Hello, everyone.
For clarification, Rachel is a senior along with Tori (who got held back a grade) and LJ (who jumped up a grade). Everyone is a senior in this story except those in canon like Tina, Artie, Blaine, etc. When Rachel left, it was her sophomore year. She left at the end of it and didn't return until a year later, which means that everything that happened with the Glee Club and everyone else happened in that year span where Rachel was in Seattle.
So anytime I mention a specific time unless otherwise stated, I'm referring to the period where Rachel was in Seattle and not in Lima. I hope that makes sense. I realized that the upcoming chapters could be confusing so I just wanted to clear that up ahead of time.
-RCV
The doorbell interrupted whatever Sue was about to say, and Leroy pushed away from the table.
"Who could that possibly be at this time of night?" he muttered, going off to answer the door.
Sue took that opportunity to change the subject and asked, "Tori, may I ask why you're still in high school?"
Rachel sighed and continued to eat her food, resigned to having to wait to hear the story on why the Unholy Trinity was no more. It was only her first day back, and she could already sense that there was more going on behind the scenes than what Puck and her girls told her. It took a minute, but that last comment took a second to hit, and when it did, Rachel found that she shouldn't have mind-blowing revelations while eating.
"Jeezus, Rae!" LJ exclaimed, patting her on the back.
The piece of food dislodged itself after a couple of well-aimed smacks to her spine, and after making sure LJ hadn't done any other damage, Rachel took a long sip of water and waved off the questions shining in Tori's eyes.
"I'm fine," she wheezed.
"Are you sure? You want me to get you some more water?" LJ asked.
"I'm fine. I promise. Just forgot how to eat for a moment."
"That's a first," Tori murmured.
Rachel ignored the comment, knowing exactly what her sister meant, and said, "We were talking about Santana and Brittany, right?"
Sue smiled wryly and said, "Actually, I was asking why Tori was still in high school, but nice try."
"She purposely failed a test so that she could graduate with us," LJ answered.
Sue blinked and cocked her head, "What's the other reason?" she asked.
Tori snorted, and said, "No, seriously, that's the reason. I would've graduated last year. Despite my horrible track record, as you pointed out, I managed to get a scholarship to Syracuse. Unfortunately, I would've been moving to the other side of the country without my family, and I wasn't ready for that."
"Wow."
"Yeah, beneath the icy exterior, our dearest sister does, in fact, have a heart," LJ joked. "Just buried under the ice and sarcasm."
"That won't be the only thing buried before the end of the night if you don't shut up," Tori growled.
Rachel waited until she'd finished chewing her food before she tried to respond, but then she realized her father hadn't returned. She leaned back in her chair, hoping that maybe she could catch a glimpse of him from the kitchen, and unfortunately, she did. Rachel slammed her fork down on the table and got up from her chair so hard and fast that it went flying across the room. She practically ran into the living room and brushed past her father, nearly pushing the officer standing on her threshold out of the house.
"You have NO right to be here," she spat.
"Miss Berry, I assure you I am only here for your benefit. It would be in you and your father's best interest to have a seat and listen to what I have to say."
Leroy sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead. "Look, Officer Simmons, as I was telling you before my daughter arrived, neither one of us will be sitting with you or having any type of conversations with you. Rachel is not obligated to talk to you, and if you come by my house again, I will sue you and the department for harassment."
"Again?" Rachel repeated. "What do you mean by again?"
A throat clearing put a pause to the conversation and the trio turned to find Sue and Emma standing in the living room, LJ and Tori right behind them. Rachel ground her teeth in annoyance. She was hoping that she could avoid the whole conversation about a vindictive cop until her second week of school and not the very first day.
"John?" Sue said, narrowing her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"How do you know him?" Rachel asked.
"Wait, John as in your ex-husband John?" Emma asked.
Sue made a face and said, "The one and the same."
"I thought he moved to Columbus."
