[FIC] DAYTON iii
Series Title: Dayton
Story Title: The Unraveling of Tightly Wound Beings
Author: prettylilagent
Pairing,Character(s): Will Schuester/Quinn Fabray
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 6,486
Summary: The non-linear tale of one night in one city and the consequences that never seem to end.
Disclaimer: Glee doesn't belong to me, at all.
Spoilers: None
Previous Stories in Series
A Consequence of the Consequence: A Lie
The Wisdom of Intentional Ignorance
As I think you can already tell, I've taken a number of liberties with the canon of the show. In order for this whole crazy idea to work, I've done a bit of a major time change that I will explain better with an actual story, but for now just know that Will took over the Glee club in the middle of their freshmen year and the whole Terri pregnancy thing happened then. Quinn joined Glee with Santana and Brittany close to the end of the school year to screw up a big performance they had planned and also to get Finn back from Rachel (which didn't happen).
It hits her as she sits down in Glee. Will, no, Mr. Schue mentions something about how nice of an October it has been and she can't help but agree within her head, thinking how not having had to deal with her period left her much less nervous during lifts at practice.
It takes her a second to think that that isn't really a good thing.
Quite the opposite in fact.
She can feel her eyes grow wide and her stomach drop, but everything afterwards is a blur.
She isn't sure how she ended up in her car, driving down I-75 at just the tipping point of too fast, but somehow she makes it almost 30 minutes before her mind and body realign.
It is somewhere around Findlay that she starts to seriously consider the probability of being pregnant. She thinks about how long it had been since she last picked up a tampon (August) and how long it has been since Dayton (September). She considers if it could just be another case of her Cheerio's diet screwing her body up, but after a long count of her recent food intake (a habit she can't break no matter what), she decides it would be impossible. If anything she notices she's been eating more than usually, which doesn't bode well for her at all.
By the time Quinn starts to consider that the achiness in her chest isn't really from lifting Brittany by herself, it's all she can do to keep from breaking down and accidently running her car into a tree in the process.
She's nearing Toledo when she pretty much decides that a pregnancy test would just confirm what she already knows in her heart to be true:
She's pregnant with Will's baby.
More importantly, she's pregnant with Mr. Schuester's baby.
There goes any chance of a normal life.
(Quinn won't admit that normal probably walked out the window when she started flirting with him in the middle of the hotel bar and was absolutely gone when she slept with him later on that night)
This isn't supposed to happen to her. She's the President of the Celibacy Club, the Head Cheerleader, the daughter of one of the most fanatical Glenn Beck fans in Ohio... her life isn't supposed to be straight out of some Lifetime movie (she isn't Rachel Berry for God's sake!).
She passes out of Ohio and into Michigan with no sense of fanfare. Her empty light comes on right next to the "Welcome to Temperance" sign and she can't help but think that if the teetotallers hadn't lost the battle, there would be no chance in hell she'd be pregnant right now. As she pulls into the BP, an overwhelming sense of panic runs over her, spending her sprinting into the single bathroom where she lets out a wail, her arms involuntarily hugging her abdomen (she can't say if she's trying to comfort the baby or squeeze it out... either option is possible). She isn't sure how long she sits in there, rocking back and forth on the toilet seat, before a knock from a worried patron has her cleaning herself up and slipping back into the HBIC mask she knows won't last for long.
She slips the $100 out of its hiding space in her purse and notices the light flashing on her phone. She has 5 missed calls and all of them are from Will. A check of the time shows that her bathroom meltdown had lasted for over 10 minutes and in that time the end of Glee rehearsal would have come. It hurt slightly that at least Santana hadn't called to check on her (Brittany wouldn't have been able to since she put her phone in the dishwasher again), but she really doesn't have time to dwell on the fact her friends are only her friends as far as they can use her, because her phone is going off again and she doesn't want Will to get too freaked out and do something dumb like call her parents.
"Hello?" Quinn's voice sounds shaky to her ears, but she often thinks it sounds that way only to find no one else hears it. She wonders if it's just a case of her being paranoid or if people don't care enough about her to take the time to listen.
"Quinn? What's wrong? What's the matter?" She wasn't expecting his voice to cause such a reaction in her. All at once she wants to laugh and to cry, to shout for joy and yell in fury... it's too overwhelming for her to pick one reaction to have. "Quinn? Please... you just ran out of Glee with this look on your face that... just say something,... I need to know you're alright" Without preamble, she begins to sob again, getting out the words car, out of gas, and Temperance before it becomes too much. She can hear his breath getting labored and the sound of his keys jangling, a sign he is now running to get to his car.
"Did you just say you car was out of gas so you went to a town in Michigan?"If the situation wasn't so dire she would have laughed, but instead she just kept crying, Will trying to calm her down over the phone as he gets into his car. His keys turning in the ignition send some sort of shock through her and as his car engine starts, she let out her confession.
"I think I'm pregnant" For the longest time she only hears the sound of his car running, his breathing so light and shallow that she fears he might pass out. She can only imagine the things that are blasting through his mind (if they are anything like the ones in hers, she feels a remarkable need to comfort him and go back to that hotel room where the reality of their lives didn't matter).
"Where are you?"
"A gas station in Temperance, right off the highway"
"I'll be there as soon as I can"
"No, no, I can just fill up the tank and come back"
"You shouldn't be driving right now, you're upset "
"And you think you're in any better shape? At least I've had time to process this, you-"
"I've been driving for awhile now Quinn, I think I've got this handled"
"If I remember correctly, I think we've established that just by virtue of being an adult, doesn't mean you have the best grip on a situation" Ice Queen, Head Cheerleader Quinn is back and Will immediately regrets what he said.
"You're right, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that" He sighs and she can immediately picture him straightening up in his car seat, preparing what he wants to say, "What I meant is that I just don't want to have to worry about you driving right now... I can't handle that on top of everything." She doesn't feel like arguing with him, not now, not ever really. She can't even bring herself to be angry at him for the whole situation. It was a first for her, actually, normally she is all about placing the blame on someone else, but she can't this time, not when she considers just how insistent she had been that night, how she had went out looking for an adventure and a thrill she had never experienced before.
No one ever accused her of being an underachiever.
Waiting for Will to make it to Temperance gives her more time than she would like to consider what it will mean for her when the test comes back positive (she doesn't foresee it not having that result, not anymore). She had honestly thought she had a shot of getting out of Lima, of seeing the world or at least the rest of the continental United States. A baby would change all that, a baby would mean hurrying through High School by the bare minimum of classes and spending her afternoons studying during naps and between diaper changes and feedings. She can't even begin to consider her parent's reaction... she doesn't want to picture how horrible it will be.
Her mind starts to consider what possible explanation she can tell the world for how she ended up in this mess. It's a case where honesty can't be the best policy for all it will do is bring trouble for everyone. Will is a good man, minus the poor choices he made that night, and he shouldn't be punished for something she was just as, if not more, responsible for (she was the one who'd ordered him that last drink, the one that finally pushed him just past sobriety to the place where bad decisions look good). She'll have to bear not only the cross of a slut, but of a drunk as well (how else would good girl Quinn sleep with someone she had never met before?). She's thinking through her story, leaning back in the seat so passerby will think she's just sleeping, when a knock on her window causes her eyes to flutter open.
