Something - Quinn Fabray

Chapter 6

"You want to name our daughter Jack Daniels? She's a girl!"

"Ok, fine whatever, Jackie Daniels."

Ryan was rooting through his locker, trying to find his books for his Math class. Quinn and Puck were a few feet away, apparently arguing over the name of their baby. He wasn't eavesdropping exactly, the pair were being really loud. At least that's what he told himself. Ryan couldn't help but agree with Quinn. Who named a baby after a bottle of whiskey?

"The name is not the point," Quinn shot back in frustration. "I told you this. I'm giving up the baby so I don't have to do this with you. This is good for you. Now you can go off, and be a rock star yourself." She walked off, leaving Puck standing in the hallway.

Ryan shut his locker and walked after Quinn.

"Eavesdrop much, Berry?" she said testily.

"You were being pretty loud." Ryan didn't really see the point in denying it. "For the record, you're right, Jack Daniels is a stupid name."

"I guess it's not stupider than Drizzle," Quinn sighed, her irritation vanishing, only to be replaced by sadness. Stupid baby hormones. "That's what Finn suggested anyway."

Ryan snorted. "Well, like you said, you're giving up the baby, so I guess you don't have to name it," he said thoughtfully. "The prospective parents will most likely want to name the baby themselves, too. My parents told me they were the ones to pick my name. They used a surrogate, so it's a bit different, but still."

Quinn had actually forgotten that Ryan was adopted. "Oh." She hesitated. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Do you ever think of your birth mom?" Quinn would never admit this out loud, but she was desperately worried that her child would hate her if she ever found out that her mother had actually wanted to give her away. Quinn knew she could hardly keep the baby, she was living in Puck's basement for goodness' sakes. But she couldn't quite shake the guilt she felt for her desire to just give the baby away.

Meanwhile Ryan was trying to figure out what to say. He hadn't been expecting a deep question. "Couldn't have asked my something easy, like what's my favorite color?" he joked, stalling for time. He thought about his birth mother quite a bit, especially whenever his dads were away. Which was most of the time. His dads had never talked about her, only saying that she was a surrogate. They'd told him that they were his real parents, and while it was true, he still wanted to find out where he'd come from. His fathers weren't musically inclined, had he gotten his love for music from his mother? Did she look like him, or rather, did he look like her?

Quinn looked away. "You don't really have to answer."

Ryan waved her off. "No, it's fine. Just caught me off guard, I guess. Actually, yes, I do think about her sometimes. What her name is, where she is now, did she want me. I would like to get to know her, but I'm pretty sure that's impossible." He paused. "Is that what you were looking for?"

"I'm not sure," Quinn answered honestly. "But thanks."

"Anytime," Ryan flashed her a smile as he held the classroom door open, allowing her to enter first.

There hadn't been a glee rehearsal that day, because Mr. Schue had apparently set up appointments with the guidance counselor, Emma Pillsbury, for everyone in New Directions after that mildly traumatizing speech from Bryan Ryan yesterday afternoon. The man had basically gone up in front of the glee club and informed them that their dreams were never going to come true, and that they should just give up.

"Hello Ryan," the redheaded guidance counsellor greeted Ryan as he entered her office and sat down on the chair in front of her desk. "Did Mr. Schue tell you why he scheduled this appointment?"