Fic: Study Date, for tenderoni_pyt
Title: Study Date.
Pairing/Characters: Tina, Rachel. Allusions to Tina/Rachel
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It had all started out innocently enough; Rachel bemoaning a C on their latest science exam.
Notes: tenderoni_pyt, thank you so much for your wonderful patience!
“I'm so nervous.”
Tina felt as if huge droplets of sweat were rolling down her face even though in reality, in the middle of a chilly afternoon at the beginning of November, no such thing was happening. She bit her lip and jiggled her leg against her shared science table. Rachel shot her a look.
“You shouldn't be,” her voice was comforting and not the least bit concerned, her words somehow tangling in the air and becoming sweeter than maybe she intended by the time they reached Tina's ear. “We studied with commendable concentration yesterday afternoon. And the afternoon before that. If we didn't ace this test then we're going to Figgins and demanding he change our grades.” Tina noticed that when Rachel was nervous words flooded from her mouth at a speed her mind surely couldn't keep up with. That's how she could understand the words that came next. “You aren't really nervous anyway, I can tell.”
Rachel looked to Tina again when the girl didn't respond, met with an arch of eyebrow. She leaned in closer. “You know you've got this. You just want to hear me tell you that I recognize how wonderfully successful you are academically.”
Tina smiled shyly, biting her lip as the smaller girls breath tickled her ear, her own fingertips beginning to tingle lightly in anticipation of touching her.
This hadn't been going on for very long, but then again, it all depended on how you gauged such things. If the beginning of all this meant the first time Rachel had slept in her bed it had been going on for two weeks. If it meant the first time their lips brushed, then three weeks. It had all started out innocently enough; Rachel bemoaning a C on their latest science exam.
“I'll help you study but only if you stop complaining.” Tina wondered how Rachel always beat her to her own locker, even if she was let out of class early. The tiny hop and flood of surprising warmth that engulfed her as Rachel threw her arms around her neck were the first indications that maybe this wasn't going to go exactly the way Tina envisioned. How exactly she envisioned it she didn't really understand but it all became surprisingly clear that night with Rachel sprawled out across her bed, re-reading line after line of text.
“You aren't really understanding,” Tina groaned, admiring the way Rachel's eyes looked, sort of dreamy and sleepy underneath the hot glow of the lamp at her bedside. Rachel closed the book and let it slide off the edge of the bed, Tina still jumping even though she had plenty of time to anticipate the five pounds crashing to the floor.
“You're absolutely right, Tina,” Rachel sighed, rolling over to her back. Tina stared at her, bewildered.
“That's it?”
It was after that when Rachel burst in to tears and went on a nearly 4 minute non-stop lament about Finn and school and glee and not being able to concentrate and some other nonsense Tina couldn't follow, at which time she started timing her. It was hard for Tina to really feel sorry for Rachel; she was sort of irritating. It was when the other girl reached for Tina's hand that those tiny warm feelings she had felt in the hall when Rachel had hugged her started to come back.
“You understand, don't you?”
She didn't.
“I...,”
She understood even less when Rachel touched her cheek.
“You're very pretty, Tina.”
Even though that was all that had happened on that particular night, the seed had been planted. Rachel got an A on their next exam and almost tackled Tina in the hallway, grabbing her shoulders as Tina stared at her, stuck in the same state of confusion as before.
“Thank you so much,” Rachel gushed, leaning against the lockers behind them. “If it weren't for you I wouldn't have...,”
“Rachel,” Tina stopped her abruptly, closing her locker with a barely audible click as she tried keeping her voice even. “We never studied. Remember? You threw your book on the floor.”
The look Rachel was giving her now was completely different then the look of apparent gratitude just milliseconds before. It was almost shy, but her eyes were daring. Daring her to do what exactly? She couldn't help but roll her eyes and groan, turning and heading back down the hallway, not the least bit surprised when Rachel scampered after her.
“You just want attention, Rachel. I don't want to play this game with you.”
It was a bold thing to say considering Tina wasn't even sure of what Rachel wanted. Bolder even due to the fact that there were secret stirrings happening in her tummy now, baffling stirrings that hadn't even besieged her during her time with both Artie and Mike. Rachel's fingers curled around her wrist and she stopped, the hallway deserting around them, nobody batting an eye.
“Study at my house next time?” she asked hopefully, the strap of her bag hanging dangerously close to the edge of her shoulder, her hands both too occupied to fix it. She refused to let go of Tina's wrist.
“Our next test isn't for two weeks,” Tina said, her voice lowering despite the fact they were now completely alone. Something strong and uncontrollable possessed her to reach out and adjust the strap on Rachel's shoulder.
“Next Wednesday then?”
She wasn't going to stop. Tina didn't want her to.
“Okay. Next Wednesday.”
