Fic: Out of the Blue, Part 37b by Sapphire (PG-13)

[sapphireej]

Title: Out of the Blue, Part 37b
Author: Sapphire (sapphiresfic)
Pairing/Characters: Rachel, Puck, Rachel/Puck, the Glee clubbers
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3,866
Spoilers: Up to 1x13 ~ Sectionals; just to be safe
Series: 'Out of the Blue' (List of all the parts on my LJ)
Summary: Family meeting and the return to school...
Disclaimer: I am just borrowing them for the fun of writing, BUT I do own the plot and ideas.
A/N: Not beta'd; all mistakes are mine. Please mention them if you find any.
A/N2: Sectionals was amazing! I loved it! This story is mostly AU after Mash-up, but with some of the topics discussed in the later episodes, I may sneak in a conversation or cover the same topic, but I will put my own twist on it.
A/N3: Feedback keeps me writing, so keep it coming :D

~*~
 

The family meeting had been on Wednesday and the rest of the Spring Break, everyone kept a low profile. Through the gossip/phone tree of the Glee Club, everyone found out that Quinn and Ethan were safe, and thankfully, they respected her wish to wait until Quinn returned to school before they saw her; she just wanted to spend time with Finn. Rachel spent time with her dads while Puck worked, and when he wasn't working, he was at home with his family, and Rachel came over to help make sure the nursery was ready and to be a part of the Puckermans.
 

Since Quinn was a minor and Ethan was a cop, the Lima Police, local sheriff and the Detroit SRT were able to keep the news of their kidnapping a secret from the newspapers, so no one knew what happened unless they were friends with Quinn or someone in the club, and even then, they were keeping tight lipped on what happened, knowing they didn't want to return to school on Monday and have everyone attacking Quinn with questions.
 

Ethan told Deborah the whole story of what happened from his perspective and she was pretty shaken up by what he told her. He asked her to keep an eye on Quinn, because even though she was fine at the moment, she was a ticking time-bomb waiting to go off. Deborah promised to watch Quinn, hoping Quinn would be alright.
 

~*~
 

Rachel stayed at the Puckerman's Sunday night and Quinn stayed with Finn, the four planning to go to school the next morning at the same time, so Quinn had their moral support as she faced the new day. Rachel had made the call to their friends saying what time they'd get to school and if they wanted to meet them, they could, but not to ask a bunch of questions about what happened, just know that Quinn would need the support, even if she seemed fine. As the four teens walked towards the school, the entire club was waiting, all offering hugs to Quinn in greeting, respecting Rachel's advice and not asking a bunch of questions.
 

Going into the school as a large group, pausing at Finn and Puck's locker to get their books, one of the Juniors that had been playing football since middle school with Puck and Finn rushed up to them, "Oh my God, Finn! Puck! Did you guys hear?"
 

"Hear what, JD?" Puck asked knowing exactly what he was going to say.
 

"Coach Tanaka got canned! No one knows why, but we're out of a football coach for next year unless we can find a replacement!" He exclaimed.
 

Quinn gasped, but calmly remained where she was next to Finn, while Puck tried to get rid of JD.
 

"Oh yeah, we heard about that," Puck nodded, "Mr. Schue found out while we were at National's," Puck added motioning towards the rest of the club.
 

"Alright, okay, but what are we going to do? It's our Senior year, we have to play."
 

"On a team that can't win without dancing on the field?" Puck asked with a raised eyebrow.
 

"But still! It's football!"
 

Finn rolled his eyes, "dude, deal. I'm sure there's a whole bunch of guys willing to coach. They'll find someone; football practices don't start until the middle of August before the first day of school, there's plenty of time."
 

JD sighed, giving up his rant with them and went off to some other friends. Thankful that he was gone, Puck slipped his arm around Rachel and walked with her and the rest of the club towards her locker, the girls huddling around Quinn and Finn as if to protect Quinn.
 

Everyone could tell Quinn wasn't fine, but kept their distance. By lunch, no one could find her. "She's probably running late," Rachel said as she, Puck and Finn sat down.
 

Their friends were around, but no one had a clue where Quinn was, until Deborah came towards their table, "Noah, Finn, Rachel, can you guys come with me?" She asked calmly, but the look on her face told Puck something wasn't good.
 

