cruiscin_lan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cruiscin_lan) wrote2009-11-08 02:56 pm
cruiscin_lan) wrote2009-11-08 02:56 pm
Entry tags:
- character: artie abrams,
- character: brittany the cheerio,
- character: finn hudson,
- character: jacob ben israel,
- character: kurt hummel,
- character: mercedes jones,
- character: noah puckerman,
- character: quinn fabray,
- character: rachel berry,
- character: tina cohen-chang,
- character: will schuester,
- fandom: glee,
- fanfiction,
- rating: pg,
- step ball change
FIC: Step Ball Change, Chapter Two
Title: Step Ball Change, Chapter Two
Characters: Love quadrangle Rachel/Puck/Finn/Quinn, with Brittany and ensemble
Word Count: 1733 this chapter
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. Beta'ed by the continually fabulous![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cameroncrazed.
Step Ball Change, Chapter One
"Has anyone seen Finn today?" Mr. Schue asked. "I was hoping we could go over 'Don't Stop Believin'.'"
"He wasn't in last period," Mercedes said.
"Or the one before last," Artie added. "Maybe he went home sick."
"All right, then," Mr. Schue said, undaunted. "We can go over it anyway. Puck, let's go over Finn's part real quick and you can fill in for him. Everyone else, just go over your parts and we'll come together in five."
Brittany wasn't concerned with going back over her part; she was more excited about the upcoming weekend. Since Santana had taken over Quinn's duties as head Cheerio, and with Quinn occupied with her own problems, Brittany felt more and more like she was being left out of the social loop. Lucky for her, she had her new friends in glee club to fall back on.
While Mr. Schue tried to help Puck finagle a step-ball-change, Brittany leaned forward in her seat and whispered to Kurt. "Hey, want to make another music video for Youtube this weekend?" she asked. "I was thinking maybe do a Cher song?"
"Listen, Britt, as tempting as that sounds, I already have plans this weekend," Kurt told her. "There's a Project Runway marathon, and I have to make sure that Christian Siriano still wins."
Unfazed, Brittany turned to Tina instead. "What about you, Tina? Wanna, like, bust a move or something?" she asked, using her best Mr. Schue impression.
"I c-c-c-can't," Tina replied. "Huge h-h-history project due Monday."
Strike two; Brittany sank back into her seat, frowning. She began playing with the hem of her cheerleading skirt as she glanced idly around the room. Mike Chang smirked at her and raised his eyebrows, but Brittany was tired of going out with him. They never did anything really fun. He just liked to make out and touch her boobs. Sighing, Brittany wondered how long she could avoid his lustful looks in her direction.
Then the door creaked open, and everyone was suddenly very distracted.
Finn stood there, his eyes wet with tears and his face blotchy and red. The room went quiet as he wiped his nose with his sleeve. "Q-Quinn," he stammered, "can I talk to you... outside... for a minute?"
Quinn froze, her eyes wide and frightened. "We're right in the middle of practice," she said.
"It's important. You won't mind, will you, Mr. Schuester?"
Rachel traced the hurt, angry gaze from Finn to Quinn, and Quinn's sorry, stupefied look back to Finn, and the gears in her mind slowly started to turn.
"I... uh, no, not at all. Go ahead, Quinn. Take all the time you need."
But Quinn hesitated. She shifted her balance from one foot to the other, watching her feet as though they were waffling on their own accord. The mounting tension was so uncomfortable as to be almost unbearable.
"I'll go with you," Puck suddenly offered. When Quinn looked up, glaring, her eyes glistened.
The gleeks in general weren't known for their astuteness, but Rachel had all she needed to figure it out. She leapt out of her seat and took Finn by the hand, leading him back to the hallway and shutting the door behind them.
"It's not my baby, Rachel," Finn told her. He was shaking and nervously running his hands along his arms. "It's not my baby."
For once, Rachel was at a loss for words. Instead she stood on her tiptoes and threw her arms around Finn's neck, squeezing him close with all her strength.
****
When Finn and Rachel failed to reappear, Mr. Schue decided to call it a day and excused the kids from practice. Kurt and Mercedes nearly ran to the door, hoping to eavesdrop on whatever hushed conversation they imagined to be happening outside. They were disappointed to find that Finn and Rachel had vanished.
Slowly the other students trickled out. Quinn, however, found a chair and sank down into it, holding her head in her hands. Mr. Schue stopped shuffling sheets of music and walked over to her, gently setting a hand on her shoulder.
"Is everything okay, Quinn?"
"Is anything okay?" Quinn shot back, forgetting for a moment who was talking to her.
Mr. Schue stepped back. He caught enough flak from his pregnant wife at home; he didn't need to get any from his pregnant student. He put his hands up in a gesture of surrender, but made sure to say "Just remember, I'm here to listen if there's anything you need to talk about" as he walked away.
