FIC: Step Ball Change, Chapter Three
Title: Step Ball Change, Chapter Three
Characters: Love quadrangle Rachel/Puck/Finn/Quinn, with Brittany and ensemble
Word Count: 1976
Disclaimer: If I owned Glee then all proceeds would go to the Howard Bamboo Legal Defense Fund.
Spoilers/Warnings: Spoilers up to "Mash-Up."
Summary: Rachel, Puck, Finn, and Quinn try to sort out their relationships with one another, while Brittany tries to make new friends in glee club.
A/N: This will probably be AU from the next episode onward, but here it goes anyway. Also, mad props to my beta cameroncrazed, who I force to read eighty drafts of each chapter and still she puts up with me.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
He ended up giving her a ride home. It was quiet and uncomfortable, and she could only think of one thing to say when he pulled up in front of her house.
"I'm sorry, Finn - I'm so, so sorry," Rachel repeated. She was like a record looping endlessly, and her apologies became the chorus she always returned to.
Finn turned to her, his brow furrowed. "What are you even sorry for? You don't have anything to be sorry about."
Rachel sighed and let her head hang down. "I don't know. It just seems like the right thing to say. Is it helping at all?" she asked hopefully.
"Maybe a little," Finn said. A small smile appeared on his face; it wasn't much, and it disappeared quickly. "But Quinn's the one who should be sorry. She cheated on me."
Rachel set her hand on Finn's shoulder. "You cheated on her, too, you know."
"We just... we just kissed, was all."
"Kissing is still cheating." And if only those cosmos weren't virgin, Rachel thought, but she bit her lip to keep from continuing.
"But she told me the baby was mine."
"I know," Rachel offered. "And you're definitely right to be angry about that. All I'm saying is - well, none of us are perfect. And you shouldn't stay angry for too long. The stress is not good for your voice."
What Finn needed, Rachel decided, was a solution, and she was going to help him find it.
****
Quinn's solution was to ignore everything as long as possible, to pretend there was nothing wrong.
Too bad that hadn't worked out really well with Sue Sylvester and the Cheerios. It certainly wasn't working out with Finn. And it made Spanish class really weird for Brittany.
At the beginning of the period, Finn leaned back, stretching, and a small folded piece of paper suddenly landed between Quinn and Brittany. Quinn steadfastly ignored it, so Brittany took it and opened it. She didn't get past "Dear Quinn" before she turned to her deskmate. "It's for you," she whispered to Quinn, sliding it along the tabletop.
Quinn huffed and continued to stare straight ahead.
Stymied, Brittany re-folded the note and wrote "return to sender" in large, loopy letters on the front. She reached forward and tapped Finn on the shoulder, and when he turned she pressed the note into his hands. Finn glanced down at it, and glared at Quinn, who was still willfully ignoring the whole situation.
While Mr. Schue went on about second-person singular, Finn decided to try a different tack to get Quinn's attention. "Brittany," he whispered. "Do me a favor and tell Quinn she's a liar and a cheater."
Brittany's eyebrows went up, but she did as she was told. "Quinn, Finn said to tell you that you're a liar and a cheater."
"I'm not deaf, Brittany," Quinn icily replied.
Finn tried again. "Brittany, tell Quinn she's a horrible person."
"I don't think I want to do that," Brittany said.
"Tell Quinn that the least she could do is talk to me."
"I think she can hear you."
"Brittany," Quinn interjected, "don't listen to him. Ignore him."
"Brittany, tell Quinn she's a bitch."
"Tell Finn he's being an ass and should let you pay attention to class."
Brittany's hand shot up, and both Finn and Quinn were silenced for a moment.
"Yes, Brittany?" Mr. Schue asked.
"I think I'd like to change my seat," she told him.
****
With Quinn giving Finn the cold shoulder, Rachel decided to take matters into her own hands and planned to confront Puck in the hall outside of the music room before glee practice. He had his guitar slung across his back and his hands shoved into his pockets, and when he saw Rachel he tried pretending that he didn't see her, but as he'd learned from their brief relationship, she was... pushy, to say the least.