"Mom, what's wrong?" Puck asked quickly, "is it the baby?"
 

"No," she shook her head, "just come to my office," she said before turning around and heading back the way she had come.
 

The three exchanged glances with their friends, but quickly got up and gathered their stuff, following the path Deborah had taken, arriving in her office a few moments later to see Quinn sitting at Deborah's desk, talking on the phone with someone, her eyes were red and swollen and she looked like she'd been crying for a while. Deborah closed the door behind the three, "she's talking to Ethan," she whispered.
 

"...I can't... Every time I turn around, someone is asking me if I know why he's gone... I don't know how much more of this I can take and it's only the first day! No one knows, but if I keep getting upset they're going to figure it out and I don't want to tell them! You were almost shot protecting me from them! I really thought I was fine, but I'm not..."
 

Puck's eyes widened and glanced at his mom who just nodded sadly, "he told me."
 

Rachel dropped her bag and sat down in the closest seat, tears welling up in her eyes.
 

A light knocking on the door startled them all and Deborah glanced to see the principal, so she opened the door, "thanks for coming, Principal Figgins," she said softly.
 

"Anytime," he replied.
 

"Yeah... They all are... Okay... Thanks Ethan... Okay," she said softly, hanging up the phone and wiping her eyes, getting up to move towards her boyfriend who was standing by her now. "Ethan is on his way in," she said.
 

Deborah nodded, "okay."
 

"What's going on?" Puck asked calmly.
 

"Your mother filled me in on exactly what happened over the break with your father and Ms. Fabray," Figgins said, "and now we're going to discuss what we should do."
 

"Do for what?" Finn asked.
 

"To see how we need to handle this. Emma isn't the person to talk to about this, so the next person is Ms. Puckerman as the school nurse. Also as her boyfriend," he looked at Finn, and then looked at Puck and Rachel, "and as parents to the child she's carrying, it's in our best interests to figure out what we should do, for Ms. Fabray and the child."
 

"Which is why Ethan and David are on their way," Deborah said.
 

"My dad?" Rachel asked.
 

Deborah nodded, "he's the psychologist. He knows more than I do on this," she admitted.
 

The room was silent for a few moments, until a knock and on the door interrupted their silence and Deborah turned to let Ethan and David in, "thanks for coming guys."
 

Ethan greeted her silently with a light kiss to her cheek, as he stepped in, standing next to her, while David moved further into the room. "It's no problem," David commented, "anything to help."
 

"So now what?" Finn asked, "why isn't Mr. Schuester and Ms. Pillsbury here?"
 

"Emma is not taking this well and Will is trying to keep her calm. They agreed to let us handle it and they would support what we decide to do."
 

"Do for what?" Puck snapped.
 

"We need to figure out what we can tell the students. The kids are confused and want to know why Ken got fired. The longer they speculate and the more Quinn gets upset, they are going to start putting it together and we really don't want them to," Deborah said. "But the other issue is we need to figure out how to help Quinn. She can't be going through school every day like this and this news might not die down soon."
 

"My teachers are willing to let me do my work at home if someone turns it in to them," Quinn said softly, "they said they would do that after I have the baby since I wouldn't be able to come to school; why can't I start early?" She asked softly.
 

"That's up to Principal Figgins," Deborah admitted. "He knows what happened, but when I spoke to him you were fine, so now, things have changed," she added.
 

"I have already pulled your records and you are a good student and because of this, I do not see a problem in it. I'm going to call your teachers in and speak to all of them after school. If you've already talked to them about finishing up your classes by staying home and having someone turn your work in, I don't see an issue with you starting a few weeks early, as long as you get your work turned in regularly and keep in contact with them through phone calls or e-mails," he replied looking at her.
 

Quinn nodded, "I can do that. Thank you," she whispered.
 

While they had discussed her classes, Ethan had taken a seat at Deborah's desk and was typing something up on the computer.
 

"What are you doing?" Deborah asked curiously.
 

"Writing what to say," he said as his fingers continued to graze over the keys until he hit the print button with a mouse-click and a few moments later the printer spit out a piece of paper. Reaching over for it, he handed it over to David, "mind looking that over? It's written as if it's from Vice... Sorry Principal Figgins," Ethan laughed a little.
 

