Saturday (two days later)…
I tell thee, minstrel, I must weep,
Or else this heavy heart will burst;
For it hath been by sorrow nursed,
And ached in sleepless silence, long;
And now 'tis doomed to know the worst,
And break at once - or yield to song.
~ My Soul is Dark (Lord G. Byron)
While the past two days had been difficult for both of them as they adjusted to their new living arrangements, in the light of Will choosing not to bring up Quinn's…confession, affairs in the Schuester-Fabray house were not as trying as they might have been. Quinn's room looked a right sight better since Will had gone to get a few posters and photos from Mercedes' on the Friday and splattered them around the place so that not only Quinn's room, but Quinn's home felt more like theirs instead of his.
"Quinn," Will bellowed upstairs, "do you want any movies for tonight cos I can go to the rental?"
She shouted back, "No, I texted Kurt. He's bringing entertainment crap."
"Language!"
"Sorry, Mr. Schue!"
He groaned, for Quinn had taken to calling him by his formal name when – according to her – he behaved like a dorky teacher and not a cool housemate. It was vexing at times, but it gave her a small amount of joy so he put up with it like any cool housemate would.
"When are the guys getting here?" Quinn asked from the comfort of her bed where she sat upright but wearing her lilac pyjamas.
"In about half an hour." Will responded as he headed upstairs, not wanting to wreck his voice with all the shouting he was doing to the bedridden Quinn.
"WHAT?!" She shrieked.
The change in her tone from basic enquiry to fury and horror turned his walk into a sprint and when he rounded the corner into her bedroom, he was appalled and disappointed by what he saw.
"Help me!"
Quinn was attempting to get out of bed but was utterly failing with one arm in a plaster cast and the other strapped not to mention a burgeoning belly to contend with.
"Why do you need to get up?" Will asked, hurrying to her side to grip her by the arms and sit her down.
"Because people are going to be here in a short while," she snapped, "and I am still wearing pyjamas, not wearing makeup and look like I just got up!"
After living with Terri for most of his life, he was accustomed to the sensibilities of women who were attentive to their appearances above all else yet he still couldn't grasp why naturally beautiful women worked themselves into a pointless frenzy trying to look artificially pretty. He was well aware that Quinn wanted to paint away all her bruises and all the signs she possibly could that told her tragic story but the people coming knew of and loved her bruises, bump and all, so it seemed aimless to Will, but his opinion didn't matter. It was all about making Quinn strong enough to engage with people other than him again and eventually get her out of the house.
"Do you need help with anything? Not that I imagine I'll be of any use with the makeup…" Will offered.
"I'm being unreasonably difficult, aren't I?" She asked meekly.
They had gotten to the point where they could jest a bit with each other, so Will responded, "Yes, Quinn, yes you are, but it's fine. You're about to see your friends for the first time after the attack, so you're completely allowed to be nervous."
"Good cos that's how I feel."
He pulled her into a reassuring hug and tried to take some of the weight (both metaphorical and literal) off her so her burden wasn't so heavy, but she simply would not let him do more than be there. It was frustrating but she would let him in and then others when she was good and ready, he just hoped – for her sake – that it would not take too long for her to open up. God knew the girl needed a full night's sleep. She hadn't slept through the night yet and Will had spent last night at the foot of her bed because she was so terrified that 'Bobby' would come back.
"You go and get yourself ready then," Will said to her, releasing her from his embrace, "and I'll sit here in case you need me."
"Fine. I'll be ten minutes or so."
"Alright. Yell if you need me."
As Quinn moved slowly to her bathroom, she smiled and murmured, "I can't yell all the time, Will."
That was enough. Just that small acknowledgment that he was helping was enough to send Will Schuester over the moon with self-satisfaction.
It took her half an hour (girl time!) to feel prepared enough to go downstairs and meet people and as Will carried her downstairs he felt her nerves as though they were burning through her body and searing his. When he deposited her on the couch and brought her the woolly blanket she liked to cover herself with, what the both of them were about to do truly descended upon him.