"So did I," Sue said slowly. "Which brings me to my original question, what are you doing here, Johnathon?"
"I missed my home and wanted to retire here, not in Columbus. As for why I am at the house, I was merely informing the Berry family of new development in Rachel's case. I was trying to get ahead of things, but I was not aware you and your-," he paused, and his face screwed up as if he'd swallowed something sour, "friend would be here as well."
"Girlfriend," Emma corrected.
"I thought her case was closed," Sue said. "It was self-defense."
"That was before the new evidence was presented to the prosecutor."
"New evidence? What new evidence?"
"I'm not sure. I don't exactly pay too much attention to lawyers when they speak. But they are considering re-opening the case, which means Rachel might soon be re-questioned about her role in that evening."
"My role is the same role that I told you the first time around," Rachel said.
"Are you sure about that?" Officer Simmons asked. "Because the prosecutor believes she has a pretty good reason to have you arrested once more."
"You can't be serious!"
"Charged with what, Officer Simmons?" Leroy asked.
"Assault."
Rachel stiffened. "I didn't do anything wrong that night," she said.
"You told everyone Mr. Issacs was the one who approached you that night."
"He was!"
"Then why do we have a witness who says that you initiated the conversation with him?"
"I- what? No! That's not true!"
Officer Simmons shrugged and put back on his hat. "Well, that's for a judge to decide. You folks have a nice night. And Sue, if I were you, I wouldn't be getting too involved in this. I'd hate for you to lose that comfy little job of yours over at the school because of your connections."
"You know damn well my connections go beyond yours," Sue said sharply.
"So you say, but I'm sure we'll come up with something. You know us Lima cops," he said coolly. "Always coming up with a story that fits their narrative. Or whatever it is, you said."
Sue took a step forward, but Emma grabbed hold of her and kept her in place. Officer Simmons gave them a fake smile and tipped his hat.
"Enjoy your evening."
Leroy waited just long enough before he slammed the door and Rachel was too busy internalizing her panic to see her Dad watching her.
"Rae, I have to ask-
"Dad, I told you the truth," she said. "Edward came up to me that night. He provoked me, and I reacted badly. I admitted that already. I did not go there to fight him nor did I start the conversation. It was all him!"
"Okay, okay, I believe you. Now, we need to-
Another knock on the door caused the group to jump, and Leroy swung open the door hell-bent on telling whoever it was to fuck off, and Rachel would have gladly let him, had it not been Santana and Quinn standing on the other side looking guilty. Rachel took one look at them and groaned.
"How long have you guys been here?" she asked.
Santana folded her arms and looked away while Quinn said, "Um, long enough."
"Just fucking great," Rachel huffed, throwing her hands in the air. "I've been here for three days! And why does he hate me so much? I don't even know him! He wasn't even there that night and has this vendetta against me for fucking nothing!"
There was silence as no one knew how to respond to that, and Leroy ushered in the girls so they wouldn't be standing out in the cold. Rachel was about to ask why they were even in her neighborhood when Emma coughed loudly, her eyes glancing between Sue and Quinn.
"That has nothing to do with anything," Quinn said.
"You still need to tell them," Emma said.
"Tell us what?" Leroy asked.
Quinn looked down at the floor as she said, "Officer Simmons, is, um, my Uncle."
"Come again?" Rachel said.
"John is my Uncle, my Mom's brother," Quinn repeated.
"Your Uncle is Sue's ex-husband?" Leroy asked.
"Yes."
"Does he know anything about Rachel? Or an Edward Issacs?"
"Issacs? That was his partner when he started the force. I remember my Mom saying that Issacs got kicked off the force because of his behavior."
"Why didn't you mention that?" Leroy asked Sue.
"John and I didn't have the type of marriage where we sat around and talked about our day," Sue said. "Or our past. We mostly argued, drank, and- well, you know."
