Standard disclaimer, I don't own Glee or any of its characters.
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Quinn takes a deep breath as she prepares to go into Mr. Schuester's classroom to apologize. It's not that she's nervous about it; it's more along the line that she didn't say anything wrong yesterday.
Disrespectful?
Yes.
Wrong?
No.
Still her best bet for getting rid of the glee club was to be in it, so she had to make nice. She had stayed up late researching and finally had a working plan, so here she was. She quickly schools her features into ones of nervousness and contrition. She hesitantly knocks on the door and meekly steps inside.
"Excuse me Mr. Schuester, may I speak with you?"
"Miss Fabray." He says coolly, a wary look on his face.
She moves to stand in front of him with her arms clasped behind her back submissively, her head slightly bowed. "I came to apologize to you for yesterday. It was wholly inappropriate and wrong of me to speak to you like that. I feel awful about it and was up all night worrying about it, so I came to say how sorry I was and that I hope you can forgive me and accept my apology."
Mr. Schuester's face softens and he rubs his face in a considering manner. "Apology accepted, and… you weren't completely wrong. I guess… I just remember how much fun it was for me, I remember doing these numbers that I'm teaching you and just… having a blast you know. But you're right, that's part of my problem."
Here he chuckles lightly, self depreciatingly. "I've been doing everything that I can to make the club just like it used to be, and that can't happen. You were right; it does need to be your guys' club. So I'll do my best to listen to you guys more often."
Quinn bites her lip nervously. "So… does this mean… I'm not kicked out of the club?"
"Of course not, but you do understand why it wasn't okay for you to come and speak to me that way yesterday right?" He asks her pointedly. "I'm the teacher and you're the student and there needs to be some boundaries, and you need to show me the respect that is due to my position. And in return I need to remember that you guys aren't kids, you're young adults and you have opinions of your own, and because I say so isn't really a valid reason anymore."
"Yes Mr. Schuester, and coach kind of read me the riot act yesterday as well." He looks shocked and slightly pleased at that bit of information. "So again I am really sorry about yesterday and thank you so much for not kicking me out of glee club."
"No problem, as long as you understand why you were wrong yesterday. I also need to thank you as well. Yesterday was a wakeup call for me, I'll do better I promise."
Quinn hesitates, unsure if she should push this but decides to go for it anyway, after all it's for Brittany. "So does this mean you'll give Brittany's and Rachel's medley another listen?"
Mr. Schuester smiles, "I think I can do that."
Quinn beams at the man. "Thank you Mr. Schue, I'll see you in glee."
"See you later Quinn."
As soon as Quinn is out of the man's class room she drops her smiling face and adopts one of cool indifference. That had been much easier than she had thought it was going to be. She's goes looking for Santana so that she can fill her in on the plan she had come up with last night. But unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, she runs into Rachel Berry first.
"Man hands." She calls out but the other girl ignores her, "Hey Ru-Paul!" She groans in frustration as the girl continues to walk on, ignoring her. "Fine, Berry but that's the best I've got, wait up."
The tiny brunette stops and faces her, a look of polite interest on her face. "How can I help you Quinn?" She asks with clipped politeness.
"Look, let's clear some things between us. I don't like you and it's pretty safe to assume that the feelings mutual correct?"
"Actually I don't hold anything against yo-"
"Just shut up and let me talk." Quinn interrupts her, completely uninterested in what the girl has to say. "I'm not a big fan of this glee club thing, but it's important to Finn, my boyfriend," She can't help throwing that in, "And it's important to Brittany as well. So by extension, it has to be important to me too. Do you understand where I'm coming from?"
Rachel nods her head.
"The dance moves that Mr. Schuester has us doing will cause us to lose any competition we enter."
"You don't know that," Rachel says unconvincingly "Besides, what do you know about show choir competitions?"
"About as much as you know about winning a national championship."
Rachel scowls at that, and nods her head acknowledging her point. "Okay, fine what do you want me to do about it?"
"I did some research, we need Dakota Stanley. He is the choreographer for Vocal Adrenaline, you know the national show choir champion-"
"I know who they are. What makes you think Mr. Shcuester or anybody else in there will listen to me? They haven't in the past."
"Look, you're the leader of the glee club; the people there look to you for what to do."
Rachel scoffs at that, "They barely tolerate me there."
"Look you know I don't like you, I find you loud, obnoxious, and generally unpleasant to be around, plus I know you've been trying to steal my boyfriend, so bonus points for that as well, so you can believe me when I say that you are the most talented person in that room. You have an amazing voice, and music seems to come as naturally to you as breathing. You have talent and you're confident, and that can rub people the wrong way. Especially if those people are almost as talented as you but are unwilling to put in the work that you do. You're the star of that club, the leader, or the captain. Whatever you want to call it, and whether they like it or not, or want to or not, in glee club we follow your lead."
