REVIEWS PLEASE!
Author's Note: Whew! The first chapter had to be angsty because I wanted to set the tone of the story - this isn't going to be all flowers and sunshine. The characters in this story aren't too happy with each other, and if you thought the first chapter was bad in terms of angst, wait until you read this one!
My hope is to shift the POV throughout the story between all of the main players - that is, Finn, Kurt, Blaine, Sugar, Mike, Artie, Matt, Shane, Puck, Sam, Jesse, Sunshine, Rachel, Brittany, Santana, Quinn, Mercedes, Zizes, Rory, Harmony, Karofsky, Sebastian and Tina. As you can tell, there are a lot of them, which makes it that much more of a challenge
…
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing Glee-related.
Chapter Two
FinnPOV
My head was pounding, my entire body shaking as I rose from the bed to try and get my bearings. Clearly this was my room, with my guitar hanging above my dresser, but why did it smell so heavily like booze? Immediately I leaned over to the trash-can strategically located on the ground by my head and vomited.
"Jesus, could you maybe keep it down a little?" A voice made me shoot up quickly, and I turned to find that, shockingly, Quinn was lying next to me, wearing nothing but her bra and underwear.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I shouted quickly, not being able to help myself. One look down at my body made me shudder, as I was wearing only boxers, and I prayed that I hadn't done anything stupid last night.
"Oh, don't worry, we didn't have sex," smiled Quinn, giving me an icy stare. "Sorry about shouting, I'm just a little nervous toward throw-up." Her tone was cold, calculated, well-thought out. "Last night you begged me to stay the night, so I did. We didn't have sex, Finn, I swear! - Just a little fun, that's all."
I couldn't deny the fact that I found Quinn attractive, but it hurt my head to think about too much what situation we were in. She was so comforting, always there for me when I was dealing with things, but labeling her as anything more than a friend with benefits was nerve-wracking to me, considering I didn't know how I felt about her.
"Don't worry, I'll leave you alone," said Quinn, the smile not getting off her face. She got out of the bed - it took all the courage I could muster not to stare at her ass the entire time she walked out - and as I started to pull my shorts on to my legs, a loud cackling noise made me look toward the doorway.
"Geez, you two do the nasty last night?" Mercedes giggled, leaning nonchalantly against my bedroom door, behind her Kurt and Blaine. The smug look on Kurt's face instantly showed me that Blaine had stayed the night last night, and Mercedes probably had too.
"Ugh. She swears that we didn't. How hammered was I?"
"Oh, it was rather humorous, actually," said Kurt, giving me a cheeky grin and sitting next to me on the bed, as I pulled my T-shirt on. "You went on during the ride home about how Quinn needed to sleep with you to "ward off the Smurfs" or something like that; considering the fact that you were essentially raping her, I give her a lot of credit for not taking advantage of you."
"Are you sure that she didn't?" I moaned. I didn't like the relationship me and Quinn were in, honestly. It just made me feel…weird. I couldn't not have the label, and with Quinn, there were no lines; it was a complete blur as to what we were as an item.
"She wouldn't have kept it quiet if she did," laughed Mercedes. "Baby, that girl wants you so bad."
"Oh shut it, Mercedes," I groaned, slinking back under the covers and pulling them over my head. "I really don't need this today."
"Get up!" shrieked my best friend sarcastically, as she reached for Quinn's pillow and thwacked me over the head with it. Mercedes and I were like brother and sister, and we always had been. There were no romantic feelings what-so-ever between us, and I loved that. "Everyone should be getting here pretty soon."
The cabin had been a tradition for years. One of the many things that Anita Lopez had inherited after her husband's death was the monstrous cabin, located twelve hours away in some desolate town. It was insane, with an indoor pool, twelve bedrooms, six floors and a theater, a game room and dozens of flat screens, two kitchens and a living room.
For years, Anita and my mom had been taking me, Santana and Puck to the cabin over winter break, but it normally consisted of just us hanging out on the first floor for a couple of days until Santana got tired of it, and we left. Since Burt and my mom met, Burt and Kurt had been gradually introduced to this tradition, but they'd brought along something with it that I really didn't like.
Burt's first wife Fiona had died of cancer, and her brother Leroy coincidentally had a husband, Hiram, and a daughter: Rachel. When Fiona died a couple of years back, my mother suggested that we invite the Berry's along with us to bond, and Rachel had been a part of things ever since. It had been great, back when we were dating, but now it was just awkward, and my mom felt it was too awkward to un-invite Rachel.
