fic: Jigsaw Pieces [8/15]
WORDS: 2K+
Chapter 8
Week Before Senior Year Started
“Rachel, we need to talk.”
Rachel looks up from her phone, squinting at her best friend.
“In a sec,” she replies and concentrates on the screen again, fingers tapping as quickly as possible. She tries to suppress the smile threatening to split her face in half by biting down on the corner of her mouth.
“Oh for the love of…” Kurt snatches the phone and places it face down on the coffee table.
“Kurt!” Rachel exclaims, trying to reach the phone. He throws it to Mercedes on the other side of the room who catches it neatly in the palm of her left hand and clicks it off. Rachel jumps off the couch and makes her way towards Mercedes who in turn stuffs the phone into her shirt, staring defiantly up at the shorter girl. “Don’t think I won’t go in there!”
“Girl, I would like to see you try!” Mercedes smirks in response and Rachel stops in her tracks, contemplating the best way to retrieve her phone and with it, the texts from Quinn she’s been receiving incessantly for the past half an hour.
“Rachel?” Kurt tries again. She turns to look at him and sighs, flopping back down onto the couch next to her best friend.
“What?” she asks, folding her arms and pouting.
“The pout no longer works on us,” Kurt informs her, leaning back into the couch cushions. Blaine, on his other side, gives his shoulder an encouraging squeeze.
“Rachel, we’re concerned,” Blaine says. Rachel quirks her eyebrow at him. “Maybe concerned is the wrong word. Confused?” He looks at Mercedes and Kurt for clarification. Both nod in response. “We’re confused.”
“Confused about…?” Rachel asks, looking at each of them in turn. Kurt and Mercedes exchange a grimace.
“Recently, we’ve noticed that you seem to be spending a lot more time with someone. We’re not here to judge or anything…” Blaine says, leaning forwards and smiling in, what he hopes is, a supportive manner.
“It’s just a little… odd,” Kurt continues. “Especially because you’ve spent more time fighting with her than making nice…”
“Enough tiptoeing around!” Mercedes interjects. “We want to know what’s going on with you and Quinn.”
Rachel’s jaw drops and she flounders for a few seconds.
“What’s going on with me and Quinn?” she repeats, slightly astounded by the implications of their words. “Nothing.”
“You can’t expect us to believe that,” Kurt says kindly, placing a hand on Rachel’s arm. “Since we arrived an hour ago, you’ve spent more time tapping away on your phone than you have talking to us and I know that Finn is helping Burt at the garage today so it can’t be him…”
“I text other people!” Rachel says indignantly.
“It’s not just the texts,” Mercedes interrupts. “Kurt says that you barely see Finn…”
“He’s busy with the garage and football games with Burt… I can’t help it if I’ve had to cancel a few dates here and there,” Rachel says, still reeling somewhat from the round-about accusation that she’s cheating on Finn with Quinn.
“Twelve out of fourteen,” Kurt murmurs.
“You kept count?!” Rachel’s tone turns to one of incredulity. “I wasn’t aware that my lovelife is of any concern to you…”
“You’re our friend, Rachel. We just don’t want you to get hurt by whatever game Quinn is playing with you,” Kurt responds, hand clasping tighter on the brunette’s arm as Rachel frowns deeply. She briefly thinks through the way she acts with Quinn, looking for any sign or signal of the blonde’s supposed game-playing. “She probably wants Finn back.”
Rachel lets out a guffaw, pitching forwards as the laughter leaves her mouth.
“Quinn doesn’t want Finn,” Rachel says between giggles. “She’s constantly telling me that I can do better than him.”
“Don’t you think that maybe she’s saying that so that you will break up with him and she can swoop back in?”
“No,” Rachel replies. “She claims to have ‘seen the light’ when it comes to Finn.” Rachel stands up and walks towards Mercedes, holding out her hand. The other girl fishes into her top and removes the phone, slapping it back into Rachel’s palm.
