Open Wounds

by 216BLT

AU: The past is the past. Puck, Santana, & Rachel Corcoran have moved on from theirs, but when their mother decides to take in a teen, old memories resurface. Also, new scars are made as they navigate through adolescence, ones that might not heal.

25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

HIsland429 – you are correct in the song – thank you. One of my favorites. Shelby will be listening to Rachel more but she has had an incredibly awful weekend but she knows that she has all week with Rachel at home and she plans to talk to her a lot throughout the week with her feelings. Will is not her only friend and you will see it more and more – she has friends but they are in dance class so she does feel lonely at times – it's just at school she has felt alone. Quinn is not near any point to standing up to Judy – she has had 16 years of being yelled at by that woman – so unfortunately for Quinn it maybe a long road. Thank you for always reviewing the chapters. I hope you like this one.

piecesofyourheart – I am glad you were surprised. Brittana is going to keep going in this story – it may not always be happy but it will be there. This is a major hurdle for Quinn and Shelby and we shall see where it goes – it is a lot and a very sensitive matter so we will see. Sorry but this chapter will have some of the Schuester in it so do not have any sharp instruments near.

btvscharmedgirl – Santana and Quinn are the hierarchy of the Cheerios for a reason and they have friends on the Cheerios, lots of them and you will see in the next couple of chapters. More Brittany to come. Thanks for the review.

amandaes417 – More Rachel in this chapter and definitely coming up in the future chapters. Brittana is strong and will be coming up more and more. Thank you for reviewing.

TommyH – Be very nervous about Whitney! She is bad news. Poor Quinn – to have a mom like Judy and to then be pregnant – terrible. Thanks for the review and I hope you like what is coming next.

broadwaybound2016 – Thank you for saying that you loved the video. I am doing my best to fit in the kids pasts and showing a little piece of their lives before everything bad happened. Leroy was a great man so the kids need to remember pieces of him. Thanks for the review as always.

NinjaGleek21 – You are correct where the song came from – great job! Trust me Russell will get what is coming to him – but it wont be for a while. Trials take a while and he is not going to admit to anything so there might be a fight for justice – but it will come – trust me.

Renata – Yes I was lucky enough to meet both of them and see Spring Awakenings. I am honored by your words regarding my story. You are correct it is a very big secret that Joey kept from Shelby and Shelby is/was furious but in the long run it was for Santana's best interest. Imagine if Joey found out and told Shelby and Santana denied and clammed up – she would do it anyway and not be safe about it. Joey did not agree with Santana and did not approve of what she was doing she was just trying to make sure she was safe and in hindsight she should have shared it with her sister. The bond between Shelby and Joey is strong enough so that Shelby trusts Joey with everything in her life and vice versa. As always thanks for your reviews and never apologize for the length of them.

val-cb – As always – thank you for the review!

BMontague – Thank you for reviewing. I love the Disney classics too. Joey and Shelby are siblings so they share a lot and parenting ways is one of them. So for Shelby to have Joey in her corner all the time – it gives Shelby strength. Quinn's whole family life is filled with vomiting moments and now that she experiences what a true family is like she will begin to grow and see how bad her parents really were to her. Because this is the only family she has known so she needs to be shown love and support and not hatred and rage. I don't think a two week spa trip is in the near future for poor Shelby but maybe a day or two of drama free can be worked out for her. Britt and San are working it out. You may found out in this chapter who was lurking in the background!

bornthisway0201 – Please do not apologize for not reviewing. My heart goes out to you and your family for your tragic loss. May your nephew rest and peace. I am truly honored that you have found solace in reading my story during this horrible time for your family.

Charley Quinn – Quinn's walls are up very high. I mean she has been living her whole life with those crappy people so she is extremely guarded but hopefully as you can see they are starting to crumble ever so slightly – Thank you for reviewing the story. As much as I hope to get a chapter written faster I don't think I could possibly get one done every day though but thanks for checking!

Glitter96 – Well it will be bumpy but it will be end game. So thank you for reviewing.

Cookie – Rest assured – Santana is NOT going to try and kill herself – she has terrible things happen to her and she has had difficult times and will have some more but in no way is she going to try and commit suicide. She is too strong for that and she would never leave Rachel. Now I wont spoil it anymore but I wanted to make sure you knew that I am not going there with her character or any others for that matter. She may not love herself but she knows there are a lot of people that love her. Thanks for the review. I will possibly put in a flashback of devious little Santana but I have to find the right spot- maybe while in Florida (I already have one in mind. It made me giggle when i thought of it). Not sure about the essay, probably only pieces of each of their essays.

ArmyOfWuh – I would never try and get rid of you! I don't know was that a review? Thanks for your kind words.

marinka4 – I did not mean to be evil! Sorry about that – it just seemed like the best spot to close that chapter and I was at 15000 words so… More Brittany moments and Quinn hurting Schue we shall see – Thanks for taking the time to review.

OTHangels – More Brittany/San moments are coming trust me. Joey knows that San has a special look for Brittany – not so sure she thinks its all girls yet. Thanks for reviewing.

Ryoko05 – Thanks! hope you enjoy this chapter!

Stevensone – I am so glad you can appreciate the pace of the story and yes because I get an idea in my head I have to jump and write down that scene but then most of the time I have to go back and fill in all the parts that build up to the scene so it is done right. If I don't go back and rebuild then the story wouldn't make sense – so thank you very much for seeing that.

SuzQQ – Again – love the review. Your observations are great and I won't spoil the latest Quinn development for you just yet but you will find out soon I promise you. Brittany is very strong in this story and Santana needs that she cant have her run away from her. She shots straight and to the heart and Santana needs her. Joey and Shelby will always support each other they are very close sisters and always have each others backs. Noah is a great guy and he will learn from the ladies in his family – he is the guy that every girl wants to date and take home to their parents. He just has to believe in himself a little more. The Corcorans are considering Quinn as family but she is going to take a little more time to consider them family because to Quinn family is an evil word. Thank you for always reviewing.

Dave Green – The reason I have Rachel and Santana listed main characters and not all is because they only allow 2 to be listed. Rachel is one of the main characters and a lot will happen or has happened to her but she is part of a larger family. So I am sorry to disappoint you. There are major arcs coming and because this story is a work in progress sometimes to get to these arcs takes time. I have most of the arcs written already but it does not make sense and the story would not be very good if I just threw them in there. I build around them and sometimes to get to them takes longer than I anticipated. Trust me I would like to get them in the story as fast as possible but I also like to write characters properly. I appreciate the review and I hope that you will continue reading the story.

NayaFan – Don't apologize – I read your stories and I can only imagine how busy you are because you are writing so many at once. Puck is a guy and sometimes I think they are way more straight forward than females so yes – he would just tell Quinn the story – she is family to him now so sharing is not a problem for him. Brittany is much more observant than Santana has ever given her credit for and with Santana being so guarded she needs Brittany in her life and Brittany to act the way she acts. Thank you so much for your review. It means the world to me.

Gleek1990 – No offense taken – do not worry. More Quinn is coming – although she does have a tough road ahead unfortunately. You may find out who was listening this chapter!

FFfree – Puck and Quinn NEVER slept together – they barely got through a date – so there is no way that the baby was ever his baby. You will find out whose it was in the next chapter though. I will update changes as soon as I can – I don't want to just throw in a filler to the story just to update it – it is not fair to my readers to do that and that story is still very near and dear to my heart so I am trying – thank you for your patience! Thanks for the review.

Abby – Thank you for the review. I am glad you are enjoying it.

Anon – I really enjoyed writing the video scene. I wanted to show a little more of Leroy. Yes Quinn being pregnant and there is nothing innocent about it – thank you for reviewing.

banjojd – Shelby will always reassure Santana and that is what Santana needs because she beats herself up so badly. Quinn tale is heartbreaking and we will find out who the father is soon enough and we may even find out Judy and Russell's reaction but don't hold any hope of them being caring in the least. The family vacation is coming but it is a few chapters off – only because when I sit down to write I always feel that I need to take the scene that I have in my head a little further than expected – does that make sense? I do have quite a few future arcs and sometimes it takes me away from writing the present chapter but if I don't write it as I think about it I may lose it so – thank you for appreciating that. Thank you for reviewing too.

Random Dice – More Brittana coming your way this chapter! I hope you like it. Unfortunately with the family Quinn has been raised in – her flashbacks rarely have joy in them. Thank you for reviewing.

KatyVixen – Thank you so much for your kind words. I try to make sure that the chapters flow nicely and I am constantly checking and rechecking to make sure. Thanks

dreamchaser888 – Here's the next chapter – thanks for the review.

TheTBone - your reviews always warm me up and inspire me. I missed you so much you have no idea. So thank you. You catch so much that even I forgot that I wrote. It warms my heart. Thank you. I have missed your reviews and always get paranoid that I chased you away. However, do not let you feel badly. We all have lives and we must live them. Never apologize for that. :) Quinn has a lot of stuff going on and coming up but so does San, and Rach and even Noah. We will see. Thank you so much for your reviews. I cannot thank you enough.

Theilliterate - Wow Chile Hello! - I think from your review you will be pleased with the progress in the chapter - lots of Brittana, more Rachel and more Quinn. Noah has his moments too. Thank you for reviewing and welcome Chile.

Hi everyone, so as always, this chapter was meant to be shorter and not have a few scenes in here. however, the characters got away from me. Therefore, I'm sorry this chapter is so long, but I hope you can understand why it is. We will be going to FL, trust me I won't forget. They need to go to FL for a lot of reasons, but also for something big to happen... I apologize if you are getting frustrated with me teasing you all with what is to come. Again, you are all always welcome to PM me with any questions or concerns and I'll do my best to answer. Thank you all for your continuous support.

Sidenote: This hit me like a ton of bricks. For anyone who has ever read, Little Women, I realized that I named the two characters unintentionally: Joanne "Joey" and Lawrence "Bear" Carlson... Sorry... If anyone read, Little Women you may see that connection... Anyway... onto the story with over 17,000 words.

**Warning** This chapter may trigger somethings. There is discussion of abuse.

---

Rachel looked over at her aunt and back down at her book. She looked back over at her aunt slowly again and then back at her book. The third time Joey had had enough.

"Rachel, for someone who wants to be an actress, you might want to work on your subtly," Joey said as she put down her file she was grazing through.

Rachel nodded slightly. Joey went over to the love seat in her large office and sat down next to her niece.

"What is it, munchkin?" she asked quietly. "I promise I'm almost done here and we'll leave."

Rachel shrugged and shook her head. "Nothing," she said quietly.

"Clearly, we need to teach you how to lie... I mean act better." Rachel looked up at her aunt with a tiny smile and then returned to her hands. Joey nudged her. "I know this has been kinda a hard couple weeks." She sighed. "Whenever I see you, you seem a little down." Joey laughed. "I mean I haven't been told lately that I was a terrible person for wearing Uggs."

Rachel scowled and looked at her aunt. "They're made of sheep skin. Sheep's skin! You're wearing a dead animal."

Joey beamed. "There's my sweet girl," she said with a smile. Rachel returned to being sullen.

She shrugged. "I'm just... I'm just sad."

She nodded seriously. "I see that, sweetie," Joey said. "Is this just about school?" She paused. "Or Quinn?"

Rachel looked up suddenly. "Why would I be sad about Quinn?" She shook her head. "Quinn didn't do anything."

