Everyone Has a Facebook [2/11]
Title: Everyone Has a Facebook
Appearing Characters: ?The Fabray Family: Russell Fabray, Judy (Hunter) Fabray, Mr. and Mrs. Fabray [Russell's parents], The Eldest Fabray Daughter, Lucy Quinn Fabray
Surviving Hunter Family: Lily Hunter [Judy's younger sister]
Lucy Quinn's Friends: Rachel Berry, Santana Lopez, and Brittany Pierce
Rachel's Two Gay Dads: Leroy and Hiram Berry
Pairings: Rachel/Lucy Quinn, side Santana/Brittany, mentions past Rachel/Finn
Rating: PG-13
Length: ~30,600 words
Summary: Lucy Quinn Fabray's life has been filled with secrets and forbidden memories. The summer before her senior year she takes it in to her own hands (with a little nudging from one Rachel Berry) to solve the questions that no one will answer. Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce join her in the journey that leads down a path no one expected to a door that will change everything Quinn ever knew about herself.
[Chapter 1]
-Chapter 2-
Quinn was simultaneously looking forward to and dreading summer. Her mother wasn't around much anymore which meant she'd have the house to herself. It was mostly empty, her father having taken anything of significant value. Her friends would all be on vacation throughout the summer leaving Quinn in her empty house. At least she had the pool.
Unfortunately, the pool only provided entertainment for a week before Quinn was bored. She'd thought about getting a summer job but the only place she could find was McDonald's and that wasn't an option she wanted to consider. She took to painting her bedroom, getting rid of the purple wallpaper and opting for bright yellow paint. That only bought her another week.
By day three of the third week of vacation she was out of options. She'd read and watched movies all the summer before which ruled all of those out. Everyone was still on vacation. The pool pump had broken. Quinn took to watching Food Network and teaching herself how to cook something other than things that came from a can or box. By the end of the week her mother said that it got too expensive for Quinn to be cooking elaborate meals and thus ended that adventure.
Almost desperate enough to apply at McDonald's, Quinn made one last-ditch effort at beating her boredom by buying a book on quilting. She threw it in the fireplace when she discovered the entire first chapter was about baby blankets. As she stoked the flames, there was a knock at the front door and Quinn practically ran to it. Even a few words with a UPS man would be better than nothing. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
“Good afternoon, Quinn.”
Quinn dropped her shoulders and her smile at the sight of Rachel Berry standing on her front porch with a box. She had forgiven Rachel for Nationals and it was becoming more and more bearable to look at her without being reminded of Beth. The baby was better off with Shelby than in the tensions that the Fabray house still held.
“Hi.”
“Sorry to interrupt your morning like this but I was using the school auditorium to practice and found a few of your things between some of the curtains and thought you might like them back.”
Quirking an eyebrow, Quinn peered into the box to see two of her sweaters she'd been missing, a pair of shoes, her chemistry notebook, and her Lucy Caboosey shirt. She furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head.
“It was probably Santana,” she said, taking the box out of Rachel's hands.
“That's incredibly rude.”
“It's just how she is.” Quinn shrugged and rocked on the balls of her feet, her eyes darting anywhere but Rachel. Awkward silence hung in the air for a few minutes before Rachel spoke again.
“I suppose I'll see you later.”
“Do you want to come in?” Quinn blurted out. She stared at the floor for a few seconds before cautiously looking up and at Rachel's bright smile and eager eyes.
“Sure!”
Quinn stepped out of the way, sliding in her socks across the marble in the foyer as she let Rachel step inside. The idea of Rachel Berry being in her house made her happier than she should have been, Quinn thought, but anything was better than nothing.
“What have you been doing this summer?” Rachel asked as Quinn led her into the living room. “And why do you have a fire going? It's almost ninety degrees outside.”
“I tried to learn how to quilt. It didn't go so well.” Quinn tossed the box of her items on one of the couches and motioned for Rachel to follow her to the kitchen where there wasn't heat making the room unbearable. Rachel made herself at home by hopping up on one of the bar stools at the kitchen island.
“I attempted to learn a few summers ago and I simply don't have the patience for it. I prefer more action-based activity.”
“Do you want anything to drink? Or food or something?”
“I'm alright, thank you.”
Quinn shrugged and hopped up on the bar stool next to Rachel. To break the silence she grabbed the sound system remote and turned it on to whatever radio station she could find that wasn't whatever political bull her mother listened to.
“How has your summer been?” Rachel asked.
“Boring. Yours?”
