantage of your mother's trust in you and completely disrespected her home! You should have known better than this!"
Ryan was almost in tears at this point. His dad was right, he didn't know what he would have done if things had gotten out of control. He shouldn't have done this at all, he knew that.
James let out a deep breath. "Go to bed. We will talk about this in the morning, do you understand?" he bit out.
Ryan nodded frantically. "Y-yes sir." He escaped into his room, leaning against the closed door and sliding down to the ground. He'd just messed everything up.
Less than five hours later James woke up from his spot in the bed in the guest bedroom. It was next to Ryan's room, fortunately, and he'd been keeping an ear out to see if the kid needed help. He'd checked on him at around three in the morning and found him out cold. He'd probably have a massive hangover. He did his morning routine and went downstairs just in time for his phone to ring. "Hello?"
"Hi James, you guys okay over there? Did you check on Ryan?" Shelby's voice came through the speaker.
"Morning, Shel, I'm at your house right now, as a matter of fact," James answered, sitting down in the living room. "You're a little early."
"No choice, the seminar starts up at eight. Is Ryan okay? I called his cell, he's not answering."
Probably because he's still dead to the world, James thought wryly. "He's okay." At least he will be, once the hangover wears off. "He just… had a late night last night."
"That sounds ominous," Shelby quipped. "Do I want to know?" James didn't answer for a moment. "Your silence is not encouraging."
"We had a bit of a situation," James said slowly. "There may or may not have been a party last night. And it may or may not have been here in your living room."
Shelby was silent for a moment. "I see."
"I caught maybe a dozen of them last night, with enough booze to rival that party we went to in '88."
"Ah." More silence. "What did you do?"
"I got them to clean it up and called all their parents to pick them up," James answered, giving her a quick rundown of the story. "And I had a short talk with Ryan. There may have been yelling." He hesitated. "I'm not really sure what to do here."
"You did fine," Shelby told him. "That's probably what I would have done too. With more yelling at our little delinquent. Did the neighbors call the cops?"
"No, I got here a few minutes before one of them was about to. Look, maybe we should just wait for you to get here so we can talk to Ryan together. I don't know what to say."
"No," Shelby said immediately. "You're there, you caught him, you have to deal with it now. Besides, you also said you want to be more involved, right? Here's your chance. You're his father, you have as much right and responsibility to deal with this as I do."
"Yeah, but I didn't think it would be so soon," James lamented. "You just don't want to deal with it," he accused.
"There is that," Shelby answered, a hint of amusement in her voice. "But seriously, I'll back you up on whatever punishment you deem necessary."
"Gee, thanks," James said sarcastically. "But okay."
"You'll do great. Now, I need to go if I want to have breakfast. I'll see you guys later. Love you."
"I love you." James hung up the phone. He sighed. Time to go wake up his errant offspring.
..
"Ryan. Ryan, wake up."
Ryan shut his eyes tighter, waving a hand at whoever was calling him. Then he winced as he moved his head, the motion sending spikes of pain into his head. "Whuh?"
"Come on kid, up you get."
Damn it, who was that? Couldn't they just let him sleep? He opened his mouth to tell them to go away, only to cough at the cottony feeling in his mouth. Of course the cough just made his head throb even more. He blinked, and wished he hadn't as the sunlight streaming in from the window almost blinded him. What was happening? What – oh.
The memories of last night came rushing back – the party, the beer, the spinning bottle – oh god.
"So, are you awake now?"
Ryan finally recognized the booming voice. The sound reverberating in his skull made it a little difficult to think, and dimly he felt the bed dipping down as his father sat down on the bed.
"Here." He felt a glass being pushed into his hand, and he struggled into an upright position. He squinted, trying to let as little light into his pupils as possible. It was fine too, since he wasn't sure he wanted to face James after what had gone down last night. He took a sip of the water, swirling it around to get rid of the dryness in his mouth. He felt a couple of tablets pressed into his hand. "Drink that, then come downstairs, okay?"
"But –"
"No buts," James said firmly. "You want to drink like an adult, you get to handle the hangover like an adult. Downstairs in ten minutes, understood?"
