A/N: Aww massive virtual hugs for you all! I'm glad you all liked the extra long chapter. I'm quite proud of it. Anyway; this is the last chapter that follows the basic plot of a Glee episode, next one I'm on my own for the complete plot. Sigh. Oh well. Basic timeline for the chapter; four weeks/a month since Finn and Rachel slept together, I'd say Quinn's about four-five months pregnant, a week since Mattress.
Sectionals spoilers and once more; some dialogue from the original episode, though I changed a few words.
***
Chapter Six: Damn Regret
For someone who had sworn a few weeks ago that a drunken mistake had fully and irrevocably ruined her life, Rachel had managed to pull everything back to somewhat normal, rather quickly. Sure Quinn still hated her and could barely stand to be in the same room as the other girl without mentioning the word 'whore' or 'slut', and out of the eleven Glee kids, only four were on her side, but Rachel still had Noah firmly planted next to her, the boy slowly becoming her closest friend next to Tina, and as of a week ago, she and her fathers were finally back on speaking terms.
True to their word, her dads had organised a family night, in which they had actually cooked for once, both deliberately leaving work early, before sitting down and finally discussing the slowly festering elephant in the room. Truthfully it was one of the more awkward moments Rachel had ever experienced, and that included the sex talk she had been given at age 9. This time had been that, multiplied by a couple hundred. At least when she was 9, they had basically handed her several books on puberty and sex and trusted her enough to read them and to then ask any questions she may have. However at age 16, she wasn't as lucky given both her parents knew she was sexually active, regardless of the fact it happened once and there was a slim to nothing chance of it ever happening again. After twenty minutes of listening to both fathers regale her with a lecture on why drunken sex wasn't never a good idea, and that they knew a girl from her school was already dealing with the consequences of such actions, and they didn't want their own daughter to have to go through teen pregnancy, especially since the boy to devirginise their daughter was the longstanding boyfriend of aforementioned girl. Struggling not to visibly shudder, Rachel finally broke in and explained carefully that what had happened between her and Finn meant nothing to either of them, and it would most likely never reoccur. This was greeted with cheerful smiles from the less-overbearing father as they both enveloped her in a long overdue hug, before handing her a paper-bag that was horrifyingly filled with the elusive 'c' word, and explaining that they had organised a doctor's appointment for her, just to make sure she hadn't caught anything from Finn, regardless of both of their original virgin status.
Rachel wandered slowly to her bedroom, still half-reeling from embarrassment, but never the less glad that everything was right with her fathers again. For now at least.
Flopping into her deskchair, she pulled her bag towards her, deciding that homework might just burn the images out of her mind.
Amongst her books she spotted the bright pamphlet again, its title glaring at her. Her stomach began to churn as she picked it up, before crumpling it into a ball and throwing it in the trash. Neatly spreading Noah's note out, she picked up her phone.
Are you sure you want to tell Finn? Can't Quinn?
She hit send before she could regret it, before pulling out her English book to the homework that technically wasn't due for another week. Her phone buzzed soon after,
Yeah i need 2. Quinn's got this thing where she needs 2 b perfect. she wont do it.
Alright. Do you know how you'll do it? I mean it's not a casual thing to admit to.
thats what i need u 4. im gunna pick ur brains for ideas.
Rachel laughed, completely giving up on the idea of working, instead curling up in the middle of her bed.
Are you admitting that I'm smarter than you?
:) Obviously not if u hvnt guessed already.
Don't be mean. I'll have something tomorrow for you.
Thanx. Ur really being awesome about this.
She could feel her cheeks burning, as Daddy number one knocked gently on the door, kissing her forehead as he handed her the bowl of pie they had cut up downstairs. She settled herself down with it, before beginning to reply.
I try. Meet me by my locker tomorrow. I'll bring flowcharts.
i take the smart comment back. ur a weird one.
Makes you love me all the more.
The minute her thumb hit the send button, Rachel regretted it. She didn't know what she was thinking, bringing up the 'L' word with a guy she'd dated and dumped within a week, who she wasn't even sure actually liked her as much as he acted. Her phone was still and silent for several minutes, and Rachel found herself panicking more and more when it finally went off.