~
Tina wasn't going to lie and say she hadn't been looking forward to their next study date. It hadn't been very long since she had broken up with Mike but, especially with the weather turning and the sparkle of lights going up all over the place, she missed the companionship. Brittany was too wrapped up in the on-goings of her and Santana to hang out but Tina knew it wasn't her fault. She had once felt that way.
It's why, when she woke up with a fever and pain in both her ears Wednesday morning, she felt instant guilt.
“You didn't come to school today.”
Rachel sounded completely heartbroken on the other end of the phone.
“I'm sorry, Rachel. I didn't know I'd get sick, obviously.”
“I'm coming over.”
Tina laughed. It wasn't mean-spirited or even planned. She was way too exhausted to fight and she knew even if she did Rachel would end up at the edge of her bed anyway so why spend the unnecessary energy? Her parents weren't home and, even in her weakened state, it stirred up that familiar thrill inside of her that she was concerned in the first place. Why should it matter if they were home or not? It was Rachel.
“Fine,” Tina said, trying to tuck her blanket tighter around her so no more cool air would reach her heated skin. The next words were fully fever driven and she wouldn't remember them.
“No funny business.”
~
The organic tomato soup Rachel brought was too hot, but the tingling burn on her tongue was a welcome distraction to how fidgety she was feeling. Rachel was watching her from the chair at her desk. They talked about nothing in particular and when Tina started to get sleepy Rachel stood up abruptly, planning to leave.
“Where are you going?” Tina asked softly, horrified by the whine that had crept in to her voice. Rachel's body sunk to the edge of the bed, just as Tina had imagined it would.
“Did you need something else?”
God. Why did she have to ask like that?
“You can stay if you want to. Um...if you want to keep talking.” She wondered if there was ever a time in the past where she would have imagined giving Rachel Berry free permission to talk. Rachel shrugged out of her heavy coat, letting it crumple to the floor as she crawled up to Tina's head, her body lain out perfectly perpendicular to hers, just outside the covers. She poked at her cheek and Tina's forehead wrinkled.
“Really, Rachel...,”
She leaned back on her elbow, watching.
“You're still very pretty, even when you're sick,” Rachel said gently, moving a small thread of hair away from Tina's face. “If it helps at all.”
Rachel yawned dramatically, which is the only way she knew how, Tina figured, before rolling over. She stared at her back for a long time before snaking a hand outside the covers, exposing it to the horribly cold air, before resting it on Rachel's hip. She grinned a grin Tina couldn't see.
“It does, Rachel,” she whispered. “I don't know why. But...it does.”
Pairing/Characters: Tina, Rachel. Allusions to Tina/Rachel
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It had all started out innocently enough; Rachel bemoaning a C on their latest science exam.
Notes: tenderoni_pyt, thank you so much for your wonderful patience!
“I'm so nervous.”
Tina felt as if huge droplets of sweat were rolling down her face even though in reality, in the middle of a chilly afternoon at the beginning of November, no such thing was happening. She bit her lip and jiggled her leg against her shared science table. Rachel shot her a look.
“You shouldn't be,” her voice was comforting and not the least bit concerned, her words somehow tangling in the air and becoming sweeter than maybe she intended by the time they reached Tina's ear. “We studied with commendable concentration yesterday afternoon. And the afternoon before that. If we didn't ace this test then we're going to Figgins and demanding he change our grades.” Tina noticed that when Rachel was nervous words flooded from her mouth at a speed her mind surely couldn't keep up with. That's how she could understand the words that came next. “You aren't really nervous anyway, I can tell.”
Rachel looked to Tina again when the girl didn't respond, met with an arch of eyebrow. She leaned in closer. “You know you've got this. You just want to hear me tell you that I recognize how wonderfully successful you are academically.”
Tina smiled shyly, biting her lip as the smaller girls breath tickled her ear, her own fingertips beginning to tingle lightly in anticipation of touching her.
This hadn't been going on for very long, but then again, it all depended on how you gauged such things. If the beginning of all this meant the first time Rachel had slept in her bed it had been going on for two weeks. If it meant the first time their lips brushed, then three weeks. It had all started out innocently enough; Rachel bemoaning a C on their latest science exam.
“I'll help you study but only if you stop complaining.” Tina wondered how Rachel always beat her to her own locker, even if she was let out of class early. The tiny hop and flood of surprising warmth that engulfed her as Rachel threw her arms around her neck were the first indications that maybe this wasn't going to go exactly the way Tina envisioned. How exactly she envisioned it she didn't really understand but it all became surprisingly clear that night with Rachel sprawled out across her bed, re-reading line after line of text.
“You aren't really understanding,” Tina groaned, admiring the way Rachel's eyes looked, sort of dreamy and sleepy underneath the hot glow of the lamp at her bedside. Rachel closed the book and let it slide off the edge of the bed, Tina still jumping even though she had plenty of time to anticipate the five pounds crashing to the floor.
