Pick Me Up [1/2]
Title: Pick Me Up
Rating: R [Possible character death]
Author: gabbie217
Pairings: Rachel/Quinn
Summary: Life is becoming to much for Rachel. Will anyone help pick her up?
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Spoiler Alert: None.
Author's Note: My second angst story. This time involving Rachel.
Four slushies and 27 insults later, Rachel finally was able to escape to glee. She sat down, her hair still wet from being rinsed out in the girl’s bathroom.
No one looked up, or even noticed-and if they did notice, they didn’t care-that she had arrived. They just continued with their own conversations and their own lives.
Mr. Schue droned on about some new numbers, and Rachel numbly offered up her unwanted advice and, as usual, her words went in one ear and out the other. They only pretended to listen to her; she had long ago accepted that.
Mercedes, not surprisingly, fought Rachel for the solos and the lead vocals of the current song they were doing. Mechanically, Rachel went through the motions of trying to keep her ‘well deserved spot as lead’. In reality, she knew no one wanted her as lead for any other reason than the fact that she had the right vocals for it. If it wasn’t for that, they would’ve given anything to have her out and Mercedes as lead, this she knew for a fact.
After glee was over, Rachel waited until everyone was gone, pretending she was searching for something in her bag. As soon as the room was empty, she sat down heavily, feeling more alone then usual. She couldn’t go to her next classes. Sure, there were only two left, but she didn’t think she could emotionally handle enduring 2 whole periods of teachers ignoring the insults that were thrown at her, or the slushies that were right outside the door, waiting for her to walk out.
Rachel sat in the Choir room, alone, waiting for the day to be over so she could go home and curl up in her bed.
Rachel knew that the road to Broadway was hard, and she expected nothing less. But not even Barbra Streisand had suffered this much. Rachel was confident enough to assume that no one in the history of show business had ever been tortured like she was.
No, because no one had grown up in a town like Lima. Lima was a place where bullying was almost encouraged and practically a core subject in the school curriculum. Teachers and adults did nothing to stop the kids from tormenting each other, and if they did attempt stopping it, they never succeeded.
Finally, mercifully, the last bell of the day rang. Slowly, Rachel picked up her bag and trudged towards her car. She knew there were a few more obstacles to pass until she could drive home.
As expected, Karofsky found her and delivered two parting slushies.
Wiping the slushy out of her eyes, Rachel saw Quinn with Santana and Brittany, all three girls laughing at her. A few feet away Kurt and Mercedes were smirking. Tina, hand in hand with Mike, looked sympathetic, but really the girl was just glad it was Rachel and not her. Artie was too wrapped up in his own pain to care about Rachel’s. Puck clapped Karofsky on the back, and Finn just blinked at her. Not one of them cared. After all she had done for them… they didn’t care.
Almost breaking right then and there, Rachel drew herself up and continued on her way outside. She didn’t even bother trying to clean up.
**
Her fathers wondered, but didn’t ask. For the past month, Rachel had stopped singing around the house and-what hit them hardest-stopped laughing and smiling.
They knew she was depressed, but Rachel refused to talk about it with them or with her therapist. It frustrated them to see their happy little girl in so much pain, but until she let them in, there was nothing they could do.
Eric pegged it to Jesse breaking up with her and going back to Vocal Adrenaline, while John said it was Finn breaking up with her. They couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Sitting on her bed, Rachel did her homework. Twice, she had to re-write an essay because her tears dripped off her nose and onto the paper, blurring the words.
Not for the first time, Rachel wished she had a friend who cared about her. Someone who would defend her, wipe away her tears, and hold her up when she wasn’t strong enough to stand on her own. But apart from her dads, no one else did.
At 9:30 PM sharp, Rachel curled up under her covers, and allowed her self to slip into Dreamland, where nothing could hurt her.
**
Ramming her shoulder against hers, a cheerleader knocked Rachel to the ground, sending her books and papers flying.
Laughing, many students kicked the books away from Rachel’s reaching hands.
