A/N: Crazy amount of feedback and I love it, please keep it up it make's my day! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm really in the mood to right at the moment so the next chapter should be up soon!
Thank you to superflyse on tumblr for helping me again!
Chapter Three: The truth
Quinn didn't know what she was doing. At sixteen years old, she was pregnant and before long would be kicked out of her home and disowned by her family. She had no money to pay for her medical bills and had no ideas on how to raise the funds she'd need. Obviously, she could have gone along the same lines as last time, but that wasn't what she wanted. Quinn couldn't put either Finn through that again, she just couldn't.
So, that's how she ended up in the girls bathroom, locked in one of the stalls with her arms wrapped around herself. She'd been hidden there since the moment she spotted Finn that morning. Whether it was just hormones, she wouldn't know, but the second his childish grin appeared on his face there was an overwhelming feeling of guilt that she felt in the pit of her stomach. That somehow this lead to tears, probably over the fact she was missing home or the overwhelming feeling she was going to screw this life up as well.
I have to fix this, I have to make this right.
Since then all she'd been doing was thinking over her options, whether she could keep Finn in the mix for a little longer, or maybe depend of Puck. Neither of which sounded appealing, but then again she was broke and had to pay the bills soon, before her parents find out.
Due to the fact the time traveler was too caught up thinking over her situation, she missed the sound of the bathroom door opening. She would later regret not going somewhere more unexpected.
"Quinn? Are you in here?" Rachel's voice, of course it had to be her, the one person she didn't want to see right now in fear of admitting everything to Rachel.
"I'm fine though, you should go back to class." The pregnant teenager told her, hoping it would get the girl to leave.
"Have I done something wrong, Quinn?" The singer's voice weaker than usual.
"It's not you, I promise."
"Then why won't you come out here?" Rachel asked, dejectedly.
Quinn groaned, "because, I don't want to talk to anyone right now."
"I'm not just anyone..." The diva's voice was barely audible, but sighed and continued in a stronger tone, "You looked out for me with Puck and now I want to return the kindness, please talk to me."
"You're so stubborn." The blonde rolled her eyes and got to her feet, and pulled open the stall door.
Rachel stepped closer, her hands reached out. Quinn took in a shuddering breath as the two smaller hands swooped down, and entwined their fingers together.
"What-wha are you doing?" Quinn asked, her pulse speeding up at the contact.
"You've been crying." Rachel whispered, her eyes full of compassion.
"Hormones." The time traveler told her.
"I don't believe you."
"Of course you don't."
"Stand here." Rachel said as she pulled her over to the sink, letting go of the blondes hands.
"Why?" Quinn muttered, unhappy with the loss of contact.
Instead of answering, the brunette turned her back on Quinn and started rooting through her bag.
The blonde waited, trying to come up with an excuse to leave. Her thoughts were interrupted by Rachel facing her again, this time with a handful of paper towel's in her hand. She could only watch as the singer ran them under the faucet and then lifted her hand to Quinn's cheeks, which were slowly a deep red.
Seriously, since when did you blush?
"I want to help," Rachel said with a shy smile, "I care about you."
Quinn couldn't help but grin knowingly as the girl recited her own words, "For now, you might."
"What's that supposed to mean?" The diva looked into her hazel eyes, making her heart beat faster.
"It means you're going to be pissed-"
"Language." Rachel scolded and then nodded for her to continue.
"You're going to be annoyed with me soon." Quinn corrected herself, looking down at the floor.
"You can't predict the future, Quinn."
"No, but I know when I've done a bad thing." The ex-cheerleader chewed on her lip nervously, "...and I know how you're going to react when you find out."
"What have you done?" Rachel stepped a little closer, ignoring how Quinn's breath hitched.
"I can't tell you, you'll hate me." The blonde uttered, playing with her fingers to avoid looking directly at her crush.
"Trust me, please."
There was a silence that lasted around half a minute, but felt like so much longer to both the girls. Rachel was patient and waited for an answer and at some point she reached out and held Quinn's hand, squeezing just enough to let the other girl know she was there for her.
"...It's-It's n-not Finn's baby."
"What?" Rachel frowned, sure that she'd misheard her.
"It is not Finn's baby," Quinn's voice wavered and her eyes filled with tears, "Rachel, even though care about you deeply, you will never hate me as much as I hate myself for this. I-I know what I did was wrong but I had to lie, if anyone found out the truth I'd be humiliated!"
"But... How could you do that to him?" The singer slipped her hand out from Quinn's took a step backwards.
"No, please don't hate me."
"I-I don't understand, you-you said that you changed a-and yet you lied to that poor boy about being the father of your baby!" Her words were rushed and Quinn felt her heart breaking more and more with every word.
"I'm going to fix it, I just need time." She begged, trying to reach out for the girls hands but Rachel jerked away.
"Don't." Rachel said forcefully, "I just-I can't believe I actually listened to you and broke up with Puck. You made him out to be not good enough for me, how can you say that about someone when you're no better?"
"I am better!" Quinn whimpered, "I'm really trying to make this all better."