Will is looking at her in a way that causes her breath to catch. He's wearing that same longing look she's seen him throw her way a few times since that night, but this time there is a mix of panic and awe to it. She considers for a second that for him, minus the whole situation of how it happened, getting someone pregnant is not exactly the end of the world for him... in fact it is probably the opposite. Anyone who knows anything about Will Schuester will tell you that he is made to be a dad. No matter what, she decides, it has to be possible that Will gets to raise this baby... anything else might kill him, and she can't bear to see that happen.
She unlocks the door and Will immediately opens it, crouching down so he can look her in the eyes.
"Hi." His greeting is simple, almost comically so. She half expected herself to start crying again the minute she set eyes on him but instead she finds herself leaning forward and bringing her lips to his. It's a sweet and gentle press, nothing like how it had been in Dayton. She's surprised when he deepens it though, bringing his hand up to her cheek as he does so. When they finally pull apart she can't help but nuzzle into his palm, seeking comfort and enjoying the feel of his skin too much to relinquish contact. For his part Will seems not to mind it, in fact he seems to be even less inclined than she is to move, and considering he's the one squatting down, he can't be comfortable. She notices the wetness on his face and thinks for a second he is crying, but realizes it's from the rain.
"You're getting rained on," she says softly, knowing it's probably a stupid thing to say, but considering he seems so content to stay where he is, she feels like it might need to be said.
"I could say the same thing about you." She feels the slight spray on her skin then, and it starts to filter in that she's actually damp all over her body. Her uniform feels rough against her skin and she has an overwhelming urge to get out of it and into the change of clothing she has in her bag.
"I didn't even realize it was raining," she thinks aloud, drawing a look from Will that makes her wonder if he thinks she might be a tad bit unhinged. If she's honest with herself, she thinks that she might possibly be. "I guess I was too busy with other things to notice." Will nods in understanding as he moves his thumb against her cheek in a soothing motion, studying her for any sign of distress. Whatever he sees, or doesn't see, seems to make him happy(ish) and he smiles.
"Go change out of that uniform and dry off. I'll get you some gas so we can head out and find a drug store." Quinn goes to grab the $100 she'd been in the process of getting, but Will stills the motion. "I've got it, you just go change."
"Will-" She begins to protest but the look on his face stops her. She remembers back to Dayton when he talked about how much he missed having someone to take care of, missed feeling needed, and she decides to let the issue drop. "Would you grab my bag from the trunk?" He answers by grabbing the keys she left resting in her lap and standing up. As he walks around to the rear of the car, Quinn reaches back into the car and gropes around for the umbrella she always kept there.
She doesn't plan on giving the thing any thought (no matter what Rihanna says, an umbrella is sometimes just an umbrella) but as she moves to open it, the navy and white remind her of where exactly it came from. She can remember her Dad coming back from taking Frannie to her orientation at Xavier, the proud smile on his face and his arms full of all the gear any proud parent could think to buy. The idea that one day he would be smiling that same smile and carrying the same gear because of her had always been one that warmed her heart... now it seemed like a pipe dream.
After all, how many unwed mothers make it to college?
Better yet, after finding out about any of this, what were the odds Russell Fabray would ever smile for her again?
"Is that a Xavier umbrella?" Will's question startles her, but if he notices he doesn't say.
"Yeah, my sister went there. My Dad bought a bunch of stuff the day she got in... I think he thought if he surrounded me with enough things that said Xavier I'd want to attend." Her laugh is sad and the smile on his face loses some of its shine. "But that kind of school isn't for me."
"What sort of school is?" Will is trying to make her smile, trying to get her happy, but it doesn't have the effect he was intending. Instead, Quinn starts to feel the tears pooling in her eyes and she has to look away from him... the guilt of the entire situation is probably already starting to eat him up inside and her tears would just make it that much worse for him.
"Does it even matter anymore?" That wasn't what she wanted to say, not at all. Her tear-filled eyes turn back to Will and are met by ones equally as wet but a hundred times more conflicted. There is guilt there, of course, but a giddiness as well that probably is only serving to make the guilt worse. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"It does matter... no matter what the test says, it does matter. You'll get to go to the school you want, no question... I won't settle for anything less." The hand she'd been reaching out to take the bag from him instead finds its way to his, and again she finds herself unwilling to let go of him. How had she let him go so easily after that night? How had they managed to keep up the facade that nothing had or was going on between them? How much of all of this was simply because of the baby? Was all of it?
Will passes the bag he's still holding into her hand and pulls her gently up and out of her car. The rain is nothing but a drizzle now and they are both way past the point of an umbrella doing them any good (if that wasn't a metaphor for their situation at the moment, she wasn't sure what was). She finds herself caught in his gaze and has to resist an overwhelming urge to lick away a water drop running down the side of his face. If the hungry look in his eyes is any indication, he's fighting the same battle as well.
"You should go on and change so we can go." Will's suggestion brings back the weight of the issue hanging over them. She nods her head in agreement and he finally lets go of her and the bag. She starts to walk towards the bathroom but feels a need to turn back around and get another look at Will. She watches him as he gets into her car and settles in. She knows that it probably shouldn't mean that much to her, but seeing him adjusting the driver's seat and making her car temporarily his gives her this warm feeling she can't quite describe.
In the short time since she'd driven off the lot in her new car she hasn't let a single other person drive it. It wasn't because she didn't trust them (which was a lie she liked to tell herself at night), but because she didn't want to share. With Will though, she didn't mind letting him in, in fact she found herself relishing in it. She knew this was happening all too fast, that decisions and feelings made or felt in such a moment of intensity were notoriously wrong or ill-advised, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Doubt and fear and all those other bad things would have their moments later, Quinn was going to focus on the good for just a few seconds longer.
This time she takes a good look as she enters the restroom. The overwhelming scent of cleaner and air freshener immediately turns her stomach and she had no clue how she had managed to spend all that time in here earlier. Stripping off her uniform, she draws the simple red dress she kept in her bag out and holds it up to the light. She has never worn it before, having bought it on a whim at Target and then promptly forgetting about it once cheering had started up again. She wasn't even sure how it ended up in her car, but as she considers the garment she has to wonder if it's some sort of cosmic joke or irony at work. A scarlet dress is not the typical thing one would wear to find out if your torrid night with your teacher has resulted in a pregnancy, but wearing a cheerleading uniform would probably make the whole experience infinitely more wrong.
Outside is cooler then she remembers it being when she went in. The rain has stopped and in its place is a chill that makes her long for her wool jacket. She sees that Will had finished filling up her car and brought it around to the space closest to the bathroom. She walks towards it and notices Will starting to get out so she can take back her seat, but a raised hand from her stops him and she makes her way to the passenger seat. As she opens the door she is blasted by warm air and she has never been quite so thankful for whoever created the heater. A cardigan she didn't even know she had is waiting for her on the seat and when she pulls it on she realizes there is a reason she didn't know about it because it wasn't hers at all.
