Monday. A school day. Never before had Rachel so hated a school day. She had an adorable puppy to take care of; why did she have to go to school when he needed her? But she couldn't risk her grades for Tony. Skipping classes would surely be detrimental to her future success on Broadway. The brunette reluctantly got up and started preparing for the day.

Her emergency slushie kit sat by her dresser; Rachel didn't really need it nowadays, but an extra set of clothes was still a useful thing to have. Tony was asleep beside the foot of her bed so she opened the drawers as quietly as possible. She placed a nicely folded sweater and a skirt along with some fresh underwear next to the bottle of shampoo that was already in her bag. She partly zipped it up and made her way to her bathroom.

Rachel started to fill her tub with water and stripped her clothes off when it was finished. She would typically only take showers in the morning, but today she really needed to relax. It had only been a few days since she adopted Tony, and she was quite worried about leaving him at home with one of her dads. She eased into the tub and got the bubbles ready.

All the singer could think of was him being all scared without her around. She was frightened just at the thought of him being afraid. But she'd just have to suck it up for a few days until the weekend. Then she'd be able to have him all to herself for two days before the cycle repeated itself. She frowned while soaking in the heavenly warm water.

This was something else she hadn't taken into consideration before becoming a pet owner. It was so unlike her, to not fully do her research before doing something, but looking at her puppy's sad face when she first saw him was enough for her to forgo all her prior rules. There was a look of vulnerability in his eyes that she had only ever seen once before. Although Rachel couldn't quite place when and where she had seen it, she knew that heartbreaking, desperate 'need to be loved' look.

The only thing that consoled the diva now was the knowledge that he was now in a loving home, and eating properly. Rachel had been in the tub for some time by now and despite how relaxing her bubble bath was, she was cutting it close on time. She got out of the tub, drained it, and toweled offed. Back inside her room she found her puppy nowhere to be found. "Tony?" she called, but found no response in return.

She was slightly worried, but they didn't have a doggy door, and Tony was too small to make it onto her window seat and make it outside. And besides the window was closed, so he couldn't have gotten out that way even if he could reach it. Rachel got dressed in proper school attire and grabbed her bags. She went downstairs and grabbed a granola bar for the road, but still found on sign of her puppy. The singer really wanted to at least say goodbye to him, but she'd be running late if she dallied any longer. She left calling out, "I'm off to school dad! Take care of Tony!"

Rachel got into her car and drove off to school. She switched through the stations, hoping to find an adequate tune for the morning, but suddenly heard a faint bark. Rachel lowered the volume and waited a beat. When on other sound was heard, she assumed that she must have some part of an ad over the radio. There's nothing good on so she shuts it off for the rest of the drive.

It's only when she pulls into the school that she hears it again. She knew that it couldn't be the radio and hardly likely that it's coming from outside. Her brows furrow in confusion. The singer started examining her car for the source of the noise only to hear another bark emanating from inside her duffle. "Tony?" she called uncertainly.

*bark*

"Tony!" Rachel shrieked, scrambling to open her bag for fear that her puppy might not have enough air. She pulled Tony out and hugged him close to her chest. "Oh Tony, are you okay? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be home!"

*bark*

Rachel frowned; he didn't seem to understand, that or he didn't care. The singer knew couldn't take care of Tony while in school, but she also didn't have enough time to go back home now. She let out a sigh. "Okay, I guess you can stay. But you have to be quiet." Rachel gently placed him back in and partly zipped the bag back up. She got up and slung her duffle over her shoulder.

The singer scurried over to her first period, completely ignoring her locker and Finn, who was right next to it. It wasn't that big of a deal since she already had everything she needed for her morning classes, and she couldn't put away her emergency slushie kit because Tony was in there.

She kept him directly under her table, and checked on him regularly. He would whine periodically and was a bit fidgety, but luckily he wasn't too loud. Rachel was able to make it through her first few classes without incident. But after every class she would pass by her locker and Finn would consistently be there.

Rachel couldn't keep avoiding him, and only had one class left before she actually had to go to her locker. She was frowning when she exited her third period. The singer composed herself for whatever she could expect form her ex. He caught sight of her and smiled that dopey smile that she once saw as cute, but before either could even form a word an angry bark escaped her bag. Rachel's eyebrows rose; Tony really didn't like Finn.

"What's that?" Finn asked. "Did you bring your dog with you?"

"He snuck in my bag," Rachel explained.

"Oh cool. Can I play with him?"

"Finn, I don't think that's the best idea. Don't you remember last time?"

