Disclaimer: I don't own anything

A/N: Hello! Thanks once again to everyone who favourited and story alerted it, it makes me feel all special :D Also thanks to Brittana Forever for reviewing nearly every chapter! I like you very muchly! heehee! Anyhoo...enjoy!

Rachel woke. She didn't know why. She looked over at her clock, it was half seven. She was parched and, though the curtains were closed, the brightness was hurting her head. She groaned pulling the duvet further up over her shoulders. She was hungover and it hurt like hell. She could remember the night before, of course she could, the police, the fight. She couldn't remember much after they had got home. Quinn had held her hand up the stairs and had put her into bed but that's all she could remember. She lay with her eyes closed for a while before Quinn's alarm sounded making her groan and pull her pillow around her ears. The annoying ringing sound stopped and instead she heard Quinn's voice. She dropped the pillow back to it's original position.

"You'd better get up."

Rachel moaned at the blonde girl who was up and dressed already.

"But...I think I'm dead."

Quinn laughed

. "You wish! Maggie wants to see everyone downstairs now." she said.

Rachel remembered how angry the care worker had been last night and rolled slowly out of bed. She cursed herself as her feet hit the cold carpet. She was never going to get drunk ever again, it was to painful. As she brushed her teeth she tried to remember how much alcohol she had actually had. After a few minutes she decided to give up, her brain was so muddled she couldn't even think about her next move. She spat and tried not to be sick, she looked horrible so she grabbed her tatty hair and wound it into a bun. When she was finished in the bathroom she found Quinn sitting on her bed and a pile of clothes on her own.

"I got you some clothes, now put them on and get a move on." Quinn said.

Rachel moved and pulled on her clothes, she grabbed her Cardigan before being shooed put of the room by Quinn. On the landing, Santana and Brittany, looking a little worse for wear had just came out of their bedroom too. They all half smiled at each other before going single file down the stairs. When they got to the living room, Tina, Mercedes, Kurt and Artie were already there. Rachel left Quinn and went straight to Kurt. Settling herself next to him she held onto his arm, she never thought she'd even think this but she was scared of Maggie and what was coming. Kurt smiled at her, though there was worry in his face too and he didn't even have anything to drink. Quinn sat down next to Santana and after the footballers, including a battered looking Puck, arrived they all fell silent, waiting for the axe to fall. The door opened and Maggie walked in, she had a cup of strong smelling coffee in her hands, they all assumed this was to make the hungover people flinch. It was working and Rachel could feel her stomach churning. The silence was almost deafening, the older woman took her place in front of the small group, she put her coffee down and folded her arms.

"Now, last night was disgraceful." She said. "Going out and getting drunk...at your age."

A few of them looked down guiltily.

"I wouldn't have minded you having maybe just one, it is a weekend but you came in drunk! There are young children in this house." she went on. "I also trusted you, a thing I should never have done, you tell me that you're going to a school disco. You lied to me. Now I know, fair enough, that I can't stop you from going to parties and having a few drinks but when the police ring you at nearly midnight, that's going a bit to far. You all need think. Think about your responsibilities. Think about the example you're setting to the kids, they don't want to see the people they love like real siblings coming in smelling and barely being able to stand. Not to mention being covered in blood."

Puck looked to his feet, Rachel was nearly in tears and the rest of the group looked ashamed.

"I know some of you didn't do anything wrong so I'm going to be fair and let you go, though I'm taking away your allowance for the month. Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, Artie, Matt and Mike, you can all go."

They all shuffled off quickly, Kurt giving Rachel a sympathetic look. When they were gone Maggie turned back to the remaining teenagers.

"Finn and Quinn, you two will be on cooking duty for the next month and I'm taking away your allowances too. Go." she said.

They jumped up, rushing out of the room after the rest of the group. Maggie looked at the three girls who were suffering with hangovers.

"You three are on school run duty for the month and I will also be taking away your allowances." she told them.

She motioned for them to go. They to got up but moved slower, scared of throwing up there and then. When they were gone, just Puck was left. Maggie turned to him.

"You'll have probably guessed that I'm taking away your allowance for the next month." she said.

He nodded.

"Feeling any better this morning?" she asked.

"Not really..." he muttered, his nose was fine but it still hurt and his hands were sore and bruised from the fight.

"Good."

They were silent as Maggie took a sip of her coffee.

"You'll be doing extra chores for the month and also you'll be helping Jamie and I in anything we may call you for, okay?" she said.

"Yes Maggie." he said, his voice husky and tired.

"Good. Now, go and get some pills and start your homework for tomorrow." she told him.

He stood up and as he past Maggie to leave the room, she spoke, quietly and gently.

"Noah, you know my door is always open if you need to talk." she said.

He nodded again, she looked at his bruised hands.

"There's some cream in the bathroom cupboard." she said.

"Thank you Maggie." He smiled slightly.

