If You Say So
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.
A/N: This is a Quinn-losing Puck story. That is set in season 6, when Rachel is pregnant with Kurt's twins, Tracy and Hepburn. I know she only had one baby, but I am taking creative liberties here. I used the song's story as a jumping-off point.
Chapter 1: Seven Whole Days
Quinn Fabray stood by a solemn gravestone; her heart heavy with grief. Carole Hummel and Rachel St. James stood silently behind her. As the wind rustled through the trees, Carole's husband, Burt, approached them. Quinn's emotions overwhelmed her, and she couldn't hold them in.
"Seven whole days?" Quinn's voice cracked with anger and sadness. "You didn't have to do that!" Her words were sharp and directed at her ex Noah Puckerman, who just died. The weight of the past week had taken its toll on her, and she couldn't help but express her frustration. "Sam can't even look at me now after finding me holding you!"
The words hung in the air, heavy with betrayal and complexity. Quinn's outburst revealed the tangled web of emotions that consumed her, leaving her feeling lost and hurt. The gravity of the situation was palpable as they stood in silence, each person grappling with their thoughts and feelings.
Then she falls to her knees and breaks down, asking Rachel, "How did you do it? How did you move on so quickly after Finn died? I can't get through a day without crying. Everywhere I go, it reminds me of Puck. I should never have returned! It was just a fight! I didn't mean it! Puck is not a loser! God, I can't breathe!" Then she falls to her knees, gasping for air.
Carole takes her car while Rachel sits with Quinn in the back seat. Rachel tried to get Quinn to calm down as they headed to the hospital, where she passed out. After waking up in the ICU, Rachel held her hand and sat beside her. Kurt and Blaine soon joined Burt and Carole. As Quinn glances at Rachel's belly and then at Kurt, she announces, "I'm pregnant again, and we had a fight about it. He asked me if I would marry him. When I said no, his last words were, "If you say so." Rachel looks away as she remembers that these were the last words she spoke to Finn before he killed himself five years earlier. Rachel was over Finn, but being pregnant made her more emotional.
Rachel glanced over at Burt and Carole, who walked up to Quinn's hospital bed as she apologized, "I'm sorry, Quinn. I wish I had something better to say or tell you; things will be better."
Quinn looks at Burt and says, "I have Elizabeth's diary."
After the others leave, Burt explains, "Puck called me a week before you found him. I missed the call, and he left a voicemail. He said he was responsible for Finn's death. I never asked him what he meant by that, and I thought he felt guilty about missing Finn. I put the diary in the box because you two reminded me of myself and Elizabeth when we were younger."
Quinn sees Kurt peeking around the corner and asks, "You realize Kurt tried to take Finn from me when he introduced you to Mrs. H, right?"
Burt chuckles and replies, "Carole and I figured that out shortly after they moved in."
Then he sighs when Quinn isn't interested in hearing about Kurt's crush on Finn and explains, "The cops found some tapes in Puck's bedroom of him with underage girls."
Quinn looks at her belly as she says, "I know. I found them the day we fought. He said they were somebody else's. But I knew he was lying and ran out. After three days of not hearing from him, I assumed he had turned himself in. Before I found him, I asked Sam if he would help me check on him. His body was hanging by a rope from the staircase railing. The rope broke when I walked in, and I was so shocked that I held his head in my lap until Sam arrived." She breaks down and screams, "Why?" as Santana and Brittany come in and hold her.
Santana asks Burt to speak alone as they head outside. Santana says, "The tapes were made in high school before we joined Glee. Puck would still have gone to jail because many of the girls were under eighteen. Puck tried to talk his way out of jail, but the cops weren't having it. Quinn found them and forced him to turn himself in. I had nagged him about it the week before. Mr. H, Quinn's mom, wants Quinn to abort her baby. Quinn's parents cut her out of their will after Puck died and told her she was on her own unless she aborted the baby." Soon Rachel storms out, grabs Santana by the arm, and asks Burt to come with her.