Quinn was about to come face-to-face with the others in New Directions who had not seen her since before she was ravaged, but he was about to have the entire club in his house. Will Schuester was about to open his personal life up to the kids he doted on, more than it was already anyway, and much like Quinn only felt at ease around him, he felt the same about her. He wasn't outgoing unless he was performing, he definitely preferred things to be close to home and private, but as much as Quinn had become his family, he'd have to let her friends in too.
"Will, are you alright?" Quinn asked hesitantly watching as the face of her friend blanched and turned ashen.
"Huh? What? Yeah, I'm fine," Will mumbled, looking at his watch, "the guys will be here soon, so I'll order us a load of pizza and put the drinks out. You okay here?"
She nodded, unsure why her housemate had suddenly become cold and distant but as he strode away from her, she understood why.
When he returned with the bottles of soda and plastic cups, she beckoned him over and waved away his concerns. As she took his hands in her bruised and plastered hands, she whispered, "I'll call you Mr. Schue when the guys are here. Don't worry so much. You like you're about to have a coronary and if you did, where would I be?"
"Good point." He stammered, feeling instantly relieved that she knew him almost better than he knew himself.
Before either of them could get another word out the old-fashioned doorbell chimed away. Will just squeezed Quinn's good hand and winked at her before going to answer the door.
"Hi, Mr. Schue," Puck said, the raw nerves making his voice stutter, "I brought you some wine."
"Puck," Will nodded in greeting, wishing fervently that God might have brought Kurt or Mercedes or any other kid to his house before the father of Quinn's unborn child.
As Puck entered, Will looked down at the bottle of red wine that the boy had given him and sharply inquired, "Puck, where – and more importantly, how – did you get a bottle of wine?"
"Doesn't matter. Where's Quinn?"
She called out from the living room, "I'm in here, Puck. Come on through."
Ordinarily, Will would have immediately offered to get his guest a drink, but seeing as every guest was going to be shocked at Quinn's appearance and she was going to be particularly…besieged, he wanted to be there for her. Beverages could wait.
Noah was apprehensive about seeing Quinn especially after Mr. Schue had made it clear to all of them that her attack had been brutal and looked it. He had been told that the baby had survived the ordeal, which made him bizarrely proud, and that was a small miracle but he was still not steeled enough for the sight of the usually indomitable Quinn Fabray reclined on the couch, enveloped by some old people's furry blanket and having skin that was patchy with the black and blue and purple tinging it under the copious, yet futile, application of foundation.
"Oh, Quinn," Noah sighed, looking down at the beige carpet, "I'm sorry."
She smiled, "What for?"
"For what's happened to you. I should have been there to stop it, to stop him."
Quinn flinched at the change of pronoun but she murmured, "I'm glad you weren't there, Puck."
"How are you feeling? Both of you?" He asked pointedly as his eyes fell to stare at her stomach.
She rubbed her stomach, "I'm fine and so is she."
"Good. That's great."
Will smiled as he looked on from the corner, not wishing to intrude on Quinn and Puck's 'reunion' but feeling innate pride that Quinn had managed to negotiate her way through what he knew she thought would be the trickiest of conversations.
"Hey, Mr. Schue, you got any grub? I'm starving!" Puck asked.
"I ordered pizza a couple of minutes ago, but help yourself to drinks. No alcohol though!" He directed with a pointed but well-meaning glare at Noah.
The men passed each other in the hall, one going for the drinks, the other heading to his friend's side. Will plopped down on the sofa beside Quinn and held her hand.
"Well done, Quinn," he said, "and you thought that was going to be difficult."
"No I didn't! Thanks anyway, though."
He squeezed her hand, "You did and you're welcome."
The doorbell rang once more and Puck announced that he would answer it as he was closest and it was Finn, Rachel, Kurt and Mercedes, who had apparently all carpooled after collaborating on entertainment plans for the evening. Apparently, that entailed bringing over a karaoke machine, Mean Girls and Dirty Dancing.
When the quartet at the door saw the state of Quinn, whereas Puck had managed to get a sentence out, none of them could form a single word. They just stood in front of her and Will with their mouths agape and with widened eyes.
Luckily, Puck came back to the living room and quipped, "What happened to you? Goldfishes much?"