Ryan nodded, instantly regretting the action as he felt like his head was being shaken loose. He heard James close the door as he exited the room, and the resulting bang made Ryan shut his eyes, trying to relieve his pounding headache. Why did people drink at all if this happened?
He made his way downstairs a few minutes later, the aspirin having done a tiny amount of good. Not much though, he thought wryly as he slid himself onto a chair at the dining table. He slumped down against the table, only to sit up again as James sat down opposite him. He averted his eyes, unable to meet James' gaze. "You okay?" his father asked.
Ryan started to shake his head, before thinking better of it. "No," he said quietly.
"I thought so." James paused for a moment. "We're going to have a little talk."
Talk? Ryan glanced at him in confusion. "About what?"
"Don't play games with me," James said sternly. "We're going to talk about what happened last night. What exactly made you think having a party with alcohol was a good idea? The neighbors were almost ready to call the cops, you could have all been arrested for underage drinking."
'I know, I know I messed up, okay?" Ryan mumbled, bracing for more yelling. "I didn't think about all that, I just thought we could have some fun because we were so stressed out about Regionals, and we just won the basketball game, so I thought it wouldn't do any harm."
James nodded. "Look, I get it, but that doesn't change the fact that all of you were underage, and you're not supposed to be drinking. When I gave you that beer last week, that was because it was just the two of us, and I'm legal. Last night was not okay." He looked at Ryan. "You're grounded for two weeks. That means phone, iPod, laptop, TV, car keys. You are also going to go and apologize to all of your neighbors for causing such a disturbance last night. You will also take any additional punishment your mother deems necessary."
"You're going to tell her?" Ryan asked, dismayed. He'd been hoping to maybe keep it between them.
"I already did, she called earlier this morning," James informed him. "She's your mom, and this all happened in her house, of course I was going to tell her."
Ryan slumped down on the table. "Okay." His head was still pounding, and the light in the room wasn't making it any better. "Can I please go up to bed now?" He was just ready to get this over with, preferably before James started to yell.
James looked at him. "No. Come on, we're going out first."
Fifteen minutes later, Ryan found himself at McDonald's with James, eating an Egg McMuffin as James sipped a coffee and read the morning paper. James had given him a pair of sunglasses to block out the sunshine that was streaming in through the windows, and Ryan wasn't sure what was happening. "I thought I was grounded."
"You are," James assured him, turning a page. "But we need breakfast, and greasy things help me with hangovers. So finish the sandwich, it might help."
Ryan chewed his Egg McMuffin slowly as he watched his father warily. He glanced around him uncomfortably, taking in the sights of the breakfast crowd in the fast food place. The noise of the other customers was making his head throb, and he settled his gaze back on James. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes before Ryan chanced another glance at his father. "I don't understand," he mumbled, wincing as his voice reverberated in his own head.
James peered at him from the top of the paper. "Understand what?"
"Why are you doing this? Aren't you mad at me?"
"Yes, I'm still a little bit pissed that you thought you could get away with having a party, but we've talked, it seems that you get that what you did was wrong, so you just ride out your sentence and we can leave it at that."
"But that's not how it's supposed to go," Ryan countered, getting a little frustrated. He was very confused with what was happening, and it wasn't helping his hangover headache at all. James put down his newspaper, looking at him seriously.
"How is this supposed to go, then?" he asked.
"I don't know," Ryan answered, his voice slurring a little as his head pounded. He slipped the glasses off to rub at his forehead, screwing his eyes shut as a marching band paraded through his brain. He stubbornly went on though. "Not like this! You're supposed to be mad at me! You yelled at me last night, and that's what you were supposed to do again this morning, not talk calmly like that! Then, we're supposed to ignore and hide from each other for a few days until this blows over." And then you eventually end up leaving. He looked around him. "We are not supposed to be at McDonalds, discussing this calmly over drinks!"
James looked at him for a long moment, and Ryan almost started fidgeting. "Is that how things went at your old house?"
Ryan deflated instantly. That was exactly right. That was why he'd been so thrown. He'd been expecting this with his dad to go the way they had with Hiram and Leroy. And the reality was… disconcerting. "I…" He groaned, losing his train of thought as his head pulsed. Thank god for the food, at least now he didn't feel like he was about to vomit.
