Fic: I'm Still Waiting For the Rain to Fall - 5/? (R/Q, PG)
Title: I’m Still Waiting For the Rain to Fall (5/?)
Author: an_an0maly
Summary: ...pour real life down on me...
Pairing: Eventual Rachel/Quinn
Rating: PG to NC-17
Word Count: 2,611 / 27,000+
Spoilers: I would like to say that spoilers would probably be from the Pilot to Sectionals. After that, there might be a few smattering of references to events in the Back 9, but other than that, mainly just references to the first 13 episodes.
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters unfortunately. Title belongs to Evanescence's 'Good Enough'.
Betas: grdnofevrythng for final touches in grammar, tenses, spelling etc. and gleek23 for fleshing this out with me almost on a daily basis with eleventy-thousand emails a day sharing plot ideas and figuring out how to tie it all together. *hugs to both of you*.
Thank you all again for leaving such amazing feedback. It really means a lot that people are reading this and leaving such great feedback.
Author's Note: I am really really sorry for the long wait. I really hadn't intended on waiting three weeks to post the next part. My trip to NY was amazing and the concert was even more amazing. As soon as I got home, I had a really bad case of jet lag but managed to find a temporary teaching position for last week and till at least the end of this week. I wanted to have some more written before I posted this part and that's why it is now Sunday night and I'm only posting now. Again, I'm really sorry for the delay in posting. I hope this part makes up for it, though.
Previous Parts: Prologue | I | II | III | IV |
Part Five:
~*~*~
Monday morning saw Quinn running late for school. She’d over slept which wasn’t normal for her, but she’d spent most of Sunday afternoon over at Brittany’s house and hadn’t gotten home until just before curfew at 10pm. Staying out late wasn’t foreign to Quinn anymore. Before her pregnancy she’d been a stickler for the rules, only bending them when she knew she wouldn’t be caught. Since moving back into the Fabray residence she’d managed to find a multitude of excuses to stay away from the house.
As she drove at exactly the speed limit down N Mc Donel St., slowing to turn right onto W Wayne St., she glanced at the time on her dashboard 7:17am. She had less than twelve minutes to get to school and first period. She saw the turn for N Jackson St. and slowed to allow a few cars to drive past at the T intersection. Quinn growled when the last car drove by at a snail’s pace. Just after the turn she spotted a small figure furiously striding down the street, arms swinging at her sides. Quinn recognised the knee socks and the bright pink winter coat.
Quinn rolled her eyes as she realised she was already pulling up beside the girl. She quickly leaned over the center console to wind down the passenger’s window. “Berry!” She yelled out. Rachel faltered in her stride slightly, her left arm coming up to shield her face from oncoming projectiles.
Quinn sighed as she lightly pressed her foot down on the accelerator, inching the car slowly down the road. She was glad this was a residential street as traffic this early in the morning was practically non-existent. “Berry!” She tried again. Rachel kept her left arm up, her legs increasing in speed down the sidewalk.
“Stubborn ass.” Quinn muttered as she accelerated past Rachel before parking the car, leaving the engine running. Quinn opened her car door and hurried out onto the sidewalk. The air was cold and she wasn’t wearing her coat. She wrapped her arms around her middle and hurried to stand in Rachel’s path. “Berry!” She yelled for the third time.
Rachel pulled up short, her right arm stretched out in front of her, a small black canister clenched in her fist, finger on the nozzle.
Quinn squeaked and thanked her years of cheerleading for quick reflexes as she dropped to the ground, her arms coming up to cover her head.
Time moved painfully slow as both girls waited with baited breath for the other to make a move.
Ten seconds went by - Quinn counted - before she started to feel uncomfortable cowering on the ground in the middle of the sidewalk. She took her time and slightly lowered one of her arms just enough for her to peak out over the top of her elbow.
“Quinn?” Rachel suddenly questioned, her brow furrowed in confusion. “What are you doing?”