Even though it was going to be awkward, I was excited. It was the first year that we kids had been allowed to go without the parents, and was able to bring along our friends. There were enough floors and rooms for us to stay away from one another, and Anita would be staying a couple of towns over in case we needed anything.
"Let's go!" shouted Kurt. "Puck and Santana are downstairs, waiting for your lazy ass to get up so we can start loading up the truck and the convertible."
Moaning, I rose from the bed. It was going to be a long vacation.
…
QuinnPOV
As I exited from Finn's room and walked down their long flight of stairs, ducking my head to avoid the chandelier hanging above the Hudson's staircase, I was surprised to find Santana and Puck sitting in their living room, Puck with his feet up on the couch like an ape, as some shitty TV show was blasting from the flat-screen.
"Hey guys," I said groggily, the alcohol still having an affect on me.
Puck turned around and laughed the second he saw me, barely clothed, wearing only one of Finn's large T-shirts I'd grabbed off of the ground. "Fabray? Did you two bang?"
"No, Puck, we didn't," I said irritably. We'd been calling Puck "Puck" since first grade, ever since he'd shown a knack for taking out kids in street hockey that we'd played around the neighborhoods.
"Why the hell wouldn't you?" Santana craned her head around to face me. "Now, I can tell you from experience that he's not very good at it, with his ginormous man-boobs crushing me in to the bed the whole night, but why wouldn't you? Don't you love him?"
The emphasis that Santana put on the word "love" really rubbed me the wrong way. "I don't know, I just didn't," I said, reaching in to the cabinet and pulling out a bowl and some cereal. I had no idea why I hadn't slept with Finn. Surely it would piss off that bitch Berry, plus I really loved him, but I just couldn't.
Contrary to popular belief, I wasn't heartless. I loved Finn, but it just didn't seem right to have sex with him when he was so drunk, so vulnerable. So as much as I would've loved to stick it to Berry and show her who's really with Finn, the timing wasn't right.
That, however, didn't mean that it wouldn't be right in the cabin.
"Have you talked to Shelby this morning?" Having poured my Cheerio's in to the bowl, I sank in to the seat next to Puck on the couch - not too close, but close enough. It was embarrassing to admit that two years ago, Puck had lured me in to having sex with him when I was drunk, and out of that one-night stand had come our daughter, Beth. I hadn't wanted to cheat on Finn, but I'd been so vulnerable, and it had taken away for Finn to forgive Puck.
We'd put Beth up for adoption, a decision that I wasn't completely agreeing with now. Slowly but surely I had climbed the ladder back to the top. I was re-instated captain of the Cheerio's and, after a rousing speech to the advisor, had been re-instated in the Celibacy Club as well. I wanted Beth back more than anything. I couldn't stand that she had been adopted by Shelby, former head of Vocal Adrenaline, who I was slowly starting to hate more and more with every passing day.
She'd roped in Puck, but she hadn't roped in me.
I knew I was going to get her back, and if I didn't, I was going to make another. Only, this time, it wasn't going to be with the wrong person. That was why I needed Finn. I needed him because I loved him, and because we were going to make a beautiful baby together, and because I was going to become a successful realtor, and he was going to take over Burt's car-shop, and that was all that mattered.
That was all I had.
"Yup, called her already," As much of a douche-bag as he was, Puck made a great father. He smiled at me happily. "She's recovered from the little cold she had, and Shelby said that she's been putting her in daycare down the street while we're in school."
"Why can't we just bring her to the cabin?"
"Are you serious, Fabray?" snarked Santana. "The amount of the alcohol in that place alone would knock the kid out permanently. And don't you dare bring her up anymore, because I don't want to spend these next couple of weeks thinking about a kid all day."
Santana was really pissing me off this morning. I didn't like her attitude, and I wasn't going to put up with it. I knew that this next remark was going for the jugular, but I didn't really care. "Oh, did Brit call it off with someone, now?"
Immediately, Santana jumped up from the couch, while Puck wrapped his arms around her and restrained her, as she screamed, "You have no right to bring that up, Fabray!"
"Don't I?" I laughed, pulling my head back in a snarling giggle, just because I knew it'd piss off Santana even more. "You two are my best friends! And you better start treating me like one, too, because I'm sick of this shit, Santana!"
Puck realized her, as Santana heaved slowly, staring at me murderously. Eventually the death stare faded away, and she sank to the couch, tears slowly welling up. "She said that she doesn't want me anymore," said Santana.