That jerked the four kids out of their intense examination of Quinn's body and without uttering a word, they all just found seats and starting talking to her, Will and Puck. Will reckoned that some people liked to help by ensuring everything was as good as it possibly could be, whilst others preferred leaving the past in the past and allowing the victim to move on without too much interrogation. Both methods had their merits but he had not expected the three loudest members of his glee club – Kurt, Mercedes and Rachel – to adhere to the latter.
They were all quite happy sitting in Will and Quinn's living room just chatting about matters that didn't matter and jokes that weren't funny (mostly Will's!). It did not take long for Brittany and Santana to arrive or Mike, Tina and Artie, who all had to wait for Artie's dad to get home so someone could chauffeur him over with his girlfriend despite her spending a significant amount of time with Mike. Will guessed things were still not great with the couple, but had vowed to himself that he would not interfere beyond his due. It was enough that he was living with one of his pupils, let alone ingratiating himself into the others' personal lives. It was only when Will went to the door to get the pizza pies that the group had been sorely waiting for that the mood took a sudden and unexpected bad turn.
The doorbell rang and immediately the group chorused, "Pizza!"
"Finally!" Noah added from his spot on the couch beside the mother of his child.
Quinn had managed to keep all her emotions in check while her friends amassed around her, all pledging support and company and anything and everything else she might require during her recuperation period. However, Will had maintained his stalwart position on her left throughout and she understood that his comforting and strong presence beside her was what was keeping her on a somewhat even keel. She felt more or less fine when she was by herself and he was in the house or she was waiting for him to return, but the sensation of being in their house with others and his not being right next to her was stretching Quinn's capabilities.
Just as Will handed the guy the money, he heard a sharp and painfully familiar shriek. As he pivoted on his heels, he took in the blanched and confounded visages of the kids in his living room looking at the couch where Quinn and Puck were seated.
"Quinn, babe," Puck said, trying to pull her into his embrace to comfort her, "what's up?"
Will hurried back, shoving the pizza down on the table and returning to Quinn's side, he looked at Rachel and asked, "What the hell happened? She was fine a minute ago."
Rachel flinched at her teacher's language but shrugged, "I don't know, Mr. Schue. She just screamed."
"Quinn? Quinn," Will called to her calmly, "what's the matter? Talk to me."
"He," she stammered faintly, "he touched me."
"Who?"
She looked at Puck and nodded at him, her voice getting lost in her hyperventilation.
As calmly as he could, Mr. Schuester turned to Puck and asked, "What does she mean?"
"Not a clue!" Puck replied, unable to comprehend why the girl had suddenly turned into a banshee.
"You did," Kurt piped up, "just before she screamed, you accidently brushed your hand against her leg when you were about to reach for your cup."
Everyone looked at Puck with an accusatory glare, but ashamed that he had caused such a reaction, he just meekly apologised, directing his words chiefly at Will and Quinn.
"Okay," Will pronounced, now he understood why his housemate and friend had behaved so, "Quinn, are you feeling alright? Do you want to go and rest for a while? I can take you upstairs…"
She smiled at him and patted him on the arm, "No, I'm fine. Can I just have a glass of water please?"
"Sure." Will acquiesced, rising to fetch it but Finn waved him down and said he'd get it.
Finn saw how being surrounded by all of the 'interlopers' had frazzled Quinn and made it hard for her to cope, but it seemed to him that once Mr. Schue had taken his place next to her, she seemed to find I easier to calm down and breathe better. He had always looked on the glee club coach as a pseudo-father but it seemed that he was not the only one who relied on Will Schuester for guidance and comfort in times of trouble.
While Quinn relaxed and slumped back into the comforting fabric of the sofa, the rest of the group fell back into conversation. Only Will and Noah continued to watch Quinn as her breathing became even and she lost the abject look of shock and fear that had overtaken her countenance.
"Quinn," Noah began, "I'm so sorry. I didn't realise I'd touch you. I would never touch you without your consent. You know that, right? You know you have no reason to be scared of me? I need to know that you don't think of me like that."
She shook her head, "No, of course not. It's fine Puck. I feel so embarrassed. I didn't mean to make such a big deal. I didn't know I screamed until after I'd done it, I swear."
"Cool. I'm just going to go talk to Rachel."
