Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, trademarks, or character. I do own Mouse, Candy and Sarah.
(a/n: thank you to everyone who reviewed, and even those who didn't. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Read on, oh faithful ones.)
...
Chapter Twelve
...
"Daddy, please. Don't make me go, I love you. I just want you to tell me that everything will be all right. Mum, please! Tell him, tell him you knew!" Quinn said, turning to her mother with pleading eyes.
"You knew? You knew about ... this?" Russell asked angrily, turning to his wife.
Judy was silent and only looked at the tumbler in her hands.
"She never said it out loud, but she knew. She's my mother. She knew," Quinn said.
"Get out. Get out of this house! Now!" her father yelled at her.
"At least give me some time to pack," Quinn begged.
"Out! Right now!" he yelled, moving to open the door.
Feeling stunned, Quinn left the house in a daze. She wished she'd had someone with her to break the news that she was pregnant. There'd been too many whispers in the cougar town lately, too many for her parents to not take notice, and besides, the bump was getting bigger. The baby was growing inside her. And despite this, she only felt alone.
...
"Hi Quinn, what's wrong?" Mouse asked the moment she answered the call.
"Why does something need to be wrong for me to call?" Quinn asked, almost choking on her tears.
"Because you've been standing outside my house for the past five minutes without moving. Get inside already, would you?" Mouse said, disconnecting the call and opening the front door.
"My parents kicked me out. I told them the truth, I had to. Too many people were talking about it, and Sue said she was going to tell them if I didn't," Quinn said as she came inside, tears running down her face.
"Every time you've come over, you end up crying. Just be thankful that Sarah's out and isn't expected back until tomorrow morning," Mouse said, shutting the door and grinning at her briefly as she offered Quinn a tissue.
"Quinnie!" Candy said excitedly, running over and hugging her surprisingly gently.
Quinn looked to Mouse for an explanation.
"I told him there was a baby growing in your stomach, and he had to be careful when he hugged you. He doesn't know his own strength and could end up hurting you otherwise," Mouse said, shrugging briefly. "You didn't get a bag?" she asked, frowning.
"Wasn't allowed one," Quinn said, shaking her head as she hugged Candy back.
"All right, sweetie, that's enough now. Don't you want to finish watching Cars?" Mouse asked when Candy pulled a face.
He grinned and let go of Quinn tightly, running back towards the lounge room.
"Don't run, Candy," Mouse said.
His running immediately slowed to a walk, and he took tiny steps in the last metre to his beanbag.
"Come upstairs, you can wear the pyjamas you had last time," Mouse said, leading Quinn up to her bedroom.
"Thank you, Mouse," Quinn said softly.
"No problem, stay as long as you like. I doubt Sarah would care, and if she does, I'll handle her. You said Sue made you tell them?" Mouse asked as she handed Quinn her pyjamas.
Quinn saw that a toothbrush was sitting on top of the folded clothes and looked at Mouse with a frown.
"You spent five whole minutes outside, I got bored and organised some things waiting for you to call," she said, grinning.
"Why didn't you just let me in?"
"You had to make the decision by yourself."
"Mousie!" Candy started yelling.
"I'll be back soon. Make yourself comfortable, okay?" Mouse said with a smile and headed downstairs. "Candy, what did I tell you about yelling after dinner?"
"Sorry," Quinn heard him whisper loudly as she shut the door behind Mouse.
A few minutes after she was changed in the pyjamas, Quinn heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," she called, and was surprised to see Candy open the door and walk in timidly.
"Can I talk to Quinnie's baby?" Candy asked shyly, his fingers interlocking nervously.
"Um, sure. I don't think she will hear you though. But you can try," Quinn added quickly when his face fell.
Candy smiled brightly and walked over, sitting on the floor in front of Quinn. He rested his head on her lap and started to whisper very softly to her stomach. She strained to hear what he was saying.
"Be good, baby. Quinnie pretty and lovely. Be good, little baby. Grow big," he was whispering. "When you big, we watch Toy Story's and Cars and Lion Kings. Be good, baby. And don't be loud after dinner," Candy said, looking up at Quinn when she laughed softly. "Think baby's hearing?"
"I think so," Quinn replied with a teary nod. "Do you want me to read to you?" she asked, seeing the picture book she'd cried over last time sitting on the bedside table.
Candy nodded eagerly and sat up properly.
From the doorway, Mouse smiled and then left to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
...
Will was searching for his tie, trying to find something for the school photo. He couldn't find one that he wanted to show Terri in his drawers, or in the wardrobe, or even in the bathroom. Where was the damn thing?
Spotting his wife's chest of drawers, he went over and opened the top one, rummaging through to find what he was looking for. Will stilled when he saw a pregnancy pad at the back of Terri's drawer. He vaguely heard her call something to him, but it was lost in his mind as he strode to the kitchen, the pad in his hand...
