Pieces of Her, 18/?
Title: Pieces of Her, 18/?
Author: Kagekamay
Rating: R
Length: 3.303
Spoilers: AU after Special Education
Summary: Contrary to popular belief, Rachel Berry wasn't unbreakable. Now she's broken and the only person who can put her back together is Quinn Fabray. WARNING deals with self harm
AN: DONE WITH EXAMSSSS!! Now back to writing :)
Two days earlier….
Rachel stumbled through the front door, panting and out of breath. Her hair had slipped out of its ponytail, wisps of hair sticking to her face thanks to a thin sheen of sweat covering her body. She had run the entire ten blocks from the park to her house, desperate to put as much distance between herself and Quinn as possible. The house was dark, all except for the crack of light coming from underneath her the door of her fathers' room, but Rachel didn't even consider talking to him. As quietly as she could, she crept up the stairs, almost tripping over her own feet in the dark, but managing to avoid falling by grabbing onto the banister.
Eventually she made it to her room, closing the door behind her and collapsing onto her bed. She leaned her head against the headboard, her breath evening out as the adrenaline slowly drained out of her. This wasn't happening, it couldn't be happening. Gingerly, she brought her shaking hand to her lips that were still tingling from where Quinn's lips had met hers.
A shuddering breath escaped from her mouth, and she closed her eyes as a jolt of warmth ran through her body. She could still feel Quinn's mouth moving against hers, gentle and assured, completely different from Finn's awkward movements. Her stomach rolled uncomfortably and her eyes snapped open. No. She couldn't be thinking about this. Not now. Rachel dropped her hand from her lips and banged her head against the wall.
It was all too surreal. Quinn Fabray, a girl that up until a couple weeks ago she would have considered her enemy, was kissing her as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. Quinn, the same girl that Rachel was starting to realize she completely depended on, whose mere presence calmed her down when nothing else would.
But that didn't mean she liked her in that way; it just meant that Rachel considered the cheerleader her friend. Her traitorous heartbeat sped up at her conclusion, but she pushed the thoughts bubbling to the surface away, too scared to fully examine them at the moment.
Again the diva banged her head against the wall, the pain giving her a welcoming distraction from her problems, "What the hell am I going to do?" she whispered aloud.
-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-
For the first time in her life, Rachel Berry was late to school. She slammed onto the brakes, barely pulling into an empty parking spot before she was out of her car, a pile of schoolbooks clutched messily in her hand as she hurried toward the school. She had fallen asleep around four in the morning, the kiss still replaying itself in her head, and she had forgotten to set her alarm. That had led to her frantically throwing on whatever clothes she could grab first and rushing out the door, trying to bury her disappointment upon discovering that no blonde was waiting for her in the driveway. It wasn't that she hadn't expected it, but she couldn't completely pretend that it didn't bother her.
Her math teacher barely acknowledged her as she burst into the classroom, muttering apologies and taking her now permanent seat at the back of the class. A couple of students looked at her curiously, but the majority of them ignored her. She could have cared less, however, and instead busied herself with the more pressing matter of how she was going to successfully avoid Quinn for the rest of the day.
The moment Rachel walked into US History, she was ready to smack herself for her stupidity. She had completely forgotten that Quinn was in the same class as her. The blonde was slumped at her desk, her head supported by one of her hands looking as if she hadn't slept at all. There were dark circles under her eyes and her normally well-kept ponytail was flung up haphazardly.
She looked utterly forlorn, yet somehow she still looked heartbreakingly beautiful to Rachel. Quinn chose that precise moment to look up and she immediately locked eyes with the diva. Life flickered back into her expression, and the worry and exhaustion on her face melted to be replaced by relief. She immediately stood up, making a beeline toward Rachel and wrapping her up in a fierce hug, ignoring the small whimpers of protest.
"Don't ever scare me like that again, okay?" she mumbled into Rachel's hair, squeezing her tightly before letting her go.
Rachel felt her cheeks reddening as she stared back at the cheerio, realizing as she did that any hope of her burying her sudden feelings for Quinn had now become quite impossible. The way she was regarding her now was making her want to smile and burst into tears at the same time. How was it that this perfect girl could harbor any feelings for her, when she obviously didn't deserve her? It wasn't, it was simple as that.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, trying hard to keep her composure as she moved back to the door she had come through, "I just - I have to go."