"I figured you might want a jacket or something," Will supplies and she looks over at him with a smile. "I, umm, saw a WalMart a little while back. We can go get a test there."
"Just go to a dollar store. Their tests are just as sensitive as any on the market," Quinn comments without a thought as she clicks her seatbelt, but when she hears no reply, she considers how that sounded. For his part, Will is simply staring straight ahead, not wanting to think about how she might know that. "Santana," she supplies as an explanation, and he isn't quite sure that it makes the situation any better, but at least it means she isn't the one who did the research.
"Is that some knowledge she's had to use often?"
"I don't think we are in any position to judge."
"Fair enough." Will feels like a fool for asking, but he hates that Quinn took it the wrong way, although she probably has a point. As much as it was said out of concern, it probably was rooted in some sort of judgment about the girl he had no right to possess. "I didn't mean it-"
"I know," Quinn cuts him off with a sigh, "I just also know what people tend to think about her, and although I have no clue why I feel like I should defend her when she doesn't seem to do it herself, I still do."
"It's because you're a good person Quinn, no matter how misguided you might be at times." They're returning to the conversation from Dayton and it's having an effect on the way she's thinking. Her mind is getting muddled with all the memories of that night and as much as she'd like to get lost in them, now can't be about then, it has to be about... well, now.
"She's only had to use it once... it was right after she heard about the failure rate of condoms and she'd been to one of Puck's parties." It's a stat that Will can't help but wonder at and one Quinn wishes she'd remembered that night. Then again, who really thinks they could ever be in that small percentage where things go wrong?
He pulls out of the gas station and onto the interstate, Quinn navigating him towards the dollar store his iPhone had found on GoogleMaps. It isn't a long drive, but it is long enough to start raising their anxiety. For Quinn, it's all about preparing herself for the inevitable, for the positive that she knows the test will come back with. It's her body and she had gotten to know it well and she can just feel that something is off... and it isn't because of nerves. Will, for his part, is trying to remain as neutral as possible. He remembers the time Terri was sure she was pregnant, how they'd celebrated and prepared... only to find out she'd been lying. He wouldn't get his hopes up until he saw a test... then he would start to think about what all of this meant, and how he was going to be able to handle it without ending up on the unemployment line (better that then jail).
Pulling into the lot, Will is almost already out the door before he even gets the car into park. Quinn isn't sure when it had been decided that he would be the one to buy the test, in fact, she's sure it hadn't been, but she doesn't object. She isn't quite ready for the looks of shame or pity to be directed at her, and she knows Will is sure to get a few "awes" from females who are sure to be charmed by the fact he is the one buying a pregnancy test. The more she thinks about that idea, though, the more a feeling of jealousy starts to come over her, and it's only her deeply developed sense of self-preservation that keeps her from marching into the store and staking her claim on him (although what exactly that claim is, she isn't sure).
The plastic bag Will brings out with him is too big for one simple test. She had figured he would be smart and buy more than one, but she didn't think he would buy out the store's supply. As he passes the bag to her so he can get in the car, she can't stop herself from taking a peek. Inside she finds a number of different tests, as well as some bottled waters and a few snacks. Will shrugs are her inquisitive look. "I figured you might be hungry."
She doesn't pay much attention to where Will is driving the car, instead focusing on the tests and picking which type of cracker she wants. She absent mindedly asks Will if he wants anything while she reads the directions for one of the test brands, and when he mentions the granola bar he bought, she ends up unwrapping it and holding it out in his direction so he can take a bite. The warmth of his breath on her hand finally snaps her out of her daze and she gazes fondly over at him as he chews, a smile starting to form as he notices her attention.
"What?" He asks with a laugh as he finishes swallowing, looking over at Quinn briefly before turning his eyes back to the road. Quinn, though, doesn't turn away, and just keeps watching him as his smile grows. Over the course of many months, she spent a great deal of time studying Will Schuester, learning and observing many different things as the lenses she saw him through changed. Now she is trying to take as honest of an inventory of him as possible.
He's the ultimate Mister Nice Guy. A man who desperately wants to see the good in everyone and desperately wants to succeed. She thinks the fact he spent most of his adult life in a relationship and job that didn't let him shine might be part of the reason why he tries so hard to make the Glee Club successful, and why it seems he tries to push them to recreate his glory days. Why should he try something new when nothing has worked for him since he graduated?
"Your parents are out of town this weekend, aren't they?" It's a question that shouldn't be so easy for him to ask and for her to hear. It should be something that is said awkwardly and with hesitation, but Will barely evens looks away from the road as he throws it out there. His nonchalance says something about just how far the situation has gone.
"Yeah, they're visiting my sister and her husband in Cincinnati." As she considers the question more, she looks over at him in confusion. "How did you know about that?" There is a slight implication there, one that Quinn isn't quite sure she should be comfortable with. The idea Will might have been listening for an opportunity to spend time with her (repeat performance?), is one she finds herself liking much too fast, and one Will denies just as quickly.
"You mentioned it rather loudly during practice on Monday... don't worry, I'm not stalking you."
"I wasn't worried." She pauses before she lets out the next bit, making sure she can get it out confidently and without stumbling on her words. "You wouldn't have to stalk me, though. I'm an open book for you."
Her words send a nervous thrill through Will, just another in the long line of feelings he is still trying to process. One thing he knows is that he shouldn't be enjoying this. Right now his mind should be blazing with worry and images of Figgins firing him and his face all over the newspaper and TV as a predator parents should be looking out for. He shouldn't be this calm, he shouldn't be this rational, and he shouldn't be hoping that the tests come back positive.
There isn't really any way for this to end safely for him. The kiss earlier (and really the kisses and much more in Dayton) is proof that something is brewing between them that Will can't (and doesn't really want to) avoid. This is the age of a more selfish Will Schuester, someone who isn't afraid to strike out for what he wants. But they are so far apart in their lives in so many ways that even with whatever they are feeling, and even with a possible child between them, that taking this anywhere would just be a bad move that probably would end badly naturally if the social forces of the rest of the world didn't get to them first.
He wasn't sure if that thought would be enough for him to stop though. It clearly wasn't shutting him up now.
"An open book, huh? Something tells me I'd be reading you for awhile"
"I can only hope."
Will parks the car in a space in a lot that Quinn hadn't even realized they were in. She looks skeptical and confused as she takes in the hotel in front of her.
"You can't just take the tests anywhere" He looks between the office and her before reaching across the console and taking her hand. "I know I should have asked you this earlier, I actually feel like an idiot now that I didn't, but-"
"I'm late, my chest hurts, I'm going to the bathroom ALL the time, I can't stay in the cafeteria for more than five minutes because I can smell everything in there and I either want to eat it all or puke, and if you haven't noticed, I've been putting Rachel to shame in the difficult department lately." Will laughs before growing silent and letting her finish, "I'm pregnant Will, I just know it" Her green eyes are filled with a sad conviction, but he can't help but remember how Terri had felt so many of these things only to find out it had all been a bodily lie.
