A/N: I want to say to those of you that are feeling bad for Rachel, this chapter is even worse on her. It will get better for her, I promise! After all, I love Rachel as much as you do.
What are you guys' feelings for Shelby? There will be tension, but I don't think she's the bad guy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any music featured.
Chapter 6: Bring On The Rain
The rest of the dinner went well enough. Shelby was a great cook, so the food was good. Rachel even held Beth while Puck and Quinn helped clear the table. But as soon as the table was cleared, Rachel was ready to go and Quinn and Puck reluctantly said their goodbyes to their daughter before following her outside. The car ride back to Rachel's house was silent. Rachel sat nearest to the door and stared silently out the window the entire drive.
She had her seatbelt off and was nearly out the door before Puck put his truck in park. "Rachel wait a second." Quinn said, reaching for Rachel's arm to keep her in the vehicle with them.
Rachel stopped her movements and looked at Quinn. "I had a wonderful time tonight, thank you for letting me share in your reunion with Beth." Quinn winced as she saw all true emotion visibly vanish from Rachel's face.
"Thank you for coming. It meant a lot to me, to us, that you were there." Quinn replied, honestly. "It's just, about earlier and stuff, do you…"
Rachel pulled her arm out of Quinn's gentle hold and continued out the door. She stood with the door open and looked at them. "Please, just don't." She said it with such finality that all Quinn and Puck could do was nod in understanding. Then Rachel shut the door and walked to her house.
The ride to Quinn's house was just as quiet. But she didn't hurry to get out of the truck when they pulled into her driveway. They both sat in silence for several minutes before Puck shut off the engine and started to speak. He didn't look at Quinn as he spoke; he just continued to look straight ahead.
"She's wrong." He is silent for another minute, and Quinn just waits. "She thinks that she has no friends, but…"
"Can you blame her, really? I mean, most of us bullied her. None of us are too nice…"
"When I got slushied for the first time, right after I started glee, Rachel was the one who helped me clean up. After everything I did. She…"
"I know."
"She's got the biggest heart of anyone I ever met. And it kills me that people keep ripping it out and stomping on it." He is silent for several more minutes, Quinn knows exactly how he feels so she just sits and listens. "It kills me that I was one of those people."
Quinn's heart breaks when she hears how much Puck means what he's telling her. She could almost swear that she heard his voice quiver when he admitted the last part.
They sit in silence a while longer, Quinn wondering how things got this way. How she and Puck were heartbroken over Rachel, and she was actually okay knowing that she, herself, was capable of such deep regret.
"That's the thing about Rachel; she forgives us no matter what we do to her. And she loves us for just who we are, not who we try to be. And I think, maybe it's time we did that for her."
"I already do!" Puck exclaimed. "She's my little Jew, you know, I'd do anything for her. When Jesse St. Jackass egged her, the whole team stood up ready to retaliate. We've got her back, how can she not know that?"
Quinn shifted in her seat. She turned to look at Puck for the first time since the conversation started. "Do you think? I mean, she said. Did Jesse use her so Shelby could…I don't know what I'm trying to say."
"Yes." Puck turned to look Quinn in the eye. "He used her, and then she forgave him. He took her to Prom for Christ sake!" Puck was angry and he couldn't register some of the stuff her heard tonight. "And Shelby, she just…"
Quinn had to admit that when she heard about how Shelby rejected Rachel, she was livid. She wanted to take Beth and run away. Shelby didn't deserve to raise a child, not after what she did to Rachel. But when they ate dinner, she watched the way Shelby looked at Rachel. She had so much regret in her eyes. It seemed that giving her up the first time was hard but walking away the second time was the worst thing she ever did. Quinn hated to admit it, but she really believed that Shelby was back to make things right with Rachel. And it broke her heart to know that of all the people Rachel has forgiven that may not have deserved it; she was refusing forgiveness to the one person who wanted it more than anything in the world.
"We don't know everything, because Rachel doesn't tell us anything. She doesn't tell anyone anything. Her own dads don't know the living hell she suffered everyday at school." Quinn finally answered, sounding completely dejected.
"If she'd let us, we could help her. How do we get her to trust us?"
Quinn thought about it for a moment before answering, "By using the only language she understands. Hey, Puck. Do you wanna sing a duet with me?"
"Oh, hell ya!" Puck smirked; knowing that he was going to try to do something to make Rachel feel better made him feel a little better.
