A/N: Hey everyone! I'm so sorry for the delay on this chapter. School has been crazy and finals are coming up. The good news though is that I will done with the semester in two weeks so I will have more free time to focus on this story and my other one Secret Affairs. Anyways, enjoy and please read and review!
Will pulled into Rachel's driveway while his parents parked in the street. He put the car in park and looked over at Rachel.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine, I just think that maybe I should go up there alone first," Rachel said.
"If that is what you want but I'm here for you," he said. Rachel gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand.
"Thank you," she said as she got out of the car with him behind her.
Will explained to his parents what Rachel was doing so they waited inside their car while he just leaned up against his car ready to come to her if she needed him.
Rachel slowly walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. A couple of minutes later and Leroy opened the door, looking tired and stressed.
"Rachel? What are you doing here?" he asked surprised with a hint of happiness although he tried not to show it.
"Well firstly I was hoping to talk to you and dad about yesterday, in a mature way," she said.
"And?" Leroy asked.
"And secondly I want you to talk to Will and his parents. They are both here waiting in the driveway," Rachel said. By now Hiram was at the door looking coldly at her with his arms folded at his chest. It hurt her to see her dad so mad at her and to know that she couldn't do anything to fix it.
"You brought him back here?" Hiram yelled angrily. "That man is not allowed back into this house, Rachel," he shouted. "I thought I made that clear yesterday."
"Hiram, maybe we should give him another chance," Leroy started to say but was cut off.
"No. Have you forgotten that he took advantage of our daughter?" he asked angrily.
"Will did not take advantage of me!" Rachel said annoyed. She wished that they would see that this entire thing was not only Will's fault and that she was involved too. It takes two people to get married.
"His parents understand!" Rachel added quietly instantly regretting what she had just said. Both of her dads looked at her hurt and shocked.
"Well if they are so understanding why don't you just go and live with them?" Hiram said walking back inside the house.
"Dad, stop!" Rachel yelled as loud as she could. Will could hear the yelling and he started to get worried. His mind went to a horrible place and thought of the possibility of her dads hurting her. He knew they probably wouldn't seeing as Rachel was their daughter but he couldn't take any chances.
He left his car and raced to the front of the house. He came behind Rachel and gently put his hand on her shoulder.
"Rachel? Is everything alright?" Will asked concerned. Hiram stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of Will's voice. He turned around and walked back over to the door.
"Get away from my daughter," Hiram said stepping in front of Will with his fist in a ball.
"No, I want to talk to the both of you. My parents are here and maybe if you listen to them and to us, you can see that we truly love each other," Will said trying not to raise his voice.
"Hiram, why don't we give them a chance?" Leroy asked again almost begging. He hated seeing his family like this. He loved Rachel and felt instantly guilty when he had said those threats to her last night. He knew what Rachel did was wrong but he couldn't stand to be mad at her anymore.
"No! Am I the only sane one in this family?" Hiram yelled. "This man was supposed to be a chaperone to our daughter but instead he took advantage of her! How can you stand here and say that we should give him another chance!" Hiram shouted at Leroy.
"I just want my family back to normal!" Leroy said almost in tears.
"Well I think it is too late for that," Hiram yelled.
"Please, Mr. Berry, I love your daughter. I would never hurt her. We just want to talk," Will said practically begging as well.
"Talk to Leroy. I'm leaving," Hiram said coldly as he went and grabbed his car keys and jacket while angrily pushing his way past Rachel and bumping shoulders with Will.
"Hiram! Hiram!" Leroy shouted desperately while jogging after him but Hiram didn't stop and kept walking to the car. Once he got there he did not hesitate as he backed out of the driveway and onto the street. He didn't even make eye contact with Will's parents in their car as he took off down the street. Leroy just stood in the driveway unable to move.
Rachel looked at Will and then went over to him.
"Daddy?" Rachel asked softly while placing a hand on his shoulder. Leroy had his face buried in his hands and was letting out soft sobs.
"I'm so sorry, Rachel. I never meant any of those things that I said yesterday. I was shocked and hurt and upset that my baby girl got married. It was just such a surprise to us that Mr. Schuester would allow himself to do something like that," Leroy sobbed.
