Black Holes & Revelations 2
Title: Black Holes and Revelations
Author: blueskyhawk
Length: 1,522 words
Pairing: Rachel/Quinn
Rating: T (PG-13)
Disclaimer: I don't own them, therefore I do not profit from them. etc, etc. The title comes from a line in the song Starlight by Muse. I don't own that either.
Spoilers: Basically anything before Sectionals in the 1st season is fair game, but the fic itself will move past Sectionals eventually in the timeline of the story. I play a little with the timeline.
Copyright/Archiving: Only with permission of the author (that would be me).
Summary: Rachel's figured out Quinn's secret, a secret Quinn doesn't even know she's been keeping, and Rachel is determined to make her fess up to it. "You have a secret crush on someone...me." Faberry love. Takes place during the 1st season.
Author's note: Any sentences in italics are the inner thoughts of the characters, but not to be confused with the individual words in italics meant for inflection.
Another quick A/N: I have 13 chapters written thus far (I've got chapter 14 started) so you all may be lucky for the next 13 days or so with regular updates and then I promise to do my very best to have them come more regularly after that.
Also - I LOVE comments/reviews and very much appreciate the attention - thank you to everyone!
Chapter 2
Several days and many awkward moments later, Quinn very reluctantly found herself sitting at a table in the back of the school's library with Rachel Berry. Rachel had been good the first few days by not hounding her, but after the 4th day she started her fierce onslaught. It became nearly impossible to avoid her. Around every corner, lurking in every shadow, hiding in every bathroom. Finally admitting defeat, Quinn agreed to meet her in the library after glee today. She felt as though the whole thing was a game - who would crack first. Going into it Quinn had a game plan. She would remain completely indifferent to anything the brunette had to say. It was no longer a surprise, she knew the position Rachel was going to take, she just had to remain calm and unfazed.
"Ok, what should we start with first? The nicknames, the threats, or the comments on my videos on My Space?" Quinn just stared at Rachel as she sat across the table with her chin resting on her fist and a completely uninterested look on her face. The brunette looked at her expectantly, but after receiving no response, she continued. "Ok, I'll choose. Let's start with the nicknames, and more specifically your weakest, i.e. using my last name to refer to me." The blonde's facial expression still hadn't changed, prompting Rachel to prattle on. "Though calling someone by their last name can be endearing, to show acceptance, or as just a fun nickname, the way you use it is to demean me." Quinn blinked as if to agree. "For the longest time I thought that was the case, but then I realized it was just a way to distance yourself because you have feelings for me that you weren't comfortable dealing with."
Quinn sighed as if bored, and just waited for this torment to end. She knew there was no use in arguing with Rachel, at least not until she was done with her 'presentation of the facts' as she had referred to it earlier. In actuality, Quinn was surprised the brunette didn't have a power point for this, but she knew the girl probably had notes prepared to combat any contention Quinn may have to her supposed findings. Quinn absolutely would not make this fun for Rachel, and she knew any arguing she may do would only fuel the young singer on.
Oblivious to the blonde's inner musings, Rachel continued on with her 'facts'. "Then there's Rupaul, which I don't believe you even came up with, I think that one was from Santana. Knowing you had a reputation to uphold, it is easy to understand why you would soon adopt it. Plus, you needed all the more arsenal to throw people off the track of your true feelings."
Quinn rolled her eyes, she couldn't help herself. She suspected that Rachel was going to mention her "true feelings" each time she made a point. Fine Berry, go right ahead. You're not going to get a rise out of me, she thought to herself as she continued to stare at the girl in front of her.
"Next we have man-hands, which honestly is just ridiculous since clearly" Rachel looked briefly down at her hands "I have very soft, feminine hands." Quinn couldn't stop herself before gazing down at the delicate, yet strong looking hands in front of her. Her eyes traced the lines of perfect cartilage and sinew, moving gently into slender fingers that ended in perfectly shaped nails. It was true. There was nothing manly about Rachel's hands. As if suddenly coming to her senses, Quinn shook herself from her reverie and found she had been caught by brown eyes that had been watching her reaction closely. With great restrain, Rachel tried to reign in the smirk that was dangerously close to revealing itself.