Fighting back tears, Rachel tried to gather up the papers that had been unable to be kicked away by her fellow students.
Kurt walked by, looking down at her, a mocking smile on his face. “You should’ve watched where you were going,” he told her.
A few cheerleaders gave him approving smiles.
Every single member of the glee club walked by her, and not one offer to help her was made.
When Brittany took too many pain pills and almost died, who had saved her life? Who had helped Puck every time he had gotten slushied for choosing glee over football? When Artie was placed on the roof, unable to move for fear of rolling to his death, who helped get him down? When Quinn got pregnant and everyone abandoned her, who supported her in her time of need? When everyone blamed Santana for leaking their set list, who had believed her when she denied it? When Kurt and Mercedes almost got tossed in the dumpster after moldy stew had been dumped in, who had stepped in and taken the fall for them? When Mike and Tina were almost caught by Artie, who had covered for them? And when Finn got kicked off the football team, who had gotten his confidence back up? Rachel, it was always Rachel.
Yet none of that made them care enough to try and repay her for her kindness. Not that Rachel was looking for repayment. She just wanted them to at least pretend to care enough to help her out once in awhile.
Of course, they only did something for her if it would help them twice as much.
Managing to get all of her stuff only when classes started and the halls were empty, Rachel decided she wasn’t going to go to any class today.
Hiding out in the auditorium, Rachel wished she could just go home, but she knew that was too dangerous. She knew that if she was alone with her thoughts and there were sharp things available, she wouldn’t make it to her next birthday.
**
Walking into Glee, Rachel was called over by Mr. Schue.
“Hey Rachel, where were you today? I didn’t see you in class,” he looked concerned.
“It was a nice change, admit it.” Mercedes laughed as she passed by with Kurt beside her.
Rachel bit her lip to keep the tears at bay.
“What’s wrong?” Mr. Schue asked noticing her glassy eyes.
“Oh nothing, just something in my eye.” Rachel pasted a smile on her face. When the teacher patted her on the back and walked away, Rachel whispered. “Everything is, Mr. Schue. Everything is wrong.”
Rachel didn’t notice when a certain owner of hazel eyes stiffened when she chanced upon hearing the whispered words.
Quinn kept an eye on Rachel the rest of the glee time. She noticed how Rachel was slowly letting Mercedes and Kurt win the battles for solos, and how her smile was looking faker and faker each time it made an appearance. And Quinn felt the familiar anger when the two Divas made snide remarks about Rachel, doing anything they could to knock her out of their way.
Didn’t the two idiots see they were slowly adding to the breaking of Rachel? Of course they didn’t. They never saw anything past themselves.
Quinn knew she shouldn’t have laughed when Rachel got showered with two slushies, but she didn’t want to risk her already fragile status as head bitch, so she had faked a laugh. When in reality, she wanted to punch Karofsky in the face, rip Mercedes’ hair out, and cut Kurt like no one else has ever been cut before. All because they hurt Rachel.
**
All around her, there was conversation and laughter. No one tried to include her, for wasn’t she just there to sing and save them when they needed it?
Rachel pretended to be working on some ideas for Nationals, but really she was just doodling on the page.
Out of the corner of her eye, Quinn saw that out of all the random words Rachel had written, the boldest was pain.
Rachel traced the words over and over, unaware that somone was watching her, crying on the inside. She folded it up and stuck it in the back of her binder as the bell rang, signaling it was time to go to a different class. And Mr. Schue had a free period, so he wasn't going anywhere. To the library it is.
The young singer had to shove her way through the mass of people, getting knocked down more then once. No one offered to help her up, instead, they just tried to keep her down. Rachel sat alone in the library, thankful the librarian was too thick to notice she was there. The lady never noticed a student unless they made noise. Other then that, they simply didn't exist.
