CHAPTER 17

A few days later, Quinn woke up in her bed. She sat up. It was a normal Thursday morning, after what had been a normal Wednesday. And a normal Tuesday. And a normal monday. "Normal"... that was probably the most accurate way to describe Quinn's life right now. It was "normal", neither particularly good nor particularly bad. On one hand, things had definitely been worse in her life, so she felt like she couldn't complain. She wasn't pregnant. She was an important member of both the Glee club and the Cheerios. She had friends. She wasn't alone.

But was she really happy? Despite how badly she wanted to, Quinn couldn't wholeheartedly say yes to that statement. Not yes anyways. She was still a work in progress, still recovering from the colossal lows she had hit that previous summer. She wasn't entirely better though, and there were plenty of reminders of that scattered all over her room.

Quinn rolled out of bed, about to get ready for school, and as she walked across the room, her eyes flickered to her chest of drawers. Normally, she used the countertop to display pictures of those she cared about: family, boyfriends, friends. In the past few years, the number of pictures on the mantle was growing fewer and fewer. There was still one left though: the picture of a gorgeous, blonde baby, who the mere sight of caused a jolt of pain to stab through her. Even though Quinn had redyed her hair blonde, and had lost the piercings and the tattoos, she was still far from a fixed, finished product, that was for sure.

Walking down the stairs that morning, Quinn was greeted by a sight that stopped her dead in her tracks. She walked into the kitchen and froze, her whole body immobile like it was trapped in a block of ice, her mouth locked in the shape of an O as her jaw dropped slack. Her face paled white as a sheet, feeling her hands beginning to shake.

"What… what…" Quinn's brain couldn't even begin to process what she was seeing in front of her, unable to think straight, let alone talk. It took several moments for her to finally get out what she had been meaning to say. "What is he doing here?!"

Sitting at the kitchen table, casually sipping a cup of coffee like he had done thousands of times before, was Russell Fabray, Quinn's father. She hadn't seen him in years, not since he had kicked her out of the house sophomore year, but sure enough, there he was. Quinn's mom, Judy, was there too, standing up and facing her daughter, a nervous look on her face.

"Quinn… Quinnie, honey…" Judy began to speak, but Quinn quickly cut her off. In a matter of seconds, Quinn's shock began to fade and instead turned to anger.

"How could you let him in here, mom?! After what he did?! You're seriously going to get back together with him?!"

"I'm not getting back together with your father, honey. That's not why he's here." Judy said, gently.

"Why's he here then?! Is he here to wreck our family again?! He cheated on you, remember! And he kicked me out of the house!" Quinn shouted, fighting hard to keep her impending tears at bay. "What possible reason could you have to let him into this house again?!"

"I wanted to see you, Quinn." Russell spoke up for the first time, standing up and facing his daughter. "It's been a long time, and I missed my daughter. I wanted to catch up. Is that so wrong?"

"That's what happens when you kick your pregnant 16 year old daughter to the curb and don't even look back!" Quinn yelled at him. "You didn't care what happened to me then! How is it any different now?!"

"It's… there's a chance I might have made a few mistakes in the past few years. I think we both have." Russell said. Quinn's eyes widened at his words.

"I'm sorry… BOTH of us?!" Quinn spat. Russell raised a hand to cut her off.

"I'm here because I wanted to catch up with my daughter. I want to know what's going on in your life. So I want to propose we have dinner together tonight."

"No chance." Quinn immediately shot back, and she began to turn away from her father, but found herself face to face with her mom.

"Quinnie…" Judy murmured.

"What?! You think I should say yes to him?! After everything he did to us?!" Quinn snapped. Judy sighed.

"He is still your father, Quinn. He always will be. Despite what came before between us, it might be healthy to forgive him." Judy said.

"FORGIVE HIM?!" Quinn genuinely couldn't believe what she was hearing from her mom. "Do you even remember?!"

"It's just 1 dinner, Quinn. That's all I'm asking for." Russell said. "Then, you never have to hear from me again."

"Do it, Quinn. Please. For me." Judy told her. Quinn didn't respond for a long while, her head whipping from her mother to her father, debating whether or not to agree, or to just storm out.