Figgins looked at Ethan, "I knew I recognized you. You played hockey right?"
 

"Yes sir," Ethan nodded.
 

David slipped his reading glasses on and took the offered paper from Ethan, his eyes focusing on the words as he read over what had been written.
 

"Students and Staff,
 

It has come to my attention that many of you are curious why Mr. Ken Tanaka has been terminated from his position at this school.
 

Over Spring Break, Mr. Tanaka partook in a criminal act by aiding in the kidnapping of a student at this school, as well as one other person with the student. Due to the severity of this illegal act on anyone, especially a student, the school district terminated Mr. Tanaka, therefore he will no longer be able to teach or coach within this district.
 

Tanaka is currently in jail, with criminal charges against him. Due to the magnitude of this, the parties involved ask to remain anonymous, to keep their involvement to a minimum. They also ask that if you know something, please do not repeat the information in order to protect the families and friends involved directly.
 

Principal Figgins"
 

"That's good," David nodded, "and this way no one has to know who. And we can say the reason why Quinn isn't here is because of the pregnancy, which is possible anyway, it's what? Five weeks away or less?" David asked handing the paper to Figgins.
 

"Well, officially I'm due May fifteenth," Quinn said, "but it could be sooner, so I'm told."
 

"I'd say two weeks early," Deborah said with a nod. "Every person is different; some women can work up until they have their child, some have to spend the last month or two in bed because of the stress on their body. Noah was two weeks early, so she could be here any day," she admitted.
 

Figgins nodded at the letter, "this is good, I will have it printed up and passed out by sixth period. Mr. Berry, you're free to take Quinn home if she would like to go, since you're now listed as a guardian."
 

David nodded, "yeah, I'll check her out," he replied.
 

"Quinn, may I assume that Ms. Puckerman will be the one to bring home your school work and turn it in for you?" Figgins asked.
 

"If she doesn't mind," Quinn replied from across the room.
 

"No, I don't mind," Deborah said.
 

"Okay, could you please come into my office after school so you can be there when I talk to her teachers?" He asked.
 

"Yeah, I'll be there," she nodded.
 

"Okay, so I believe I'm through here. I'll let you guys talk," he said stepping to the door.
 

"Principal Figgins," Quinn said softly, waiting for him to stop, "thank you for doing this."
 

"You're welcome, Ms. Fabray," he smiled at her and nodded at everyone before leaving the office, closing the door behind him.
 

They were all silent for a moment before David spoke up, "Quinn, can I ask what brought this on?"
 

"Everyone kept talking about him being fired and I couldn't stand it anymore. I've been up here since just after second period got over," she wiped her eyes, "I couldn't say anything to anyone about it and it was frustrating because I hate him! He helped her and..." She started sobbing, but pushed on to explain, "he could have shot Ethan... It was so close and he had it in his hand..."
 

Ethan rubbed his hands over his face and stood up, moving towards her, "but I didn't get shot and neither did you, we're okay," he assured her, "we're safe and it didn't happen, so you don't need to keep wondering what would have happened. It's done and over with, so let us help you pick up the pieces. Talk to us."
 

Quinn lost it, "this is all my fault... I cheated on my boyfriend with his best friend who got me pregnant, then I lied to Finn, and told Puck he wasn't good enough to be a father, so I promised Terri she could have the baby, then Puck got hurt and wanted her and... I told him he could have her, but Terri wouldn't leave me alone, so he told Mr. Schuester and then they got divorced and... And I hurt Finn and now Emma is with Will and it pissed off Ken and now... She kidnapped me to take what she thought was hers and... then you... You were protecting me and you could have gotten shot, all because of me... And if Terri had gotten her, Rachel and Puck would never get to have their daughter," she sobbed falling against Ethan as she did.
 

Ethan wrapped his arms around her gently, letting her cry as his eyes drifted around the room. Rachel was wrapped in Puck's arms, holding her, both of them were upset, Finn had a look of shock and fear on his face, Deborah was wiping her eyes and David sat silently, listening. Quinn pulled away from Ethan with a soft, 'thanks' before she moved back into her boyfriends arms, "I'm so sorry, Finn, so so sorry," she cried.
 

