A/N: So I had a reviewer bring up a question about the timeline of this story versus canon because I apparently didn't make it as clear to y'all as it is to me in my head. I guess you could kinda say that this story branches off in season 2 when Finn and Rachel break up since there is no Finchel kiss at Nationals or them getting back together. When I talk about Puck and Rachel being ex boy/girlfriend with each other, I'm not referring to their time together in sophomore year. Let's just pretend that in this story Rachel and Puck get back together after Finn breaks up with her for kissing Puck. They're will be a few canon pieces of season 3 (of what's aired in the whole whopping 3 episodes before they went on break!) mainly in the mentioning that Shelby and Beth are back. Sorry for any confusion.
And for those of you that have read my one shot Planes, Trains & Automobiles, I'm currently working on some companion pieces to it that should hopefully be done soon. So keep an eye out for that if you're interested in Smuckelberry.
The next couple of weeks seem to go a little better for Rachel, now that her dads know about the baby and haven't kicked her out like she remembers Quinn's parents doing. She honestly doesn't know what she would've done if that had happened since her situation is different than Quinn's was and she has no boyfriend (or name and face of the father of her baby for that matter) to fall back on. But since she is thinking about it, perhaps talking to the blonde former cheerleader about her circumstances might be a little bit helpful. Looking up from locker, Rachel sees the girl in question standing next to Finn Hudson, her boyfriend (they had managed to work through their issues after Beth was born and decided to give each other another chance) and waves to them. As she shuts her locker, Rachel heads their way when she is suddenly drenched in the freezing cold ice of a cherry slushie.
Her eyes and mouth pop open in shock since it has literally been months (before she and Puck had gotten together the year before) since she has felt this level of humiliation. And once she looks down and sees how her shirt is clinging to her new little baby bump the humiliation just grows as she fears other people will be able to see it and start spreading rumors about her. Rachel quickly dashes into the nearest restroom and is grateful to see that it is empty. Standing in front of the mirror, she looks at herself and surveys the damage to her hair and clothing.
As she grabs a clump of frozen ice out of her hair, the bathroom door opens and none other than Quinn Fabray walks in. Rachel watches in the mirror as the other girl just leans back against the bathroom door and then flips the lock in order to give them some privacy. "What can I do for you, Quinn?"
The blonde girl just stares at her for a moment longer before walking towards the sink and grabbing some paper towels to wet them with cold water and then begins working on the stains in Rachel's shirt. Not looking her in the eyes she asks, "So how far along are you?"
Rachel gasps at the quiet question. "H-how did you know?"
Quinn gives her a small smile. "I've been there before remember? I had some suspicions with how tired you've been lately and then the sudden change in wardrobe," she gestures towards Rachel's loose shirt, that now clings to her body due to the slushie, and jeans. "So, how far along are you?"
"Sixteen weeks," the brunette admits.
"Wow. Is Puck the father?"
Rachel just shakes her head no before shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know actually."
Quinn just stares at the petite brunette quietly. "I never figured you for the anonymous one night stand kind of girl."
"I-I-I'm not," Rachel stammers before sighing and speaking again. "It happened at the fourth of July part at Finn and Kurt's house. I don't really remember much about the night. But apparently I walked in a virgin and walked out pregnant."
"So you were raped?"
She feels tears spring to her eyes at hearing the words out loud and can't help it when her shoulders start to shake. "I don't know, Quinn. I can't remember. It's all just a blackout. So I was either drugged and raped or just so drunk off my ass that I just gave my virginity to a total stranger!"
The blonde cheerleader is momentarily stunned at the curse word that comes from the diva's mouth before she gathers her in a hug and lets her cry on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Rachel."
"Thank you and while I know neither one is really a good option, I can't really prove that I was raped four months after it happened." Taking a deep breath she continues, "So I'm choosing to think of this as the lesser of two evils and that I willingly had sex with someone at that party. I – I have to in order to keep my sanity."
"Who all knows?"
She sniffles and swipes at the tears on her cheeks as she replies, "Just you and my dads so far. It's not exactly news that I want to parade around school, you know?"
Quinn nods because she knows that feeling all too well. She remembers exactly what it felt like to be the girl that everyone talked about and said malicious things to just because she made a mistake. Plucking the wet red stained shirt away from Rachel's body she says, "Come on. I should have a spare sweatshirt in my locker that you can borrow. And I still have my maternity clothes that I wore if you'd like to borrow them. You can come over after school and pick them up."
Rachel just nods and gives her a small smile as they gather their belongings (Rachel making sure to hold her books in front of her stomach since her shirt is still clinging to her body) and leave the bathroom together, not caring who can see them, both understanding that their relationship has forever changed due to their common situations.