He gets the room quickly while Quinn calls her parents and feeds them some lie about staying with Brittany (it's a lie she knows they'll never check on since calling Brittany's house usually involves a 30 minute conversation with her mother). The whole situation is starting to feel surreal and wrong but she doesn't see any way to make it feel more comfortable. The idea of taking one of the tests at her home makes her feel like she'd be defiling it in some way and she doesn't want to risk taking it anywhere else in town. For as long as she can, she has to leave this whole thing outside of Lima (as long as she can will probably end the minute those tests show a positive, but she'll live in oblivion for a few minutes longer).
The room he gets is small, just a simple bed, chair, and TV affair. It isn't as if they plan to stay there long (the fact he spent over $60 on something they only plan to use for a couple hours max makes Quinn feel incredibly guilty), and really the only amenity they are concerned about is the toilet. Neither one is quite sure what to do now that they are actually there. The mechanics of the whole thing really only require Quinn to do something, leaving Will unsure the best way to act as the useless observer.
"Do you wanna help me open the boxes and take a look at the directions?" Quinn asks, trying to involve Will in the process and ease the odd sort of nervous anticipation and tension that has risen between them.
"Yeah, sure." The eagerness in his voice is a little disconcerting, and he sort of cringes when he hears it, but Quinn simply smiles and sits down cross-legged on the bed, pouring out the contents of the bag as she does so. Even though he was the one that bought all of them, Will still manages to be surprised at the amount of test boxes laying there.
"I guess I might have gone a bit overboard," he admits weakly as he joins her, drawing a chuckle from the blonde.
"Yeah, but it's better to be safe than sorry... and it's slightly adorable." The flirty look they share feels odd considering what they are doing, but nice nonetheless. As they open more and more boxes and read aloud the different directions, they find themselves at ease, even laughing as they find themselves sorting tests by amount of time they need. Soon, though, the tests are sorted and the awkwardness starts to return. Quinn's eyes shift nervously from the tests to the bathroom door, while Will tries to avoid looking over that way, instead focusing on Quinn and the TV behind her.
"Why don't I just turn on the TV while you're..." He struggles to find the right word, trying not to acknowledge the specifics of what she'll be doing.
"Yeah, that would be good" He picks up the remote while she picks up the tests, trying to maintain the various different groupings they'd created. Almost as soon as she closes the bathroom door, Will lands on a channel showing the tail-end of Singing In The Rain and even though he knows he should be focusing on what's going on behind the wooden door, he can't help but get slightly enthralled by the images on the TV. As the credits start to roll, Will is tempted to go check on Quinn, but when the opening of High Society starts, he's too flabbergasted by the coincidence to move. He tries to think about what possible sign the universe is trying to send them by playing the movie of the musical that got them into this mess, but comes up with a blank.
"Is that High Society?" He looks over, startled at the sight of Quinn standing in the doorway, drying her hands with a towel.
"Yeah, it is... are you...?" He trails off as he realizes he isn't quite sure what he's asking.
"I figured I'd just wait 10 minutes from when I took the last one to read them all"
"That's smart," he answers lamely, moving over on the bed so she can join him. In the time she'd been in the bathroom, he's sprawled out on the bed, getting comfortable on the outside when he was getting more and more stressed on the inside. Quinn takes the hint and lays down too, sinking into the mattress that might seriously be as old as she is. It long-since stopped being firm and is indented in the middle, causing the twosome to slightly roll into each other. Without much thought, Will finds himself wrapping his arm around her and settling her against him, her head finding a place to lay on his chest. The warmth of his body and the sound of his heart beating lulls her into a slight daze, one that even the impending results can't ruin. She can't remember ever finding this much comfort in Finn, and instead of being saddened by that, she finds herself indifferent.
"I've never had to do this before... wait like this," he comments softly, staring at the images of Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly on the screen.
"Did you and Terri..." She's asking a whole bunch of questions in those few simple words, and Will isn't sure he really wants to answer any of them. He doesn't want to admit the truth of last year to anyone, but if he has to, he finds he doesn't really mind that it's Quinn.
"No, we didn't take a test together." Quinn isn't sure what to make of his short answer, and isn't quite sure what to say in the face of last year being brought up. The fact that Will had almost been a father before is something she doesn't want to bring up, but she wants to understand what happened. The whole school had known about Terri's pregnancy, but no one had known how exactly they'd gone from happily married with a baby on the way to divorced and not pregnant within a matter of weeks. The word miscarriage had floated around but no one had taken the initiative to ask and Will hadn't been that forthcoming.
"I'm sorry that Terri lost-"
"Terri was never pregnant."
"What?" Quinn sits up, looking stunned and confused and feeling an anger starting to form in the pit of her stomach. She can distinctly remember the image of a pregnant Terri walking the halls of McKinley, and can only assume what Will is about to tell her.
"At first she had a hysterical pregnancy... she had all the symptoms but no baby. Once she found out there wasn't one she just decided that instead of telling me like some normal person, she'd pretend she was pregnant and then find some baby to be ours" Quinn isn't quite sure what to say to that. She can see the hurt and resentment forming in Will's eyes as he considers his ex-wife and more than ever (even more then back in Dayton) she can understand just how screwed up Terri left him. Before she knows it, she's leaning down and kissing him, trying to distract him from the pain and desperate to keep him from falling into the memory of his part. She knows that in just a few minutes he'll understand just how much she is his future, but a part of her wants him to come to that realization without the push of a child.
What starts out sweet grows hotter as it continues and Quinn suddenly finds herself trapped underneath Will's body, his lips exploring her neck desperately, finding the places that made her squirm last time. The timer on her cell phone going off should spur them to end this and go into the bathroom, but instead Will seems more desperate to have this continue, almost like he doesn't want to know what all 13 of the sticks are going to say.
"I'll never lie to you like that Will," she breathes out as his lips find a particularly sensitive spot, the same place where she carried his mark for days after Dayton. This time, though, he doesn't try to claim her, he simply rests his lips there, almost reverently. Slowly, though, he draws away and she finds herself looking into watery eyes that make her heart break. "But I'll lie like that for you"
"God, I wish you weren't gonna have to do that." The tests are now a formality to both of them. They're clearly on the same wavelength. Now, though, their dilemma isn't quite so abstract, it's a cold hard fact that is demonstrated by the 13 positive pregnancy tests laying on that bathroom counter. The reality of what they will have to do to survive this is starting to sink in and the notion that they can only do it together is clear. But the one big thought running through both their minds is that they're having a baby, and as absolutely scary and overwhelming that idea is, there is a happiness there (admittedly greater in one than the other), and for just a few minutes, they both need to try to relish in it.
Once they leave the hotel room, they might not get a moment like this for a long time.
This chapter and all others are dedicated to the most awesome writing cheerleader, the lovely Jacky. Without her, nothing else in this story would be written or thought of.