Finn wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, "I know you are and I forgave both of you a long time ago," he murmured.
 

The cop in the room moved back over to his fiancée, pulling her against him and rubbing her back gently for a moment before pulling away, the room silent except for Quinn's sobs.
 

"Quinn," David said softly, "why don't you sit down so we can talk."
 

Quinn turned from Finn and slowly took the seat next to David, "about what?" She asked wiping her eyes.
 

"What you just said. You're blaming yourself for a lot of things you had no control over," he said, "and things that you have already dealt with. You and Noah both admitted you made a mistake and Finn has forgiven both of you. Terri was using you. She knew she was lying to Will and saw you as an easy out because you didn't want to keep the baby. She was so adamant that it scared you enough to tell Noah when he confronted you because he wanted to keep his daughter. He only told Will to protect his daughter and Will and Terri's divorce was not your fault; neither was Ken and Emma's break up," he explained.
 

"And Terri wasn't thinking straight. She got help from Ken because he was upset over Emma and they both wanted their partner back; they did what they thought was right. Ken figured if Will got back with Terri, that Emma would come back to Ken," Ethan explained, "so don't blame yourself. Terri was mentally unstable which is why she kept flying off the handle when she didn't like something we said or did, so you had nothing to do with her being like that," Ethan added.
 

Quinn took a couple long deep breaths and nodded, squeezing Finn's hand, "I... I guess that makes sense," she sighed, "I was just... so scared... I didn't understand and now I just... Things are just coming to me..."
 

"They will keep coming as long as you let them," David said softly, "when you get one, push it away with a good thought... Like that you're fine; that you and Finn are happy together... Something good that will help overpower the bad thoughts or come to us and we'll help."
 

"I don't blame you for anything that happened," Puck said softly.
 

"Neither do I," Rachel replied turning around in her boyfriend's arms to look at Quinn, wiping her own eyes, "you didn't do anything wrong, Quinn."
 

Tears fell form Quinn's eyes as she nodded, standing up and moving to Rachel and Puck, hugging both of them, whispering 'thank you,' before sitting back down after grabbing some tissues from a box on Deborah's desk.
 

"Dad, can I go home, too?" Rachel asked David quietly, "I can't stay."
 

David nodded, "yeah, if you'd like to," he agreed.
 

Quinn was through talking and just wanted to go. Puck and Finn had both driven to school and the current time was in the middle of fifth period. Puck didn't want to miss his sixth period, so he and Finn chose to stay. The whole group walked down to the girls' lockers so they could get their books before saying 'goodbye' to their boyfriends, Ethan and Deborah.
 

Ethan, Deborah, Puck and Finn promised to come over to the Berry's later, so with that promise, David led the two girls up to the office to check them out for the rest of the day, while Finn and Puck went to their lockers to get their books. The bell rang overhead to end the current period, so the two closed their lockers, nodded at Deborah and Ethan and silently headed off to their classes. "Do you think they're going to be alright?" Deborah asked softly as she and Ethan walked back to her office.

Ethan shrugged, "I hope so, but I don't know," he admitted, "they can hold it in until they get home," he added, pausing a moment to look around, "this brings back memories," he commented glancing at her as they walked through the hall.
 

Deborah blushed a little, "yeah, it does. I think the last time we walked through here, it was our last day of high school," she replied.
 

Reaching the hallway by her office, Ethan grinned, "out of curiosity have you told Noah ---"
 

"Do not even finish that," Deborah snapped.
 

"What? You don't even know what I was going to ask," he smirked.
 

"By your smirk I do and I have not and do not plan to tell our son where he was created!"
 

"Uh, Deb---"
 

"Don't interrupt! Do you really think I want our son knowing that our first time was in the same room that he spends most of his time? The room where he was created?"
 

"Deb, I'd..." Ethan tried to stop her again.
 

"It's hard enough to even walk into the choir room myself without blushing like a teenager!"
 

"Holy fucking shit!" Came an explanation from the other end of the hall.
 

"Well, if you didn't want to tell him, I think your plan just backfired," Ethan muttered, ducking his head.
 