While not moving her chin from her fist, Quinn narrowed her eyes at Rachel after catching the smile tugging at her lips. "What?' she growled out with a warning tone.
Rachel bit down on her lip to keep from giggling. "Nothing, moving on." The blonde continued to eye the other girl warily as Rachel proceeded. "Next we have treasure trail which to be honest, I never really understood."
"But now you do" Quinn said flatly, speaking for only the second time since they sat down.
"But now I do" Rachel returned brightly, shifting in her chair slightly as if very proud of herself. The blonde stifled a yawn to express her ongoing boredom with the whole ordeal. "I started to think about what a treasure trail is, which as I'm sure you know, refers to the trail of hair on a man that goes from his belly button to his, uhm, treasure." Quinn rolled her eyes and nodded once in response. "I know both treasure trail and man-hands were meant to degrade me. After all, using opposite gender references are a common way to put someone down. However, I realized that though this may look like your intentions to the rest of the school, you were using them because in reality you don't like either of those things. You don't view a man's, shall we say, equipment, as a treasure at all. Nor his hands for that matter."
Quinn arched an eyebrow while trying to decide whether to say something or not. She could tell Rachel was waiting for an explosion, so she cautiously weighed the pros and cons in her mind as they stared at each other. As much as she wanted to tell the other girl how pathetic this all was, Quinn decided against it. Instead she just lowered her eyebrow to indicate that she would not be responding at this time.
Not missing the subtle cue, Rachel picked up where she left off. "Now having said that, one's argument could be that if you really didn't like a man's hands or his other manly parts, then it would make sense for you to use both phrases as insults if you truly disliked me. I don't agree with that argument, for you see I've noticed you looking at my hands on several occasions. I always thought you were scrutinizing them, thinking to yourself that I have these unsightly manish hands, yet there was always this far-off look on your face that I could never quite place. If you were really thinking something hateful toward me, I would have expected your face to be scrunched up like it is right now." Still remaining quiet, Quinn just rolled her eyes as if to say - whatever. "Course even now I don't believe you're thinking anything hateful, just wondering when I'm going to be finished and leave you alone with your thoughts." Still no reaction. "Therefore I know you actually like my hands, so the real insult is against a man's hands, not mine."
The blonde took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take, but her disgruntled behavior wasn't detouring Rachel. If anything, she seemed to be gaining momentum with each "fact" she brought up. "In addition, treasure trail is obviously something you find distasteful, so to use it as an insult makes perfect sense. However, I have also noticed you watching me closer than usual when I wear something that may show off my midriff slightly when I stretch or move. Again, at the time I thought you were just insulting my outfit in your mind. I realize now that what you really desire is a smooth stomach with no viable flaws, such as hair. In essence, you want to touch a woman's stomach, and more specifically, mine."
"Ok, that's it - RACHEL!" Quinn spat out, her nostrils nearly flaring as she sat forward in a menacing way while Rachel sat back with a very satisfied smile on her face. Finally she had struck a nerve. "I don't know who you think you are to tell me what I am and am not feeling, or tell me what I mean when I say something. I don't have any hidden desires, hidden feelings, or hidden anything except outright contempt for you and that incredibly obnoxious mouth of yours! If my bank account was half as big as your head, I wouldn't have to worry about how I'm going to pay for all the doctors bills that are stacking up fast." She suddenly stood up, startling Rachel out of her victory. "You've wasted enough of my time. I am so out of here" Quinn grumbled as she grabbed her things and began to storm out of the McKinley High library.
Standing up quickly and nearly knocking over her chair, the brunette tried to catch Quinn as she sped out of the room. "Quinn, wait!"
"No, RACHEL, we're done!" she yelled over her shoulder as she practically ran out the door.
"For now" Rachel muttered to herself. There was no use chasing Quinn down, for she wouldn't listen to anything more that the brunette wanted to say. Not today, but tomorrow was another day, and Rachel wasn't finished with her yet.
TBC