Noah Puckerman might not be the absolute smartest guy in school but he notices things. He notices hot chicks. He sees short skirts. He especially likes hot chicks in short skirts. So yeah he sees a lot of girls but watching his former Baby Mama and ex-girlfriend walk out of the girl's bathroom together looking all friendly with each other piques his interest and he makes a mental note to get to the bottom of that. Because even though he might not be with Rachel anymore (for whatever reason that he can't even remember) he still wonders about her, especially after seeing her crying her eyes out in her car in the parking lot where his mom works.
Sometime later in the day, he's finally able to catch Quinn on her own and so he strolls over to her locker and leans against it. "Hey Baby Mama, what's up with you and Berry?"
"Puck," she starts exasperatedly, "how many times have I asked you to stop calling me that? And there's nothing going on with me and Rachel."
He quirks an eyebrow at her use of Rachel's name instead of one of the many mean spirited nicknames that she'd called her throughout the years. "Yeah don't feed me that crock of shit, Q. I saw the two of you walk out of the bathroom together and head down the hall towards the locker rooms."
"Congratulations, Puck. You saw two girls walk out of the girl's restroom and head in the same direction."
"Quinn," he says with a slight scowl.
She sighs and shuts her locker as she turns to face him. "Look, Puck. I can't tell you about Rachel right now because it's not my place to say anything. She'll tell you when she's ready."
Puck just stares after the blonde girl as he tries to figure out what is going on. He isn't stupid and he knows that Quinn's use of Rachel's name paired with her actually not wanting to spread gossip or rumors about his ex, just confirmed for him that something is in fact going on and that he planned on figuring that shit out.
The next day at school, Puck finds Rachel at her locker so he casually leans against it as he reaches out to touch her shirt. "Nice shirt, Rach, it's very soft and familiar looking. Doesn't Quinn have something just like it?" He notices how her body stiffens ever so slightly as she hugs her books to her stomach just a little tighter and her breath hitches at his statement. What's that about? It's just looks like a shirt that Quinn has.
Rachel relaxes her body when he doesn't say what she was expecting. She gives him a small smile and tells him, "Yes, Noah, this is one of Quinn's shirts. I asked her for a little fashion advice and she very kindly loaned me some of her clothing that she no longer wears."
He quirks an eyebrow at this information. "Why would you ask Q for fashion advice? I happen to be a big fan of your skirts and knee socks. Very sexy look that only you could pull off."
She blushes at his comment and gives him a pretty smile. "Thank you, Noah. But nonetheless, I felt that it was time for me to make a change. I'm not always going to just be a high school girl."
"Damn shame," he smirks at her before quickly pinching her side, causing her to laugh and jerk away from him. "See ya later, Rach."
Rachel watches as Noah saunters on down the hallway to his next class, exhaling a big breath because she managed to keep from sharing her secret with him. She knows it is only a matter of time before everyone finds out but she isn't ready for that to happen just yet. She especially isn't ready to find out her ex-boyfriend's reaction seeing as how she knows that he had wanted to have sex with her while they were together (probably still does if she's being honest with herself) and they never did. She can't help but think that he will be furious and think that she had given it up to someone else just weeks after they broke up even though they'd been together for six months.
Unfortunately though for Rachel Berry, it seems that life just really likes to kick her when she's down. She is rifling through her rolling pink backpack trying to find her Glee folder so that she can work on their newest song but she can't seem to find it anywhere. At first when she finally concludes that it isn't there she just decides to accept her fate and try to print the sheet music up online. But then she remembers (for whatever stupid reason that seemed logical at the time) that her Glee folder is where she had stored her ultrasound pictures from the other day. And now she's lost her folder and those pictures and she can only hope and pray that whoever finds it doesn't look through it and discover her secret.
Puck can't believe what he's holding in his hands. He knows what they are; these little black and white fuzzy images. Ultrasound images. But it's the name of the patient in the corner that baffles him. Rachel Berry.
He just doesn't see how this can be possible. He knows that they never had sex when they were together because she was never ready and he respected her enough to be cool with that and was just waiting for her to be ready. He had spent months dealing with all of the raging hard ons that their make out sessions created before he had managed to convince her that giving him a blowjob was a totally awesome thing for her to do to help him out. And boy was she fucking phenomenal at giving them, especially with that whole no gag reflex trick of hers.
But Rachel Berry and pregnant just didn't compute for him. It has to be some sort of sick joke, he thinks to himself. Or perhaps there's some other Rachel Berry in town that I don't know about. Puck scoffs at his stupidity of that idea. He knows there are no other Berrys in town. He closes his eyes and rubs his hand over his mouth as he begins to think about all the different things he's noticed about her lately. Crying in the parking lot...tired all the time...the new clothes...holding her books in front of her instead of letting that stupid rolling bag carry them. The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that the images in front of him have to be true. Rachel fucking Berry is fucking pregnant!