Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. I do own Mouse, Candy, and Sarah though!

Thank you to everyone for reading the previous chapter, and thank you to those that reviewed.

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Chapter Twenty

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Mouse felt awful, both emotionally and physically, even more so since everyone was being so nice to her. She'd been up at six thirty with Candy needing the bathroom, and despite the sleep she'd had in Puck's arms, she hadn't slept as long as she could have, and felt ready to snap at someone.

She'd arrived at school feeling tired and grumpy, and realised in home group that she didn't have her school bag, which meant no pens, papers, books, textbooks, or assignments. Mouse was still wearing her clothes from the day before, and they were starting to smell a bit stale after having slept in them too.

During their study and recess break, Kurt and Mercedes had gone to her house, used the hidden spare key to get inside, and brought back not only her and Candy's bag, but also a new outfit for her. Mouse had been so thankful to change that she hardly realised what she was wearing until it was already on her body.

"Give me back my pants! I am not wearing a dress! Wait, I don't even own a dress... You went into Sarah's closet, didn't you?" Mouse muttered.

"Oh, please. You'll look fabulous, and it's not like she didn't have enough clothes bursting out of those doors. Now put the rest of the outfit on, and at least look at yourself before you try to take your pants back," Kurt said cheerfully, stuffing her pants into the very bottom of his bag. He was certain that once she saw her reflection, she wouldn't want them back anyway.

Mercedes was giving Mouse's homework to Tina so she could give them to the appropriate teachers. The teachers hadn't been pleased, but were still forgiving, when they heard that Mouse had left her bag at home. When she had them all, Tina ran to the teacher's lounge.

"I can't believe you brought me a dress," Mouse muttered as she came out of the stall.

Kurt and Mercedes didn't say anything, and she looked at them with a frown. They looked stunned, to say the least. She caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror and moved back a bit so she could see properly.

A sleeveless black dress that went up to her knees, a shirt-sleeved khaki shirt (Mouse thought she'd lost this shirt almost a year ago, so she had no idea how or where they'd found it, but was happy to find that she still fit into it), a thick black belt just under her bust, and ankle-high boots.

"What do you think?" Kurt asked, finally recovering.

Mouse looked away from her unfamiliar reflection. "It's ... very nice," she said, surprised by her own admission.

"Just very nice?" Mercedes asked with a grin. "Girl, you look great!"

"Now, for the final touch," Kurt said, bringing out two tubes, one of lip gloss and the other of mascara.

"Oh, no you don't!" Mouse squealed, going back in the cubicle and locking the door.

Mercedes and Kurt grinned at each other. They could wait all day for her to come out of there...

...

Mouse muttered about glitter-filled nightmares as Kurt and Mercedes cheerfully dragged her out of the bathroom. They were late for English, and the corridors were void of life. She was just glad that the whole school wouldn't be staring at her sudden makeover. She'd come to a compromise by letting Kurt and Mercedes put lipgloss on her but not the mascara. They'd finally agreed and had almost broken the cubicle door down to get her out.

"Sorry we're late, sir. We had an emergency," Kurt said loudly, going with Mercedes to their seats, and leaving Mouse standing at the door.

She flushed when a few of the guys cat-called and wolf-whistled, trying unsuccessfully to get over to her desk unnoticed. Puck was staring at her with darkened eyes, and Mouse slid onto her seat, her face burning brightly.

"All right, that is quite enough. I hope that you have all finished your assignments on Macbeth," Mr. Jefferson said sternly, making the noise stop.

Mouse grabbed her bag from Kurt, thanking him quietly.

Jackie Richton glared at her. "Slut," she hissed.

Mouse paled at the insult, the sudden change leaving two bright spots on her cheeks.

"Pot, meet kettle. You're both black," Tina muttered, Kurt hiding a quiet laugh behind his hand.

Jefferson didn't hear, his back to them as he wrote on the blackboard at the front of the class.

The anger and grumpy feelings she'd been feeling earlier came back in full force, and Mouse had to stop herself from getting up and slapping the girl behind her. Her hands actually trembled with the effort it took, but she managed to calm herself down, and returned to her work instead. Just ignore it. She'll get bored and stop soon enough.

She didn't.

English passed without further incident, but as Mouse went to leave, she felt something tap her back, and Jackie passed her with a satisfied smirk. Puck took the taped paper off her back, tearing it into pieces without letting her read it.

