a/n - trigger warning for self harm
As the bell signaling the end of the school day rang loudly overhead, Adalynn sluggishly put her things away in her bag and slung it over her shoulders as she left her 7th period class. She was dreading Glee Club today. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to see her.
She had managed to get over the break-up, and the last thing she needed was her messing things up again.
It's not that she didn't miss her – she missed her more than she would have liked – but she has no idea if things would ever be like they were before. But, then again, things were never really normal between them when they were 'just friends' because there was always that unspoken truth that they both wanted it to be something more.
Adalynn stopped right outside the door of the choir room. Everyone was back. Well, almost everyone. Kurt and Rachel were nowhere to be seen.
She felt a hand on her back, and turned her head to see Julian.
"Breathe, okay? Don't let her get in your head," the older boy said, comfortingly rubbing his cousin's back. "She's just here for the week, and it'll be over before you know it."
"Right," Adalynn nodded, taking a deep breath before walking into the choir room. She kept her gaze down, and was halfway to the risers when a voice spoke up.
"What, no hug for your favorite badass Latina?"
Adalynn chuckled softly and turned around, coming face-to-face with a smiling Santana, who pulled her into a hug.
"It's nice to see you, Santana," Adalynn said, smiling up at the older girl.
"Yeah, it's nice to see me too," Santana joked, smiling when the younger girl laughed.
Quinn watched with a look of longing as her ex-girlfriend sat down in the back row with Tina, Bailey, and the twins. She stole Ava from Tina, smiling innocently when the other brunette dropped her jaw in protest.
She looked happier – not at all what Quinn was expecting, but she was glad that she wasn't a total mess like she had thought.
Santana smiled smugly at the blonde as she sat down on the piano. Quinn rolled her eyes, not anywhere in the mood for her friend's twisted mind games.
"Alright, do you realize that standing before you are legends?" Finn asked, getting everyone's attention as Glee Club started. "Any single one of these guys could be president of the United States one day."
"I don't know about that," Adalynn mumbled.
"Hi, Lulu!" Ava waved at Quinn with a smile.
"Sanny, me grow," Maya said as she stood up on Bailey's lap.
"My god twins are just the cutest things," Santana smiled.
"And lucky for us, they've agreed to help us–"
"Hang with the new chumps," Puck interrupted Julian, "and see if some of our sheer awesomeness doesn't rub off on you."
"It probably won't," Adalynn shook her head, avoiding Quinn's gaze.
"When you hear your name, pair up," Finn said as he held up a clipboard. "Puck, you're with your brother. Mike, you're with Ryder. Marley, you're with Santana. Kitty, you're with Quinn."
Adalynn rolled her eyes as Kitty got up with a huge grin on her face and hugged Quinn.
"Wade, Mercedes."
"I knew it," said Brittany. "Mercedes was cloned."
"And Jori, you're with Julian," Finn finished as he put the clipboard down. "Your mentors are here to help you with whatever you need. Singing, dancing–"
"Birth control," Quinn joked as Kitty laughed.
"You're so funny and self-deprecating," the younger blonde said. "We're so much alike. Don't you think so, Adalynn?"
"I swear to go I'm gonna take my fist and–"
"Adalynn!" Bailey scolded, grabbing the brunette's arm and pulling her back when she tried to stand up.
"You a bitch!" Ava yelled, sticking her tongue out at Kitty.
Santana smiled in amusement as she looked between Quinn, Kitty, Adalynn, and Ava. She missed having this kind of drama in her life. But it was never too late to stir the pot a little...
She smirked and looked over at Adalynn. She sent her a wink when their eyes met, and her smirk widened when she saw the blush that tinted her cheeks.
Quinn noticed this, and elbowed the Latina.
"Don't even think about it," she harshly whispered. "She's mine. She's always been mine."
"Not anymore," Santana whispered with a smug smile.
"The worst mistake is to underestimate our competition," said Finn. "The Warblers are ruthless this year."
"Don't forget the Rosedale Mennonites," said Artie. "Any show choir that can raise a barn in five minutes deserves mad respect."
"Bailey and Tina will handle our duet," Julian said as the two girls smiled at each other. "And for our showstopper, we're doing Gangnam Style."
"You're such a fucking idiot," Adalynn scoffed. "There's no way we're singing that song at sectionals."
"I'm in charge, which means you have to do what I say," Julian smirked. "You better live, laugh, love, bitches. This is the plan for sectionals. Get over it."
****
As soon as she got home, Adalynn ran upstairs and locked herself in her bathroom. She could hear Oreo scratching at the door. He knew she wasn't okay. Dog's always seem to know.
She thought she'd be okay. She really thought she'd be okay. But it was all so much harder than she thought.
One.
She winced in pain as the sharp object touched her arm.
Two.
And again.
Three.
Tears fell down her cheeks. She hated doing this, but it seemed to be the only way to quiet her thoughts and make the pain go away.
Four.
She bit down on a towel to muffle the sound of her pained cries. She heard whining and soft barking coming from the other side of the door, but she ignored it.
Five.
"Adalynn! Someone's here to see you!"
The muffled sound of Carole calling her from downstairs hit her ears. She quickly cleaned up her arm, once again crying out in pain as she cleaned the wounds with rubbing alcohol. She wrapped her arm up in a bandage before splashing her face with cold water.
She hid the bloody towel under the sink, wrapping the razor blade inside of it. She took a deep breath and wiped a few more tears away before leaving her bathroom. She grabbed Finn's letterman jacket and slipped it on as she headed downstairs.