All of my anger toward her evaporated, and I sat next to her, putting my arm around her. "Relax, baby, it's going to be okay," I said, slowly and motherly. "I'm sorry for what I said; you just have to know that I'm on your side, okay?"
Santana nodded, as a doorbell rang, and Puck jumped up from his chair to answer it.
"Just forget about her, Santana, and I promise it'll be worth it," I murmured, as Mike, Tina, Matt, Shane, Artie, Sam, Rory and Brittany herself entered the room, and the rest of the conversation between me and Santana disappeared as I greeted Sam and we all began to talk with one another.
…
RachelPOV
"We're going to be late, Harmony, we're going to be late," I said nervously, my fingers drumming against my thighs. I was wearing a pair of light jeans, a bright red beret and a white cardigan with a fashionable yellow coat over it; clothes I'd managed to dig up at home when Jesse had dropped me off late last night after the scandal at Scandals.
I hadn't meant to burst at Finn the way I did, and I'd apologized profusely to him, in my mind, when we'd returned to Jesse's apartment to gather my things, but Harmony had consoled me. It wasn't that I meant to be a jerk to him, because I loved him, as much of a douche as he was. I just couldn't forget that night.
"Why are you here, Jesse?" I said nervously, as the door swung open to reveal Jesse and a very pretty girl and guy next to him.
"Mercedes invited me," Jesse smiled, raising his hands to show that he had no harm. "These are my friends Sebastian and Harmony. May we come in?"
Not wanting to be a rude guest, I let him in. The house was crazy, the music blasting, and I prayed to God that we'd have enough time to clean up before my dad's got home from the local theatre production playing down the street. Mike and Tina were making out on the couch, Shane and Mercedes on the loveseat, and I almost had the urge to ask them not to, but I didn't.
"You look beautiful tonight, Rachel," smiled Jesse, suavely putting on the charm. One look around confirmed for me that Harmony and Sebastian had started chatting up Blaine on the other side of the room.
"Thank you Jesse, I really appreciate it, but I have to find Finn," I said, pulling myself out of the conversation, ducking around Puck and Lauren making out on the banister, and walking up to the stairs to my room, where I intended to find Finn waiting for me.
The door swung open, and my heart sank to the pit of my stomach. Finn's tongue was jammed down Quinn's throat, Quinn only in her bra and underwear and Finn in his boxers, and my insides screamed as Quinn's hand began to pull down Finn's boxers-
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" I screamed in rage. Finn and Quinn immediately broke apart, and as Quinn saw me, her mouth opened wide. She dashed to grab her pants, but I flew across the room and my fist connected with her skull, sending her spiraling down to the ground, as my second punch hit her in the nose, causing blood immediately.
"ON. MY. BED? YOU WHORE!" I screeched, as Finn grabbed me from beneath, but I kicked him in the balls and sprinted out of the room, down the stairs, crying, not caring who saw me, in to the street, where Jesse was taking a smoke. I wanted to die, wanted to kill someone. Finn was my love, my best friend, how could he do this to me?
It was hard to forget about what Finn had done to me, but I was trying. Since that day, Jesse had been there for me, Harmony had been my best friend, and Sebastian had been my gay supportive buddy. Without the three of them and Sunshine, I wasn't sure I could've ever made it out of that night alive, but I could still remember the four of us sitting around on Jesse's apartment floor, drinking some wine and discussing things.
He'd hurt me so badly. But I loved him.
"Relax, Rachel, relax," laughed Harmony, turning up the radio in her convertible so that more show-tunes, this time from Wicked, blasted loudly. She was wearing the same jacket I had but in black and a different cut, and a rainbow beanie on her head, with a pair of black-rimmed glasses, some jeans, and Converse. It was almost scary how alike we were with one another. "I don't get why you're so nervous anyways. It's Finn we're talking about here; it's your ex-boyfriend, not the friggin' pope."
"Is Jesse behind us?" I said anxiously, ignoring Harmony's sarcastic remark and looking in the rear-view mirror. Jesse, Sebastian and Sunshine were driving in Jesse's convertible, inches from Harmony's bumper.
"Oh, the asshole wants a race?" smirked Harmony. "Bring it on." She smashed her foot on to the pedal and we flew around the corner at an alarming rate.
…
Ten minutes later, we pulled in to the Hummel-Hudson neighborhood, where Uncle Burt's and Carole's house stood. It felt weird, calling him Uncle Burt, but my father had recently encouraged me to, given how closely we'd gotten lately.