After switching it back on, Rachel sinks back into the sofa, nudging into Kurt. Three messages come through almost immediately, all of them bearing Quinn’s name.
“She thinks I’m ignoring her now,” Rachel murmurs, tapping out a quick response and putting her phone down. “She needs friends, okay? She’s had a lot to deal with over the past year, with Beth and the truth about her past surfacing…” Rachel sighs heavily. “Mercedes, she lived with you! Do you really think she’d use me this way just to get Finn back?”
Mercedes makes a face.
“I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“Quinn and I are friends. We have fun together and that’s it,” Rachel says firmly. “Now, if you’re finished, I have things to do.”
“With Quinn?” Kurt asks.
“Yes. We’re going to the movies,” Rachel says. “Do you want to come?”
“I have to help my mom out at home,” Mercedes says, getting to her feet. Kurt and Blaine make their excuses too and leave with Mercedes. Rachel waves as they pile into the other girl’s car and closes the door, lost in her thoughts as she makes her way up to her bedroom.
Another text arrives from Quinn as she’s getting ready to go to the cinema.
Popcorn is on me if you get over here in the next five minutes. I don’t want to miss the previews! Q x
She sits on the end of her bed and frowns at the message. Mercedes, Kurt and Blaine’s words have caught onto something that’s been niggling at the back of her brain since she started hanging out with Quinn. She shakes her head. Quinn isn’t this good an actress. Is she?
Her thoughts become more jumbled on the way over to Dudley Road. The blonde is waiting on her porch, head bobbing along to the music playing on her headphones. She hops to her feet when Rachel pulls up in front of the house and yells a goodbye to her mom.
Quinn slides into the passenger seat and flashes her friend a grin.
“Five minutes and forty-eight seconds. Popcorn is on you,” she says triumphantly, holding up her watch for the brunette to inspect, before noticing the look on Rachel’s face. “What?” She slides off her sunglasses and frowns. “Is something wrong?”
Rachel shakes her head, brightening.
“Just a long morning,” she says, putting her car in gear and heading down the street.
“Did Madame work you a little too hard?” Quinn smirks, folding the legs of her sunglasses and tossing them into the glove box.
Rachel nods her agreement, preoccupied by the traffic coming from every direction at the intersection she’s reached.
“I’m a little out of shape too, which doesn’t help,” Rachel says, eyes still on the road. She misses the look Quinn gives her.
“Have you seen you?” the blonde asks, pressing a few buttons on the dash until she finds a radio station playing some classic sixties rock.
“What?” Rachel asks, turning left then right. The cinema looms up ahead, attached to the mall.
“You’re not exactly a heifer, Rachel. I bet more heads would turn if you dressed like this at school,” Quinn gestures to the brunette’s outfit. Rachel pulls up into a parking spot and looks down. She’s wearing jeans and a shirt.
“I like the way I dress at school,” she says with a preoccupied shrug. In silence, they make their way towards the Cineplex until Quinn takes Rachel’s hand as they reach the doors.
“Talk to me,” Quinn says, pulling her friend out of the way of the people trying to exit. “You’re a million miles away and I want to know why. Did Kurt or Mercedes do something to upset you?”
“No,” Rachel says. “They’ve made me think about some things though.” Rachel takes a deep breath. “I think we should talk. After the movie. If that’s okay?”
“And now I’m going to worry all the way through…” Quinn groans before squeezing Rachel’s hand. “Should I be worried?”
“No,” Rachel says, squeezing the blonde’s hand in return. “Let’s go watch the movie then it’s Mexican Friday. Dad is working late and daddy is out of town for the night. We’ll talk then.”
“Okay,” Quinn says, dropping Rachel’s hand as they walk inside. “Maybe I’ll give you a massage. Ease your aches and pains.”