Mayb. :) Evythng OK with u and the dads?
She sighed in relief, glad for the subject change.
Yeah. We talked it out. A little awkward.
thought itd b. but good 2 hear anyway. u told T & A? theyre worried.
Not yet. Only just finished.
K. i can do it 4 u. g2g. talk to you tmorrw. night ;)
Goodnight Noah.
Rachel sighed in happiness, her stomach warming in a way that had nothing to do with the pie she had eaten.
***
In Puck's opinion, the people who write those books on telling people news about death and crap really should invest in ones for screw-up teens who sleep with their best friend's girlfriends, causing them to get pregnant. It might just make this whole 'telling Finn' idea a little easier to deal with. Sure he wanted to, like desperately, in part for himself, to hopefully get a role in his baby's life, but in part for Rachel too, so that maybe Quinn would finally leave her alone.
After he had finished texting Rachel last night, Puck was somewhat ashamed that he'd Googled giving bad news. In part it was completely his fault. He'd originally gone to Miss Pillsbury, because she was like always handing out pamphlets to students, he knew this because Rachel had been getting heaps lately, but she didn't have any on betrayal that didn't involve divorce, and trust him when he says that he knows a little more about that than he liked. Unfortunately Google failed him for the first time, in the way it kept going on about honesty and trust and telling the person in a safe, happy environment and never using phrases or sentences that you will regret tomorrow. Puck didn't need his awesomely badassedness to tell him all of it was a steaming pile of crap. All he knew was that he might need to organise with the nurse for some icepacks in advance, and hopefully Matt and Mike would help interfere if Finn looked ready for the kill, Puck didn't particularly want to die at the hands of his most likely soon-to-be best friend, he wanted something really badass to be written on his tombstone, not; Here lies Noah [Puck] Puckerman – a total douche.
The next morning, Puck rolled out of bed much, much earlier than he normally did. Early enough that both his mom and sister were still in the house, and assuming he left when they did, he'd actually arrive at school on time for the first time in a long time. Grabbing the tattered notepad that he had scrawled various 'telling Finn' ideas on, he wandered downstairs, only to be gaped at by his sister. His mother thankfully was a little more subtle, kissing his forehead and reminding him again that she wanted to meet the nice Jewish girl he had befriended, Puck had long given up on explaining they had already met before, on one of the rare days he had actually attended temple and Rachel's fathers had remembered their daughter attended school with him.
Entering the school, Puck manoeuvred his way swiftly around the halls to Rachel's locker, finding her standing there, hands full of brightly coloured pamphlets that had to have come from Miss Pillsbury, and a rather thick, technical looking book. Upon spotting Puck coming towards her, Rachel's eyes widened Bambi-style and she quickly shoved the book and pamphlets to the bottom of her bag, hoping to whatever God there was that he hadn't seen any of the titles. Puck raised his eyebrows,
"Err...paranoid much Berry? What was up with the counselling explosion?"
Rachel's cheeks burned in embarrassment, "I-I-I-I had an appointment with Miss Pillsbury, the other day about all this nonsense with Quinn, and she's been helping me sort through it all," she half-lied and he shrugged,
"Sounds alright. Least she can help you; she had nothing that could help me with this confessing thing."
Rachel smiled, closing her locker, "You don't think you could just sit him down and explain? That's what Finn and I did for Quinn. Although that didn't work out at all well, giving she began screaming, and Finn had some kind of mental breakdown and I completely shut down. But I guess just being completely honest would help. Explain about the wine-coolers and the lack of inhibition, and avoid mentioning that he and I basically did the same thing. Now is not the time for guilt-tripping."
Puck stared at her in wonder, "And if he starts using fists?"
Rachel looked pointedly, "Then take it like a man. Don't fight back. If you do it before Glee, there's a good chance Mr. Schuester or Mike and Matt can break it up. Otherwise I have pepper-spray in my bag that can be put to good use other than keeping Jacob away from my house,"
He threw an arm around her, pulling her in close to his side, "How is it that I can search Google for two and a half hours and get nowhere, but one short speech from you and suddenly its all clear?"