Deborah's eyes widened to see their son standing there, white as a ghost with his books for his next class in his hands, "Noah! What are you...? Did you hear...?"
 

He walked quickly towards them, "I left my backpack in your office and now I'm thinking I should have just gone without it," he hissed pushing past them into her office to get what he came for.
 

"I tried to stop you," Ethan told her.
 

"Well, you should have tried harder!" She retorted, sighing as she stepped into her office with Ethan behind her, "Noah, I didn't want you to find out at all, let alone like this."
 

"Don't," he shook his head and held up his hand, "I don't want to hear it." He shared a glance with each of his parents, before continuing quickly, "I'm here, so I know at some point you two had sex and as much as it grosses me out to think it was in the choir room, I won't deny there are a few places in this school myself and other girls have... So whatever..." He motioned between them, "this is where you two were eleven years ago, so don't start snapping at each other, alright. I've got enough to deal with right now. I don't need to have you two bickering about stupid shit again; so please save me the headache of going through that and just forget it," he commented leaving the room in hopes to reach his class before he was late.
 

Deborah's hands rubbed over her face, already feeling the emotions from the day breaking through. Ethan moved to shut the door, glad the blinds were still closed so they could have a few moments alone. Stepping to her, he pulled her against him, "babe, it's alright," he whispered.
 

"He's right," she cried, "all we did was bicker the last six months of our marriage. Ethan, are we really going to be able to make this work?"
 

His eyes fell closed as his arms held her tightly, "we're not the same people we were back then, Deb, we've grown up and learned from our mistakes, and I know I'll fight for us to work out because I'm not walking away again. I lost my best friend once and it took me ten years to get her back; I'm not letting go again," he replied, gently rubbing her back.
 

Her hands gripped his jacket as he spoke, "I'm not letting go either," she whispered.
 

Ethan let his own tears fall and pulled his head back gently to press a kiss to her lips and to look at her in the eyes, "it's been an emotional few weeks and we all have been dealing with a lot. Today was especially rough, so we're on edge. I know it's not an excuse to bicker and fight, but it explains a lot. Give things a few days to mellow out and we'll be fine," he promised.
 

She smiled at him and nodded, her arms slipping around him and resting her chin on his shoulder as they hugged tightly, "thank you. I needed that," she whispered. "And I'm sorry I questioned if we'd---"
 

He shook his head and pressed a kiss to her lips, "don't apologize, it's a valid concern given our history and it needed to be asked," he replied holding her close.
 

~*~
 

A/N4: A lot longer than I expected. The school stuff didn't come up until I was writing it a few days ago and it expanded a lot more than I planned, but I hope you like.
A/N5: Though I'm sure some are familiar with a Claddagh ring, many are not, so if you're interested, here's the Wikipedia link for it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claddagh_ring I have several myself and I plan to collect more; I'm part Irish and the 'E' in 'EJ' is Erin ;)
A/N6: Had a few 'Glee' or 'Out of the Blue' moments in the past few days... The first one was at the funeral, when we were at the cemetery, I glanced to my right and saw a guy from her work there and he had a mohawk; though he looked nothing like Mark or Puck, it was still a shocker... The second one; I was at the mall and walking towards the exit doors. A family was coming in and their young boy about 7 or 8 held the door open for my mom and I. His dad waited for him and said "very nice of you, Noah." My thought; Noah's are gentlemen! :D And the last one was I went to 'Best Buy' the other night and as I was driving in, driving out was a black Jeep Commander; AKA Ethan's Jeep... OMG freaked out about that one. Okay, had my 'squee' moment. Hope you all liked the chapter. :)
A/N7: Tried to post this as one part, but of course it was too long so it's 2 parts on LJ and 1 part on FF.

Comments

[knkykty.livejournal.com]

These were both awesome updates, my dear, beautifully done!

[sapphiresfic.livejournal.com]

Thank you, glad you liked it! :D

[redwillowtree.livejournal.com]

Claddagh FTW!

[redwillowtree.livejournal.com]

JFYI: this is an rp journal. I'm actually sariza.

[sapphiresfic.livejournal.com]

Okay, cool! Thanks :D

What does FTW mean?

[sariza.livejournal.com]

for the win.