"Noah," she called out, and he rolled his eyes at being called by his name. "We need to talk. This whole Finn and Quinn situation is out of hand."
"Yeah, and what does that have to do with me?" Puck shot back.
"Just because he doesn't know yet doesn't mean that I haven't figured it out, Puck," Rachel hissed. "How could you do that? He's your best friend."
Puck stopped, leaning against the cool tiles of the hallway wall. As though he didn't feel awful enough about the whole situation, here was Rachel Berry of all people rubbing salt in the wound.
"No wonder you always made eyes at her. I bet when you were making out with me you were imagining that you were with her."
That wasn't true, but Puck figured it was better to let Rachel believe that. "Like you weren't doing the same thing with Finn," he retorted. "You know what, Rachel, I don't need a lecture from you. In fact, I think you owe me a thank-you. Now Finn's all yours."
"He's heartbroken, Puck. He's lost a girlfriend and a baby all at once. This isn't funny."
"It is funny, though," Puck said, growling. "It's funny how none of this is any of your business."
Rachel returned his hostile stare without flinching. She was determined to convince him, no matter what it took. "Listen, Puck - you want to fix things between you and Quinn, right?"
Puck was silent. Rachel took it as an affirmation.
"Then you need to sort things out with Finn first. You'll never get to be with her unless you straighten this whole mess out."
Puck's eyebrows knitted; he was lost in thought for a moment. He thought about how weird Rachel was - too aware, too knowledgeable, too perceptive for a sophomore. He wondered briefly what would have happened between them if he'd spent less time slushy-ing her and more time getting to know her, because with Rachel there was a lot going on that he couldn't understand. She was too much for him to handle; the easiest thing to do would be to concede. "Fine," he said. "Tell Mr. Schue I'm going to be late." With that, he did an about-face and stalked off in the opposite direction.
Satisfied, Rachel inhaled deeply. Now it was time for her to execute part two of her plan, and for that, she needed to find Quinn.
****
"Hey, bro, can I talk to you for a sec?" Puck asked. He'd found Finn lingering at his locker, as though he couldn't decide whether to go to glee practice or not. Finn's indecision gave Puck the perfect opportunity to talk to him without the other gleeks coming down on him the way Rachel had. There was no turning back now. "It's about Quinn."
"Quinn and I aren't really talking right now," Finn replied. He struggled to sound matter-of-fact but the breaks in his voice betrayed him.
"I know," Puck said. "And it's my fault."
Finn shut his locker; the metallic echo punctuated the silence of the empty hallway. "It's your fault that Quinn slept with someone else and got knocked up and then lied to me for weeks about it?" he asked, the words tumbling out faster than he meant them to.
Puck shoved his hands into his pockets. He steeled himself for what was going to happen next. "Well... yeah. What you said."
For a moment Finn's expression was as blank as it always was, but as he began to process Puck's words, realization crept slowly across his face. "You did... you're the... you and Quinn?" he stammered. With Finn being Finn, however, his realization was accompanied by some serious confusion. "But she hated you."
"She still kind of does," Puck admitted, but his thoughts were racing. Why doesn't he just hit me already?
"And she... had sex with you?"
"We had some wine coolers together when you were staying late for extra practice. She... we weren't making good decisions just then."
Finn sighed. He was near tears again, but he managed to hold back on crying outright. "Congratulations, then, I guess," he said, his voice strangely devoid of emotion. "Mazel tov or whatever."
"Look, dude," Puck yelled, "just hit me. Come on. I won't even fight back; I deserve it."
But by now Finn simply didn't have the energy. He was too heartsick to raise a hand to Puck just then. Instead, he used a far more powerful weapon. "You know she's giving it up?" he said. It was more a statement than a question, and having said that Finn slung his backpack over one shoulder and walked away.
Puck had been, once again, stunned into silence.
Damn it.
Six words strike again.
****
She didn't go to glee that day. Instead, he found her at her locker, picking at the "Celebrating Celibacy" poster with her thumbnail. She was starting to show now, confirming the rumors that had been circulating through the McKinley High halls for weeks, so the poster couldn't come down a moment too soon.
He came up behind her, punching the locker beside hers to catch her attention. She startled and glanced at him, then rolled her eyes and returned to her task.