Story Title: The Unraveling of Tightly Wound Beings
Author: prettylilagent
Pairing,Character(s): Will Schuester/Quinn Fabray
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 6,486
Summary: The non-linear tale of one night in one city and the consequences that never seem to end.
Disclaimer: Glee doesn't belong to me, at all.
Spoilers: None
Previous Stories in Series
A Consequence of the Consequence: A Lie
The Wisdom of Intentional Ignorance
As I think you can already tell, I've taken a number of liberties with the canon of the show. In order for this whole crazy idea to work, I've done a bit of a major time change that I will explain better with an actual story, but for now just know that Will took over the Glee club in the middle of their freshmen year and the whole Terri pregnancy thing happened then. Quinn joined Glee with Santana and Brittany close to the end of the school year to screw up a big performance they had planned and also to get Finn back from Rachel (which didn't happen).
It hits her as she sits down in Glee. Will, no, Mr. Schue mentions something about how nice of an October it has been and she can't help but agree within her head, thinking how not having had to deal with her period left her much less nervous during lifts at practice.
It takes her a second to think that that isn't really a good thing.
Quite the opposite in fact.
She can feel her eyes grow wide and her stomach drop, but everything afterwards is a blur.
She isn't sure how she ended up in her car, driving down I-75 at just the tipping point of too fast, but somehow she makes it almost 30 minutes before her mind and body realign.
It is somewhere around Findlay that she starts to seriously consider the probability of being pregnant. She thinks about how long it had been since she last picked up a tampon (August) and how long it has been since Dayton (September). She considers if it could just be another case of her Cheerio's diet screwing her body up, but after a long count of her recent food intake (a habit she can't break no matter what), she decides it would be impossible. If anything she notices she's been eating more than usually, which doesn't bode well for her at all.
By the time Quinn starts to consider that the achiness in her chest isn't really from lifting Brittany by herself, it's all she can do to keep from breaking down and accidently running her car into a tree in the process.
She's nearing Toledo when she pretty much decides that a pregnancy test would just confirm what she already knows in her heart to be true:
She's pregnant with Will's baby.
More importantly, she's pregnant with Mr. Schuester's baby.
There goes any chance of a normal life.
(Quinn won't admit that normal probably walked out the window when she started flirting with him in the middle of the hotel bar and was absolutely gone when she slept with him later on that night)
This isn't supposed to happen to her. She's the President of the Celibacy Club, the Head Cheerleader, the daughter of one of the most fanatical Glenn Beck fans in Ohio... her life isn't supposed to be straight out of some Lifetime movie (she isn't Rachel Berry for God's sake!).
She passes out of Ohio and into Michigan with no sense of fanfare. Her empty light comes on right next to the "Welcome to Temperance" sign and she can't help but think that if the teetotallers hadn't lost the battle, there would be no chance in hell she'd be pregnant right now. As she pulls into the BP, an overwhelming sense of panic runs over her, spending her sprinting into the single bathroom where she lets out a wail, her arms involuntarily hugging her abdomen (she can't say if she's trying to comfort the baby or squeeze it out... either option is possible). She isn't sure how long she sits in there, rocking back and forth on the toilet seat, before a knock from a worried patron has her cleaning herself up and slipping back into the HBIC mask she knows won't last for long.
She slips the $100 out of its hiding space in her purse and notices the light flashing on her phone. She has 5 missed calls and all of them are from Will. A check of the time shows that her bathroom meltdown had lasted for over 10 minutes and in that time the end of Glee rehearsal would have come. It hurt slightly that at least Santana hadn't called to check on her (Brittany wouldn't have been able to since she put her phone in the dishwasher again), but she really doesn't have time to dwell on the fact her friends are only her friends as far as they can use her, because her phone is going off again and she doesn't want Will to get too freaked out and do something dumb like call her parents.
"Hello?" Quinn's voice sounds shaky to her ears, but she often thinks it sounds that way only to find no one else hears it. She wonders if it's just a case of her being paranoid or if people don't care enough about her to take the time to listen.
"Quinn? What's wrong? What's the matter?" She wasn't expecting his voice to cause such a reaction in her. All at once she wants to laugh and to cry, to shout for joy and yell in fury... it's too overwhelming for her to pick one reaction to have. "Quinn? Please... you just ran out of Glee with this look on your face that... just say something,... I need to know you're alright" Without preamble, she begins to sob again, getting out the words car, out of gas, and Temperance before it becomes too much. She can hear his breath getting labored and the sound of his keys jangling, a sign he is now running to get to his car.
"Did you just say you car was out of gas so you went to a town in Michigan?"If the situation wasn't so dire she would have laughed, but instead she just kept crying, Will trying to calm her down over the phone as he gets into his car. His keys turning in the ignition send some sort of shock through her and as his car engine starts, she let out her confession.
"I think I'm pregnant" For the longest time she only hears the sound of his car running, his breathing so light and shallow that she fears he might pass out. She can only imagine the things that are blasting through his mind (if they are anything like the ones in hers, she feels a remarkable need to comfort him and go back to that hotel room where the reality of their lives didn't matter).
"Where are you?"
"A gas station in Temperance, right off the highway"
"I'll be there as soon as I can"
"No, no, I can just fill up the tank and come back"
"You shouldn't be driving right now, you're upset "
"And you think you're in any better shape? At least I've had time to process this, you-"
"I've been driving for awhile now Quinn, I think I've got this handled"
"If I remember correctly, I think we've established that just by virtue of being an adult, doesn't mean you have the best grip on a situation" Ice Queen, Head Cheerleader Quinn is back and Will immediately regrets what he said.
"You're right, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that" He sighs and she can immediately picture him straightening up in his car seat, preparing what he wants to say, "What I meant is that I just don't want to have to worry about you driving right now... I can't handle that on top of everything." She doesn't feel like arguing with him, not now, not ever really. She can't even bring herself to be angry at him for the whole situation. It was a first for her, actually, normally she is all about placing the blame on someone else, but she can't this time, not when she considers just how insistent she had been that night, how she had went out looking for an adventure and a thrill she had never experienced before.
No one ever accused her of being an underachiever.
Waiting for Will to make it to Temperance gives her more time than she would like to consider what it will mean for her when the test comes back positive (she doesn't foresee it not having that result, not anymore). She had honestly thought she had a shot of getting out of Lima, of seeing the world or at least the rest of the continental United States. A baby would change all that, a baby would mean hurrying through High School by the bare minimum of classes and spending her afternoons studying during naps and between diaper changes and feedings. She can't even begin to consider her parent's reaction... she doesn't want to picture how horrible it will be.
Her mind starts to consider what possible explanation she can tell the world for how she ended up in this mess. It's a case where honesty can't be the best policy for all it will do is bring trouble for everyone. Will is a good man, minus the poor choices he made that night, and he shouldn't be punished for something she was just as, if not more, responsible for (she was the one who'd ordered him that last drink, the one that finally pushed him just past sobriety to the place where bad decisions look good). She'll have to bear not only the cross of a slut, but of a drunk as well (how else would good girl Quinn sleep with someone she had never met before?). She's thinking through her story, leaning back in the seat so passerby will think she's just sleeping, when a knock on her window causes her eyes to flutter open.