There were a couple of cars in the driveway - Kurt's Volvo, Puck's Porsche, Finn's beat-up old truck and what was presumably Mike's mini-van, though I'd never been inside of it. It looked like it must've been his mom's, with soccer stickers on the back bumper, but she must've lent it to him, and it looked like it fit a lot.
"Are we bringing your car up?" I asked Harmony.
"Nah, I don't want a bunch of drunk kids driving this thing through the ice," smirked Harmony, parallel parking up against the bumper. "I'm leaving it here; already cleared it with Kurt last night."
I got out of the car, surveying the crowd of people around. It was most of the people I had expected to be coming, with a couple of weird exceptions.
"Hi Rachel," smiled Kurt, walking toward me at a brisk pace, as people chatted about on the lawn. He gave me a hug that lingered only for a second. I was a little surprised at how kind he'd been to me, given mine and Finn's break-up, but he hadn't changed a bit. "Hello, Harmony."
"Why are Karofsky, Lauren and Sugar here?" I said, each name with distaste.
"I invited Karofsky personally," said Kurt icily. "I think that Dave needs another chance, and I was hoping that this would make him fit in more considering the fact that he's just recently come-out, and it hasn't been well-received at his new school."
I looked at Karofsky, chatting it up with Rory. He wore a flannel T-shirt, a baseball cap and some jeans, but looked happier than I'd ever seen him.
"Even though Zizes and Puck broke up, he urged me to invite her too, so I did," I shrugged. "And Sugar…well, she's the special case." Kurt laughed, his soprano meshing with my soprano. "Her father said he could get us a bunch of votes for Dad's Congress campaign if we invited her and, considering he's Al Motta and she "doesn't have a lot of friends" - I wonder why, given her vile personality - we agreed to."
I glanced over at Sugar, in one of the most horrific outfits I'd ever seen. The girl was wearing bright pink leopard pajama pants, her hair in some sort of Snooki-bump, some aviators and a crop-top black T-shirt that barely covered her - given the fact that it was nearing winter and extremely cold outside, I laughed loudly.
"Oh well," shrugged Kurt, as a voice shouted loud above the conversation throughout the crowd. I was joined by Jesse, Sebastian and Sunshine as Puck spoke.
"Everyone ready to go? Zizes, Quinn, Santana, Artie, you're with me, no exceptions," said Puck, pointing to the four people within the crowd. "Santana's got directions, Artie's most comfortably in my truck, and Quinn and Lauren, you two piss me off the least out of everybody else."
"Oh, screw you!" screeched Mercedes, and everyone laughed.
It made me a little suspicious that Puck was taking Lauren, given the fact that they'd recently broken up, but they seemed to be trying to do the friend thing. Same with Quinn; I'd have thought she was a lock to be driving alongside
"Blaine, Mercedes and Shane are with me," piped up Kurt from beside me, "and Sam, because all of his shit's in my car, and I don't feel like listening to his nagging when something of his breaks."
Everyone laughed at that one, and Sam rolled his eyes jokingly.
"Me, Tina, Matt, Sugar, Rory, Karofsky and Brit can go in Ma's van," said Mike, pointing over to the van by the curb. "I know it's a piece of shit, but we all came here together, so I figure it just makes sense that we all stay in the same car."
"So, that leaves Rachel and Harmony in Harmony's car, Sunshine, Sebastian and Jesse in his car, and me in my truck?" said Finn, from across the yard. I couldn't even look at him, and I could tell that he was avoiding me.
"No, I'm not bringing my car," said Harmony slowly. "I told Kurt that I was leaving it here last night - remember, Kurt? My parents don't want me putting too many miles on it, so I promised them I'd leave it."
"I guess I forgot," shrugged Kurt, looking at Finn apologetically.
Everyone around me slowly was figuring out that it wasn't going to turn out well, as the gears began turning in my head. "I'll ride with Finn," said Sunshine quickly, raising her hand and blushing when everyone turned to her. "That's fine with me."
"No, you've got the navigation on your phone, remember?" chirped Jesse, quietly. Without looking at him, I could tell from his tone of voice that he knew what was going to happen. Sunshine had to ride with Jesse, and neither of the Smythe's was going to volunteer to switch-
"Well, I could just switch with Rachel-" said Sam helpfully, but I butted in.
"No, it's fine, I'll ride in Finn's truck," I said quietly. All eyes turned to me, and I couldn't even really comprehend why I was volunteering for this. Did I want to subject myself to twelve hours of being alone with Finn? Part of it, though I couldn't admit it to myself, was clearly that I just wanted to be able to bond with him, but in the end it was just attempting to avoid a conflict between Finn and the others, and maybe even start off on the right foot with him on this trip.