"I'm sorry, but I don't believe you." Rachel's voice was strong and full of disappointment, and Quinn knew she'd messed up everything with the girl. The time traveler was frozen in place, watching as Rachel grabbed her belongings and left the room, avoiding all eye contact. Quinn just stood looking at the door, longing for the girl to return.
oOo
"Deep breaths, I don't think it'll be good for the baby if you pass out." Tina smiled encouragingly as she leaned against the choir room door. She had been stood trying to encourage Quinn to actually go inside since the beginning of the break and now there was only five minutes left before third period, which turned out to be Glee.
"He's going to be so upset." Quinn said, looking through the glass in the door. Finn was inside, sat behind the drums and eagerly waiting for his girlfriend to arrive. After her talk with Rachel, all she could think about was the last time and how badly Finn was hurt and this time she just hoped that her telling him in person may make things a little better.
"Whatever you need to tell him can't be that bad." The Goth said, sure of herself.
"Oh, it is." Quinn argued.
"Okay... But I mean come on, what's the worst that could happen?" Tina replied, hoping it would calm her new friends nerves.
"He could throw a chair at me..." Quinn mumbled and twisted the handle, "Well, wish me luck."
"Luck!" Tina beamed, crossing her fingers as she watched the blonde open the door and step inside.
"Quinn, you're here. What took you so long?" Finn stood up and made his way towards her, but not without stumbling over a few leads.
"I was talking to Tina." She waved away the question, "Look, we need to talk."
"Are you breaking up with me?"
"Finn, please can I just explain what's going on first, before you jump to conclusions." Quinn almost begged, she really wanted to get everything out of the way.
"Alright." He said, sitting down whilst Quinn took the seat beside him.
"Please don't hit me." The girl pleaded, having not done this speech before it was harder than she'd thought.
"I'd never hit you, Quinn."
"Just remember that." She told him and then took in a deep breath, remembering Tina's advice, "...It's about the baby."
"I told you, I'll find the money when I can." Finn groaned, he'd been pestered by her to get a job and he really didn't want to have to listen to another speech.
"No..." She paused, "It's-Well... She's n-not... Yours."
"I don't understand."
Quinn gulped loudly, "I made a mistake, I wasn't thinking straight and I drank too much..."
"What are you saying?" He frowned, trying to get his head around what she'd just said.
"The baby isn't yours, I'm so sorry."
"WHAT?" Finn shouted, jumping to his feet.
The girl winced, "I'm sorry."
"Stop saying Sorry, It's not good enough!" He yelled back, slamming his foot into a nearby chair. "I can't believe you did this to me, who is it? Who did you cheat on me with?"
She was honestly a little scared, not for her but the baby. But she stayed quiet, just looking at him with an arched eyebrow. She knew that in a matter of days, the boy would actually turn out to be relieved to not be the father.
Finn growled, "Who is he? The dad? The real dad."
"I-" Luckily for Quinn, she didn't get the chance to answer as the gleeks all started to walk through the door. Tina pointed to some seats at the side, Quinn agreed with a small smile and followed the girl but not before trying to apologize to Finn again but before she could her presumably ex-boyfriend was storming out the door.
Kurt and Mercedes both gave each other a look and then rushed over to Quinn, needing all the gossip of why the favourite couple at McKinley were having a lover's quarrel. Puck walked over to his chair at the back with a smug smile, hoping that he'd now have a chance with the girl. The only other person Quinn noticed was Rachel, who sat on the opposite side of the room, looking straight a head. All the blonde wanted was to walk over there and tell her how sorry she was, how she'd do anything to make it better.
The rest of glee went by quickly, Mr. Schue told everyone about the bake sale and how everyone needed to support Artie. Then the wheelchairs were brought in and the memories came flooding back to her.
This is going to be a really long week.
oOo
Quinn's day had been exhausting. She spent her day trying to find Rachel, in hopes to explain her situation but by the time lunch came around she'd had no luck and all Quinn wanted to do was go home and maybe hibernate until the baby was born.
Yet that didn't go exactly to plan, Matt and Mike had followed her after their class together to the library and questioned her, wanting to know if her friendship with them was just a rouge to get them on her side. But after a short while, they realized her intentions for telling Finn about the baby weren't all that bad. They spent the rest of their free time trying to helping to sort out her money problem, since all she could do was panic over the bills. That was until Matt remembered that a bookshop he went with with his grandfather was looking for a new cashier.
After that, the jock made a call and the interview was set up. The boys agreed to meet after school in the parking lot once the day was finished, happy to accompany her to the shop.
"Road trip!" Matt yelled, the top half of his body sticking out of the sun roof of the car.
"It's a fifteen minute drive." Quinn laughed, climbing into the back seat.
"He gets excited really easily." Mike whispered under his breath so the other teenager didn't hear.
"Is it okay if we get coffee while we wait for you?" Matt asked, sitting back down in the passenger seat, "I know this great place just around the corner from the shop."