“The same. The Hudson-Hummel family has decided to take an extended vacation to the former Mrs. Hummel's mother's home. Kurt is very close to her, I understand, and so she offered for them to spend the summer with her to get to know Carole and Finn.”
“Hm.” Quinn nodded absentmindedly, watching Rachel out of the corner of her eye. The brunette caught her gaze momentarily and dropped her head.
“I apologize. I'm sure you don't want to hear about that.”
Quinn only shrugged. “There's nothing I can do about it.” She'd given up after Nationals. There was no real point in caring about any of it anymore. She could barely handle her own life lately, anyway, let alone Finn-the-boy-wonder who had to be watched closely at all times.
“Your new haircut looks very nice. You look very mature.”
“Thanks.” Quinn looked up to finally meet Rachel's eyes and they both smiled until Rachel let out a soft giggle and Quinn did the same.
“This is sufficiently awkward,” Rachel noted.
“It doesn't have to be. I mean...You're the only person I've seen this summer and I don't think anyone else would've cared enough to give me back my things after everything that's happened.”
“You're very right. We're on the verge of senior year and we're practically adults now. I propose we put the past behind us and start anew.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “Okay.”
“Rachel Barbra Berry,” Rachel said, extending her hand.
Taking it in her own, Quinn took a deep breath. “Lucy Quinn Fabray,” she said softly.
“What do I call you?”
“I don't know?”
“Well it's very obvious that Lucy holds unpleasant memories for you and Quinn represents a person you honestly didn't want to be.”
“Well,” Quinn said, “Lucy was a better person than Quinn. But Quinn had her perks.”
“It's settled then. Lucy Q.”
“Seriously? You're going to call me that?”
“It's the best of both worlds, is it not?”
“Lucy Q it is,” Quinn said with a nod. “But only when it's us.”
Rachel's excitement showed in her eyes as her mouth split into a wide grin. “Our first official friendship secret!”
“Is it that exciting?”
“Well, considering I've never had that, it is.”
Aside from whatever was playing on the radio, it was quiet for a few seconds. Rachel remedied it by jumping off of the bar stool (her hand still in Quinn's, oddly) and pulling the blonde back to the front door.
“What are you doing?” Quinn inquired.
“You need shoes. I want you to meet my dads.”
“Your dads?”
“Yes. They both have the day off today and I thought perhaps you could come meet them.”
“Don't they hate me?”
Rachel tilted her head at that, her hand tightening on Quinn's. “Why would they?”
“I don't know. I guess I thought maybe you told them everything horrible I've ever said to you.”
“It's a new beginning, Lucy Q. My dads are the ones who taught me that when you start over, it's a clean slate.”
Quinn nodded. “Trust me, I understand that concept,” she mumbled.
The drive to the Berry house wasn't going to be that long; Rachel only lived a few streets down. It was in walking distance but Rachel, proud owner of a new pre-owned silver Honda Accord, was more than willing to drive.
“It was a gift from my dads for once again having a perfect GPA,” Rachel said happily as she checked her mirrors. “And also for placing twelfth at Nationals. The passenger side window switch doesn't work but other than that, Bernadette is in fabulous condition.”
“Bernadette?”
Rachel nodded as she set the radio station. “Named after Bernadette Peters, Broadway legend.”
“No, I know who she is...I just wouldn't have thought to name a car after her.”
“Most of my inanimate objects are named.”
“That's...interesting.”
Rachel nodded and made an affirmative noise as she turned the car on and then shifted to back out of the driveway. She was overly cautious as she made the right turn out of Quinn's driveway and then a left on to North Cole and the two blocks down to Wayne Street where she turned again and pulled into the driveway of her house.
“Remember, Lucy Q,” Rachel said with a smile, “clean slate.”
“I think I can handle it.”
Quinn followed Rachel up the front steps and through the front door where Rachel was greeted with shouts from her dads that they were in the kitchen. Rachel bounced in and hugged each of them like she hadn't seen them in a week and the two men returned the enthusiasm while Quinn stood awkwardly in the doorway. Genuine parental affection wasn't exactly something she was used to.
“Dad, Daddy,” Rachel said, bouncing back to Quinn, “this is my friend Quinn Fabray. Quinn, these are my dads.”
“Good morning Mr. and Mr. Berry,” Quinn half-whispered.
“Quinn Fabray, hm?” The shorter man raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest.
Quinn nodded.
“Quinn and I have mutually agreed that it is best to start with a clean slate going in to our senior year. The past is the past and we're moving on from it.”
