Picture perfect - Book 1 - Q.F.

The Rhodes not taken

"So... You're living with Kurt now?" Mercedes asked, as soon as Piper was done telling her the whole story of how she had come out to her parents only to have her mom flip on her.

"Yeah." Piper nodded, frowning sadly as she went through her books in her locker. "My mom started yelling saying she could've never raised something like me and that I wouldn't be able to be myself under her roof. My dad tried to argue, but then they started yelling at each other and I just decided I couldn't take any more of that, so I just hopped in a taxi cab and went over to Kurt's."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, P..." Mercedes smiled sadly at her friend closing her locker just beside Piper's as she turned to look at her. "You don't deserve that."

"No one does." She shrugged, closing her locker too and turning to look at her friend. "But I think she might come around, eventually. I'm just... Avoiding confrontation, I guess. So I've spent the weekend at Kurt's and his dad let me put a mattress on the floor in Kurt's bedroom. Did you know he sleeps in the basement? And it's huge!"

"I can imagine." Mercedes laughed, as the two of the started to make their way together down the hallway.

"Yeah, and Kurt's pretty offended I only took a small bag of clothes to his house and he's making me go shopping with him again, after school." Piper sighed as Mercedes just laughed. "Will you come with and make it more bearable, please?"

"You know I never turn down a good opportunity for shopping." She smirked at the girl beside her, as she wrapped her arm around hers.

"Seriously... You guys need to learn that it's okay to come to school with the same outfit every once in a while." Piper mumbled, giggling when Mercedes gasped. "Oh, don't give me that. After school, I'm introducing you and Kurt to the wonders of a washing machine."

***

After Rachel had quit the club to be the star of the school's musical that year, the solo of the Don't stop believin' number had gone to Quinn Fabray. And that was exactly what they were practicing now: with Finn and Quinn taking the leads, the two of them sang the song staring at each other's eyes and smiling and Piper had to fight the urge to roll her eyes at the annoyingly sweet couple. Her attention was brought back to them, however when Quinn widened her eyes a bit and Mr. Schue stopped the music track with a worried frown.

"Quinn, you okay?" He asked, as everyone watched on as Quinn rushed out of the choir room with a hand covering her mouth.

"I think she just had a bad breakfast burrito." Finn said suddenly, as Piper kept staring at the door through which Quinn had just rushed out. That was, until Kurt spoke up and she had to turn her attention back to her friends.

"Can we please talk about the giant elephant in the room?" Kurt said, as Santana scoffed from behind him.

"Your sexuality?" She teased, as Piper rolled her eyes. "Or maybe Piper's? Cause you two together is too much gay in one room for me to handle, actually."

"Rachel." Kurt rolled his eyes then, ignoring Santana's comment as Piper stood beside him with her arms crossed over her chest. "We can't do it without her."

"That's not true." Mr. Schue shook his head, but it was actually clear as the day that he didn't believe a word he was saying. "We may have to layer Santana Mercedes over Quinn's solo, but... We'll be fine."

"Maybe for the Invitationals, but not for the Sectionals and certainly not the Regionals." Artie argued.

"The wheelchair kid's right." Puckerman agreed. "That Rachel chick wants me wanna light myself on fire, but she can sing."