AN:
I have kind of hit a minor stumbling block with this story, but don't worry it's just a scene I'm not particularly fond of and am having trouble getting it to work right.
Oh, and just a little side note. Things will probably happen on Tuesdays, and most, if not all of them will not be good. Because we all know that the world is going to end on a Tuesday. If you do not get that reference I shake my head at you.
Fair warning I did make the Glee kids mean, eventually I might get around to making some of them nicer, but for now we are working under the assumption they all pretty much hate Rachel.
Anyway, I hope you like, although I guess you could call this a cliff hanger, kind of.
Chapter 6:
Tuesday Rachel woke up clear headed and with a smile on her face. The trio was officially moving in with her after school today.
As she remembered how it had been decided, Rachel's smile grew. She had refused to take her pain medication after they had gotten back from Breadstix; they had decided to eat out after the Cheerios practice. After pleading and threats from all three cheerleaders for over an hour the small diva still refused. Santana got fed up.
"Take the damn painkillers, Tiny."
"No. They make me feel out of control and mess with my mind."
Santana sighed and rubbed her forehead. They were finally getting to the root of the problem.
"Ok, but you are taking OTCs."
Rachel nodded, happy with this compromise.
"And we're moving in to keep an eye on you."
The blondes were stunned into silence when Santana bluntly told Rachel they were moving in with her. Rachel blushed.
"Permanently?"
"If you want us to."
"I want you to. I was going to ask you guys to move in after the game Friday, but…" the singer trailed off.
"You still can't remember?" Quinn asked softly.
Rachel shook her head.
"I remember the game ending, waving to you guys, then beginning to pack up, but after that there was this big black blur until the hospital."
Quinn pulled Rachel into a hug.
"It's ok."
Rachel sighed.
"I really wish I could remember."
"You will," Brittany said with confidence.
Rachel smiled.
"I hope so."
"In the mean time are you gonna help us move in tomorrow, Tiny?" Santana asked as she draped an arm over Rachel's shoulder.
Rachel shook her head to clear the memories from her mind as she started on her modified morning routine. No upper body today because of the cast, so she put in a full hour of cardio before hopping in the shower.
By six thirty, Rachel was ready for school and headed down to the kitchen for her usual granola bar or some toast. Instead, she found the three cheerleaders munching on egg (& bacon in Quinn's case) sandwiches. A fruit salad was laid out for her with a small pile of toast next to it.
She blushed and stammered out her thanks as Quinn put butter and jelly on the toast for her, because of the cast.
Breakfast was eaten mostly in silence as the girls prepared for school and mentally planned out their day. Nothing was going on, but all of them were concerned about their classmates' reaction to Rachel's cast. It had already been decided that Rachel would never be left alone, and luckily at least one of them had every class with her so it was not going to be too much of a problem to pull that off. The trio was also planning on finding out who had beat up Rachel, but that was just a pet project at the moment. Rachel's safety was their first priority.
While the Cheerios worried about the logistics of keeping an eye on Rachel, Rachel was trying to figure out what she was going to tell their classmates. Not many of them would really care, they would notice the cast because it was virtually impossible not to, but none of them would really care that she had been hurt.
Rachel knew what they thought of her. They had told her enough that the words were burned into her brain, even if the insults were now just whispered because of her friendship with the trio. Even the Glee club only wanted Rachel for her voice. The self-proclaimed family only cared if she did something wrong, and complained if she tried to help them. The insults from them had been toned down, again because of the Cheerios, but she was never really accepted as one of the group.
Thinking of the cheerleaders, Rachel could not help but smile a little as she thought about how she knew that actually cared about her.
Santana spotted the smile as she turned from making Quinn another bacon and egg sandwich.
"Share the joke?" Santana whispered in Rachel's ear as she placed the sandwich in front of Quinn.
Rachel jumped a little, startled, and shook her head.
"Just memories."
Santana nodded and went back to her own meal.
#RQSB#
They arrived at school around seven forty five in Quinn's car, ready to take on the day.
School went as expected. A few of their fellow Glee clubbers asked what had happened to Rachel, but were easily distracted by small talk and gossip. The rest of the school just ignored the small brunette. A combination of hangovers from partying, and the three Cheerios making sure that everyone knew Rachel was under their protection.
After school and Cheerios practice, the four girls headed to the trio's apartment. They ordered pizza around eight, and it took them until eleven to get everything packed up or put in storage. The four girls stumbled into Rachel's house around eleven thirty. They fell into bed and almost slept through their various alarms the next day.
The week passed slowly with Rachel working around her cast, and the Cheerios never letting the tiny diva out of their sight for longer than a minute or two.
Saturday morning, Quinn drove them to the hospital and Rachel was ecstatic when the doctor replaced her cast with a brace. Santana took them out to a hole in the wall Greek place to celebrate the liberation of Rachel's arm from its cast prison.
Sunday, Quinn dragged the other three to church. The afternoon was spent at the movie theater, watching a new Disney movie, and a picnic in the park.
Everything was going fine; the weekend before had been a minor setback in a fantastic friendship and things were now back on track. Rachel had not spared a thought for her razors in a fortnight and had not actually cut in over a month. There were still small actions that garnered pain, but nothing noticeable, just enough to control her urges, and Rachel had cut back on those as well.