No book could hold her attention. Rachel was just so lifeless, nothing seemed worth the effort. So she daydreamed. Her dreams were wonderfully dark. She imagined taking her own life right there in the library. Imagining all the wonderful things people would say. 'She was a star that burned out long before her time.' 'She ahd the sweetest voice.' 'She was the kindest girl, always helping others.' They could say. but most likely they'd say: 'Good riddance.' 'Who died? Oh. Who's she?' 'Let's have a party!' Had she been more liked, it would be a perfectly tragic story. Alas, it was not to be so. Besides, the only thing keeping Rachel alive was that one day she would be famous. And she would tell the world about her school days. The world would frown upon the class of 2011 at McKinley, and her former tormentors would hate themselves for what they had done. Or not.
**
Quinn looked around casually, reeling inside. Rachel hadn't come to class again. Quinn was beginning to really worry. She didn't want Rachel to do something stupid, like try and take her own life... They need her for Nationals. 'Who am I kidding? That's not all we need her for. She used to be the heart and soul for glee club. The one thing -besides the singing part- that made it all worthwhile was Rachel. Without her... I'm nothing.'
Raising her hand, Quinn complained of a stomach ache.
"Pregnant again?" one girl snickered. The class tittered.
"No, it's your face. I just can't keep anything down when you're around," Quinn snarled. Her nerves were on edge already, she shouldn't have to deal with wannabe preppy girls after her status. Besides, if Quinn wasn't head bitch, Santana would be. The girl had no shot at beating either of them.
She peeked her head into the choir room, freezing when Mr. Schue's eyes met hers instead of Rachel.
"Is everything okay Quinn?" Mr. Schue stood, looking concerned.
Since she couldn't very well say that she was looking for Rachel, she smiled brightly. "I was just coming to ask you if I can use the auditorium after school to practice. We don't have practice today, so I was thinking I could put in a little singing time... Is that okay?"
"Yeah, sure. That's fine." Mr. Schue smiled, sitting back down.
Quinn checked a few other spots Rachel was most likely to be, finding her in neither place. It was in the library that she finally found the singer, curled up in the stacks. Quinn noticed with some dark humor that it was right beneath those stupid hippy, peace-to-all-mankind books that Rachel was sleeping. If only the books could rub off on this school.
It nearly broke Quinn's heart to see that it took a deep sleep for Rachel to be okay. Her face was relaxed, a sweet, genuine, smile on her face, and an even, contented, breathing rate. Not the stressed, shallow breaths that she usually had.
Shrugging out of her jacket, Quinn placed her Cheerios letterman jacket over Rachel. She emptied Rachel's bag, taking out the books so she could crumple it up to be used as a pillow. Using Rachel's ridiculous pink pen that had feathers on the end, Quinn wrote a note.
You can return the jacket after school in the auditorium. I'll be there until 5.
-Q
Then she left. Rachel deserved her time of happiness. And if this was the way she got it, then Quinn wasn't going to take it away from her. As she passed the libraarian, Quinn informed her that no student or teacher was to be allowed into the library. Her command wasn't challenged.
**
When Rachel woke up, she was more then a little suprised to find a red and white cheerios letterman jacket covering her body. Even more suprised to find the note Quinn had left her.
Rather then risk the trap Quinn had waiting for her, Rachel dropped the jacket off at the office. She told the lady that Quinn had left it in glee practice. Then she went home.
**
Quinn was more then disappointed that Rachel hadn't shown up. She was hurt. All Quinn had been trying to do was help. Then Quinn felt guilty. Had she been Rachel, she wouldn't have come either. For all Rachel knew, Quinn had set up some plan to humiliate her. Too many years of torture made Rachel wary and suspiscious when it came to Quinn.
A student aide from the office came and delivered Quinn's jacket. "Here you go Miss Fabray." the boy said as if he were her lowly servant. "Rachel Berry said you left it in the choir room today."
"Thanks," Quinn said quietly. She took the jacket, holding it close to her. Startled, she realized there was a faint aroma on it. Rachel Berry's scent was still on this jacket. Feeling creepy and pathetic, Quinn inhaled, breathing in Rachel's scent.