"So the guy Rachel beat up a year ago was your ex-husband, her Uncle's, former partner on the force and three days after Rachel returns to Lima, there's suddenly new evidence in a case that was closed? Come on, what are the odds of that?" Tori pointed out.
Rachel blinked, and it bubbled from her chest before she could help it. She bent over at the waist and began to laugh so hard that tears pricked the corners of her eyes. She laughed and laughed until the laughter turned hysterical and she couldn't breathe. Arms gripped her waist and led her down to the floor where her laughs became cries, and she didn't even care who it was behind her. All she could do was cry and wonder how the hell her life had become so twisted.
Santana waited with Quinn and the others while Leroy carried Rachel upstairs to her room. Santana had scratch marks on her arms from when Rachel's breakdown became violent, and thankfully, she'd dealt with her Mother's outbursts long enough to know what not to do. She glanced to the side at Quinn, her girlfriend lost in thought and playing with the cross around her neck, and Santana hesitated to show any type of affection when she was like that. Especially since she didn't know whether Quinn was still upset or not.
"I have questions," Tori said, breaking the silence. "And I think now is the time for everything to be put out into the open. Rachel can learn them on her own, but I'm impatient, and I want to know what the hell is going on in this fucked up town."
"Just ask," Sue sighed. "And I hope we can answer them the way you desire."
"First, what happened between you two?" Tori asked, looking directly at Santana and Quinn.
"What do you mean?" Quinn said.
"You know exactly what I mean. You two have been dancing around a subject the entire day, and I think it's time you came clean about how you two played a part in that disaster of a club falling apart. And what it has to do with Rachel. The idiots from earlier seem to think you two play a much bigger role in her not coming back."
Santana got up from the couch and paced the room slowly, hands on her hips, and she hoped Quinn would start first so she wouldn't have to.
"Alright, look," Quinn started. "Everything was going great, at least we thought it was. A week into school, the Glee Club decided to take a weekend trip to Lake Marston Friday night to Sunday morning. We all hung out, sung a couple of songs, and we were happy together. It was like we had finally made peace with Rachel leaving, but something changed. I'm not sure what, but one day we're at the lake having the time of our lives and the next, Sam and Finn are throwing punches over the campfire. Kurt and Brittany were arguing non-stop, and everyone else was just as confused as San and I. Anyway, that Wednesday after the trip, Santana and I were both looking for our respective partners. At this time, she was still dating Brittany, and I was trying to date Finn again. We were going down the hall near the gym when we passed a broom closet. We heard weird sounds coming out of there, and we knew it was probably some kids getting a quickie in after school. We were hoping to embarrass them, but…" Quinn trailed off.
"But what?" LJ pushed.
"We found Brittany bent over with Mr. Finn-capable pounding into her whispering that stupid mantra of his over and over again," Santana finished. She turned back around and scoffed. "They didn't even know we were there until I grabbed the nearest broomstick and jammed it up Finn's bare ass. Everything after that is pretty self-explanatory. Brittany and I broke up, I quit the Glee Club with Quinn, and I made Finn's life a living hell after that."
"Because he stole your girlfriend?" Tori guessed.
"No, because he broke Quinn's heart. I knew Brittany and I weren't going to last, but that damn idiot made Quinn feel like he had really changed. When we saw that, it didn't just break me, it broke her too, and I refused to let some incompetent asshole get away with hurting my best friend."
"And you two just comforted each other and fell in love?" LJ asked.
"That isn't exactly how it happened," Quinn muttered. "We got drunk one night and confessed some things to each other at a Halloween party. After that, it wasn't until May did we even talk to each other again. We fell into this relationship, honestly."
"So, what does Rachel have to do with any of that?" Sue asked.
Santana ran a hand through her hair and chuckled. "That's the question of the hour, isn't it?" she said.
"It's complicated," Quinn said. "And we don't feel comfortable bringing her in to any of this until we understand it ourselves."
"Try us," LJ challenged.