"It's okay to still care about her, Rach and be stressed about the different arrangement," Joey said.

"It's not that," she whispered. Rachel looked up at her. "Please can we go?"

"Do you wish you were still at that school, Rach?" she asked carefully.

Joey watched as her niece thought carefully. "I wish... " Rachel began but trailed off. "I wish that …. I wish that people let me handle things myself. But Noah reminded me that I act childish." She looked up at her aunt. "Don't you think that's because they still treat me like a child?..." She bit her lip. "I know that I'm... not like normal kids but I just wish that I can handle things myself without people... I dont know butting in."

Joey nodded. "Okay, how would you have handled the situation?"

The frown melted off of the young face. "Um... " No one had asked her that before. "I just would have coped."

"Would you have ever told an adult?"

"About what?" Rachel asked. She saw her aunt look at her harder. "Oh. um... I don't know. I dont think so."

"Why?" Joey encouraged.

"Because I want to make my own mistakes." She nodded at her answer.

"Mistakes?" her aunt asked with a frown. "Rachel, do you think you deserved to be treated like that?"

"How else will I learn how to be tough?" she asked. She paused, gathering her words. "I can't expect everyone to come in and save me all the time."

Joey chuckled. "Well, you're eleven so you have some time." She turned her body to face her niece. She could see that the girl needed a distraction and most importantly she needed something to look forward to. "We're going to do something today. You and me."

Rachel frowned. "Yeah... You've said that already when you picked me up." Rachel rolled her eyes. "Right now we're sitting in your office you and me... Are you counting that?"

Joey scoffed. "No," she laughed. "You want to start over right?"

Rachel nodded. She did more than anything. The school year had started out terrible and now she was stuck in the mud of her funk. She blamed the Annual Thirty-Second Lima Musical Celebration this past summer. That's where she met Jeannie Marks. That's where she beat Jeannie and that's where she made an enemy. Starting over sounded like a perfect idea.

"Have you ever heard of Gable School for the Arts?" For the first time in so long that Joey almost forgot what it looked like, she saw Rachel grin so widely that her eyes sparkled.

"Yes! Yes!" she said sitting up. "My mom said okay to that school?"

Joey laughed. "She and I talked about it being an option. It's not going to be the only one. We're going to take a tour though. There and Kennedy School for Girls and maybe even St. Mary's Academy."

"We're not Catholic," Rachel said with a frown. She leaned close to her aunt. "Won't I burn in the fiery pits of hell for eternal damnation if I go there? I don't know how to draw the cross's sign," Rachel said hurriedly.

"First of all, you're not burning in any pits ever. And secondly, it's the sign of the cross." Joey frowned. "Who's telling you you're going to go to hell? Where did you learn that?"

"There was a program on PBS," Rachel shrugged. She frowned. "PBS doesn't lie."

Joey shook her head. "We might need to have you rewatch that with someone who can decipher the actual information that they're rattling off for you. Even though we're not Catholic, it doesn't mean I want you thinking that they think we're just going to spontaneously erupt in flames once we die."

Rachel frowned deeper. "I don't need you to translate PBS for me, Aunt Joey."

Joey stood up. "Alright, my little know-it-all, let's go look at schools."

"The documentary was extraordinarily clear, Aunt Joey," Rachel said with a thoughtful frown. "Really...It was part of a mini-series, the Unholy Trinity. It was actually fascinating and talked about the corruptions of the Catholic Church. It was about …..." Joey rolled her eyes and Rachel continued to prattle as they walked out the door.

…..

Shelby sat in the office with her head in her hands.

"How can this be happening?" she asked the floor. She looked at her colleagues. "And how did I not know about this?"

Elyse and Jackie stared back at her. "It wasn't in her file," Jackie said.

"Well, there really isn't a place to put it, is there?" Shelby hissed as she stood up. She waved her hands in the air. "Judy is vindictive. Maybe she's lying."

Elyse and Jackie looked at each other. "Even if she is," Jackie said finally. "We need to know."

Shelby squeezed her eyes shut. "Why?" she asked, even though she knew the answer. She put her head back in her hands. Her colleagues looked at one another again. "Whatever you're not saying because of me, just say it." She looked up at the women.

"We need to know who the father is...or was," Elyse said sitting down. "We need to know what happened here. If she really is or was ever pregnant. If this baby is alive. If it's dead how it died."

"Why?" Shelby asked. She knew it was an idiot question but the idea of having to go home and ask Quinn these questions made her feel as if her heart was on the floor.

Jackie chewed her lip. "If," she began slowly. "If this baby was..."

Shelby put her hand up and stood up as she put her hand to her mouth. She shook her head. "No," she said. "No...No..."

"Shelby," Elyse began. "We barely know anything that happened in that house. We know nothing. We can't help her heal if we don't know at least some of the pieces-"

Shelby continued to shake her head. "No... I just... No."

"Shelby," Jackie said seriously. "We can't get Russell without knowing anything... We can't get him without Quinn."

"We have been careful not to push Quinn on a lot," Elyse said carefully.

"So you're going to start on this. Oh, hey, heard you might have been pregnant?" Shelby shook her head. "Over my dead body. You're not going to get to her like this, by pushing her."

"Shelby, you know why we need to talk to her about this," Jackie said. "You know just as much as we do. Judy made an accusation. She told us that Quinn had a baby and killed it. That could mean a number of different things. If that little girl handled this by herself..."

Shelby watched as she trailed off. "I hate Judy Fabray." She looked at the two women. "Quinn isn't a violent person."

Jackie took a deep breath. "According to her file she is, and if she hid a pregnancy had a baby and killed it... well, it wouldn't be the first time we've seen a case like this."

Shelby put up her hands. They had all heard the stories. They had all worked with those kids who had had children too early and became overwhelmed.

"No, no. I... no... She had an exam. Didn't she?" She looked at the women. "The three of us know that a birth would have been detected. Quinn was scared and incredibly so. If she had a secret baby, there would have been physical signs of that. That girl is smart, but she can't hide that."

"Are you suggesting that she have another exam?" Jackie asked.

Shelby looked at the floor as she heard Judy's words over and over in her head. She shot up her gaze suddenly. "Quinn may have murdered her baby," Shelby said. "But it's not murder to all." The women looked at her with confused frowns.

Suddenly Jackie realized what Shelby was saying. "An abortion," she stated.

"I saw that they were deeply conservative," Elyse remembered reading the file. "Judy would think that... But where? When?"

Jackie pinched the bridge of her nose. "There's a clinic. Seventy miles from here." She shook her head. "I can't tell you how many of my clients have been there."

They all sighed and allowed the blanket of silence to settle on them.

"I think she had an abortion," Shelby said with more fortitude. "I think that's what happened."

Elyse looked at Jackie. "Well, we're going to have to ask her."

"I'm going to have to write a critical incident about this," Jackie said. Shelby groaned. "You know I have to Shelby."

Shelby grabbed her coat. "I know you have to because you have to protect this department's ass in case something ridiculous like a murder charge was filed." She shook her head. "But I know my kid." She licked her lips. "I mean Quinn." She shook her head again. "No, you know what. She is my kid. I see her as my daughter. And I know her. And I know she would have been scared and I know... She had to have had an abortion."

"Shelby," Elyse called. "Want me to come over tonight?"

"Yes," Jackie said quickly. "This conversation must be facilitated, Shelby. Do not say ANYTHING to Quinn until Elyse gets there. You need to protect your ass too."

Shelby huffed. "I know," she whispered. She did know, all too well, but that didn't mean that she ever had to bring it home, especially not like this." She shook her head and laughed at the absurdity of it all. "I'll be seeing you in a few hours," Elyse." Jackie frowned. "My youngest, Rachel, sees Elyse."

"I recommend that your daughter get a new therapist," Jackie said carefully.

"No," Shelby said. "Do you know how long it took to get Rachel to talk to her? Really talk to her?" She looked at Elyse. "I'm sorry, but I'm begging you, Rachel and Quinn need to keep you."

"Professionally, you know that this is a terrible idea," Jackie said carefully.

"Well, Jackie, this is Lima, Ohio. There are two trauma therapists. One of them is Elyse and one of them is me," Shelby said slowly. "And professionally, I know that I can't be my kids' therapists. And Julia doesn't have the specialty that Elyse and I do. Plus Julia sees my other two kids...So unfortunately, we're all going to have to deal with it."

"Shelby, I'm-" Jackie looked at her apologetically.

Shelby put up her hand. "Don't you dare be sorry for me or my family." She took a deep breath. "Yeah, so what if my kids monopolize the only trauma therapist that isn't related to them. So what? Quinn is not broken. She's figuring it out because she's been wading in her parent's cow dung for God knows how long." She looked at them carefully. "We are her team. Be on her side and fix this. And by this, I mean making sure that Judy never gets custody of her."

"Shelby," Jackie began again.

She shook her head. "No, Jackie, I'm sorry. I've been to plenty of these meetings. I don't need to be level headed anymore. You know why? I'm not the therapist on this team." She paused. "I'm the mom. The mom." She tightened the coat in her arms. "I have to go pick up one of my kids, feed her lunch and then take her to therapy. I will see you later."

"Shelby," Jackie called again. The woman turned. "Thank you."

Shelby nodded. "Yeah."

It didn't matter that she was going to see Jackie later that afternoon for a client. It didn't matter that she emailed Elyse on a regular basis for consults. All that mattered was that she was in there for Quinn, her kid.

…...

Quinn held her slushy in hand. It was third period. She still didn't feel better. She had been bribing freshman with glares all morning to fetch her slushies. She had had a sufficient number of victims. However, she hadn't found the satisfaction she sought. A grin suddenly spread across her face. Perfect, she thought to herself. She needed someone to torture. She needed to erase her own feelings. Suzy Pepper. She was a freshman and unquestionably one of the most awkward people that Quinn laid eyes on. She was weak; she hugged the walls and kept to herself but still managed to have a look that got under Quinn's skin. Whenever she saw the girl with her ugly glasses and her terrible haircut from 1992. Causing a look of despair on Suzy's face always brought a smile to Quinn's. It was instant gratification...

She squeezed the Big Gulp tighter. She was about throw it. Suzy was just strides away. Why the hell did she stop? She couldn't count how many people she had slushied already that morning. She didn't hesitate before. She never did. She stopped because in her crazy, vindictive mind, amidst the anger that made her shake, all she thought about for one brief moment was one thing: Rachel. Her frown and her hard gaze softened. Then she frowned again. Why the hell was she thinking about Rachel? She screamed in frustration. She didn't notice the hallway turn slowly, and fearfully at the blond. She stomped down the hallway. She couldn't think about Rachel right now. She couldn't. Her sister wasn't-She froze midstep. Rachel wasn't her sister. She had one sister and her name was Frances and she was a crazy, crazy bitch.

She turned the corner sharply. Suddenly, she heard it. That damn laugh. She knew that laugh. She formed another smile. All was right with the world again. She knew that high pony anywhere. As usual, she was alone. No one on the squad liked her. The only reason she was a Cheerio was because her father was a booster. Her back was turned to Quinn.

"Hey, Shitney," Quinn hissed.

"What do you want, Fuck-bray," Whitney asked as she turned from her locker.