Maths had Jackie tearing bits of paper and flicking them onto Mouse. By the time Chemistry ended, her outfit was ruined by a spilled experiment, and at lunch, Jackie 'accidentally' dropped her bowl of soup on Mouse's head.

Kurt almost had a heart attack when he saw the chicken-flavoured water staining the khaki shirt, and the spots from the experiment littering the hem of the dress. Mercedes wouldn't let him look at Mouse's shoes.

"I don't care about the outfit, Kurt. She's pulling juvenile crap because she's jealous or insecure or what ever. I don't friggin' care. Just give me back my pants so I can clean up," Mouse said, holding out her hand.

She was glad that Puck, Finn, Terrence and the other footballers had taken Candy down to the oval when they realised what Jackie was doing. Even though Puck hadn't wanted to leave her, they both knew that Candy wouldn't have understood why Mouse was being bullied, and if he did, then he would have felt worse for not being able to help or stop it.

Kurt was quiet as he handed her rolled up pants back.

"We'll come with you," Mercedes said, standing up with Tina.

"No, don't worry. I can get changed on my own."

Mouse left before they could follow her.

Quinn looked over at Jackie, who was laughing with some friends. She didn't like the way the girl was watching Mouse, and when Jackie left a few moments later, Quinn followed her with Santana and Brittany.

"Where are you three going?" Sue asked, looking down at them. "You haven't eaten yet, and you're on strict protein-based diets for Cheerios. Get back in the cafeteria," she said to Brittany and Santana.

"But Mouse is going to the bathroom..." Brittany began to say.

"I'm sure she's a big girl who can go to the bathroom on her own. Now get back inside," Sue snarled.

Santana and Brittany looked at Quinn for a moment, then went back into the cafeteria.

"And you, Q, you can come with me. You've been skipping out on your doctor's bills, so I've been told," Sue said, taking Quinn down to her office.

Sue hadn't wanted to get involved. But Quinn was her star cheerleader, preggers or not. The sooner she got the kid out of her, the sooner she could get back on the squad, and the championship would be hers for the taking.

"Ms. Sylvester, you don't understand," Quinn tried to protest.

"Of course I do. You don't have any money and you're not looking after yourself, or the illegitimate bastard inside you. Can't have you fainting on championship day, can I?"

"W-what?"

...

Puck swallowed the last of his ham sandwich and hurried to get to Spanish class. The others had already text him to tell him that Jackie (so that was her name!) had dumped her soup on Mouse. There had been some excessive tear-faced emotes from Kurt about the loss of the outfit, but they'd assured him Mouse was fine and had gone to change.

"Hey, Puck, take a seat. You were almost late. Anyone with you?" Schue asked, expecting Mouse to come in with him.

"No..." he said with a frown, seeing that Mouse wasn't in class.

Kurt and Mercedes shrugged at him. They hadn't seen her since she'd left the cafeteria, but had figured she'd needed some time alone.

"Don't have my bag, I'll be right back," Puck said, leaving at a run.

It didn't take long for him to find them, considering the hallways were deserted, and he could hear screaming. He quickly replied to Kurt's text, and in the Spanish classroom, Kurt's phone beeped loudly. His mouth fell open when he read the words. Girl fight, auditorium.

"Girl fight in the auditorium," Kurt whispered, loud enough for the students surrounding him to hear.

Schue was monologuing about Spanish verbs or something, and didn't hear what he'd said.

"Uh... I forgot my bag too. Sorry, Schue," Kurt said, basically dragging Mercedes out with him.

Tina hurried after them, and by the time it took the news to travel around the classroom, Schue was left wondering what had happened to his class. He went after them with a frown. Figgins would fire him the moment he heard he'd just let his entire class leave while he was teaching!

As Schue neared the auditorium, he swore he could hear music, and wondered if the glee club had put on an impromptu performance. If his entire Spanish class was excited enough to leave to watch them, that had to be a good thing. Maybe he could get them to sing in Spanish and pass it off as teaching?

Engrossed as he was in his thoughts, it took Schue a moment to realise that the sounds he were hearing definitely weren't caused by a song. The sounds were a chorus of 'fight!' being yelled, and Mouse quite definitely kicking Jackie Richton's ass.

Jacob Ben Israel grinned over at Mr. Schuester. "So, is this what you're teaching in the auditorium these days, Schue?" he asked, turning his camera on to him.

...

I'm saying, don't say I'm not all right.
I'm used and confused and,
Still putting up a good fight.
I'm still putting up a good...

So don't say I'm not all right.
I'm used and confused and,
Still putting up a good fight.
I'm still putting up a good...