It was her turn to nod as he turned and walked out of the room. She stared after him. He had gotten angry last night, something which she thought he had got a handle on. She was worried and had to find out what it was that was wrong. Sooner, rather than later.

xxxxxxxxx

The rest of the day went by quickly and quite quietly. The kids had noticed the awkwardness between the group. The up side was that Maggie had given out their punishments and had moved on from the whole thing. She was a little quiet, which wasn't altogether strange, but the teenagers decided to dodge her just to be on the safe side. By Monday everyone was tired. Santana and Brittany had worn dark glasses all day at school and by evening were showing no sign of removing them. Rachel had struggled the most with her hangover though, she had stopped throwing up but her vocal chords were still really taking it bad. She hadn't sung in two days. Finn, who didn't 'do' cooking was sore from cuts he was earning by using kitchen scissors and little burns from hot trays. They were all suffering and all of them seemed to be in their own little bubble all the teenagers were in bed by nine that night.

Tuesday morning, the alarm clock beeped annoyingly. Puck groaned and stuck out his hand, hitting it off. Across the room, Finn was still asleep. It was coming up to seven and they needed to be up before the girls took over the bathroom. He swung his legs out of bed, picking up his slipper and chucking it at his best friend. Finn moaned into his pillow, he wasn't the best person in the morning.

"Come on man, the kids will starve, get in the kitchen!" He said.

Finn pulled his pillow on top of his head. He hatred meal times now, and it was only Tuesday, he had only been serving his punishment since Sunday. Puck pulled on a vest over his shorts and left Finn to drag himself up. He quickly used the bathroom then jogged down the stairs. The house was quiet as the kids didn't have to get up until eight. He walked the corridor and went into the kitchen for some juice. When he opened the door however, he found he wasn't alone. Maggie was standing against the bench, glass of water in hand. She jumped when she saw him.

"Noah! You scared me!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry Maggie." he said. He went to the fridge, pulling out his favourite apple juice. He removed the cap and brought the bottle up to his lips.

"Get a glass!" Maggie cried. He rolled his eyes, reaching behind her for a beaker.

"Or a plastic cup...usually the six year olds use them but...whatever." she said.

Puck laughed. He took a gulp and stood next to her.

"Why are you here?" He asked her.

"I work here."

Puck tutted.

"I meant, what are you doing here this early? You never take the night shift." he said.

"Jamie couldn't do the night shift, he's ill or something, so I had to." she told him.

"Oh."

Maggie laughed.

"Disappointed Jamie isn't here?" she said.

"No...it's just, I've never seen you on a morning." he shrugged.

"Yes you have."

"Not recently."

She drained the rest of her water and placed the glass in the dish.

"You're weird."

Puck laughed.

"Can you call me weird, is that allowed?" he smiled.

"Yes, it's in my contract." she nodded.

Puck put her beaker with hers in the dish and Maggie picked something up from the bench, knocking it into her pocket.

"Also in my contract." She said. "Is telling you what to do! Go bang the pan for me, wake up the kids."

"Bang the pan?" asked Puck confused.

"Jamie doesn't bang a pan in the morning? How does he get you all up?"

"Well...with great difficulty."

Maggie smiled, reaching into the pan cupboard. She pulled open the draw too, picking out a wooden spoon. Puck took them from her.

"Go on. I want everyone down here in five minutes." she said to him.

He went out into the hallway, braced himself for the noise and started banging the spoon against the bottom of the pan.

"Everyone up!" He shouted, the pan noise echoing up the stairs. There was banging upstairs, as kids got shocked out of bed. There was a slamming of a door and Santana's screeching.

"Puck! Shut the hell up!"

Rachel came down the stairs, rubbing her eyes.

"Shhh!" she hissed as she past him.

"That's enough now Noah!" he heard Maggie shout to him.

He smiled and returned to the kitchen, he put the pan and spoon away and sat down at the table next to Rachel.

"Oh no mister! You're helping Finn with breakfast this morning." Maggie said.

His jaw fell open.

"What?"

Maggie smiled.

"Cup of coffee for me and Rach please." she said sweetly.

Puck scowled, scraping back his chair slowly. Finn walked in, followed by the rest of the teenagers and the two boys set about making toast for everyone. After breakfast everyone got ready for school. The teenagers, with the exception of Santana, Brittany and Rachel who had to drop the kids off first, set off for school.

The morning dragged by with maths class. They were learning algebra, which, to everyones surprise, Brittany was rather good at. Santana had never quite understood why a person would put numbers and letters together, Brittany on the other hand said that the mix was funny. Since Saturday night, Santana had found herself distancing herself from her blonde best friend, in maths class though she had no choice but to sit next to her. She had been thinking of the drunken kiss all weekend, she knew it was just that, drunken, but that didn't stop her thinking about it. Brittany hadn't said anything about it and she supposed she should be relieved, that it was nothing. She didn't feel very relieved though, she felt hurt, she felt stupid.