She laughed, "What can I say? It's a talent."
***
As much as her bravado hid it, Rachel was actually terrified of the idea of Finn's reaction. She couldn't deny the fact that she felt very strongly for Noah, and the idea of Finn hurting him in anyway was bound to freak her out. Not that she didn't feel terrible for Finn. In her opinion, this confession was a long time coming, and it was going to take even longer for any kind of forgiveness to be given out. Just quietly, she thought that Quinn deserved it. They had all witnessed one or more shouting matches between her and Finn about what he was bringing to the table to help with their baby, and now that the news of 'Drizzle' – Finn had mentioned his beloved name for the little girl – had been brought to light to Rachel, she often wondered how Quinn could sleep at night, knowing that she was lying directly to Finn's face about the paternity of the baby, denying Noah any contact at all, despite his exclamations that he would be a good father, and just being plain horrible to everyone else. Deep inside her, Rachel had a big heart, she knew that she couldn't hold a grudge against anyone for long – except that Sierra girl whom had stolen a dance routine off her when she was 11 – even if they had relentlessly picked on her for her entire middle school, and now high school life. That part of her felt incredibly sorry for Quinn. Even if she had been horrible to Rachel for sleeping with Finn, Rachel had guessed it had something to do with the fact that it was something Quinn herself hadn't done, and it was her way of lashing out with the internal regret and hatred she had for herself. Needless to say, Rachel wasn't quite ready to forgive and forget just yet, but she guessed if indeed they were in the same boat, they may just get thrown together whether they like it or not.
***
As macho and huge as he looked, Finn still managed to punch like a girl. Anyone who had seen him with a punching bag would know this and it had been the topic of many locker-room jokes for almost a year now. Clearly the other footballers had never had a very pissed off Finn punching the living daylights out of them.
Puck had clearly followed Rachel's instructions. He trusted her enough to lead him through this and make sure he didn't totally screw up. And his first step of business was getting Finn alone. Timing wise he'd picked before Glee, merely because everyone knew Glee made Finn ecstatically happy and the moments before and after were the highest points of euphoria. Then several carefully aimed paper-planes in class had organised Finn to meet him near the piano ten minutes before Glee would start, given Puck enough time to confess, but not enough for Finn to punch him fully to death.
Truthfully the look on Finn's face when he walked into the choir room, made Puck want to throw up. Finn had finally apologised to Rachel about the yearbook incident and, much to Quinn's dismay, both were back on speaking terms and seemed to be as close as ever, given all the sexual awkwardness between them. Plus earlier that day, Quinn had presented Finn with another ultrasound picture, that he had been showing to all the Glee kids, introducing it as his 'tiny little Drizzle', a scene that had made Puck ready to scream that the child was his, as well as succumb to Quinn's request that Finn never find out. Unfortunately for Finn, the first option won out.
"Dude. I did something unforgivable." he blurted out when Finn had spread out on the piano bench. He raised his eyebrows
"Whose cat did you run over now?"
Puck took another deep breath, "It's not a cat, Finn, It involves you."
Finn frowned, "Did you run over my Nanna? 'Cuz I like almost did that already and I don't think she appre-appre-appre, I don't think she liked it."
"I didn't run over anything! It has nothing to do with a car," Puck cried, exasperated,
Finn chuckled, "You sound like Rachel when she's helping with dance moves." he said and Puck rubbed his forehead,
"I broke the Bro Code. Like majorly broke it."
Finn looked up, slightly worried, "Puck dude, you know I admire your badassedness with the cougars and stuff, but you better not have slept with my mom. 'Cuz that's like sick and all, and I really don't wanna sleep with yours just for revenge."
"Eww." Puck gagged, "Sick. I wouldn't sleep with your mom. But I kinda got drunk and slept with someone closer to you than that," he admitted,
Finn screwed his nose up in confusion, "Well it wasn't Rachel 'cuz like she isn't that kind of person, and that one time with us was a major accident. Did you have sex with Mike? Not that I'm judging or anything, I mean Kurt might be happy for you to swing that way for him. You'd just better tell Rachel soon 'cuz I think she has it really bad for you and if you keep leading her on, it'll hurt her feelings," he finally said and Puck wanted to scream. Firstly because Finn thought he was gay, and there is no way that Noah Puckerman was gay. And secondly because Finn was accusing him of treating Rachel the exact way that Finn himself was treating her. In that moment, Puck decided.