Quinn smiled as the slushie flew midair and hit Shitney in the face with such precise accuracy that if there was a slushy shooting range, Quinn would have hit the bullseye. Her smile was so wide with satisfaction. She felt better. Rachel would approve of Shitney getting slushied. She thought as the Cheerio wiped the cold, icy beverage from her eyes. Perhaps Rachel wouldn't approve, she thought as she stared through Shitney, but Rachel would if she knew better. Quinn nodded. Definitely, Rachel would if she knew better. Either way she felt her anger melt away.

She turned on her heels.

"What the hell!" Shitney screamed.

"Quinn, while we applaud your efforts," Sophia said coming up behind her. "Why?"

Quinn folded her arms across her chest and said. "She ruined my night a couple nights ago."

Lys raised her brow. "Really?" she looked at their other friends who surround them. All of them somewhat oblivious to Shitney's screeches of upset. "It was that bad?"

Quinn nodded. "We were all there. Even Rach-"

"Baby Corcoran was there?" Dani asked.

Kelly frowned. They all knew Rachel because she had been sitting in on practices for over a year. It was an obvious secret that the girl was fragile in ways that weren't talked about. Kelly remembered meeting Rachel for the first time. There was something about that little brunette that made her not want to swear or punch things as frequently. And that was saying something. She looked around with an angry fire. "Someone find me another slushie," Kelly called. "I'm going to -"

"Do nothing," Quinn finished with a satisfied grin. "I already did it. Get out of here, Shitney."

"You can't slushie me!" she yelled.

Quinn and the girls laughed. A group of other Cheerios gathered around them.

"Pretty sure that she just did," Maribel said with a snicker.

"I'm a senior and a Cheerio!" Whitney said with fury.

"So are we," Kelly said stepping up. "But here you are covered in slushie and..." She laughed and looked at the other seniors. "We're not."

"We are well-aware that you bad mouth all of us," Dani hissed. "That comes with a price."

"One that you're already paying," Quinn said. "Thus that's why you're at the bottom of the pyramid." The blonde took a step closer. "Better go get that out of your uniform." She took another step closer. "Hurry. The bell's going to ring."

Kelly stepped up next to them when Whitney didn't move. "You heard your captain," she hissed. "Move."

Quinn gave a small grin, but one only small enough for her to know it was there. These girls always had her back all of them did. However, she rarely let them in. She couldn't, but still they defended and supported her.

Whitney stomped her foot and took a step closer to Quinn.

"I'm going to -"

"Get that damn corn syrup out of my uniform," Sue barked from behind.

The group of them snapped to attention when their coach walked close to them.

"Go, Richards!" Sue snapped at Whitney. "You're already killing my brain cells with your presence. I see that it's soaking in already. Get out of here!"

"But Coach, Quinn-"

Sue cut her off. "I will take care of Quinn." Whitney skidded away with one final glare from Sue. The coach looked at the crowded hallway. "GET TO CLASS!"

The hallway didn't need to be told twice. The five seniors continued to stand next to Quinn. The six of them were well-aware that they weren't dismissed yet.

"Well, well," Sue said with a frown. "It's my captain and the Spice Girls."

Kelly frowned. She hated that nickname, but mostly because none of them could figure out who was who.

Sue sighed. "Get out of here. I'm getting a headache. Go spice up someone else's life."

The girls nodded and headed down the hallway. Sue stopped Quinn. "My office, captain."

The five of them started away from Quinn. Sophia noticed Quinn's look of apprehension. "Should we tell San?" she asked as they walked down the hallway.

Kelly shrugged. "I don't know. I actually haven't seen her and Britt since early this morning."

"Are we surprised?" Maribel scoffed.

"Pack it in," Sophia hissed.

Kelly nodded. "We're a team. We stick by one another."

"But we just slushied, Whitney," Dani asked.

"She's basically the mascot," Lys informed. "She doesn't count."

"Santana and Brittany are the team. They are carrying our legacy and they are the best," Kelly said as they all went down the hallway. "We need to protect that."

…...

Santana laid on the catwalk in the auditorium. She stared at the lights of the stage. "The bell had rung," she stated. "Eight times." She turned her head and looked at Brittany.

"That means we've missed most of the morning," Brittany said dryly. "Do you want to go to class?"

"Hells no," Santana said moving closer the blond. They were now laying side by side. The brunette wrapped her fingers more tightly around Brittany's. Their hands just seemed to fit. She sighed and continued to stare at the ceiling. If she could lay here forever, she would, but she knew that that option was not available.

"What are we doing?"

The question hung in the air.

"I think we're skipping," Brittany finally said.

"You know what I mean," Santana said sitting up.

Brittany followed suit and sat up. She watched the girl carefully.

"What do you want?" Brittany asked carefully.

Santana frowned. "What you mean?" She searched the girls' eyes. "You mean us? Right?" She looked at the ground. "I dont know, Brittany. I need time. I don't know..." She shook her head. "What this is..."

"This is us. This is you and me," Brittany said carefully. We dont need labels."

The Corcoran girl laughed. "I know..." She bit her lip. "I just... A lot's going on right now."

Brittany watched as the girl lowered her gaze. She lowered her own to meet her eyes. "I know and if you'd be willing I'd like to listen."

Santana smiled a tiny smile. "You need to stop doing that," she whispered.

"What?" Brittany asked moving a stray piece of hair out of the other girl's face.

Santana felt so exposed at that moment. She didn't feel tough, or brave or big. She felt small and lost, but oddly enough she felt safe. However, still above the school on the catwalk of the auditorium and far away from the life she knew, she felt small and lost.

"Talk to me," Brittany whispered. Santana continued to stare at her feet. She didn't know. She didn't know how to do any of it. "Do you want me to tell you what I think we should do?" Brittany attempted.

Santana nodded quietly, radiating with a vulnerability that she rarely permitted to the surface. She wasn't sure if she was ready to allow that part of her appear.

"Well," Brittany said as she drew gently with her finger tip on the back of Santana's hand. "I think that right now we are figuring out what we want. I know that I'm not ready to announce us to the world, but I know that I love kissing you. I want to know you better. I want to know all of your house's light switches."

"Is that a euphemism?" she asked with a smirk.

"Maybe," Brittany whispered back. She continued, "I dont need things to be perfect, but I thought we would start with a movie or maybe dinner." She gave a grin. "And if you're lucky we can go to that diner you and your family obsess about and I'll buy you a slice of pie."

Santana grinned. She did love her a good piece of pie. She looked at her hands.

"I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed," she began quietly. "I want you. More than anything...I just... I'm not put together right now."

Brittany gave a small chuckle. "I know you might not think you are," she began. "But you are for me."

Santana sighed. "I feel as if we've already had this conversation," she whispered.

"And I'll continue having it if we need to," said the blonde. "I'm scared about what this means," she said quietly.

"So am I," Santana replied. "But you're the person I want to be scared with." She looked at her with a silent plea in her dark eyes. "Please love me back."

"I do already," she whispered as she leaned her forehead against Santana's and cupped the back of her neck. "So proudly so."

Santana leaned in and captured the girl's lips in gratitude for the present and hope for the future. Brittany pulled her closer and moaned into the kiss. Santana wasn't ready for a relationship. She wasn't ready for labels. She wasn't ready to be a stereotype. She wasn't ready for the whispers and she wasn't ready for the assumptions.

But this kiss...

She lost her train of thought.

She wasn't ready to be gay. She wasn't ready for that. She wasn't ready emerge from the closet and present herself to the world.

But this kiss...

She lost her thought again as Brittany pulled her closer.

She wasn't ready for a lot of things.

But this kiss, she realized, she had always been ready for.

She pulled away breathlessly and searched the girl's eyes. She was pulled back into reality. Perhaps this wasn't as scary. The weight of all of those things that she wasn't ready for felt lighter. They were still heavy, but not as heavy. She licked her lips and exhaled.

"So what does this mean?" she asked quietly.

Brittany smiled. "I don't know, but I think it means that I need to buy you a piece of pie."

"Was that a euphemism?" Santana giggled.

"Probably," the blonde replied and pulled her into a kiss.

Santana felt the weight getting a little lighter with each breath.

…...

Rachel couldn't stop smiling. The tour at Gable had been mind blowing. The stage, the classes, even the people. All of it had been perfect. She smiled when she saw her mother standing in the street outside of cafe.

"Mom!" she called running ahead of Joey with a smile. She had to convince her mother that Gable was the best.

She slowed with a frown when she noticed her mother staring at the ground with a frown looking far away. her smile faded slightly. "Mom?"

Shelby turned to her quickly. "Hi, my baby bug," she said tiredly.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked cautiously as she stopped and looked at her mother.

She watched her mother nod gently. "Yes, bug, I'm alright." She pulled Rachel into a side hug. "Are you hungry?" she asked as she reached in her bag and pulled out an Odwalla smoothie and an energy bar.

Rachel shook her head. She smile widely. "We have to tell you about the school!" Shelby gave Rachel another weak smile. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine," Shelby said pulling her youngest into her side and kissing her gently on the forehead. She avoided her sister's questioning gaze. "Tell me about the school."

"We went to Gable!" Rachel said with a bright smile.

"And," Shelby laughed. "What's the verdict?"

"I must go," Rachel beamed. "The classes are amazing. It's a small school. I would be the youngest in the whole school and then it feeds right into their arts high school that's attached, Carmel!" She smiled. "I have planned my future. Or at least the next seven years."

Shelby laughed. She knew that Gable ran fifth grade through eighth grade. Then there was an audition process to get into the high school, Carmel Advanced School for the Arts. It would be competitive, but Rachel was a Corcoran. When Shelby had talked to the principal she was impressed to find that the small student to teacher ratios as well as individual attention and focus around each student's needs. At that last school, Santana and Noah had thrived in a large group setting, Rachel seemed to disappear. At times, Rachel even cowered at all of the noise. Gable offered small tutorials and Shelby smiled at her daughter's pleading look. "Gables is my first choice for you too - I knew you would love it."

Rachel grinned. "You did?"

Shelby nodded. "We have an interview this week to talk to someone about the audition." Rachel squealed and hugged her mother. Shelby held her tightly. She couldn't remember the last time that Rachel had hugged her with such enthusiasm and joy. She didn't want to let the small girl go;, she needed to keep her in her arms. Finally she felt Rachel pushing against her. "Sorry," she mumbled. She forced a smile again. "I wanted to surprise you. We still have to look at other schools though. Explore our options."

Rachel nodded. "Of course."

Shelby unconsciously ran her hand through Rachel's hair. "You have you appointment with Elyse now. Why don't you take these in with you. Have you eaten yet today?" Shelby handed Rachel the bottle of the smoothie and the bar and frowned with Rachel pushed it away.

"I'm too excited to eat," Rachel said shaking her head. "I don't want it. Let me tell you about Gable! We -"

"Rachel," Joey said. "Listen to your mother."

Shelby sighed. "It's alright," she said with a sigh. "She'll take them in. Tell me about the school."

Rachel walked with her mother and aunt up to Elyse's office talking a mile a minute about the school. Shelby continued to stare off into space. She needed to get it together. She had to.

"... And then the dance studio was amazing!" Rachel finished. "They're having auditions for the next quarter when we get back from Florida. I'll have to rehearse with Mr. Schuester every day. Can I, Mom?" She put her hands up in front of her face.

Shelby put on her Mom face and nodded. "I'll need to look into it more, but I'll definitely think about it" She looked down at her youngest and ran her hand through her daughter's hair. "Remember what we talked about a couple nights ago?" Rachel's sparkled eyes faded slightly. "About trying to process with others?" The tiny girl gave a slight nod. "Try, okay?" Rachel looked away and at the ground. Shelby hated herself for taking away that excitement in her daughter's eyes. "Rach?" The girl nodded. Shelby kissed her softly on the cheek. "That's my good girl. I love you."