"When were you going to tell me? Were you planning on telling me?"
Quinn looked sullenly over her shoulder. "You know, I haven't been great at telling a lot of people a lot of things lately," she replied, "so you're going to have to be more specific."
"You're giving it up," he told her. "You're giving our baby up."
Quinn paused. "What do you want me to do, Puck?" She turned around to face him, anger in her eyes and embarrassment flush on her cheeks. "Marry you and raise a baby and forget about college and everything else?"
"Well... yeah, kinda," Puck replied. He hadn't thought as far as marriage, but he wanted to be with her. "Listen, I know I'm not Finn, but I can be better than that. I want to be a dad. We could be a family. And that doesn't mean you have to give up school. I could get a job and take care of the kid, and you could study and stuff."
"That's all... that's all very sweet, Puck." She put her hand on his shoulder, idly running her fingers over his shirt collar. He watched her pinch the fabric between her thumb and her forefinger, her perfectly manicured nails shining as they caught the fluorescent light. He was glad for the distraction; he was afraid to look her in the eye as she spoke to him. "I know you're trying and everything. I never should have called you a Lima loser, because you're not. But the thing is - I like my life the way it is, or the way it was, at least. If I keep the baby, then I can't go back to that. And I already have a family ready to adopt."
"Tell them you changed your mind," Puck suggested, still unable to lift his gaze to meet hers. His voice was wavering, and he had to clear his throat to continue. "Tell them you need more time to think about it."
"I don't," she said. "I can't." She shut her locker door and pressed her forehead against it; it was cool and relieving and helped her keep her balance while she was knocking Puck off his. "You're off the hook, Puck. You should be relieved."
Puck sucked in his breath; looking past Quinn, he could see Rachel Berry coming towards them. "This conversation isn't over," he said, and he punched the locker again for emphasis. "I'm outta here." He quickly made his exit before Rachel could catch up to the two of them.
"You missed glee practice again today," Rachel remarked as she approached. Quinn found the brightness in her voice today extra irritating, and only glared in reply.
"Listen, Quinn," Rachel said. "We need to talk."
Characters: Love quadrangle Rachel/Puck/Finn/Quinn, with Brittany and ensemble
Word Count: 1976
Disclaimer: If I owned Glee then all proceeds would go to the Howard Bamboo Legal Defense Fund.
Spoilers/Warnings: Spoilers up to "Mash-Up."
Summary: Rachel, Puck, Finn, and Quinn try to sort out their relationships with one another, while Brittany tries to make new friends in glee club.
A/N: This will probably be AU from the next episode onward, but here it goes anyway. Also, mad props to my beta cameroncrazed, who I force to read eighty drafts of each chapter and still she puts up with me.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
He ended up giving her a ride home. It was quiet and uncomfortable, and she could only think of one thing to say when he pulled up in front of her house.
"I'm sorry, Finn - I'm so, so sorry," Rachel repeated. She was like a record looping endlessly, and her apologies became the chorus she always returned to.
Finn turned to her, his brow furrowed. "What are you even sorry for? You don't have anything to be sorry about."
Rachel sighed and let her head hang down. "I don't know. It just seems like the right thing to say. Is it helping at all?" she asked hopefully.
"Maybe a little," Finn said. A small smile appeared on his face; it wasn't much, and it disappeared quickly. "But Quinn's the one who should be sorry. She cheated on me."
Rachel set her hand on Finn's shoulder. "You cheated on her, too, you know."
"We just... we just kissed, was all."
"Kissing is still cheating." And if only those cosmos weren't virgin, Rachel thought, but she bit her lip to keep from continuing.
"But she told me the baby was mine."
"I know," Rachel offered. "And you're definitely right to be angry about that. All I'm saying is - well, none of us are perfect. And you shouldn't stay angry for too long. The stress is not good for your voice."
What Finn needed, Rachel decided, was a solution, and she was going to help him find it.
****
Quinn's solution was to ignore everything as long as possible, to pretend there was nothing wrong.
Too bad that hadn't worked out really well with Sue Sylvester and the Cheerios. It certainly wasn't working out with Finn. And it made Spanish class really weird for Brittany.