Will is looking at her in a way that causes her breath to catch. He's wearing that same longing look she's seen him throw her way a few times since that night, but this time there is a mix of panic and awe to it. She considers for a second that for him, minus the whole situation of how it happened, getting someone pregnant is not exactly the end of the world for him... in fact it is probably the opposite. Anyone who knows anything about Will Schuester will tell you that he is made to be a dad. No matter what, she decides, it has to be possible that Will gets to raise this baby... anything else might kill him, and she can't bear to see that happen.
She unlocks the door and Will immediately opens it, crouching down so he can look her in the eyes.
"Hi." His greeting is simple, almost comically so. She half expected herself to start crying again the minute she set eyes on him but instead she finds herself leaning forward and bringing her lips to his. It's a sweet and gentle press, nothing like how it had been in Dayton. She's surprised when he deepens it though, bringing his hand up to her cheek as he does so. When they finally pull apart she can't help but nuzzle into his palm, seeking comfort and enjoying the feel of his skin too much to relinquish contact. For his part Will seems not to mind it, in fact he seems to be even less inclined than she is to move, and considering he's the one squatting down, he can't be comfortable. She notices the wetness on his face and thinks for a second he is crying, but realizes it's from the rain.
"You're getting rained on," she says softly, knowing it's probably a stupid thing to say, but considering he seems so content to stay where he is, she feels like it might need to be said.
"I could say the same thing about you." She feels the slight spray on her skin then, and it starts to filter in that she's actually damp all over her body. Her uniform feels rough against her skin and she has an overwhelming urge to get out of it and into the change of clothing she has in her bag.
"I didn't even realize it was raining," she thinks aloud, drawing a look from Will that makes her wonder if he thinks she might be a tad bit unhinged. If she's honest with herself, she thinks that she might possibly be. "I guess I was too busy with other things to notice." Will nods in understanding as he moves his thumb against her cheek in a soothing motion, studying her for any sign of distress. Whatever he sees, or doesn't see, seems to make him happy(ish) and he smiles.
"Go change out of that uniform and dry off. I'll get you some gas so we can head out and find a drug store." Quinn goes to grab the $100 she'd been in the process of getting, but Will stills the motion. "I've got it, you just go change."
"Will-" She begins to protest but the look on his face stops her. She remembers back to Dayton when he talked about how much he missed having someone to take care of, missed feeling needed, and she decides to let the issue drop. "Would you grab my bag from the trunk?" He answers by grabbing the keys she left resting in her lap and standing up. As he walks around to the rear of the car, Quinn reaches back into the car and gropes around for the umbrella she always kept there.
She doesn't plan on giving the thing any thought (no matter what Rihanna says, an umbrella is sometimes just an umbrella) but as she moves to open it, the navy and white remind her of where exactly it came from. She can remember her Dad coming back from taking Frannie to her orientation at Xavier, the proud smile on his face and his arms full of all the gear any proud parent could think to buy. The idea that one day he would be smiling that same smile and carrying the same gear because of her had always been one that warmed her heart... now it seemed like a pipe dream.
After all, how many unwed mothers make it to college?
Better yet, after finding out about any of this, what were the odds Russell Fabray would ever smile for her again?
"Is that a Xavier umbrella?" Will's question startles her, but if he notices he doesn't say.
"Yeah, my sister went there. My Dad bought a bunch of stuff the day she got in... I think he thought if he surrounded me with enough things that said Xavier I'd want to attend." Her laugh is sad and the smile on his face loses some of its shine. "But that kind of school isn't for me."
"What sort of school is?" Will is trying to make her smile, trying to get her happy, but it doesn't have the effect he was intending. Instead, Quinn starts to feel the tears pooling in her eyes and she has to look away from him... the guilt of the entire situation is probably already starting to eat him up inside and her tears would just make it that much worse for him.
"Does it even matter anymore?" That wasn't what she wanted to say, not at all. Her tear-filled eyes turn back to Will and are met by ones equally as wet but a hundred times more conflicted. There is guilt there, of course, but a giddiness as well that probably is only serving to make the guilt worse. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"It does matter... no matter what the test says, it does matter. You'll get to go to the school you want, no question... I won't settle for anything less." The hand she'd been reaching out to take the bag from him instead finds its way to his, and again she finds herself unwilling to let go of him. How had she let him go so easily after that night? How had they managed to keep up the facade that nothing had or was going on between them? How much of all of this was simply because of the baby? Was all of it?
Will passes the bag he's still holding into her hand and pulls her gently up and out of her car. The rain is nothing but a drizzle now and they are both way past the point of an umbrella doing them any good (if that wasn't a metaphor for their situation at the moment, she wasn't sure what was). She finds herself caught in his gaze and has to resist an overwhelming urge to lick away a water drop running down the side of his face. If the hungry look in his eyes is any indication, he's fighting the same battle as well.
"You should go on and change so we can go." Will's suggestion brings back the weight of the issue hanging over them. She nods her head in agreement and he finally lets go of her and the bag. She starts to walk towards the bathroom but feels a need to turn back around and get another look at Will. She watches him as he gets into her car and settles in. She knows that it probably shouldn't mean that much to her, but seeing him adjusting the driver's seat and making her car temporarily his gives her this warm feeling she can't quite describe.
In the short time since she'd driven off the lot in her new car she hasn't let a single other person drive it. It wasn't because she didn't trust them (which was a lie she liked to tell herself at night), but because she didn't want to share. With Will though, she didn't mind letting him in, in fact she found herself relishing in it. She knew this was happening all too fast, that decisions and feelings made or felt in such a moment of intensity were notoriously wrong or ill-advised, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Doubt and fear and all those other bad things would have their moments later, Quinn was going to focus on the good for just a few seconds longer.
This time she takes a good look as she enters the restroom. The overwhelming scent of cleaner and air freshener immediately turns her stomach and she had no clue how she had managed to spend all that time in here earlier. Stripping off her uniform, she draws the simple red dress she kept in her bag out and holds it up to the light. She has never worn it before, having bought it on a whim at Target and then promptly forgetting about it once cheering had started up again. She wasn't even sure how it ended up in her car, but as she considers the garment she has to wonder if it's some sort of cosmic joke or irony at work. A scarlet dress is not the typical thing one would wear to find out if your torrid night with your teacher has resulted in a pregnancy, but wearing a cheerleading uniform would probably make the whole experience infinitely more wrong.
Outside is cooler then she remembers it being when she went in. The rain has stopped and in its place is a chill that makes her long for her wool jacket. She sees that Will had finished filling up her car and brought it around to the space closest to the bathroom. She walks towards it and notices Will starting to get out so she can take back her seat, but a raised hand from her stops him and she makes her way to the passenger seat. As she opens the door she is blasted by warm air and she has never been quite so thankful for whoever created the heater. A cardigan she didn't even know she had is waiting for her on the seat and when she pulls it on she realizes there is a reason she didn't know about it because it wasn't hers at all.
