Something - Quinn Fabray

Chapter 20

"Good morning," Ryan greeted his mom as he entered the kitchen, fresh from a shower.

"You're cheerful," Shelby noted, pouring some milk on her bowl of cereal. "Are you always up this early?" She had gotten up at around 7:30 to find another note propped up on the coffee maker, telling her that Ryan had gone out for an early morning run.

Ryan nodded as he sat down at the table, pulling an empty bowl toward himself. "I've found that it's important to have a good fitness routine, and I like running. It clears my head. So I wake up every day at six for a run." He poured the cereal into the bowl and added the milk.

Shelby just stared at him. Six-thirty? It seemed she had found the only teenager in Ohio who actually enjoyed getting up in the morning. She shook her head. "What are your plans for the day?"

Quickly finishing up his cereal, Ryan poured another bowlful. "I wanted to go over to the park this morning, if that's okay with you," he said, looking at Shelby anxiously. "Quinn's going to be there."

Ah. So that's where the good mood was coming from. This was good, Shelby thought. Maybe Quinn could keep him from brooding about his dads too much. "No problem with me. I can drop you off on the way to the grocery. We need food, otherwise we're going to be living on my ice cubes for the rest of the week."

Ryan quirked his mouth in a smile. We. He was included there. "You don't have to do that, I can walk."

Shelby sighed. "Okay, look. I think we need to get something straight. When I offer to do something for you, it's because I want to do it, and I'm okay with it." She paused at the unreadable look that appeared on her son's face. "I've noticed you tell me a lot that I don't have to do things for you," she continued gently. "You want to tell me why?"

Ryan fidgeted a bit. He was quiet for a while. "My dads didn't really like going out of their way to do things for me," he said softly. "They got annoyed sometimes when I asked them for stuff, so I guess eventually I just stopped."

Shelby nodded. She'd suspected it had been something like that. "Well, I'm not them. I want to do things for you. Don't get me wrong, I'm not your driver or your personal assistant. But you can ask me for things. And when I offer, you don't need to worry that you're inconveniencing me. Okay?"

She watched as Ryan thought it over. "Okay."

"Good."

"Good morning, Quinn," Ryan said happily as he approached the blonde girl who was sitting on a bench, texting on her phone.

"Oh, hi Ryan," Quinn answered with a smile. She patted the bench next to her, inviting Ryan to sit down, which he did.

"I didn't see your car in the parking lot, I thought you might not be here yet."

"My mom got a job as an administrator somewhere in town. She dropped me off." Quinn's mom had gotten a good alimony once the divorce was finalized, but they couldn't live off of it forever so she had found a job.

"Right." Ryan looked around the park. It was a Monday morning during summer vacation, and it was a nice day. The place had quite a few people in it. Mostly children, and some parents. Quinn followed Ryan's gaze, which was directed towards a small boy, maybe five or six, trying to cross a set of monkey bars some distance away, while a man, probably his father, stood underneath him, ready to catch the boy if he slipped.

"You okay?" Quinn questioned, watching as Ryan's face turned thoughtful, and almost sad. She looked at the pair that Ryan was watching, quickly figuring out what was going through his mind. She may be blonde, but she wasn't an idiot. She'd managed to keep up a 3.81 GPA this year, while being in the Cheerios and the New Directions, and she'd been pregnant for most of the year.