...
"Mouse, what's this about?" Puck asked, walking over to her locker and waving the piece of paper in front of her face.
"Nice to see you too, Puck. I'm perfectly fine, thanks, how are you?" Mouse muttered sarcastically, taking the paper from him. "It's an invitation for Candy's birthday party. I thought you could read," she said, grinning at him.
"I can read it fine... Why does the entire football team have an invite?" Puck asked, folding his arms and leaning back against a locker.
"Because Candy likes them and considers them his friends," Mouse replied, taking her folders and pencil case out of her bag.
"Kent better not try to crash the party, or I'll kick his balls through his skull."
"Aw, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me!" Mouse said, looking at him with wide eyes. Then she rolled her eyes at him and continued to home room.
"So what should I get him? He's turning fourteen, right?"
"Yes, he's turning fourteen," Mouse answered with a nod. "Are you going to say hello to me or not?" she asked after a moment of silence.
"Hi," Puck said with a grin, leaning in for a kiss.
Mouse pulled back with a grin and walked into the classroom.
"Next time, say hi to me first," she said over her shoulder, and sat between Mercedes and Quinn.
Puck shook his head and looked at the Disney invitation in his hands. Candy had written his own name, he noticed, and it was for this weekend. The weekend before Sectionals... Surely Schue would want them all to practice? he thought with a slight pang of worry. Ah, he already knew that he'd skip it to go to Candy's party, so what did he really care?
"Is it all right if I don't get Candy anything too big? I mean, I've got a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon and they're starting to get really annoyed that I haven't paid them yet," Quinn said to Mouse.
"I don't think he expects presents anyway; he'll just be excited to have someone besides me there for his birthday," Mouse said with a brief grin.
"You mean he's never had a party before?" Mercedes asked, surprised.
"He's been home schooled up until now, and never had real friends to invite. And my mother's a cheapskate, which is why your invite also says to bring a plate of food. Don't bring the alcohol though," Mouse added when she saw her mother's hand-written note at the bottom of both Quinn and Mercedes' invites. "I'll have to tell the jocks not to bring any either..." she murmured.
"All right, everyone. Attendance!" the home room teacher called loudly.
...
"All you coming?" Candy asked the moment everyone was surrounding him at lunch. His eyes were big and wide as he waited anxiously for an answer.
"We're coming," Mercedes said immediately, all the Glee members nodding when he looked at them.
"We'll be there," Terrence said, grinning at Candy. "You sure about the no alcohol part?" he added quietly on the side to Mouse.
She glared at him. "Positively sure. You bring alcohol and I'll kick your arse so hard you'll be in the next decade, got it?" Mouse said sternly, looking to each of them.
"Got it," Terrence said quickly.
"If there's no booze, what are we going to do?" one of the footballers moaned, loud enough for Candy to hear.
"Games! And singing! And movies!" Candy answered quickly, his head bopping to the beat he was playing on the bench beneath him.
"Doesn't sound like much fun," a brunette jock muttered quietly. "I mean, that sounds like heaps of fun, Candy," he rectified when Mouse glared at him.
"Sweet is happy!" Candy said, grinning brightly.
...
"Does the party really need to be this weekend, Mouse?" Schue asked quietly as Candy was preoccupied with the band's instruments.
"I think you should just be grateful you got an invite, Mr. Schuester. And yes, it has to be this weekend. He wouldn't understand if it was on any day other than his birthday," Mouse replied. "It's on Sunday, and if you really want, we can practice singing then."
Will just nodded and sighed heavily, running a hand over his face. He hadn't slept at the house last night, unable to stay in the same house as Terri, and in twenty minutes, he had a meeting with Figgins and Sue about some mattresses. Afterwards he would follow Sue and make sure she was treating Becky Jackson right.
"Okay, you've all got your music sheets. Take it from the top!" he called.
...
"Ms. Sylvester?" Mouse called, knocking on the door.
"Jane, come in. You've kept me waiting," Sue replied, glaring at her.
"No, I haven't. I'm right on my time. It's not my fault you don't have a life outside of cheerleading," Mouse replied with a grin.
"I've got a new cheerleader to coach in five minutes; hurry it up Jane," Sue said.
"Saw your show last night," Mouse said as she opened her bag. "Yelling at homeless people. Nice one, Sylvester," she added with a smirk, handing a book to her.
"I never said I was nice, Jane. Get that idea out of your head this instant," Sue muttered, looking at the book in her hands.
"Mouse? What on earth are you doing here with Sylvester? What's that? Are you giving her our music sheets for Sectionals? I knew I was right to get you to leave Glee!" Will said angrily, glaring at Mouse.
"Wow, way to jump to conclusions, William!" Sue said, Mouse just staring at him in shock.