Rachel laughs and rolls her eyes. Then she pauses slightly as an unfamiliar sensation passes over her. Her mind transports her to a place where she’s lying facedown on her bed and Quinn is kneeling above her. Hands are working out the knots in her shoulders and moving downwards…
“Rachel!” Quinn cries, reaching out to catch the brunette but she’s too late. Rachel twists around as the ropes that form the queue for tickets ensnare her and she topples to the floor, clattering metal poles as she goes. Quinn is above her immediately to help her up, inspecting her hands for any sign of damage. A few cinema employees gather around as well to right the toppled poles and fix the ropes for the queue. When everything settles once more, Quinn turns to the other girl, concern clearly written on her face. “Two million miles away. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Rachel insists. “Just a little embarrassed.”
“I’ll get the popcorn,” Quinn says, nudging her shoulder against the brunette’s. Rachel feels another jolt somewhere inside and blushes slightly. Luckily the foyer’s lightning is incredibly dim and Quinn fails to notice the red tinge across Rachel’s cheeks. They pay for their tickets and Quinn queues up to pay for the popcorn and drinks. Rachel watches her friend tap her foot as she waits, an unheard song playing in her head. The brunette’s gaze travels up over Quinn’s legs, subconsciously pausing slightly south of the blonde’s waist. She feels herself colour again and quickly slides her gaze upwards to watch Quinn interact with the cashier.
A short laugh escapes from Quinn’s lips and she shyly tucks a strand of hair behind her ear as the girl behind the counter beams and hands Quinn her food. Rachel frowns, recognising the lingering stare the girl uses as Quinn walks away.
“What are you frowning at?” Quinn asks, handing a bag of popcorn to the shorter girl.
“She was checking you out,” Rachel hisses as they walk towards their screen. Quinn passes the tickets over to the steward.
“She was?” Quinn asks, standing to the side to let Rachel pass before sinking down into the aisle seat.
“Yes!” Rachel exclaims. “When you turned away, she was definitely staring at you.”
Quinn shoots her friend a bemused look.
“You were checking out the girl checking me out?” Quinn asks, more for Rachel’s reaction than anything else. She’s well aware that the girl behind the counter watched her walk away.
“What? No! Of course not!” Rachel splutters. Quinn smirks and throws a piece of popcorn at the brunette.
“Relax, Rachel,” Quinn drawls before leaning towards Rachel to bump her shoulder with her own. “So what if she was checking me out?”
Rachel frowns into her bag of popcorn before lifting a couple of pieces to her mouth. Quinn assumes that she won’t get a reply to the question and turns to face the screen, waiting in anticipation for the previews to start rolling.
Rachel, however, has different plans.
“She was kinda cute,” Rachel says airily. “If you’re into blondes.”
Quinn raises an eyebrow and smiles.
“I wouldn’t rule out blondes,” she says. “I prefer brunettes.”
A nervous knot starts to form in her stomach. They’re entering dangerous territory. Quinn has yet to tell anyone of her probable leanings towards the same sex and sitting in a darkened cinema screen with her current crush (and friend) doesn’t seem like the best time to start.
“Noted,” Rachel says simply with a nod. “And girls?”
Quinn chokes on the sip of coke she’s just taken. Rachel’s eyes go wide and she places her things on the floor to reach across and pat Quinn’s back until the other girl stops coughing.
“Well, there’s my answer to that question,” Rachel muses.
“Good job, Rach,” Quinn mutters.
“You know it doesn’t matter to me,” Rachel says, sliding her hand into Quinn’s. Quinn smiles shakily and then the lights dim. Rachel lets go of her hand and reaches down to pick up her popcorn before settling back in her chair. She flashes Quinn a reassuring smile and turns her attention to the screen.
**
Before either girl realises it, they’re back at Rachel’s house and sitting side by side on the couch where a few hours ago, Rachel had tried to convince her friends that nothing is going on with Quinn. Her friend, Quinn. Quinn who is sitting ridiculously close. Rachel wants to reach out and take her hand and see how well their fingers link together…
“What did you want to talk about before?” Quinn asks, attempting to put off what she’s sure will be the most in-depth talk about her sexuality she’ll ever have. “Before the amusing tripping incident?”