"You really think I'm talented?" Rachel asks at first shocked but then pleased by what the other girl had just said.
"And there you go, being obnoxious. Of course I think you're talented. I've heard you sing, and anyone who has will agree with me. But fine if you need the validation, yes I think you're talented."
Rachel smiles sadly, "It's not that I need the validation, it's just that nobody ever says anything nice about me, it's just… nice to hear."
Quinn ruthlessly and savagely suppresses the guilt that bubbles up inside her, and reminds herself that this is the girl she caught her boyfriend shoving his tongue down her throat.
"Look if you suggest Dakota Stanley then the rest of the club will go for it, you'll be the hero and we might actually stand a chance of making it to nationals." Quinn says impatiently, eager to get away from the girl that she's starting to feel guilty for picking on.
"Well, why don't you suggest it, or have Brittany suggest it, if she's your friend, why me?" Rachel asks suspiciously.
"For one, Mr. Schuester is kind of pissed off at me, we talked it out this morning but he won't be taking suggestions from me anytime soon. The second reason, why you and not B? Simple, Brittany has been trying from day one to make suggestions and he has not once taken her seriously, he might not do what you say but he always listens to you. Again, you're the leader of this little club, it has to be you."
"Why is Mr. Schuester mad at you?"
"Not important." Quinn shrugs off the question.
"Humor me."
"Fine, I went and yelled at him yesterday for being an awful teacher after I found out that he yelled at Brittany and you for doing that medley thing. I called him on some of his crap and I did it in front of some of the other teachers so it was a little more embarrassing for him. I apologized this morning but guys, no matter what their age, have fragile egos. He may have forgiven me but it'll be a while before he'll be willing to listen to me. Besides this club is important to my boyfriend and my best friend, not me. Take my suggestion or don't I really don't care at this point." Quinn shrugs dismissively and turns and walks away.
"Dakota Stanley?" She hears the other girl ask hesitantly.
Quinn stops briefly and nods her head in confirmation before continuing her search for her friends.
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Quinn doesn't find either of her friends till second period gym and it's just Brittany. Santana had caught a cold last night, so it's only the two blonds today. They are both out on the field in their cheerios uniforms, stretching before they get a chance to talk however.
"Hey B, how are you feeling?"
Brittany beams at her, "Mr. Schuester caught up to me and told me that he wants to hear Rachel's and my medley again!"
"Hey that's great B!" Quinn smiles back, surprised and glad that her friend is getting another chance. It doesn't change anything, she's already set the ball in motion, but still she's happy for her friend.
"Silly, I'm thanking you. I know you talked to him yesterday, Santana told me you were going to. So thank you, I know you only joined up to keep an eye on Finn, but glee club means a lot to me too and I'm glad that I have you to back me up."
Her friend's sincerity strikes her and she feels like a piece of crap. Her friend loves this club yet she was setting it up to be destroyed. Brittany didn't deserve to have someone like her backing her up, she deserved better. Still she forces a sweet smile onto her face, "Of course B, you're my friend, it's that simple."
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Quinn was pretty sure she was going to die, she was running laps around the track next to Brittany, it was still morning and already 89 degrees and she was stuck wearing one of her long sleeve uniforms. She could feel the sweat just pouring down her red face as coach Sylvester shouted obscenities at them through her megaphone.
Still it was either this or answering awkward questions about the hand shaped bruise on her arm. It was really sad that dying of heat stroke was the easier option of the two. And when the bell rang and coach dismissed them she almost fell to her knees in gratitude that she could go take a quick, cool shower.
She putters around the field helping to clean up the equipment, cones, ropes, pom-pom's, that kind of stuff. When she finally enters the locker room it's quiet so she assumes that she is alone and quickly dresses down and hits the showers, taking an unused single stall and closing the curtain that's hanging there. She lets the cool water run down her body and just stands there for a few seconds enjoying the solitude and the quiet.
She takes a moment and examines her arm. Her left bicep is engulfed in an ugly black and purple hand shaped mark; she gently runs a thumb over it and winces slightly. Three more years, she tells herself, just three more years. Usually this kind of thing doesn't happen. She usually avoids her father when he gets bad enough to get rough with her, but it's happened before, and she knows that she'll just have to be more careful in the future. Three more years, when it comes to home, that's her mantra, her prayer, just three more years.
She turns around startled when she hears a gasp. She is shocked to see Brittany standing there, her friend staring at her with a look of horror.
"Oh my God, Quinn!" She whispers.
"Brittany!" Quinn shouts startled and she quickly backs up against the wall; trying to cover herself, and hide her bruise as her cheerio uniform clad friend makes her way over to her, completely oblivious to the water.