At the beginning of the period, Finn leaned back, stretching, and a small folded piece of paper suddenly landed between Quinn and Brittany. Quinn steadfastly ignored it, so Brittany took it and opened it. She didn't get past "Dear Quinn" before she turned to her deskmate. "It's for you," she whispered to Quinn, sliding it along the tabletop.
Quinn huffed and continued to stare straight ahead.
Stymied, Brittany re-folded the note and wrote "return to sender" in large, loopy letters on the front. She reached forward and tapped Finn on the shoulder, and when he turned she pressed the note into his hands. Finn glanced down at it, and glared at Quinn, who was still willfully ignoring the whole situation.
While Mr. Schue went on about second-person singular, Finn decided to try a different tack to get Quinn's attention. "Brittany," he whispered. "Do me a favor and tell Quinn she's a liar and a cheater."
Brittany's eyebrows went up, but she did as she was told. "Quinn, Finn said to tell you that you're a liar and a cheater."
"I'm not deaf, Brittany," Quinn icily replied.
Finn tried again. "Brittany, tell Quinn she's a horrible person."
"I don't think I want to do that," Brittany said.
"Tell Quinn that the least she could do is talk to me."
"I think she can hear you."
"Brittany," Quinn interjected, "don't listen to him. Ignore him."
"Brittany, tell Quinn she's a bitch."
"Tell Finn he's being an ass and should let you pay attention to class."
Brittany's hand shot up, and both Finn and Quinn were silenced for a moment.
"Yes, Brittany?" Mr. Schue asked.
"I think I'd like to change my seat," she told him.
****
With Quinn giving Finn the cold shoulder, Rachel decided to take matters into her own hands and planned to confront Puck in the hall outside of the music room before glee practice. He had his guitar slung across his back and his hands shoved into his pockets, and when he saw Rachel he tried pretending that he didn't see her, but as he'd learned from their brief relationship, she was... pushy, to say the least.
"Noah," she called out, and he rolled his eyes at being called by his name. "We need to talk. This whole Finn and Quinn situation is out of hand."
"Yeah, and what does that have to do with me?" Puck shot back.
"Just because he doesn't know yet doesn't mean that I haven't figured it out, Puck," Rachel hissed. "How could you do that? He's your best friend."
Puck stopped, leaning against the cool tiles of the hallway wall. As though he didn't feel awful enough about the whole situation, here was Rachel Berry of all people rubbing salt in the wound.
"No wonder you always made eyes at her. I bet when you were making out with me you were imagining that you were with her."
That wasn't true, but Puck figured it was better to let Rachel believe that. "Like you weren't doing the same thing with Finn," he retorted. "You know what, Rachel, I don't need a lecture from you. In fact, I think you owe me a thank-you. Now Finn's all yours."
"He's heartbroken, Puck. He's lost a girlfriend and a baby all at once. This isn't funny."
"It is funny, though," Puck said, growling. "It's funny how none of this is any of your business."
Rachel returned his hostile stare without flinching. She was determined to convince him, no matter what it took. "Listen, Puck - you want to fix things between you and Quinn, right?"
Puck was silent. Rachel took it as an affirmation.
"Then you need to sort things out with Finn first. You'll never get to be with her unless you straighten this whole mess out."
Puck's eyebrows knitted; he was lost in thought for a moment. He thought about how weird Rachel was - too aware, too knowledgeable, too perceptive for a sophomore. He wondered briefly what would have happened between them if he'd spent less time slushy-ing her and more time getting to know her, because with Rachel there was a lot going on that he couldn't understand. She was too much for him to handle; the easiest thing to do would be to concede. "Fine," he said. "Tell Mr. Schue I'm going to be late." With that, he did an about-face and stalked off in the opposite direction.
Satisfied, Rachel inhaled deeply. Now it was time for her to execute part two of her plan, and for that, she needed to find Quinn.
****
"Hey, bro, can I talk to you for a sec?" Puck asked. He'd found Finn lingering at his locker, as though he couldn't decide whether to go to glee practice or not. Finn's indecision gave Puck the perfect opportunity to talk to him without the other gleeks coming down on him the way Rachel had. There was no turning back now. "It's about Quinn."