Quinn let out a growl as she pulled herself up into a standing position. She brushed off her jeans and cardigan, trying to stamp down her anger. “What do you think I’m doing?” She asked finally meeting Rachel’s gaze, her right hand pointing in the direction of her still running car.
Rachel’s eyes widened in surprise. She looked from Quinn, to Quinn’s car and then back to Quinn again. She hurriedly stashed the pepper spray keychain attached to her house keys back into her coat pocket. “Are you ok?” She suddenly asked taking three quick steps toward Quinn.
The blonde quickly took a giant step back as Rachel invaded her personal space. “Woah,” she said holding up both hands to halt Rachel in her forward advancement.
Rachel ducked her head briefly before she straightened her spine and shoulders. “You really shouldn’t have snuck up on me like that. I could have done a lot of damage if you hadn’t ducked in time.”
“You carry pepper spray?” Quinn suddenly asked. She didn’t wait for the brunette to answer before throwing her hands up in the air. “You’re crazy!” She exclaimed before heading back toward her car.
Rachel took a tentative step in Quinn’s direction. She was utterly embarrassed by her reaction. She opened her mouth to apologize, but Quinn was already safely tucked away in her car. She watched dejectedly as Quinn began to drive off. She bowed her head, adjusted her backpack and set off on the rest of her journey, her pace significantly slower than before.
“Great,” she muttered as she kicked at a loose pebble on the sidewalk. She allowed to the count of five for a self-pity party before standing tall and resuming her earlier pace. She didn’t even want to think about how late she was going to be. On the next block she found Quinn standing in her path again, arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently on the ground. Rachel began to open her mouth to speak but Quinn quickly cut her off.
“Get in the car,” the blonde ordered and without a backward glance Quinn headed back to the driver’s side.
Rachel hurried her steps and practically threw herself into the front seat. She held her backpack to her chest and buckled her seatbelt.
Quinn checked the side mirror before pulling out onto the road. The journey was quiet and awkward, much like their first car ride together the week before. Quinn glanced over at Rachel and for the first time took a good look at the short brunette. There were dark circles under her eyes, her hair was limp and her shoulders were hunched over. Quinn made a mental note to check Rachel’s MySpace page during her free period for any more videos and time stamps.
Quinn kept her eyes on the road but let her gaze flicker over to Rachel every few seconds. “So...” she started, “what else do you carry in your bag of tricks?”
Rachel looked startled for a second before grinning over at Quinn. “Well,” she began her head held high with pride, “I carry pepper spray on a key ring, as you already know. I have a second one in my backpack, just in case. I also carry a rape whistle and Daddy managed to acquire a mini stun gun for me.”
Quinn shot Rachel a side-long glance. “A... stun gun?”
“It’s hot pink!” Rachel exclaimed in excitement.
“Pink?” Quinn questioned, unsure how to respond to Rachel’s enthusiasm over a weapon.
Rachel unzipped the front pocket of her backpack. She rifled around for a few seconds before pulling out a bright pink stun gun. “Technically it’s an ultra petite mini stun gun with low voltage but with just enough amperage to deliver the intended message to would-be attackers.”
Quinn swallowed visibly as Rachel pressed her finger to the button on the side eliciting electric shock sounds from the device. “What does... what does your father do, exactly?” She asked, her gaze flitting from the road to the stun gun.
“Oh! He’s in law enforcement.” Rachel replied, beaming with pride. She carefully slipped the mini stun gun back into the front pocket of her backpack and folded her arms.
“Your dad’s a cop?” Quinn asked in surprise. She honestly had never pictured either of Rachel’s fathers as a cop.
“Mhm.” Rachel replied with a nod of her head. “But we prefer the term ‘Officer of the Law’.”
“Uh-huh. Of course you do.” Quinn replied with a slight nod.
~*~*~
Over the course of the next week, Quinn made note of the small changes occurring in Rachel. It seemed that, since the night of the Invitational, Rachel became increasingly tired, prone to mood swings and in the classes they shared together, Rachel spent most of the hour with her head resting in her hand, her notebooks mostly empty.