"Are you sure, Rach?" said Jesse nervously, eyeing Finn, who clearly wasn't comfortable with the suggestion. "Maybe you and Sunshine could switch phones, and you could ride with Harmony, Sebastian and me…"
"No," I said firmly, standing my ground. All around me, people clearly weren't sure of how the idea was going to work. Tina gave me a nervous glance, but I ignored her, and said confidently, "It'll be fine. I'll ride with Finn. Is everyone ready to go?"
…
FinnPOV
The car ride was legitimately the most awkward experience of my life, and my hands were shaking on the wheel. It had taken us twenty minutes to reach the highway, and the ride was a straight one for the next six to eight hours until we had to start navigating.
Rachel smelled amazing next to me, and she looked absolutely beautiful. I could tell she was nervous, because of the drumming of the fingers on her knee, something she did every time she was uncomfortable. I wished there was something to do to ease the tension, to make things less awkward after last night and everything in general, but I had no idea what to say.
I didn't feel completely responsible for what had happened the night before, after all. It had been partly Jesse's fault. He had started everything, calling me out on why I was at Scandals, and I wasn't looking for a fight, honest, but it was just the manner about him that he reacted to me that made me snap.
"Just curious," spoke Rachel, and immediately I jumped up from my little fantasy world to see her beautiful eyes staring at me, nervously but confidently at the same time, if that was even possible. "Why is Quinn coming? I thought you two weren't on speaking terms, but clearly, there's something I'm missing here. Care to enlighten me?"
The edginess to Rachel's face, coupled with the fact that Jesse's convertible was very obviously circling my truck to make sure me and Rachel were okay, hit me the wrong way. "Quinn and I are friends," I said firmly, "and she's one of New Directions, so she's coming along. Is that a problem?"
"I was only asking a question," said Rachel quietly. "And you certainly seemed like more than friends last night, if you asked me-"
"Well, no one did ask you," I said, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. "Look, Rachel, I know you don't like Quinn, but-"
"But what, Finn? But what? What did she possibly have that I didn't? Why the hell did you think it was acceptable to invite her to our joint cabin?" Rachel's voice was fierce, in that one-note tone she got in when she got mad, as she gripped the handle-bar to the door angrily, her claws digging in to it.
"Why do you think it's okay to invite Jesse, then?" I shouted back, raising my voice a decibel louder. "It wasn't all me, Rachel, I'm not all responsible-"
"You honestly think you have the right to pin the break-up on me?" Rachel shrieked back. Our voices were now echoing throughout the car, and I swore I could hear a buzzing noise coming from her pocket.
"Oh, is that Dad checking up on you?"
"Actually, it is my boyfriend Jesse, making sure I'm okay, thank you very much!" Rachel was hysterical, and I thought of ending the conversation right there, but her silence cut me off, and I decided not to respond. The break-up hadn't been all me, and I wasn't going to take the blame for it.
I knew what I'd done to Rachel was unacceptable, but Quinn had just been with me through it. Rachel had been talking more and more with Jesse since he'd returned to help advise Mr. Schue with New Directions, and Quinn was always there. She was gentler, kinder, and quieter. She listened to my problems, and I listened to her. I was there when she broke down after school about how sad it made her that Beth was with Shelby, and we'd just held each other in a hug.
And that moment, I'd felt a spark.
I didn't want to feel a spark. I didn't want that to happen between Rachel and me, because she was all I wanted and more, but it had happened, and at Rachel's party, when Quinn and I were having a heart-to-heart on Rachel's bed, it just happened. Quinn pointed out to me that Jesse had arrived, and she caught me off-guard with her kiss. I'd been so intoxicated that I'd kissed back, and before I knew it we were near naked and Rachel stormed in, and before I'd gotten a chance to defend myself and accuse her of how close she'd gotten to Jesse, she was gone, with the Smythe's to his house.
I'd begged my mom to not let Rachel come this summer, but Burt insisted, saying that Leroy and Hiram helped pay for a majority of the place, and while it was owned by Anita, he didn't feel like he thought it was right to un-invite them.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, pulling me out of the conversation. Though it was illegal, I snuck a peek while Rachel was looking at the window. Text from Quinn: "you alright?"
"I'm fine" was what I replied.
"Can we just make a pact?" said Rachel quietly. I looked up at her, and she was staring at me again, this time tears in her eyes. "Promise we won't talk for the rest of the ride?
"Fine with me," I replied gruffly.