“We don’t have to talk about that now…” Rachel says, trying to stop herself from fixating on Quinn’s fingers which are drumming against what the brunette can only imagine are incredibly toned abs.
“No, I want to,” Quinn replies firmly. “Please. Tell me.”
“Okay,” Rachel nods. “Kurt, Mercedes and Blaine came over seeking reassurance. Or to do some sort of intervention…”
“Reassurance?” Quinn asks, frowning at the brunette. “Why?”
“They think… they think that you’ve befriended me in some of scheme to get Finn back.”
“Right,” Quinn says, trying to force a smile. “What did you tell them?”
“That it’s ridiculous,” Rachel says. “That you’ve ‘seen the light’ so to speak. I understand why…”
“You don’t understand,” Quinn says, jumping off the sofa; the need to do something - pace, jump around, leave, anything - overcomes her. Rachel watches as Quinn grows more agitated by the second and reaches out to grab the blonde’s hand.
“I understand,” Rachel repeats, eyes locking onto Quinn’s.
“What?” Quinn asks hollowly, stomach twisting, legs turning to jelly. Is Rachel implying what she thinks she’s implying? “What?” she repeats.
“I understand,” Rachel repeats once more before standing up to take Quinn’s other hand.
“So, you’re saying…” Quinn tails off, knees trembling as she allows herself to look at Rachel more closely than she usually does. The shorter girl’s deep brown eyes stare back at her.
“I don’t think it’s entirely out of the realm of possibility…”
“Less words, Rachel. This is the time for less words,” Quinn says, laughing softly. The brunette blushes slightly and rolls her eyes.
“I like you,” Rachel says. Quinn feels her heart soar. She wants to do cartwheels around the Berry’s living room then run into the backyard and do some flips for good measure. “Watching that girl check you out earlier pretty much confirmed it for me. I felt jealous.”
“Jealous?” Quinn asks, raising an eyebrow.
“You were being all shy and… cute with her.”
“Rach, she asked if we were dating because we look cute together,” Quinn replies, suddenly aware that her hands are still gripping onto the brunette’s. Rachel makes no move to take her hands back so Quinn continues holding them, squeezing them in her own. Rachel looks down and smiles.
“There’s a problem though,” Rachel says, staring at their linked hands, how perfectly they actually do fit together.
“Yeah,” Quinn says, deflating slightly.
“I’ll talk to him,” Rachel says, glancing up to meet Quinn’s eyes again. She smiles reassuringly and Quinn exhales a little shakily.
“So they really thought I was hanging out with you just to get Finn back?” she asks. Rachel nods, guiding Quinn back to the couch. “Remind me to tell them that they’re the worst interventioners ever.”
“I’m pretty sure that isn’t a word,” Rachel giggles, dropping one of Quinn’s hands to cup the blonde’s cheek. “You look terrified.”
“I am,” Quinn admits.
“Don’t be,” Rachel whispers, pad of her thumb caressing Quinn’s cheek. The blonde’s eyes drift shut and she turns into Rachel’s touch, pressing her lips to the shorter girl’s thumb. “I think we should order dinner.”
“Good idea,” Quinn says, opening her eyes and nodding. “Definitely a good idea.”
Chapter 9
Chapter 8
Week Before Senior Year Started
“Rachel, we need to talk.”
Rachel looks up from her phone, squinting at her best friend.
“In a sec,” she replies and concentrates on the screen again, fingers tapping as quickly as possible. She tries to suppress the smile threatening to split her face in half by biting down on the corner of her mouth.
“Oh for the love of…” Kurt snatches the phone and places it face down on the coffee table.
“Kurt!” Rachel exclaims, trying to reach the phone. He throws it to Mercedes on the other side of the room who catches it neatly in the palm of her left hand and clicks it off. Rachel jumps off the couch and makes her way towards Mercedes who in turn stuffs the phone into her shirt, staring defiantly up at the shorter girl. “Don’t think I won’t go in there!”