"Brittany what are you doing, get out of here!" Quinn shrieks.
Brittany just ignores her and gently takes hold of Quinn's left arm and carefully examines it.
Brittany had just wanted to know if Quinn wanted to come and watch her and Rachel perform their medley. She had completely forgotten to ask out on the field and had been too excited to wait and ask later. She knew Quinn always waited and took a late shower because she was shy about showing off her body to other people. Which was silly in Brittany's opinion because Quinn was smokin' hot, but still Quinn had always been a little shy in that regard.
So she just figured she would pop her head in and ask. Quinn may tell her to get out, but they had seen each other naked enough times that it usually wasn't a big deal. She had not expected, however, to see her friend's arm looking like it did. A nasty ugly bruise surrounded her bicep and when Quinn had touched it and winced, Brittany couldn't help but gasp.
So she made her way over to her friend and gently took her arm in her hand, careful so that she wouldn't hurt it more and began to look it over. The dark and angry coloring, the little red spots where the skin had slightly broken. The shape that it took, it was the shape of a large hand.
Brittany feels angrier than she had ever felt in her entire life. Someone had hurt her friend and she was going to find out who and then slowly and painfully kill them. She tears her eyes away from the arm and looks up at her friend, who is just standing there as stiff as a board, her face a blank mask. Brittany softens her features and her voice cracks just a little when she asks. "Who did this to you?"
For the first time since Brittany has known her, Quinn looks afraid and it makes her even angrier. Quinn is one of the bravest people she knows, her look of fear seems so out of place on the girl that it was almost like looking at another person.
"Nobody, please Brittany, just leave."
"Quinn, who did this to you?" A thought enters Brittany's mind and she can no longer keep the rage off of her face. Quinn looks away from her and starts to shake. "Was it Finn? Did Finn do this to you?" Brittany asks, her voice quivering with barely suppressed fury.
It would make sense. It would explain why Quinn didn't dump him after he cheated on her. He had obviously threatened her and was hurting her. Quinn couldn't dump him, had forgiven him, because she was too afraid to do anything else. It was all quickly adding up in Brittany's mind. She would have never thought that Finn would be the type of guy to do something like this, but then again she had never thought he would be the type of guy to cheat either.
"Did Finn do this to you? You don't have to defend him, just tell me the truth and we'll get you away from him. I promise, please Quinn don't let him hurt you anymore!"
Quinn mumbles something, but Brittany can't quite hear it. "I'm sorry, what was that sweetie, I couldn't hear you?" Brittany says softly.
"Finn didn't do this." Quinn repeats, only slightly louder, but Brittany caught it this time.
"You don't have to defend him or lie anymore, if he's hurting you he needs to be stopped!"
Quinn just shakes her head sadly at Brittany. "It's not him."
"Then who, who's hurting you!? Please Quinn, you don't deserve to have this happen, tell me or tell Santana or a teacher, or your parents. At least tell them, they can help you!" Brittany says desperately. Why won't Quinn tell her who had hurt her?
Quinn looks down ashamed, "They can't help me B, no one can."
"Why?" Brittany wants to cry, why won't she let her help her.
"Because B, my father is the one who's did this."
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Both blonds were sitting on a bench in the locker room with towels wrapped around them. Brittany was looking at Quinn who had her head facing down. Neither of them had spoken since Quinn's confession. Brittany moves in closer to Quinn and takes her hands in her own. Quinn looks up at her, and she looks exhausted, almost as bad as the day after Finn had cheated on her.
"Talk to me, please?" Brittany pleads softly.
"What do you want me to say B. My parents are drunks and my father is an angry drunk." Here she shrugs like it's no big deal. "I wasn't fast enough and I didn't get out of his way in time, this usually doesn't happen. I just need to remember to be more careful in the future. I stay out of his way when he gets like that and I don't get hurt. It's just the way life at home is for me."
"Quinn, he's hurting you, that's not okay, that's not normal and it needs to be stopped. Does your mom know?"
Quinn scoffs, "Of course she knows, she watched him do this." She gestures to her arm. "It's no big deal B, so don't worry about it."
"You're being hurt! It is a big deal! We need to tell someone, a teacher or a cop, someone! This can't happen again!" Brittany is crying now and Quinn smiles sweetly at her, her eyes full of sorrow.
"It is so sweet of you to want to help, but I've tried telling people before and it doesn't help, it doesn't work. The only thing that telling anyone does is make things worse at home. The last time I told someone all I got was a broken nose for my troubles. Telling won't help; my parents are too rich and influential." Quinn pulls her friend into a hug.
"I've been living with this for as long as I can remember, I'm used to it and for the most part I can avoid it. I just got unlucky yesterday that's all."
