Something - Quinn Fabray

Chapter 32

The next day dawned bright and early and to her displeasure, Shelby also decided to rise bright and early. She had a good reason though. "Where do you think you're going?"

Ryan stopped dead in his tracks on the way to the front door. "Out for a run?" he tried. His tone made it obvious that he didn't expect to get anywhere, though.

"I don't think so, kid. You're stuck here until Saturday morning."

Huffing angrily, Ryan turned around to stomp back to his room. He turned back to Shelby. "You should know that you're disrupting my morning routine, which may prove detrimental to my sleeping and exercise patterns. As a mother that's quite irresponsible of you."

"I'm sure you'll live."

"Also, starting now until the end of my grounding, I'm not talking to you."

"Noted."

"I don't know what you expect me to do, stuck here in the house for four whole days," the teenager grumbled.

"Try that homework I know you have," Shelby shot back. "And I thought you weren't speaking to me. Strangely enough, your mouth is still moving," she sniped at him. If he wanted a verbal spar, fine. "Or, if you've got energy to burn, you can go clean my kitchen. Your choice."

Ryan glared at her again before turning sharply and returning to his room. Shelby sighed, before deciding to just go ahead and make breakfast. This was going to be a long four days.

..

"So, how's life?" Sarah Corcoran asked with a smirk when she called Shelby later that afternoon.

"Miserable. Guess what your grandson did now. Wait..." Shelby narrowed her eyes, realizing something. "You already know, don't you?" she accused. Her suspicions were confirmed by her mother's laughter. "How?"

"Oh, dear, when you mentioned that you told your darling boy to be back by 10:30 it was obvious he wasn't going to follow," Sarah chortled.

"You couldn't have sent me a warning, could you?" Shelby asked sarcastically.

"It's all part and parcel of becoming a parent to a teenager. Who am I to deprive you of such an experience?"

"You're evil."

"Not as evil as you. What time did he come home? If Ryan came home before midnight then he's better than you. You came waltzing into the house at two in the morning when you were sixteen, if you'll remember."

"That's...different..." Shelby trailed off.

"What did you do?" Sarah asked curiously.

"He's grounded until Friday."

"Four days? I remember grounding you for a week."

Shelby rolled her eyes before sighing. "I guess the honeymoon is over, isn't it?" she said rhetorically.

"I think so," Sarah answered. "He's done being on his best behavior for you. And if you and James are anything to go by, you're going to need a shitload of patience, my dear."

"Oh joy."

The next couple of days passed agonizingly slowly for both Ryan and Shelby. The house was large, but apparently not large enough for the two of them for a four-day confinement, and most of Ryan's time was spent in his room. The rest was spent sniping with his mother. At around nine in the morning on the third day of the grounding, they heard a knock on the front door.

"I'll get it," Ryan yelled out, almost running to the front door. He may not know who it was, but after two days with no human contact besides his mother - whom he was still quite annoyed with - he would take anyone. Except maybe Hiram, or Leroy, or...this guy. He opened the front door, only to find none other than Jesse St. James standing outside. Resisting the urge to slam the door in his face, he just asked, "Yes?"