Fic: I'm Still Waiting For the Rain to Fall - 10/? (R/Q, PG)
Title: I’m Still Waiting For the Rain to Fall (10/?)
Author: an_an0maly
Summary: ...pour real life down on me...
Pairing: Eventual Rachel/Quinn
Rating: PG to NC-17
Word Count: 5,073 / 40,000+
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'.
Music: 'Seasons of Love' from Rent, 'Cabaret' from Cabaret, 'Hard Knock Life' from Annie, 'Sound of Music' from The Sound of Music.
Betas: grdnofevrythng for final touches in grammar, tenses, spelling etc. and gleek23 for spending her working hours online fleshing out fic ideas when she really should be working. Betas really don't get enough credit sometimes. Thanks for the continued encouragement and for lighting fires under my ass. :D
Author's Note: Sorry, was having fun in San Diego. Am about to head home to Australia for a little while. Hopefully we can get bac kto weekly updates again.
Previous Parts: Prologue | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX
Part Ten:
~*~*~
One hour and five minutes on the road:
Quinn turned the car into a parking space close to the door of the small diner. It was a tiny establishment tucked off to the side of the I-75 near Sidney. Quinn shut the engine off and slid her keys out of the ignition. She heard Rachel mutter “finally” as the brunette began to unbuckle her seatbelt. Quinn grabbed her wallet from the center console before exiting the car, slamming the door behind her.
She was almost to the double glass doors of the diner when suddenly her car’s horn went off in three successive beeps, causing her to jump. Quinn turned to glare at Rachel, the only person that could possibly be responsible for the noise. Rachel began frantically pointing to her door, in particular, the handle. Quinn pressed her lips together as she tried to hold in a laugh at Rachel’s predicament.
Rachel huffed before raising her hand to the horn in a threatening gesture. Quinn quickly darted toward the passenger side and lifted the handle, pulling the door open. Rachel turned her nose up at Quinn as she climbed out. With a huff, she crossed her arms and marched her way toward the diner’s doors. Quinn rolled her eyes before flicking the switch to disable the child lock, while Rachel angrily whipped the glass door open and headed inside.
When they were finally seated at a booth, Rachel propped her menu up in front of her face, blocking Quinn out, which didn’t bother the blonde one bit. She’d been here a few times and already knew what she’d be ordering so she didn’t bother with her own menu.
“Quinn!” A cheerful voice called out in surprise.
Quinn looked startled for a moment before looking up and meeting the excited gaze of a tall blonde donned in a server’s uniform. She offered up a small smile and a greeting. “Hi, Anna.”
Anna was tall, blonde and blue-eyed. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, a few loose strands framing her face. She wore a black headband and clutched her order pad in her left hand, pen in her right. “The usual?” She asked Quinn with a slight bounce and a grin.
Quinn prayed she wasn’t blushing. Anna’s obvious attentions weren’t entirely unwelcome, the girl was kind of cute, but in present company, the girl’s flirtations were definitely something to be avoided. “Um... Do you mind giving us a few more minutes?” Quinn asked with a friendly smile.
Anna just continued to grin at Quinn. “Of course!” She eagerly replied before practically bounced away from the booth.
Rachel watched in fascination from behind her menu as the server, Anna, skipped away from the table to lean on the counter between two stools a few feet away. Rachel let her eyes wander to Quinn who was completely engrossed in her menu now, a slight tinge of pink to her cheeks. Her brow furrowed in confusion and she tilted her head in thought as she glanced back at Anna who was leaning her torso over the counter, the short skirt of her uniform riding up the back of her thighs. Anna continued to glance in Quinn’s direction and suddenly a light bulb went off in Rachel’s head and her eyebrows rose in new-found realisation. Well, this was certainly new.
Rachel quickly schooled her features and straightened her shoulders as Quinn cleared her throat, meeting her eyes over their menus. “Have you decided on anything?” Quinn asked, her eyes glancing briefly to the side where Anna stood, left knee now resting, slightly suggestively, on the leather cushion of a stool while looking over her shoulder at them.
Rachel followed Quinn’s gaze, her eyes roaming over Anna briefly with interest. She quickly averted her gaze back to Quinn when she realized Anna was also eyeing her as what looked to be potential competition. “I’m just evaluating the options.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow at Rachel’s choice of words. “You are so weird,” she said before sitting up and leaning back into the booth. The appearance of Anna had definitely thrown her off her game. She couldn’t let Rachel get the upper hand, she was the kidnapper. “I’m going to order, and you better have decided by the time I finish or you don’t get to eat.”
Rachel glared at Quinn. She had previously decided to just observe the interaction between both blondes, but now she was intent on making Quinn squirm. She watched as Quinn began to raise her head to try and catch Anna’s eye, but Anna was already making her way toward their table, grin in place, and top button of her uniform conveniently open.
“Are you both ready to order?” Anna asked her eyes glued to Quinn, grin wider than before.
Quinn tried not to blush and ducked her head, pretending to read her menu. “I’ll just have a giant waffle with strawberries and coffee.”
Anna giggled as she wrote the order down. “So... the usual, then?”
Rachel watched as Quinn turned bright red.
“Um, yeah. Thanks,” Quinn replied as she distracted herself by moving the menu toward the window, stacking it with the other menus.
Anna turned toward Rachel with a small smile, her ponytail swishing over her shoulder. “And what can I get you?”
Rachel beamed up at Anna, set her elbow on the table to rest her chin in her hand. “I usually have a protein shake with banana and flaxseed oil for breakfast, but I’ve recently realized that I am limiting myself to all the available options life can provide me with.” Rachel could tell that although Anna was smiling, she looked slightly confused about where this conversation was going. “I was thinking of branching out, exploring my horizons. I bet you like to eat Cheerios.”
Quinn suddenly choked on her own saliva. She tried to catch her breath but her body forced her into a violent coughing fit trying to rid her oesophagus of the tickle that now settled there. Rachel bit her bottom lip in laughter as she watched Anna rush to Quinn’s side, patting her back.
“Let me get you a glass of water,” Anna quickly said, voice full of concern, as she rushed off behind the counter for a glass.
Rachel leant forward, her fingers now resting on the edge of the table. “Are you ok?” She asked only slightly concerned. Mostly, she was just amused at Quinn’s reaction to her question.
Quinn glared at her as a new wave of coughs overtook her.