Quinn ended up doing both. With 1 more scathing look in his direction, she muttered the word 'fine', before turning on her heel and storming out of the house…

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Theo walked into school to yet another cold welcome from the McKinley High student body. Literally. As soon as he stepped through the doors, Theo was greeted by the increasingly familiar splatter of an ice-cold slushie to the face. He was almost used to it at this point, especially since his horror show of a performance on the football field last week, the entire school were all going out of their way to make him feel more alienated than ever.

Theo sighed. He was used to it by this point. Walking to the bathroom, he quickly cleaned himself up and took a shower, before heading to the choir room for Glee rehearsal that morning. He was the first to arrive, so he settled in his seat in the back of the room, picking up one of the many acoustic guitars in the room and beginning to aimlessly play around with a riff or two, humming and mumbling faintly to the music.

However, it wasn't long before the second person arrived. It was none other than Quinn Fabray, who opened the choir room doors with such violence that she might as well have kicked them open. She was incredibly worked up, so much so that she hardly even noticed Theo's presence as she burst into the room. Instead, she began to pace back and forth, muttering what Theo could only assume weren't compliments of any kind, before he eventually decided to speak up.

"Quinn, are you okay?" He asked. Quinn's head snapped up at the sound of his voice, spinning towards him and shaking her head vehemently.

"No, Theo! I'm not okay! And do you know why?! Do you know why?!" Quinn was so worked up that her voice trailed off into a whole lot of incoherent yelling and shouting. Watching her, alarmed, Theo slowly stood up and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders comfortingly.

"It's okay. It's alright. You're alright, Quinn. It's all going to be okay." Theo's voice had always had a soothing, calming quality to it, and it worked wonders to calm Quinn down, at least a little bit, enough for her to be able to explain what was going on. By the end of it, as Quinn realized just how little she wanted to go to the dinner that night, as well as just how ill-prepared she was emotionally for it, a thought occurred to her.

"Do you have plans tonight?" Quinn suddenly asked him. Theo's face took on an expression of confusion, before it was his turn to start stammering incoherently.

"Oh, Quinn, I uh… I, uh… I don't know if you misinterpreted what I said, but I… I wasn't trying to hit on you just now or anything."

"I know that!" Quinn snapped, a little harshly. "I want you there tonight. At the dinner with me and my dad."

Theo stared at her incredulously, sure that he had misinterpreted something Quinn had said in the process.

"Uh… what?" Theo stammered. "You want me, who's never even met your family before, at a private family dinner with you and your dad, as the two of you attempt to hash out some pretty deep-seeded issues with one another? I can't even spin that in a way taht makes it sound remotely like I should be there."

"Please. I can't deal with him alone." Quinn begged him. Theo thought for a moment.

"So bring Santana." He suggested. "At least your family know her."

Quinn shook her head.

"My dad won't be interested in having Santana around tonight. He doesn't care about getting to know my friends. He won't be afraid to tell her to leave." She stated. "A boyfriend on the other hand… he'll surely want to get to know you very well. It'd actually take a lot of pressure off of me."

"So you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend again? Like that night at the bar?" Theo sighed.

"Please, sweetie pie." Quinn smiled at him. "One more time for the road."

"Okay, honey bunch." Theo eventually grumbled reluctantly in reply. "Send me the details. I'll be there."

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DING! DONG!

For the second time that month, as Theo rang the bell to the Fabray household, the door swung open within seconds. Quinn had been waiting impatiently for him at the door, her face filling with relief as she saw him. Part of her thought that he'd have backed out at some point before that evening, but thankfully he hadn't. There he was, and Quinn had to do a double take when she saw him.

"Wow." Quinn stammered. "You clean up nice."

Theo did indeed. With his neatly shaven beard, Theo wore a semi-formal button up shirt and a pair of dress slacks, polished shoes rounding off his outfit.

"So do you. These are for you, by the way." Theo replied, handing Quinn the flowers that he had bought from a florist on his way over to her house. "Or for your mom if she's here. I don't exactly know how this thing is going to work."

"Thanks. She's not here. She left a little while ago to give my dad and I some privacy." Quinn informed him. All the more reason she was incredibly thankful that Theo was here to act as a buffer that night.