"No. Finn, I had sex with Quinn. After you joined Glee, we were at a party and she was upset so we had way too many drinks and slept together. The baby is mine not yours. Quinn's being lying to you the whole time. She made up the story about the hot-tub because she knew you'd believe it. You can't get pregnant that way. I'm so sorry."
The minute the words were out, Puck felt a fist crashing into his face.
***
As soon as Noah didn't come meet her after her afternoon English class, Rachel knew something was up. Enough so that she had embarrassingly run full-bolt down the corridors towards the Glee room. She wasn't the only one. Outside to the room, she caught up with Kurt and Brittany who were both chattering away at a decibel only small dogs could understand. As she ran past, Kurt grabbed her arm and pulled her to his side,
"Rachel. I wouldn't go in there. It's getting a bit bloody. My designer coat almost got stained." he whispered and Rachel internally panicked, ripping her arm away from Kurt and shoving the door open to spot Finn and Puck rolling on the floor, punching each other. Well actually it was more Finn punching Puck, who was trying to get away. A tearstained Quinn stood with Santana, loudly sobbing. Suddenly Mr. Schuester and Miss. Pillsbury burst through the door.
"Come on! Get up and knock it off! Hey!" he shouted, pulling the pair apart. Blood was streaming from Puck's nose and his eyes were quickly yellowing into bruises.
Finn continued to fight against the hold Matt and Mike had on him, attempting to reach Puck once more, "Tell the truth!" he screamed, struggling, as Quinn burst into fresh tears,
"Who told you this, Finn," she sobbed, and his face hardened,
"It was him. But I want to hear it from you." he spat and her face crumbled, not even bothering to glare at Puck.
Mr. Schue appeared to be taking a few deep breaths as he began playing mediator, "Finn, just calm down!" he demanded but it did nothing to pacify him,
"No! They're both lying to me!" he yelled, tears beginning to well up in his own eyes, "Is it true? Just tell me, is it true?"
Quinn cried harder as she slowly stepped towards him, "Yes," she whispered, "Puck is the father,"
Finn's face fell as it all began sinking in, "Buh. So all that stuff in the hot-tub...you just made that up?"
Quinn's sobs got louder, "I am so sorry," she breathed and Rachel could feel the blood pounding in her head,
Finn scrunched up his face, "Screw this. I'm done with you." he said, his volume picking up again as he accusingly pointed to Quinn, "I'm done...I'm done with all of you!" he shouted finally before storming out of the room, kicking a chair on the way.
Quinn's sobs drastically grew and Rachel felt tears of her own, rolling down her cheeks. As Brittany and Santana directed Quinn safely to the corner to calm down, the pounding in Rachel's head grew louder and louder.
"Noah..." she whispered, and he flung his head around to her as the colour drained out of her face. Almost launching himself across the room, he grabbed her around the waist as she collapsed onto him.
"I don't feel very well," she mumbled and Puck's eyes darted about worriedly as he half-dragged her towards the row of chairs. Behind him, he could hear Miss. Pillsbury calling for water and Mr. Schuester panicking that they couldn't make Sectionals with Finn gone and Rachel sick. Puck grinned lightly as he listened to the man pacing, muttering under his breath. Against him, Rachel rested her head heavily on his chest,
"Sorry," she mumbled, "I'm just really, really tired lately."
Puck leant down and kissed her forehead, "It's alright. Miss. Pillsbury can call your dads and you can go home and sleep 'kay? I don't think we've got much to do here. Artie and Tina can go ask around the different music groups to see if anyone can be our twelfth member, and Artie can take Finn's lead. We've got Mercedes' solo, and if Britt, Santana, Mike and Matt can organise the chorography and harmonies for that, we may just have Sectionals in the bag." he reassured, trying not to dwell on the fact he had just lost his best friend. Rachel nodded and took the water bottle from Kurt, as she pulled herself to her feet, wobbling slightly. Giving Puck a tired smile, she slowly began to make her way out of the room with Miss. Pillsbury when Mike jumped up from his seat, calling her name. Rachel turned around slightly, only to have Mike throw his arms around her tightly,
"Get better soon, okay? You're the only girl in this place that wants me to teach them to pop 'n' lock and I'm not giving that up. And you said I could come to your place and check out your dad's action movie collection." he said, squeezing her against him, Puck shook his head in amusement as Rachel weakly laughed. As soon as Mike let go, Brittany wandered up to hug her too.
