𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐲 | q. fabray

Loss of Innocence

a/n - this is just a filler chapter since i'm skipping to all or nothing because everything after shooting star is kinda boring and i can't be bothered to write that 🤷‍♀️

Adalynn laid on her bed. The curtains of her room were closed, and only a small sliver of sunlight drifted in. Oreo was curled up close to her, his head resting on her shoulder as she held him. Silent tears streamed down her face as flashbacks from the previous week played over and over again, each time more scarier than the last.

She hadn't been to school since the incident, and neither had Bailey. They often spent their days on silent phone calls with each other, or one of them would go over to the others house. Adalynn assumed that Bailey was against going back because she wouldn't be able to take the twins with her, but deep down she knew it was because of the same PTSD and trauma that she was feeling.

A knock on the door brought Adalynn out of her thoughts. She sat up and used the sleeves of Finn's letterman jacket to wipe the tears off her cheeks as Carole walked in.

"Hi, sweetie," the woman gently greeted with a soft smile.

"Hey," Adalynn numbly said as she hugged Finn's letterman close to her.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"I guess."

"Okay... um, the Pierce's are here," said Carole. "Brittany brought your schoolwork for today, and Bailey brought the twins with her."

"What's the catch?" Adalynn asked, raising a brow.

"Your dad and I and Mr. and Mrs. Pierce wanted to talk to you guys about something."

"It's about not taking the twins to school anymore, isn't it?"

Carole sighed and nodded. "It's for their safety," she said. "Just, come downstairs with me, okay?"

Adalynn scooped Oreo up in her arms and held him protectively as she went downstairs with Carole. Everyone was gathered in the living room, and Adalynn sat down in between Brittany and Bailey on the couch.

The twins were unusually chipper considering what they went through, and they seemed to be heeling a lot easier than the three teens. Even though she had gone back to school, Brittany didn't dare to ever leave the classroom unless it was to switch classes. They all still flinched every time a locker or a door slammed shut, and the two younger girls were too terrified to leave their homes.

"Reo," Ava cooed, gently petting the frenchie on the head before crawling up onto the couch and wiggling herself between Adalynn and Brittany. "Pwetty puppy. Bri, es a puppy."

"Can you say Oreo?" Brittany asked.

"Reo," Ava said, hugging the young frenchie in Adalynn's arms.

"Where's Julian?" Burt asked.

"Here," Julian said as he walked into the living room and sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of the couch.

"Okay," Burt began, clapping his hands together, causing Julian to flinch as he remembered how Mr. Schue had done that as the first gunshot fired. "So, for a while, we've been letting some things slide, and we as adults haven't put our foot down."

"We know how much you love taking the twins to school with you," said Whitney. "But their safety is the most important thing. They're so young, and they shouldn't have had to go through that."

"None of you should have had to go through that," said Pierce. "And, believe me, I interrogated Lord Tubbington because I thought he might have been the one doing the shooting."