“Girl, I would like to see you try!” Mercedes smirks in response and Rachel stops in her tracks, contemplating the best way to retrieve her phone and with it, the texts from Quinn she’s been receiving incessantly for the past half an hour.
“Rachel?” Kurt tries again. She turns to look at him and sighs, flopping back down onto the couch next to her best friend.
“What?” she asks, folding her arms and pouting.
“The pout no longer works on us,” Kurt informs her, leaning back into the couch cushions. Blaine, on his other side, gives his shoulder an encouraging squeeze.
“Rachel, we’re concerned,” Blaine says. Rachel quirks her eyebrow at him. “Maybe concerned is the wrong word. Confused?” He looks at Mercedes and Kurt for clarification. Both nod in response. “We’re confused.”
“Confused about…?” Rachel asks, looking at each of them in turn. Kurt and Mercedes exchange a grimace.
“Recently, we’ve noticed that you seem to be spending a lot more time with someone. We’re not here to judge or anything…” Blaine says, leaning forwards and smiling in, what he hopes is, a supportive manner.
“It’s just a little… odd,” Kurt continues. “Especially because you’ve spent more time fighting with her than making nice…”
“Enough tiptoeing around!” Mercedes interjects. “We want to know what’s going on with you and Quinn.”
Rachel’s jaw drops and she flounders for a few seconds.
“What’s going on with me and Quinn?” she repeats, slightly astounded by the implications of their words. “Nothing.”
“You can’t expect us to believe that,” Kurt says kindly, placing a hand on Rachel’s arm. “Since we arrived an hour ago, you’ve spent more time tapping away on your phone than you have talking to us and I know that Finn is helping Burt at the garage today so it can’t be him…”
“I text other people!” Rachel says indignantly.
“It’s not just the texts,” Mercedes interrupts. “Kurt says that you barely see Finn…”
“He’s busy with the garage and football games with Burt… I can’t help it if I’ve had to cancel a few dates here and there,” Rachel says, still reeling somewhat from the round-about accusation that she’s cheating on Finn with Quinn.
“Twelve out of fourteen,” Kurt murmurs.
“You kept count?!” Rachel’s tone turns to one of incredulity. “I wasn’t aware that my lovelife is of any concern to you…”
“You’re our friend, Rachel. We just don’t want you to get hurt by whatever game Quinn is playing with you,” Kurt responds, hand clasping tighter on the brunette’s arm as Rachel frowns deeply. She briefly thinks through the way she acts with Quinn, looking for any sign or signal of the blonde’s supposed game-playing. “She probably wants Finn back.”
Rachel lets out a guffaw, pitching forwards as the laughter leaves her mouth.
“Quinn doesn’t want Finn,” Rachel says between giggles. “She’s constantly telling me that I can do better than him.”
“Don’t you think that maybe she’s saying that so that you will break up with him and she can swoop back in?”
“No,” Rachel replies. “She claims to have ‘seen the light’ when it comes to Finn.” Rachel stands up and walks towards Mercedes, holding out her hand. The other girl fishes into her top and removes the phone, slapping it back into Rachel’s palm.
After switching it back on, Rachel sinks back into the sofa, nudging into Kurt. Three messages come through almost immediately, all of them bearing Quinn’s name.
“She thinks I’m ignoring her now,” Rachel murmurs, tapping out a quick response and putting her phone down. “She needs friends, okay? She’s had a lot to deal with over the past year, with Beth and the truth about her past surfacing…” Rachel sighs heavily. “Mercedes, she lived with you! Do you really think she’d use me this way just to get Finn back?”
Mercedes makes a face.
“I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“Quinn and I are friends. We have fun together and that’s it,” Rachel says firmly. “Now, if you’re finished, I have things to do.”
“With Quinn?” Kurt asks.
“Yes. We’re going to the movies,” Rachel says. “Do you want to come?”