Before Rachel knew it, Anna was back at the table by Quinn’s side helping to get the glass of water into Quinn’s hand. Rachel sat and watched the two interact. She knew Quinn probably hadn’t intended for this secret to reveal itself, especially to her, but Rachel just couldn’t overlook such an opportunity to put Quinn in her place. Sure, she was a firm believer in tolerance and abhorred the ignorance of many of her peers, but this opportunity that had presented itself, this opportunity to bring Quinn down a peg or two, just could not be passed up.
When Quinn had finally gotten her coughing fit under control and her glass of water was half empty, Anna brushed her hair back, took a deep breath and turned toward Rachel. “I’m sorry,” she started with a shake of her head, “where were we?”
Rachel smirked, “Eating Cheerios.”
Anna just grinned while Rachel felt Quinn’s glare. “That’s right. Sorry. So, you’d like Cheerios for breakfast?” The tall blonde asked her pen poised to write down Rachel’s order.
Rachel looked thoughtful for a moment. “What do you recommend I top it with? Something sweet?”
Anna looked deep in thought for a moment as she contemplated Rachel’s question. “Well, Quinn here seems quite partial to our strawberries. Actually, to all our berries. Maybe a berry mixture?” She suggested with raised eyebrows and a hopeful smile.
Rachel held back a giggle and grinned wildly. “Oh, well if Quinn is so partial to the berries, I must try some.”
“Great!” Anna exclaimed as she turned to walk away. “Oh! Anything to drink?” She asked quickly turning on her heel and pointing the end of her pen at Rachel.
“Just a really large glass of water, thank you,” Rachel replied with a friendly smile as she folded her arms on the edge of the table. Sighing contently she turned her head to face Quinn. “She’s lovely.”
There was silence for a few seconds as Quinn continued to glare daggers at Rachel. “I’m going to kill you, Berry. Slowly.”
Rachel just grinned.
~*~*~
Quinn had excused herself to use the restroom a few minutes earlier, leaving Rachel with a stern warning not to take off. Rachel had scoffed and rolled her eyes. She sat alone in the booth, scooped up some of her breakfast and brought it up to her mouth. She had to be honest; the berry mixture was definitely delicious and very healthy. Chewing slowly, she turned her head to look out the window they were sitting next to. The sun was shining and Rachel could tell it was going to be a hot day. Realising she didn’t know what time it even was, she turned her head to look around the walls of the diner hoping to find a clock but all she found was Quinn sliding back into the booth.
“What time is it?” Rachel suddenly asked after quickly swallowing.
Quinn pulled her phone out of her pocket and pressed on the menu button to show her the time. “7:29am,” Quinn replied tucking her phone back into her pocket.
Rachel’s eyes widened as her mind ran through all that she had missed of her schedule and then she remembered her father mentioning something about a change of routine for spring break. Oh God, her father. “You... you did get permission from my fathers to kidnap me, right?” She asked seriously, leaning forward.
Quinn stared at Rachel for a few seconds, which caused Rachel to set off on some rant about how her fathers were going to kill both of them and how she was surprised they hadn’t been pulled over or tracked down by the state police yet.
Quinn tuned her out as she thought back to last Thursday afternoon when she had perfected the Rachel Berry storm out and left glee early. She had headed for an afternoon snack and it had been while waiting in the line to order that she realized the perfect opportunity to prove Rachel wrong was to take her to meet Ellie. She’d placed her order, and stood aside to allow the next customer to order. She’d pulled out her phone and dialled a familiar number.
“Hello?” A voice answered on the other end.
Quinn could hear childish giggling in the background. “Sarah? It’s Quinn. I hope I haven’t called at a bad time.”
There was some rustling before Sarah replied. “No, no. We’re just finger painting. How are you?”
Quinn smiled as she thought of Ellie covered in paint. “I’m good. I’m actually calling to ask a favor. A pretty big one, actually,” Quinn said nervously. She looked down at her feet as she shuffled slightly near the doors.
“Sure! Ask away!” Sarah replied and Quinn could hear how genuine Sarah was. Every day she thanked whatever higher being there was for helping her find Sarah and Alex who were amazing parents to Ellie.
“It’s... it’s about a... friend of mine. She’s... Well, I don’t want to say too much but there are a few issues at home and she needs a little bit of a break. I was wondering, if it’s not too much trouble - ”
“Quinn...”
“ - if she might be able to drive down with me and stay the Monday and Tuesday? I know it’s really a lot to ask - ”
“Quinn.”
“ - and you can definitely say no, in fact, you should obviously talk to Alex first and - ”
“Quinn!” Sarah interrupted for the third time, finally gaining Quinn’s attention. “It’s fine! Bring her along! It’ll be nice for us to meet some of the friends Ellie developed around. Is she in glee too?”
Quinn felt relief as the conversation continued. When she realized they had been on the phone now for a quarter of an hour and her sandwich had been waiting for her on the counter, Quinn and Sarah quickly said their goodbyes.
With the first part of her plan approved, Quinn had set off to the Lima Police Department. If she was going to talk either of Rachel’s parents into letting her on this road trip, then it was going to have to be James that she approached with her idea.
Quinn was brought out of her thoughts as Rachel slammed her fist down on the table.
“Quinn Fabray! Are you even listening to me?!” She exclaimed rather loudly, Anna looking up with concern from her position filling up napkin holders. The truckie now sitting at the counter glanced over his shoulder at the pair.
Quinn shrugged a shoulder. “I tend to zone out about three seconds into one of your tirades.”
Rachel huffed as she began in on how Quinn should be listening to her... or something like that. Quinn had already zoned out and was thinking back to her meeting with James Berry.
When she’d asked to see Officer Berry at the front desk and the junior officer had mentioned something about the Bike Team getting ready to set out, she had definitely not expected to come face to face with a very tall, buff and spandex-wearing James Berry.
“Quinn?” He’d greeted with a grin before pulling her into a hug.
Quinn was startled by the familiarity with which Mr. Berry had greeted her, but due to her reasons for being there, she went with it, even ignoring the fanny pack digging into her ribs.
“Hi, Mr. Berry,” Quinn greeted with as she pulled out of the hug.
“James, remember?” He replied with a grin.
“Sorry,” Quinn replied with a slight blush.
James waved off her apology and with a grin asked her how he could help her.
“I was actually wondering if I might be able to borrow Rachel for a few days next week,” she began. Quinn continued to weave a tale of how she and Puck usually drove down to Cincinnati together but that he couldn’t make it down till Tuesday night and how she would really appreciate the company.
James had been reluctant at first, even pulling out a folded up timetable from his fanny pack. When he had opened it up, Quinn could instantly see that it was Rachel’s schedule. “Let’s me know where they both are.”