“If that's what you think is best,” the taller man said, “then you know we'll trust you.”
“Thank you, Daddy.”
“You can call me Leroy,” he said to Quinn.
“And I'm Hiram.”
Quinn smiled and let herself be pulled in to the kitchen by Rachel and to the counter to fix herself a sandwich for lunch and, unlike meals at the Fabray house, Quinn actually felt like she could eat without being judged. It was almost as if she felt more comfortable in the Berry house than in her own. Judy called early that afternoon to tell Quinn she'd be late getting home because she was having dinner with her book club, a normal occurrence. Rachel invited her to stay for dinner - Chinese takeout. Quinn accepted because her only other option was what little rice was left in the kitchen cabinet.
It didn't take long for Quinn to kind of attach herself to Rachel and Rachel didn't seem to mind at all. Neither of them had anyone else to really rely on outside of their family and it seemed as though Rachel relied on herself in that situation, too. Rachel said they were both either always working or at conventions having to do with work, leaving her to fend for herself.
XXXXXXXXXX
“I think my mother avoids me most of the time,” Quinn sighed.
They were having ice cream (vegan friendly for Rachel, of course) on the Berry's screened-in back porch two weeks after the day Rachel showed up on Quinn's doorstep. They'd spent time together every single day since then.
“Why would she do that?”
“I don't know. I guess she just works a lot and wants to be social. And I'm a disappointment.”
“I'm not sure how anyone could ever see you as a disappointment, Lucy Q. You're incredibly resilient.”
“Sometimes I don't think getting pregnant is why she thinks that way.”
This apparently piqued Rachel's interest because Quinn watched her furrow her eyebrows and purse her lips, a sign that she was thinking. It didn't take much time to get used to Rachel and all of the things that used to annoy Quinn. It took even less time to learn pretty much exactly what Rachel was thinking or feeling at any particular moment. She didn't hide anything and even when she tried, it didn't work.
“What?” Quinn finally asked after Rachel went back to focusing on her ice cream.
“You've never really mentioned it before.”
“Mentioned what?”
“Being pregnant.”
“Oh.” Quinn's mouth went dry and she suddenly found the ice cream in her bowl incredibly unappetizing. “I try not to think about it.” And almost all other aspects of her life.
“I find that hard to believe,” Rachel said. “Something of that emotional caliber can't be easy to contain.”
“It's easy when that's what you've been trained to do.”
“Well, perhaps you could tell me about it.”
“I don't talk to anyone about it.”
“Clearly. Which is why I offered.”
Quinn felt her defenses begin to rise, defenses that kept her from ever speaking to anyone about anything remotely off the path her life was and is supposed to take.
“I don't need to talk,” Quinn snapped. “I just ignore it.”
“Lucy Q...”
“Don't call me that.” Quinn tossed her bowl on the table and stormed off the porch and into the Berrys' kitchen, headed for the front door. As much as she tried to fight it, she was getting angry at Rachel for bringing up things that were to be forgotten. It was ingrained so deep in her to forget anything remotely bad that, even when she wanted to talk, she couldn't.
“Wait!”
Quinn didn't stop until Rachel's hand was on her arm, all too reminiscent of prom night.
“Just leave it alone, Rachel!”
“Please Luc--”
“Stop it!” Quinn spun around and felt a familiar twitch in her arm. “This was a bad idea.”
“What?”
“All of it,” she lied. “You, me...how could I have been so stupid to think we could actually be friends?” Another lie. “I'm leaving. Please just leave me alone, okay?” Quinn wrenched herself from Rachel's grip and headed toward the front door.
Rachel,, obviously determined not to give up, followed her all the way outside and halfway down the block, still talking.
“You had a baby, Quinn. You had a baby and you gave her to my mother. Do you honestly think that didn't affect me in the slightest? Do you honestly think it didn't affect you? You're different, you have been since the day Finn found out the truth. No one goes through that and doesn't change.”
“Stop it!” Quinn yelled back. “Just shut up!”
“Not until you talk to me!”
Quinn kept walking. She didn't look back or hardly even listen while Rachel called out her name. Soon the voice stopped and Quinn was alone. She stared at the concrete sidewalk, moving quickly, navigating back to her own house. The lights were on when she got home and there were cars parked out front of her house, it was her mother's turn to host the book club that night. To avoid any confrontation, Quinn slipped in the back door and up the back staircase to her room.
She was still alone. And more so than she had been for weeks. But, like everything else, she tried to shove it away.
It didn't work and Quinn cried herself to sleep clutching on to the stuffed lamb under her pillow.