The blonde sighed as she spied Rachel’s head drooping in second period English on Friday morning. She turned away and focused on Mrs. Gilbert. Quinn honestly had no idea what the old woman was going on about, but she continued to diligently record notes, even when the lecture strayed onto a story about a vacation Mrs. Gilbert had taken in Alabama with her husband fifteen years ago.
When the bell finally sounded, signifying the end of the period, Quinn quickly gathered her pens and highlighters and closed up her folder. Glancing to her right Rachel remained in the same position, head resting on her left hand, pen poised in her right. Quinn was slightly reluctant in even entertaining thoughts of waking the girl, especially after the pepper spray greeting she’d received on Monday.
Quinn piled her copy of To Kill a Mockingbird on top of her binder. She looked around and noticed that the room had almost completely emptied. Standing, she picked up her things and held them tight to her chest. She tucked her chair in before turning toward a still sleeping Rachel. She took a deep breath and mentally debated the merits of waking the girl.
On one hand, if she woke the girl, she might have to fight off a stun gun attack, but on the other hand, if she were the one sleeping through the bell, she’d want to be woken up to avoid any further embarrassment, like possible drooling. Quinn quietly walked around the brunette’s desk and leaned down to check for any pools of drool on the desktop. Nothing.
Noticing the uncomfortable position Rachel’s head was in, she rolled her eyes. Of course the thought of a sore neck would be the deciding factor in whether to wake a sleeping dragon. Quinn took a step back, made sure there was ducking space, pulled out a pen and stretched her arm out, her torso leaning back as she poked Rachel in the side.
The brunette snorted softly but remained sleeping.
“Are you kidding me?” Quinn asked the now empty room. She tried to poke her again, but all Rachel did was lay her arm on the table and bury her head in the crook of her elbow. Quinn looked down at the pen in her hand and almost contemplated throwing it at the girl, but she worried she might not get the pen back.
“Berry!” Quinn said forcefully. Rachel just buried her head further into her arm. Quinn practically threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “Forget it,” she muttered before heading for the door. The girl could fend for herself. Just as she turned out of the room, an idea struck her. Taking a step backward she looked back in on the girl still sleeping.
“Oh my God!” She yelled. “It’s Barbra Streisand!”
Suddenly Rachel’s body jumped. Her knee hit the underside of her desk, her head jerked up and her eyes quickly scanned the classroom. “Babs?” She called out as her right hand came up to wipe at her mouth.
Quinn grinned as she hurried out of view. She scurried quickly to her next class, shaking her head in amusement. But by the time she took a seat in Mr. Schuester’s Spanish class, the amusement had been replaced with mild concern. Even at her busiest, Rachel had never fallen asleep in class. As Mr. Schuester began the lesson, Quinn mentally shook her head of any thoughts pertaining to the brunette. Rachel Berry’s well-being really wasn’t any of her concern.
~*~*~
When the bell rang at 2:30pm, Quinn couldn’t have been happier. Her parents had informed her, by post-it note, that they were spending the weekend at a Christian Couples Retreat. Quinn was sure it was probably just an opportunity to down as many bottles of vodka, scotch and brandy as possible, but the end result was still the same. She had the house to herself for one gloriously long weekend.
She kept her parents ‘couples retreat’ a secret from her friends. She knew if Puck caught wind of her lack of supervision, she would be answering the door to three kegs, a cooler or two of wine coolers and fifty partially inebriated teenagers come Saturday night.
Quinn pushed and shoved her way through the throngs of teenagers desperately trying to escape the halls of McKinley High to get a jump start on their weekend plans. When she finally made it to her locker, she looked to her right and found Rachel hurriedly rifling through her things. Quinn couldn’t help but think about how Rachel just seemed to be everywhere these days. Most of her classes were shared with Rachel, her locker was half a dozen down from her own, her homeroom was across from Rachel’s and they had even been crossing paths between classes they didn’t share.
She watched Rachel for a few minutes wondering what the shorter girl could possibly be searching for so furiously.