It had taken a little convincing and James had seemed reluctant, but Quinn pushed the ‘travelling alone’ angle and James had given her a tentative confirmation. When a second Bike Team officer had joined them to call Mr. Berry back, James had glanced down at the schedule in his hands, folded it quickly back up, stuffed it into his fanny pack and told Quinn to come by the house very early Monday morning to collect Rachel. His only stipulation was to have her back by Wednesday as she had her Spring Showcase soon and needed to rehearse for her solo routines.
“So?” Rachel asked in frustration.
“They’re paying me to take you off their hands,” Quinn replied in a flat tone.
Rachel was stunned silent for a few seconds. “What?” She asked in a small voice.
Quinn smirked. “Kidding. I left them a post-it note. It’ll be fine.” She disregarded the brunette’s concern with a wave of her hand.
Rachel continued to sit there stunned. “A post-it note?” She asked.
“If you’re finished we should go. We still have at least another hour on the road,” Quinn said looking pointedly at Rachel’s almost empty bowl of cereal.
Rachel looked concerned. “Do they really know I’m with you? And wherever we’re going? Which you still haven’t told me?”
Quinn rolled her eyes. “Yes, of course they know you’re with me. I’ll go and pay while you take the last few bites.” She began to make her way out of the booth.
Rachel watched as Quinn made her way to Anna who was grinning again at the register. Rachel smirked as a terribly horrible idea popped into her head. She quickly spooned the last of her cereal into her mouth. Sliding out of the booth she caught up with the blondes. Quickly swallowing, she tapped Quinn’s shoulder interrupting the pair. “I’m just going to the bathroom. Don’t drive off without me.”
Quinn rolled her eyes before bidding a quick farewell in Anna’s direction. Rachel turned and began to walk in the direction of the bathrooms. Out of the corner of her eyes she watched Quinn leave the diner and quickly snapped up a napkin from a nearby table. She hurriedly made her way back to Anna at the counter and offered the girl a smile.
“Can I just borrow a pen quickly?” Rachel asked as she eyed the front doors hoping Quinn wouldn’t be heading back inside for any particular reason.
“Sure!” Anna replied with a smile while holding out her pen.
Rachel smirked as she began writing a series of numbers on the napkin. When she finished, she handed the napkin and pen back to Anna. “Quinn’s a little shy sometimes. You should give her a call. She likes it when girl’s make the first move... if you know what I mean.” With a glance up and down Anna’s body, she sent a wink and a grin in the blonde’s direction before she practically skipped out of the diner.
~*~*~
An hour and forty minutes on the road:
“Chester Cheetah chewed a chunk of Cheap Cheddar Cheese,” Rachel began. “Chester Cheetah chewed a chunk of Cheap Cheddar Cheese.”
“What are you doing?” Quinn asked as she turned her head, her eyes widening in fright at the tongue twister Rachel was singing.
Rachel sighed in exasperation. “You made me miss both my elliptical workout and my vocal warm-ups. You’ll just have to sit there while I try and warm up in the car.”
Before Quinn could even respond to that, Rachel was moving her lips and jaw in all sorts of shapes, and then the singing tongue twister began again. “Chester Cheetah chewed a chunk of Cheap Cheddar Cheese.”
This went on for a few seconds, Rachel moving up the scale, half a tone each time. Rachel took a deep breath but Quinn interrupted before she could hit the next note. “I thought you were vegan.”
“I thought you were straight,” Rachel instantly replied shooting Quinn a pointed look.
There was silence in the car as Rachel waited for Quinn to deny it. “I...”
“Mhm, as I suspected,” Rachel said turning back to face the road, her back straight, hands clasped in front, elbows out to the side. “Chester Cheetah chewed a chunk of Cheap Cheddar Cheese.”
An hour and fifty minutes on the road:
“Are we there yet?”
“No!”
Two hours on the road:
Rachel shifted in her seat. She crossed her legs then uncrossed them. She began tapping the arm rest, and then began biting her bottom lip. She repeated this process a few times.
“What is your problem?” Quinn asked irritated.
Rachel eyed Quinn before crossing her legs again. “I need to use the bathroom.”
“Again?!” Quinn exclaimed.
Rachel nodded her head. “Please.”
“You just went twenty minutes ago,” Quinn replied glancing at Rachel who began shifting again.
“Well I need to go again,” Rachel replied crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. Her right foot began to tap against the floor of the car.
“You need to go that badly?” Quinn questioned hiding her smirk by only using her eyes to glance at the rear view mirror.
“Yes,” Rachel simply answered.
“Ok,” Quinn replied grinning as she flipped her turn signal on and began to pull off to the side of the road.
“What are you doing?” Rachel asked in alarm as Quinn pulled the car to a stop.
Quinn put the car in park and turned off the engine. She turned and leaned through the gap between the front seats to rummage around on the floor of her backseat. “I think we have some tissues back here.”
“What?” Rachel asked beginning to panic slightly.
“Aha!” Quinn exclaimed as she held up a pile of tissues in the air. Pushing herself back into her seat, she held out the tissues to Rachel. “There you go.”
Rachel looked out the window. Far in the distance she could see row after row of trees, but where Quinn had pulled up, there was a row of small bushes just past a wire fence. “You want me to... over there?!” Rachel asked in disbelief.
Quinn leant forward slightly and looked past Rachel’s head to the scenery. She shrugged her shoulders. “Why not?”
“Why not? Why not?!” Rachel replied almost yelling. “Are you looking at the same expanse of land that I’m looking at? How can you expect me to...to... squat over there?” Rachel glanced back out the window again before turning back to Quinn. “Somebody could see me,” she whispered.
Quin leaned in, their noses almost touching. “Squat very low,” she whispered back.
Rachel recoiled before glaring at Quinn. She turned to grab the handle of her door when she remembered the child lock. She turned back to Quinn and began climbing over the center console, her left hand gripping painfully to Quinn’s shoulder, her hand at the top of the steering wheel. She propelled herself forward, her left foot braced against her seat. She moved her right foot between Quinn’s legs, who groaned as Rachel kneed her in the groin. “Serves you right,” Rachel muttered as she reached out for the door handle and pushed the door open. She climbed the rest of the way out, straightened her clothes and held her hand out for the pile of tissues.
Quinn, although in pain, smirked as she handed the tissues over. Rachel huffed in annoyance and walked around the car toward the fence. Quinn quickly closed her door, waited for Rachel to walk around the car before leaning over the handbrake and opening the passenger side door from inside the car.