Rachel nodded quietly. Shelby handed her the shake and bar. The girl opened the door and Shelby gave Elyse a brief smile.

"Hi, Shelby," Elyse said with a wave. "Hello, Joanne."

Joanne nodded but frowned at the looks being exchanged between the two woman. "Hi," she said slowly. Still watching them Joey leaned down and gave Rachel a hug. "I love you so much. Have fun. Don't lie.-"

Rachel smiled. "I don't lie, Aunt Joey. That's Sanny."

Joey shrugged and rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah." She kissed Rachel on the head. "See you in an hour." Rachel nodded and headed into the familiar room. "And eat that snack please."

"It's my lunch, Aunt Joey," Rachel said with a heavy sigh.

"Well, to the rest of the world it's a snack," Joey called out.

"Bye, Mom," Rachel said quietly before the door closed.

As soon as the heavy door shut, Joey turned to her sister. "What's going on?"

…...

"What do you want to play today?" Elyse asked as she stood behind Rachel. Both of them stared at her game closet.

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know." She grabbed a deck of cards. "Can we play poker?"

Elyse frowned. "Poker?"

Rachel nodded. "My brother and sister taught me. It's how we divvy up our Halloween candy... Well now, it's just mine. They think I don't know that they're tricking me but I know."

Elyse laughed. She shouldn't be surprised. She had heard many stories about Santana and Noah from Rachel. The most memorable had been when Rachel described a time when Santana and Noah wanted to play hockey in the house, but the floors weren't slippery enough. Therefore, they convinced Rachel to help them "clean" the floors extra well with Pledge. The floors were more slippery than ice. They soon gave up on hockey and were simply running and sliding across the floor. Elyse laughed remembering that it was funny until Melanie, their babysitter came to check on them and broke her leg slipping on the floor. Needless to say, when Shelby came home, Noah and Santana made sure to have Rachel holding the Pledge bottle. But of course their plan backfired, primarily because Rachel was four. That was only one of many schemes the two of them tried to frame Rachel in. She was cute and they knew how to use it. "There was a lot you could get away with if you couldn't scold a child," Rachel had once told Elyse.

She took a deep breath. "Do you want to talk to me about your week?"

Rachel dealt. "I'm going to Gable," she said casually.

Elyse looked at her in surprise. "Yeah?" She picked up her cards. "What happened at your old school?"

The girl paused. "Nothing," she finally said.

"Rachel," Elyse said. "We both know that that's not true."

Rachel looked at her cards carefully. "My mom pulled me out of that school. It's no big deal."

"It isn't?" Elyse asked. Rachel shook her head and drew three cards and made a bet.

"You need to bet too," she informed.

"Oh," Elyse said looking at her cards. "Do you really think that switching schools is no big deal?"

She nodded. "Yes, I'm going to Gable. It'll be better. My voice teacher will help me and -"

"Who's your voice teacher?" Elyse asked.

"Will Schuester. He works at the high school," Rachel said casually. "You still have to draw cards too."

Elyse did. "Do you like him?"

Rachel nodded. "He's practically my only friend," she said casually.

"He is?" Elyse asked.

Rachel nodded. "No one really likes me," she said it with such a casual air.

"Really? Why do you think that is?"

Rachel frowned. "I don't know. I want things how I want them. I'm too aggressive maybe."

"Aggressive how?"

She set down her cards. "People do things wrong. So I tell them when they do. Then they get angry with me. I can't help it that they're wrong right? I mean clearly when you outline something the Roman numerals come before the capital letters."

Elyse nodded slowly. "Who were you correcting, Rachel?"

"My teacher."

Elyse nodded. "Do your classmates like you?"

Rachel answered quickly. "No. They think I'm a know-it-all."

"What do you think?"

Rachel shrugged. "I do know more."

"But you're not a know it all. You're a smart girl, but you are a nice one too."

"I don't want them to know me," Rachel said barely above a whisper as she picked up another card.

Elyse nodded. It had been the response that "Why?"

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. I know them and they're mean. I don't want them to know me."

"Are you scared that they're going to hurt you?" Elyse asked carefully as she picked up another card.

The girl stopped and looked up at her. "They did," she said quietly. "Why would I want to be friends with them then?"

"Will you tell me how they're mean to you?"

Rachel set down her cards and looked at her hands. "It wasn't what they said and did as much as what they didn't do," she said after a few moments. "Does that make sense?" Elyse nodded. "They way they look at me when I talk... They way they look at me when I don't say anything or when I come into class late because of something dumb like a fire drill or something..." She squinted her eyes. "I tried really hard to be like everyone else, but I think they knew I was pretending." She looked at Elyse. "Maybe at Gable I could be a little more normal."

She picked up her cards again.

"Why is it so important to be normal?" Elyse asked quietly.

"Because I'm not," Rachel said simply. "Sanny and Noah can do it. People like them... I can't do stuff."

"Like what?"

Rachel shrugged. "People look at me differently because I can't... the point is that they see. I don't want them to," she said looking up at Elyse.

"What don't you want them to see?" Elyse asked taking another card.

"Did you know I'm on Google?" Rachel asked quietly. Elyse wasn't surprised that Rachel didn't answer her question.

"What do you mean?"

"If I tell you something will you promise me that you won't tell my mom," Rachel said quietly.

"Rachel, you know I can't make that promise, especially before you tell me what it is," Elyse said putting down her cards.

"Okay," she said quietly.

"However," Elyse said. "You can tell me and then we can decide when and how to tell your mom together, but either way we'll probably have to tell her." She watched the girl carefully. "And the fact that you don't want to tell her shows me that you know you should."

Rachel bit her lip. "We had to do a report in school about someone famous and write a biography." Elyse watched as the tiny girl began to cry. "Jeannie Marks picked my mom."

Elyse took a deep breath. Rachel had mentioned a couple times before about how Jeannie wasn't kind to her, but Shelby had filled her in and informed her that Jeannie had really gone after Rachel. She was what caused Quinn's out burst with the dodgeballs. She returned her attention to the sad girl "What happened?"

"The day the assignment was due, she came up to me during lunch and told me that she chose to do my mom. She said that she knew all about me. She told me that I was dirty and messed up. She said that it's the price to pay because my daddy was gay. That's all she said and she walked away from me." Rachel wiped her tears. "It was a really long afternoon after that my teacher selected a few of us to read our reports out loud." Rachel looked up with tears streaking down her face. "I knew my teacher was going to have her read it. She stopped and looked at me and I started to cry. Everyone was looking at me...but then after about forever she had Kurt read his report instead." Rachel wiped away her tears. She snuffled back a few hiccups. "After class that day, she...she gave me a folder." Elyse narrowed her eyes, knowing this wasn't going to be good. "It was all of her research on my mom. Pictures and stuff... Articles..." Rachel looked at the ground. "You know what the meanest thing is?" she asked quietly. Elyse shook her head silently. "Also in the folder was her report. She never said a word about me, or Sanny or Noah or my Papa Hiram and what happened. All she said was, 'Shelby Berry-Corcoran is now retired in Lima, Ohio with her three children.' She just wanted me to think that she was going to say something..." Rachel wiped away another batch of fresh tears. "All the articles she gave me were about what happened in New York, the trial... everything. When she gave it to me she said, 'That's what happens when you have faggots in your family.' Then she told me that she was being kind by not writing the real truth about my mother and I should be grateful to her."

Elyse wanted to kill this kid. No one deserve that, certainly not Rachel. "What did you do? Did you respond?"

Rachel shook her head. "No." She stared down at the floor.

"Why not?" Elyse asked.

She looked up at her with big eyes and with such subtly and a small, but sure voice and said, "Because I had to go shred the articles before my brother picked me up."

Elyse sighed. There it was.

"Rachel," Elyse said sitting forward. "Do you understand what she did was wrong?"

She nodded. "What she did was wrong, but she was right too."

Elyse tried not to release a heavy sigh; she had been afraid of that answer. That little eleven year old brat had undone so much that Elyse had built with Rachel with that cruel and heinous prank.

"How was she right, Rach?"

"I am dirty and messed up," Rachel said quietly.

"Rachel, look at me," Elyse said gently. "You are not dirty. You are not messed up. You are so much better than that. You are courageous. You are kind. And you are beautiful."

Rachel started to cry. "No, I'm not."

"Say it with me, Rach." She shook her head. "Come on, sweetheart. I am Rachel Barbara Corcoran." Rachel looked at her with big eyes, tears still dampening her eyes. "Come on, honey, you can do this."

"I am... Rachel Barbara Corcoran," she said barely above a whispered.

"And I am courageous," Elyse said with a small smile.

Rachel looked at her. "I am courageous."

"I am kind."

The tiny girl stared at her but said, "I am kind."

"And I am beautiful," Elyse finished.

She paused and looked at her hands. "And I am beautiful," she whispered.

Elyse smiled. "Good job, Rachel. You did so well."

Rachel looked at the floor. "I wanna go," she said quietly.

Elyse nodded. "Okay," she said. "Can we finish our game?"

The girl nodded slowly and picked up her cards. "You're going to tell my mom, aren't you?" she asked hiding behind her cards.

"Yes," she said picking up a card. "Do you want to tell her with me?"

Rachel shook her head. "No," she said quietly.

…...

Sue sat down in her chair heavily.

"What do you think that you're doing, Quinn?"

Quinn continued to stand and stare at Sue. "You encouraged me to establish my reign before, now you're telling me not to."

"The janitor cannot keep up with your mess, Q," Sue said with a sigh. "You know I encourage the social order, but..." She shook her head. "You also can't be slushing Whitney. I know you don't get a long but..."

"You don't know what she did," Quinn argued.

"I don't care," Sue snapped. She rethought. "Well I do, but if you want to bring her down you are sneaky and mean you know that. You don't slushie her in the hallway. Take a seat."

Quinn sat down heavily.

"You're off, Q," Sue said.

Quinn narrowed her eyes. "What do you expect from me?"

The coach leaned forward. "Your best."

"Well, if you haven't heard I have some shit on my plate right now," Quinn hissed.

"I know that, Q," Sue said in an uncharacteristically softly. "You need it together. Yes, things are falling apart but you are stronger than that Q. You aren't my captain because things fall apart. You aren't my captain because of your gymnastic skills. You're the captain because you get things done."

"I am," Quinn hissed. "I'm getting it done."

"You're not," Sue said. "You're all over the place, and while you have every right to be, you have people here supporting you and instead of coming in here or going to Shelby you slushie everyone...Let me tell you something."

Quinn scoffed.

"You've been dealt a very crappy hand," Sue began.

"Thanks," Quinn scoffed.

"And you have choice, Quinn."

"Be angry or be happy?" she asked in a sing song voice.

"No," Sue said leaning back in her chair. Quinn shook her head and looked away. "You can fall apart in front of everyone or you let that people who support you catch you."

Quinn looked at her in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"Life sucks, Quinn," Sue said standing up. "You know that. I know that, but the way you're doing it right now, you're going to live a long lonely bitter life and everyone will know it."

"You don't know anything," Quinn said looking up.