"Quinn and I aren't really talking right now," Finn replied. He struggled to sound matter-of-fact but the breaks in his voice betrayed him.
"I know," Puck said. "And it's my fault."
Finn shut his locker; the metallic echo punctuated the silence of the empty hallway. "It's your fault that Quinn slept with someone else and got knocked up and then lied to me for weeks about it?" he asked, the words tumbling out faster than he meant them to.
Puck shoved his hands into his pockets. He steeled himself for what was going to happen next. "Well... yeah. What you said."
For a moment Finn's expression was as blank as it always was, but as he began to process Puck's words, realization crept slowly across his face. "You did... you're the... you and Quinn?" he stammered. With Finn being Finn, however, his realization was accompanied by some serious confusion. "But she hated you."
"She still kind of does," Puck admitted, but his thoughts were racing. Why doesn't he just hit me already?
"And she... had sex with you?"
"We had some wine coolers together when you were staying late for extra practice. She... we weren't making good decisions just then."
Finn sighed. He was near tears again, but he managed to hold back on crying outright. "Congratulations, then, I guess," he said, his voice strangely devoid of emotion. "Mazel tov or whatever."
"Look, dude," Puck yelled, "just hit me. Come on. I won't even fight back; I deserve it."
But by now Finn simply didn't have the energy. He was too heartsick to raise a hand to Puck just then. Instead, he used a far more powerful weapon. "You know she's giving it up?" he said. It was more a statement than a question, and having said that Finn slung his backpack over one shoulder and walked away.
Puck had been, once again, stunned into silence.
Damn it.
Six words strike again.
****
She didn't go to glee that day. Instead, he found her at her locker, picking at the "Celebrating Celibacy" poster with her thumbnail. She was starting to show now, confirming the rumors that had been circulating through the McKinley High halls for weeks, so the poster couldn't come down a moment too soon.
He came up behind her, punching the locker beside hers to catch her attention. She startled and glanced at him, then rolled her eyes and returned to her task.
"When were you going to tell me? Were you planning on telling me?"
Quinn looked sullenly over her shoulder. "You know, I haven't been great at telling a lot of people a lot of things lately," she replied, "so you're going to have to be more specific."
"You're giving it up," he told her. "You're giving our baby up."
Quinn paused. "What do you want me to do, Puck?" She turned around to face him, anger in her eyes and embarrassment flush on her cheeks. "Marry you and raise a baby and forget about college and everything else?"
"Well... yeah, kinda," Puck replied. He hadn't thought as far as marriage, but he wanted to be with her. "Listen, I know I'm not Finn, but I can be better than that. I want to be a dad. We could be a family. And that doesn't mean you have to give up school. I could get a job and take care of the kid, and you could study and stuff."
"That's all... that's all very sweet, Puck." She put her hand on his shoulder, idly running her fingers over his shirt collar. He watched her pinch the fabric between her thumb and her forefinger, her perfectly manicured nails shining as they caught the fluorescent light. He was glad for the distraction; he was afraid to look her in the eye as she spoke to him. "I know you're trying and everything. I never should have called you a Lima loser, because you're not. But the thing is - I like my life the way it is, or the way it was, at least. If I keep the baby, then I can't go back to that. And I already have a family ready to adopt."
"Tell them you changed your mind," Puck suggested, still unable to lift his gaze to meet hers. His voice was wavering, and he had to clear his throat to continue. "Tell them you need more time to think about it."
"I don't," she said. "I can't." She shut her locker door and pressed her forehead against it; it was cool and relieving and helped her keep her balance while she was knocking Puck off his. "You're off the hook, Puck. You should be relieved."
Puck sucked in his breath; looking past Quinn, he could see Rachel Berry coming towards them. "This conversation isn't over," he said, and he punched the locker again for emphasis. "I'm outta here." He quickly made his exit before Rachel could catch up to the two of them.
"You missed glee practice again today," Rachel remarked as she approached. Quinn found the brightness in her voice today extra irritating, and only glared in reply.
"Listen, Quinn," Rachel said. "We need to talk."