~*~*~
“Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?” Rachel mumbled to herself as she moved folders back and forth, lifted text books and even looked behind the pink sparkly belt she had hanging in her locker. “Damn!” She swore as she angrily slammed her locker door closed. She’d left her Vocal folder at home and her father was going to kill her. She glanced at her phone and saw it was already 2:38pm. “Shit!” she muttered as she realised she was already three minutes late. She quickly opened her locker again, grabbed a stack of books and a blue folder before she slammed it closed again. Clutching the books to her chest, she ducked and weaved her way through the throngs of students. Being short did have its advantages.
Just as she made it to the front doors, she spotted her father standing at the open doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. Rachel’s heart began to beat hard against her chest. He did not look impressed with her tardiness at all. Her step faltered as his eyes found hers. She quickly gathered speed. As soon as she was in reach his hand snapped out and grabbed her elbow.
She opened her mouth to apologise profusely for her lateness and inform him of her forgotten folder when he shot her a warning look. Rachel ducked her head and hurriedly tried to keep up with her father’s long strides.
They were almost to the car when Rachel yanked her elbow out of his hand. She covered it up with a stumble but she could see her father suspected she’d pulled away on purpose. He let his arm drop to his side and just stood staring at his daughter for a few tense moments. “Get in the car,” he said his voice low.
Rachel just watched as he made his way to the driver’s side. She stood contemplating whether she should get in the car or not. She knew she had Jazz class in fifteen minutes and they were already running late, but in that moment, she didn’t care. She watched as her father settled behind the wheel and buckled his seatbelt. She met his eyes through the windshield. When his eyes narrowed slightly, Rachel ignored her desire to run and quickly hurried to the passenger side and got in.
Levi Berry turned the engine on and drove out of the parking lot before Rachel even had a chance to reach for her seatbelt.
Quinn stood on the front steps and watched as they drove away. “Crap,” she muttered. She was really hoping that everything she’d seen had been a series of coincidences. She really didn’t want to involve herself in Rachel Berry’s drama when she had bucket loads of her own. Bringing a hand up to her forehead, she ran her fingers through her hair before growling at her conscience. “Dammit,” she whispered as she turned back toward the front doors.
Author: an_an0maly
Summary: ...pour real life down on me...
Pairing: Eventual Rachel/Quinn
Rating: PG to NC-17
Word Count: 2,611 / 27,000+
Spoilers: I would like to say that spoilers would probably be from the Pilot to Sectionals. After that, there might be a few smattering of references to events in the Back 9, but other than that, mainly just references to the first 13 episodes.
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters unfortunately. Title belongs to Evanescence's 'Good Enough'.
Betas: grdnofevrythng for final touches in grammar, tenses, spelling etc. and gleek23 for fleshing this out with me almost on a daily basis with eleventy-thousand emails a day sharing plot ideas and figuring out how to tie it all together. *hugs to both of you*.
Thank you all again for leaving such amazing feedback. It really means a lot that people are reading this and leaving such great feedback.
Author's Note: I am really really sorry for the long wait. I really hadn't intended on waiting three weeks to post the next part. My trip to NY was amazing and the concert was even more amazing. As soon as I got home, I had a really bad case of jet lag but managed to find a temporary teaching position for last week and till at least the end of this week. I wanted to have some more written before I posted this part and that's why it is now Sunday night and I'm only posting now. Again, I'm really sorry for the delay in posting. I hope this part makes up for it, though.
Previous Parts: Prologue | I | II | III | IV |
Part Five:
~*~*~
Monday morning saw Quinn running late for school. She’d over slept which wasn’t normal for her, but she’d spent most of Sunday afternoon over at Brittany’s house and hadn’t gotten home until just before curfew at 10pm. Staying out late wasn’t foreign to Quinn anymore. Before her pregnancy she’d been a stickler for the rules, only bending them when she knew she wouldn’t be caught. Since moving back into the Fabray residence she’d managed to find a multitude of excuses to stay away from the house.