Rachel got in Burt's truck and said, "Quinn had a miscarriage due to stress, and when I called her mom, she said she was glad Puck's spawn died." Soon, Rachel drove like a maniac to Judy Fabray's house.
When they arrived, Rachel stormed in and yelled at Judy, saying, "What is wrong with you? Quinn lost Puck and her baby! How do you respond? You call your grandchild a demon spawn and say you are glad he is in hell with Finn! It took me a while to get over Finn's death and move on with my life! Puck has only been dead for a week, and instead of being there for Quinn, you tell her to abort her baby now. Or you will cut her out of your will!"
Before Judy can respond, Burt says, "I was like Puck in high school, and my first wife Elizabeth was my girlfriend at the time. Her parents were just like you, Judy."
He glances at Rachel and says, "I took care of Quinn the last time she was pregnant with Puck's baby. I will not turn my back on her again. Quinn needs you, and you act like she's a disappointment. You tried to control her whole life and have never been there for her."
Santana gets in Judy's face and yells, "You have tried to keep Quinn under your thumb for years! You never approved of me and Brittany being friends with her! You didn't even like it when she dated Finn! Quinn has done everything she could to earn your approval, but if she didn't live the life you wanted for her, You ignored her and praised Fannie! Like Fannie was your golden child and Quinn was nothing to you after she had Beth!"
Santana and Rachel soon storm out, but Burt looks around. He notices no pictures of Quinn anywhere but plenty of Fannie and her family. It reminded him of when he went to Elizabeth's parent's house. He sighs and says, "It looks like you already cut Quinn out of your life." He sees a picture of Noah holding Quinn when she had Beth halfway under the couch.
He picks it up and says, "I haven't spoken to my first wife, Elizabeth's family since she died. Then it took me six years to find someone that made me feel as happy as I was with Elizabeth. Do you think cutting Quinn out of your life will help you forget her?" He doesn't wait for an answer and leaves after handing Judy the picture.
When they returned to the hospital, they saw Brittany holding Quinn's hand as she slept beside her. Then Kurt exits the bathroom wiping his eyes. Soon, Noah's mother, Norah, and his sister, Sarah, enter the room. Norah looks at Burt and says, "Shelby is coming down with Beth. Quinn posted something on Facebook about being her mother, she also blamed Judy for her miscarriage, and Puck's death."
Rachel's husband, Jesse St. James, soon enters with Kurt's husband, Blaine. Blaine touches Rachel's belly, saying, "You better not lose my babies, Rachel."
They hear Quinn crying, then she says, "Kurt, I get why you became an atheist now. How could God turn his back on me? I tried to be the daughter my parents wanted, but that wasn't enough! Now I lost my parents, my baby, and Puck! I read your mom's diary so many times since Puck died."
She sits up and continues, "I visited her grave every other day." Quinn glances at Burt, then turns her back to the others before breaking down again. She cries until she falls asleep as she sings along with Un-Break My Heart by Toni Braxton as it plays on the TV.
Santana storms out again, and Burt finds her at Noah's grave, kicking it as she yells in Spanish. Before he can say anything, they get a text from Kurt saying that Rachel went into labor.
When they return, Santana is still fuming, and Burt sits with her in the lobby. Then she says, "I yelled at Kurt's mom before you found me at Puck's grave. I'm kind of glad Quinn lost the baby, now."
She chuckles and says, "Mr. H, I heard what you said to Quinn's mom before we left."
She sees a little blonde-haired girl playing with a Barbie doll as she says, "You were like a dad to all of us." They soon see Shelby and Beth walk in and have them follow them to an elevator.
While waiting for the elevator to open, Shelby says, "We went to Judy's and saw you leaving. Judy refused to see us and was throwing out pictures of Quinn as we left. Puck named Beth after your first wife, Mr. Hummel." Then Burt noticed Katharine Elizabeth Corcoran spray-painted on Beth's shirt, under her denim jacket.
Chapter 2 will be up soon.