She was still alone.
Appearing Characters: ?The Fabray Family: Russell Fabray, Judy (Hunter) Fabray, Mr. and Mrs. Fabray [Russell's parents], The Eldest Fabray Daughter, Lucy Quinn Fabray
Surviving Hunter Family: Lily Hunter [Judy's younger sister]
Lucy Quinn's Friends: Rachel Berry, Santana Lopez, and Brittany Pierce
Rachel's Two Gay Dads: Leroy and Hiram Berry
Pairings: Rachel/Lucy Quinn, side Santana/Brittany, mentions past Rachel/Finn
Rating: PG-13
Length: ~30,600 words
Summary: Lucy Quinn Fabray's life has been filled with secrets and forbidden memories. The summer before her senior year she takes it in to her own hands (with a little nudging from one Rachel Berry) to solve the questions that no one will answer. Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce join her in the journey that leads down a path no one expected to a door that will change everything Quinn ever knew about herself.
[Chapter 1]
-Chapter 2-
Quinn was simultaneously looking forward to and dreading summer. Her mother wasn't around much anymore which meant she'd have the house to herself. It was mostly empty, her father having taken anything of significant value. Her friends would all be on vacation throughout the summer leaving Quinn in her empty house. At least she had the pool.
Unfortunately, the pool only provided entertainment for a week before Quinn was bored. She'd thought about getting a summer job but the only place she could find was McDonald's and that wasn't an option she wanted to consider. She took to painting her bedroom, getting rid of the purple wallpaper and opting for bright yellow paint. That only bought her another week.
By day three of the third week of vacation she was out of options. She'd read and watched movies all the summer before which ruled all of those out. Everyone was still on vacation. The pool pump had broken. Quinn took to watching Food Network and teaching herself how to cook something other than things that came from a can or box. By the end of the week her mother said that it got too expensive for Quinn to be cooking elaborate meals and thus ended that adventure.
Almost desperate enough to apply at McDonald's, Quinn made one last-ditch effort at beating her boredom by buying a book on quilting. She threw it in the fireplace when she discovered the entire first chapter was about baby blankets. As she stoked the flames, there was a knock at the front door and Quinn practically ran to it. Even a few words with a UPS man would be better than nothing. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
“Good afternoon, Quinn.”
Quinn dropped her shoulders and her smile at the sight of Rachel Berry standing on her front porch with a box. She had forgiven Rachel for Nationals and it was becoming more and more bearable to look at her without being reminded of Beth. The baby was better off with Shelby than in the tensions that the Fabray house still held.
“Hi.”
“Sorry to interrupt your morning like this but I was using the school auditorium to practice and found a few of your things between some of the curtains and thought you might like them back.”
Quirking an eyebrow, Quinn peered into the box to see two of her sweaters she'd been missing, a pair of shoes, her chemistry notebook, and her Lucy Caboosey shirt. She furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head.
“It was probably Santana,” she said, taking the box out of Rachel's hands.
“That's incredibly rude.”
“It's just how she is.” Quinn shrugged and rocked on the balls of her feet, her eyes darting anywhere but Rachel. Awkward silence hung in the air for a few minutes before Rachel spoke again.
“I suppose I'll see you later.”
“Do you want to come in?” Quinn blurted out. She stared at the floor for a few seconds before cautiously looking up and at Rachel's bright smile and eager eyes.
“Sure!”
Quinn stepped out of the way, sliding in her socks across the marble in the foyer as she let Rachel step inside. The idea of Rachel Berry being in her house made her happier than she should have been, Quinn thought, but anything was better than nothing.
“What have you been doing this summer?” Rachel asked as Quinn led her into the living room. “And why do you have a fire going? It's almost ninety degrees outside.”
“I tried to learn how to quilt. It didn't go so well.” Quinn tossed the box of her items on one of the couches and motioned for Rachel to follow her to the kitchen where there wasn't heat making the room unbearable. Rachel made herself at home by hopping up on one of the bar stools at the kitchen island.
“I attempted to learn a few summers ago and I simply don't have the patience for it. I prefer more action-based activity.”
“Do you want anything to drink? Or food or something?”
“I'm alright, thank you.”
Quinn shrugged and hopped up on the bar stool next to Rachel. To break the silence she grabbed the sound system remote and turned it on to whatever radio station she could find that wasn't whatever political bull her mother listened to.
“How has your summer been?” Rachel asked.
“Boring. Yours?”