"Quinn! Was that the doorbell I heard?" A gruff voice came from another room, and it didn't take a genius for Theo to know who it belonged to. Even the mere sound of his voice caused Quinn to stiffen up and clench her jaw, so Theo placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's going to be okay." He murmured, before all of a sudden, Russell Fabray rounded the corner and saw the two teenagers there.

"Ah… and who's this, Quinn?" Russell asked, walking over to Theo and eyeing him carefully.

"Dad, this is Theo. My… boyfriend." Upon impulse, Quinn hesitated before she said the last word, and a small part of Theo winced as he heard it, still very faithful to his wife. But he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he faced Russell and stood tall.

"Another boyfriend, Quinn! Wow… first Finn, then Noah, now someone else too? You certainly are going through boys pretty quickly!" Russell attempted to state in a joking way, but his 'humor' was not exactly appreciated by either of the teenagers, both of whom resented what Russell was implying.

"Mr. Fabray. It's… worthwhile to meet you." Theo said to him, unable to use the word 'nice' as he shook the man's hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Good things, I hope!" Russell exclaimed. Theo clenched his jaw slightly.

"Um… no. Sorry." Theo responded, looking him right in the eye as he did. After all, he was nothing if not honest, and he had nothing to lose speaking his mind to the man. Russell's face darkened for a moment, before he forced the flash of anger off his face.

"That's a shame." He said, forcing somewhat of a cheery tone back into his voice. "Well I haven't heard anything about you yet, and I'd love to get to know you better. Follow me into the dining room. We can all enjoy dinner together."

Russell then left the room, and as soon as he did, Theo turned to Quinn.

"You were right. He really is a dick." Theo muttered bluntly.

"Yeah. You see why I didn't want to do this alone now?" She remarked. Theo nodded.

"Pretty smart, I'll give you that. Knowing that I'll probably end up losing my temper and punching him before you do, and therefore I'll be the one getting in trouble."

Although Theo had never met his biological father, he was still an expert in dealing with other pieces of shit that called themselves his parents. It had taken everything he had to get out from under their thumb, and so he had nothing but empathy for those who were still stuck dealing with them, like Quinn was.

"Try to stay calm. Remember, you and I have been dating since the beginning of the summer. Please don't forget that."

"You grossly underestimate my acting abilities." Theo commented. "I'm about to paint a backstory so vivid that Van Gogh would've been proud of it."

"Just… you know what? Sure, do that." Quinn told him. The more Theo spoke, the less she'd have to address her father. "Thanks again for being here. I don't know what I would've done without you."

"No problem."

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"So Theo… tell me about yourself, son. Where did you grow up? Lima?" Russell asked. Theo shook his head.

"No. Lebanon." He replied. Russell nodded thoughtfully.

"Makes sense. I haven't seen you around before." Russell told him. "Are you Christian?"

Quinn silently mouthed to Theo from across the table to say yes, but Theo didn't notice. He shook his head.

"Nah, I'm not. Never really grew up in a religious household, you know?" Theo replied. Russell sighed and nodded.

"I understand. Nobody's family is perfect growing up. There are always shortcomings in some regards. No fault of your own." Russell stated, condescendingly. Theo gritted his teeth but forced himself to stay calm. "When did you move to the U.S?"

"When I was 10, sir." He replied.

"Legally?" Russell asked. Theo's face took on an expression of shock at the follow-up question.

"Excuse me?" Theo said. Quinn kicked him gently under the table, silently pleading with him to stay calm. Russell raised his hands in surrender.

"I don't mean any offense, Theo." Russell said. "But you and I can surely both agree that the number of illegal immigrants who are taking residence in our country is appalling."

"Dad!" Quinn exclaimed.

"Look, all I'm saying is that there's a right way and a wrong way to get into this country. And…"

"I'm a legal immigrant, Mr. Fabray. You have nothing to worry about." Theo interrupted, channeling every ounce of calmness left within him to prevent him from lashing out at the man. He was no stranger to racism - he didn't exactly look very American. But he had hardly expected it from his 'girlfriend's' father, right after having just met him.

