Warning: this is seriously dodgy, but it was getting on my last nerve so I gave up on it.
This chapter gave me the worst hell. It was really slow to write, I couldn't get properly into it and everything I wrote seemed wrong. I don't know how it is now, so I apologise if it's rubbish.
The locker door slammed shut in front of her, and Rachel swung around, her defences raised, expecting to see Karofsky standing behind her holding a slushie, but instead she was faced with a furious looking Kurt. She swallowed, suddenly apprehensive. She had seen that look on him before, but not recently. It was the same look he used to wear when she was prattling on about why she should have the solo, or telling the rest of them what to do right before he shot her down with an insult about her abnormally sized nose and mouth, her irritating voice or her crazy over grown toddler dress sense.
"Unless your phone, hearing and legs all ceased to work over the weekend and you woke up this morning with the three wondrously restored, there is no excuse for freezing me out for two straight days, Rachel. Especially after running out on me at breakfast." Rachel looked away from him, watching other students mill past, some brushing the back of Kurt's jacket as they went, not noticing him in time to avoid him. Or perhaps they had.
"You're not even listening to me now!" Snapped Kurt and Rachel's gaze shot back to him at his tone. She bit her bottom lip and crossed her arms over her stomach, pushing them into the hidden cuts. The slight sting of pain settled some of the anxiety that fluttered inside her, and she felt braver as she studied Kurt's pissed expression.
"I'm sorry," she managed, more meekly than she would have liked. "I just didn't want to talk to anyone." The part of her that had been irrationally mad at him had lasted for the rest of Saturday, and Sunday had passed by in a blurry haze. She found time did that more and more often, just sped up without warning and hours could pass without her being able to account for a single productive second.
Kurt sighed and pulled her aside out of the way of the surge of students. "What's wrong with you? The Rachel I know would have stayed in that café and not given a second thought to who was sat on the next table, unless it was Barbara Streisand, and she would have answered my calls whatever mood she was in, because she cares about her friends!"
That time, although timidly, Rachel met Kurt's eyes. "I'm sorry," she repeated, sounding stronger. He rolled his eyes and his face softened as he looked into her large, story telling eyes. At the moment, they were sad.
"You don't need to keep apologising," he said, his tone friendlier than it had been. "Just call me next time, at least to let me know you're still alive to torture us with your endless lectures for another day." He smiled and Rachel sheepishly returned it, as if expecting him to fire up again as soon as she dared to show her hope that the argument had passed.
"Come on Princess, we have Glee now and I wouldn't want to deprive you of your spotlight for any longer." Kurt's hand slipped into hers and he pulled her out of their alcove and towards the choir room. Rachel squeezed his hand back, relishing the first physical contact she had had since Saturday. She had always liked to be close to people, for the most part, she was so lonely that just being able to feel someone at her side made her feel as if she might not be so alone. Finding friendship in Kurt, Puck and even Finn before everything had fallen apart had helped that, but she still craved the contact.
Rachel made her way down the corridor, feeling lighter than she had done in days, Kurt's hand giving her an extra bounce in her step, along with the thought of Glee and spending the next hour with the closest thing to friends she had. Her small bubble of happiness was short lived when the pair turned the corner to see Dave Karofsky headed towards them, he was apparently alone, and for the life of her Rachel couldn't think what he was doing there. Most students had left to go home and he was heading back into school.
As much as his presence was a mystery, Rachel didn't dwell on it for long. She was too busy looking at his face which lit up at the sight of the two of them, but not in a friendly greeting. It was clear by the delighted gleam in his eyes that he wasn't just going to pass them by and go about whatever it was he was there to do and let them go to Glee in peace. On the bright side, he wasn't carrying a slushie.
"Oh look, it's Fag and Fag Spawn," sneered the bully as he passed them, shoving hard into Rachel as he did. It had been a hard shove, and she wasn't expecting it. Add those factors to the size difference between the two and it was enough to send her crashing backwards into the lockers behind, her hand flying away from Kurt's as she did. She managed to keep her balance, just, but the attack was still enough to cause her friend's anger to rise immediately and he glared at Karofsky with a fury he hardly dared to show when it was himself being picked on.
"What, are you such a coward now that you're going to push someone around who's less than half your size?" He yelled, stepping towards Karofsky with much more bravery than he had shown when it was himself on the floor. "Would you ever shove someone like that if they had half a chance of fighting back?" Kurt's voice only got louder as he approached the much larger boy, his eyes alive with fury.
Rather than looking the slightest bit intimidated, Karofsky merely grinned, his eyes gleaming as he too stepped forwards towards Kurt. "It's not her size, more that she's got bits of someone like you in her," he spat, glaring at Rachel who was still sat on the ground against the lockers, staring in shock at the scene unfolding before her.
"It's just as filthy as they are, living in the same house. I think it needs a shower," he continued, and before Kurt knew what he was doing, Karofsky pulled a bottle of lemonade out of his bag and unscrewed the cap in one quick movement. In the next moment, he strode towards Rachel and emptied the contents of it onto her head. She gasped and tried to scramble out of the way, but Karofsky's hand followed her, making sure every drop hit target.
Before Rachel or Kurt could react, Karofsky was suddenly knocked off his feet by someone large and heavy. The attack was so unexpected, that Finn got the first hit in before the bully even knew what was happening. As soon as he got his bearings, Karofsky's fist flew into Finn's chin, almost knocking the other boy off him, but Finn held fast, keeping him pinned to the ground underneath him as he delivered more blows. With a wild shove, Karofsky finally managed to release himself and scrambled to his feet immediately and Finn quickly followed suit.