…
QuinnPOV
Six hours in to the drive, and it was starting to get dark out - I knew we should've left earlier - as we pulled in to a rest stop by the side of the highway. Only a couple of chain-smoking, burly truck drivers were around, and I immediately felt uncomfortable as they checked me out.
Puck parked his bright red Porsche near the woods. "Gotta take a leak," he remarked, earning an eye roll from Zizes, Santana and I as he sprinted behind a bush.
"I don't know what I saw in him," remarked Lauren, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes once more. She had her hair in pig-tails, her glasses on, and a large hoodie and a pair of jeans. I'd never been much of a Lauren fan, but she was starting to grow on me, once we got the whole Lucy business out of the way.
The ride had been relatively uneventful. Artie had fallen asleep within thirty minutes - Santana had wasted no time in drawing a Sharpie mustache on him, very mature - and Lauren and Puck had ignited in a fierce debate over their relationship which had culminated in Santana telling both of them to shut up before she shit on their faces.
Pretty much a normal day in Puck's car.
Behind me, however, I could hear a much more heated debate going on. Jesse and Rachel had pulled away from the rest of the group, and I could overhear Jesse telling Rachel that he'd have her switch with Harmony if she was okay with it, but Rachel was clearly against it, which irked me, especially when Rachel said that they were actually getting along.
I was worried about Finn, I'd admit it. I didn't like him spending time with Rachel when he should've been in Puck's car with me, but it was all going to be worth it, I promised myself, because Finn had promised me earlier that we'd be sharing the master suite.
Hopefully my plan to have another child could take place then.
The timing was perfect. My grades were good - I was going to get in to a good college, and so was Finn, so why not now? Beth was my little angel, but I knew that Shelby was fiercely over-protective of her, and over time, I'd gotten to like Shelby enough to not want to completely rip Beth out of her hands.
"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" I said abruptly, interrupting my train of thought. Jesse had stormed away from the conversation, and I grabbed Rachel by the arm, sinking my nails in to her. The rest of the group were spread out throughout the parking lot, most getting ready to fall asleep for the night, because it was around 10 and we wanted to finish this trip the next day.
I could see Rachel nervously eyeing me, but I forced a laugh. "Oh, come on." I pulled her in the bushes, behind the Port-A-Potties, which reeked of stale urine; I'd double-checked that Puck was done peeing before we'd gone back there.
"What is it, Quinn." It wasn't a question. Berry wasn't enjoying being in my presence, and it took all I could not to punch her full-force, but I reminded myself that this was for Finn, and I had to make myself abundantly clear so she didn't get any wrong ideas.
"Look, Berry," I snarled. "Finn and I are meant to be together. I am going to become a successful realtor. Finn is going to inherit Burt's car-shop, and you are not going to be a part of this fantasy? I've told you this before, and I'm not going to tell you this again. Stay away. I can see you getting ideas, and if this means that I have to go talk to St. James about you trying to cheat on him, I will, no questions asked."
Rachel took a step forward, until she was inches from my face. "Do you honestly think I would even try something? I love Jesse. Finn's yours, which was made pretty evident when your tongue was rammed down his throat in my bed, bitch."
"Well, then, I'm glad we're clear," I clicked my heels together happily, gave her the cockiest smirk I could muster and stormed off.
…
KurtPOV
My group of friends had spread out throughout the parking lot, everyone collapsing in every which direction. To no one's surprise, the Bitchy Clique (Sunshine, Harmony, Sebastian, Jesse and Rachel) - that was what I was calling them now - had all collapsed in to Jesse's car for the night, while the rest of us had spread out more.
Mercedes, Blaine and I were all together in the trunk of the Volvo, while Sam and Shane slept in the front seats. We'd managed to clear out a majority of Sam's things in to Finn's truck in order to make room for this little gossip circle that I'd called, because I could tell that Mercedes was uncomfortable.
"What's the deal, babe?" I asked, turning to her. Clearly the ride between Mercedes and Shane had been a little tense, but I couldn't tell why. Shane seemed to be himself, and Sam hadn't talked much, but the second Mercedes' eyes signaled to Sam, I realized. "Oh…Shane doesn't no, does he?"
Mercedes shook her head, and as tears began to spill, my boyfriend wrapped his arm around her. Sam had moved out of his state because he was homeless and his father had gotten a job, but they had moved back. Unfortunately for Mercedes, she and Sam had to break up when he moved, because Sam didn't think the long distance thing would work. I could only imagine how much stress she was in.
