Part Fourteen

He sat on the bleachers in the gym, sulking and trying to avoid everyone. He had done this all day in classes by burying his head in his work but now that it was lunch, he had nothing to distract himself with. He was so lost in thought he never noticed the girl sitting beside him until she spoke up.

"Finn…" she said, sounding concerned. He recognised her voice immediately and his heart lifted, though he did his best to hide it.

"Hey, Quinn," he replied. He didn't even turn to look at her, deciding to continue sulking instead.

"I heard about what happened, I'm sorry,"

"Why are you looking after me? I dumped her, shouldn't she be the one that's upset?"

"Don't be mad, but Brittany told me what really happened, that must have been awful to see…"

"Brittany told you?"

"She was worried about you, she didn't know how to cheer you up and she didn't think I would know you needed it if I thought you were just sick of Rachel or something, no one else really knows why it happened…"

"Well thanks, Quinn, it means a lot," he told her sincerely, "But no offense or anything, I just want to be by myself so can you just leave me alone?"

"No," she told him stubbornly.

"Why not?" he asked, finally turning to look at her.

"Because nobody should be alone when they're upset, even if they want to be, it's not good for you, you should always have someone there to look after you or you will just start feeling worse," she took his hand and squeezed it, and he felt his heart flutter at the feel of her skin on his.

"Thanks," he said, pathetically.

"I was wondering, if you aren't busy…" she paused, "Well Shelby is leaving soon, and she agreed to let me visit Beth one last time, so I was wondering if you maybe wanted to come with me, so you could meet her. I think she'd like you," she finished, smiling at him.

"Yeah," he said, "I'd love to." He felt a smile play across his face as he filled with excitement, he tried to hide it to avoid letting on to Quinn about his feelings towards her and Beth.

"Great, we'll go after school," she told him, standing up, "We've got to get to class now, come on, I'll walk with you," she said, smiling at him. She held out her hand ready for him to take it.

Brittany watched from the doorway as he took Quinn's hand, a real smile on his face. She began to smile too, feeling proud of herself.

'I always knew they'd find their way back to each other, even if they did need a bit of a push in the right direction.' She thought to herself. She turned to walk to class but as she did, she caught sight of Santana. She was about to head towards her when she realised who Santana was with, Rachel.

Panic flooded through her as she wondered what they could be talking about.

'She worked it out, she's telling Santana.' She ran to class, trying to calm herself down but all she could do was worry.

Quinn knocked on Shelby's door, holding onto Finns hand tightly. He wondered whether it was for his benefit still or whether she wanted support, he squeezed back and she relaxed visibly. She was a mystery, but every now and then he seemed to know exactly what she was feeling. The door opened and Shelby stood in the doorway.

"Hello Finn," she said smiling. She turned to Quinn and nodded coldly.

"Hello, Ms Corcoran," Quinn said politely, ignoring the coldness.

"Yeah, hi," Finn echoed, awkwardly.

"Come in then," she said, sounding slightly friendlier, before stepping aside, "she's just in her bedroom."

Quinn led Finn through to a small bedroom, a mess of crayons and paper lay scattered across the floor, and there in the corner was Beth. He stared at her, his heart filling with undeserved pride. He took note of everything; she looked so much like Quinn.

"Hi, sweetie," Quinn said, moving to sit next to her on the floor, she picked her up and put her in her lap.

"Quinn!" Beth said, putting her little arms around Quinn's neck.

"I have someone I want you to meet," Quinn told her, signalling to Finn to come closer, "This is my… Friend, Finn."

"Rhyme!" she said excitedly,

"Yeah, it does rhyme, doesn't it?" Quinn said smiling. "Come here then, Finn,"

"Hi, Beth" he said, smiling too. She climbed off Quinn and wobbled over to him, giving him a small hug too.

"Why, don't you play with Finn for a little bit, while I go talk to mommy" Quinn said, giving Finns hand a reassuring squeeze before leaving the room.

"What have you been drawing?" Finn asked Beth, pointing to her crayons.

"Kitty!" she told him, holding up one of her drawings.

"That's awesome!" he said, picking up a crayon and starting to draw too. They drew together and he started telling her about himself and about Quinn, while he waited for her to return.

Brittany got home, still panicking about what Santana and Rachel were discussing. She pulled off her jacket and caught sight of her arm. Most of the scabs had healed into thin pink lines. She hadn't self-harmed since she first thought she was pregnant, worried it would hurt the baby some how but filled with anxiety and without the chance of a baby giving her restraint she found herself desperately needing to do it again.

"One more time," she told herself.

Quinn, Finn, Shelby and Beth, sat on the sofa, watching cartoons. Shelby and Quinn had been much more amicable towards each other after their private chat.

"Has Beth got a middle name?" Quinn asked out of the blue.

"No," Shelby replied, seeming a little bemused. Quinn looked at Finn, before turning back to Shelby.

"How about Drizzle?" she asked. Finn almost choked as he realised what Quinn had suggested.

"Ms Corcoran, you don't need to give her a middle name," he turned to Quinn, "can I speak to you alone for a minute?" she nodded. "Bye Beth, we'll be back in a little bit," he told her before placing a light kiss on her forehead and leading Quinn outside of the apartment.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking concerned.

"What the hell is going on, Quinn?" he asked her, feeling frustrated. "What is going on with wanting to call her Drizzle? Why did you even bring me here?"

"I…" Quinn said, unable to find words, "Brittany told me… About, you know, how you missed Beth, how you still love her like she's yours, I just wanted to give you a chance to spend some time with her before she was gone forever, I wanted to show you how important you are, to me and to her…" tears began to fall down her face.

"Quinn…"

"I'm so sorry, Finn" she told him through the tears, "I wish she was yours, I ruined everything with Puck, I fucked everything up for us and I'm so sorry!"

"Quinn… Don't be sorry, I get it; I fucked up too. I don't blame you for anything; Puck probably wouldn't have got the chance to take advantage of you if you hadn't been worrying about Rachel. It's my fault too… I…" 'Say it! Tell her you love her, you have blown it with her enough times, just let her know how you feel!' the voice in his head berated him. "Quinn, the truth is I'm completely in-" His phone rang loudly, interrupting him. "Fuck, I should get this, no one ever rings unless it's important. He looked at the phone and saw Santana's name on it. "What do you want, San?" he asked impatiently.

She began to cry loudly down the phone, even Quinn could hear her. He could barely understand what she was saying.

"What's wrong?" Quinn asked, clearly worried.

"Santana, I can barely understand you, slow down." She calmed down slightly and began to explain. Finn felt the colour drain from his face as her words sank in; he felt hot tears run down his face. "I'll be there in 5 minutes."

"What's wrong Finn?" Quinn asked him, visibly anxious.

"Brittany's in the hospital…"

A/N: As you might have guessed, I have no freaking clue how well a toddler talks at Beths age, but I do know that some kids learn slowly and others learn fast, so hopefully the way she talks is believable enough. Sorry if it wasn't.