Chapter Eight

The next three days that Rachel was confined to her bed were the most excruciating, uneasy, and restless days that she had experienced in her life. Quinn would only let her leave the bed to shower and go to the bathroom. Even in these short moments of the day did Rachel try and stay in the bathroom as long as possible. But then her "supervisor" would come and knock on the door making sure that she was okay and didn't fall down into the toilet bowl. Kathleen or Xavier would come, sit, and visit with her when they could. Xavier had gotten used to Rachel's strange cravings as of late and had taken to asking before making her meals. Lately, though, her craving just consisted vegan peanut butter on top of everything.

Noah would come home with Quinn after school to watch over her and keep her company while she was stuck in that stupid bed. At one point Quinn came into the room to hang out with the two and then the subject of the baby and its future entered the conversation. Quinn had always been adamant about the baby being a girl and being a doctor or a singer. That was when Noah snapped.

"What if it isn't going to be a girl? What if the baby is a boy and is a badass rockstar?" He burst out and glared at the girl who was sitting in the armchair in the corner of the room Rachel had been residing in for the past few weeks.

"Before this goes any farther, please stop this conversation," Rachel said, putting up her hand before Quinn could come back with a retort. Quinn huffed as her mouth shut close, having been open with a response back to his insult. "This baby will be happy being a boy or a girl and be in whatever career he or she chooses. So, please, stop arguing so I can focus on my Chemistry homework that is already late."

Noah and Quinn looked at her in surprise; Quinn looked at her and said, "As if you wouldn't want this little girl to be a Broadway star!"

"It could be a boy," Noah argued before Rachel glared at him. He shrunk back into the pillows on the bed where he was sitting next to her. She burrowed herself into her Chemistry book and filling out the study guide for chemical equations and reactions. The tension in the room now had thickened between Noah and Quinn and Rachel noticed it. She couldn't focus while they glared at each other as she read the same line out of her textbook over and over again.

"I think I am going to go do my own homework," Quinn said, keeping her glare on Noah. "Puck, don't you think it's time you went home?"

Noah glared right back at her and smirked, "I told Rachel I would keep her company tonight. My mom thinks I am with Mike and Sam for the night. I can stay as long as I want." Quinn's scowl deepened and retreated from the room without another word. His smile spread across his face until he turned to see Rachel glaring at him.

"Do you have to antagonize her so much, Noah? She has done so much for me already. She is letting me reside in her home, eat her food, wear her old clothes. The least we can do is to be nice to her," Rachel chastised him. She really felt guilty for being in the middle of the two. Quinn already cared so much about the baby and Noah was so dedicated to keeping both the baby and her happy and healthy that you would think that they would get along. Due to their past together it seemed like the two would never be friends.

His smile disappeared as soon as it had come across his face. "B, I'm sorry. I just can't remember when Quinn and I didn't bitch at one another. It's just the way things have always been." He looked apologetically at her, frowning at how upset she looked.

"It's okay, I just don't understand why, after you two have been through so much together, still have to argue. I just don't want two of the people I care about the most to abhor each other," Rachel sniffled, tears in the corners of her eyes.

Noah deflated when he saw that her eyes had gone shiny. "Rach, I promise I will try to get along with Quinn. We have just butted heads for so long that it will be difficult. But for you and Baby Puckleberry I will try." Rachel giggled at the name the Glee club had given their baby.

"Thank you, Noah, I appreciate the effort you will give," Rachel smiled softly at him and looked down at her watch. A big grin broke out over her face as she set down her Chemistry book and stood up and walked over to her bedroom door.

"Where do you think you are going, Mama," Noah asked as she reached for the brass doorknob. He followed over to her and shut the door as she tried to open it. Rachel turned around and looked up at him.

"It has been exactly seventy-two hours since I have been on bed rest and the doctor said three days of rest. So, I am allowed to move around of my own free will now without being yelled at that I am on my feet for too long. No one can stop me, not even you," Rachel had a determined look on her face that even Noah could argue with. "I am going to go get a snack before I go to bed. I am going back to school tomorrow and I want to be well rested." She pushed his arm off of the door and walked out before he could say a word.

Rachel woke up the next morning with mixed feelings of anticipation and trepidation. She was excited to be going back to school and out of the room that she had been sequestered too. She was also anxious about what would happen when she got back to school. If Noah would get in another fight with Finn or that the overprotection Noah and Quinn possessed would intensify since her trip to the hospital.

Grabbing a white summer dress off of a hanger in her closet, Rachel pulled it over her head. This was one of the items of clothing that Quinn had given her from her maternity days. It fit Rachel like a glove and then flared out at the waist. She drew a royal blue cardigan on over the spaghetti strapped dress and then pulled on matching blue flats.

As she walked out of her room and downstairs, she ran into Quinn who smiled when she saw Rachel. "That dress looks better on you then it ever did on me."

"Thank you," Rachel smiled. She rarely head compliments from anyone but hearing one was a nice change. She and Quinn grabbed a quick bowl of cereal and then they were off to school. As Quinn pulled into the parking lot, Rachel saw Finn standing in Quinn's normal parking spot. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then released it.

"Don't react, just walk away and ignore him," Quinn said while glaring at Finn. Rachel got out of the car, grabbed her backpack, and walked away from him. While she walked calmly away from him, he called her name trying to get her to turn around. She saw Noah at the door, caught up to him, and they walked into school.

Getting to her locker Rachel grabbed her books for her first period class. Trying to hurry, Rachel wasn't fast enough until she heard Finn come up behind her and Noah. "Rachel, can we talk," He asked. "Without your bodyguard," He bit out while glaring at Noah.