She turned away from the confused blonde, dimly aware that this was the second time she was running away from her, before slamming the door in her face. The tears came fast as she speed walked down the halls of McKinley and out to her car. Rachel half expected to hear hurried footsteps and Quinn shouting her name, begging her to stop, but she heard nothing, which for some reason just made her cry harder. She stayed there in her car, unable to muster the energy to drive home or go back inside. Instead, she stayed curled up in the back seat of her car, sobbing quietly and wondering why it was impossible for her to be happy.
-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-
By Friday, Rachel had managed to rebuild the walls Quinn had unknowingly ripped away during their brief encounter the day before. It had still been torture to feel Quinn's gaze on her during history, but she had resisted the urge to turn around and had left the classroom as quickly as she could. The cheerio seemed to have gotten the message, and was giving her space for the time being, which Rachel was immensely grateful for.
She knew she couldn't avoid Quinn forever, because like it or not, she had come to rely on her, but she just needed some time to sort through her feelings first. At the moment, she was watching Quinn conversing with Mercedes from her corner table in the cafeteria, thinking wryly that she truly was a masochist, when her phone buzzed in her jacket. She momentarily tore eyes away from the pair, and flipped open the phone to read the message.
Group is meeting in the choir room to choose a song. Come if you want. ~S
Rachel wasn't sure whether she was more surprised that Santana was actually courteous in her text message, or that she was bothering including her in a group meeting. She closed her phone and looked around for Quinn, but was slightly disappointed to find that she had left the cafeteria. She glanced back down at her phone and bit her lip, contemplating her options. If she did go, she would have to deal with Quinn, but if she didn't go, she would risk being seen as a non-team player. Sighing in defeat, she got up from her table, resigning herself to her fate.
Suddenly, a wave of melted ice smashed into her, making her stop in her tracks as pain shot through her skull. Her mouth was open in shock, and the bitter sweet taste of grape pervaded her mouth as she blinked her eyes furiously to relieve some of the sting of the colored dye. Gobs of ice dripped down her skin and splashed onto the floor, the feeling of humiliation finally starting to sink in as snickers echoed in the cafeteria. Wiping away the slushy from her eyes, she was surprised to find it wasn't Karofsky standing in front of her with a smirk on his face, but three freshmen jocks, that were sneering at her.
They all high-fived and snorted as they looked at the diva covered in slushy before swaggering back to the jock table. They were welcomed back with more high-fives and fist bumps, from all except one particular mohawked jock who looked ready to pound the shit out of them. Rising from his seat, he slammed his fist on the table and shoved the three younger boys out of the way as he made his way over to Rachel, who had started to shiver. Stopping in front of her, he shrugged off his varsity jacket, and offered it to her, but Rachel pushed it away.
"N-no, Noah, I-I'm covered in slushy," she reasoned, stuttering from the cold.
"I don't give a fuck, Rach," he told her firmly, wrapping her in his jacket and putting one arm on her lower back as he steered her out of the cafeteria. He made sure to shoot one last death glare at the jocks before they left.
As they walked down the hallway, Rachel leaned her head on Puck's shoulder, and he tightened his grip around her reflexively.
"Thank you," she whispered, adjusting his jacket around her.
He smiled tightly at her and wiped some excess slushy from her cheek, "Don't thank me, Jew babe. I haven't been sticking up enough for you lately."
Rachel's brow crinkled and she was about to shake her head in protest, but Puck cut her off, "And don't even try to make up some lame ass excuse for me. The Puckasaurus owns his own shit."
Rachel couldn't help but smile at his comment, and she remembered why she had once found him so endearing. Puck stopped awkwardly outside the girl's bathroom and glanced apologetically at Rachel.
"I'm sorry this is all I can do for now."
Rachel nodded in understanding, and made to give him his jacket back, but he shook his head and pushed it back towards her, "Keep it for now. You can give it back to me later, okay?"
He smiled encouragingly at Rachel as she went into the girl's bathroom, but it slipped from his face the moment she was gone. Whirling around, he nearly sprinted down the hallway towards the choir room, thanking God that he had heard Santana mention her group was meeting there to talk about the competition. He just hoped he wasn't too late to catch a certain blonde.