At lunchtime, the teenagers managed to sit at the same table. They laughed and talked and ate.

"I still don't understand how you can do algebra Brittany." Quinn said, shaking her head. Brittany blinked.

"It's easy, I like it when the numbers and letters are friends." she told them.

They laughed. Kurt was looking into his spoon, frowning.

"My hair moved." he frowned.

"Dude, I think it's supposed to." Finn said.

"Ken's doesn't." Brittany stated. "That's why Barbie married him."

They stared at her for a moment. Kurt getting out his hairspray. He sprayed the front of his misbehaving hair, moving it back into place. The spray caught in Puck's nose causing him to sneeze.

"Oh!" Rachel exclaimed. She dug in her pocket for a tissue only to find a small bottle of pills. She pulled them out and read the label. They had Maggie's name on the top.

"What's that?" Puck asked her.

"Pills...they're Maggie's." She told him.

"Maggie's? Why are they in your pocket?" he asked.

"I borrowed her jumper this morning, she must have forgotten to take them out before she gave it to me." she said.

"What are they for?" Santana asked, frowning.

"It doesn't say." Rachel said, squinting at the little letters on the label. "Take when needed."

"Does she need them now?" Quinn asked.

"I don't know, I don't even know what they're for." Rachel frowned.

"Maybe someone should take them back home for her." Finn suggested.

"Yeah, I mean it's only ten minutes away." Artie said.

Rachel looked at her watch.

"We have 15 minutes before our classes start." she said.

"I'll go, I'm fast and let's be honest, I don't care if I miss the start of a lesson." Puck shrugged.

Rachel bit her lip before passing him the bottle carefully.

"Okay, go but be quick, you can't be in trouble." she said.

He jumped up, throwing his bag onto his shoulder, he pocketed the bottle and with a quick salute was gone out of the cafeteria.

He got to the home in under 10 minutes, which he was quite proud of, laps did pay off. He opened the big red door and was instantly creeped out by the lack of sound there was. There was no screaming, no talking, yelling, anything, it was deadly silent. He walked quickly to Maggie's office at the end of the hall, he knocked and waited.

"Come in..." He entered, Maggie not looking up.

"Ah, Jamie, so you've got rid of your hangover? Really though, who gets drunk during the day?..!"

Jamie was drunk? That's why he couldn't do the night shift? Puck laughed. Maggie snapped her head up.

"Noah! What are you doing here? They didn't send you home did they?" she asked, frowning.

"No." he said quickly. "I came back to return something to you."

Maggie looked confused.

"Oh?"

He took out the bottle of pills.

"They had your name on." he told her. "They were in Rachel's pocket, we didn't know if you needed them or not."

"Oh."

He handed her them back.

"I took them this morning, I probably won't need them again today. Thank you for bringing them back though, it was very kind." she smiled.

Puck smiled too, a dopey smile. Maggie looked down at her watch.

"I hope you don't have a lesson...?" she said.

"No..." he looked down at his own watch, not for a minute yet anyway...

She stood up, pocketing the pills again.

"What are the pills for?" he found himself asking.

Maggie, who was walking towards the door stopped and turned back.

"Vertigo, if I don't take these when I need to I'll be on my back and you won't like to see that would you."

Puck laughed. Then watched her walk out of the room, really watched. When she had gone, he screwed up his eyes, trying not to imagine her on her back in any way.

After school, all the kids were home before five. It was Tuesday night which meant meeting night. So after dinner, which was actually okay to taste, considering Quinn had never cooked in her life, all the residents of the home sat together in the living-room. Jamie was back which meant Maggie wasn't alone so it was a full house.

"I call this meeting to order!" Jamie cried.

The kids laughed, Maggie gave him a sideways look.

"Anyway!" she said, moving on. "As you all know there is going to be a care home open day at the weekend. I want you all to be on your best behaviour as the perspective adoptive parents come round. Quinn and Rachel, I want both of you to be welcomers at the front door, put on your prettiest smiles and your pinkest dresses, okay?"

"Fine." they both mumbled.

Maggie looked at all the long faces and sighed.

"Come on kids, it's only for the afternoon, you don't want to be in care all of your life do you." she said.

"We're hardly going to get adopted." Mercedes said. "We're to old now."

"Maybe not, but maybe you will, maybe you'll be lucky." Maggie said.

"C'mon guys, we can help the little ones." Kurt said.

There were a mixture of 'okays' and 'fines' and Maggie smiled.

"Cool!" she said. "Right, I'll let you all go now! You all know the drill for the weekend so I'm happy, we don't need to be here any longer."

The teens filed out of the room and the kids turned the tv on and brought some games out.

"Oh!" cried Maggie. "Brittany, can I see you for a moment?"