"I need to not talk about it," Quinn muttered.
Puck hovered by the door, left ajar by the departure of the other students. As Mr. Schue made his way out, Puck turned towards him. "I'll make sure she gets home okay."
"That's real nice of you, Puck," Mr. Schue smiled, patting Puck gently on the shoulder. "Drive safe, okay?"
"Sure thing, Mr. Schue. Buenos nachos."
****
Rachel was savvy enough by now to put first things first, and the number one item on the agenda was damage control.
That meant tracking down her number one enemy and her number one admirer - Jacob Ben Israel.
"Wait for me by your locker," she'd told Finn, and he nodded dumbly in reply.
She found Jacob in the library on one of the school's computers, no doubt typing up something tawdry. He was so occupied that he missed the rare Rachel Berry storm-in (as opposed to a storm-out). She loomed behind him, trying to appear as threatening as possible. "Don't you dare run that story."
Jacob jumped; first he clicked out of whatever window he had open and then he turned to face Rachel. "I don't know what you mean," he said, his voice wavering. "And you didn't see that, right?"
She ignored his question; she needed to stay on task. "You know exactly what I mean. You tricked Finn, and you don't even have the whole story. You can't post it. It would be unethical journalism."
Jacob's eyebrows peaked. "Ethical journalism doesn't mean much to me. What's it worth to you?"
"What's your face worth to you?"
Finn had appeared seemingly out of nowhere and grabbed Jacob by the collar, pulling him up to his feet. His other hand was balled into a fist, and he held it ready just above his shoulder. Rachel jumped back and covered her eyes while Jacob hesitated. "Uhh.... frankly, not much..." he whined, not immediately realizing that Finn was issuing a threat and not questioning his looks.
Finn shook Jacob before releasing him. "Well, if you like breathing through your nostrils, you're going to keep your mouth shut. If I see Quinn's or Rachel's or my name appear on your blog ever again, I'm going to knock your nose into next week."
"And I'll tell the principal that you're using the school computers to post your blog," Rachel added.
"Fine." Jacob shivered and straightened his shirt. "I'll kill the story."
Finn inhaled deeply through his nose, still trembling with rage. Satisfied, he took Rachel by the hand and led her out of the classroom.
Rachel was touched - firstly that Finn had followed her in the first place, and secondly that he'd risen to her defence. She was blushing. "That was a good comeback, Finn."
"Yeah?" Finn asked. His anger was subsiding now, and his voice was finally starting to steady itself once again. "It was something I heard Puck say once. Actually, I think he was talking to Kurt at the time."
"Well, at any rate - thank you," Rachel said, sincere.
"Anytime," Finn offered. He stopped short in the hallway, looking down and realizing that he was still holding her hand tightly in his. "Listen, Rachel, you can't let him talk to you like that. And I appreciate what you're trying to do, really, but you don't have to do anything."
"I know I don't have to," Rachel replied. "But I want to. To help out a teammate."
Finn sighed and smiled and released her hand, knowing that when Rachel said teammate she'd really meant friend.
****
Puck lingered in silence while Quinn attempted to collect herself. When she finally looked up, she seemed surprised to see him waiting for her, but that surprise quickly gave way to an expression of resentment.
"Need a lift?" Puck asked, trying to break the quiet.
"I drove myself here," Quinn replied weakly.
"I'll walk you to your car," Puck suggested. He told Mr. Schue that he'd make sure she got home okay, and he meant it, even if he had to follow her all the way to her front door.
She didn't say anything in return, but she gathered up her things anyway. She slung her book-bag across her shoulder, carrying her sheet music in the other, and sulked to the door. Like a gentleman, Puck opened it for her.
The hallway was empty; Puck decided it was safe to talk. "Think he knows?"
"Of course he knows, dummy," Quinn said, exasperated. "Did you see his face? Did you see how upset he was?" She stopped short, pausing in the hall so that Puck was forced to stop and turn to face her. "Did you tell him?" she asked. It was a pointed question, and the words sent a stabbing sensation through Puck's chest.
"No way," he told her, trying to maintain his cool. And there was no better way to appear nonchalant than to make a snarky remark right back. "How much do you think he knows? Enough to get us both killed, or just you?"
With that remark, Quinn had reached her limit. It was like when Sue Sylvester had called her out in front of the glee club all over again. Her jaw hung slack for a moment, as though she was struggling for breath. She shut her eyes, hung her head, and brought her hand to her face as she started to cry. It wasn't just a case of the sniffles, either - her face was screwed up as though she were in pain, and she sobbed so hard that it racked her whole body.