James sighed. "Look, just finish your breakfast and then we'll go home, okay? You can sleep it off."
Ryan just nodded and did as he was told. He really didn't want to have to think right now.
..
It was eleven-thirty at night by the time Shelby finally pulled into her driveway. She sighed heavily as she shut of the engine, completely glad to be back home. There was a light on in the living room, but none upstairs, so she figured Ryan or James must have left it on for her. She put her key in the front door and went into the house, locking it again behind her. She walked to the stairs and nearly jumped out of her skin when a figure stood up in the living room. "You scared the crap out of me," she scolded. James gave her a small smile in return.
"Sorry," he said unapologetically, pulling her into a hug. She let him, before pulling away after a few seconds.
"So how did it go?" she asked, pulling him into the kitchen. She pulled out two glasses from the cupboard and a bottle of wine from the fridge, pouring them both a glass. James looked at her in amusement. "I've been dealing with sanctimonious educators for 48 hours, cut me some slack."
James just chuckled at her. "Whatever you say."
"What's the sentence?" Shelby prodded, sitting down at the counter opposite James.
"Two weeks, and I told him to apologize to your neighbors."
"Ah." She nodded approvingly, taking a sip of her wine. "Good touch. I'll enforce it. And maybe add something else," she said as an afterthought. "Hangover?"
"Massive." James hesitated. "I talked to him this morning."
"That's good."
"I'm not really sure." Shelby listened as he told her about how his chat with Ryan had gone, and the mini meltdown Ryan had had at McDonalds. "He was expecting me to act like his old parents, Shelby."
Shelby sighed. She'd suspected that this might come up sometime. "He acted like that with me the first time I grounded him," she admitted, remembering the way Ryan had tried to sneak out of the house since Hiram and Leroy hadn't been any good at enforcing their groundings.
"He was so confused when I was talking to him this morning, I'm pretty sure he expected me to start screaming at him or to never speak to him again."
"But you didn't, right?" Shelby asked. He shook his head. "Well, that's good. The Berrys really did a number on him. And if you think about him, he hasn't even been away from them for a year. He was with them for fifteen. He's going to have some leftover expectations. And I think the only thing we can do is show him that we're different. That's what I've been trying to do, anyways."
James nodded slowly, mulling on her words. "Do you think he's mad at me?"
"Honestly? Yes. At least, he will be when he gets over his hangover," Shelby amended. "He doesn't like being grounded."
"Great."
"But it's fine, kids get mad at their parents all the time. God knows I was furious with mine half the time in high school. He'll get over it."
"If you say so." James stood up, stretching. "Are you going to bed?"
Shelby nodded. "You can stay over, if you want to." He nodded, and she smiled happily. She slept better when he was there. "I'm just going to go check on Ryan." She went upstairs and quietly opened Ryan's door. The teenager was sprawled on the bed, fast asleep. She watched him breathing for a few moments. Even while annoyed at him for the party, she still loved him so much. She ran a hand softly through his hair before exiting the room.
James met her outside. "Is he okay?"
"Yeah," Shelby nodded. "Let's go to bed."
Hi people, here's the next chapter. We're up to Blame It On the Alcohol already, and I can't believe I've been doing this for almost a year. Glad people are still reading.
On more drama, there should be some coming up soon. Ryan and Quinn need to have a little drama to write their original song. The question is how much drama should they get? I'm open to suggestions. Right now the plan involves Finn somehow or other. We'll see how it plays out. Also, what do you think about Shelby getting involved with the New Directions? I have an idea of how to get her to do it.
We're still going slowly with the Faberry. I've said it before, I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible, and we're talking about the girl who had a teen pregnancy and the boy who wanted to wait until 25. Also, they might hit a snag with the upcoming drama. We'll see about college, I haven't thought that far ahead yet. As to actors in mind, I don't really have anyone in particular, so go ahead and fill them in with anyone you like ;)
So, more fallout from the party next time, we might get into the next episode a little. Tell me what you thought of this chapter, and I'll see you next time.
