Rainbow Bright
Title: Rainbow Bright
Author: nearproximity
Rating: NC-17 (but not overly graphic)
Length: 10,111
Pairing: Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray, side Brittany Pierce/Santana Lopez.
Spoilers: None.
Summary: One-shot. Outcast Rachel Berry is hopelessly in love with McKinley's head cheerleader, Quinn Fabray. Convinced that they are on a two-way street, she seeks the truth. But what happens when teen witch Tina Cohen-Chang casts a spell on some sprinkles to bring out Quinn's true feelings, and what happens when that goes horribly wrong?
Sunlight streamed through the window the next morning, unblocked by the blind that hadn’t been closed the night before. For the first time ever, Rachel Berry’s bedroom was a mess. It looked ransacked. The bookcase still overturned, books scattered about on the floor, a guitar thrown in the corner of the room. Rachel's desk had been swiped clean, the contents still on her floor. Her framed photograph of her grandparents was lying in a cracked heap in front of her chest of drawers.
Four legs poked out from crumpled sheets, tangled together.
Quinn's arm tightened around Rachel reflexively, sighing softly as she woke. The first thing she found was that she felt like she’d been hit by a bus. She was so sore and stiff that her brows creased, moaning out her discomfort. Quinn opened her eyes, blinking slowly as she took in the sight of tussled brown hair.
What was this?
Was she dead? Is that why she was so stiff? It would explain the rigamortis.
She closed her eyes again, unintentionally snuggling deeper into the crook of Rachel's neck to escape the pain. Sunlight was bad.
It was then that the memories of the past seventeen hours came rushing back. Her eyes flew open. She shot out of bed in panic, even more horror-struck to find that she was naked and very much marked from head to foot. Quinn begged to be stuck in a dream. She wouldn’t sleep with Rachel Berry, not in a million years, not if someone offered her all the gold in the world. She just wouldn’t.
“No, no, no, no,” she chanted quietly, face twisted in absolute misery. She shot out of the room like a canon, going from room to room to pick up her clothes. Finally, with her cardigan on to cover some of the damage, Quinn left, speed-walking to her car that had been parked hazardously across the front lawn. She’d been in such a rush to get to Rachel yesterday that she hadn’t locked it.
Every step was agony, and she winced when she sat down in the car.
It was a sick joke. She’d wake up any second.
Quinn's jaw unhinged when she pulled down the visor and saw the savaged mess of her neck.
* * * *
Finn looked on in confusion when he saw Brittany and Santana rolling through the halls of McKinley in electric wheelchairs, looking half-dead.
“What happened?” he asked, concerned for the cheerleaders he barely knew.
Brittany looked straight through him and Santana tensed, nervously glancing at Brittany before she said, “Drunk driver,” and wheeled over his toes.
He cried out in pain, glaring after her. “What the hell?!”
Walking around the corner, Rachel had to stop and brace herself against the wall. She’d walked all the way from the next floor, wincing with every step. Her usually short skirt was today substituted for jeans to hide the marks Quinn had left, likewise with the pashmina scarf around her neck to avoid the Dracula quips.
Finn saw her and immediately hurried over, gently touching her arm. Rachel pulled away, unable to withstand the pain of anyone making contact with her unless it was necessary. It was too much. How was she standing? She’d woken much later than her usual six a.m. and was none the wiser for feeling like a quadriplegic the first two minutes of consciousness. And then it came rushing back like the best worst nightmare she could ever have.
“What happened to you?” he asked gravely.
Quite simply, she’d fucked and been fucked to within an inch of her life.
Oh, God, she had to find Quinn.
“Not now, Finn,” she said weakly, slowly walking over to Artie who looked positively stunned when Rachel sat down on his lap and asked him to wheel her to the choir room where Tina had said she was waiting for her.
Tina was there, angrier than Rachel could remember seeing her since the last magical catastrophe.
“Do you know how long I’ve been grounded for?!”
“Do you know how much pain I am in?” Rachel retorted, her voice undoubtedly quieter than Tina’s. “I cannot walk, sit, or stand without wanting to cry.”
“And whose fault is that? You’re the one who wanted to find out the truth.”
Rachel's eyes widened at the accusation. How dare Tina blame her for yesterday (and the early hours of the morning). “The truth, nothing more. Why were those stupid sprinkles in your bag anyway?!”
“My cat must have knocked them in there. He’s always going through my bag when I leave it on the kitchen counter. Or maybe they fell in,” she supposed.
“It wasn’t my fault,” Rachel insisted.
“Mine either,” Tina rebuffed.
Artie sat there uncomfortably, especially when Rachel shifted on his lap and groaned in discomfort. It was a little weird.
“Did it work?” Tina continued. “You know...”
Rachel flushed deeply. “Why do you think I’m in this state?”
“She knows about me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Did she freak out?”