That all changed on Tuesday.
#RQSB#
Rachel had not slept well Monday night. She fell asleep during a movie in Biology, and was not able to finish her History test because the paper moved when she did not hold it down, but her brace tore through the paper whenever she tried to hold it down with her arm.
There was only one thing Rachel knew could take away this feeling of worthlessness. Pain. Specifically, cutting. It worked the best and was easy to control. It was a thought, nothing more, just a quick, maybe? that flashed through her mind throughout the day.
Until Glee club.
Rachel had tripped on her way to Glee club and her papers went everywhere. It took her close to twenty minutes to find them all because the people still in the hallways ignored her except to step on her papers, and let out the occasional muttered insult. She walked into Glee ten minutes late, the insults she had heard still ringing in her ears.
The trio had been called to an emergency meeting with Sue, so nobody in the choir room really cared why Rachel had walked in late, just that she had. And none of them held back.
Mr. Schuester spent fifteen minutes lecturing Rachel on punctuality while Mercedes and Kurt added their own commentary. The rest of the club mostly watched, adding their two cents as it was applicable.
Rachel ended up running out of the choir room, trying to stop the tears that were slipping down her face.
The only thing going through Rachel's mind as she ran home was that she needed relief.
And that meant razors.
#RQSB#
Brittany was bored.
Santana and Quinn were listening to Coach's speech about new routines and new recruits. Brittany was listening too, but she was bored, Glee club had already started and Rachel was alone, something they had all agreed should never happen again.
Brittany nodded along with Santana and Quinn at whatever Sue was saying, but frowned internally as the back of her neck tingled. Something was wrong.
Half an hour later, Coach let them go and the trio hurried to Glee, wanting to see Rachel and make sure everything was ok.
They found the Glee club practicing in the auditorium but no Rachel.
"Where's Rachel?" Santana growled out.
Their classmates shrugged.
"She came in late and when I tried to talk to her about it she stormed out." Mr. Schuester said as he looked at the trio, he sounded truly confused. "Now that you guys are here we can really start practicing."
Quinn snorted in disgust before turning around and leaving the auditorium, closely followed by Santana and Brittany.
Mr. Schuester shrugged and Glee club got back to rehearsing.
The girls would be back.
#RQSB#
Rachel made it to her front door before realizing that her car was back at the school. She shrugged it off and went inside, dropping her school bag by the front door and heading for her room.
This time she pulled out an extra razor from her shaving kit before taking off her shirt.
Seven straight red lines later, Rachel was humming in relief. She threw away the bloody razor and wrapped her upper arm. A wince crossed Rachel's features as she washed out the sink, but she decided against painkillers.
As Rachel picked up her shirt, Santana appeared in the open bathroom door, a blonde head over each shoulder.
#RQSB#
Finding Rachel's car in the school parking lot, the trio went from slightly worried to panicked. A diva storm out meant leaving the school building, so the trio knew she was not on campus, and were hoping she was back at her house.
Santana, Brittany and Quinn all piled into Santana's car and headed for Rachel's house. Brittany and Quinn took turns calling the singer's cell phone as Santana made the ten minute drive in three.
The front door was closed, but unlocked, and Rachel's school bag was next to the door. The trio called out Rachel's name as they checked the rooms downstairs. Getting no response and finding no trace of Rachel they thundered up the stairs.
They raced through the open door to Rachel's room and skidded to a halt in front of the small singer's bed. They turned toward the bathroom when they still could not find Rachel.
Quinn looked over Santana's shoulder to see a sight she had hoped to never see again.
#RQSB#
Quinn had spent the summer before freshman year getting ready for the Cheerios, which meant lots of running and gymnastics with the occasional free day spent with Santana and Brittany, usually at the park.
One day, the blonde decided to surprise her two friends with a spa trip. Quinn would forever be thankful she did.
After picking up Brittany, the two blondes left Quinn's mom in the car and snuck into Santana's deserted house. They made it through the silent house and to Santana's room without a problem.
Santana was sitting on her bed with five still bleeding lines running down her left forearm. The bloody razor lay on the bedside table and a bandage lay next to the Latina as she just starred at the bright red lines that now marked her skin.
Quinn's gasp made Santana turn toward her door and clench her fist as she tried to respond to the perceived threat and keep her cuts hidden at the same time. Quinn locked eyes with Santana and a battle of wills ensued until Santana collapsed in on herself, silent tears running down her face.
The two blondes were immediately at Santana's side and had wrapped the Latina in a hug.
They had spent the rest of the summer helping Santana work through her issues and becoming closer as friends. Santana still cut every once in a while, but now, instead of hiding it, she told the two blondes when she cut and tried to talk to them about whatever was bothering her instead of cutting. Every time Santana had new lines, Quinn and Brittany would pamper the Latina and tend her cuts, while telling Santana that the cuts were war wounds calling her their fierce fighter.
Looking at Rachel, with that bright white bandage on her arm, Quinn felt tears prick her eyes, but held them back.
Rachel looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming eighteen wheeler. Wide, surprised, and fearful, but coupled with a hint of resignation.
This was going to happen, but for a minute the world stood still.
##RQSB##