-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-
Quinn had walked about five feet away from the choir room, when she heard her name being shouted behind her. She started in surprise and turned to see Puck running towards her, shouting at her to wait. He skidded to a stop in front of her with a grim look on his face that practically screamed something was wrong. Quinn's eyes narrowed and her worse fears were confirmed by the next words out of his mouth.
"It's Rachel."
Her heart thudded in her chest, and she spit out one word through her clenched teeth, "Where?"
He gestured wordlessly for her to follow, and she didn't waste any time, immediately falling into step beside him. Her fears only grew when they stopped outside the girl's bathroom.
"Thanks, Puck," she said sincerely.
"Anytime, Baby Mama," he dismissed, but the worry was still in his eyes, "just take good care of her."
"Why can't you help?" the blonde asked, hand already on the door to the restroom.
Puck shifted and put a hand behind his head, "I did what I could. And anyway there a couple of shitheads in the cafeteria I have to take care of."
Quinn nodded and pushed open the door, nearly slipping on some water on the bathroom floor. She managed to catch herself, but upon closer inspection, she realized the so-called water was actually purple. White hot fury coursed through her as the pieces started to fall into place. As if to confirm her fears, Rachel was standing in front of a sink, a folded varsity jacket placed neatly on top of it, wiping away grape slushy from her clothes.
Silence enveloped the restroom as the two girls stared at each other. The diva was soaked, the front of her sweater completely sodden through with slushy, bits of it still caught in her hair. Walking forward in small steps, she approached the sinks and gently took the balled up paper towel from Rachel's hands and resumed removing the slushy from her face.
As soon as her fingers grazed Rachel's cheek, the singer flinched and moved quickly away from Quinn, her watery brown eyes plainly showing the pain that she felt. Quinn couldn't help but think that even soaked and shivering, Rachel Berry still looked breath-taking.
"I'm sor - "
"Don't you dare say it," Rachel snapped, grabbing a fresh paper towel from the container and resuming wiping fruitlessly at the stains on her sweater.
Quinn shut her mouth and settled for watching Rachel struggle for a couple seconds before she sighed gently and walked forward, coming to a stop beside Rachel.
"I'm sorry," the blonde whispered quietly, and both girls knew she was apologizing for more than just the slushy.
Rachel's lip trembled, but she managed to nod, which Quinn took as an invitation to start cleaning her up. This time, the diva stayed still until Quinn was satisfied that she had done all she could.
"You're going to need new clothes," Quinn said grimly as she threw away the now purple stained paper towels.
Rachel sniffed, pushing back her hair, "I don't have another change of clothes. I stopped packing emergency slushy kits weeks ago."
"Then you'll just have to borrow some of mine," the cheerleader attempted to smile, but it came out more of a grimace.
She gestured for the singer to follow her out of the bathroom, and they walked side by side in silence. At one point, Quinn's hand grazed the back of Rachel's, but she resisted the urge to reach out and grab it. When they stopped outside the cheerio's locker room, Rachel looked at Quinn nervously, but the blonde walked resolutely forward, internally thankful that it was deserted. Rachel trailed behind her as she fiddled with her lock, and pulled out her gym bag. She took out a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt and placed it on the bench for Rachel.
The diva started to take off her sweater, but it was sticky from the slushy, and she couldn't get it completely over her head.
"Um, Quinn could you - "
"Y-yeah," the blonde grasped the bottom of the sweater, and tugged upward, blushing furiously as Rachel's stomach came into view.
She tried to ignore the cuts criss crossing her stomach and arms as she tossed the sweater aside. Wordlessly, she handed Rachel the sweatshirt and turned around so Rachel could take off her jeans.
"You can turn around now," Rachel said, and Quinn felt her blush deepen as she did just that.
"So what now?" Rachel asked.
Quinn took a deep breath and closed her eyes, the anger she had been desperately trying to hold back starting to seep through.
"Quinn?" Rachel asked hesitantly, reaching out to touch her forearm.
There was a roaring in Quinn's ears, and all she could think about was finding whoever had slushied Rachel and making them pay. "This shouldn't have happened," she growled.