“You're absolutely right, Tina,” Rachel sighed, rolling over to her back. Tina stared at her, bewildered.
“That's it?”
It was after that when Rachel burst in to tears and went on a nearly 4 minute non-stop lament about Finn and school and glee and not being able to concentrate and some other nonsense Tina couldn't follow, at which time she started timing her. It was hard for Tina to really feel sorry for Rachel; she was sort of irritating. It was when the other girl reached for Tina's hand that those tiny warm feelings she had felt in the hall when Rachel had hugged her started to come back.
“You understand, don't you?”
She didn't.
“I...,”
She understood even less when Rachel touched her cheek.
“You're very pretty, Tina.”
Even though that was all that had happened on that particular night, the seed had been planted. Rachel got an A on their next exam and almost tackled Tina in the hallway, grabbing her shoulders as Tina stared at her, stuck in the same state of confusion as before.
“Thank you so much,” Rachel gushed, leaning against the lockers behind them. “If it weren't for you I wouldn't have...,”
“Rachel,” Tina stopped her abruptly, closing her locker with a barely audible click as she tried keeping her voice even. “We never studied. Remember? You threw your book on the floor.”
The look Rachel was giving her now was completely different then the look of apparent gratitude just milliseconds before. It was almost shy, but her eyes were daring. Daring her to do what exactly? She couldn't help but roll her eyes and groan, turning and heading back down the hallway, not the least bit surprised when Rachel scampered after her.
“You just want attention, Rachel. I don't want to play this game with you.”
It was a bold thing to say considering Tina wasn't even sure of what Rachel wanted. Bolder even due to the fact that there were secret stirrings happening in her tummy now, baffling stirrings that hadn't even besieged her during her time with both Artie and Mike. Rachel's fingers curled around her wrist and she stopped, the hallway deserting around them, nobody batting an eye.
“Study at my house next time?” she asked hopefully, the strap of her bag hanging dangerously close to the edge of her shoulder, her hands both too occupied to fix it. She refused to let go of Tina's wrist.
“Our next test isn't for two weeks,” Tina said, her voice lowering despite the fact they were now completely alone. Something strong and uncontrollable possessed her to reach out and adjust the strap on Rachel's shoulder.
“Next Wednesday then?”
She wasn't going to stop. Tina didn't want her to.
“Okay. Next Wednesday.”
~
Tina wasn't going to lie and say she hadn't been looking forward to their next study date. It hadn't been very long since she had broken up with Mike but, especially with the weather turning and the sparkle of lights going up all over the place, she missed the companionship. Brittany was too wrapped up in the on-goings of her and Santana to hang out but Tina knew it wasn't her fault. She had once felt that way.
It's why, when she woke up with a fever and pain in both her ears Wednesday morning, she felt instant guilt.
“You didn't come to school today.”
Rachel sounded completely heartbroken on the other end of the phone.
“I'm sorry, Rachel. I didn't know I'd get sick, obviously.”
“I'm coming over.”
Tina laughed. It wasn't mean-spirited or even planned. She was way too exhausted to fight and she knew even if she did Rachel would end up at the edge of her bed anyway so why spend the unnecessary energy? Her parents weren't home and, even in her weakened state, it stirred up that familiar thrill inside of her that she was concerned in the first place. Why should it matter if they were home or not? It was Rachel.
“Fine,” Tina said, trying to tuck her blanket tighter around her so no more cool air would reach her heated skin. The next words were fully fever driven and she wouldn't remember them.
“No funny business.”
~
The organic tomato soup Rachel brought was too hot, but the tingling burn on her tongue was a welcome distraction to how fidgety she was feeling. Rachel was watching her from the chair at her desk. They talked about nothing in particular and when Tina started to get sleepy Rachel stood up abruptly, planning to leave.
“Where are you going?” Tina asked softly, horrified by the whine that had crept in to her voice. Rachel's body sunk to the edge of the bed, just as Tina had imagined it would.
“Did you need something else?”
God. Why did she have to ask like that?
“You can stay if you want to. Um...if you want to keep talking.” She wondered if there was ever a time in the past where she would have imagined giving Rachel Berry free permission to talk. Rachel shrugged out of her heavy coat, letting it crumple to the floor as she crawled up to Tina's head, her body lain out perfectly perpendicular to hers, just outside the covers. She poked at her cheek and Tina's forehead wrinkled.
“Really, Rachel...,”
She leaned back on her elbow, watching.
“You're still very pretty, even when you're sick,” Rachel said gently, moving a small thread of hair away from Tina's face. “If it helps at all.”
Rachel yawned dramatically, which is the only way she knew how, Tina figured, before rolling over. She stared at her back for a long time before snaking a hand outside the covers, exposing it to the horribly cold air, before resting it on Rachel's hip. She grinned a grin Tina couldn't see.
“It does, Rachel,” she whispered. “I don't know why. But...it does.”