Rachel's eyes widened in surprise and Brittany shrugged, "You looked sad. Hugs make me feel better so you need lots to make you all extra happy again," she chirped and Rachel giggled and left the room, only to have Miss. Pillsbury fuss over her outside.
Puck stared after them, catching only a few words, "fathers...know...tell...important" he raised an eyebrow, what on earth was that about? Turning to the others, he spotted Kurt staring in disgust at his face. Raising a hand, he wiped his mouth to come away with a large smear of blood. Mr Schue frowned and handed him a box of tissues.
"Alright guys, I can't help you anymore but if you want to work things on your own until Emma gets back, feel free," he said, "and Quinn, if you need to, my office is always open for a chat." Giving Quinn a bright smile, Mr. Schue turned on his heel and left.
Puck collapsed himself in a chair, pulling his phone out and sending Rachel a quick text – call me when u wake up. need 2 know ur ok – before pressing the tissues to his blood nose. Nodding to him, Tina wheeled Artie over to the band, where they bent their heads together, conspiring. Santana patted Quinn on the shoulder one last time before grabbing Matt's hand and pulling him over to Mike and Brittany, where they and Mercedes bent over the sheet music for 'And I Am Telling You'. Kurt wandered over to the costume closet they had dragged into the room several months ago, and began flicking through the hangers. Quinn heavily stood to her feet, protectively rubbing her hands over her rounded stomach as she walked over to Puck.
"I hope you're happy now. I don't have Finn anymore. And there's a very large chance that you just pushed him straight into the arms of Rachel. Which means neither of us gets the person we want. I hope that's exactly what you wanted." she said scathingly and Puck rolled his eyes,
"I told him because I was sick of the lies and hypocrisy. You were treating Rachel like crap because she made a mistake, the exact mistake you made yourself actually." he spat and Quinn looked ready to burst into tears again,
"I know. I know I was horrible. I will apologise to Rachel, I just...I was scared. And jealous. I was jealous of the fact Rachel got to have sex with the boyfriend, I hadn't had sex with myself, and that she wasn't suffering the same consequences as I did. She isn't getting stared and mocked at in the hallways, not like I am," she whimpered and Puck felt a pang of sympathy for Quinn, which was followed by annoyance,
"But she does. Rachel gets mocked in the halls constantly because of the rumours we've all spread, all the crap about her dads and the teasing and made-up stories of her being a transsexual. The pornographic pictures that you commissioned the Cheerios to draw on the bathroom walls. You're barely coping with the treatment you've been getting for the last few months, when we've been doing this to Rachel for years," he said and tears began to roll down Quinn's face,
"I know, I know. I'm so sorry." she pleaded and Puck gently positioned her on a chair.
"Don't tell me that, tell Rachel."
Quinn nodded wetly, "I'm sorry about all the Lima Loser comments and everything, you'll make a great dad someday. I just...I just want to do this on my own. I need to do it on my own. It means less people are involved and it'll make the whole adoption process a lot easier to handle." she said and Puck was almost ready to argue when his phone buzzed loudly. Pulling it from his pocket, Rachel's number popped up;
Berry: Finn just showed up at my house. Can you warn his mom? I think he and I are long overdue for a well needed chat.
Puck sighed and Quinn, Kurt and Mercedes looked up questioningly,
"Finn just showed up at Rachel's house. If she can talk him around, maybe we'll get our male lead back a lot quicker than we thought."