“Oh, Rachel!” Quinn practically sung out to the girl. Rachel was already carefully making her way down the side of the small embankment toward the fence.
Rachel turned to find Quinn leaning over, the passenger door open. Quinn grinned and waved at her. Rachel’s face turned to one of shock before she did something she had never done before in her entire life. She raised her hand, her thumb holding down all her fingers but one. Quinn’s laughter followed Rachel all the way to the bushes.
Two hours and ten minutes on the road:
Rachel had been gone for over five minutes now and Quinn wasn’t all that worried. She had exited the car though, to at least close the passenger door. She now leant up against the side of her car watching the scenery, waiting for Rachel to make it back.
A few more minutes passed when finally Rachel emerged from the bushes, her head down, her arms crossed, wad of tissues clutched in her hand. Quinn watched as the small brunette carefully climbed over the fence and quickly made her way up the embankment, arms still crossed, head still bowed.
“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked worried that something bad might have actually happened to the girl while she was out there on her own.
Rachel mumbled a reply as she tried to reach for the door handle.
Quinn stepped into her path. “What happened?” She asked seriously, her left hand coming up to rest on Rachel’s upper arm. She ducked her head to try and meet Rachel’s gaze but the shorter girl just turned her head away.
“I couldn’t...” Rachel mumbled, her sentence trailing off.
“What?” Quinn asked, her hand now rubbing Rachel’s arm in a comforting gesture.
Rachel huffed in embarrassment as she took a step back, Quinn’s hand falling from her arm. She uncrossed her arms and swung them out to the side. As she let them fall, they slapped her thighs. She looked toward the stretch of road they had already travelled. “I couldn’t... I have... I have a shy bladder, ok?” She admitted, her cheeks going red as she tried once more to move past Quinn to get to the car door.
Quinn slid along the door until her backside was covering the handle. She bit her bottom lip as she tried not to giggle at Rachel’s predicament. “Can you hold on for another five... ten minutes?” She asked finally taking pity on the girl who looked so ashamed that she couldn’t pee in the bushes.
Rachel bit her bottom lip as she tentatively met Quinn’s gaze. She nodded her head slightly.
Quinn nodded in agreement. “Alright,” she took a step back and opened the door for Rachel. “There’s a stop coming up. You can use the bathroom there.” Rachel’s head snapped up to look at Quinn in shock. Quinn quickly pushed the girl into the car and closed the door.
Two hours and twenty-five minutes on the road:
“It may have been a McDonald’s bathroom, but it was about a thousand times better than the bushes,” Rachel commented as she licked at the hot fudge mixed in with her Oreo McFlurry off the spoon. She savoured the taste. She was such a bad vegan.
“And look, you even got a free McFlurry!” Quinn tried to add with a smile.
“You have to promise not to tell anyone!” She exclaimed, a pleading expression on her face. Quinn just rolled her eyes and nodded in agreement. It was the least she could do.
Rachel was silent for a few seconds. She leaned back into her seat and swirled her spoon through the ice cream. “Even though you did send me out into the bushes on the side of the road, putting me in potential danger of being attacked by insects and possible poisonous snakes... thank you,” she said glancing briefly to the side. “For the ice cream, I mean.”
Quinn just grinned. “Right.”
Two hours and thirty-five minutes on the road:
“Are we there yet?”
“For God’s sake, no!”
Two hours and forty minutes on the road:
“But we’ve spent this whole car ride in silence,” Rachel whined as she leaned through the two front seats to try and grab for the bag Quinn had packed for her.
“Speak for yourself,” Quinn muttered.
“All I am saying is that we could have used all that valuable time to practice a few songs, especially the ones for Regionals,” Rachel continued on as she pulled her bag closer to her and unzipped it.
Quinn heard a gasp. “What?”
Rachel didn’t answer. She pulled the bag as close to her chest as she could and pulled it through the seats and into her lap. She held the bag tight and turned tear-filled eyes toward Quinn.
“What?!” Quinn asked frantically.
“You... you...” and then Rachel’s bottom lip began to tremble as she peeled the two sides of her bag open before pulling out an orange t-shirt and a purple plaid skirt. “Nothing... nothing matches,” she cried out.
Quinn couldn’t hold it in even if she had tried. She burst into laughter. She hit the side of the steering wheel with her hand and threw her head back. “Oh God,” she said, a tear spilling from the corner of her eye. She wiped it away and turned to find a very angry Rachel.
“For that,” Rachel said, “you get show tunes.”
Two hours and forty-three minutes on the road:
“It’s time now, to sing out, tho’ the story never ends...”
Two hours and forty-five minutes on the road:
“I used to have a girlfriend known as Elsie, with whom I shared four sordid rooms in Chelsea...”
Two hours and forty-eight minutes on the road:
“Don’t it feel like the wind is always howl’n? Don’t it seem like there’s never any light? Once a day, don’t you wanna throw the towel in? It’s easier than puttin’ up a fight.”
Two hours and fifty-one minutes on the road:
“The hills are alive... with the sound of music...with songs they have su - ”
“Alright, that’s enough!” Quinn yelled as she reached out and grabbed Rachel’s iPod, the music suddenly cutting off before she slid it underneath her bottom to sit on it.
Rachel pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. “I hope you realize that by taking away the iPod, it only means you’ll have to listen to me sing a Capella.”
Quinn quickly slid the iPod out and handed it back over. It was the lesser of two evils.
Three hours and fifteen minutes on the road:
“Oh, thank God,” Quinn muttered as she turned the car into a driveway.
Rachel turned her iPod off and looked carefully around the street they had pulled into. Quinn slowly inched the car up the driveway past a bank of trees to reveal a large, two-storey house with a two-car garage to the right, with what looked like a small apartment on top.
“Where are we?” Rachel asked in a small voice as she looked up at the main house.
Quinn didn’t answer as she hurriedly put the car in park, turned the ignition off and scrambled out of the car. Rachel began to follow suit but at a much slower place. Suddenly, a slender woman with long brown hair, dressed in jeans, flip flops and a purple top strolled out from the back of the house with a big smile on her face. Rachel unbuckled her seatbelt slowly as she watched a small figure excitedly waddle behind the woman. Rachel felt like she was moving in slow motion as she climbed out of the car.
“Ellie!” Quinn called out with a large smile as the little girl; her short blonde curls tied in two small pigtails atop her head, began to gain speed, propelling herself toward Quinn. A high-pitched squeal pierced the air, impressing Rachel. She watched as Quinn bent down and scooped the young girl up into her arms. “Huggles!” Quinn exclaimed as the young girl threw her small arms around Quinn’s neck.