"Okay, Just as long as you don't leave me there." The ex-cheerleader said, as she buckled herself in and once she was done double checking her belt for any safety issues they set off. Although the boys were a little confused by how noticeably uncomfortable the girl was by being in the car, they didn't question her behavior, and just tried to make her feel less panicked by filling the car with music.
"Are you ready?" Mike asked, parking just in of the bookshop.
"I guess." Quinn nodded reluctantly, looking out of the window.
"Just relax, he'll love you." Matt smiled warmly, getting out of the car and opening Quinn's door. "We'll walk you in, how about that?"
"Thank you." She grinned widely and took his outstretched hand. Mike was on her other side and before she knew it they were walking into the building. They both gave Quinn a little push in the direction of the counter, wished her good luck and left her alone.
You can do this, you can totally do this! You're Quinn Fabray, and you will get this job, you just have to for Beth. For Beth.
Quinn looked around, taking in the bookshops appearance. It was old but well looked after, there were several shelves that were neatly stacked, each with one of those ladders so they could reach the top. She walked around, her finger tracing the spines of the classics she'd read so many times. Quinn had never been more thankful to have found a place like this, it was almost magical. She continued forwards until she found a spiral staircase.
The time traveler felt at home for the first time since the crash. Her eyes were wide with amazement as she gazed around the second floor. There were more bookcases, but the thing that caught her eyes was the small lounge area and the coffee machine to the side.
I really want this job.
"Miss Fabray, I presume." A voice came from behind her, she jumped around, her hand over her heart. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's my own fault, I was being nosy." Quinn smiled weakly at the older man before her. He looked to be in his late sixties, thankfully he didn't look scary, quite the opposite actually.
"You were being no such thing," He grinned and nodded to the sofa, "so, how do you like my shop?"
"I love it." She replied honestly.
"I'm glad," The man sat down, crossing one leg over the other, "My name's Peter by the way, Peter Adamson."
"It's nice to meet you, thank you so much for this opportunity." Quinn said formally, wanting to make a good impression.
"Well, I really only have a few questions for you if that's okay?" Peter raised his eyebrow.
"Yes, that's fine."
"Okay..." He paused for a moment, looking down at his lap thoughtfully, "What book are you reading at the moment? And if you say Twilight, I can tell you now you don't have the job."
"Oh," She giggled lightly, "Um, The Time Machine." She stammered, having not expecting a question like that.
"That's a good book." Peter stated.
"It really is, I've really gotten into time travel books and it's my favorite so far." She spoke enthusiastically.
The old man grinned as he listened to the young girl, "And why are you interested in this job?"
"...I really need the money," She saw his smile falter so she continued a little faster and more passionately, "and I love to read so I thought working here would be perfect, books are my getaway."
"I have one last question for you and I want you to be completely honest." He told her, looking into her eyes and seeing how they shone as shone, "Tell me something about books, something that makes them appeal to you."
Quinn bit her lip as she tried to think of a way to explain, but when she saw the look the old man was giving her, it told her that he wanted an original answer, one he hadn't heard before. "Well, they smell really great."
"Miss Fabray." The bookkeeper gave her a blank look and then his face exploded into a huge smile, "When can you start?"
oOo
After all the drama that day, Quinn was relieved to be laying on her couch, ready and waiting for Tina to arrive so they can start their movie marathon. Every now and again she would take a piece of popcorn, throw it into the air and catch it in her mouth. Yes, she was extremely bored, trying hard not to give in and watch the movie without the other girl.
A knock on the door interrupted her tempting thoughts. Quinn moved to the door eagerly, but as she pulled it open she was faced with an empty doorway. It wasn't until her eyes fell to the floor that she understood, sitting on top of the doormat was a plate of cookies and a note.
The blonde brought them inside, placed them on the coffee table and picked up the little letter.
'You did the right thing, I thought my special sugar cookies may make you feel a little better – Rachel*'
Her heart fluttered as she read the words again. Does this mean she still cares about me? Either way, Quinn was just happy that the girl wasn't angry anymore, which gave her the chance to make it right.
"Quinn?" Tina's voice called through the still open door.
"Hey, come in." The ex-cheerio smiled, walking over and shutting the door, "How was the date?"
"Really good..." She trailed off, "Then I told him the truth about my stutter."
"Do you need someone to bitch to, because I've had a really bad day myself and I could do with someone to vent to." Quinn asked and then pointed to the small table before them, "I also have cookie's to cheer us up."
"I have breadsticks." Tina lifted the bag of food onto the table.
"Okay, I think, you win." Quinn chuckled and grabbed for the remote, "Ready to start?"
"Yep." Tina nodded, "You know, if someone had told me that I'd one day be sitting in Quinn Fabray's home, about to have a Back to the Future marathon, I would have called them crazy."
"Funny how things work out, huh?" The time traveler agreed with amusement as the movie started and their conversations about boys along with it. All she could do was sit back and enjoy the first positive thing to come since the crash.
Maybe I can turn this thing around after all...
Next chapter: Faberry scenes, more cuteness rather than angst. Drama in the Fabray household and Quinn starts her new job and bumps into someone unexpected from McKinley...
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