"I figured you might want a jacket or something," Will supplies and she looks over at him with a smile. "I, umm, saw a WalMart a little while back. We can go get a test there."
"Just go to a dollar store. Their tests are just as sensitive as any on the market," Quinn comments without a thought as she clicks her seatbelt, but when she hears no reply, she considers how that sounded. For his part, Will is simply staring straight ahead, not wanting to think about how she might know that. "Santana," she supplies as an explanation, and he isn't quite sure that it makes the situation any better, but at least it means she isn't the one who did the research.
"Is that some knowledge she's had to use often?"
"I don't think we are in any position to judge."
"Fair enough." Will feels like a fool for asking, but he hates that Quinn took it the wrong way, although she probably has a point. As much as it was said out of concern, it probably was rooted in some sort of judgment about the girl he had no right to possess. "I didn't mean it-"
"I know," Quinn cuts him off with a sigh, "I just also know what people tend to think about her, and although I have no clue why I feel like I should defend her when she doesn't seem to do it herself, I still do."
"It's because you're a good person Quinn, no matter how misguided you might be at times." They're returning to the conversation from Dayton and it's having an effect on the way she's thinking. Her mind is getting muddled with all the memories of that night and as much as she'd like to get lost in them, now can't be about then, it has to be about... well, now.
"She's only had to use it once... it was right after she heard about the failure rate of condoms and she'd been to one of Puck's parties." It's a stat that Will can't help but wonder at and one Quinn wishes she'd remembered that night. Then again, who really thinks they could ever be in that small percentage where things go wrong?
He pulls out of the gas station and onto the interstate, Quinn navigating him towards the dollar store his iPhone had found on GoogleMaps. It isn't a long drive, but it is long enough to start raising their anxiety. For Quinn, it's all about preparing herself for the inevitable, for the positive that she knows the test will come back with. It's her body and she had gotten to know it well and she can just feel that something is off... and it isn't because of nerves. Will, for his part, is trying to remain as neutral as possible. He remembers the time Terri was sure she was pregnant, how they'd celebrated and prepared... only to find out she'd been lying. He wouldn't get his hopes up until he saw a test... then he would start to think about what all of this meant, and how he was going to be able to handle it without ending up on the unemployment line (better that then jail).
Pulling into the lot, Will is almost already out the door before he even gets the car into park. Quinn isn't sure when it had been decided that he would be the one to buy the test, in fact, she's sure it hadn't been, but she doesn't object. She isn't quite ready for the looks of shame or pity to be directed at her, and she knows Will is sure to get a few "awes" from females who are sure to be charmed by the fact he is the one buying a pregnancy test. The more she thinks about that idea, though, the more a feeling of jealousy starts to come over her, and it's only her deeply developed sense of self-preservation that keeps her from marching into the store and staking her claim on him (although what exactly that claim is, she isn't sure).
The plastic bag Will brings out with him is too big for one simple test. She had figured he would be smart and buy more than one, but she didn't think he would buy out the store's supply. As he passes the bag to her so he can get in the car, she can't stop herself from taking a peek. Inside she finds a number of different tests, as well as some bottled waters and a few snacks. Will shrugs are her inquisitive look. "I figured you might be hungry."
She doesn't pay much attention to where Will is driving the car, instead focusing on the tests and picking which type of cracker she wants. She absent mindedly asks Will if he wants anything while she reads the directions for one of the test brands, and when he mentions the granola bar he bought, she ends up unwrapping it and holding it out in his direction so he can take a bite. The warmth of his breath on her hand finally snaps her out of her daze and she gazes fondly over at him as he chews, a smile starting to form as he notices her attention.
"What?" He asks with a laugh as he finishes swallowing, looking over at Quinn briefly before turning his eyes back to the road. Quinn, though, doesn't turn away, and just keeps watching him as his smile grows. Over the course of many months, she spent a great deal of time studying Will Schuester, learning and observing many different things as the lenses she saw him through changed. Now she is trying to take as honest of an inventory of him as possible.
He's the ultimate Mister Nice Guy. A man who desperately wants to see the good in everyone and desperately wants to succeed. She thinks the fact he spent most of his adult life in a relationship and job that didn't let him shine might be part of the reason why he tries so hard to make the Glee Club successful, and why it seems he tries to push them to recreate his glory days. Why should he try something new when nothing has worked for him since he graduated?
"Your parents are out of town this weekend, aren't they?" It's a question that shouldn't be so easy for him to ask and for her to hear. It should be something that is said awkwardly and with hesitation, but Will barely evens looks away from the road as he throws it out there. His nonchalance says something about just how far the situation has gone.
"Yeah, they're visiting my sister and her husband in Cincinnati." As she considers the question more, she looks over at him in confusion. "How did you know about that?" There is a slight implication there, one that Quinn isn't quite sure she should be comfortable with. The idea Will might have been listening for an opportunity to spend time with her (repeat performance?), is one she finds herself liking much too fast, and one Will denies just as quickly.
"You mentioned it rather loudly during practice on Monday... don't worry, I'm not stalking you."
"I wasn't worried." She pauses before she lets out the next bit, making sure she can get it out confidently and without stumbling on her words. "You wouldn't have to stalk me, though. I'm an open book for you."
Her words send a nervous thrill through Will, just another in the long line of feelings he is still trying to process. One thing he knows is that he shouldn't be enjoying this. Right now his mind should be blazing with worry and images of Figgins firing him and his face all over the newspaper and TV as a predator parents should be looking out for. He shouldn't be this calm, he shouldn't be this rational, and he shouldn't be hoping that the tests come back positive.
There isn't really any way for this to end safely for him. The kiss earlier (and really the kisses and much more in Dayton) is proof that something is brewing between them that Will can't (and doesn't really want to) avoid. This is the age of a more selfish Will Schuester, someone who isn't afraid to strike out for what he wants. But they are so far apart in their lives in so many ways that even with whatever they are feeling, and even with a possible child between them, that taking this anywhere would just be a bad move that probably would end badly naturally if the social forces of the rest of the world didn't get to them first.
He wasn't sure if that thought would be enough for him to stop though. It clearly wasn't shutting him up now.
"An open book, huh? Something tells me I'd be reading you for awhile"
"I can only hope."
Will parks the car in a space in a lot that Quinn hadn't even realized they were in. She looks skeptical and confused as she takes in the hotel in front of her.
"You can't just take the tests anywhere" He looks between the office and her before reaching across the console and taking her hand. "I know I should have asked you this earlier, I actually feel like an idiot now that I didn't, but-"
"I'm late, my chest hurts, I'm going to the bathroom ALL the time, I can't stay in the cafeteria for more than five minutes because I can smell everything in there and I either want to eat it all or puke, and if you haven't noticed, I've been putting Rachel to shame in the difficult department lately." Will laughs before growing silent and letting her finish, "I'm pregnant Will, I just know it" Her green eyes are filled with a sad conviction, but he can't help but remember how Terri had felt so many of these things only to find out it had all been a bodily lie.