***
A/N: Yay! That's Sectionals part one over and done! I'm pretty proud of the Puck telling Finn bit actually, it made me laugh (which is kinda sad given I wrote it and all). And Rachel's little monologue is a sampling of a one-shot I'm planning on doing one day. And I had more Mike! Again, another tiny bit, but he's got more lines than Matt and Santana anyway! There's more Puckleberry, and I know I said the pamphlet title would come up but that won't be until about chapter 8 so my apologies. But I'm going to do some more Artie/Tina/Rachel/Puck moments next chapter so hopefully that'll make up for it.
Next chapter: Finn and Rachel talk, Quinn and Finn might talk and Puck will get a whole lot sweeter (because sweet Puck is way better than arsehole Puck). And........SECTIONALS!!!! :P
Hopefully I can get the next chapter up quickly, I started back at school the other day and my mother wants me to actually do all of my homework this year. But least I have study periods now and I can write during then!
And now the review replies, because I'm loving all the new names that come up, as well as it makes me so very happy to see all the names that have been here since the start ('cause in my mind, 6 chapters is A LOT!).
. – Damn! It's really obvious isn't it? I need to work on my sneakiness with this story! So yeah, the drama is majorly heating up now.
HOLLYZ – An update! :) I'm slowly getting better at fast updates now!
distorted realities – Yeah, I feel terrible for how mean I am. Major virtual group hug for her?
bjaarcy – Aww yay! Glad you like it. Hehe yeah I do write during class, mainly when I'm not paying attention I sit there and scribble on scrap bits of paper. Yay! Can't wait for an update!
Ch3lsBishop – Omg same! I love Brittany! Between her and Finn they've got the best one-liners and random facial expressions. Yeah, Quinn is a bit hypocritical, but she's coming around now. LOL. I think I'm just going to fill this story with random connections that make up twisted circles. Aww no prob.
sweetcaroline1986 – Aww thanks! Hehe I was wondering during the episode why Rachel never actually asked Puck to do it with her, cuz secretly you know he would've. Yeah in the next two chapters, get ready for the crap to fly.
GleeBaby – Thank you!!!! OMG! I know! I'm obsessed. Upto season 6 now!
Literati Lover – Aww sorry! I'm going to try and make Quinn a little more likeable soon...hopefully. And yeah, we'll do some picking on Finn too. :)
violent-smurf – LOL! I loved that bit! "I just really like Artie okay!". That scene like majorly increased my love for Puck. OMG yes! Tina and Artie would have the best kids! Even better than Rachel and Kurt's very cute, very loud babies. Of course. I'm like writing a list of bonus scenes I need to write in here. And oh my god! I didn't know about the Music and Lyrics thing until you told me so I like leapt up from the computer and bolted to my copy of the DVD. And proceeded to scare the crap out of all my siblings with the squeals. Yeah poor Rachel, she does make a lot of mistakes that affect everyone (see; Dakota, telling Finn, Puck slushing her (not really a mistake on her part, but affects the glee kids anyway)). Hehe very true. Yeah, there was no way I was writing the Will/Terri scene. I cried like so hard during that, because he was crying and he looked ready to hit her and when she said she was going to get Quinn's baby, the look on his face. :( Aww glad I can help with a distraction. Hope it goes well. :)
...World – Hehe sorry about that, the pamphlet might just kill you a little longer. Care to share what you think though?
Gabi-in-wonderland – Oh gosh. Sorry? I don't want people to have bad feelings!
Stephlorhaze – Aww thanks! Yeah my Quinn is a little cruel, but she'll get nicer I promise! Yeah poor Finn. He's just so stupid you have to love him. Hehe I want Puck too. Him and all his gorgeous-ness. Naww thank you (again) so much!
quibbler149 – Hehe. I'm totally shite at subtleness aren't I?
mayball31695 – Aww no prob. I do like doing long chapters. Hehe thanks!
MissCharstar – Aww thanks! Will update soon!
***
And so yeah. Should update soon, hopefully. If I can write it during the week I'll be up but if I can't there might be a wait because I have this drama excursion on the weekend and we're being driven to Sydney and back in one day – which is like 6 hours away from where I live. So yeah. Once again; bjaarcy's 'Tik Tok' and Ch3lsBishop's 'These Moments In Time' and that's about all.
Enjoy.
:)