"Finn, I have to get to class. Maybe we can talk later," She said, trying to avoid looking him in the eye. She grabbed Noah by the arm and pulled him behind her to Math before he and Finn got into another fight.

The day went by slowly, getting out of class, meeting Noah in the hallway, running into the bathroom to puke on the way to class, and avoiding Finn's insistence to want to converse with her. Avoiding Finn seemed hard to accomplish because, when he wanted to, Finn could be everywhere.

Lunch came and went and so did all of her afternoon classes. But then the time for Glee arrived and as Rachel walked in with Noah, she saw that the team had been divided. On one side of the choir room sat Mercedes, Kurt, and Finn and on the other side sat the rest of the team and that is where Noah and Rachel went to sit. As Mr. Schuester walked into the room, he saw the distance between his team.

"Alright, let's get started everyone. Let's work on the choreography for Airplanes and then later we can fit in some vocals." Throughout the rest of rehearsal, Noah seemed to be blocking Rachel from being approached to by Finn, Mercedes, and Kurt. Quinn was watching her like a hawk, making sure she was not fainting.

After the number was perfected and the rapping, singing, and dancing stopped, Noah grabbed their stuff and Rachel and hurried out of the choir room. Quinn followed quickly behind, making sure that Finn wasn't following. Rachel heard a "Wait, Rachel! Please, just talk to me!" This, of course, came from Finn and Rachel looked over her shoulder to see him running after them.

Noah seemed to pulling her harder towards the entrance. Rachel dug her flats in the ground and in turn brought Noah to a screeching halt. He turned around and glared at her. "If we don't get out of here soon, Finnessa will catch up with us. He is not allowed anywhere near my baby mamma," He growled down at the pregnant Rachel.

"Noah, if I don't talk to him now, then he will keep pestering me. Please let me go so I can go let him apologize," Rachel said, tugging at her arm that was still in his tight grasp. Noah grunted and let her go. Noah leaned up against the lockers and disgruntledly watched her walk away to meet up with Finn.

As Rachel walked up to Finn, she felt Noah's eyes burning into her back. Rolling her eyes, she finally made it to Finn and stopped about a foot away from him. "Hi, Finn," She whispered, looking up into those dopey eyes that she had fallen in love with once upon a time.

"Hey, Rach," He said, giving her one of his crooked smiles. His left hand reached out to touch her shoulder, but Noah cleared his throat louder from far away in warning. Finn rolled his eyes and looked down at her. "Can we go somewhere without your looming bodyguard," He asked.

Rachel looked over her shoulder at Noah and saw him glaring at Finn. "Sure, let's go to the auditorium," She said softly. Over her shoulder she said to Noah, "Stay here, Noah, I will be back soon." He looked about to say something, but Rachel walked away and Finn followed her willingly.

When they got into the auditorium, Rachel and Finn walked up to the stairs and sat along the edge of the stage. They sat on the stage silently for a moment, waiting for the other to talk.

"I wanted to tell you something, Rach," Finn said, looking over at her, something in his eyes that she had never seen there before. It wasn't remorse or guilt. It was satisfaction.

"If you're going to say sorry, Finn, you don't need to. The baby is fine and so am I. You should really be apologizing to Noah," She declared, gripping the edge of the stage, knowing that he had not intended on apologizing.

"Oh, I'm not sorry Rachel. I do not regret what I did. I am actually glad it was you that I hit instead of him," Finn said, looking at her, his face open and honest.

Rachel gasped and looked at him. "What? But…"

He kept going on, not acknowledging that he had been interrupted. "You cheated on me with Puckerman. You say we weren't together, but we were. I am glad I hit you. That baby doesn't deserve to live. You are 16; do you really think you and Puck can raise a baby at 16? Him and Quinn couldn't do it right, do you really think you could?" As each insult left his mouth, tears started rolling down her face.

Rachel couldn't get a word out of her mouth. She couldn't even look anywhere besides the kind and caring face that she once knew that had twisted into a hateful and ugly formation. The kind eyes she once had staring lovingly at her were glaring at her accusingly. The hands that had once caressed her face were now curled up into fists. The words that had once told her that he loved her were now hateful and hurtful.

She quickly got up from her spot on the auditorium and ran towards the door at the back of the theater. She opened the door, slammed it, and ran down the hall, looking for the one person she knew would make her feel better. All she wanted was a hug. Tears streamed down her face as she turned corners and ran down hallways. She finally turned down the right hallway and saw Noah at the end of the hallway. She let loose a choked; "Noah!" and he turned around and immediately started running towards her.

Later, he would admit it was like a moment from a Jewish Baywatch, but Rachel would always know that it was because he had seen the tears. She collapsed in front of him and he sank down to the ground with her. He pulled Rachel into his arms and started rocking her back and forth making calming noises, trying to get the tears to stop.

"What did he do," Noah growled as soon as her tears started to dissipate. Rachel made a sob and didn't say anything to him. She grabbed Noah's hand and placed it over her belly, right over where the baby was growing. Noah growled and pulled her closer into him. "You don't have to tell me anything, Rachel. Just keep breathing, please."

They stayed that way for a while, curled into each other with Rachel crying and Noah trying to calm her down. When Quinn found them, she just sat there while Rachel tried to calm down. She finally made it home that night, but Noah never left her side.

I know it's been a long time, but college kind of takes precedence. Hopefully, though, now I am back! We will see! I have some things up these silky shirted sleeves of mine! I hope you enjoyed it! You know the drill, read and review!

Fallen