Rachel's tightened her grip around her arm warningly, "Quinn, just calm down you're not thinking clearly."
"No!" her shout echoed around the room, and she turned to face Rachel, her anger shining in her face, "I made it clear you were off limits. They need to know that they can't mess with you."
"And what are you going to do?" Rachel asked quietly, "slushy them too?"
"If that's what it takes," Quinn said determinedly.
Rachel sighed tiredly and shook her head, "I don't have the energy to argue with you right now, but just know that you aren't going to solve anything by doing this."
"Yes I am," Quinn insisted, "they'll know that they shouldn't attack people that I care about."
Rachel bit her lip and looked at Quinn, "You care about me?"
Quinn groaned in frustration, "Did Wednesday not make that clear?"
Rachel blushed and looked away, pulling the sweatshirt more securely around her, "Quinn - "
"No, I get it," the blonde assured, pushing her own feelings for Rachel aside, "it was a mistake, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you."
"It's not that you shouldn't have," Rachel interjected quietly, making Quinn's heartbeat speed up, "And I can't say I hated it, but I need time think. It's not that I don't trust you, Quinn," she continued on hurriedly when she saw the girl's face drop, "but there are a lot of things to consider right now."
"Like what?" Quinn asked, her impatience leaking through.
Rachel looked at her strangely, "Like Sam."
Quinn's stuttered, eyes widening in shock at the mention of the boyfriend she had completely forgotten about.
"Uhh - "
Rachel patted Quinn's shoulder sympathetically, "I understand that it was an accident, and honestly I just want to get back to the way things were between us."
Quinn wanted to protest. She wanted so badly to scream that it hadn't been an accident at all, and she wanted more than a friendship (screw Sam), but she knew Rachel was in no state to handle that at the moment.
To her horror, she found herself nodding dumbly, and Rachel flashed her a relieved smile before giving her a quick hug. As she pulled away, Quinn could have sworn there was a flash of sadness in her eyes, but it was gone too quickly for her to be sure.
She was tempted to call Rachel out on it, but she chose instead to help her gather the ruined clothes along with Puck's jacket and toss them into her locker.
Author: Kagekamay
Rating: R
Length: 3.303
Spoilers: AU after Special Education
Summary: Contrary to popular belief, Rachel Berry wasn't unbreakable. Now she's broken and the only person who can put her back together is Quinn Fabray. WARNING deals with self harm
AN: DONE WITH EXAMSSSS!! Now back to writing :)
Two days earlier….
Rachel stumbled through the front door, panting and out of breath. Her hair had slipped out of its ponytail, wisps of hair sticking to her face thanks to a thin sheen of sweat covering her body. She had run the entire ten blocks from the park to her house, desperate to put as much distance between herself and Quinn as possible. The house was dark, all except for the crack of light coming from underneath her the door of her fathers' room, but Rachel didn't even consider talking to him. As quietly as she could, she crept up the stairs, almost tripping over her own feet in the dark, but managing to avoid falling by grabbing onto the banister.
Eventually she made it to her room, closing the door behind her and collapsing onto her bed. She leaned her head against the headboard, her breath evening out as the adrenaline slowly drained out of her. This wasn't happening, it couldn't be happening. Gingerly, she brought her shaking hand to her lips that were still tingling from where Quinn's lips had met hers.
A shuddering breath escaped from her mouth, and she closed her eyes as a jolt of warmth ran through her body. She could still feel Quinn's mouth moving against hers, gentle and assured, completely different from Finn's awkward movements. Her stomach rolled uncomfortably and her eyes snapped open. No. She couldn't be thinking about this. Not now. Rachel dropped her hand from her lips and banged her head against the wall.
It was all too surreal. Quinn Fabray, a girl that up until a couple weeks ago she would have considered her enemy, was kissing her as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. Quinn, the same girl that Rachel was starting to realize she completely depended on, whose mere presence calmed her down when nothing else would.
But that didn't mean she liked her in that way; it just meant that Rachel considered the cheerleader her friend. Her traitorous heartbeat sped up at her conclusion, but she pushed the thoughts bubbling to the surface away, too scared to fully examine them at the moment.