Puck had never felt so awful. "I'm sorry," Puck whispered, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. He lay her head on his shoulder; she didn't fight it, and only continued to weep. "I was just trying to be funny. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
Characters: Love quadrangle Rachel/Puck/Finn/Quinn, with Brittany and ensemble
Word Count: 1733 this chapter
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. Beta'ed by the continually fabulous
cameroncrazed.Step Ball Change, Chapter One
"Has anyone seen Finn today?" Mr. Schue asked. "I was hoping we could go over 'Don't Stop Believin'.'"
"He wasn't in last period," Mercedes said.
"Or the one before last," Artie added. "Maybe he went home sick."
"All right, then," Mr. Schue said, undaunted. "We can go over it anyway. Puck, let's go over Finn's part real quick and you can fill in for him. Everyone else, just go over your parts and we'll come together in five."
Brittany wasn't concerned with going back over her part; she was more excited about the upcoming weekend. Since Santana had taken over Quinn's duties as head Cheerio, and with Quinn occupied with her own problems, Brittany felt more and more like she was being left out of the social loop. Lucky for her, she had her new friends in glee club to fall back on.
While Mr. Schue tried to help Puck finagle a step-ball-change, Brittany leaned forward in her seat and whispered to Kurt. "Hey, want to make another music video for Youtube this weekend?" she asked. "I was thinking maybe do a Cher song?"
"Listen, Britt, as tempting as that sounds, I already have plans this weekend," Kurt told her. "There's a Project Runway marathon, and I have to make sure that Christian Siriano still wins."
Unfazed, Brittany turned to Tina instead. "What about you, Tina? Wanna, like, bust a move or something?" she asked, using her best Mr. Schue impression.
"I c-c-c-can't," Tina replied. "Huge h-h-history project due Monday."
Strike two; Brittany sank back into her seat, frowning. She began playing with the hem of her cheerleading skirt as she glanced idly around the room. Mike Chang smirked at her and raised his eyebrows, but Brittany was tired of going out with him. They never did anything really fun. He just liked to make out and touch her boobs. Sighing, Brittany wondered how long she could avoid his lustful looks in her direction.
Then the door creaked open, and everyone was suddenly very distracted.
Finn stood there, his eyes wet with tears and his face blotchy and red. The room went quiet as he wiped his nose with his sleeve. "Q-Quinn," he stammered, "can I talk to you... outside... for a minute?"
Quinn froze, her eyes wide and frightened. "We're right in the middle of practice," she said.
"It's important. You won't mind, will you, Mr. Schuester?"
Rachel traced the hurt, angry gaze from Finn to Quinn, and Quinn's sorry, stupefied look back to Finn, and the gears in her mind slowly started to turn.
"I... uh, no, not at all. Go ahead, Quinn. Take all the time you need."
But Quinn hesitated. She shifted her balance from one foot to the other, watching her feet as though they were waffling on their own accord. The mounting tension was so uncomfortable as to be almost unbearable.
"I'll go with you," Puck suddenly offered. When Quinn looked up, glaring, her eyes glistened.
The gleeks in general weren't known for their astuteness, but Rachel had all she needed to figure it out. She leapt out of her seat and took Finn by the hand, leading him back to the hallway and shutting the door behind them.
"It's not my baby, Rachel," Finn told her. He was shaking and nervously running his hands along his arms. "It's not my baby."
For once, Rachel was at a loss for words. Instead she stood on her tiptoes and threw her arms around Finn's neck, squeezing him close with all her strength.
When Finn and Rachel failed to reappear, Mr. Schue decided to call it a day and excused the kids from practice. Kurt and Mercedes nearly ran to the door, hoping to eavesdrop on whatever hushed conversation they imagined to be happening outside. They were disappointed to find that Finn and Rachel had vanished.
Slowly the other students trickled out. Quinn, however, found a chair and sank down into it, holding her head in her hands. Mr. Schue stopped shuffling sheets of music and walked over to her, gently setting a hand on her shoulder.
"Is everything okay, Quinn?"
"Is anything okay?" Quinn shot back, forgetting for a moment who was talking to her.
Mr. Schue stepped back. He caught enough flak from his pregnant wife at home; he didn't need to get any from his pregnant student. He put his hands up in a gesture of surrender, but made sure to say "Just remember, I'm here to listen if there's anything you need to talk about" as he walked away.
"I need to not talk about it," Quinn muttered.
Puck hovered by the door, left ajar by the departure of the other students. As Mr. Schue made his way out, Puck turned towards him. "I'll make sure she gets home okay."
"That's real nice of you, Puck," Mr. Schue smiled, patting Puck gently on the shoulder. "Drive safe, okay?"
"Sure thing, Mr. Schue. Buenos nachos."
Rachel was savvy enough by now to put first things first, and the number one item on the agenda was damage control.
That meant tracking down her number one enemy and her number one admirer - Jacob Ben Israel.
"Wait for me by your locker," she'd told Finn, and he nodded dumbly in reply.
