Chapter 7: Uncomfortable Reunion

"How much longer are we going to have to wait?" Kitty practically snarls.

The New Directions members were still in the same waiting room, except that night had fallen and exhaustion crept into each of their bodies as they sat stiffly in the uncomfortable chairs. The Lima State Hospital was still abuzz with activity, but at a much slower pace than before. Some nurses even got to go home, while the group of high schoolers and alumni waited

"SHHH!" Ryder says, cutting the Cheerio's complaint tirade off. Even after several hours, he still held onto Julia, who had only woken once since the nurse had visited the group, for a bite to eat and a sip of water, before passing out again. Although his arms were sore and tired from carrying her, Ryder kept the girl in his embrace, he found comfort and solace in protecting this young life and was just happy to hold someone close.

"You really don't stay up, late do you?" Jake moans. Marley is trying to fall asleep on his shoulder, while the blonde Cheerio has her legs up, taking three chairs.

"Can you blame me? Coach Sylvester keeps us on strict diets and exercise regimes, why wouldn't you assume she had us on sleep schedules too? I only stay awake when I absolutely have to," she wiggles her eyebrows, implying the dirtiest suggestion possible.

"Kitty if you're tired then go home," Finn says firmly, not wanting another argument to break out, especially with so much that's happening. It sucks that the New Directions members would lose focus on what was important, worrying about themselves and not their friend who is inches from being at Death's door.

"And be seen as the selfish, ditzy, careless group member, hell no. If you guys stay, I stay."

"But aren't you already all those things?" Tina says slyly.

"Can it Silent Hill!" Kitty snaps.

"Enough!" Finn says again, feeling like the parent dealing with quarrelling siblings. Quinn rubs her eyes and shifts carefully, trying not to disturb Katlyn, who was sleeping in her lap. She had even given the girl her sweater as a blanket. She, like Ryder, felt comfort in having someone to look after, it took her mind off the troubles surrounding them all and loved how Katy trusted her without question or hesitation. Madison slept on a nearby bench, with Sam guarding her against being disturbed.

"Come on Kitty let's go for a walk," Marley says, taking her friend's hand, and leaving little room for argument.

The two girls walk down the hall and out into the cold spring night. Kitty shivers and Marley offers her the sweater as she was wearing long sleeves.

"Thanks, I hate this Cheerio uniform sometimes."

"Then why not wear the winter one?" Marley asks.

"Please, that one covers my arms and then no one could see my butterfly tattoo, showing how edgy I am."

"You have a tattoo?"

"I have two, both can be seen with the Cheerio summer outfit. One you can only see when I bend over," Kitty smirks. "While you go for sweet, I go for sexy, that's why we're the dynamic duo, two halves a whole."

"Right," Marley nods. She mostly just shrugs and keeps walking forward. She couldn't believe that not too long-ago Kitty was going out of her way to ruin Marley's life, teasing, and tormenting her about her mother and her weight, going so far to alter the girl's Grease costumes to make her think she was gaining weight. This inevitably made Marley develop bulimia and since the school shooting where all their lives were in danger, Kitty confessed and the two had become friends since then. The blonde was still trying to make it up to the shy one, feeling overwhelming guilt for her actions.

The two girls walk alongside the Lima hospital in the dark, enjoying the cool refreshing air.

"So… how are you taking all this?" Kitty asks suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean with the whole Ryder and Sara pregnancy thing."

Marley bit her lip. "We don't know if it's even his, it could very well be Rory's."

"What kind of person does that though? Sleeps with two guys, for all we know within hours of each other."

The brunette swallows, not really liking where this conversation was heading. She still had some unresolved feelings with Ryder and didn't want to talk about it any further.

"I never pictured her as slutty," Kitty goes on. "She's too nice for that. She's like you, plus the slutty part."

"Thanks," Marley groans.

"I just can't believe that she got herself knocked up, there's protection for a reason…"

"Can we drop it please?" the timid one says insistently.

"Right, sorry the history with you and Ryder."

The two girls walk in silence for another few minutes, gazing upwards at the stars, entranced by their beauty.

"You know, I remember Sara t-telling me about something about stars. It was a while back, I had her over for a girl's night with Unique, Sugar, and Tina. You were out of town at the time, but I found her on the roof of my house after one of Unique's m-makeovers. I went out to join her and we just started talking. She thanked me for inviting her, that it had been a long time since she'd just been able to be a teenager. I wasn't sure what she meant at the time, but s-seeing as she had to care for her cousins, it must've been nice to forget about it for a little while. Then she said that she believed that every star in the sky was a soul that had reached the heavens and that their light was them watching over us. It was so poetic and it kind of stuck with me."

"It is pretty poetic," Kitty agrees. "Do you know that she actually plays the piano?"

"What really?" Marley asks in surprise.

"Yeah, sometimes after Cheerio practice, I'd hear music in the choir room. I thought it was that weird guy, Brad, but usually, I'd see Walsh, sitting at the piano and you know what? She was actually pretty good. I always wondered why she joined glee club, I mean her singing's okay and her dancing is all right, but it's nothing special. She's no Rachel Berry or you, you know?"

"Yeah, I do. I guess she finds escape in music."

"Especially if she has to deal with a douche bag of a brother."

The girls nod to one another before heading back towards the front entrance of the hospital. Just then a Red Car shuttle pulls up in front of the building and three familiar, tired faces get out. Marley and Kitty go to greet them.

"Hi guys," Rachel says, as she climbs out of the van with Kurt not too far behind. "What are you doing out here?"