"I just…I don't want to lie to Shane, but I'm not over Sam completely," Mercedes sobbed, as I wrapped my arm around her as well. Blaine shot me a sympathetic look, and he began to address Mercedes.
"Shh, don't worry, sweetheart," whispered Blaine. "You're not lying to him! You can tell Shane when the time is right, but I don't think that the time is now." His voice was so reassuring, the voice of the man that I'd fallen in love with. "Are you okay, sweetie?"
"Y-yeah, I'm f-fine," murmured Mercedes, wiping the tears from her face. "I-I'm sorry, I just h-had to tell you guys."
"It's fine, sweetie," I smiled. "That's the good thing about having two gay best friends!"
All three of us laughed out loud at that one, almost waking Shane, and we covered our mouths quickly, but laughed behind them as well.
…
JessePOV
Twelve hours in to the trip, and my feet were beginning to hurt after having put them on the gas for so long. I'd driven a majority of the time, Harmony for a little while, but I didn't want to have her in the driver's seat, because she wasn't as aggressive as me and I was nervous she wouldn't be able to keep up with Hudson.
I didn't like the fact that he and Rachel were together, but from what I could see in my Jaguar - one of the many perks of having rich parents - they weren't talking much, which made me a little more relaxed. I'd freaked out a bit at Rachel at our first pit stop, but after talking to her on the phone, we'd resolved things and she apologized, saying that she understood why I was nervous.
"So, what's the deal with Hudson?" Harmony said quietly. Behind us, Sebastian had fallen asleep, and was snoring loudly, which made Sunshine giggle, as Sebastian's snoring sounded vaguely like a warthog's. "Why wouldn't Berry let me switch with her? Does it make you nervous at all, Jess?"
"Nah," I shrugged. No, it was important for me to show confidence in that I trusted Rachel, which I wasn't completely sure if I did or not. "I think she just wants to face her demons. She's a tough cookie."
"That's mature of her," observed Sunshine, nodding her head slightly. "She's changed a lot since the time she tried to send me to a crack house?"
Harmony turned around, facing Sunshine and raising her eyebrows. "I've got to hear about this."
"Oh, I transferred to McKinley, but Rachel basically chased me out," laughed Sunshine. After hours of talking over things with Rachel, I think she'd come to terms with the fact that Rachel was jealous of her powerful vocal chords. "She didn't want another power-house diva in the school, I guess - she probably had enough with Mercedes and Santana as is - so she sent me to a crack-house to try and get me to quit, which worked enough."
"Poor Goolsby," I laughed. "He didn't have much of a chance, did he?" Sunshine laughed. Dustin Goolsby, the new Vocal Adrenaline director that had replaced Shelby, had been fired after Vocal Adrenaline hadn't placed in first at Nationals.
"I heard that Mercedes and Santana joined another glee club at McKinley," said Harmony curiously. "Is that true?"
I nodded. "They're called the Troubletones, run by Shelby. Rachel says they're the real deal, and let me tell you after having past experience working with Shelby - that woman knows exactly what she's doing."
"Is Richy Bitch in that one too?" said Harmony, referring to Sugar.
I laughed loudly, as did Sunshine, and Sebastian jerked up, his warthog snore raising a decibel for a second. "Yup, that's Sugar. Just be nice to her, alright?"
"I make no promises," sniggered Harmony. "So Sun, I gotta ask…who do you like now? Bangin' anyone?"
Sunshine rolled her eyes. "No, Harmony, I am not 'banging' anyone, though I do find Artie kind of cute…" She blushed.
"Oh please," I rolled my eyes. "Didn't Rachel tell you he's with Brittany?"
"Actually, she said that no one's quite sure of Brittany's sexuality or whether or not they're together," remarked Sunshine, and I nodded, recalling that. No one really knew if Artie and Brittany were together or not - that was one of many things I was looking forward to inside of the cabin.
"Hopefully these next couple of weeks are good," said Harmony, stretching her feet on to my windowsill, but I knocked them off. "As long as it gets me laid, anyways."
Sunshine, Harmony and I all laughed at that one and Sebastian jerked up once more from his snoring, which only made us laugh more.
…
FinnPOV
"Can we get something to eat?" We were near a half-hour away from the cabin, and I hadn't expected to hear Rachel's grumbling voice from across the truck, thinking she was asleep. There she was, though, her head wide up and alert. "I'm starving.
"If Dad's okay with it, fine by me," I shrugged. It was the first time she'd talked to me since we'd vowed not to speak. During the roughly ten hours that followed, she'd done everything to avoid me, from listening to her iPod full-blast, to just looking out the window, to reading, and even pulling out a small synthesizer and playing on her lap, headphones plugged in to the side.