Rating: R [Possible character death]
Author: gabbie217
Pairings: Rachel/Quinn
Summary: Life is becoming to much for Rachel. Will anyone help pick her up?
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Spoiler Alert: None.
Author's Note: My second angst story. This time involving Rachel.
Four slushies and 27 insults later, Rachel finally was able to escape to glee. She sat down, her hair still wet from being rinsed out in the girl’s bathroom.
No one looked up, or even noticed-and if they did notice, they didn’t care-that she had arrived. They just continued with their own conversations and their own lives.
Mr. Schue droned on about some new numbers, and Rachel numbly offered up her unwanted advice and, as usual, her words went in one ear and out the other. They only pretended to listen to her; she had long ago accepted that.
Mercedes, not surprisingly, fought Rachel for the solos and the lead vocals of the current song they were doing. Mechanically, Rachel went through the motions of trying to keep her ‘well deserved spot as lead’. In reality, she knew no one wanted her as lead for any other reason than the fact that she had the right vocals for it. If it wasn’t for that, they would’ve given anything to have her out and Mercedes as lead, this she knew for a fact.
After glee was over, Rachel waited until everyone was gone, pretending she was searching for something in her bag. As soon as the room was empty, she sat down heavily, feeling more alone then usual. She couldn’t go to her next classes. Sure, there were only two left, but she didn’t think she could emotionally handle enduring 2 whole periods of teachers ignoring the insults that were thrown at her, or the slushies that were right outside the door, waiting for her to walk out.
Rachel sat in the Choir room, alone, waiting for the day to be over so she could go home and curl up in her bed.
Rachel knew that the road to Broadway was hard, and she expected nothing less. But not even Barbra Streisand had suffered this much. Rachel was confident enough to assume that no one in the history of show business had ever been tortured like she was.
No, because no one had grown up in a town like Lima. Lima was a place where bullying was almost encouraged and practically a core subject in the school curriculum. Teachers and adults did nothing to stop the kids from tormenting each other, and if they did attempt stopping it, they never succeeded.
Finally, mercifully, the last bell of the day rang. Slowly, Rachel picked up her bag and trudged towards her car. She knew there were a few more obstacles to pass until she could drive home.
As expected, Karofsky found her and delivered two parting slushies.
Wiping the slushy out of her eyes, Rachel saw Quinn with Santana and Brittany, all three girls laughing at her. A few feet away Kurt and Mercedes were smirking. Tina, hand in hand with Mike, looked sympathetic, but really the girl was just glad it was Rachel and not her. Artie was too wrapped up in his own pain to care about Rachel’s. Puck clapped Karofsky on the back, and Finn just blinked at her. Not one of them cared. After all she had done for them… they didn’t care.
Almost breaking right then and there, Rachel drew herself up and continued on her way outside. She didn’t even bother trying to clean up.
**
Her fathers wondered, but didn’t ask. For the past month, Rachel had stopped singing around the house and-what hit them hardest-stopped laughing and smiling.
They knew she was depressed, but Rachel refused to talk about it with them or with her therapist. It frustrated them to see their happy little girl in so much pain, but until she let them in, there was nothing they could do.
Eric pegged it to Jesse breaking up with her and going back to Vocal Adrenaline, while John said it was Finn breaking up with her. They couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Sitting on her bed, Rachel did her homework. Twice, she had to re-write an essay because her tears dripped off her nose and onto the paper, blurring the words.
Not for the first time, Rachel wished she had a friend who cared about her. Someone who would defend her, wipe away her tears, and hold her up when she wasn’t strong enough to stand on her own. But apart from her dads, no one else did.
At 9:30 PM sharp, Rachel curled up under her covers, and allowed her self to slip into Dreamland, where nothing could hurt her.
**
Ramming her shoulder against hers, a cheerleader knocked Rachel to the ground, sending her books and papers flying.
Laughing, many students kicked the books away from Rachel’s reaching hands.