Author: an_an0maly
Summary: ...pour real life down on me...
Pairing: Eventual Rachel/Quinn
Rating: PG to NC-17
Word Count: 5,073 / 40,000+
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'.
Music: 'Seasons of Love' from Rent, 'Cabaret' from Cabaret, 'Hard Knock Life' from Annie, 'Sound of Music' from The Sound of Music.
Betas: grdnofevrythng for final touches in grammar, tenses, spelling etc. and gleek23 for spending her working hours online fleshing out fic ideas when she really should be working. Betas really don't get enough credit sometimes. Thanks for the continued encouragement and for lighting fires under my ass. :D
Author's Note: Sorry, was having fun in San Diego. Am about to head home to Australia for a little while. Hopefully we can get bac kto weekly updates again.
Previous Parts: Prologue | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX
Part Ten:
~*~*~
One hour and five minutes on the road:
Quinn turned the car into a parking space close to the door of the small diner. It was a tiny establishment tucked off to the side of the I-75 near Sidney. Quinn shut the engine off and slid her keys out of the ignition. She heard Rachel mutter “finally” as the brunette began to unbuckle her seatbelt. Quinn grabbed her wallet from the center console before exiting the car, slamming the door behind her.
She was almost to the double glass doors of the diner when suddenly her car’s horn went off in three successive beeps, causing her to jump. Quinn turned to glare at Rachel, the only person that could possibly be responsible for the noise. Rachel began frantically pointing to her door, in particular, the handle. Quinn pressed her lips together as she tried to hold in a laugh at Rachel’s predicament.
Rachel huffed before raising her hand to the horn in a threatening gesture. Quinn quickly darted toward the passenger side and lifted the handle, pulling the door open. Rachel turned her nose up at Quinn as she climbed out. With a huff, she crossed her arms and marched her way toward the diner’s doors. Quinn rolled her eyes before flicking the switch to disable the child lock, while Rachel angrily whipped the glass door open and headed inside.
When they were finally seated at a booth, Rachel propped her menu up in front of her face, blocking Quinn out, which didn’t bother the blonde one bit. She’d been here a few times and already knew what she’d be ordering so she didn’t bother with her own menu.
“Quinn!” A cheerful voice called out in surprise.
Quinn looked startled for a moment before looking up and meeting the excited gaze of a tall blonde donned in a server’s uniform. She offered up a small smile and a greeting. “Hi, Anna.”
Anna was tall, blonde and blue-eyed. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, a few loose strands framing her face. She wore a black headband and clutched her order pad in her left hand, pen in her right. “The usual?” She asked Quinn with a slight bounce and a grin.
Quinn prayed she wasn’t blushing. Anna’s obvious attentions weren’t entirely unwelcome, the girl was kind of cute, but in present company, the girl’s flirtations were definitely something to be avoided. “Um... Do you mind giving us a few more minutes?” Quinn asked with a friendly smile.
Anna just continued to grin at Quinn. “Of course!” She eagerly replied before practically bounced away from the booth.
Rachel watched in fascination from behind her menu as the server, Anna, skipped away from the table to lean on the counter between two stools a few feet away. Rachel let her eyes wander to Quinn who was completely engrossed in her menu now, a slight tinge of pink to her cheeks. Her brow furrowed in confusion and she tilted her head in thought as she glanced back at Anna who was leaning her torso over the counter, the short skirt of her uniform riding up the back of her thighs. Anna continued to glance in Quinn’s direction and suddenly a light bulb went off in Rachel’s head and her eyebrows rose in new-found realisation. Well, this was certainly new.
Rachel quickly schooled her features and straightened her shoulders as Quinn cleared her throat, meeting her eyes over their menus. “Have you decided on anything?” Quinn asked, her eyes glancing briefly to the side where Anna stood, left knee now resting, slightly suggestively, on the leather cushion of a stool while looking over her shoulder at them.
Rachel followed Quinn’s gaze, her eyes roaming over Anna briefly with interest. She quickly averted her gaze back to Quinn when she realized Anna was also eyeing her as what looked to be potential competition. “I’m just evaluating the options.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow at Rachel’s choice of words. “You are so weird,” she said before sitting up and leaning back into the booth. The appearance of Anna had definitely thrown her off her game. She couldn’t let Rachel get the upper hand, she was the kidnapper. “I’m going to order, and you better have decided by the time I finish or you don’t get to eat.”
Rachel glared at Quinn. She had previously decided to just observe the interaction between both blondes, but now she was intent on making Quinn squirm. She watched as Quinn began to raise her head to try and catch Anna’s eye, but Anna was already making her way toward their table, grin in place, and top button of her uniform conveniently open.
“Are you both ready to order?” Anna asked her eyes glued to Quinn, grin wider than before.
Quinn tried not to blush and ducked her head, pretending to read her menu. “I’ll just have a giant waffle with strawberries and coffee.”
Anna giggled as she wrote the order down. “So... the usual, then?”
Rachel watched as Quinn turned bright red.
“Um, yeah. Thanks,” Quinn replied as she distracted herself by moving the menu toward the window, stacking it with the other menus.
Anna turned toward Rachel with a small smile, her ponytail swishing over her shoulder. “And what can I get you?”
Rachel beamed up at Anna, set her elbow on the table to rest her chin in her hand. “I usually have a protein shake with banana and flaxseed oil for breakfast, but I’ve recently realized that I am limiting myself to all the available options life can provide me with.” Rachel could tell that although Anna was smiling, she looked slightly confused about where this conversation was going. “I was thinking of branching out, exploring my horizons. I bet you like to eat Cheerios.”
Quinn suddenly choked on her own saliva. She tried to catch her breath but her body forced her into a violent coughing fit trying to rid her oesophagus of the tickle that now settled there. Rachel bit her bottom lip in laughter as she watched Anna rush to Quinn’s side, patting her back.
“Let me get you a glass of water,” Anna quickly said, voice full of concern, as she rushed off behind the counter for a glass.
Rachel leant forward, her fingers now resting on the edge of the table. “Are you ok?” She asked only slightly concerned. Mostly, she was just amused at Quinn’s reaction to her question.
Quinn glared at her as a new wave of coughs overtook her.
Before Rachel knew it, Anna was back at the table by Quinn’s side helping to get the glass of water into Quinn’s hand. Rachel sat and watched the two interact. She knew Quinn probably hadn’t intended for this secret to reveal itself, especially to her, but Rachel just couldn’t overlook such an opportunity to put Quinn in her place. Sure, she was a firm believer in tolerance and abhorred the ignorance of many of her peers, but this opportunity that had presented itself, this opportunity to bring Quinn down a peg or two, just could not be passed up.