As she drove at exactly the speed limit down N Mc Donel St., slowing to turn right onto W Wayne St., she glanced at the time on her dashboard 7:17am. She had less than twelve minutes to get to school and first period. She saw the turn for N Jackson St. and slowed to allow a few cars to drive past at the T intersection. Quinn growled when the last car drove by at a snail’s pace. Just after the turn she spotted a small figure furiously striding down the street, arms swinging at her sides. Quinn recognised the knee socks and the bright pink winter coat.
Quinn rolled her eyes as she realised she was already pulling up beside the girl. She quickly leaned over the center console to wind down the passenger’s window. “Berry!” She yelled out. Rachel faltered in her stride slightly, her left arm coming up to shield her face from oncoming projectiles.
Quinn sighed as she lightly pressed her foot down on the accelerator, inching the car slowly down the road. She was glad this was a residential street as traffic this early in the morning was practically non-existent. “Berry!” She tried again. Rachel kept her left arm up, her legs increasing in speed down the sidewalk.
“Stubborn ass.” Quinn muttered as she accelerated past Rachel before parking the car, leaving the engine running. Quinn opened her car door and hurried out onto the sidewalk. The air was cold and she wasn’t wearing her coat. She wrapped her arms around her middle and hurried to stand in Rachel’s path. “Berry!” She yelled for the third time.
Rachel pulled up short, her right arm stretched out in front of her, a small black canister clenched in her fist, finger on the nozzle.
Quinn squeaked and thanked her years of cheerleading for quick reflexes as she dropped to the ground, her arms coming up to cover her head.
Time moved painfully slow as both girls waited with baited breath for the other to make a move.
Ten seconds went by - Quinn counted - before she started to feel uncomfortable cowering on the ground in the middle of the sidewalk. She took her time and slightly lowered one of her arms just enough for her to peak out over the top of her elbow.
“Quinn?” Rachel suddenly questioned, her brow furrowed in confusion. “What are you doing?”
Quinn let out a growl as she pulled herself up into a standing position. She brushed off her jeans and cardigan, trying to stamp down her anger. “What do you think I’m doing?” She asked finally meeting Rachel’s gaze, her right hand pointing in the direction of her still running car.
Rachel’s eyes widened in surprise. She looked from Quinn, to Quinn’s car and then back to Quinn again. She hurriedly stashed the pepper spray keychain attached to her house keys back into her coat pocket. “Are you ok?” She suddenly asked taking three quick steps toward Quinn.
The blonde quickly took a giant step back as Rachel invaded her personal space. “Woah,” she said holding up both hands to halt Rachel in her forward advancement.
Rachel ducked her head briefly before she straightened her spine and shoulders. “You really shouldn’t have snuck up on me like that. I could have done a lot of damage if you hadn’t ducked in time.”
“You carry pepper spray?” Quinn suddenly asked. She didn’t wait for the brunette to answer before throwing her hands up in the air. “You’re crazy!” She exclaimed before heading back toward her car.
Rachel took a tentative step in Quinn’s direction. She was utterly embarrassed by her reaction. She opened her mouth to apologize, but Quinn was already safely tucked away in her car. She watched dejectedly as Quinn began to drive off. She bowed her head, adjusted her backpack and set off on the rest of her journey, her pace significantly slower than before.
“Great,” she muttered as she kicked at a loose pebble on the sidewalk. She allowed to the count of five for a self-pity party before standing tall and resuming her earlier pace. She didn’t even want to think about how late she was going to be. On the next block she found Quinn standing in her path again, arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently on the ground. Rachel began to open her mouth to speak but Quinn quickly cut her off.
“Get in the car,” the blonde ordered and without a backward glance Quinn headed back to the driver’s side.
Rachel hurried her steps and practically threw herself into the front seat. She held her backpack to her chest and buckled her seatbelt.
Quinn checked the side mirror before pulling out onto the road. The journey was quiet and awkward, much like their first car ride together the week before. Quinn glanced over at Rachel and for the first time took a good look at the short brunette. There were dark circles under her eyes, her hair was limp and her shoulders were hunched over. Quinn made a mental note to check Rachel’s MySpace page during her free period for any more videos and time stamps.
