Fic: Settle the Score (12/?)
Title: Settle the Score (12/?)
Author: cellochick92
Rating: R, for language and mature content
Word Count: 1468
Warning: Account/discussion of abuse.
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine =(
Summary: For xrainingsorrowx ’s prompt over at the rq_angst meme. “Quinn abused Rachel for so long, so she feels it's okay if Rachel returns the favor.”
A/N: Thank again to mjacton! They're amazing.
A/N2: Okay everyone, I really need to finish this. So, I’m debating the idea of this chapter, and then maybe one final bit that jumps forward to see sort of how they ended up. Thoughts? I don’t want to totally gyp you all, but…..yeah. I’m sort of done with this story. Too much ANGST in my life =P
______________________________________
Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten Part Eleven
Quinn exhaled deeply as she walked down the hall on the way to Glee. She had anticipated the first day back being difficult, but she had sorely underestimated how overwhelmingly draining it would be.
She had taken Tuesday and Wednesday off to rest and plan out her next move. Her ribs had been doing better, but she hadn’t want to push her luck and try to force herself to sit through school.
To fill the time, she had been texting Brittany and Santana. She had invited them to hang out over the weekend with her and Rachel. The invitation had earned her a snarky reply from Santana about hanging out with “the yeti”, as she put it, but Quinn had snarked right back and had received a grudging acceptance of Rachel’s inclusion.
Her initial friendship with the brunette had been the subject of much speculation, but Quinn had whipped out her patented HBIC glare and had cowed any and all who dared to question. The other glee members had started out taking bets as to who would kill who first, but as the months went by they had taken to ignoring it. So long as it didn’t affect them negatively, it didn’t really matter.
Quinn slowed her pace as she approached the room. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Going about her daily activities, from class to lunch- none of it had seemed the same without Rachel periodically glancing her way or subtly approaching her in the hallways. Granted, those interactions might not always have been positive, but still.
She had meant what she said about not being able to live without the brunette in her life, but despite her best efforts that seemed to be what was happening. Rachel had sent a hesitant smile her way during first period, but since then Quinn had been unable to catch her eye or approach the diva.
She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised at Rachel’s apparent affinity for sneaky ninja behavior, but it was frustrating her to no end. Quinn recognized that she did need to take it slow, and that Rachel was probably just trying to give her space and not over-step any boundaries, but she felt that the diva was taking things a bit too far.
They were in school, for goodness sake. She thought that being constantly surrounded by any number of students certainly counted as being with each other in public. If school wasn’t enough to alleviate Rachel’s worries, Quinn was concerned that she might simply withdraw completely. That being the last thing she wanted, the blonde had been scheming all day to try to find a way to corner the brunette.
Glee was the one place where she knew she was guaranteed to be able to just be with Rachel and not worry about the brunette running out on her or just ignoring her presence. Since around the middle of third period when she finally caught on that Rachel was determined to stay away from her, she had been looking forward to the end of the day when she would be with Rachel and the rest of the gleeks.
As she walked into the room, she saw Rachel already seated and made a bee line for the chair next to her. She almost felt like patting herself on the back for finally managing to situate herself next to the brunette. Rachel glanced at her, a questioning expression on her face, and Quinn just smiled before sighing and leaning back in the seat.
Watching Rachel out of the corner of her eye, she saw the brunette’s lips quirk upwards in a hint of a smile before she too settled into her chair.
The practice passed uneventfully. Quinn could see the other glee club members giving Rachel weird looks when she didn’t comment or offer some improvement on whatever Mr. Schuester was saying, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. So they knew something was up. That was fine. She and Rachel had never disclosed what was going on between them- the good or the bad.
She had a feeling that Santana and Brittany knew that she and Rachel had been together, at least, because really? They weren’t all that subtle. As far as the other stuff went…Quinn figured that Santana didn’t know. Otherwise, Rachel would already be in a shallow grave somewhere.
She had no desire to let any of her team mates in on what was happening. Before attempting to explain to anyone else she wanted- no, needed-- to figure out where she and Rachel were heading. It hardly seemed realistic to try to justify their decisions when she herself was still trying to work things out.
Leaning sideways in her chair enough so that her side was pressed against Rachel’s, Quinn let her eyes slip closed as Mr. Schuester rambled on about some vibrato technique they could try. The other glee club members would find out eventually, but when they did she wanted to have discussed it with Rachel first. They had time to figure things out without high school drama getting in the way.