Will and Quinn nodded as they watched the others in their company interact. The two of them were just happy to sit with each other and watch.
"You sure you're feeling fine? If you're not just say and I'll take you over to the ER."
Quinn patted Will's arm, feeling regretful that she had caused him to fret over her more than he did at any given time, "Honestly, I feel fine. I don't know why I reacted that way to Puck touching me and he didn't even do it intentionally. God, I am such a basket case nowadays."
Although she tried to make the last statement a joke, it was apparent that she truly thought of herself as insane and therefore undesirable and unable to be in society but Will wished to set her straight, "No, you're not. Don't talk about yourself that way because it's not true and everyone knows it. Even you know it deep down but because you've had a crap thing happen to you, it'll take some time for you to feel like yourself again. Don't rush it and before you know it, you'll want to go out and cheer and sing and dance like the old Quinn Fabray."
"Thanks, Will," she said quietly so no one else could hear, "I appreciate that. Can I ask a favour though?"
"Course you can. Anything."
She inhaled, "Can I have a hug?"
He looked at her for half a minute recollecting her dreamily spoken words of two days ago, but he was not going to hold her accidental confession against her and she had just been overwrought by experiencing physical contact with Puck. So, he just nodded with a friendly smile and extended his arms.
Mercedes observed her former roommate give her Spanish tutor a hug and noted the comfortable smile that spread over Quinn's face replacing the ashen and fraught expression she had been wearing previously. True, she had been offended and upset to learn that Quinn would be moving out when Will had retrieved what little luggage Quinn possessed, but now she could see that the two lost souls were helping each other through their tough situations and whatever made Quinn feel safest was – in the end – the best thing for everyone.
Eventually, everyone acclimatised to Quinn's new living situation and the friendship that seemed to have bloomed between their glee coach and the former cheerleader and the evening fell into a convivial mood. True to form, Kurt and Rachel hooked up the karaoke machine to the TV and everyone got the chance to serenade Quinn, even Will when Finn coaxed him to take to the 'stage' with him. They gave a powerful and accomplished rendition of Islands in the Stream which just ended with the two men falling over laughing at the stupidity of their song choice. Despite the abrupt ending of their number, everyone had a great time and at one point during Kurt and Mercedes' duet of Ebony and Ivory, Quinn was seen in full-blown laughter.
By 8:30pm, Will was done in and ready to go to bed and thought that it was probably time for Quinn to rest a bit too, but no one – including Quinn – was about to let him end the evening without watching at least one of the movies Kurt had brought. In the end, it was decided upon that Dirty Dancing would be the movie they would watch as Will had no desire to watch something with Lindsay Lohan in it.
It turned out to be a popular choice, resulting in the entire club dancing around the room to Do You Love Me and Love Man, though with less grinding than the actors. As the group watched the vacationers at Kellerman's dance the film out to (I've Had) The Time of My Life, Will observed that the figure who was beside him was no longer conscious and after a moment of worry, he grinned at the understanding that Quinn had fallen fast asleep.
He subtly and carefully extracted his arm and switched off the TV, saying to the other members of the glee club, "Guys, it's been great having you over and you've been great to Quinn today, but as you can all see, she's wiped and I'm pretty tired too, so we'd best call it a night. I'll see you all on Wednesday."
"You're coming back on Wednesday? Will we have practice?" Rachel asked.
"Yes to both and goodnight, Rachel."
Once the host of teenagers were ushered from the house, Will walked back over to where Quinn was reclining on the couch, her hands clasped over her stomach in contentment. He attempted to lift her without waking her, but his effort was made in vain, for the minute he laid a finger on her, she stirred.
"Hi," she said blearily looking about her, "when did everyone leave?"
"Just now." Will replied, trying to stave off a yawn.
"We're tiring work for you, huh?"
"You have no idea," Will said with a wink, slumping down onto the sofa beside her, "so do you fancy a cup of cocoa before bed?"
"Sure," Quinn answered, "but before you go, and while we're alone, I just wanted you to know that I remember what I said that time. Though, I do know why you've been pretending that you'd forgotten and I appreciate it, but you shouldn't have."
"Quinn, what are you talking about?"
"I remember telling you that I love you." Quinn admitted with an uncertain smile.