"Unlucky!?" Brittany stares at her friend incredulously. She had known that Quinn's parents were kind of jerks but this was so far beyond what she had ever expected. "Quinn you have to tell someone, this shouldn't have ever happened to you, please!"
"B," Quinn says to her like she has just said something incredibly sweet yet naïve at the same time. She leans in and kisses Brittany's forehead. "I told you, it won't help. Please you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone. Not a teacher, or your parents, not even Santana. You can't tell anyone. The situation isn't escalating, it's staying the same. I can deal with it, I've survived it this long, three more years won't make a difference. But if you tell someone, they might try to interfere, and no matter how well meaning they are, it will only make this worse for me in the end. So please, if you are my friend, you can't tell anyone about this, ever. Please Brittany, promise me."
"Quinn I…" Brittany starts to sob quietly, heart broken by what she has just learned and what her friend is asking of her and she wonders if she can promise that.
Quinn begins to gently rock them back and forth, a reversal of the situation only two weeks ago. "Please Brittany, I'm begging you, please don't tell anyone, please."
She nods her head and begins to cry even harder, hating herself for agreeing to it. She is the worst person in the world, her friend is being hurt and she's not doing a damn thing about it.
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"Hey babe, how was school?" Santana asks, smiling as Brittany walked into to her room.
"Good… It was good… fine, nothing happened." Brittany says forcing a smile. She kind of aimlessly wanders around the room, looking anywhere and everywhere other than at her, kind of, but not really, girlfriend.
She just couldn't get her mind off of what happened today. She just keeps seeing over and over again in her mind Quinn's bruise. And then she would remember different times where Quinn had acted weirdly or dressed differently and she wondered how many of those times had been because she had been covering a bruise. Her friend was in trouble and now that she knew, she had promised that she wouldn't do anything about it and it was killing her inside.
Normally when she got confused she would go to Quinn or Santana, but Quinn was who she was confused about and she had promised Quinn that she wouldn't tell the other girl. But she couldn't do nothing could she? She had to tell someone, but she had promised. She hadn't been able to think about anything else all day, and she had even let Rachel down. She messed up so badly on the redo of the medley for Mr. Schue that it was pretty much kaput at this point. She had apologized profusely to the brunette afterwards and luckily she had been forgiven, they would come up with something else, but it was pretty half-hearted on her end.
And she had all but begged Quinn to come over and stay the night at her place, terrified for her friend and what she would go home to, but Quinn had just brushed it off like it was no big deal, that everything was fine. But it wasn't, was it? Quinn had said that it would only get worse if she told someone, what if that was true, what if she did tell someone and Quinn got really really hurt, how could she live with herself? But what if she did nothing and things got worse or even just stayed the same? She had no idea what to do.
She's brought out of her contemplations when she feels Santana come up behind her and wrap her arms around her and cupping her breasts, while laying kisses along her neck. "Hey baby, I'm feeling better now, so how about you help me feel great and I'll show you just how much I missed you." She purrs seductively.
Normally this would be more than enough to get Brittany going, but today she just couldn't. She pulls away from Santana and looks at her apologetically. "I'm really sorry San, but I'm not really in the mood today."
"Hey, what's wrong baby? You've been acting all pensive and stuff, is it still about Mr. Schuester being a dick, I thought you were okay now, plus I told you Quinn was going to talk to him?" Santana asks taking her hands.
"No… She did, and he asked to see it again…"
"Did he not like it? Because I've gotta say that shouldn't get you down, we've both heard what his taste in music is, or lack of, in his case. I'm sure you both rocked it… well you more than the dwarf, but still."
"No, it's not that, and don't call her that, she's my friend." Brittany half-heartedly scolds Santana.
"Sorry, then what's wrong baby? Tell me."
Santana moves them both to the bed and holds the blond close to her. Brittany moves so that her head is resting against the other girl's chest so that she can listen to the girl's heart beat. It was one of her favorite things to do in the world and it always helped her think. She nuzzles in a little closer when she feels Santana begin to gently run a hand through her hair.
Being like this with Santana, being held like this was one of the best things in the world. Santana would just lie there with her, holding her until she was ready to speak, or not, whatever she decided to do, the other girl was content to hold her and just be there for her. And that was what she was struggling with now, did she tell or not? She just didn't know what to do, and as she lay there contemplating what the right thing to do was, she closes her eyes tightly and says a little prayer begging God to tell her what the right thing to do is.
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A.N. So that was chapter six, I hope that you all enjoyed it. There are still a few more chapters to go before everything comes to a head, but we're getting there. Also I apologize for any mistakes, I do my best, but I'm not always able to catch them. Next chapter, as always, will be up next Friday.