Again the diva banged her head against the wall, the pain giving her a welcoming distraction from her problems, "What the hell am I going to do?" she whispered aloud.
-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-
For the first time in her life, Rachel Berry was late to school. She slammed onto the brakes, barely pulling into an empty parking spot before she was out of her car, a pile of schoolbooks clutched messily in her hand as she hurried toward the school. She had fallen asleep around four in the morning, the kiss still replaying itself in her head, and she had forgotten to set her alarm. That had led to her frantically throwing on whatever clothes she could grab first and rushing out the door, trying to bury her disappointment upon discovering that no blonde was waiting for her in the driveway. It wasn't that she hadn't expected it, but she couldn't completely pretend that it didn't bother her.
Her math teacher barely acknowledged her as she burst into the classroom, muttering apologies and taking her now permanent seat at the back of the class. A couple of students looked at her curiously, but the majority of them ignored her. She could have cared less, however, and instead busied herself with the more pressing matter of how she was going to successfully avoid Quinn for the rest of the day.
The moment Rachel walked into US History, she was ready to smack herself for her stupidity. She had completely forgotten that Quinn was in the same class as her. The blonde was slumped at her desk, her head supported by one of her hands looking as if she hadn't slept at all. There were dark circles under her eyes and her normally well-kept ponytail was flung up haphazardly.
She looked utterly forlorn, yet somehow she still looked heartbreakingly beautiful to Rachel. Quinn chose that precise moment to look up and she immediately locked eyes with the diva. Life flickered back into her expression, and the worry and exhaustion on her face melted to be replaced by relief. She immediately stood up, making a beeline toward Rachel and wrapping her up in a fierce hug, ignoring the small whimpers of protest.
"Don't ever scare me like that again, okay?" she mumbled into Rachel's hair, squeezing her tightly before letting her go.
Rachel felt her cheeks reddening as she stared back at the cheerio, realizing as she did that any hope of her burying her sudden feelings for Quinn had now become quite impossible. The way she was regarding her now was making her want to smile and burst into tears at the same time. How was it that this perfect girl could harbor any feelings for her, when she obviously didn't deserve her? It wasn't, it was simple as that.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, trying hard to keep her composure as she moved back to the door she had come through, "I just - I have to go."
She turned away from the confused blonde, dimly aware that this was the second time she was running away from her, before slamming the door in her face. The tears came fast as she speed walked down the halls of McKinley and out to her car. Rachel half expected to hear hurried footsteps and Quinn shouting her name, begging her to stop, but she heard nothing, which for some reason just made her cry harder. She stayed there in her car, unable to muster the energy to drive home or go back inside. Instead, she stayed curled up in the back seat of her car, sobbing quietly and wondering why it was impossible for her to be happy.
-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-
By Friday, Rachel had managed to rebuild the walls Quinn had unknowingly ripped away during their brief encounter the day before. It had still been torture to feel Quinn's gaze on her during history, but she had resisted the urge to turn around and had left the classroom as quickly as she could. The cheerio seemed to have gotten the message, and was giving her space for the time being, which Rachel was immensely grateful for.
She knew she couldn't avoid Quinn forever, because like it or not, she had come to rely on her, but she just needed some time to sort through her feelings first. At the moment, she was watching Quinn conversing with Mercedes from her corner table in the cafeteria, thinking wryly that she truly was a masochist, when her phone buzzed in her jacket. She momentarily tore eyes away from the pair, and flipped open the phone to read the message.
Group is meeting in the choir room to choose a song. Come if you want. ~S
Rachel wasn't sure whether she was more surprised that Santana was actually courteous in her text message, or that she was bothering including her in a group meeting. She closed her phone and looked around for Quinn, but was slightly disappointed to find that she had left the cafeteria. She glanced back down at her phone and bit her lip, contemplating her options. If she did go, she would have to deal with Quinn, but if she didn't go, she would risk being seen as a non-team player. Sighing in defeat, she got up from her table, resigning herself to her fate.