“The same. The Hudson-Hummel family has decided to take an extended vacation to the former Mrs. Hummel's mother's home. Kurt is very close to her, I understand, and so she offered for them to spend the summer with her to get to know Carole and Finn.”
“Hm.” Quinn nodded absentmindedly, watching Rachel out of the corner of her eye. The brunette caught her gaze momentarily and dropped her head.
“I apologize. I'm sure you don't want to hear about that.”
Quinn only shrugged. “There's nothing I can do about it.” She'd given up after Nationals. There was no real point in caring about any of it anymore. She could barely handle her own life lately, anyway, let alone Finn-the-boy-wonder who had to be watched closely at all times.
“Your new haircut looks very nice. You look very mature.”
“Thanks.” Quinn looked up to finally meet Rachel's eyes and they both smiled until Rachel let out a soft giggle and Quinn did the same.
“This is sufficiently awkward,” Rachel noted.
“It doesn't have to be. I mean...You're the only person I've seen this summer and I don't think anyone else would've cared enough to give me back my things after everything that's happened.”
“You're very right. We're on the verge of senior year and we're practically adults now. I propose we put the past behind us and start anew.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “Okay.”
“Rachel Barbra Berry,” Rachel said, extending her hand.
Taking it in her own, Quinn took a deep breath. “Lucy Quinn Fabray,” she said softly.
“What do I call you?”
“I don't know?”
“Well it's very obvious that Lucy holds unpleasant memories for you and Quinn represents a person you honestly didn't want to be.”
“Well,” Quinn said, “Lucy was a better person than Quinn. But Quinn had her perks.”
“It's settled then. Lucy Q.”
“Seriously? You're going to call me that?”
“It's the best of both worlds, is it not?”
“Lucy Q it is,” Quinn said with a nod. “But only when it's us.”
Rachel's excitement showed in her eyes as her mouth split into a wide grin. “Our first official friendship secret!”
“Is it that exciting?”
“Well, considering I've never had that, it is.”
Aside from whatever was playing on the radio, it was quiet for a few seconds. Rachel remedied it by jumping off of the bar stool (her hand still in Quinn's, oddly) and pulling the blonde back to the front door.
“What are you doing?” Quinn inquired.
“You need shoes. I want you to meet my dads.”
“Your dads?”
“Yes. They both have the day off today and I thought perhaps you could come meet them.”
“Don't they hate me?”
Rachel tilted her head at that, her hand tightening on Quinn's. “Why would they?”
“I don't know. I guess I thought maybe you told them everything horrible I've ever said to you.”
“It's a new beginning, Lucy Q. My dads are the ones who taught me that when you start over, it's a clean slate.”
Quinn nodded. “Trust me, I understand that concept,” she mumbled.
The drive to the Berry house wasn't going to be that long; Rachel only lived a few streets down. It was in walking distance but Rachel, proud owner of a new pre-owned silver Honda Accord, was more than willing to drive.
“It was a gift from my dads for once again having a perfect GPA,” Rachel said happily as she checked her mirrors. “And also for placing twelfth at Nationals. The passenger side window switch doesn't work but other than that, Bernadette is in fabulous condition.”
“Bernadette?”
Rachel nodded as she set the radio station. “Named after Bernadette Peters, Broadway legend.”
“No, I know who she is...I just wouldn't have thought to name a car after her.”
“Most of my inanimate objects are named.”
“That's...interesting.”
Rachel nodded and made an affirmative noise as she turned the car on and then shifted to back out of the driveway. She was overly cautious as she made the right turn out of Quinn's driveway and then a left on to North Cole and the two blocks down to Wayne Street where she turned again and pulled into the driveway of her house.
“Remember, Lucy Q,” Rachel said with a smile, “clean slate.”
“I think I can handle it.”
Quinn followed Rachel up the front steps and through the front door where Rachel was greeted with shouts from her dads that they were in the kitchen. Rachel bounced in and hugged each of them like she hadn't seen them in a week and the two men returned the enthusiasm while Quinn stood awkwardly in the doorway. Genuine parental affection wasn't exactly something she was used to.
“Dad, Daddy,” Rachel said, bouncing back to Quinn, “this is my friend Quinn Fabray. Quinn, these are my dads.”
“Good morning Mr. and Mr. Berry,” Quinn half-whispered.
“Quinn Fabray, hm?” The shorter man raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest.
Quinn nodded.
“Quinn and I have mutually agreed that it is best to start with a clean slate going in to our senior year. The past is the past and we're moving on from it.”
“If that's what you think is best,” the taller man said, “then you know we'll trust you.”