Fighting back tears, Rachel tried to gather up the papers that had been unable to be kicked away by her fellow students.
Kurt walked by, looking down at her, a mocking smile on his face. “You should’ve watched where you were going,” he told her.
A few cheerleaders gave him approving smiles.
Every single member of the glee club walked by her, and not one offer to help her was made.
When Brittany took too many pain pills and almost died, who had saved her life? Who had helped Puck every time he had gotten slushied for choosing glee over football? When Artie was placed on the roof, unable to move for fear of rolling to his death, who helped get him down? When Quinn got pregnant and everyone abandoned her, who supported her in her time of need? When everyone blamed Santana for leaking their set list, who had believed her when she denied it? When Kurt and Mercedes almost got tossed in the dumpster after moldy stew had been dumped in, who had stepped in and taken the fall for them? When Mike and Tina were almost caught by Artie, who had covered for them? And when Finn got kicked off the football team, who had gotten his confidence back up? Rachel, it was always Rachel.
Yet none of that made them care enough to try and repay her for her kindness. Not that Rachel was looking for repayment. She just wanted them to at least pretend to care enough to help her out once in awhile.
Of course, they only did something for her if it would help them twice as much.
Managing to get all of her stuff only when classes started and the halls were empty, Rachel decided she wasn’t going to go to any class today.
Hiding out in the auditorium, Rachel wished she could just go home, but she knew that was too dangerous. She knew that if she was alone with her thoughts and there were sharp things available, she wouldn’t make it to her next birthday.
**
Walking into Glee, Rachel was called over by Mr. Schue.
“Hey Rachel, where were you today? I didn’t see you in class,” he looked concerned.
“It was a nice change, admit it.” Mercedes laughed as she passed by with Kurt beside her.
Rachel bit her lip to keep the tears at bay.
“What’s wrong?” Mr. Schue asked noticing her glassy eyes.
“Oh nothing, just something in my eye.” Rachel pasted a smile on her face. When the teacher patted her on the back and walked away, Rachel whispered. “Everything is, Mr. Schue. Everything is wrong.”
Rachel didn’t notice when a certain owner of hazel eyes stiffened when she chanced upon hearing the whispered words.
Quinn kept an eye on Rachel the rest of the glee time. She noticed how Rachel was slowly letting Mercedes and Kurt win the battles for solos, and how her smile was looking faker and faker each time it made an appearance. And Quinn felt the familiar anger when the two Divas made snide remarks about Rachel, doing anything they could to knock her out of their way.
Didn’t the two idiots see they were slowly adding to the breaking of Rachel? Of course they didn’t. They never saw anything past themselves.
Quinn knew she shouldn’t have laughed when Rachel got showered with two slushies, but she didn’t want to risk her already fragile status as head bitch, so she had faked a laugh. When in reality, she wanted to punch Karofsky in the face, rip Mercedes’ hair out, and cut Kurt like no one else has ever been cut before. All because they hurt Rachel.
**
All around her, there was conversation and laughter. No one tried to include her, for wasn’t she just there to sing and save them when they needed it?
Rachel pretended to be working on some ideas for Nationals, but really she was just doodling on the page.
Out of the corner of her eye, Quinn saw that out of all the random words Rachel had written, the boldest was pain.
Rachel traced the words over and over, unaware that somone was watching her, crying on the inside. She folded it up and stuck it in the back of her binder as the bell rang, signaling it was time to go to a different class. And Mr. Schue had a free period, so he wasn't going anywhere. To the library it is.
The young singer had to shove her way through the mass of people, getting knocked down more then once. No one offered to help her up, instead, they just tried to keep her down. Rachel sat alone in the library, thankful the librarian was too thick to notice she was there. The lady never noticed a student unless they made noise. Other then that, they simply didn't exist.