“I have to help my mom out at home,” Mercedes says, getting to her feet. Kurt and Blaine make their excuses too and leave with Mercedes. Rachel waves as they pile into the other girl’s car and closes the door, lost in her thoughts as she makes her way up to her bedroom.
Another text arrives from Quinn as she’s getting ready to go to the cinema.
Popcorn is on me if you get over here in the next five minutes. I don’t want to miss the previews! Q x
She sits on the end of her bed and frowns at the message. Mercedes, Kurt and Blaine’s words have caught onto something that’s been niggling at the back of her brain since she started hanging out with Quinn. She shakes her head. Quinn isn’t this good an actress. Is she?
Her thoughts become more jumbled on the way over to Dudley Road. The blonde is waiting on her porch, head bobbing along to the music playing on her headphones. She hops to her feet when Rachel pulls up in front of the house and yells a goodbye to her mom.
Quinn slides into the passenger seat and flashes her friend a grin.
“Five minutes and forty-eight seconds. Popcorn is on you,” she says triumphantly, holding up her watch for the brunette to inspect, before noticing the look on Rachel’s face. “What?” She slides off her sunglasses and frowns. “Is something wrong?”
Rachel shakes her head, brightening.
“Just a long morning,” she says, putting her car in gear and heading down the street.
“Did Madame work you a little too hard?” Quinn smirks, folding the legs of her sunglasses and tossing them into the glove box.
Rachel nods her agreement, preoccupied by the traffic coming from every direction at the intersection she’s reached.
“I’m a little out of shape too, which doesn’t help,” Rachel says, eyes still on the road. She misses the look Quinn gives her.
“Have you seen you?” the blonde asks, pressing a few buttons on the dash until she finds a radio station playing some classic sixties rock.
“What?” Rachel asks, turning left then right. The cinema looms up ahead, attached to the mall.
“You’re not exactly a heifer, Rachel. I bet more heads would turn if you dressed like this at school,” Quinn gestures to the brunette’s outfit. Rachel pulls up into a parking spot and looks down. She’s wearing jeans and a shirt.
“I like the way I dress at school,” she says with a preoccupied shrug. In silence, they make their way towards the Cineplex until Quinn takes Rachel’s hand as they reach the doors.
“Talk to me,” Quinn says, pulling her friend out of the way of the people trying to exit. “You’re a million miles away and I want to know why. Did Kurt or Mercedes do something to upset you?”
“No,” Rachel says. “They’ve made me think about some things though.” Rachel takes a deep breath. “I think we should talk. After the movie. If that’s okay?”
“And now I’m going to worry all the way through…” Quinn groans before squeezing Rachel’s hand. “Should I be worried?”
“No,” Rachel says, squeezing the blonde’s hand in return. “Let’s go watch the movie then it’s Mexican Friday. Dad is working late and daddy is out of town for the night. We’ll talk then.”
“Okay,” Quinn says, dropping Rachel’s hand as they walk inside. “Maybe I’ll give you a massage. Ease your aches and pains.”
Rachel laughs and rolls her eyes. Then she pauses slightly as an unfamiliar sensation passes over her. Her mind transports her to a place where she’s lying facedown on her bed and Quinn is kneeling above her. Hands are working out the knots in her shoulders and moving downwards…
“Rachel!” Quinn cries, reaching out to catch the brunette but she’s too late. Rachel twists around as the ropes that form the queue for tickets ensnare her and she topples to the floor, clattering metal poles as she goes. Quinn is above her immediately to help her up, inspecting her hands for any sign of damage. A few cinema employees gather around as well to right the toppled poles and fix the ropes for the queue. When everything settles once more, Quinn turns to the other girl, concern clearly written on her face. “Two million miles away. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Rachel insists. “Just a little embarrassed.”