When Quinn had finally gotten her coughing fit under control and her glass of water was half empty, Anna brushed her hair back, took a deep breath and turned toward Rachel. “I’m sorry,” she started with a shake of her head, “where were we?”
Rachel smirked, “Eating Cheerios.”
Anna just grinned while Rachel felt Quinn’s glare. “That’s right. Sorry. So, you’d like Cheerios for breakfast?” The tall blonde asked her pen poised to write down Rachel’s order.
Rachel looked thoughtful for a moment. “What do you recommend I top it with? Something sweet?”
Anna looked deep in thought for a moment as she contemplated Rachel’s question. “Well, Quinn here seems quite partial to our strawberries. Actually, to all our berries. Maybe a berry mixture?” She suggested with raised eyebrows and a hopeful smile.
Rachel held back a giggle and grinned wildly. “Oh, well if Quinn is so partial to the berries, I must try some.”
“Great!” Anna exclaimed as she turned to walk away. “Oh! Anything to drink?” She asked quickly turning on her heel and pointing the end of her pen at Rachel.
“Just a really large glass of water, thank you,” Rachel replied with a friendly smile as she folded her arms on the edge of the table. Sighing contently she turned her head to face Quinn. “She’s lovely.”
There was silence for a few seconds as Quinn continued to glare daggers at Rachel. “I’m going to kill you, Berry. Slowly.”
Rachel just grinned.
~*~*~
Quinn had excused herself to use the restroom a few minutes earlier, leaving Rachel with a stern warning not to take off. Rachel had scoffed and rolled her eyes. She sat alone in the booth, scooped up some of her breakfast and brought it up to her mouth. She had to be honest; the berry mixture was definitely delicious and very healthy. Chewing slowly, she turned her head to look out the window they were sitting next to. The sun was shining and Rachel could tell it was going to be a hot day. Realising she didn’t know what time it even was, she turned her head to look around the walls of the diner hoping to find a clock but all she found was Quinn sliding back into the booth.
“What time is it?” Rachel suddenly asked after quickly swallowing.
Quinn pulled her phone out of her pocket and pressed on the menu button to show her the time. “7:29am,” Quinn replied tucking her phone back into her pocket.
Rachel’s eyes widened as her mind ran through all that she had missed of her schedule and then she remembered her father mentioning something about a change of routine for spring break. Oh God, her father. “You... you did get permission from my fathers to kidnap me, right?” She asked seriously, leaning forward.
Quinn stared at Rachel for a few seconds, which caused Rachel to set off on some rant about how her fathers were going to kill both of them and how she was surprised they hadn’t been pulled over or tracked down by the state police yet.
Quinn tuned her out as she thought back to last Thursday afternoon when she had perfected the Rachel Berry storm out and left glee early. She had headed for an afternoon snack and it had been while waiting in the line to order that she realized the perfect opportunity to prove Rachel wrong was to take her to meet Ellie. She’d placed her order, and stood aside to allow the next customer to order. She’d pulled out her phone and dialled a familiar number.
“Hello?” A voice answered on the other end.
Quinn could hear childish giggling in the background. “Sarah? It’s Quinn. I hope I haven’t called at a bad time.”
There was some rustling before Sarah replied. “No, no. We’re just finger painting. How are you?”
Quinn smiled as she thought of Ellie covered in paint. “I’m good. I’m actually calling to ask a favor. A pretty big one, actually,” Quinn said nervously. She looked down at her feet as she shuffled slightly near the doors.
“Sure! Ask away!” Sarah replied and Quinn could hear how genuine Sarah was. Every day she thanked whatever higher being there was for helping her find Sarah and Alex who were amazing parents to Ellie.
“It’s... it’s about a... friend of mine. She’s... Well, I don’t want to say too much but there are a few issues at home and she needs a little bit of a break. I was wondering, if it’s not too much trouble - ”
“Quinn...”
“ - if she might be able to drive down with me and stay the Monday and Tuesday? I know it’s really a lot to ask - ”
“Quinn.”
“ - and you can definitely say no, in fact, you should obviously talk to Alex first and - ”
“Quinn!” Sarah interrupted for the third time, finally gaining Quinn’s attention. “It’s fine! Bring her along! It’ll be nice for us to meet some of the friends Ellie developed around. Is she in glee too?”
Quinn felt relief as the conversation continued. When she realized they had been on the phone now for a quarter of an hour and her sandwich had been waiting for her on the counter, Quinn and Sarah quickly said their goodbyes.
With the first part of her plan approved, Quinn had set off to the Lima Police Department. If she was going to talk either of Rachel’s parents into letting her on this road trip, then it was going to have to be James that she approached with her idea.
Quinn was brought out of her thoughts as Rachel slammed her fist down on the table.
“Quinn Fabray! Are you even listening to me?!” She exclaimed rather loudly, Anna looking up with concern from her position filling up napkin holders. The truckie now sitting at the counter glanced over his shoulder at the pair.
Quinn shrugged a shoulder. “I tend to zone out about three seconds into one of your tirades.”
Rachel huffed as she began in on how Quinn should be listening to her... or something like that. Quinn had already zoned out and was thinking back to her meeting with James Berry.
When she’d asked to see Officer Berry at the front desk and the junior officer had mentioned something about the Bike Team getting ready to set out, she had definitely not expected to come face to face with a very tall, buff and spandex-wearing James Berry.
“Quinn?” He’d greeted with a grin before pulling her into a hug.
Quinn was startled by the familiarity with which Mr. Berry had greeted her, but due to her reasons for being there, she went with it, even ignoring the fanny pack digging into her ribs.
“Hi, Mr. Berry,” Quinn greeted with as she pulled out of the hug.
“James, remember?” He replied with a grin.
“Sorry,” Quinn replied with a slight blush.
James waved off her apology and with a grin asked her how he could help her.
“I was actually wondering if I might be able to borrow Rachel for a few days next week,” she began. Quinn continued to weave a tale of how she and Puck usually drove down to Cincinnati together but that he couldn’t make it down till Tuesday night and how she would really appreciate the company.
James had been reluctant at first, even pulling out a folded up timetable from his fanny pack. When he had opened it up, Quinn could instantly see that it was Rachel’s schedule. “Let’s me know where they both are.”