"I do," Sue challenged. "Quinn, I'm not telling you to share everything or even anything, but you need to let someone catch you. Because it's clear as day that you're falling. You're a strong girl. And you and I know more than anyone that you don't want to fall apart in front of everyone else. But here's the kicker, you don't have to."

"Easy as that, huh?" she hissed.

Sue stood up. "Yes, actually easy as that. Shelby has more patience and grace that Mother Freakin' Teresa and you're running away from her." She sighed. "You're sixteen, Quinn. I know you've been to hell and back, but you're still only sixteen."

"I don't need her help," she said to the ground.

"Keep telling yourself that, Q, because I'm pretty sure no one believes you." Sue leaned against the front of her desk. "She's a good thing. That family is a good thing." She paused. "And I think you know that."

The blonde shook her head. "What do you expect me to do?"

"Be the girl, I know. That I promoted to captain and focus." She looked at the girl. "You don't have to let anyone else in, Q, but you need to let them in. They're a good thing."

Quinn stared at her. "Can I go?" she asked. Sue nodded. "I have to have you sign my paper," Quinn said with a roll of her eyes. "Since I'm not missing my other class."

Sue gave a tiny smile and walked her to the hallway. "No more slushies today," she called out as Quinn walked away.

"Fine," she said as she was about to turn down the hallway but the sound of the auditorium door opening caught both hers and Sue's attention.

Santana and Brittany emerged together hand-in-hand. Quinn quirked her brow. Santana followed her gaze to the adjoining hands and immediately let go.

"Crap," she whispered.

"Crap is right, Corcoran," Sue said. "Quinn, class, now."

Quinn gave the girls a rare sympathetic glance, but one that Santana missed.

…...

Joey handed her sister a cup of coffee. "She said that?" Shelby just finished telling her about the meeting over at CPS. Joey shook her head. "I can't believe this."

"I know," Shelby whispered. "I can't wrap my head around how that conversation is going to go," she said. "I mean where do I begin?"

Joey looked over at her sister. "You start with 'I love you, Quinn.' You'll figure it out. I know you will."

Shelby reached over and squeezed her sister's hand. "I think I need you there."

"When you talk to Quinn?"

"No, at the house while I talk to Quinn. Elyse is coming over to help facilitate."

Joey nodded. "Absolutely. I'll wrap up some stuff when you go get the others. Do you have any more appointments?"

"No, San has therapy tomorrow. I need to run back to work while the kids are at practice. The kids have practice and Rachel has her meeting with Will this afternoon so-"

"FYI", Joey said. "Bear doesn't like him."

Shelby shook her head. "I know. He talked to me briefly about it." she sighed. "I don't know."

"We told Rachel that she should never be alone with him and doors always should be open." Joey took a sip of her coffee.

"Good," Shelby thought quietly, her phone interrupted her thoughts. She picked up not recognizing the number.

"Oh, hello, Sue,... What?...What?..." Shelby raised her voice. She took a deep breath. "Thanks for letting me know. I'll talk to them both tonight."

"What?" Joey asked when she hung up.

"I will most definitely be needing you tonight," Shelby said putting her phone in her bag as the door opened. She knew immediately by her daughter's exhausted eyes and bowed head that something has happened.

"Can I speak with you?" Elyse asked quietly.

Shelby nodded and knelt down in front of Rachel. "Bug?" Rachel wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and pulled her into a hug as the girl rested her head heavily on her mother's shoulder. Shelby rubbed her back. "You okay?" she whispered. Rachel nodded silently. "I love you so much, bug." She feels Rachel nodded into her shoulder. "I'll be right back."

Elyse handed Shelby Rachel's uneaten energy bar and unopened smoothie. Shelby turned and looked at her youngest briefly. Doctors had said that it was Rachel's anxiety that discouraged her from eating. They had said that basically she was too distracted to focus on the basic human instinct to eat. After all of the surgeries, shakes, juices and smoothies were all Rachel ate. Shelby felt her stomach clench. Not only had the doctors have to do a handful of surgeries to repair the vaginal damage, but they also had to do a couple bowel and rectal surgeries. For almost six months after that, Rachel could only do meals in liquid form. The smoothies were a reminder of that; she never really grew out of it.

"Shelby, I'll take this," Joey said. "We'll eat." Shelby watched as her sister pulled Rachel gently away from her mother.

Shelby closed the door behind her and eased herself into the chair in Elyse's office. "What happened?"

Elyse took a deep breath. "I know you have your hands full right now-"

"What happened?" Shelby asked again.

"At last months session, you told me her nightmares started up again." Shelby nodded. "You and I talked about what possibly could be triggering them to start up."

"Yes," Shelby said. "And I think now it was the dodgeball incidents."

Elyse leaned forward. "I think that's part of it, but Rachel told me about an assignment that she had to do at school. Writing a biography of someone famous?"

Shelby frowned. "That was right after school started..." She thought back. "I think her nightmares started then, but that's also when her first dodgeball incident was...but what does that assignment have to do about anything? She did it on Barbra Streisand."

"One of the girls did her report on you and played a very cruel joke on Rachel." Elyse proceeded to explain what Rachel had revealed during the session. She watched sympathetically as Shelby physically deflated. "I think that all of this started it..." She searched Shelby's face. "I think she's going to start remembering soon."

Shelby put her head in her hands. "I think she already has." She went back to her conversation with her youngest daughter a few nights ago, about how she poorly reacted as the mother.. She briefly filled in Elyse about her concerns about what else Rachel had been hiding. "I mean what do I do? You and I both know that if something was to happen if she takes one touch the wrong way or anything, those memories can come flooding back to her." Shelby looked up. "We have to try our best to help her not remember like that..." She combed her hand through her hair. "She can't remember like that."

"We both know at this point that her remembering is inevitable, and she's going to ask questions and she's going to need answers," Elyse said carefully. "I know this is hard. And it's going to get harder. She's going to be okay, though because you're going to help her through this."

Shelby nodded and stood up. "Okay," she said quietly. "I should schedule her back to twice a week again shouldn't I?" Elyse nodded. "Thanks," Shelby said. She started for the door and then turned. "What time are you coming over this evening for the talk with Quinn?"

"Probably around seven, is that too late?"

Shelby shook her head. "No," she said as she looked at her hands. "We'll be ready. Just to warn you she's in a mood already. Sue called me and told me that she slushied a handful of people at school."

Elyse nodded. Shelby started for the door.

"You're doing a good job, Shelby," she said quietly. '

Shelby nodded but didn't turn around. "Thanks." She looked at the ground. "You too."

She opened the door and stepped out to continue on.

…...

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Santana knew that she was in trouble. She felt like she was walking on air as she entered the hallway. The second last bell of the day had just rung. One more class. However, she knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate.

"Shit," she said out loud.

"She didn't penalize us for skipping like i thought she would," Brittany said reassuringly.

"No, she just said that she would contact our parents..." Santana groaned. "I would much rather ran suicides... in the rain... freezing rain...in a bikini..."

Santana looked with defeat at Brittany who had a thoughtful look on her face. She smiled and swat at the blonde. "Hey now... mind out of the gutter."

"You put it there," Brittany laughed. She let it fade slightly. "Don't worry about it so much. Yeah, you'll be in trouble, but …." she looked around to make sure no one was watching. She pretended she was leaning into her locker, but instead grazed Santana's ear lobe. "I think it was worth it." Santana could hear the smile in her voice.

Santana nodded slightly and Brittany leaned back up. "Yeah..."

"Hey," Sam said coming up behind them.

"Hi," Santana greeted with a smile.

"Missed you like all day in class," Sam chuckled. "Why didn't you let me tag along?"

Brittany smirked. "You wouldn't be interested."

Sam sighed. "Probably not..." He scanned the hallway. "Where's Q?"

Santana shrugged suddenly remembering that her former-enemy now live-in sister had seen them. She squeezed her eyes shut. They had just built a new bridge of understanding. Santana was sure that Russell and Judy hadn't raised their daughter to believe that love transcended genders. She felt a strange pang of diappointment in her chest. Why was she disappointed. There was another pang. It was because she had actually grown to like Quinn.

"You okay?" Brittany asked. Santana gave a nod.

"So, are you guys excited for fall break?" Mike asked as he joined the group.

Santana nodded. "We're all going to Florida. It's a thing we do every year."

"That's cool," Sam shrugged. "Is Quinn going too? She can always stay at my house if -"

"No, she won't stay with you," Santana said cutting him off. "She's a part of the family. She's going with us." She looked down the hallway as she searched for the blonde. "Whether she likes it or not."

…...

Shelby pulled up to the school. Rachel sat their quietly they hadn't talked much since they had left Elyse's. Rachel saw that the high school student's weren't milling around outside, which mean that they were early. Thereby indicating that this was the time that Shelby wanted to talk. Shelby climbed out of the front seat and into the back with Rachel.

"Rachel," she said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you tell me about what Jeannie did?"

"Because I didn't want you to be mad and do something crazy like pull me out of school..." Rachel gave her mother a look. "Oh wait..."

"Hey," Shelby said softly but sharply. "Calm your attitude please."

"Sorry," Rachel said quietly as she looked at her hands.

"Rachel, you need to tell me when things get bad. I know you're trying to be a grown up and you're going to do so well as a grown up when you get there. However, being an adult doesn't mean doing everything on your own."

"You do," Rachel said quietly. "You do everything on your own."

Shelby looked at her daughter. Her eleven year old daughter was not telling her when little brats at school were being cruel to her, because of Shelby's independence.

"I don't, Rach," she finally said.

"You do, Mom. You do everything on your own. You're strong and no one ever questions you. Ever."

Shelby took a deep breath. "If I'm so strong do you see why you need to tell me things and let me handle them and not try to bare them yourself?"

Rachel looked up at her mother. "I can't have you rescuing me all the time."

"I'm your mom, it's my job," Shelby said with a small grin.

"No," Rachel said seriously. "I wanted to handle this."

Shelby watched her daughter. "Did you want to handle it because you wanted to be the adult or you wanted us not to know how much this bothered you?" Shelby watched her daughter deflate. "Talking about this... about what happened Rachel isn't something you should avoid if you want to talk about it."

"Yes, it is..." Rachel said. "Have you seen how you guys react if I ask questions?"

"Rachel-"

"How Santana reacts?"

Shelby took a deep breath. "But that doesn't mean you can't turn to me."

"I just don't know how," she whispered.

She leaned over and pulled Rachel into her arms. She kissed her lightly on the head. "Rachel you need to stop worrying about our reactions to your questions and start asking them because i know you want answers and you need answers."

"I dont want to know," Rachel said quietly into her mother's side. "But at the same time I do..."

"And that's normal and okay. And it'll hurt, but...it might help you move on?"

Rachel chewed her lip. "Do you think I'll ever be normal?"

"No," Shelby said blankly. Rachel looked up. "You can never be ordinary and normal, Rach. Did I tell you your dad knew you before you were even born. He knew how extraordinary you would be. You're talented and gifted and incredible. Normal is beneath you."

Rachel gave a small smile. "I just...Someday I want to be at least kinda normal... Like maybe go on a date or go to a party or meet a boy."

Shelby pulled away slightly. "Bug, you're eleven. There will be no partying for you for a very very long time. Your brother and sisters have ruined that for you"

The girl gave a tiny smirk. "I really like Gable, Mom."

"I know you do, honey. Did you pick out what you wanted as your audition song?" Rachel nodded. "Make sure to go over that with Will today."