"Good. That's good." Russell smiled. "So why did you and your mom choose Lima?"

"We didn't. We initially were in Florida. I came to Lima by myself." Theo told him.

"Oh. How come?" Russell asked, curiously. Theo looked him right in the eye as he responded.

"My parents were pieces of shit." He replied. Part of Theo's act, Quinn presumed. He looked Russell right in the eye as he spoke, not so subtly referring to Russell's own treatment of his daughter as he did.

"Come on! I'm sure they weren't that bad! I'm sure they loved you." Russell told him. Theo chuckled, mirthlessly. "If there's one thing I can say from my experience as a parent, sometimes when our kids make mistakes, we can be tough on them. But it isn't out of malice. It's because of just how much we love our children, and how much we fear them going down the wrong path…"

"Like I did?" Quinn spoke up for the first time, scowling daggers at her father as she did. Russell looked at her for a few moments, before eventually nodding.

"Yes, Quinn, sweetheart. Like you did." Russell replied. "Would you call it anything else?"

"Umm… A mistake!" Quinn spat. Russell sighed and shook his head.

"Getting pregnant was a mistake. A BIG mistake. But a mistake, I agree." Russell said. "But what do you call everything that happened after? What do you call lying to us about being pregnant? What do you call lying to us about the paternity of your child? What do you call it when you had the nerve to blame us for being upset that our daughter was having a baby out of wedlock? If that isn't going down the wrong path, what is? Can we both be grown up enough to admit that?"

"Dad…" Quinn had tears in her eyes as she realized what she was in her father's eyes, what she always had been: a disappointment. He didn't care about her one bit, and she was foolish to think anything but.

"And what about this summer?" Russell continued. "I saw you around the city a few times, and I must say… I almost didn't recognize you. What was that all about, Quinn? Dressing and acting like some common street whore…"

"Woah!" Theo exclaimed. Russell quickly raised a hand to stop him.

"If you don't mind, Theo, this is a family matter." Russell said.

"No! You know what? I do mind!" Theo exclaimed, unable to remain quiet any longer. "Quinn was right. You really are a rude, arrogant, selfish piece of shit!"

"Theo, what are you doing?" Quinn mumbled quietly, but Theo was in no mood to hear her or shut up. He was very much offended, his past with his own family making it impossible for him to sit around and watch someone being attacked in this way by their own parent.

"No, he needs to hear this, Quinn! If you're not going to say it, then I will. The hell do I have to lose anyway?" Theo said. "Mr. Fabray, look at your daughter right now. Look at her! Does that look like someone who's happy to you?"

"Excuse me?" Russell snapped.

"You heard me." Theo shot back, unwilling to deal with his shit any longer. "Your daughter is clearly in pain! She's been through a hell of a lot these past few years, and by the sounds of it, you knew all about it. But what do you do? Do you give her any shred, any iota of comfort or love, like a dad is supposed to? No! You choose to mock her and insult her instead of showing concern! What kind of a father does that?!"

"Hold on! Now, listen here, Theo!" Russell began, but it was Theo's turn to interject.

"No! Shut up! I'm talking now! You're going to listen!" Theo was less than polite to the man, and he honestly couldn't have cared less. It took a lot to truly set Theo's temper off, but this had done it. It had all just hit a little too close to home, a little too close to his own experiences, and he had had enough. "Mr. Fabray, you are rude! You are thoughtless! You are so damn lucky to have a daughter even half as great as Quinn Fabray, and yet you're willing to throw that all away! You are a fucking embarrassment of a parent, and the one thing I don't understand is what Quinn ever did to deserve such a horrible father!"

"That's it! I'm going to ask you to leave!" Russell shouted.

"With pleasure." Theo shot back. He rose to his feet and, much to Quinn's shock, proceeded to toss his dinner napkin right in Russell's face. He then turned on his heel and stormed out of the house.

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"Theo! Theo! Wait up!"

As Theo walked further and further away from the Fabray house, he suddenly heard the unmistakable sound of a voice calling him. He knew exactly who it was, and he slowly turned to see Quinn jogging towards him.