F - I - G - H - T!
Fight! Fight! Fight!

"Please come in, Jane," Emma said, holding the door open for her.

Jackie left the room and sat on the chair across from where Mouse was sitting, sobbing into a tissue.

Mouse opened her eyes and turned her music off reluctantly. She glared at Jackie before she went in to the room. She'd been made to attend this session in order to "get to the bottom of the fight". Her mother had even been called in, but Jackie's mother hadn't needed to attend when the cougar informed Figgins she'd be making a large donation to the school that afternoon.

Sarah followed her daughter into the room, smiling at Will, and delighting in his unease. "Hello again, Will. What a pleasure to see you," she purred.

"Hello, Mrs. Franklin. Please, sit down, and we can get to the bottom of this as soon as possible."

Emma glanced between Sarah and Will, not looking overly confident, but slightly reassured that Will looked uncomfortable in the other woman's presence.

"Now, Mouse, I just want to hear your side of the story. We've heard Jackie's version, and we just need to determine what happened..."

Like them, she wanted to get out of this uncomfortable room and the awkward atmosphere sooner rather than later. She wanted to get Candy and go home, and she did not want to see her mother for as long as she could help it.

"She's been bullying me all day because I got back together with Puck... She threw paper at me, spilled her science experiment on my clothes, dumped her food on my head, and when I went to clean up, she followed me and tried to knock me out. I went to the auditorium so she'd leave me alone, but then she followed me in there and started calling Candy names. I snapped and lashed out physically," Mouse said.

She didn't look at her mother, because she knew the look she'd see, and Mouse wasn't sure if she had that much control over herself not to scream at her.

"Oh, Jane sweetie. I know you were upset about the money, but I'm very upset that you felt you had to hurt the poor girl outside, and to drag your poor brother into this all? I'm very disappointed," Sarah said.

Emma faltered, a wide-eyed look between Mouse's clenched jaw and Sarah's tears. "Money? I don't see how that relates to the fight she had with Jackie over bullying."

"Well, my little Jane found out that I had to spend her education fund on hospital and medical bills for poor Candon, and ... well, she got upset. She took off and didn't come home for the whole night, and even took Candon with her. I had no idea where she'd gone, or where she'd taken my poor baby," Sarah said, sniffling. "And then I get the call today saying she's been in a fight with a girl at school? It's obviously the stress and emotional turmoil that's got to her. She used to be such a good girl. I don't know what I've done wrong. I must be an awful mother if my sweet Jane has turned out like this!"

Mouse wondered what the hell her mother was doing. It was obvious that no one would believe Sarah's words, and she wondered if it was a way of making her look bad, or a way for Sarah to get attention.

"Now, now. You're not an ... awful mother," Will said, wondering why his stomach twisted and the words tasted like ash in his mouth.

Sarah clung to him immediately, and Mouse looked away in disgust. Sarah was doing it for attention; of course she was...

Emma's eyes widened even further and she coughed slightly, turning her attention to Mouse.

"If you apologise to Jackie, I'm sure this will all blow over soon enough. And if you like, I can give you some information about scholarships of financial aid for universities and colleges tomorrow," Emma said.

"I have to apologise to her? What about her apology to me? She insulted my brother and called him a retard!" Mouse practically shouted.

Emma was surprised that she didn't mention Jackie's bullying towards Mouse herself, but wondered if the young girl even cared.

"Are you sure you didn't hear her incorrectly?" Will asked hesitantly, remembering what had happened with Kent when the jock had used that word.

He tried to pry Sarah off his arm, but she was like ... an octopus with it's prey, he thought, remembering Mouse's depiction last week.

"She said it three times. I heard her perfectly fine," Mouse replied, her jaw and fists clenched.

"I am sure that Jackie will apologise as well," Emma said, opening the door and calling Jackie inside.

Mouse suddenly started to feel claustrophobic; Jackie's triumphant little smirk, her mother clinging and touching Schuester, the man's utter helpless and horrified look, the slightly sickened expression on Emma's face.

"Sorry for hitting you," Mouse muttered, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Me too," Jackie said, batting her eyelashes in a way she thought made her look innocent.

Mouse rolled her eyes and left the room, not stopping even when she heard Schue saying something about Jackie not apologising properly.

Heading to the football oval, she saw Puck and Terrence throwing a football around with Candy.

"Hey, sweetie. Ready to go home?" Mouse called.