"I know daddy, and I'm sorry too. We made some mistakes but we are learning from them. Can we go back inside?" Rachel asked calmly.
"Yes, and how about I meet Will's parents?" Leroy asked with a small smile forming on his face. He didn't really want to talk to them with the state he was in but they had come all the way over. He owed them to tell them at least what he thought of their son's actions towards his daughter.
"Of course, you go inside while I go tell Will," Rachel said. Leroy nodded and headed back to the front door. Once he was inside, Rachel went back over to Will.
"Can you believe my father?" Rachel asked him angrily. "I can't believe he left my daddy," she added about to break down. Will noticed and pulled her into a hug.
"It'll be okay, Rachel. He will come back. He just needs to cool down, it takes time," Will said while giving her a soft peck on the forehead.
"He wants to meet your parents," Rachel finally said.
"Really?" Will asked shocked that Leroy still wanted to talk.
"Yes, so why don't you go get them and bring them in while I go and check on him," Rachel said while pulling away from him.
"Alright, we will be in in a minute," Will said. Rachel nodded and headed back inside. She found Leroy in the kitchen sitting at one of the barstools starring at the floor with his face in his hands.
"Will is getting his parents," Rachel said quietly. Leroy looked up and nodded at her and then returned to stare at the floor.
"Mr. Berry?" Will asked. "I'd like you to meet my parents. This is my father Mark and my mother Clare," Will said.
"Nice to meet you both, I'm Leroy," Leroy said while getting up out of the chair to go and shake both of their hands.
"The pleasure is ours," Clare said. An awkward silence crept into the room as Will and his parents stood in the kitchen with Rachel and her dad. Neither party was sure on what to say and nobody wanted to bring up Hiram's outburst so they just continued to stare at random objects in the room.
"You have a lovely home," Clare finally said.
"Thank you," Leroy said. Once again silence fell in the room.
"Can I get anyone anything to drink?" Rachel politely offered trying to break the silence.
"Yes, thank you. Water would be lovely," Clare said.
"Make that a double please," Mark added. Rachel nodded and then turned her attention back to Leroy.
"Daddy, why don't you take them into the living room while Will and I get the drinks? It's more comfortable in there," Rachel said.
"Of course, this way please," Leroy said while he guided the Schuester's into the living room.
"Will, this is going terribly!" Rachel said in a whisper but failing.
"No it's not, Rach. We just need to talk and get things out in the open. It will be okay," Will said as he helped her reach for the glasses in top cabinet.
"Thank you," Rachel said as he handed her the glasses. After a couple of minutes of filling up the glasses with water, Rachel and Will returned to the living room to find their parents still awkwardly sitting there. Rachel handed out the waters and then joined Will on the loveseat.
"Okay enough of this silence," Will said. "Mr. Berry, I brought my parents over here to talk and to get things out in the open," Will said.
"Please call me, Leroy," Leroy said. Will nodded at him and continued.
"I know that you think I took advantage of Rachel but I promise you that I didn't," Will said pleading his innocence.
"I don't think that you took advantage of Rachel, Will," Leroy started to say. "I mean I did at first but it's just that I don't see how you let yourself do something like that. You're a teacher who is supposed to have morals," Leroy stated. He had forgiven Rachel but was still slightly angry at Will.
"I know, and I do, but there is something about Rachel that draws me to her," Will said. "She is talented, independent, wonderful and beautiful," Will said meaning every word of it. "I can't picture myself without her."
"Leroy, while we don't believe that Will's actions were right towards Rachel, we feel that they really care for each other and are happy and as a parent isn't that what we want for our children? For them to be happy?" Clare asked.
"Well yes but aren't you upset that your son is breaking the law? That both of them are breaking the law?" Leroy said. "I mean I love Rachel and I'm sorry for those things that I said yesterday but I don't want my daughter going to jail over a man who is double her age," Leroy stated.
"Yes we are upset at the fact that Will could go to jail and loose his teaching license and be the gossip of all of Lima, but when you love someone you will do anything for them even if that is breaking the law," Mark said.
"We realize that this isn't the ideal situation for either family but we are happy and we love each other. While going out and getting drunk and married wasn't part of our plans, it is what brought us together," Will said. Rachel smiled at him and grabbed his hand.