Rachel was standing by her locker talking to Finn, when Mercedes came barreling up to her and shoved her. Rachel winces as the crash of the lockers rang down the hallway.
"You back stabbing, Bitch!" Mercedes yelled as Rachel stood in place, she didn't reply or even move.
"Mercedes, what's your problem?" Finn shouted when he recovered from his shock.
"Your little diva bitch not only stole my part in the play but now she got me kicked out of Mrs. Conchran's choir!"
Rachel looked as stunned as Finn was but didn't have any kind of answer for his questioning gaze.
"Maybe it's a misunderstanding." Finn attempted to appease the girl.
Mercedes scoffed at that before shoving Rachel into the lockers harder than she did before. "You just made this personal, Berry. You're going down!" She was barely heard about the clanging of the lockers.
Mercedes disappeared down the hallway as the crowd that had gathered around slowly dispersed. Finn turned his attention to Rachel.
"Are you okay?" He asked reaching for her but could see her visibly shaking. He withdrew his hand before it touched her.
Rachel snapped out of her trance and looked up at him, but it wasn't fear in her eyes. It was something worse, sadder. Finn didn't know what to do, so he went to his class. Rachel eventually grabbed her books and did the same.
Quinn arrived at the lunch table and noticed that Rachel and Finn were absent from their usual spot. She shook her head trying to clear the worry from her mind, and sat beside Puck.
"Two times in two days. It must be some kind of record." Santana scoffed as Quinn took her seat.
"Puck showed us pictures of Beth, oh Quinn, she's so beautiful!" Tina gushed.
"Thank you, I know she is." Quinn smiled genuinely.
"And Shelby is letting us babysit Beth this Saturday while she runs some errands." Puck beamed. "She said it can be a trial run and if it goes well, we can take Beth a couple hours on Halloween and take her trick-or-treating!"
Quinn was excited about the prospect and was happy to see how proud Puck was about it. She couldn't help smiling to herself.
"What's she going to be?" Brittany asked.
"Well, Shelby already has the costume. I guess she's gonna be the good witch on the Wizard of Oz…"
"Glinda." Kurt added helpfully.
"And Shelby's gonna be the bad one. You know the one who's green." Puck finished, looking at Kurt how seemed strangely excited by the news.
"This is perfect!" Everyone looked at Kurt when he shrieked in delight. "You see, Rachel can be Dorothy, and Finn's the Scarecrow. Puck, you could be the Tin Man and I guess I'll be the Lion."
"Wait, hold up." Quinn interrupted. "What about me, what do I get to be?"
"You could be the Wizard." Mike suggested supportively.
"Or, you know, one of those flying monkeys?" Tina added.
Santana burst out laughing. "Hold on! Don't you even realize how perfect this is?"
Everyone looked at Santana so she elaborated. "Q's Dorothy. And Berry's simply gonna be a munchkin. I mean, come on, it's not like it's that much of a stretch." She smirks at her own pun.
"Ooh. She could be one of the lollypop kids!" Brittany exclaimed happily which reduced Santana into full blown laughter.
"Where is Rachel anyway?" Quinn asked the question she had on her mind since she sat down for lunch.
"Probably licking her wounds." Kurt responded almost smugly.
"What do you mean?" Quinn and Puck asked together.
"Mercedes attacked her just before 3rd period. Something about Mrs. Conchran throwing her out of their choir." Tina replied, as Puck and Quinn shared a look.
"Mercedes is still mad about the whole play thing, which is ridiculous really. They were both given the part; at first Rachel tried to drop out and told Coach Beiste that Mercedes deserved the lead." Artie supplied.
"That's nonsense. They both sounded amazing, having them share the lead only made sense." Quinn admitted.
"Anyway, the truth is. And by truth, I mean according to Jacob's blog, Mercedes shoved Rachel into the lockers twice and Rachel just took it. She didn't say anything. Finn said he never saw her look so sad." Kurt replied, this time a little less smug.
"Finn said? Was Finn there?" Puck asked.
"Standing there the whole time, watched it all go down." Artie responded.
Quinn and Puck were furious, and it must have shown because Santana decided to contribute to the conversation. "Look, I'm sure the hobbit's fine. She always is."
"That's right, Santana. She always is. Every time someone slushies her, or calls her demeaning names, or laughs at her. When Jesse egged her, when Shelby left her…" Puck argued.