“Thank you, Daddy.”
“You can call me Leroy,” he said to Quinn.
“And I'm Hiram.”
Quinn smiled and let herself be pulled in to the kitchen by Rachel and to the counter to fix herself a sandwich for lunch and, unlike meals at the Fabray house, Quinn actually felt like she could eat without being judged. It was almost as if she felt more comfortable in the Berry house than in her own. Judy called early that afternoon to tell Quinn she'd be late getting home because she was having dinner with her book club, a normal occurrence. Rachel invited her to stay for dinner - Chinese takeout. Quinn accepted because her only other option was what little rice was left in the kitchen cabinet.
It didn't take long for Quinn to kind of attach herself to Rachel and Rachel didn't seem to mind at all. Neither of them had anyone else to really rely on outside of their family and it seemed as though Rachel relied on herself in that situation, too. Rachel said they were both either always working or at conventions having to do with work, leaving her to fend for herself.
XXXXXXXXXX
“I think my mother avoids me most of the time,” Quinn sighed.
They were having ice cream (vegan friendly for Rachel, of course) on the Berry's screened-in back porch two weeks after the day Rachel showed up on Quinn's doorstep. They'd spent time together every single day since then.
“Why would she do that?”
“I don't know. I guess she just works a lot and wants to be social. And I'm a disappointment.”
“I'm not sure how anyone could ever see you as a disappointment, Lucy Q. You're incredibly resilient.”
“Sometimes I don't think getting pregnant is why she thinks that way.”
This apparently piqued Rachel's interest because Quinn watched her furrow her eyebrows and purse her lips, a sign that she was thinking. It didn't take much time to get used to Rachel and all of the things that used to annoy Quinn. It took even less time to learn pretty much exactly what Rachel was thinking or feeling at any particular moment. She didn't hide anything and even when she tried, it didn't work.
“What?” Quinn finally asked after Rachel went back to focusing on her ice cream.
“You've never really mentioned it before.”
“Mentioned what?”
“Being pregnant.”
“Oh.” Quinn's mouth went dry and she suddenly found the ice cream in her bowl incredibly unappetizing. “I try not to think about it.” And almost all other aspects of her life.
“I find that hard to believe,” Rachel said. “Something of that emotional caliber can't be easy to contain.”
“It's easy when that's what you've been trained to do.”
“Well, perhaps you could tell me about it.”
“I don't talk to anyone about it.”
“Clearly. Which is why I offered.”
Quinn felt her defenses begin to rise, defenses that kept her from ever speaking to anyone about anything remotely off the path her life was and is supposed to take.
“I don't need to talk,” Quinn snapped. “I just ignore it.”
“Lucy Q...”
“Don't call me that.” Quinn tossed her bowl on the table and stormed off the porch and into the Berrys' kitchen, headed for the front door. As much as she tried to fight it, she was getting angry at Rachel for bringing up things that were to be forgotten. It was ingrained so deep in her to forget anything remotely bad that, even when she wanted to talk, she couldn't.
“Wait!”
Quinn didn't stop until Rachel's hand was on her arm, all too reminiscent of prom night.
“Just leave it alone, Rachel!”
“Please Luc--”
“Stop it!” Quinn spun around and felt a familiar twitch in her arm. “This was a bad idea.”
“What?”
“All of it,” she lied. “You, me...how could I have been so stupid to think we could actually be friends?” Another lie. “I'm leaving. Please just leave me alone, okay?” Quinn wrenched herself from Rachel's grip and headed toward the front door.
Rachel,, obviously determined not to give up, followed her all the way outside and halfway down the block, still talking.
“You had a baby, Quinn. You had a baby and you gave her to my mother. Do you honestly think that didn't affect me in the slightest? Do you honestly think it didn't affect you? You're different, you have been since the day Finn found out the truth. No one goes through that and doesn't change.”
“Stop it!” Quinn yelled back. “Just shut up!”
“Not until you talk to me!”
Quinn kept walking. She didn't look back or hardly even listen while Rachel called out her name. Soon the voice stopped and Quinn was alone. She stared at the concrete sidewalk, moving quickly, navigating back to her own house. The lights were on when she got home and there were cars parked out front of her house, it was her mother's turn to host the book club that night. To avoid any confrontation, Quinn slipped in the back door and up the back staircase to her room.
She was still alone. And more so than she had been for weeks. But, like everything else, she tried to shove it away.
It didn't work and Quinn cried herself to sleep clutching on to the stuffed lamb under her pillow.
She was still alone.