She walked into the living room, freezing in her tracks when she saw Quinn.
"Bye," Adalynn scoffed, turning around and going back upstairs.
"Addie, wait," Quinn sighed, grabbing the younger girl's arm.
Adalynn winced as a pain shot through her arm. She pulled it out of Quinn's grasp and ran to her room. She closed the door behind her and picked up Oreo. She hugged him close to her chest as she sat down on the floor, her back resting against the far-side wall of her room.
Her bed lay horizontally in front of her. She wasn't completely hidden, but she could always make a run for it by jumping out the window if needed.
The door slowly opened, and Adalynn sank down lower to try and hide herself better as Quinn came in.
"Adalynn, I just want to talk," the blonde said gently as she sat down next to her ex-girlfriend, who whined and shuffled away from her as she hugged the 6 month old puppy closer to her.
"Then text me," Adalynn mumbled as Oreo licked her hand. "You knew how hard you being here would be for me."
"Addie..." Quinn moved closer to the younger girl, slowly reaching a hand out to wipe a tear off her cheek.
"Don't fucking touch me!" Adalynn snapped, hitting the blonde's hand away. Oreo let out a soft 'woof' and jumped out of her arms. He walked over to the bathroom and scratched at the door before turning back to Quinn and barking. "Is... is he... talking to you... or-or something?"
"What is it, Oreo?" Quinn asked as she stood up and went over to the bathroom door. She reached a hand out to the handle, and panic flooded through Adalynn's body.
"No, don't go in there!"
"Why not?" Quinn asked, turning to the brunette with brows furrowed.
"B-Because I said so?" Adalynn shrugged, standing up with her arms wrapped protectively around her.
"You're hiding something."
"No, I-I'm not."
"You're stuttering, and you only do that when you're upset about something."
"No I d-don't!"
Quinn opened the door to the bathroom and switched the light on. Adalynn nervously bit her lip as she followed her in, desperately hoping she had covered her tracks enough.
Quinn looked around the bathroom with her lips pursed. She didn't see anything, so she turned around to see a guilty looking Adalynn.
"What's with that look?" Quinn asked.
"What look?" Adalynn questioned, hugging Finn's letterman close to her body.
"Why do you look guilty of something?"
"I'm not guilty," the younger girl mumbled, lowering her gaze and running a hand through her hair.
"Addie, look at me," Quinn said, gently lifting her face up.
As soon as their eyes met, both girls felt that familiar burning desire, sparks flying at the closeness. Adalynn's breath hitched in her throat as she looked down at Quinn's lips.
The blonde noticed this, and brushed a strand of brunette hair out of Adalynn's face before cupping her cheek, caressing it lightly with the pad of her thumb.
"The only reason I agreed to come back was so that I could see you," Quinn whispered, slowly leaning in.
"Girls?" Carole asked, knocking on the bedroom door before walking in. The two quickly pulled away from each other and left the bathroom. "Sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if Quinn was staying for dinner."
"I–"
"Please?" Adalynn asked, looking up at Quinn with pleading eyes. She knew she could never resist that look.
"If that's okay with you, Mrs. Hudson," Quinn said as she turned to Carole, who nodded.
"Yeah, sweetie, it's fine," the woman smiled.
Carole left the room, leaving the two girls alone again. Oreo barked and jumped up on his hind legs, his paws resting on Adalynn's leg as he looked up at her with begging eyes.
"You wanna go outside, don't you?" Adalynn asked, giggling as the puppy barked and wagged his tail. "Luce, do you want to come too?"
Quinn smiled softly at the sound of the old nickname and nodded. She wanted to spend time with her. Even if they weren't together, they could still be friends, right?
****
Santana walked up to Adalynn at her locker with a smirk on her face. "Hey, Addibear."
"Ew," Adalynn cringed at the nickname as she closed her locker. "Don't ever call me that ever again. Maybe it was cute when I was 15, but not anymore."
"Aw, come on," Santana chuckled. "It's still cute, Addibear."
"I'm serious, stop," Adalynn said, desperately trying to fight the smile spreading across her face. "What do you want, San? I'm gonna be late for 5th period."
"Math?"
"Yeah."
"Gross," Santana rolled her eyes. "Well, I know something that's more interesting than boring math equations you're never going to need when you graduate," she said with a smirk as she leaned up against the lockers.
"What are you talking about?" Adalynn asked, furrowing her brows.
"Don't be naive, Adalynn," Santana smirked. "I'm single, you're single. We're both smoking hot. And you and I both know for a fact Quinn didn't come here to have awesome lady sex with you."
"You want me to ditch math to hook up with you?"
"Mhm," the older girl nodded.
"Okay."
****
It was the night of sectionals. Tina and Bailey were on stage singing their duet – 18 by One Direction – and Adalynn watched with tears in her eyes as the lyrics of the song reminding her of what she had with Quinn.
She peaked out at the audience from where she stood backstage, and noticed Quinn seemed to be having the same flashbacks she was.
Bailey and Tina's voices blended perfectly together, much like they were perfect together. They both looked so happy singing on stage with each other, and Adalynn smiled to herself, happy that they were getting their moment in the spotlight.
The auditorium filled with applause as the song ended, and the New Directions took their places for the group number.
Adalynn forced a smile as she sang Gangnam Style with her fellow Glee Clubbers. She made eye contact with Julian in the audience and shot him a look before faking having a good time again.
As soon as the song ended, Marley's vision blurred and she collapsed on the stage.