A tentative hand brushing against her own caused Quinn to blink her eyes open sleepily. Looking around, she saw Rachel watching her with a half scared, half amused look on her face. Glancing down she saw Rachel’s hand still resting atop hers, only to be retracted hastily a split second later. Looking back at Rachel, Quinn felt a small smile touch her lips and reached out to take the brunette’s hand.
“It’s okay, Rach,” she said quietly. “I’m not going to break.”
Nodding unsurely, Rachel said, “You sort of fell asleep. I didn’t want to wake you, but…”
Looking around the room, Quinn noted that everyone else had left, leaving her and Rachel alone. Meeting Rachel’s eyes, she paused for a moment as she thought about her options. Making her decision, she said, “Well, while we’re in here by ourselves, I have something I need to talk to you about.”
Rachel waited patiently for Quinn to figure out what she wanted to say, only to arch an eyebrow when, “Quit avoiding me!” came tumbling out of her mouth. Flushing slightly at her lack of eloquence, Quinn tried again.
“I just…I thought we agreed that it was okay for us to hang out and be around each other when other people are around, but today…I hated being so close to you and having you act like you didn’t even care!”
Brow furrowing slightly, Rachel said softly, “I just didn’t want to rush you into anything. I told you I’ll take this at your pace- whatever you want, that’s what I’ll do.”
Sighing deeply to try and convey her displeasure with how the day had gone, Quinn said, “Well, what I want is for us to act like actual friends, and that means no more ignoring me.”
Nodding slowly, Rachel exhaled slowly. “You have to let me know what you want, okay Quinn? If this is going to work- as a friendship or anything else- we need to figure out how to communicate better.”
Quinn huffed a laugh that they were only now having this conversation, but nodded in agreement. “I can if you can.”
Smiling, Rachel said, “I never thought communication would be something I needed to work on.”
Near grinning now, Quinn mockingly gasped. “I didn’t think I would ever hear Rachel Berry admit to anything less than perfection when it comes to her communication skills!”
Blushing a little, Rachel looked down at the floor. The banter felt nice- she had lost count how many times she had wished she could have gotten to know this Quinn first, or at least given the girl a chance instead of lashing out like she had.
Looking back up, she smiled and said softly, “Well, I better get going. I’ll work on my communication skills, since they’re apparently sub par, and I’ll see you tomorrow?”
When Quinn nodded and smiled, Rachel was unable to keep the answering grin off of her face. Turning and walking out the door, she felt the grin spread as she realized that they were finally, finally on the right track.
Author: cellochick92
Rating: R, for language and mature content
Word Count: 1468
Warning: Account/discussion of abuse.
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine =(
Summary: For xrainingsorrowx ’s prompt over at the rq_angst meme. “Quinn abused Rachel for so long, so she feels it's okay if Rachel returns the favor.”
A/N: Thank again to mjacton! They're amazing.
A/N2: Okay everyone, I really need to finish this. So, I’m debating the idea of this chapter, and then maybe one final bit that jumps forward to see sort of how they ended up. Thoughts? I don’t want to totally gyp you all, but…..yeah. I’m sort of done with this story. Too much ANGST in my life =P
______________________________________
Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten Part Eleven
Quinn exhaled deeply as she walked down the hall on the way to Glee. She had anticipated the first day back being difficult, but she had sorely underestimated how overwhelmingly draining it would be.
She had taken Tuesday and Wednesday off to rest and plan out her next move. Her ribs had been doing better, but she hadn’t want to push her luck and try to force herself to sit through school.
To fill the time, she had been texting Brittany and Santana. She had invited them to hang out over the weekend with her and Rachel. The invitation had earned her a snarky reply from Santana about hanging out with “the yeti”, as she put it, but Quinn had snarked right back and had received a grudging acceptance of Rachel’s inclusion.
Her initial friendship with the brunette had been the subject of much speculation, but Quinn had whipped out her patented HBIC glare and had cowed any and all who dared to question. The other glee members had started out taking bets as to who would kill who first, but as the months went by they had taken to ignoring it. So long as it didn’t affect them negatively, it didn’t really matter.
Quinn slowed her pace as she approached the room. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Going about her daily activities, from class to lunch- none of it had seemed the same without Rachel periodically glancing her way or subtly approaching her in the hallways. Granted, those interactions might not always have been positive, but still.
She had meant what she said about not being able to live without the brunette in her life, but despite her best efforts that seemed to be what was happening. Rachel had sent a hesitant smile her way during first period, but since then Quinn had been unable to catch her eye or approach the diva.
She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised at Rachel’s apparent affinity for sneaky ninja behavior, but it was frustrating her to no end. Quinn recognized that she did need to take it slow, and that Rachel was probably just trying to give her space and not over-step any boundaries, but she felt that the diva was taking things a bit too far.