No book could hold her attention. Rachel was just so lifeless, nothing seemed worth the effort. So she daydreamed. Her dreams were wonderfully dark. She imagined taking her own life right there in the library. Imagining all the wonderful things people would say. 'She was a star that burned out long before her time.' 'She ahd the sweetest voice.' 'She was the kindest girl, always helping others.' They could say. but most likely they'd say: 'Good riddance.' 'Who died? Oh. Who's she?' 'Let's have a party!' Had she been more liked, it would be a perfectly tragic story. Alas, it was not to be so. Besides, the only thing keeping Rachel alive was that one day she would be famous. And she would tell the world about her school days. The world would frown upon the class of 2011 at McKinley, and her former tormentors would hate themselves for what they had done. Or not.
**
Quinn looked around casually, reeling inside. Rachel hadn't come to class again. Quinn was beginning to really worry. She didn't want Rachel to do something stupid, like try and take her own life... They need her for Nationals. 'Who am I kidding? That's not all we need her for. She used to be the heart and soul for glee club. The one thing -besides the singing part- that made it all worthwhile was Rachel. Without her... I'm nothing.'
Raising her hand, Quinn complained of a stomach ache.
"Pregnant again?" one girl snickered. The class tittered.
"No, it's your face. I just can't keep anything down when you're around," Quinn snarled. Her nerves were on edge already, she shouldn't have to deal with wannabe preppy girls after her status. Besides, if Quinn wasn't head bitch, Santana would be. The girl had no shot at beating either of them.
She peeked her head into the choir room, freezing when Mr. Schue's eyes met hers instead of Rachel.
"Is everything okay Quinn?" Mr. Schue stood, looking concerned.
Since she couldn't very well say that she was looking for Rachel, she smiled brightly. "I was just coming to ask you if I can use the auditorium after school to practice. We don't have practice today, so I was thinking I could put in a little singing time... Is that okay?"
"Yeah, sure. That's fine." Mr. Schue smiled, sitting back down.
Quinn checked a few other spots Rachel was most likely to be, finding her in neither place. It was in the library that she finally found the singer, curled up in the stacks. Quinn noticed with some dark humor that it was right beneath those stupid hippy, peace-to-all-mankind books that Rachel was sleeping. If only the books could rub off on this school.
It nearly broke Quinn's heart to see that it took a deep sleep for Rachel to be okay. Her face was relaxed, a sweet, genuine, smile on her face, and an even, contented, breathing rate. Not the stressed, shallow breaths that she usually had.
Shrugging out of her jacket, Quinn placed her Cheerios letterman jacket over Rachel. She emptied Rachel's bag, taking out the books so she could crumple it up to be used as a pillow. Using Rachel's ridiculous pink pen that had feathers on the end, Quinn wrote a note.
You can return the jacket after school in the auditorium. I'll be there until 5.
-Q
Then she left. Rachel deserved her time of happiness. And if this was the way she got it, then Quinn wasn't going to take it away from her. As she passed the libraarian, Quinn informed her that no student or teacher was to be allowed into the library. Her command wasn't challenged.
**
When Rachel woke up, she was more then a little suprised to find a red and white cheerios letterman jacket covering her body. Even more suprised to find the note Quinn had left her.
Rather then risk the trap Quinn had waiting for her, Rachel dropped the jacket off at the office. She told the lady that Quinn had left it in glee practice. Then she went home.
**
Quinn was more then disappointed that Rachel hadn't shown up. She was hurt. All Quinn had been trying to do was help. Then Quinn felt guilty. Had she been Rachel, she wouldn't have come either. For all Rachel knew, Quinn had set up some plan to humiliate her. Too many years of torture made Rachel wary and suspiscious when it came to Quinn.
A student aide from the office came and delivered Quinn's jacket. "Here you go Miss Fabray." the boy said as if he were her lowly servant. "Rachel Berry said you left it in the choir room today."
"Thanks," Quinn said quietly. She took the jacket, holding it close to her. Startled, she realized there was a faint aroma on it. Rachel Berry's scent was still on this jacket. Feeling creepy and pathetic, Quinn inhaled, breathing in Rachel's scent.