Suddenly, a wave of melted ice smashed into her, making her stop in her tracks as pain shot through her skull. Her mouth was open in shock, and the bitter sweet taste of grape pervaded her mouth as she blinked her eyes furiously to relieve some of the sting of the colored dye. Gobs of ice dripped down her skin and splashed onto the floor, the feeling of humiliation finally starting to sink in as snickers echoed in the cafeteria. Wiping away the slushy from her eyes, she was surprised to find it wasn't Karofsky standing in front of her with a smirk on his face, but three freshmen jocks, that were sneering at her.
They all high-fived and snorted as they looked at the diva covered in slushy before swaggering back to the jock table. They were welcomed back with more high-fives and fist bumps, from all except one particular mohawked jock who looked ready to pound the shit out of them. Rising from his seat, he slammed his fist on the table and shoved the three younger boys out of the way as he made his way over to Rachel, who had started to shiver. Stopping in front of her, he shrugged off his varsity jacket, and offered it to her, but Rachel pushed it away.
"N-no, Noah, I-I'm covered in slushy," she reasoned, stuttering from the cold.
"I don't give a fuck, Rach," he told her firmly, wrapping her in his jacket and putting one arm on her lower back as he steered her out of the cafeteria. He made sure to shoot one last death glare at the jocks before they left.
As they walked down the hallway, Rachel leaned her head on Puck's shoulder, and he tightened his grip around her reflexively.
"Thank you," she whispered, adjusting his jacket around her.
He smiled tightly at her and wiped some excess slushy from her cheek, "Don't thank me, Jew babe. I haven't been sticking up enough for you lately."
Rachel's brow crinkled and she was about to shake her head in protest, but Puck cut her off, "And don't even try to make up some lame ass excuse for me. The Puckasaurus owns his own shit."
Rachel couldn't help but smile at his comment, and she remembered why she had once found him so endearing. Puck stopped awkwardly outside the girl's bathroom and glanced apologetically at Rachel.
"I'm sorry this is all I can do for now."
Rachel nodded in understanding, and made to give him his jacket back, but he shook his head and pushed it back towards her, "Keep it for now. You can give it back to me later, okay?"
He smiled encouragingly at Rachel as she went into the girl's bathroom, but it slipped from his face the moment she was gone. Whirling around, he nearly sprinted down the hallway towards the choir room, thanking God that he had heard Santana mention her group was meeting there to talk about the competition. He just hoped he wasn't too late to catch a certain blonde.
-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-
Quinn had walked about five feet away from the choir room, when she heard her name being shouted behind her. She started in surprise and turned to see Puck running towards her, shouting at her to wait. He skidded to a stop in front of her with a grim look on his face that practically screamed something was wrong. Quinn's eyes narrowed and her worse fears were confirmed by the next words out of his mouth.
"It's Rachel."
Her heart thudded in her chest, and she spit out one word through her clenched teeth, "Where?"
He gestured wordlessly for her to follow, and she didn't waste any time, immediately falling into step beside him. Her fears only grew when they stopped outside the girl's bathroom.
"Thanks, Puck," she said sincerely.
"Anytime, Baby Mama," he dismissed, but the worry was still in his eyes, "just take good care of her."
"Why can't you help?" the blonde asked, hand already on the door to the restroom.
Puck shifted and put a hand behind his head, "I did what I could. And anyway there a couple of shitheads in the cafeteria I have to take care of."
Quinn nodded and pushed open the door, nearly slipping on some water on the bathroom floor. She managed to catch herself, but upon closer inspection, she realized the so-called water was actually purple. White hot fury coursed through her as the pieces started to fall into place. As if to confirm her fears, Rachel was standing in front of a sink, a folded varsity jacket placed neatly on top of it, wiping away grape slushy from her clothes.
Silence enveloped the restroom as the two girls stared at each other. The diva was soaked, the front of her sweater completely sodden through with slushy, bits of it still caught in her hair. Walking forward in small steps, she approached the sinks and gently took the balled up paper towel from Rachel's hands and resumed removing the slushy from her face.
As soon as her fingers grazed Rachel's cheek, the singer flinched and moved quickly away from Quinn, her watery brown eyes plainly showing the pain that she felt. Quinn couldn't help but think that even soaked and shivering, Rachel Berry still looked breath-taking.
"I'm sor - "
"Don't you dare say it," Rachel snapped, grabbing a fresh paper towel from the container and resuming wiping fruitlessly at the stains on her sweater.