Candy waved over to her, grinning broadly. Terrence picked Candy up, grinning when the boy giggled and laughed loudly, the football clutched in his hands. Puck headed up to her, frowning slightly when he saw how tense she was.

"How'd it go? Is she suspended?"

Mouse snorted. "Of course not. Her mother made a very large donation to the school this afternoon. We had to apologise to each other, and now it's all swept under the rug... I have to see Miss Pillsbury again tomorrow since Sarah announced she spent all of my education money on Candy."

"Obviously, she didn't, or you wouldn't look so annoyed," Terrence said, grinning slightly.

Candy was still giggling away, and oblivious to their conversation.

"She got benefits from the government every single week, and used that to pay for anything medical. She had enough money from work to cover our living expenses, and had no need to touch any of it," Mouse said, her stern tone making Candy stop giggling. She forced herself to smile at him. "Ready to go home now, sweetie?"

He nodded and wriggled out of Terrence's arms, going over to the bleachers to get his bag.

"You don't have to go back there, you know. You can come over to mine again," Puck murmured.

"With the spiel Sarah's probably putting on in there, if I don't go home again tonight, I'll probably have sessions with Miss Pillsbury from now until when I graduate," Mouse said, rolling her eyes. "Thanks for the offer though," she said with a smile.

"Call me if anything happens, okay?" Puck said, kissing her.

Terrence covered his laugh with a cough when he saw the face Candy was pulling at them.

"Do you know you still smell like chicken soup?" Puck said, grinning when she whacked him on the arm.

...

After settling Candy in with his homework, Mouse headed straight for the bathroom to have a shower.

By the time she was clean and dressed (and no longer smelled of chicken soup, thank you very much, Puck!), Sarah still wasn't home. Mouse didn't care that she wasn't, she just hoped that her mother wasn't flirting with Schue again. He wasn't emotionally strong, and her mother had years of experience when it came to bedding people through manipulating their emotions. With that thought in mind, Mouse rang Mr. Schue. She silently hoped that he hadn't succumbed to Sarah.

"Mouse?" Schue answered, sounding surprised.

"Hey, Schue. I was just wondering if Glee club was still on tomorrow morning?" she asked cheerfully, biting her lip so she wouldn't blurt out the real reason for her call.

"We have Regionals soon, of course it is," Schue replied, grinning now.

"All right then. Have you seen my mother? I'm worried that she's gone off on another drinking binge," Mouse replied, sounding worried.

Sarah wasn't the only one who could reveal personal information, she thought viciously. Mouse was a better actor than her mother, so the worry in her voice almost sounded real to herself.

"No, I haven't seen Sarah. She left soon after you did, I'm surprised that she isn't already home. That's where she said she was going, after all. Do you want me to check the carpark for you?" Will asked.

"No, thank you though. I'm sure she'll be home soon," Mouse said, saying goodbye and hanging up.

Mouse sighed, looking at her watch. She knew exactly where Sarah had gone. There was a bar called 'Just Like Home' across town, which the regulars called 'Home' instead. It was open in ten minutes, and by the time Sarah arrived, she would probably be the first one on the bottle.

Going through her phone's contact list, Mouse found the number for the bar and rang them to let them know that Sarah would be arriving soon. The owner, Trish, thanked her, and immediately set her staff to DEFCON Sarah.

After seven drinks, when Sarah hit her inevitable desire to have vodka, it would be replaced with water instead. It was a precaution not only for their bar (the amount of times they had needed to replace furniture, tabletops, even the entire bar at one point after Sarah's visits, had almost sent Trish bankrupt), but also one for Sarah's children too. Trish was a mother herself, and while Mouse had never said anything, she could see that Sarah's drunken outbursts ended up with someone getting hurt. Whether the hurt was physical, emotional or mental, it was still damaging.

So, after Sarah's seventh drink, when she was so drunk that she started flirting with chairs (another set of chairs had to be replaced that time she got to her tenth drink without someone realising), her drinks were either diluted or replaced entirely with water and a slice of lemon. She couldn't tell the difference by that time anyway.

There was a crash as the doors opened, and Trish refrained from sighing when she saw her first customer for the night.

"Trish, darling! I'm sorry I haven't been here for a while, life has been so busy lately!" Sarah said dramatically as she entered the bar.

The entire Home staff braced themselves for a night of Sarah, each and every one thankful that it was only a night.

...

"Now, Jane, why don't you tell me how you feel about your mother spending your college money on Candon's medical bills and education?"