“We didn’t exactly...get around to talking for any extended period of time,” Rachel said, eyes on the hands in her lap.
“You didn’t make sure she wouldn’t tell anyone before she left?” Tina gaped in terror. “Rachel, how could you?!”
“I’m sorry Tina, I was a little preoccupied trying to remember how to walk,” Rachel snapped. “She left before I woke up and I don’t have her number, so I couldn’t call or text or actually do anything.”
“What if she’s planning an assembly to out me?” Tina fretted. “I’ll be burned alive.”
Before Rachel could assure her that Quinn would never do that, Tina held her hand out beside her and chanted Quinn's name three times. She appeared not a moment later, looking as dazed as one would expect when they’d been hiding in the girl’s bathroom just a second before.
Quinn was understandably wary, even having full memory of the day before -especially with having full memory of the day before.
“What the...”
Rachel bolted up instantly, the wince crossing her face not going unmissed by anyone. “It’s okay, she won’t hurt you.”
Quinn looked at Rachel with a mix of annoyance, embarrassment and fear.
“Stay away from me,” she demanded of Tina.
“Quinn, don’t be silly. Tina is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet,” Rachel said with a nod from Artie. “There’s no need to be afraid.”
“You did this to me,” she spat out at the teenage witch. “What the hell was in that cake?!”
“Your deepest desire,” Tina replied gently.
Quinn's head shook. “No. No, you’re just a freak.”
Rachel held her hand up just as Tina was about to unleash her fury. “Guys, can you give us a second?”
Tina eventually nodded to Artie. She looked at Quinn fearlessly. “I can be back here in a flash, literally. If you’re a bigger bitch than usual, I’ll turn you into a frog,” she threatened.
Quinn just tensed her jaw.
When they were alone, Rachel almost didn’t know what to say.
“You just called Tina a freak,” Rachel sighed. Almost had been correct.
“Because she is! How can this be happening? Things like this don’t happen in real life.”
“It happens more often than you might think. I could tell you a hundred stories from the past three months alone.” Quinn shook her head. She didn’t believe any of this. She wouldn’t. “Does that mean you want to push her against the nearest locker?” Rachel couldn’t prevent herself from asking.
Quinn's face flushed instantly. “Shut up,” she hissed quietly, stepping closer to her. “Don’t ever talk about that.”
“Is that a yes?”
Quinn laughed, although it was humourless and warning in tone. “I swear to God...”
Rachel shrugged. “Just tell me. I’m a big girl, Quinn. I can handle the truth, unlike you, apparently.”
“You’re insane!”
“And you’re a coward.”
Quinn stepped forward again, toe-to-toe with Rachel. “I don’t have feelings for anyone,” she enunciated pointedly. “Especially not her.”
“Good, because I’m the jealous type,” Rachel stated, relieved.
“We are not a couple!” She looked behind to the open door to make sure they were still alone. “Yesterday was nothing; a fluke for you.”
“We’re supposed to be getting married later today.”
“Oh, get real!”
“And you’re a member of the Glee Club,” Rachel informed her. “Congratulations on being accepted, by the way. I look forward to your input on my solos.”
With that, Quinn's mind flashed back to the night before: pressed against each other in the most intimate of ways, Rachel’s breathy exhalation that she needed her. Quinn was blushing for a different reason now.
“I am not joining this club.”
“You have to, for one month. Brittany and Santana too. I know it might not seem like it, but yesterday was an accident. You can trust Tina with your life, so please don’t tell anyone what she is. If you don’t do it for her, do it for...well, just, please don’t. Anyone who knows about her gift is a liability unless they get to know her -all of us- properly. Time spent here will prove that our intentions are honourable.”
Quinn's head shook in disbelief that this was her life now. “I won’t.”
“Won’t what?”
“I’m not joining this stupid club.”
“You don’t have a choice. First of all, you agreed last night, and second of all, anyone is accepted. All they have to do is show an interest. If you can’t manage some false enthusiasm when Mr. Schuester arrives this afternoon, Tina can always do her hocus pocus.”
“I will scream if she comes anywhere near me,” Quinn said lowly. “Do you understand me?”
The longer Rachel looked into her eyes, the more she wanted to tiptoe and kiss her. This was the longest conversation that they had ever had without being under the influence of cursed sprinkles.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” she said softly, a little shy under such an intense stare. “I’d never let her hurt you.”
Quinn held eye-contact for an extended moment, longer than necessary. Her eyes drifted down to Rachel's mouth for a split second. “I’m not joining Glee Club,” she said in exasperation. It came out as a whisper.
* * * *
“Everybody, let’s give a big, warm welcome to our three newest members!” Mr. Schuester bellowed six hours later, a wide smile gracing his face as a loud applause broke out.
Sat uncomfortably on a chair next to Brittany and Santana who were still stuck in their wheelchairs, Quinn crossed her arms. She may have been forced to join but that didn’t mean she would be a team player.