He gets the room quickly while Quinn calls her parents and feeds them some lie about staying with Brittany (it's a lie she knows they'll never check on since calling Brittany's house usually involves a 30 minute conversation with her mother). The whole situation is starting to feel surreal and wrong but she doesn't see any way to make it feel more comfortable. The idea of taking one of the tests at her home makes her feel like she'd be defiling it in some way and she doesn't want to risk taking it anywhere else in town. For as long as she can, she has to leave this whole thing outside of Lima (as long as she can will probably end the minute those tests show a positive, but she'll live in oblivion for a few minutes longer).
The room he gets is small, just a simple bed, chair, and TV affair. It isn't as if they plan to stay there long (the fact he spent over $60 on something they only plan to use for a couple hours max makes Quinn feel incredibly guilty), and really the only amenity they are concerned about is the toilet. Neither one is quite sure what to do now that they are actually there. The mechanics of the whole thing really only require Quinn to do something, leaving Will unsure the best way to act as the useless observer.
"Do you wanna help me open the boxes and take a look at the directions?" Quinn asks, trying to involve Will in the process and ease the odd sort of nervous anticipation and tension that has risen between them.
"Yeah, sure." The eagerness in his voice is a little disconcerting, and he sort of cringes when he hears it, but Quinn simply smiles and sits down cross-legged on the bed, pouring out the contents of the bag as she does so. Even though he was the one that bought all of them, Will still manages to be surprised at the amount of test boxes laying there.
"I guess I might have gone a bit overboard," he admits weakly as he joins her, drawing a chuckle from the blonde.
"Yeah, but it's better to be safe than sorry... and it's slightly adorable." The flirty look they share feels odd considering what they are doing, but nice nonetheless. As they open more and more boxes and read aloud the different directions, they find themselves at ease, even laughing as they find themselves sorting tests by amount of time they need. Soon, though, the tests are sorted and the awkwardness starts to return. Quinn's eyes shift nervously from the tests to the bathroom door, while Will tries to avoid looking over that way, instead focusing on Quinn and the TV behind her.
"Why don't I just turn on the TV while you're..." He struggles to find the right word, trying not to acknowledge the specifics of what she'll be doing.
"Yeah, that would be good" He picks up the remote while she picks up the tests, trying to maintain the various different groupings they'd created. Almost as soon as she closes the bathroom door, Will lands on a channel showing the tail-end of Singing In The Rain and even though he knows he should be focusing on what's going on behind the wooden door, he can't help but get slightly enthralled by the images on the TV. As the credits start to roll, Will is tempted to go check on Quinn, but when the opening of High Society starts, he's too flabbergasted by the coincidence to move. He tries to think about what possible sign the universe is trying to send them by playing the movie of the musical that got them into this mess, but comes up with a blank.
"Is that High Society?" He looks over, startled at the sight of Quinn standing in the doorway, drying her hands with a towel.
"Yeah, it is... are you...?" He trails off as he realizes he isn't quite sure what he's asking.
"I figured I'd just wait 10 minutes from when I took the last one to read them all"
"That's smart," he answers lamely, moving over on the bed so she can join him. In the time she'd been in the bathroom, he's sprawled out on the bed, getting comfortable on the outside when he was getting more and more stressed on the inside. Quinn takes the hint and lays down too, sinking into the mattress that might seriously be as old as she is. It long-since stopped being firm and is indented in the middle, causing the twosome to slightly roll into each other. Without much thought, Will finds himself wrapping his arm around her and settling her against him, her head finding a place to lay on his chest. The warmth of his body and the sound of his heart beating lulls her into a slight daze, one that even the impending results can't ruin. She can't remember ever finding this much comfort in Finn, and instead of being saddened by that, she finds herself indifferent.
"I've never had to do this before... wait like this," he comments softly, staring at the images of Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly on the screen.
"Did you and Terri..." She's asking a whole bunch of questions in those few simple words, and Will isn't sure he really wants to answer any of them. He doesn't want to admit the truth of last year to anyone, but if he has to, he finds he doesn't really mind that it's Quinn.
"No, we didn't take a test together." Quinn isn't sure what to make of his short answer, and isn't quite sure what to say in the face of last year being brought up. The fact that Will had almost been a father before is something she doesn't want to bring up, but she wants to understand what happened. The whole school had known about Terri's pregnancy, but no one had known how exactly they'd gone from happily married with a baby on the way to divorced and not pregnant within a matter of weeks. The word miscarriage had floated around but no one had taken the initiative to ask and Will hadn't been that forthcoming.
"I'm sorry that Terri lost-"
"Terri was never pregnant."
"What?" Quinn sits up, looking stunned and confused and feeling an anger starting to form in the pit of her stomach. She can distinctly remember the image of a pregnant Terri walking the halls of McKinley, and can only assume what Will is about to tell her.
"At first she had a hysterical pregnancy... she had all the symptoms but no baby. Once she found out there wasn't one she just decided that instead of telling me like some normal person, she'd pretend she was pregnant and then find some baby to be ours" Quinn isn't quite sure what to say to that. She can see the hurt and resentment forming in Will's eyes as he considers his ex-wife and more than ever (even more then back in Dayton) she can understand just how screwed up Terri left him. Before she knows it, she's leaning down and kissing him, trying to distract him from the pain and desperate to keep him from falling into the memory of his part. She knows that in just a few minutes he'll understand just how much she is his future, but a part of her wants him to come to that realization without the push of a child.
What starts out sweet grows hotter as it continues and Quinn suddenly finds herself trapped underneath Will's body, his lips exploring her neck desperately, finding the places that made her squirm last time. The timer on her cell phone going off should spur them to end this and go into the bathroom, but instead Will seems more desperate to have this continue, almost like he doesn't want to know what all 13 of the sticks are going to say.
"I'll never lie to you like that Will," she breathes out as his lips find a particularly sensitive spot, the same place where she carried his mark for days after Dayton. This time, though, he doesn't try to claim her, he simply rests his lips there, almost reverently. Slowly, though, he draws away and she finds herself looking into watery eyes that make her heart break. "But I'll lie like that for you"
"God, I wish you weren't gonna have to do that." The tests are now a formality to both of them. They're clearly on the same wavelength. Now, though, their dilemma isn't quite so abstract, it's a cold hard fact that is demonstrated by the 13 positive pregnancy tests laying on that bathroom counter. The reality of what they will have to do to survive this is starting to sink in and the notion that they can only do it together is clear. But the one big thought running through both their minds is that they're having a baby, and as absolutely scary and overwhelming that idea is, there is a happiness there (admittedly greater in one than the other), and for just a few minutes, they both need to try to relish in it.
Once they leave the hotel room, they might not get a moment like this for a long time.
This chapter and all others are dedicated to the most awesome writing cheerleader, the lovely Jacky. Without her, nothing else in this story would be written or thought of.