It had taken a little convincing and James had seemed reluctant, but Quinn pushed the ‘travelling alone’ angle and James had given her a tentative confirmation. When a second Bike Team officer had joined them to call Mr. Berry back, James had glanced down at the schedule in his hands, folded it quickly back up, stuffed it into his fanny pack and told Quinn to come by the house very early Monday morning to collect Rachel. His only stipulation was to have her back by Wednesday as she had her Spring Showcase soon and needed to rehearse for her solo routines.
“So?” Rachel asked in frustration.
“They’re paying me to take you off their hands,” Quinn replied in a flat tone.
Rachel was stunned silent for a few seconds. “What?” She asked in a small voice.
Quinn smirked. “Kidding. I left them a post-it note. It’ll be fine.” She disregarded the brunette’s concern with a wave of her hand.
Rachel continued to sit there stunned. “A post-it note?” She asked.
“If you’re finished we should go. We still have at least another hour on the road,” Quinn said looking pointedly at Rachel’s almost empty bowl of cereal.
Rachel looked concerned. “Do they really know I’m with you? And wherever we’re going? Which you still haven’t told me?”
Quinn rolled her eyes. “Yes, of course they know you’re with me. I’ll go and pay while you take the last few bites.” She began to make her way out of the booth.
Rachel watched as Quinn made her way to Anna who was grinning again at the register. Rachel smirked as a terribly horrible idea popped into her head. She quickly spooned the last of her cereal into her mouth. Sliding out of the booth she caught up with the blondes. Quickly swallowing, she tapped Quinn’s shoulder interrupting the pair. “I’m just going to the bathroom. Don’t drive off without me.”
Quinn rolled her eyes before bidding a quick farewell in Anna’s direction. Rachel turned and began to walk in the direction of the bathrooms. Out of the corner of her eyes she watched Quinn leave the diner and quickly snapped up a napkin from a nearby table. She hurriedly made her way back to Anna at the counter and offered the girl a smile.
“Can I just borrow a pen quickly?” Rachel asked as she eyed the front doors hoping Quinn wouldn’t be heading back inside for any particular reason.
“Sure!” Anna replied with a smile while holding out her pen.
Rachel smirked as she began writing a series of numbers on the napkin. When she finished, she handed the napkin and pen back to Anna. “Quinn’s a little shy sometimes. You should give her a call. She likes it when girl’s make the first move... if you know what I mean.” With a glance up and down Anna’s body, she sent a wink and a grin in the blonde’s direction before she practically skipped out of the diner.
~*~*~
An hour and forty minutes on the road:
“Chester Cheetah chewed a chunk of Cheap Cheddar Cheese,” Rachel began. “Chester Cheetah chewed a chunk of Cheap Cheddar Cheese.”
“What are you doing?” Quinn asked as she turned her head, her eyes widening in fright at the tongue twister Rachel was singing.
Rachel sighed in exasperation. “You made me miss both my elliptical workout and my vocal warm-ups. You’ll just have to sit there while I try and warm up in the car.”
Before Quinn could even respond to that, Rachel was moving her lips and jaw in all sorts of shapes, and then the singing tongue twister began again. “Chester Cheetah chewed a chunk of Cheap Cheddar Cheese.”
This went on for a few seconds, Rachel moving up the scale, half a tone each time. Rachel took a deep breath but Quinn interrupted before she could hit the next note. “I thought you were vegan.”
“I thought you were straight,” Rachel instantly replied shooting Quinn a pointed look.
There was silence in the car as Rachel waited for Quinn to deny it. “I...”
“Mhm, as I suspected,” Rachel said turning back to face the road, her back straight, hands clasped in front, elbows out to the side. “Chester Cheetah chewed a chunk of Cheap Cheddar Cheese.”
An hour and fifty minutes on the road:
“Are we there yet?”
“No!”
Two hours on the road:
Rachel shifted in her seat. She crossed her legs then uncrossed them. She began tapping the arm rest, and then began biting her bottom lip. She repeated this process a few times.
“What is your problem?” Quinn asked irritated.
Rachel eyed Quinn before crossing her legs again. “I need to use the bathroom.”
“Again?!” Quinn exclaimed.
Rachel nodded her head. “Please.”
“You just went twenty minutes ago,” Quinn replied glancing at Rachel who began shifting again.
“Well I need to go again,” Rachel replied crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. Her right foot began to tap against the floor of the car.
“You need to go that badly?” Quinn questioned hiding her smirk by only using her eyes to glance at the rear view mirror.
“Yes,” Rachel simply answered.
“Ok,” Quinn replied grinning as she flipped her turn signal on and began to pull off to the side of the road.
“What are you doing?” Rachel asked in alarm as Quinn pulled the car to a stop.
Quinn put the car in park and turned off the engine. She turned and leaned through the gap between the front seats to rummage around on the floor of her backseat. “I think we have some tissues back here.”
“What?” Rachel asked beginning to panic slightly.
“Aha!” Quinn exclaimed as she held up a pile of tissues in the air. Pushing herself back into her seat, she held out the tissues to Rachel. “There you go.”
Rachel looked out the window. Far in the distance she could see row after row of trees, but where Quinn had pulled up, there was a row of small bushes just past a wire fence. “You want me to... over there?!” Rachel asked in disbelief.
Quinn leant forward slightly and looked past Rachel’s head to the scenery. She shrugged her shoulders. “Why not?”
“Why not? Why not?!” Rachel replied almost yelling. “Are you looking at the same expanse of land that I’m looking at? How can you expect me to...to... squat over there?” Rachel glanced back out the window again before turning back to Quinn. “Somebody could see me,” she whispered.
Quin leaned in, their noses almost touching. “Squat very low,” she whispered back.
Rachel recoiled before glaring at Quinn. She turned to grab the handle of her door when she remembered the child lock. She turned back to Quinn and began climbing over the center console, her left hand gripping painfully to Quinn’s shoulder, her hand at the top of the steering wheel. She propelled herself forward, her left foot braced against her seat. She moved her right foot between Quinn’s legs, who groaned as Rachel kneed her in the groin. “Serves you right,” Rachel muttered as she reached out for the door handle and pushed the door open. She climbed the rest of the way out, straightened her clothes and held her hand out for the pile of tissues.
Quinn, although in pain, smirked as she handed the tissues over. Rachel huffed in annoyance and walked around the car toward the fence. Quinn quickly closed her door, waited for Rachel to walk around the car before leaning over the handbrake and opening the passenger side door from inside the car.
“Oh, Rachel!” Quinn practically sung out to the girl. Rachel was already carefully making her way down the side of the small embankment toward the fence.