Quinn shut her mouth and settled for watching Rachel struggle for a couple seconds before she sighed gently and walked forward, coming to a stop beside Rachel.
"I'm sorry," the blonde whispered quietly, and both girls knew she was apologizing for more than just the slushy.
Rachel's lip trembled, but she managed to nod, which Quinn took as an invitation to start cleaning her up. This time, the diva stayed still until Quinn was satisfied that she had done all she could.
"You're going to need new clothes," Quinn said grimly as she threw away the now purple stained paper towels.
Rachel sniffed, pushing back her hair, "I don't have another change of clothes. I stopped packing emergency slushy kits weeks ago."
"Then you'll just have to borrow some of mine," the cheerleader attempted to smile, but it came out more of a grimace.
She gestured for the singer to follow her out of the bathroom, and they walked side by side in silence. At one point, Quinn's hand grazed the back of Rachel's, but she resisted the urge to reach out and grab it. When they stopped outside the cheerio's locker room, Rachel looked at Quinn nervously, but the blonde walked resolutely forward, internally thankful that it was deserted. Rachel trailed behind her as she fiddled with her lock, and pulled out her gym bag. She took out a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt and placed it on the bench for Rachel.
The diva started to take off her sweater, but it was sticky from the slushy, and she couldn't get it completely over her head.
"Um, Quinn could you - "
"Y-yeah," the blonde grasped the bottom of the sweater, and tugged upward, blushing furiously as Rachel's stomach came into view.
She tried to ignore the cuts criss crossing her stomach and arms as she tossed the sweater aside. Wordlessly, she handed Rachel the sweatshirt and turned around so Rachel could take off her jeans.
"You can turn around now," Rachel said, and Quinn felt her blush deepen as she did just that.
"So what now?" Rachel asked.
Quinn took a deep breath and closed her eyes, the anger she had been desperately trying to hold back starting to seep through.
"Quinn?" Rachel asked hesitantly, reaching out to touch her forearm.
There was a roaring in Quinn's ears, and all she could think about was finding whoever had slushied Rachel and making them pay. "This shouldn't have happened," she growled.
Rachel's tightened her grip around her arm warningly, "Quinn, just calm down you're not thinking clearly."
"No!" her shout echoed around the room, and she turned to face Rachel, her anger shining in her face, "I made it clear you were off limits. They need to know that they can't mess with you."
"And what are you going to do?" Rachel asked quietly, "slushy them too?"
"If that's what it takes," Quinn said determinedly.
Rachel sighed tiredly and shook her head, "I don't have the energy to argue with you right now, but just know that you aren't going to solve anything by doing this."
"Yes I am," Quinn insisted, "they'll know that they shouldn't attack people that I care about."
Rachel bit her lip and looked at Quinn, "You care about me?"
Quinn groaned in frustration, "Did Wednesday not make that clear?"
Rachel blushed and looked away, pulling the sweatshirt more securely around her, "Quinn - "
"No, I get it," the blonde assured, pushing her own feelings for Rachel aside, "it was a mistake, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you."
"It's not that you shouldn't have," Rachel interjected quietly, making Quinn's heartbeat speed up, "And I can't say I hated it, but I need time think. It's not that I don't trust you, Quinn," she continued on hurriedly when she saw the girl's face drop, "but there are a lot of things to consider right now."
"Like what?" Quinn asked, her impatience leaking through.
Rachel looked at her strangely, "Like Sam."
Quinn's stuttered, eyes widening in shock at the mention of the boyfriend she had completely forgotten about.
"Uhh - "
Rachel patted Quinn's shoulder sympathetically, "I understand that it was an accident, and honestly I just want to get back to the way things were between us."
Quinn wanted to protest. She wanted so badly to scream that it hadn't been an accident at all, and she wanted more than a friendship (screw Sam), but she knew Rachel was in no state to handle that at the moment.
To her horror, she found herself nodding dumbly, and Rachel flashed her a relieved smile before giving her a quick hug. As she pulled away, Quinn could have sworn there was a flash of sadness in her eyes, but it was gone too quickly for her to be sure.
She was tempted to call Rachel out on it, but she chose instead to help her gather the ruined clothes along with Puck's jacket and toss them into her locker.