Second Chances

Chapter 6

When Quinn came to pick up Beth at 8:30 that night, Rachel let her inside and decided she wouldn't let things be awkward between them. Quinn sat down on the couch and Rachel brought her a cup of coffee.
"Where's Beth?" She asked.
"She's in my room, she fell asleep a few minutes ago," Rachel replied with a smile.
"You got her to go to sleep?" Quinn raised her eyebrows, clearly impressed. "She didn't throw a tantrum or give you an endless loop of 'let my stay up five more minutes'?"
"She tried, but after I gave her a bath she was pretty tired and practically begged to go to bed," Rachel said and laughed at the thought.
"She took a bath for you?" Quinn exclaimed in shock.
"Quinn, you're going to wake her up!" Rachel whisper yelled.
"Sorry!" Quinn laughed.
Rachel looked at Quinn for a minute, debating whether she should ask her about Beth's comment or not.
"What did Beth mean when she said you weren't happy," she blurted.
Quinn took a deep breath. She couldn't be sure what to say.  Things had never been easy for her and Beth, but Quinn had always made sure that Beth didn't experience any hardship so that she could have the best childhood possible.
"It's just been kind of hard since we started college. My mom lives about an hour away so she can watch Beth while I'm in class but..." Quinn stopped. "I'm sorry, I know you don't want to hear all this."
"Quinn how many times have I ranted to you about all of my problems?" Rachel asked.
"I don't know, like... a bunch?" Quinn said.
"Exactly, it's only fair that I listen to you for once," Rachel explained.
Quinn sighed. "I know that my mom loves Beth, but I know she hates taking care of her. She still sees Beth as a mistake, and she sees me as the problem. For a while, we didn't have that much money, I would spend the afternoon entertaining Beth then I would do my homework late at night. Then in the mornings I'd always be tired and she never understood why. And I mean she's four, it's not like I can just leave her alone to sit by herself, she'd burn the house down!" Quinn let out a dry laugh before she continued. "Sometimes when things got really bad, I would skip meals so that Beth could eat. I don't know, I guess that's what she meant when she said things weren't happy." Quinn shrugged and sighed.
She ran her fingers through her hair and lied down on the couch. Rachel waited a few minutes, when she saw Quinn hadn't moved she carefully lifted her head and slid a pillow under it. She grabbed an extra blanket from her closet and covered Quinn, then made sure she didn't wake her. Rachel then quickly but quietly, went to go check on Beth, who was asleep in her bed. Rachel left the door open a crack so that it wouldn't get to dark. She went back to go sit with Quinn, who was now fast asleep.
"Mommy, mommy wake up," Beth quietly cried.
Quinn sat up slowly and looked around, she remembered going to Rachel's house and confiding in her, but everything after that seemed hazy. But none of that mattered now.
She turned her focus to the crying girl in front of her.
"Beth, sweetie, what's wrong?" She asked and pulled Beth up into her lap.
Beth sniffled. "I had a scary dream."
Quinn didn't notice, but Rachel had woken up and was silently watching the entire interaction.
"Oh, it's okay, I've got you now, and I promise I'm never gonna let anything hurt you," Quinn said and squeezed Beth.
"It wasn't a thing, it was like a bunch of things. And, and grandma was there and we were home, and I was hungry and you were sick, and..." Beth stopped.
"What happened?" Quinn asked, scared of what Beth was going to say next.
"And I thought you were gonna leave me," Beth started crying again, and Quinn was forcing herself not to.
"Beth I'm never going to leave you, you know that right?" Quinn said sweetly yet sternly.
Beth nodded and wiped her eyes. "You promise?"
"I promise," Quinn said, and linked her pinky with Beth's.
Quinn stood up with Beth still in her arms when she noticed Rachel watching them.
"Rachel, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Quinn said.
"It's okay, I just woke up," She lied.
"Quinn I want you to stay here for the rest of the summer," Rachel blurted out.
Quinn took a deep breath. Was it hot in there? She felt hot. Then why did she also have goosebumps? And were the walls closing in? Because it felt like they were.
Rachel couldn't ask Quinn this. It wasn't okay. Quinn had a plan. Finish her internship, then go back to New Haven and continue her life as normal. She was going to graduate and raise Beth by herself. She wasn't going to fall back down Rachel Berry's hole again, when she relied on Rachel the most to come and bring joy to her life, she'd been let down. She wasn't going to make the same mistakes.
"I can't," Quinn said stiffly and set Beth down on the floor.
"Where have you been staying for the past week?" Rachel asked, she was determined.
"A hotel," Quinn admitted sheepishly.
"What have you been doing besides your internship?" Rachel asked.
Quinn sighed and folded her arms over her chest. "I got a job on the weekends as a barista."
"So I'm assuming you've also been paying for Beth to go to daycare while you're working?" Rachel continued.
Quinn nodded and felt embarrassed. She had the opportunity of a lifetime to spend the summer in New York with her daughter, but she'd hardly spent any time with Beth.
"If you stay here you can quit your weekend job and spend more time with Beth. You don't have to worry about rent, I'm working at a dinner downtown that pays pretty well. Beth can go to daycare on the weekdays, I can pick her up at 3:00 every day and watch her until you come home, it'll be perfect!" Rachel squealed in excitement.
"What about Kurt? I know he isn't my biggest fan," Quinn asked.
"He's spending the summer with Blaine, you and Beth can stay in his room," Rachel answered. Clearly she'd thought the whole thing through.
"You're not going to give up are you?" Quinn asked and smirked.
Rachel shook her head.
"Fine."

AN: tysm for 53 reads!! I'm so happy you've kept reading, because I wasn't sure I was going to get any reads