Rachel turned to find Quinn leaning over, the passenger door open. Quinn grinned and waved at her. Rachel’s face turned to one of shock before she did something she had never done before in her entire life. She raised her hand, her thumb holding down all her fingers but one. Quinn’s laughter followed Rachel all the way to the bushes.
Two hours and ten minutes on the road:
Rachel had been gone for over five minutes now and Quinn wasn’t all that worried. She had exited the car though, to at least close the passenger door. She now leant up against the side of her car watching the scenery, waiting for Rachel to make it back.
A few more minutes passed when finally Rachel emerged from the bushes, her head down, her arms crossed, wad of tissues clutched in her hand. Quinn watched as the small brunette carefully climbed over the fence and quickly made her way up the embankment, arms still crossed, head still bowed.
“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked worried that something bad might have actually happened to the girl while she was out there on her own.
Rachel mumbled a reply as she tried to reach for the door handle.
Quinn stepped into her path. “What happened?” She asked seriously, her left hand coming up to rest on Rachel’s upper arm. She ducked her head to try and meet Rachel’s gaze but the shorter girl just turned her head away.
“I couldn’t...” Rachel mumbled, her sentence trailing off.
“What?” Quinn asked, her hand now rubbing Rachel’s arm in a comforting gesture.
Rachel huffed in embarrassment as she took a step back, Quinn’s hand falling from her arm. She uncrossed her arms and swung them out to the side. As she let them fall, they slapped her thighs. She looked toward the stretch of road they had already travelled. “I couldn’t... I have... I have a shy bladder, ok?” She admitted, her cheeks going red as she tried once more to move past Quinn to get to the car door.
Quinn slid along the door until her backside was covering the handle. She bit her bottom lip as she tried not to giggle at Rachel’s predicament. “Can you hold on for another five... ten minutes?” She asked finally taking pity on the girl who looked so ashamed that she couldn’t pee in the bushes.
Rachel bit her bottom lip as she tentatively met Quinn’s gaze. She nodded her head slightly.
Quinn nodded in agreement. “Alright,” she took a step back and opened the door for Rachel. “There’s a stop coming up. You can use the bathroom there.” Rachel’s head snapped up to look at Quinn in shock. Quinn quickly pushed the girl into the car and closed the door.
Two hours and twenty-five minutes on the road:
“It may have been a McDonald’s bathroom, but it was about a thousand times better than the bushes,” Rachel commented as she licked at the hot fudge mixed in with her Oreo McFlurry off the spoon. She savoured the taste. She was such a bad vegan.
“And look, you even got a free McFlurry!” Quinn tried to add with a smile.
“You have to promise not to tell anyone!” She exclaimed, a pleading expression on her face. Quinn just rolled her eyes and nodded in agreement. It was the least she could do.
Rachel was silent for a few seconds. She leaned back into her seat and swirled her spoon through the ice cream. “Even though you did send me out into the bushes on the side of the road, putting me in potential danger of being attacked by insects and possible poisonous snakes... thank you,” she said glancing briefly to the side. “For the ice cream, I mean.”
Quinn just grinned. “Right.”
Two hours and thirty-five minutes on the road:
“Are we there yet?”
“For God’s sake, no!”
Two hours and forty minutes on the road:
“But we’ve spent this whole car ride in silence,” Rachel whined as she leaned through the two front seats to try and grab for the bag Quinn had packed for her.
“Speak for yourself,” Quinn muttered.
“All I am saying is that we could have used all that valuable time to practice a few songs, especially the ones for Regionals,” Rachel continued on as she pulled her bag closer to her and unzipped it.
Quinn heard a gasp. “What?”
Rachel didn’t answer. She pulled the bag as close to her chest as she could and pulled it through the seats and into her lap. She held the bag tight and turned tear-filled eyes toward Quinn.
“What?!” Quinn asked frantically.
“You... you...” and then Rachel’s bottom lip began to tremble as she peeled the two sides of her bag open before pulling out an orange t-shirt and a purple plaid skirt. “Nothing... nothing matches,” she cried out.
Quinn couldn’t hold it in even if she had tried. She burst into laughter. She hit the side of the steering wheel with her hand and threw her head back. “Oh God,” she said, a tear spilling from the corner of her eye. She wiped it away and turned to find a very angry Rachel.
“For that,” Rachel said, “you get show tunes.”
Two hours and forty-three minutes on the road:
“It’s time now, to sing out, tho’ the story never ends...”
Two hours and forty-five minutes on the road:
“I used to have a girlfriend known as Elsie, with whom I shared four sordid rooms in Chelsea...”
Two hours and forty-eight minutes on the road:
“Don’t it feel like the wind is always howl’n? Don’t it seem like there’s never any light? Once a day, don’t you wanna throw the towel in? It’s easier than puttin’ up a fight.”
Two hours and fifty-one minutes on the road:
“The hills are alive... with the sound of music...with songs they have su - ”
“Alright, that’s enough!” Quinn yelled as she reached out and grabbed Rachel’s iPod, the music suddenly cutting off before she slid it underneath her bottom to sit on it.
Rachel pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. “I hope you realize that by taking away the iPod, it only means you’ll have to listen to me sing a Capella.”
Quinn quickly slid the iPod out and handed it back over. It was the lesser of two evils.
Three hours and fifteen minutes on the road:
“Oh, thank God,” Quinn muttered as she turned the car into a driveway.
Rachel turned her iPod off and looked carefully around the street they had pulled into. Quinn slowly inched the car up the driveway past a bank of trees to reveal a large, two-storey house with a two-car garage to the right, with what looked like a small apartment on top.
“Where are we?” Rachel asked in a small voice as she looked up at the main house.
Quinn didn’t answer as she hurriedly put the car in park, turned the ignition off and scrambled out of the car. Rachel began to follow suit but at a much slower place. Suddenly, a slender woman with long brown hair, dressed in jeans, flip flops and a purple top strolled out from the back of the house with a big smile on her face. Rachel unbuckled her seatbelt slowly as she watched a small figure excitedly waddle behind the woman. Rachel felt like she was moving in slow motion as she climbed out of the car.
“Ellie!” Quinn called out with a large smile as the little girl; her short blonde curls tied in two small pigtails atop her head, began to gain speed, propelling herself toward Quinn. A high-pitched squeal pierced the air, impressing Rachel. She watched as Quinn bent down and scooped the young girl up into her arms. “Huggles!” Quinn exclaimed as the young girl threw her small arms around Quinn’s neck.