"Ah, it'll be fine. We just got off on the wrong foot," he assured, already opening the bag to get a clear look at the golden puppy. "Come on, trust me." Rachel couldn't help but roll her eyes; she and Quinn had just had a conversation a few weeks ago about when boys would use the line 'trust me.' Suffice to say, their conclusion was less than satisfactory. "Please, Rach," he pleaded.

"Okay, fine. His name is Tony." Finn did a fist pump. "But take care of him," she added, but the tall boy seemed to be ignoring her as he stuffed her puppy into his own duffle bag, which Rachel was sure to be stuffed with football equipment and thus not as spacious as her own. He hurried off and soon Rachel found an arm on her shoulder. She turned to see Quinn (it had become habit for them to meet here after third since they had fourth together) looking at her worriedly.

"Did I just see Finn putting Tony in his bag?"

"Yeah, I guess he's trying to bond with him."

"You know he's just using him to get to you?"

"I know," Rachel answered softly.

"And he's just playing with your heart, like he did mine."

"I know."

"And remember, he broke up with-"

"I know!" Rachel said again, her voice much louder. "I know."

"I'm sorry Rach." Quinn felt bad for being a bit too insistent. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I know." Rachel smiled at how much Quinn cared for her, and also because she sounded currently sounded like a broken record. And it was quite a day when Rachel Berry sounded like a broken record. "But I'm sure nothing too bad will happen."

Elsewhere…

Tony was upset. Not at Rachel, but this stupid oaf who took him from her. Now instead of being able to use Rachel's nice smelling clothes as a bed, he surrounded by football equipment, some school stuff, and awful scent coming from something or maybe everything.

He started to knack on his gear. Stupid boy has to go and ruin his plan to sneak into Quinn's bag just like he did Rachel's. His teeth aren't very sharp so he doesn't do much damage, but it's enough to tear a small hole in his jersey. Tony whined and went for the cleats; they smelt especially bad. The noise is enough to get Finn's attention. He looked down and saw Tony's attempt at ruining his things.

"Hey stop that!" he scolded quietly, so as not to alert the teacher. Tony blatantly disobeyed and continued on the attack on a binder. It's a lot tougher than the clothes he was chewing on, but he manages to get to some of the papers inside. "Stop it, I mean it."

Tony's sure that he's bluffing. The boy is dumb, but he should be smart enough to know that harming him in anyway won't bode well with Rachel. But after class, Finn proves to be stupider than Tony originally thought when the giant stuffs him into his locker. "If you can't behave then stay in there." The metal door is slammed shut and Tony whimpers. This locker smells as bad as the bag and is far more cramp. He paws at the door, desperately but to no avail.

Later…

Tony doesn't know how long he's been in this smelly locker, which has only gotten smellier since he entered. He's scared and is starting to think that he may never see Rachel or Quinn again. But just as all hope is lost, he hears shuffling outside and voices. At first it's soft and then, "You put him in your locker?! Are you crazy?! Open it now!" Tony hears the lock being fiddled with and then the door is opened and he's greeted to the sight of a distraught Rachel, a concerned Quinn, and a guilty looking Finn.

The three of them scrunch up their noses. They had all noticed a peculiar smell when they got in the vicinity of Finn's locker, but the smell was far stronger with the door open. "What is that?" Quinn asked, pinching her nose with her thumb and forefinger. Tony whined, and looked down embarrassedly. Below him, all of Finn's belongings were damp and a number were a shade of yellow.

"Did he-"

"Finn shush!"

"But he-"

"But nothing! You left him alone in there!"

"But-"

"You. Left. Him. Alone," she said slowly, empathizing each word. "He was somewhere dark and cramp, and he was alone and had no idea where I was. What did you think was going to happen?" She didn't really want an answer, but Finn didn't seem to know that. He opened his mouth to answer and was quickly shushed. Rachel took hold of Tony and cradled him in her arms. "Are you okay baby?"

*whine*

"Quinn, can you get my slushie kit and meet me in the restroom? I need to clean him up." The blonde gave Tony a goodbye pat before leaving her favorite person and favorite dog alone with her least favorite person, shooting him a threatening glare which he missed. Finn was too preoccupied with the idea that Quinn could get into Rachel's locker when he didn't even know her combo.

With Finn busy with his thought process, Rachel decided to leave. She was down the hall when he finally noticed that she wasn't in front of her. He chased after, his locker wide open and releasing it's awful smell, but then stopped when Tony giving him a face from over Rachel's shoulder. If he didn't know better he'd swear that he was laughing at him.