Rachel gaped at her ex boyfriend and tormentor as they glared at one another, poising to resume the fight. Lemonade dripped through her hair and down her face, her clothes were drenched in it, and she could already feel them sticking to her. She was sticking to herself, her legs gumming themselves together as droplets dried between them. Finn had never so much as defended her by telling Santana to shut up, let alone started a full fledged attack on her strongest tormentor, but now he looked so furious, she wondered if maybe the things that had been done to her in the past had some effect on him after all.
Just as he lunged for Karofsky again, the door down the hall burst open and Mr Schue, followed by most of the Glee Club, rushed out of it. As soon as he saw the two boys, the teacher shot down the corridor to split them up, which Rachel observed, beside Glee Club, seemed to be his main purpose in life.
"What do you think you're doing?" Mr Schue yelled, glaring from Finn to Karofsky. Neither of them answered, and Finn had the grace to look ashamed, if still angry.
"This stops now!" Their teacher demanded, pushing them apart. He waited, expecting an answer from someone, but no one spoke. Karofsky continued to glare at Finn, his eyes narrowed and dangerous, whereas Finn's gaze travelled to Rachel, still sat in a pool of lemonade, the drips that fell from her hair and clothes making it grow larger by the moment. Mr Schue's gaze followed him, and he did a double take when he saw Rachel, a flicker of understanding crossing his face.
"Did you do this?" He turned angrily to Karofsky, who looked away, grumbling. His silence was answer enough. "You'll come straight to my office in the morning, David. And Finn, as justified as your anger was, you cannot just go around attacking anyone who does something you don't like,, you'll serve detention with me after Glee tomorrow." Finn opened his mouth to argue, but shut it again at the sight of his teacher's face, and Karofsky, if possible, looked even angrier than before and stormed away down the hall.
"Rachel, are you okay?" He asked, his voice softer. She nodded, but everything else about her claimed otherwise. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach, something Kurt noticed she had been doing a lot in the past weeks, and she wouldn't look at any of them. She kept her eyes in the pool of lemonade around her, her back pressed against the lockers and she made no movement to get up. This new silent and still Rachel was nothing like the person they were used to.
Kurt was the first one to make a move. He extended a hand to help her to her feet, and after staring at it for several seconds like he was going to retract it at any moment, she gave him her own in return and he hauled her to her feet. Rachel let go of his hand almost as soon as she was on her feet and put her arms back around her stomach, as if it were somehow going to protect her from the conversation that was sure to follow.
"Can I ask what he did, Rachel?" She was surprised by her teacher's tone. It wasn't one he often used around her, but it made a nice change from his brisk, impatient one and for that reason, she resisted pointing out he technically just did ask, so adding a request for her permission into the question didn't make the slightest difference. She was tempted to simply reply 'no' and head right to the bathroom to clean herself up, but Kurt would probably tell him anyway, so she may as well keep up a pretence of being at least somewhat okay.
"Kurt and I were just heading to Glee Club when he came down the hall. We knew he was to something from the gleam in his eye," Kurt rolled his eyes at her usual dramatic story telling ways. "As he passed us, he slammed into me with such a force that I was thrown backwards into the lockers. Kurt tried to stick up for me, but Karofsky shot him down and came to the decision that I was...well he decided I needed a shower and that was when he tipped the bottle of lemonade on my head."
"He called her Fag Spawn and said she was dirty because of it," chipped in Kurt. Rachel glared at him. And Mr Schue looked shocked.
"Does this sort of thing happen often?"
Rachel wanted to laugh. Often? Of course it happened often. It happened every day right under his nose. It happened in Glee Club, the one place they were supposed to be a family, the place she was supposed to be able to go and be accepted for all that she was and have friends. Be a part of something. It happened whenever someone threw a slushie in her face, which was more and more since she had asked the football team to lay off the rest of the Club and offered herself as sacrifice if they did. It happened whenever Santana or Quinn shot her down, called her names and the people who were meant to be her friends laughed. It happened so much, that it was no longer wrong in Rachel's eyes. It was just normal.
"It's not the first time he's called me that," she admitted, grudgingly. Finn's features contorted and he looked ready to run after Karofsky, but it wasn't as if that was news to him. He had been right there last time it had happened and he had shown no signs of wanting to defend her then. Why now? It seemed that everyone was choosing the same moment to care. For the first time, Finn had defended her, and now Mr Schue was finally taking what happened to Rachel every day seriously, as if it were a new development. Why was it that everyone was so willing to care right as she stopped?
Rachel smiled, as if remembering her show face several minutes too late. "I've become used to homophobic prejudice, especially in this town. I'm sure Kurt gets worse than I do. Karofsky is hardly the worst they come," she spouted, trying to sugar coat the situation so he didn't make a big deal out of it. The last thing she wanted was her dads being called into school to be told she was being bullied because of their sexual orientation. Rachel couldn't imagine how that would make them feel. She may be alone in the house a lot, but she knew they cared about her.
Mr Schue's eyes narrowed as he stared at Rachel, as if seeing her for the first time. Where was the girl who had threatened to file a law suit if the students threw fruit at the Glee Club during a performance? Was this really the same person who had gone on strike and taped over her own mouth because of a solo? He knew Rachel, she was over dramatic and fragile. She took every snowflake and made it into a blizzard, and now here she was standing in the middle of a downpour and acting as if it were merely a slight spatter of unexpected rain.
Kurt pressed his hand to Rachel's back and began to lead her away. She obliged, glad for an excuse to get away from the staring eyes of Finn, Mr Schue and the rest of the Glee Club. No one tried to stop them as they walked away, but just before she allowed herself to be lead, Rachel's eyes travelled to Finn to see he was looking at her with the same expression of guilt that she wore on her own face every time she looked at her body and was forced to see what she had done to herself.
I'm going to end it there because this chapter's doing my head in.