Quinn kept her eyes on the road but let her gaze flicker over to Rachel every few seconds. “So...” she started, “what else do you carry in your bag of tricks?”
Rachel looked startled for a second before grinning over at Quinn. “Well,” she began her head held high with pride, “I carry pepper spray on a key ring, as you already know. I have a second one in my backpack, just in case. I also carry a rape whistle and Daddy managed to acquire a mini stun gun for me.”
Quinn shot Rachel a side-long glance. “A... stun gun?”
“It’s hot pink!” Rachel exclaimed in excitement.
“Pink?” Quinn questioned, unsure how to respond to Rachel’s enthusiasm over a weapon.
Rachel unzipped the front pocket of her backpack. She rifled around for a few seconds before pulling out a bright pink stun gun. “Technically it’s an ultra petite mini stun gun with low voltage but with just enough amperage to deliver the intended message to would-be attackers.”
Quinn swallowed visibly as Rachel pressed her finger to the button on the side eliciting electric shock sounds from the device. “What does... what does your father do, exactly?” She asked, her gaze flitting from the road to the stun gun.
“Oh! He’s in law enforcement.” Rachel replied, beaming with pride. She carefully slipped the mini stun gun back into the front pocket of her backpack and folded her arms.
“Your dad’s a cop?” Quinn asked in surprise. She honestly had never pictured either of Rachel’s fathers as a cop.
“Mhm.” Rachel replied with a nod of her head. “But we prefer the term ‘Officer of the Law’.”
“Uh-huh. Of course you do.” Quinn replied with a slight nod.
~*~*~
Over the course of the next week, Quinn made note of the small changes occurring in Rachel. It seemed that, since the night of the Invitational, Rachel became increasingly tired, prone to mood swings and in the classes they shared together, Rachel spent most of the hour with her head resting in her hand, her notebooks mostly empty.
The blonde sighed as she spied Rachel’s head drooping in second period English on Friday morning. She turned away and focused on Mrs. Gilbert. Quinn honestly had no idea what the old woman was going on about, but she continued to diligently record notes, even when the lecture strayed onto a story about a vacation Mrs. Gilbert had taken in Alabama with her husband fifteen years ago.
When the bell finally sounded, signifying the end of the period, Quinn quickly gathered her pens and highlighters and closed up her folder. Glancing to her right Rachel remained in the same position, head resting on her left hand, pen poised in her right. Quinn was slightly reluctant in even entertaining thoughts of waking the girl, especially after the pepper spray greeting she’d received on Monday.
Quinn piled her copy of To Kill a Mockingbird on top of her binder. She looked around and noticed that the room had almost completely emptied. Standing, she picked up her things and held them tight to her chest. She tucked her chair in before turning toward a still sleeping Rachel. She took a deep breath and mentally debated the merits of waking the girl.
On one hand, if she woke the girl, she might have to fight off a stun gun attack, but on the other hand, if she were the one sleeping through the bell, she’d want to be woken up to avoid any further embarrassment, like possible drooling. Quinn quietly walked around the brunette’s desk and leaned down to check for any pools of drool on the desktop. Nothing.
Noticing the uncomfortable position Rachel’s head was in, she rolled her eyes. Of course the thought of a sore neck would be the deciding factor in whether to wake a sleeping dragon. Quinn took a step back, made sure there was ducking space, pulled out a pen and stretched her arm out, her torso leaning back as she poked Rachel in the side.
The brunette snorted softly but remained sleeping.
“Are you kidding me?” Quinn asked the now empty room. She tried to poke her again, but all Rachel did was lay her arm on the table and bury her head in the crook of her elbow. Quinn looked down at the pen in her hand and almost contemplated throwing it at the girl, but she worried she might not get the pen back.
“Berry!” Quinn said forcefully. Rachel just buried her head further into her arm. Quinn practically threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “Forget it,” she muttered before heading for the door. The girl could fend for herself. Just as she turned out of the room, an idea struck her. Taking a step backward she looked back in on the girl still sleeping.