"When I slapped her." Quinn added quietly.
"You what? Q, even I wouldn't hit the girl."
"Santana, you were the one who wanted to kill her because you blamed her for us losing National's." Quinn reminded her.
"It's true; you even had a voodoo doll of her." Brittany added. Santana shrugged when she saw everyone giving her a confused look.
"The point is, we expect her to be okay but what if she's not?" Quinn redirected.
They all sat uncomfortably in silence for a few minutes until Finn unceremoniously plopped down across from Puck.
"Dude, where's Rachel?" Puck inquired.
"She got slushied on our way to the cafeteria." Finn replied taking a bite out of his taco.
"What, who?" The entire table asked him. Ever since Santana and Karofsky instigated the 'bully whips,' slushying had pretty much been eliminated.
"I don't know, the guy said something about a war and he was on Mercedes' side." Finn said while he chewed his food.
"And what, you left her alone?" Quinn was enraged.
"No, of course not. I mean, I thought she was going to cry. She never cries." Finn paused to swallow and takes another bite. "But she didn't, she stood there a couple minutes and then she left to clean up."
Quinn and Puck were standing before Finn had a chance to know what was going on. Everyone looked at Finn incredulously.
"Hey, she said she was fine!" He defended himself ineptly.
Santana stood up and the others followed suit. "She's always fine, except when she's not." She had the decency to look almost ashamed.
Quinn smirked at Santana's response and led the group out the door. Finn was smart enough to realize he made a mistake and followed them, holding his taco tightly as he left.
Rachel was sitting cross legged in the middle of the stage. She seemed so small alone in the large auditorium. Quinn led her friends to the balcony where they could watch the girl and remain unseen.
There was no music since Rachel had her headphones on. At first they weren't sure if she was singing, but gradually her voice reached them. It was the most subdued performance Rachel ever gave, she remained sitting and just let the words wash over her.
Another day has almost come and gone
Can't imagine what else could go wrong
Sometimes I'd like to hide away somewhere and lock the door
A single battle lost but not the war
'Cause, tomorrow's another day
And I'm thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain
It's almost like the hard times circle 'round
A couple drops and they all start coming down
Yeah, I might feel defeated and I might hang my head
I might be barely breathing but I'm not dead, no
'Cause, tomorrow's another day
And I'm thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain
I'm not gonna let it get me down
I'm not gonna cry
And I'm not gonna lose any sleep tonight
'Cause, tomorrow's another day
And I'm thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain
'Cause, tomorrow's another day
And I'm thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain
So bring on the rain
No, I'm not gonna let it get me down
I'm not gonna cry
So bring on the rain, ooh
Bring on, bring on the rain
Bring on the rain
Bring on the rain, ooh
From their vantage point they were able to see the broken girl as she forced the lyrics out. The raw emotion she gave to the words sent shivers down their spines. Quinn was always in awe of Rachel's voice, but now, this moment it truly moved her.
"Well, damn." Santana whispered.
Quinn turned to look at her friends and noticed one was missing. "Where's Finn?"
The others looked around as confused as she was, until they heard a door open downstairs. Rachel heard it too; they all turned around in time to see Rachel quickly wipe some tears from her face as Finn hurried up the hallway towards her.
"Finn, hey!" Rachel chirped. "I was just about to go find you."
"Ya, I felt bad for leaving and looked everywhere for you. I heard some of your song, it was beautiful." Finn smiled at her as he held her close.
"Douche." Santana breathed out. Quinn thought she was the only one who heard it until she felt Puck's hand hold hers.
They all left the balcony, giving Finn and Rachel some privacy. Waiting until they were safely in the hallway again, Kurt spoke up. "I'm the worst friend ever."
Blaine hugged him and whispered softly, "Shh, it's okay."
"No it's not. We had a stupid fight a couple weeks ago, and I've been rude to her since."
"You what? So, she has no one?" Puck was visibly disgusted and it wasn't just at Kurt.
"Not true, she has Finn." Brittany offered, but Santana touched her arm and shook her head before mouthing "doesn't count."
A/N: I know Mercedes was bad in this chapter; I was disappointed with her in the recent Glee episode and decided to vent my frustrations here. I actually agreed with every thing they said in that song they sang with her. About her attitude and stuff. Don't worry, she'll get redemption next chapter, sort of.
Bring on the Rain by Jo Dee Messina