"We needed some air," Marley explains. "It's been quite a few intense hours."

"Why what happened?" Kurt asks as he and Santana unload the bags. "Besides the obvious I mean."

Kitty bites her lip, not sure if she should share the information. "Uh, I think it'd be better if Finn told you."

"Who else is here?" Santana asks.

"Uh Finn, the boyfriends, everyone from Glee club and Quinn."

Rachel swallows a small lump in her throat and shakes all the past memories of the trio's former dramas from her head. They were all adults now and it wasn't about them. Plus, since she and Finn were now broken up, it shouldn't matter… So why was her stomach turning over several times even after they'd landed?

All three were a little nervous to be confronting their ex-partners, even though the breakups had happened a while ago, the feelings still lingered and made even talking to them a bit of a challenge.

The five people stand outside in awkward silence until Kitty speaks up.

"Are we all just avoiding the inevitable here? Let's go in."

The tired trio picks up their bags and follows the two high schoolers inside. They walk to where the many sleepy New Directions members are either falling asleep or already asleep in the uncomfortable chairs available. Those who are still awake turn and a select few stand up.

"Oh my God, Ryder," Rachel gasps, seeing him covered in blood.

"Are you okay Irish?" Santana asks looking at Rory's badly bruised nose.

"I could be a lot better," he responds.

Santana walks over to her Cheerio friend for a hug. The rest of the group is very quiet, either asleep or could feel the awkwardness hanging in the air.

Finn stands up, his heart pounding in his chest at the sight of Rachel. She was dressed in her usual almost preppy wardrobe but in a more casual sense of the word. She wore leggings instead of the skirt, and a blouse over a pull-over sweater. A hairband back pulled her brown bangs to keep it out of her eyes and hide the mess that was her hair. Her flats were planted firmly on the floor, as if afraid to go any further. It was just like she was back in high school, still as beautiful as ever.

Her brown eyes drink in her former boyfriend, not counting the night they spent at Will and Emma's would-be wedding. She can feel her cheeks turning red slightly and her knees feel weak from seeing him again, but she remains poised, acting like she was perfectly fine.

"Hey Rachel," he says casually.

"H-Hi Finn," she says.

He takes a few steps forward, not really sure what he wants to do, but then opens his arms, which she hesitates before going in for a friendly hug. Her heartbeat soars feeling his strong arms again, she missed his scent, his goofy smile, his gentle voice… she just missed him.

Kurt clears his throat. "W-Where's Blaine?"

"Right here," is the answer. Kurt turns to see his ex-boyfriend standing there, his heart races a little. Blaine's hair slightly more curly than usual, which always happened when his hair gel began to wear off. His dark eyes were slightly bloodshot by the lack of sleep and his bowtie was slightly crooked. He was holding the hand of a young dark-haired girl.

"How… How are you, Kurt?" Blaine asks, quietly.

"I'm fine," is the response.

Kurt's blue eyes go from his former boyfriend's face to the tired looking one. His brain starts to register that there were more than just the Glee club present.

"Who's this? Has someone had kids and not told anyone?" he says in a half-hearted attempt to be humorous.

Only Blaine really smiles, liking when Kurt did such things. His knees were weak and his grip sweating slightly as he clung to Madison's hand. He couldn't keep his eyes off him. There is a slight wave of guilt that washes over him… after cheating on Kurt and briefly dating Karoffsky, he wasn't sure what to think when he sees his ex again.

"This is Madison," the dark-haired glee member says. "She's Sara's cousin."

"Hi there, Madison," Kurt says, leaning down to her level.

"Hi," the girl says, still trying to keep her eyes open.

"She's had a rough night, we just came back from getting some water after a nightmare."

Maddy yawns again and rubs her eyes. She goes back to the bench where Sam is waiting to offer his lap as a pillow and his sweater as a blanket.

"She's precious," Rachel says, watching as the girl curls up in Sam's lap and falls asleep.

"She's usually more talkative," Finn explains.

"This is Katlyn," Quinn whispers quietly. "She's Madison's sister. Also, Sara's cousin."

"And the one in Ryder's arms is the youngest and Katy's twin, Julia." Finn finishes.

"Where are their parents?" Santana asks.

"They live with Sara, their parents are dead," Kitty explains.

"So, Sara has custody of them?" Kurt asks.

"We think so,"

"So where are Sara's parents then?" Rachel questions.

"We don't know…" Marley says. "The only other person they've mentioned is Joe…"

"Who is Joe…" Rachel trails off, remembering what Finn had told her before. "Is he…?"

Finn just nods very slowly and clenches his fists together. He walks away for a moment.

"Have you heard anything yet?" Kurt asks.

"She's in bad condition," Artie says quietly. "She was in surgery for hours."

"How did she get so injured?"

"The fight that happened caused a previous untreated wound to open up again," Ryder says, swallowing very hard.

"It wasn't a fight, it was a beating," Rory growls. "The madman beat her to a pulp…"

"There's more to it though…" Finn mutters nervously.

Santana's phone suddenly buzzes and she doesn't hear the part about Sara being abused because some much bigger news has popped up. She blinks a few times to make sure it's real before clearing her throat. Brittany had texted her something that was circulating the Internet very quickly.

"Uh… Finn?" she says.

"Yeah?"

"Is Sara pregnant?"

Those who are awake, their jaws drop open. Nobody outside the group knew.

"How…How did you know that?" Ryder hisses.

"I just got a text from Brittany, she says that it's all over the Internet and half of Lima knows now."