"Jesse won't care," said Rachel icily. "But if you'd prefer I call him, I most certainly will." The conversation that followed between Rachel and Jesse St. Sucks was rather humorous, but eventually, Rachel hung up, sighing, and then she smiled at me, clearly a fake and transparent smile. "He's fine with it, as long as 'you know where you're going'."
"I've been here over fifteen times," I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Jesse to throw in an extra dig against me. "I think I know how to get there."
"Okay." Rachel said slowly, sarcastically and angrily at the same time, turning her head away from me. As we took the car down one exit - I knew that there was a McDonald's right off the highway - Mike gave me a quizzical look from the van, but I ignored him and kept going.
We pulled in to the drive-through, where a crackling voice spoke through the intercom, "How many I take your order?"
"A cheeseburger, lettuce but no tomato please, and a small shake," said Rachel quietly. I could tell she was uncomfortable having to reach over me to speak in to the intercom, and I probably could've recited her order off of memory, but I kept quiet.
"Is that all?"
"I'll take a #2, please, with a Coke," I said, just as equally quiet as Rachel's. We parked the truck in the parking lot and ate quietly, not speaking to one another.
Finally, I knew that I had to say something. Truthfully, I didn't want it to be awkward between me and Rachel. Since this would probably be our last trip to the cabin, I wanted to make it last. "Hey, I just wanted to apologize for what happened at the club between me and Jesse. I really just want this to be a good trip."
"Thanks."
I paused, waiting for her response, but she never said anything. "Don't you have anything to say to me?"
"Shut up, Finn." Rachel said, more fiercely than I ever thought she could. "I don't want to hear it. Thank you for your apology, I appreciate it, but we're not friends, Finn, and we're not going to be, okay? Just stay away from me and my friends, I'll stay away from you and yours, and this will be fun, alright?"
"Alright." Something about the way that Rachel was responding to me rubbed me the wrong way. I truthfully wanted to be friends with her, but clearly she didn't feel the same way. "Don't be offended when I'm hooking up with Quinn, then."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
…
We arrived at the cabin twenty minutes later, and I was stoked. The greenery outside of the place was truly beautiful, as the long, winding paved drive-way led in to the main area. The cabin was wooden, and stood enormously high, having been built on a hill so that it didn't really look as enormous as it was, with six whole floors. The brick chimney to one of the many fireplaces stood out, while I could see the dock, the shining crystal lake and the vast backyard outside, the sunset just setting over the cabin.
"This is breathtaking," whispered Rachel, and for once, I didn't disagree with her.
We pulled in to the garage, where Mike's, Puck's, Kurt's and Jesse's cars were all parked. Upon entering through the front door, the place was amazing. The living room was there, the plush couches everywhere, flat-screens all over the place. Quinn greeted me at the door, grabbing my hand, and I made her giggle as I threw her on my back.
"Let's go, baby!" I shouted, as she laughed; it was more to annoy Rachel than to please her, but oh well.
"This place is crazy!" screamed Mike, running past me with Tina in hand. The hallways weaved, with hot tubs, the theater, the game room, all three pool tables and the living rooms flying by. Bedrooms were everywhere, the indoor pool with the waterfall and the cove in the basement, and there were kitchens everywhere.
With Quinn on my back, I hauled up all the six flights of stairs, her giggling the entire way, as I reached the master suite. The sixth floor had only two rooms, the two suites, and I giggled as I opened the door to the suite, kissing her gently on the lips.
However, my heart fell when I found Rachel and Jesse making out on the bed.
"What the hell? This is my room, Rachel!" I screamed, dropping Quinn from my back. Jesse and Rachel broke apart immediately.
"No, Finn, this is my room. You must be mistaken," said Rachel, surprisingly calm, as she continued kissing Jesse in front of me.
Fine. Two could play at that game.
"Let's go, babe," I whispered to Quinn, pressing her up against the wall, making sure to make out with her aggressively as I could, using full tongue. "I can't wait to get you alone, baby!" I squealed, tossing her on my back, and she giggled.
Fine, Rachel. Let the games begin.
Author's Note: Wow. This one was crazy. I hope you really enjoyed it! PLEASE review! You have no idea how much it'd mean to me for you to review.
More chapters are coming soon enough! Some of the quieter characters, like Sugar, Karofsky and Rory, will finally get their say, and I can promise that it's going to be just as angst-filled as the first two chapters have been. :D
Review, review, review!