"Look, I'm sorry for throwing the napkin at your dad. And I'm sorry for flipping out at him. I just got really mad and I…"

Theo never got to finish his sentence as before he could, Quinn had flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around him in a crushing hug. She buried her head in his shoulder and Theo felt a few stray tears staining his shirt.

"Thank you." Quinn eventually whispered. "Thank you so much, Theo. He had that a long time coming, but I could never find the courage to say it to him. No one could."

"Not a problem." Theo replied.

"Thank you for coming tonight. I know there are things you'd probably rather have been doing, but this really meant the world to me.

"Seriously, Quinn, it was nothing." Theo told her. "And hey, if there's anyone else you need me to yell at and have a tantrum at, you have my number. I'd be happy to do it."

Despite the lighthearted joke at the end, Quinn didn't smile. Theo could see that her head still hung very heavy. She most definitely was still thinking about her father's words about her during the dinner. He couldn't blame her. He was thinking about it too.

"You know what I could really use right now? A distraction." Theo said. "The night's still young. Let's go do something to take our minds off everything that happened tonight. Come with me. Let's go blow off some steam."

"What did you have in mind?"

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" I can't believe you wanted to come here!" Quinn exclaimed, as her and Theo walked into the biggest (and only) amusement park in Lima. It was mostly rundown, and so there were very few people there that night, but that was for the best. It was still a fully functional entertainment center, and it just meant that the two teenagers were able to take advantage of everything it had to offer without being disturbed.

"Oh, uh… we can go somewhere else if you want." Theo suggested. Quinn shook her head.

"No! Are you kidding me? I love this place!" Quinn exclaimed, as they walked over to the entrance of the mini golf course and paid for two balls and two clubs. "Come on. This is going to be fun."

"I'm sure it will." Theo nodded, smiling faintly. "I will warn you though. I'm kind of a mini golf God!"

"Is that right?" Quinn giggled. "Let's see about that."

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Theo and Quinn had a blast. Mini golf was a series of unfortunate events for both of them, with Theo blaming his lack of skill on 'uneven' ground surface, and Quinn blaming hers on a 'broken club'. Needless to say, it took them over an hour and several collapses from laughter for them to finally finish the short, 12 hole course, to the point where they were being overtaken on the course by some kids a lot younger than they were.

After the mini golf, the pair ventured into the arcade section of the park, where Theo won Quinn a colossal, oversized teddy bear at the football throw game.

"Here you are, m'lady." He grinned proudly as he handed her the bear.

"Thank you, sir." Quinn beamed at him. "Hey, what are the odds? It even looks like you."

"Ouch." Theo chuckled. "Don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult to be honest. That is one good-looking bear."

"He is." Quinn agreed. "And he also dresses better than you do."

"Can't argue with you there." Theo smiled as he looked at the bear that was dressed in a fake tuxedo.

The two of them collapsed into peels of laughter once more, the troubles of earlier that evening long forgotten. Even after they left the theme park and began to walk towards Quinn's house again, Quinn wasn't a fraction as nervous and miserable as she had been earlier that night. Despite everything, she had ended up having a lot of fun at the theme park with Theo. There was something about spending time with him, about talking to him… it was just so easy. Despite his withdrawn, quiet exterior, mostly caused by the trauma from the unspeakable events he had had to endure, Quinn had now seen glimpses of who he was under that shell. And she knew that there were few people in Lima who were as warm, kind and loyal as he was.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come inside with you?" Theo asked as they stood on Quinn's front porch. Quinn shook her head.

"Thanks, but my dad's car's gone and my mom's car is back. Looks like he's probably gone for good after you scared him off."

"Sorry not sorry." Theo replied. Quinn chuckled and looked down for a moment, before looking back up at him.

"You know, despite everything, I really did end up having fun tonight." She told him.

"Yeah? Me too."

The pair stood inches apart on the front step, the romantic tension palpable, so thick in the air that it could've been cut with a knife. For a moment, both of them leaned in, about to kiss and allow their feelings to come to the surface at long last. However, at the very last moment, just as their lips were about to touch, Theo pulled away at the very last second.

"I'm sorry. I… I can't do this." He stammered. "I have to go. Goodnight, Quinn."