They were in school, for goodness sake. She thought that being constantly surrounded by any number of students certainly counted as being with each other in public. If school wasn’t enough to alleviate Rachel’s worries, Quinn was concerned that she might simply withdraw completely. That being the last thing she wanted, the blonde had been scheming all day to try to find a way to corner the brunette.
Glee was the one place where she knew she was guaranteed to be able to just be with Rachel and not worry about the brunette running out on her or just ignoring her presence. Since around the middle of third period when she finally caught on that Rachel was determined to stay away from her, she had been looking forward to the end of the day when she would be with Rachel and the rest of the gleeks.
As she walked into the room, she saw Rachel already seated and made a bee line for the chair next to her. She almost felt like patting herself on the back for finally managing to situate herself next to the brunette. Rachel glanced at her, a questioning expression on her face, and Quinn just smiled before sighing and leaning back in the seat.
Watching Rachel out of the corner of her eye, she saw the brunette’s lips quirk upwards in a hint of a smile before she too settled into her chair.
The practice passed uneventfully. Quinn could see the other glee club members giving Rachel weird looks when she didn’t comment or offer some improvement on whatever Mr. Schuester was saying, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. So they knew something was up. That was fine. She and Rachel had never disclosed what was going on between them- the good or the bad.
She had a feeling that Santana and Brittany knew that she and Rachel had been together, at least, because really? They weren’t all that subtle. As far as the other stuff went…Quinn figured that Santana didn’t know. Otherwise, Rachel would already be in a shallow grave somewhere.
She had no desire to let any of her team mates in on what was happening. Before attempting to explain to anyone else she wanted- no, needed-- to figure out where she and Rachel were heading. It hardly seemed realistic to try to justify their decisions when she herself was still trying to work things out.
Leaning sideways in her chair enough so that her side was pressed against Rachel’s, Quinn let her eyes slip closed as Mr. Schuester rambled on about some vibrato technique they could try. The other glee club members would find out eventually, but when they did she wanted to have discussed it with Rachel first. They had time to figure things out without high school drama getting in the way.
A tentative hand brushing against her own caused Quinn to blink her eyes open sleepily. Looking around, she saw Rachel watching her with a half scared, half amused look on her face. Glancing down she saw Rachel’s hand still resting atop hers, only to be retracted hastily a split second later. Looking back at Rachel, Quinn felt a small smile touch her lips and reached out to take the brunette’s hand.
“It’s okay, Rach,” she said quietly. “I’m not going to break.”
Nodding unsurely, Rachel said, “You sort of fell asleep. I didn’t want to wake you, but…”
Looking around the room, Quinn noted that everyone else had left, leaving her and Rachel alone. Meeting Rachel’s eyes, she paused for a moment as she thought about her options. Making her decision, she said, “Well, while we’re in here by ourselves, I have something I need to talk to you about.”
Rachel waited patiently for Quinn to figure out what she wanted to say, only to arch an eyebrow when, “Quit avoiding me!” came tumbling out of her mouth. Flushing slightly at her lack of eloquence, Quinn tried again.
“I just…I thought we agreed that it was okay for us to hang out and be around each other when other people are around, but today…I hated being so close to you and having you act like you didn’t even care!”
Brow furrowing slightly, Rachel said softly, “I just didn’t want to rush you into anything. I told you I’ll take this at your pace- whatever you want, that’s what I’ll do.”
Sighing deeply to try and convey her displeasure with how the day had gone, Quinn said, “Well, what I want is for us to act like actual friends, and that means no more ignoring me.”
Nodding slowly, Rachel exhaled slowly. “You have to let me know what you want, okay Quinn? If this is going to work- as a friendship or anything else- we need to figure out how to communicate better.”
Quinn huffed a laugh that they were only now having this conversation, but nodded in agreement. “I can if you can.”
Smiling, Rachel said, “I never thought communication would be something I needed to work on.”
Near grinning now, Quinn mockingly gasped. “I didn’t think I would ever hear Rachel Berry admit to anything less than perfection when it comes to her communication skills!”
Blushing a little, Rachel looked down at the floor. The banter felt nice- she had lost count how many times she had wished she could have gotten to know this Quinn first, or at least given the girl a chance instead of lashing out like she had.
Looking back up, she smiled and said softly, “Well, I better get going. I’ll work on my communication skills, since they’re apparently sub par, and I’ll see you tomorrow?”
When Quinn nodded and smiled, Rachel was unable to keep the answering grin off of her face. Turning and walking out the door, she felt the grin spread as she realized that they were finally, finally on the right track.