"We would like to have an actual wedding if that is alright with everyone. It doesn't have to be any time soon, most likely after I graduate but we want to do this right," Rachel said. Will looked at her in surprise since they had never discussed about having an actual ceremony but the idea grew on him and he smiled at her.
"That's right. We want all of you to be a part of it," he said smiling at all of them. They all had surprised looks on their faces.
"An actual ceremony? That would be wonderful!" Clare said in excitement as she got up off the couch to hug her son.
"Rachel, are you sure about this?" Leroy asked.
"Yes daddy. I love Will and he loves me," she said.
"Then I can't wait for this wedding," he said happily realizing that Will really does care for Rachel and Rachel cares for him. Rachel jumped out of her seat in joy as she flung her arms around Leroy's neck.
"Thank you for understanding daddy," she said to him.
Leroy hugged her back and then let go of her while he got up from his chair and made his way over to Will. He stood in front of Will looking him straight in the eye. Will looked up, swallowing nervously. Leroy stuck his hand out.
"Welcome to the family, Will," he said. Will let out a relieved sigh and greatly shook his hand.
"Thank you so much," Will said.
"If you do anything to hurt my daughter though, you will be sorry," Leroy said with a stern but happy look.
"I would never," Will said as he pulled Rachel into a hug. When he let Rachel go he went over and hugged his parents, thanking them for their support. They hugged him back and then got ready to leave.
"Well I'm glad we got this all sorted out," Mark said towards Leroy.
"Thank you for letting us come over," Clare said as she hugged him.
"Bye mom, dad. I'm going hang out here for a while," Will said as he walked his parents to their car.
"Bye son, we love you," they said to him as they got in their car. They backed out of the driveway and gave one last wave to him while Will walked back inside.
"Thank you, Leroy. I just hope that Hiram comes around," Will said.
"Yes, I hope so too," Leroy said with pain in his eyes.
"He will daddy, he has never done anything bad," Rachel said giving Leroy a reassuring look.
"I know honey but he just seemed different about this. He has never left during a fight or anything," Leroy said. "It's my problem though so I don't want you two to worry about it," he added.
Will and Rachel nodded at him and went to the living room to watch some tv for a while. About an hour or so later Rachel started yawning and Will thought that it was time for him to go.
"Rach, I think I'm going to take off," Will said as he got up off of the couch.
"Let me walk you out," Rachel said while stretching her arms in the process.
"Where is you dad? I wanted to say goodbye," Will said.
"I think he is asleep. I'll let him know you are leaving," Rachel said as she went up the stairs to her father's room.
"Daddy, Will is leaving," Rachel said as she poked her head in the room. "He wants to say goodbye," she added.
Leroy looked up at her with a tear stained face and red splotch marks covering his cheeks. He had been crying, upset over Hiram. Rachel pulled him into a hug and then proceeded to walk down stairs with him.
"Good bye, Will," Leroy said making his way downstairs.
"Good night, sir. I just want you to know how thankful I am of your blessing. I will never hurt Rachel, I love her too much," Will said while sticking out his hand.
Leroy smiled and nodded at him shaking his hand.
"I know you do. I trust you and sooner or later hopefully Hiram will too," he said.
"Yes, hopefully," Will said. "Well good night," Will said stepping out of the house into the dark night with Rachel behind him. They got to his car and Will pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist.
"I love you," Will said as he lent down to kiss her forehead.
"I love you too, Will," Rachel said resting her forehead onto his chest. They stayed like this for the next couple of minutes, neither of them wanting to let go. Rachel finally pulled away missing the warmth almost immediately
"I better go back in. I don't want my dad to worry," Rachel said.
"Right, I'll text you when I get home?" Will asked.
"Of course," Rachel said.
"I really do hope that my father will come around," Rachel quietly said as Will was getting in his car.
"He will Rach. He loves you too much to be angry with you. Give him time," Will said.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked. Rachel nodded at him and he smiled at her as he shut his door. He backed out of the driveway and into the street. He waved to her as he drove by and Rachel waved back.
"I hope you are right Will," Rachel muttered to herself as she watched his car drive away.
"I really hope you are right."