It only took her a moment to gather her wits and Mouse closed her mouth again, glaring right back at him. "I borrowed a book for Sue, because she can't borrow from the library any more than you can with Ms. Lemay in charge. Thanks for immediately making me the bad guy, Schue... And by the way, it was my decision to leave Glee, not yours," she muttered, pushing past him as she left Sue's office.
Sue just grinned at Will, clapping her hands slowly and sarcastically. "Good job, William. In one day, you've lost your wife and a Glee member, again I might add! That has to be some sort of record for you, doesn't it? Or do you need to get the clean freak fired as well?"
"Go to hell, Sue," Will muttered.
"Only if I can take you down there with me, William," she said with a small chuckle. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a cheerleader to coach," Sue said, getting up and indicating for Will to leave her office.
He left in a huff. Sue laughed to herself again, putting the book in her bag and leaving her office with a whistle and smirk.
...
"I can't believe Mr. Schue would do that," Rachel said immediately.
"I can... I just can't believe we've lost you again," Kurt said, sighing.
"You haven't lost me. I'm not going to quit this time. I'm stronger than his stupid insults," Mouse said, then sighed heavily. "I want to go shopping for Candy's birthday present and get my mind off this. Who's coming?"
"I'm coming!" Mercedes said immediately.
"Depending which store we go to, I'll be coming in more than one way," Kurt said, grinning when the others laughed.
"I'd like to go shopping with you. If you don't mind, that is," Rachel said after a moment.
"Me too," Tina added.
"I'm inviting you, aren't I?" Mouse said with a laugh. "Quinn, you coming?" she asked, looking over at her.
Quinn stopped writing her essay, and hesitated with an answer. She'd only ever gone shopping with the cheerleaders or her mother before. She wasn't sure it would be the same without them.
"We can invite Brittany and Santana too. Just give me a second to put them on the call too," Mouse said, pressing a few buttons on her phone.
"Hello?" Brittany said.
"Hey, Mouse. What's up?" Santana asked a few moments later.
"Santana, is that you?" Brittany asked in surprise.
"Hey Santana, Brittany, you want to go shopping?"
"Mouse? What's going on with my phone?" Brittany asked, her voice rising.
"Where you thinking of going shopping?" Santana asked.
"Down at the mall. We're going to get something for Candy's birthday," Kurt replied.
"Kurt's in my phone too!" Brittany almost yelled.
"Um, guys? I think we should call Brittany back later. She sounds like she's really freaking out," Tina said.
"I'll talk to her," Santana said, sighing heavily. "Well, when do you want to go shopping? I just started drying my hair."
"Tomorrow morning, 'til lunch? We can meet out the front entrance near that weird statue thing," Mouse suggested.
"Fine by me. Brittany, you need to hang up the call on your phone," Santana said to her still-screaming friend.
Brittany's screams cut off, and with another sigh, Santana left the call as well.
"All right, I'll go shopping," Quinn said.
"Good, see you all there tomorrow," Mouse said, grinning.
Hanging up, she turned to look at Quinn.
"You don't look as happy as I thought you would about going shopping. Or are you sad about something else?" Mouse asked, her head cocked to the side as she looked at her friend.
"Something else, I suppose," Quinn murmured after a moment, putting her essay aside. "I miss Finn," she admitted. "Well, not Finn himself," she corrected quickly at Mouse's surprised look. "I miss the relationship we had. And the support he was giving me... He's an idiot most of the time, but he's got a good heart, and I miss that. It sounds stupid, doesn't it?" she asked, sighing.
"Not at all, I think I know what you mean," Mouse said with a smile. "Retail therapy might do you some good."
"Maybe," Quinn said with a brief nod.
...
Mouse waited patiently to get into the nightclub. It was a school night, and she was underage, but her mum came here often enough that the bouncers all knew her name, and knew that she wouldn't do anything stupid like dance on the bar- something her mother had done often. Gerry smiled briefly and let her in when he saw her, ignoring the disappointed sighs and cries of outrage from others in front of her.
Stepping into the dimly lit club, Mouse squinted for a moment, her eyes flicking to the people around her. She headed over to the bar after a few seconds, and finally saw who she was searching for.
"I haven't seen your mum all night, and it's a school night, Jane. Shouldn't you be home in bed?" a male voice asked from behind her.
"I'm researching something for school, Al. Mum's at home drinking herself under the bed, and I have a friend looking after Candy. I'll be going home in less than ten minutes, if I get what I came here for," she replied, turning to smile at the bartender.
"And what was that? I can get DJ Jimmy to change the list if it gets you out of here quicker," Al said, folding his arms across his chest.
"Wouldn't want to trouble you," Mouse replied, turning back to watch the three girls as Al was called on to pour some drinks.
"They're underage, and shouldn't even be in here. I swear, I'm putting Gerry on the inside so he can stop letting all the young girls in just because their dresses are a size too small," Al muttered.