"I met a friend today at Gable," Rachel said. "He helped the woman showing us around."

"Yeah?" Shelby asked.

Rachel smiled at the memory. "Yeah, he's in my grade. His name is Jesse St. James."

Shelby smiled. "Well, maybe I can meet him." She sighed. "But in the mean time, can you and I work on this? You need to talk to me. Okay?" Rachel nodded. "Alright, bug, go see Mr. Schuester. One of your sisters will come get you. Okay?" Rachel nodded and hopped out of the car. "Hey Rach?" Shelby called. "Let's not tell them about Jeannie Marks quite yet okay."

Rachel nodded hurriedly. "I don't like Jeannie but I don't wish her anymore bodily harm."

"Alright, bug, have fun."

…...

Rachel wondered into the school. The bell had just rung she was weaving in and out of the students. A few of them stared down at her as if she had the plague. She pulled her backpack closer.

"Rachel," someone called behind her. She looked over her shoulder and spotted a familar Cheerio.

"Hi, Kelly," she said smiling at her.

"What are you doing in here by yourself?"

"I'm heading to my voice lesson with Mr. Schuester," she said casually.

"Okay," Kelly said. "I'll walk you."

"I'm okay," she said as she went ahead with a few steps.

"I'm walking you, Rach," Kelly said. "Come on. It's on my way."

Rachel sighed but allowed her to walk her to the classroom. She saw that Mr. Schuester was talking to a girl with big rimmed glasses and out of date haircut.

"Who's that?" Rachel asked.

"Suzy Pepper," Kelly said with a shake of her head. "You know you shouldn't be wondering around her without someone with you."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "I would have been perfectly fine."

"Maybe," Kelly shrugged. "I'll catch you later."

She started away from Rachel. "Kelly," Rachel called out. "Don't tell Santana."

Kelly quirked her brow. "No promises."

Rachel sighed and turned to the door and saw Mr. Schuester smile and wave at her to come in.

"We're just finishing up, Rachel," he said. "Why don't you wait in my office in the back, okay?"

Rachel nodded and went into his office. She looked around. It was much smaller than offices like her mother's or her aunt's or uncles. There were no pictures of any of his family on his desk. It was just... a desk... She looked at the ground. He had a nice carpet.

"Hi, Rachel," he said wiping his hands on his pants. "Sorry about that." He looked around. "Let's rehearse in here today." He didn't wait for her to respond as he reached over and started to close the door of his office in the back on the choir room.

A little alarm went off in Rachel's head. "No!" she said quickly. He looked at her questioningly. "Sorry," she muttered. "My uncle says it's a rule. Doors have to be open."

Will smiled wide. "Well, that's a good rule. You should listen to him, Rachel. There are a lot of bad people out there."

She nodded. She knew that.

"I'm auditioning at Gable in a week or so after fall break." She dug in her backpack and handed him the sheet music. She watched him carefully, trying ton contain her excitement as he looked at the sheet music. "Can you help me?" she asked.

"Well, Rachel, this is a very hard song," he said looking at her, trying his best not to find amusement when her face fell. "You can do this," he went on. "But it's going to take a lot of work. Are you willing to work on it?"

"Of course," she said jumping up.

He sighed. "Okay," he said. "Let's run through. Can you sight read?" She nodded. "Good." He pulled out a pitch pipe. "Ready?" She nodded. "Good."

…..

Santana entered stepped on the field. She saw Quinn looking at her. She knew what the girl was going to say and she didn't want to hear it.

"Can I talk to you?" Quinn asked approaching her.

"No," Santana said. "We need to get this practice started."

"Santana," Quinn called. It was too late Santana was walking away. Why was she angry at her? Quinn searched her brain about it. She was mad at a lot of things but she wasn't mad at Santana. Crap. She didn't need this today. She spotted Kelly sprinting onto the field.

"You're late," she scolded.

"I know I had to drop Baby Corcoran off."

Quinn frowned. "What?"

"She was wandering around the hallways after the first bell. She looked like she was going to crap her pants. So I walked her to Schuester's."

"Whatever," Quinn said with a wave on her hand and turned to the group. "Let's do the routine from the top! Coach is looking for perfection and so am I. If I don't see it, we're doing laps."

….

Rachel finished singing the song through for what seemed like the fourth time. Will was looking at her funnily. Maybe she was just imagining it.

"I think that this is possible, Rachel," he said. "But we certainly have a lot of things to work on before your audition."

Her face fell slightly. "What do you mean? I will work on it. I need to get into this school."

HE stood up from the desk he'd been leaning on. "Well first you need to fix your posture."

"My posture?"

He sighed and folded his arms over his chest. "There are a couple things I want to work on with you, but it requires some trust. That and you're a little too young."

"I'm not," she said quickly. "Please, what did I do wrong?"

"Two things. Mainly one," Will said gently. He saw Rachel's confusion. "There's one thing that you can improve on and one thing that you need to fix."

"What's the difference?" Rachel asked eagerly.

He laughed. "Calm down, Rachel. It's alright." He rubbed her back. "We're friends right. I don't want to put this much pressure on you. That's why this is something small. You can work on it later. When you're older….You're in fifth grade, you're not even twelve yet. Seriously, forget I said that."

"No," she said. "Please tell me. I'm going to make it to Broadway someday. I may be eleven but I'm not a child. And to get there I have to get into Gable." She looked at him with big eyes. "I have to."

Rachel searched his face hoping that he heard her. She wanted to grow up. She had to. Couldn't he see that? She would never make it on Broadway if she didn't. He still hadn't responded. Finally, he did.

"Alright, the two things are your posture, like I said, and your use of your diaphragm," he said watching her closely. "I'm going to touch you alright?"

She gave a cautious nod.

He walked behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. She needed to grow up. She took a breath. He brought his other hands to her lower back. His fingers were facing down as his palm covered the small of her back. He pulled her shoulders slightly and pushed in at her back but she couldn't help but feel a shiver at his finger tips against the top cleft of her bottom.

"See, posture. If you stand up straight like this," he sighed. "It'll be better."

She felt a slight relief when he removed his hands. He knelt down in front of her and grinned in approval as she continued to hold the position he just put her in.

"And then," he said lastly. "Is your diaphragm. It's the most important thing. It's the power behind your singing. You use it, but not as well as you can." He put his hand on her rib cage. "You use it here, but you need to feel it in your entire mid section." He lowered his hand. She was wearing a high waisted skirt. His palm rested right blow her belly button and traveled lower. "All here. Here you can muster up the power and let it fly."

Rachel searched his eyes. She felt uncomfortable. She didn't want him touching her like this, but she felt uncomfortable. She wanted to be gown up. She wanted to succeed. However, her heart was beating out of her chest and the only sound that was coming from her mouth was a shakey breath. Why was she so scared? It wasn't him. He would never hurt her. It was because of Hiram. It was because of what he did. It wasn't her teacher. Teachers don't do that.

"See what I mean?" Will asked standing up but not backing away from her. She looked up at him trying her best to breathe normally. She was okay. He wasn't going to hurt her. This was just her. She nodded silently.

…...

Practice was grueling and Santana noticed her mother at the sidelines looking rather unhappy.

"Your mother looks like she has a stick up her ass," Whitney hissed. "Oh wait, I would too if you were my kid."

"Fuck off," Kelly hissed.

The girls turned and watched Whitney grumble away from them. Kelly turned and looked at Shelby. "Mama Corcoran does look pretty pissed," she said.

"I know," Santana grimaced. She sighed and ran over to her mother. "Hi," she said breathlessly as she looked at her mother.

"Quinn, go inside and get Rachel please," Shelby said with frustration.

Quinn looked at Shelby and then back at Santana.

…...

"Rachel?" Quinn asked coming into the choir room. Rachel pulled away from the teacher and hurried out of the office to greet Quinn.

"Hi..." Quinn said slowly looking at Will with narrowed eyes.

Will laughed and looked at his watch. "Cheerios practice done already?" Quinn didn't answer him but continued to watch him as he looked at his watch. "Whoa. I guess so."

"Yeah, I guess so," Quinn said still with narrowed eyes. "Come on, Rach." She looked around. "Where's Kurt?"

Rachel opened her mouth to say something and looked over quickly at Mr. Schuester. "He already left," Rachel said. "Right, Mr. Schuester?"

The teacher looked at the young girl. "Yeah. You literally just missed him," he said with another grin. He tilted his head back at the office. "You forgot your sheet music back there and your backpack. Here let's go grab them."

"She can get them herself," Quinn said quickly with skeptical eyes. "She's a big girl." She looked down at Rachel. "Go on. Everyone's waiting for us."

Rachel nodded and started out back. Quinn took a step toward the teacher. "These doors remain open at all times. She shouldn't be practicing with you alone in your office." She spotted Rachel pulling on her jacket. "And I want Kurt to wait with you guys."

"Quinn, your suspicions are misplaced," Will said quickly. "However, I can understand based on your circumstances-"

"You don't know anything about my circumstances," she hissed, but softened with Rachel came back into the room.

"Is everything alright?" Rachel asked looking up at the two.

"It's fine," Quinn grimaced. She tried her best to tame her frown. "Come on." She shot one last glance at the teacher before she led the girl out of the room.

….

The brunette watched Quinn disappear into the school.

"Sue called you didn't she?" Santana asked.

"Yes, she did," Shelby said with her hands on her hips. She shook her head. "Seriously, Santana? Not just one class... all of them!"

"Except one," Santana said meekly.

"Whatever," Shelby snapped. "Do you think that I need this right now?"

Santana looked at her feet.

"You need to get your act together, Santana! I mean it!" Shelby scolded. "You're walking a thin line. With this you're still going to be grounded come the New Year." Shelby put her head in her hands.. "What do you want me to say, Santana? I mean seriously?"

The brunette looked at her mother. "I don't know."

"Why did you do this?"

Santana looked at her mother. "I needed to talk to Brittany, Mom. You cut that off."

"So cutting class was your only alternative?" she asked with a shake of her head.

"Yeah, it actually was," she hissed. "What did you want me to do?"

"Santana! Cut the attitude! I don't need this from you right now! Grow up!"

"You grow up!" Santana screamed. "I needed this! I needed to talk to her! I needed my best friend because my mother has been breathing down my neck!"

"Well, let me tell you something, little girl," Shelby barked. "You better get used to it. You could have had some priveledges back but you blew it! Again! Santana, I know you need your friend but do it the old fashioned way. We have stamps and paper at home. Write letters. You need to earn my trust, San. Not keep breaking it."

"Mom!"

"Santana!" Shelby mocked.

Neither of them saw Rachel, Quinn and Noah approach them.

"Santana! You punched a boy in the face. You fought with Quinn. You've been rude and made rude comments. You took your brother's phone. You broke things...You kept something from me, something important and you didn't tell me. You allowed your aunt to be your keeper for you. Now your cutting classes? Your actions have consequences, Santana. Before you were grounded indefinitely. Don't expect it to end anytime soon."

Santana turned and looked to look at the others who were waiting silently.

"Get in the car," Shelby said quickly as she approached the car.

Santana felt Rachel's hand slip into hers. "She's mad because of me," Rachel said quietly.

She gave a scoff. "She's mad because of me, bug." She glanced quickly at Quinn and then back toward the car. "Let's go."

The drive home was awkwardly silent. When they finally arrived back a the house, there was just more silence. They all filed into the kitchen.