Mouse glowered down at Emma's table. She wondered how the counsellor would like it if she had to talk about her feelings in regards to Tanaka, whom no one had seen or heard from since Emma had dumped him at the altar. She looked up at Emma, who was sitting there with wide eyes, waiting expectantly for an answer.

"As Sar... my mother didn't spend the money on Candy, I can't have any feelings for it, can I?" she muttered.

"What do you believe your mother spent the money on, if not your brother?"

Mouse didn't reply. She folded her arms across her chest and followed the seconds ticking by on her watch. A beat began to sound in her head, ticking along with the sound of her watch...

Emma frowned when she realised that the young woman across from her wasn't going to answer her question. "Our time is running out, Jane."

Our time is running out,
Our time is running out.
You can't push it underground,
You can't stop it screaming out.

I wanted freedom,
Bound and restricted.
I tried to give you up,
But I'm addicted.

Now that you know I'm trapped sense of elation,
You'd never dream of breaking this fixation.
You will squeeze the life out of me...

A buzzer sounded, startling Mouse and stopping the song in her head.

The session was over, she realised in relief. She grabbed her bag, put it over her shoulder and left without a word.

Emma sighed as the door closed behind Jane's silent exit. When would the students realise that she was only trying to help them?

...

"Hey Candy, go on through; Kurt's made some food and drinks up for you," Burt said.

Candy thanked him and went inside, walking past the auto parts carefully.

"Afternoon, Jane. How are you?" Burt asked, smiling at her briefly.

He was still feeling guilty over not helping her on the weekend, and hoped that she would forgive him.

"Fine, thanks, Mr. Hummel. How are you?" Mouse asked as she went to the desk.

"Fine..." he replied.

"Has Mrs. Jackson collected her car yet?"

"She came and went about fifteen minutes ago. She said that she would have waited to say hello, but she needed to pick her son up from school," he replied.

The phone rang, and Mouse answered it promptly. Burt sighed and slid under a car he was repairing.

"Mr. Hummel? Do you mind if I turn the radio off? It's just talkback now," Mouse said after she'd finished the phone call.

"Fine by me," he called. The radio was turned off immediately.

Mouse continued her job of filing and organising the mess that had covered Burt's desk. He might have known where everything was, but after finding a mould-covered sandwich under a pile of paperwork, Mouse certainly hoped he hadn't known that it was there.

"I'm sorry about not helping you on the weekend, Jane..."

His admission was quiet, and it took Mouse a moment to realise that he was talking to her.

"I should have been there for you, as I'd promised to do, and after everything you've done for both me and Kurt... Well, I'm just sorry I didn't help, and I hope that you and Candy are all right."

Mouse looked over to Burt, where his feet were sticking out from under a car.

"You don't have to be sorry for anything, Mr. Hummel. I shouldn't have burdened you with my problems in the first place... But... Thank you, Mr. Hummel," she said quietly.

"You're welcome," he replied gruffly, coughing and blinking quickly to clear his eyes.

Mouse hid a smile. She started to sing a song by John Mellencamp, knowing that it was his favourite singer. She grinned when Burt sang along quietly.

...

"All right, I want to see where you all are. Sectionals is close, and you need to all be at your best," Schue said, looking at each of them. "I want each of you to choose a song, and on Friday, you'll sing in front of the rest of the Glee club. Yes, Rachel?"

"I propose that we make the songs as emotional as possible. We all seem to do our best when there's emotion involved," Rachel said, looking to her fellow Glee members.

"It's a good idea," Will conceded, "but as I said, it's a song of your choice... Now, I'll let you have the rest of this rehearsal off in order to find a song."

Mouse left the auditorium with Candy, who was humming a song under his breath.

"Do you want help finding a song, sweetie?" she asked.

Candy stopped, a frown on his face as he thought about it. "No, sweet is good!" he replied, grinning broadly.

"Oh, really? So what are you going to sing?" she asked, smiling at him.

"Secret," Candy said, putting his finger to his lips.

"Do you have any idea what you're going to sing, Mouse?" Kurt asked.

"A couple ideas, but I'm not sure yet. You?"

"I'll think of something," he said with a shrug.

There was a trill as his phone went off, and Kurt's face lit up when he saw that the text was from Blaine. He hurried off to his locker with a quick smile.

Mercedes looked after her friend, and sighed, turning away and heading to the cafeteria. Mouse was sure she heard her muttering something about tater tots.

...

End of the twentieth chapter. I hope you liked it!

A new poll regarding a future chapter is up. Please vote if you want a say in the story!

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