"That's a dress?" Mouse asked, feigning shock. "Just get Jimmy to put a different song on? This one doesn't have a beat, and I can't get out of here unless they dance," she said, sighing heavily.
"You got it. And be kind to him about the songs," Al said, indicating to the DJ to change the song from I Honestly Love You, "he just found out his wife has been screwing his neighbour, so he's feeling a bit heartbroken at the moment."
"Why would she do that? It's not like their neighbour could be younger or better looking," Mouse said, the DJ's fair curly locks and good looks often being the only reason there were so many girls at the club.
"Their neighbour is a woman."
"Ohhh... Poor Jimmy. Buy him a drink from me; put it on Mum's tab," she said. "Thanks," she added when the song changed.
Taking out her phone, she turned it to the camera, set it to video and kept it steadily trained on the three girls.
All three were students of Dakota Stanley's, singers and dancers in Vocal Adrenaline, and they were definitely not supposed to be dancing in public. Mouse had briefly seen them on the dancefloor the last time she'd had to come in to get her mother, but hadn't been able to do more than double check the girls before dragging Sarah off the bar and out of the club.
Now, she was prepared, and she'd been ready to wait. Luckily, the girls got up a few bars into the song...
"Just past eleven o'clock, roll up in the club,
Wanna rock the spot.
Girls out, 'bout to bubble it up,
Guys take a look, see what you can't touch.
"Seven jeans and a Prada bag
Six-inch heels, how ya likin' that?
Workin' it out, he's checking it out,
I'm knocking 'em down, round after round.
"I can feel the base line jumping,
Watch out, there's my song!"
They danced together, their dresses moving to the side as they moved their hips. Mouse could hardly suppress her grin as they even started to include some of the moves that Dakota had been working so hard to keep private.
"Ladies, let me see your hands up in the air,
Ladies, show 'em what you got,
Shake it all around, yeah yeah.
"E yo, you wanna little of this,
You wanna little of this?
E yo, you wanna little of this,
You wanna little, wanna little of this?
"Once you think, you think you've got it,
You can't, can't, can't touch it."
The girls were being wolf-whistled, clapped and applauded, and they grinned broadly at the attention, continuing with their routine. Mouse zoomed in on each of their faces, then moved the camera focus further back and continued to record their performance.
"I'm not what you think I am,
You ain't gonna get what you think you can.
Oh no, you ain't the man,
You might be fine, but I don't give a damn.
"'Cause I'm here with my girls tonight,
No strings attached, no guys required.
Wanna let my hair down, get out on the town,
DJ turn it up nice and loud!
"I can hear the bass line jumping,
Watch out, there's my song!
"Ladies, let me see your hands up in the air,
Ladies, show 'em what you got,
Shake it all around, yeah yeah.
"E yo, you wanna little of this,
You wanna little of this?
E yo, you wanna little of this,
You wanna little, wanna little of this?"
The song started to be remixed, the signal to everyone dancing that the song was about to be turned into another. The girls slowed their dance, even as the beat got faster still.
"Once you think, you think you've got it,
You can't, can't, can't touch it.
"E yo, you wanna little of this,
You wanna little of this?
E yo, you wanna little of this,
You wanna little, wanna little of this?
"I can feel the base line jumping,
Watch out, there's my song!
"Ladies, let me see your hands up in the air,
Ladies, show 'em what you got,
Shake it all around, yeah yeah.
"E yo, you wanna little of this,
You wanna little of this?
E yo, you wanna little of this,
You wanna little, wanna little of this?
"Once you think, you think you've got it,
You can't, can't, can't touch it."
The song faded into a different club song, and with their dance finally finished, the three girls left the dance floor, breathing heavily admist the applause that surrounded them. Mouse stopped her camera as they sat down and saved the file quickly. The girls ordered drinks, talking to each other loudly about a job well done. They had no idea that they were about to be blackmailed.
Mouse walked over to them, smiling brightly.
"Hi girls!" she said, almost having to shout over the new music.
They went still, thinking that she worked at the bar and would throw them out for being underage.
"That was a great routine!" Mouse said, acting as if she hadn't seen them freeze, and then continued when they relaxed again, "Dakota Stanley would be so interested to know that you're dancing his routine here, wouldn't he?" she asked, holding up her camera as the recently saved footage played on the small screen.
One of the girls' let out a tiny scream and practically lunged over the table to grab the phone. Her friends quickly held her back, realising the attention they were receiving.
"You have no proof that's us," another said, trying to sound calm.
Mouse was almost perversely pleased when the girl's eyes popped out at the close up of each of them.
"What do you want from us?" the third asked warily.
"I want you to go shopping tomorrow," Mouse replied, smiling as she pocketed her phone.
...
End of the twelfth chapter. Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it.