She found Jacob in the library on one of the school's computers, no doubt typing up something tawdry. He was so occupied that he missed the rare Rachel Berry storm-in (as opposed to a storm-out). She loomed behind him, trying to appear as threatening as possible. "Don't you dare run that story."
Jacob jumped; first he clicked out of whatever window he had open and then he turned to face Rachel. "I don't know what you mean," he said, his voice wavering. "And you didn't see that, right?"
She ignored his question; she needed to stay on task. "You know exactly what I mean. You tricked Finn, and you don't even have the whole story. You can't post it. It would be unethical journalism."
Jacob's eyebrows peaked. "Ethical journalism doesn't mean much to me. What's it worth to you?"
"What's your face worth to you?"
Finn had appeared seemingly out of nowhere and grabbed Jacob by the collar, pulling him up to his feet. His other hand was balled into a fist, and he held it ready just above his shoulder. Rachel jumped back and covered her eyes while Jacob hesitated. "Uhh.... frankly, not much..." he whined, not immediately realizing that Finn was issuing a threat and not questioning his looks.
Finn shook Jacob before releasing him. "Well, if you like breathing through your nostrils, you're going to keep your mouth shut. If I see Quinn's or Rachel's or my name appear on your blog ever again, I'm going to knock your nose into next week."
"And I'll tell the principal that you're using the school computers to post your blog," Rachel added.
"Fine." Jacob shivered and straightened his shirt. "I'll kill the story."
Finn inhaled deeply through his nose, still trembling with rage. Satisfied, he took Rachel by the hand and led her out of the classroom.
Rachel was touched - firstly that Finn had followed her in the first place, and secondly that he'd risen to her defence. She was blushing. "That was a good comeback, Finn."
"Yeah?" Finn asked. His anger was subsiding now, and his voice was finally starting to steady itself once again. "It was something I heard Puck say once. Actually, I think he was talking to Kurt at the time."
"Well, at any rate - thank you," Rachel said, sincere.
"Anytime," Finn offered. He stopped short in the hallway, looking down and realizing that he was still holding her hand tightly in his. "Listen, Rachel, you can't let him talk to you like that. And I appreciate what you're trying to do, really, but you don't have to do anything."
"I know I don't have to," Rachel replied. "But I want to. To help out a teammate."
Finn sighed and smiled and released her hand, knowing that when Rachel said teammate she'd really meant friend.
Puck lingered in silence while Quinn attempted to collect herself. When she finally looked up, she seemed surprised to see him waiting for her, but that surprise quickly gave way to an expression of resentment.
"Need a lift?" Puck asked, trying to break the quiet.
"I drove myself here," Quinn replied weakly.
"I'll walk you to your car," Puck suggested. He told Mr. Schue that he'd make sure she got home okay, and he meant it, even if he had to follow her all the way to her front door.
She didn't say anything in return, but she gathered up her things anyway. She slung her book-bag across her shoulder, carrying her sheet music in the other, and sulked to the door. Like a gentleman, Puck opened it for her.
The hallway was empty; Puck decided it was safe to talk. "Think he knows?"
"Of course he knows, dummy," Quinn said, exasperated. "Did you see his face? Did you see how upset he was?" She stopped short, pausing in the hall so that Puck was forced to stop and turn to face her. "Did you tell him?" she asked. It was a pointed question, and the words sent a stabbing sensation through Puck's chest.
"No way," he told her, trying to maintain his cool. And there was no better way to appear nonchalant than to make a snarky remark right back. "How much do you think he knows? Enough to get us both killed, or just you?"
With that remark, Quinn had reached her limit. It was like when Sue Sylvester had called her out in front of the glee club all over again. Her jaw hung slack for a moment, as though she was struggling for breath. She shut her eyes, hung her head, and brought her hand to her face as she started to cry. It wasn't just a case of the sniffles, either - her face was screwed up as though she were in pain, and she sobbed so hard that it racked her whole body.
Puck had never felt so awful. "I'm sorry," Puck whispered, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. He lay her head on his shoulder; she didn't fight it, and only continued to weep. "I was just trying to be funny. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
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Again, this was very well done. The only problem here, I think, it's that it's too short. Of course, you could write thousands upon thousands of words and it will still be too short. So I think that's just a problem I'm going to have to deal with on my own.
I think you've really hit gotten into the groove of characterization here. They pop off the screen into 3D.
Thanks again for a great fic.
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this was posted up over at TWOP
I wish I had something funny to say. But I'm too busy drooling.
Re: this was posted up over at TWOP
droolingreading!no subject
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*runs off to read next chapter*
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Man, is it lame that I feel the most sad for Brittany? Haha.
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Not, it's not lame! :)
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Poor Quinn. Of all the Glee characters on the show,I never thought I'd grow to like her best (tell no one).
Onto the next part!
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