"Homework now," Shelby said. "Quinn, can I speak with you please?"

Quinn felt a new sense of dread. She followed Shelby into the study.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Elyse is coming over at seven. We're going to discuss something that your mother talked about today during the meeting."

Quinn frowned. "What did she say?"

"We'll talk about it later," Shelby said calmly. "You're not in trouble for what she said."

"What did she say?" Quinn tried to get an answer. "Am I going back with her? What did she say?"

"Quinn, we will talk about it tonight," Shelby said.

"I want to know now," Quinn said sharply. She scanned Shelby's eyes quickly. "Should I go pack?" She didn't wait for a response. "I'll go pack now."

"Quinn, you're not leaving this house. You're not going back to your mother anytime soon." Shelby even surprised herself with how calm she was. "However, you and I do need to discuss your use of frozen beverages."

Quinn growled. "Are you kidding?"

"Nope," Shelby said. "You're grounded. Again."

"You need to tell me what we're discussing tonight! You can't just ambush me!" she yelled in frustration.

"We're not ambushing you Quinn," Shelby said. "So for now, go out there please and finish your homework."

"You're not my mother," the blonde fired. "I would appreciate it if you would tell me what MY mother said and stop pretending that you are mine."

As soon as the words left Quinn's mouth, all she could remember were Sue's words about Shelby. Shelby was trying. Quinn could see herself pushing Shelby away, but she couldn't stop. If she didn't it would hurt. It would hurt too much. She tried not to see the woman's hurt.

"I know that I am not your mother," Shelby said finally. "I also know, though, that no matter what I still love you and I do consider you my daughter." Quinn scoffed. "We will discuss this this evening. What we discuss isn't going to change your living arrangements. Nor will it change the fact that you're grounded." She looked at Quinn with gritted teeth. "So get back in the kitchen and start you homework." Quinn stared at her in surprise. "NOW!" Quinn looked at her.

She shook her head. "This is bull."

Shelby watched the girl leave. She heard the door close and leaned her head against the wall of the bookcase and pounded it. Gah! this is the worst day.

"Mom?" Rachel chimed. "I think there's someone at the door."

"Rach, I think she's just banging her head against the wall," Shelby heard Noah murmur from the kitchen.

"Why would she do that?" Rachel asked. Quinn must of entered the kitchen because Rachel then asked, "Did you say something to make my mother want to bang her head against the cabinet?"

Shelby straightened and headed toward the kitchen. "We all want to bang our heads, Rachel," Santana grumbled as Shelby entered the room.

"Mom, were you banging your head?"

Shelby looked at her daughter. Suddenly the backdoor opened and Joey entered with take out.

"Nope," Shelby said. "It was your aunt getting things out of the car."

The kids all looked at Joey to follow suite. "Yup. Yup," Joey nodded as she set the bags down. "All me." She held up a box. "I brought pasta!"

Dinner was silent and mostly a working dinner. Everyone worked on their homework, except for Rachel who lay in the living room curled into her aunt's side as they watched a PBS documentary. Quinn stared anxiously at the clock. What has her mother said? She rolled in her memory. What had her mother said that would make Shelby need to bring over the therapist? Quinn looked down at her homework. She had rewritten over the same word so many times it looked bolded. She frowned. Her mother knew nothing about her. She bit her lip, probably anything that her mother said would be grounds for a call to a therapist.

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Rachel called.

"No, bug," Joey said as Shelby passed through the living room. "Let your mom get it. Come on, let's move into the kitchen. You can look up the other schools that we talked about."

Rachel rolled her eyes but followed Joey into the kitchen where Santana and Noah sat with funny looks on their faces.

"Why does your face look like that?" she asked Noah.

"Why does your face look like that?" her brother mimicked in a high tone voice.

"Enough," Joey said. "Homework. Let's go. Rachel, come over here. Make a pro-con list between the three schools."

"Okay," Rachel said quickly. Joey rolled her eyes. This girl was so Type A.

…...

Quinn watched as Shelby closed the study door. She hated being in the study. Fuck studies...

"I bet you're wondering why we wanted to speak with you, Quinn," Elyse began.

"Well, mainly I'm wondering what my mom said," Quinn said quickly.

Shelby looked over at Elyse and gave a nod. "Today your mother told us something that we need you to talk with us about." She took a deep breath. "We're not judging you."

"Yeah, right," Quinn barked. "It's your job to judge."

"It's not," Elyse said. "It's my job to listen."

"Well listen to this," Quinn replied. "This is crap."

Mean things seemed to be exploding from her mouth. She was scared. She felt cornered. She could tell by their eyes that what her mother had said was big.

"What did she say? Huh?" Quinn challenged. "Come on tell me."

The women looked at each other. "I'm over here," Quinn said. "What did she fucking say? Just tell me!" She watched as Shelby tried to form words. "Spit it out!"

"She told us that you were pregnant," Elyse said.

Quinn stared at her. She had no comeback. She had nothing else to say.

"She told us," Elyse continued. "That you are a killer."

Quinn just stared at her. She didn't even try to form words.

…...

"I'll be right back," Joey said standing up. "Can you guys behave while I run to the bathroom?"

"I think we can handle it," Santana said with a roll of her eyes.

Joey nodded. "You better. No funny business."

Noah leaned across the table as soon as she left. "Rach, put your headphones on and listen to your audition song."

"But-"

"Do it," Noah said not breaking eye contact with Santana. Once he heard the faint buzz of music her looked back at Santana. "I heard something at school today."

"Congratulations, you have one of your five senses," Santana said looking at her work.

"Listen to me," he said carefully. "There's a rumor going around about you and Brittany. It's not a nice one."

Santana looked over at Rachel and then back at her brother. "You know nothing." Santana narrowed her eyes. "What are they saying?"

"Is it true?"

"Well, idiot, I don't know if it's true if you don't tell me what's being said," she hissed.

Noah looked at her and then checked over his shoulder again to make sure that Rachel was still swaying to the music. "They're saying that you guys were paid to hook up in the auditorium."

Santana frowned. "What?"

"I don't care if you're with Brittany, but-"

"You don't know anything about me," she said more loudly.

"Actually, I do," he said with equal volume. "I will support you no matter what. You know that."

"I'm not talking about this with you, Noah," she said turning to her books.

"The last rumors that went around about you, San, were true...Griff and I really had to -"

"You and Griffin didn't have to do ANYTHING! No, you butted into my life!" Santana hissed.

"Are you really pulling that, San?" He asked. "You needed us to butt in! It got out of control!" He shook his head. "I don't care who you love, San. I'm grateful that you have Brittany-"

"Shut up, Noah!" she screamed. "We're not talking about this."

"Guys, what's going on?" Joey asked reentering but neither seemed to notice.

"This is my business," Santana said heavily. "I …. This is..." She put her hands up. "This isn't yours!"

"It is," Noah said with a heightened voice. "I can help you. You need to know that these rumors are going around, Santana."

"I don't care!" she yelled. "I don't care!"

"Bull!" Noah challenged. "You care more than anything."

"Guys!" Joey scolded.

The two teenagers looked at her with exhaustion. "What?"

"Where's Rachel?"

…...

Quinn stared at them. What? No, she squeezed her eyes shut. She had been careful. She...

"My mom doesn't know about that..." Quinn shook her head. "She …. No..."

"Quinn, you need to tell us what happened," Elyse continued. "This is very serious."

"You don't think I know that? I know that..." Her voice was at an eerily low tone. "I was fifteen." She shook her head. "It was last year..."

"What happened?" Shelby asked gently.

Quinn stood up. "I'm not talking about this." She started for the door not seeing that it was opened a crack, nor did she see the tiny brunette on the other side of it.

"Quinn, the accusations that your mother made -"

She stopped at the door. Her whole body was shaking. "I'm not TALKING ABOUT THIS!" she screamed. "My mother knows nothing!"

"Quinn," Shelby started.

"No," she said pushing her away. "Leave me alone!"

"We certainly cannot do that," Shelby said. "What happened, Quinn."

"NOTHING! NOTHING!" she screamed. She turned and faced them. "I got knocked up. It's dead. That's all you need to know."

The women stared at her in shock. "Now leave me the FUCK alone!"

"Quinn," Elyse said as evenely as possible trying to cover up her own anxiety. "Did you have an abortion?"

"What?" Quinn looked up from the pattern in the carpet she was staring at. "Why would you need to know how it died..." It sunk in. "My mother said I killed it... She means...You think I murdered my baby?"

"Quinn," Shelby said not even trying to cover her tears. "We never said that. We just need to know what happened."

"What?" She asked. "Come on," she challenged. "You already know! I know you do!"

The women watched Quinn fall back into the wall. Quinn went on. "You already know that my father fucked me and my mother beat the shit out of me … so sure, let's also talk about the fact that Quinn Fabray can't even carry a child." She glared at them through her tears. "Come on... let's talk about it!"

"Quinn," Shelby said with a trembling voice. Tear cascaded down her cheeks. They had pushed her and now they knew.

"Leave me alone!" she screamed slamming her fist against the door, shutting it with force, a small scream echoing from the other side.

The three women looked to the door. Quinn's furious brow relaxed and she fell against the wall. Fuck, she thought. Her angry tears continued to fall without shame. She couldn't do this. She knew exactly who was on the other side of that door listening in. Fuck, she thought. How much more of a failure could she become?

The women all stared at each other. The room had exploded.

"I think we've had enough for tonight," Elyse said looking at Quinn who was staring at the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest. "We'll talk tomorrow?" Shelby nodded. Elyse looked at Quinn. "Try to get some sleep, Quinn."

"She doesn't sleep," Shelby murmured.

The seemingly sedated girl shot up. "Shut up! That's not for you to tell!" Quinn screamed. Shelby held her back. "Fuck this!" she screamed and ran out of the room. Shelby shot an apologetic glance up at Elyse and ran after the blonde.

Quinn ran into her room not noticing the tiny brunette standing in the hallway.

"Quinn?" Rachel asked quietly watching the older girl.

"What?" she barked stopping but not turning.

"Are you scared?" she asked.

She frowned and looked down at the girl who had tears welling in her eyes. "What?" She shook her head. "Go away, Rachel," Quinn said with a shake of her head.

"Quinn," the girl said going after her.

"I said go away," Quinn snapped pushing Rachel away from her causing the girl to slam into the table in the hallway. The blonde couldn't look at her. She couldn't. She just had to walk away. Shelby ran past them.

"You alright?" she heard Santana ask Rachel as she followed Quinn into her room.

Rachel nodded and looked up at Santana. "San, something really bad happened to Quinn."

Santana didn't look at her sister, but she watched Quinn disappear down the hallway. She sighed. She had a strange feeling, one that she couldn't explain. Nevertheless a strange calm settled over her; she didn't want to know.

She pulled Rachel closer to her as she exchanged a look with her mother before she watched the older woman disappear into Quinn's room. She looked down at Rachel with a weak smile.

"I know, Rach, but we don't push her, okay?" Rachel nodded. "Come on. I'll stay with you okay?" Rachel continued to stare at Quinn's door. She nodded. "Okay. Go get ready for bed. I'll be in in a second."

Rachel nodded and disappeared into the room. Santana stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. This whole day had been exhausting. She could barely think. She had heard the screaming from the study earlier. She knew her mother was going to have a long night. She could still hear loud voices across the hall in Quinn's room. She peaked into Rachel's room as she pulled one of Noah's old jerseys over her head. She tilted her head and watched her baby sister quietly. She could see the faint scars still on Rachel's lower back. She knew that she had similar scars, but they didn't matter as much. She couldn't see her own.