“Oh my God!” She yelled. “It’s Barbra Streisand!”
Suddenly Rachel’s body jumped. Her knee hit the underside of her desk, her head jerked up and her eyes quickly scanned the classroom. “Babs?” She called out as her right hand came up to wipe at her mouth.
Quinn grinned as she hurried out of view. She scurried quickly to her next class, shaking her head in amusement. But by the time she took a seat in Mr. Schuester’s Spanish class, the amusement had been replaced with mild concern. Even at her busiest, Rachel had never fallen asleep in class. As Mr. Schuester began the lesson, Quinn mentally shook her head of any thoughts pertaining to the brunette. Rachel Berry’s well-being really wasn’t any of her concern.
~*~*~
When the bell rang at 2:30pm, Quinn couldn’t have been happier. Her parents had informed her, by post-it note, that they were spending the weekend at a Christian Couples Retreat. Quinn was sure it was probably just an opportunity to down as many bottles of vodka, scotch and brandy as possible, but the end result was still the same. She had the house to herself for one gloriously long weekend.
She kept her parents ‘couples retreat’ a secret from her friends. She knew if Puck caught wind of her lack of supervision, she would be answering the door to three kegs, a cooler or two of wine coolers and fifty partially inebriated teenagers come Saturday night.
Quinn pushed and shoved her way through the throngs of teenagers desperately trying to escape the halls of McKinley High to get a jump start on their weekend plans. When she finally made it to her locker, she looked to her right and found Rachel hurriedly rifling through her things. Quinn couldn’t help but think about how Rachel just seemed to be everywhere these days. Most of her classes were shared with Rachel, her locker was half a dozen down from her own, her homeroom was across from Rachel’s and they had even been crossing paths between classes they didn’t share.
She watched Rachel for a few minutes wondering what the shorter girl could possibly be searching for so furiously.
~*~*~
“Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?” Rachel mumbled to herself as she moved folders back and forth, lifted text books and even looked behind the pink sparkly belt she had hanging in her locker. “Damn!” She swore as she angrily slammed her locker door closed. She’d left her Vocal folder at home and her father was going to kill her. She glanced at her phone and saw it was already 2:38pm. “Shit!” she muttered as she realised she was already three minutes late. She quickly opened her locker again, grabbed a stack of books and a blue folder before she slammed it closed again. Clutching the books to her chest, she ducked and weaved her way through the throngs of students. Being short did have its advantages.
Just as she made it to the front doors, she spotted her father standing at the open doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. Rachel’s heart began to beat hard against her chest. He did not look impressed with her tardiness at all. Her step faltered as his eyes found hers. She quickly gathered speed. As soon as she was in reach his hand snapped out and grabbed her elbow.
She opened her mouth to apologise profusely for her lateness and inform him of her forgotten folder when he shot her a warning look. Rachel ducked her head and hurriedly tried to keep up with her father’s long strides.
They were almost to the car when Rachel yanked her elbow out of his hand. She covered it up with a stumble but she could see her father suspected she’d pulled away on purpose. He let his arm drop to his side and just stood staring at his daughter for a few tense moments. “Get in the car,” he said his voice low.
Rachel just watched as he made his way to the driver’s side. She stood contemplating whether she should get in the car or not. She knew she had Jazz class in fifteen minutes and they were already running late, but in that moment, she didn’t care. She watched as her father settled behind the wheel and buckled his seatbelt. She met his eyes through the windshield. When his eyes narrowed slightly, Rachel ignored her desire to run and quickly hurried to the passenger side and got in.
Levi Berry turned the engine on and drove out of the parking lot before Rachel even had a chance to reach for her seatbelt.
Quinn stood on the front steps and watched as they drove away. “Crap,” she muttered. She was really hoping that everything she’d seen had been a series of coincidences. She really didn’t want to involve herself in Rachel Berry’s drama when she had bucket loads of her own. Bringing a hand up to her forehead, she ran her fingers through her hair before growling at her conscience. “Dammit,” she whispered as she turned back toward the front doors.