She noticed her brother staring at her.

"You're being creepy," she said with a snap.

"You're being a bitch," he retorted.

"Go in your room and leave me alone," Santana said heavily.

"I'm coming to say good night to Rach," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"So do it," Santana replied. "You have until I finish washing my face and brushing my teeth. Go."

Noah rolled his eyes. He turned his attention to Rachel's room. He had noticed that she had been quiet. He had heard his aunt and mother talking about something that happened at therapy. He also know that look in Rachel's eye. There was something on her mind. He watched her climb into bed. He needed to distract her. He watched her quietly from the doorway. He needed to distract her; he had to. she was also the only sister that let him in. That let him be there for her.

"Hey, bug," Noah said from the door.

Rachel turned and smiled at her big brother. "Hi," she said quietly.

"Can I tuck you in?" he asked.

Rachel shrugged. "I'm old. I'm eleven." She saw her brother's skeptical look. "Plus... San's sleeping with me."

He frowned when he saw a look again. "You alright?" She nodded. "You sure?" She nodded again. "Okay..."

"So, Aunt Joey told me that you went to Gable today." Rachel climbed into bed and Noah handed her George. He rested his chin on his hands on the edge of the bed. "And I heard you met a boy."

Rachel giggled. "I did."

"Tell me about it," he grinned.

…..

Shelby walked into Quinn's room and saw her packing frantically. "

"Get out," she said without turning around. "I need to get out of here! I need air! I just..."

"You want some air?" Shelby asked. "Okay... then let's go."

"I don't want to go with you!" Quinn hissed.

"Well that's too bad, you're grounded." Shelby sighed. "Let's make a deal, okay? We'll go on a drive. We'll go get some air and I promise I won't say a word but you can't go alone."

"I'm not going to run away," Quinn hissed.

"I know that, but you still can't go alone," Shelby said calmly.

"Let me go!" Quinn screamed throwing her bag on the floor.

"We can go together," Shelby said calmly.

"I don't want to go anywhere with you." She panted in frustration. Everything seemed like it was crumbling … She rethought. No, it felt like it was already shattered and she was naked and exposed in front of everyone. "I need some air."

"Like, I said, we can go for a drive and just drive and..."

"I don't want to go with you," Quinn said quickly.

"Well, -" Shelby started.

"I want to go with Joey. Isn't that why she's here? I want to go with her."

Shelby looked at her in shock. She finally spoke. "The rules will be the same with her," she said quietly trying to mask her hurt.

"Whatever, I just need to get out of here. I don't want any of you. Any of this. I need to get away from it all. At least for a bit."

She couldn't be with Shelby. She couldn't do any of this. She needed to be with someone who didn't know her. She needed someone who didn't know anything about her. Joey thought she knew her. Joey had the idea of her one that Quinn felt so foreign to, but here was Shelby with her open arms, and her motherly instinctly. She just couldn't do it. She couldn't at all. There were very few things that Shelby knew. She need was air. that's all she needed was air. Joey had made promises to her.

"Joey," Shelby called down the hallway. Joey came in and felt the tension between the two.

"I want to go for a drive. I need to get out of here and you can't speak to me," Quinn said ripping her coat from the closet and looking at her with determination.

Joey narrowed her eyes and looked at the girl and then studied the girl's face. Shelby looked at her after she realized that her sister didn't say anything.

"Joey?"

"I need to stay here," Joey said with a shrug. "Quinn, you need to go with Shelby."

"No," Quinn hissed.

"Well then, you're going to have to stay here." Joey looked at her simply. "That's the deal."

Quinn looked at at the women and then back at her hands. "No, talking?"

"None at all," Shelby assured.

"Fine."

…...

Santana looked at her face again in the mirror. She could hear murmurs in the hallway. Like someone was getting ready to leave. She opened the door and spotted her aunt and mother standing with the blonde.

"What's going on?"

"Go to bed, Santana," Joey said.

"But," she began.

"Bed."

Santana frowned but walked quietly into Rachel's room. Noah was sitting on the floor listening to Rachel. He met Santana's eyes and Santana shot him a glare. She didn't need her brother's crap right now. He didn't know anything about her. IT wasn't about being accepted... It was so much more than that.

"Say goodnight, Rach," Santana said climbing over her brother, interrupting their conversation.

"Night, Noah," Rachel said with a yawn.

Noah leaned over Santana who glared at him with disgust. "Night, bug," he whispered as he kissed her softly on the forehead. He stood up. "Good night, Santana."

"Good night, PUCK!" Santana hissed as she turned over and spooned her body around Rachel.

"You don't have to be so rude," Rachel said with another yawn.

"I'm not," Santana replied. "How's that head of yours?"

"It's fine," Rachel said with her eyes closed. "It just startled me when the door slammed against it. IT didn't hurt very much."

Santana chuckled. "Okay."

A couple hours later, Santana stared up at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep. Rachel was snoring softly next to her. She had a girlfriend? Was that what Brittany was? The watched the street lights dance on the ceiling. Could she do this? Could she really? She raised her arms over her head to shift. She couldn't do this. There were rumors already about her?

A whimper pulled her from her thoughts. She looked over and saw Rachel's small hands squeezing her stuffed monkey tightly. She leaned over and combed her hand through Rachel's hair. The girls' brow was wrinkled. She kissed her brow gently. "Shhh, bug. I'm right here." Rachel whimpered and buried her head in Santana's chest. "Please," she trembled in her dream. "I'm sorry... No more."

Santana pulled Rachel closer. This is why she had said no to Brittany. She said no not because of Rachel but because all of those things that lingered under the surface and continued to haunt them. She kissed Rachel's forehead. "You're okay, Rach. Sanny's here."

Eight year old Santana sat on the bed quietly. Her palms pressed against the mattress and allowed her body to lean forward slightly. Rachel had been gone so long. She wasn't going to give up on her. Yes, she had noticed how much quieter that Rachel had become. however, she wasn't going to lose her. She... She was going to be okay. The door at the end of the hall swung open. Rachel trembled out of the room. Hiram had his hand clamped around her upper arm. "Get in there, you piece of shit," he hissed. Rachel ran into Santana's arms and the older girl pulled her closely to her. "Keep her quiet," his hissed slamming the door. Santana looked around the room. Noah was sound asleep on his make shift bed on the floor. Santana looked at the blinking clock. It was past ten o'clock. Rachel shouldn't be up this late. She thought for a moment. Neither should she.

The toddler was whimpering against her chest. "Let's get you changed and to bed, okay?" Santana whispered. She pulled off her clothes and noticed the welts on Rachel's back were fresh and red. "Shhh," she whispered. "It's okay. I've got you." She grabbed her own t-shirt and put it on her sister. She kissed Rachel gently on the forehead. "There we go," she muttered. She laid Rachel down on the bed. She noticed the tab to Rachel's diaper was loose. She reached for it and Rachel flinched. "It's just me," she whispered. She sighed it wouldn't even still back to where it should go. She reached under the bed and into her backpack. She and Noah hid spare diapers just in case.

"I'm gonna change you real quick," Santana whispered. Rachel began to cry softly. Hiram obviously didn't know how to do it right if she comes back from the longest diaper change ever and she still wasn't properly in her diaper. "Shh," Santana whispered. "We need to be quiet..." She gave RAchel a weak smile, hoping to calm her before Hiram came in. She opened the diaper and froze...She realized in that moment that she hadn't changed Rachel in weeks. Hiram had been doing it... She looked down a the diaper and her sobbing two year old sister. All that was in the diaper was blood.

Santana returned to the present with she felt Rachel move into her. "Shhh," she whispered. "Wake up, bug." She ran her hand through her hair. Santana watched as Rachel jumped awake in her arms. She looked around frantically. "I'm right here," she told the young girl. Rachel turned and buried her head in Santana's chest. "Don't ever leave me," Rachel said between sniffles. "Promise," Santana said as she wrapped her arm around the trembling girl. And Santana didn't break her promises.

…...

The ride had been silent. Quinn kept glancing over at Shelby wondering if she would keep her word. She had. They drove and drove. Quinn rolled down the window and let the cold night air slip around her fingers. She kept thinking that she was alone and then remembering that she wasn't. She closed her eyes and let her arm lazily drape out the window. She needed to be somewhere else.

They knew. They all knew. They knew... She shook back her tears. It was bad enough that they knew that her father had sex with her. It was bad enough that they knew her mother was a drunken bitch... But now they knew this. She squeezed her eyes shut and remembered that night. Then remembered that moment that she realized …. She felt a surge in her stomach.

"Pull over," she said. Shelby looked at her and pulled over. Quinn opened the door and vomited.

She couldn't do this.

A bottle of water tapped her on the shoulder. She looked at it and then up at Shelby. She felt the tears welling in her eyes.

"I didn't go through with it..." she whispered. "I lost it...It died inside me..."

Shelby watched her. Quinn looked at her and then back at the bottle of water. She reached out to take it, but her hand lingered on Shelby's. The touch was what did it. The touch made her lose control. She let the sobs engulfed her. She remembered that day. She remembered the miscarriage. She remembered how empty she felt afterward. She remembered how much of a failure she felt like. She remembered it all. She was surprised that Shelby wasn't hugging her. Therefore, out of instinct, out of need and out of hope, she wrapped her arms around Shelby's neck and cried. She had nothing else to hold on to. She sobbed into the woman's arms and to her surprise, Shelby hugged her back.

She stayed there until she ran out of tears. She was done fighting, at least for tonight.

…...

Santana walked into the school. The morning had been exhausting. No one spoke to each other. When she woke up, she discovered that her mother and Quinn laying together on the couch in the family room. She hadn't even heard them pull in. She didn't need to know how they got there, but at least Quinn was sleeping. Nevertheless, the morning was still painfully awkward. It was silent. However, apparently things weren't that different at school. When they arrived Quinn and Noah immediately went in opposite directions. Santana walked into the main corridor herself. Immediately, she knew. There was something different; something was off. .

The first thing that she noticed were the stares. Why were people staring? They should be running from her. They never looked her in the eye. They knew better. What was going on? Then she noticed that everyone had hand outs. They were looking at them and laughing at her. She steeled her face and continued forward.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!" A voice bellowed over the intercom. The hallway froze. "Finn Hudson here. As you might see, we're doing some new advertising here at McKinley. Santana Corcoran likes long walks on the beach, cheering, being a bitch, and oh wait..." He paused and Santana froze. Her heart was beating out of her chest. "Not only does she like partying, alcohol, and sex, but she likes sex with women." Santana blinked in shock. "As you can see, a very reliable source was able to document..." Santana looked a stray the flyer; there were so many that there were flyers scattered on the floor. It was a picture of her and Brittany in the auditorium with their foreheads rested on each other. She felt herself panting to catch her breath. Everone's eyes were on her. "So, I guess Santana and Brittany are off the market, everyone. Let's make sure to congratulate them on coming out."

Santana looked at the ground. She felt the tears stinging her eyes but she wasn't going to let them fall. So she turned against the busy hallway and the heavy stares and she ran.

---

I knew that I was doing this storyline a bit before the show did it. However, once I saw how the show did it, I knew that I really needed to keep this story arch in.

Please review. It would mean the world. Thank you.