“I’ll get the popcorn,” Quinn says, nudging her shoulder against the brunette’s. Rachel feels another jolt somewhere inside and blushes slightly. Luckily the foyer’s lightning is incredibly dim and Quinn fails to notice the red tinge across Rachel’s cheeks. They pay for their tickets and Quinn queues up to pay for the popcorn and drinks. Rachel watches her friend tap her foot as she waits, an unheard song playing in her head. The brunette’s gaze travels up over Quinn’s legs, subconsciously pausing slightly south of the blonde’s waist. She feels herself colour again and quickly slides her gaze upwards to watch Quinn interact with the cashier.
A short laugh escapes from Quinn’s lips and she shyly tucks a strand of hair behind her ear as the girl behind the counter beams and hands Quinn her food. Rachel frowns, recognising the lingering stare the girl uses as Quinn walks away.
“What are you frowning at?” Quinn asks, handing a bag of popcorn to the shorter girl.
“She was checking you out,” Rachel hisses as they walk towards their screen. Quinn passes the tickets over to the steward.
“She was?” Quinn asks, standing to the side to let Rachel pass before sinking down into the aisle seat.
“Yes!” Rachel exclaims. “When you turned away, she was definitely staring at you.”
Quinn shoots her friend a bemused look.
“You were checking out the girl checking me out?” Quinn asks, more for Rachel’s reaction than anything else. She’s well aware that the girl behind the counter watched her walk away.
“What? No! Of course not!” Rachel splutters. Quinn smirks and throws a piece of popcorn at the brunette.
“Relax, Rachel,” Quinn drawls before leaning towards Rachel to bump her shoulder with her own. “So what if she was checking me out?”
Rachel frowns into her bag of popcorn before lifting a couple of pieces to her mouth. Quinn assumes that she won’t get a reply to the question and turns to face the screen, waiting in anticipation for the previews to start rolling.
Rachel, however, has different plans.
“She was kinda cute,” Rachel says airily. “If you’re into blondes.”
Quinn raises an eyebrow and smiles.
“I wouldn’t rule out blondes,” she says. “I prefer brunettes.”
A nervous knot starts to form in her stomach. They’re entering dangerous territory. Quinn has yet to tell anyone of her probable leanings towards the same sex and sitting in a darkened cinema screen with her current crush (and friend) doesn’t seem like the best time to start.
“Noted,” Rachel says simply with a nod. “And girls?”
Quinn chokes on the sip of coke she’s just taken. Rachel’s eyes go wide and she places her things on the floor to reach across and pat Quinn’s back until the other girl stops coughing.
“Well, there’s my answer to that question,” Rachel muses.
“Good job, Rach,” Quinn mutters.
“You know it doesn’t matter to me,” Rachel says, sliding her hand into Quinn’s. Quinn smiles shakily and then the lights dim. Rachel lets go of her hand and reaches down to pick up her popcorn before settling back in her chair. She flashes Quinn a reassuring smile and turns her attention to the screen.
**
Before either girl realises it, they’re back at Rachel’s house and sitting side by side on the couch where a few hours ago, Rachel had tried to convince her friends that nothing is going on with Quinn. Her friend, Quinn. Quinn who is sitting ridiculously close. Rachel wants to reach out and take her hand and see how well their fingers link together…
“What did you want to talk about before?” Quinn asks, attempting to put off what she’s sure will be the most in-depth talk about her sexuality she’ll ever have. “Before the amusing tripping incident?”
“We don’t have to talk about that now…” Rachel says, trying to stop herself from fixating on Quinn’s fingers which are drumming against what the brunette can only imagine are incredibly toned abs.
“No, I want to,” Quinn replies firmly. “Please. Tell me.”
“Okay,” Rachel nods. “Kurt, Mercedes and Blaine came over seeking reassurance. Or to do some sort of intervention…”
“Reassurance?” Quinn asks, frowning at the brunette. “Why?”
“They think… they think that you’ve befriended me in some of scheme to get Finn back.”
“Right,” Quinn says, trying to force a smile. “What did you tell them?”
“That it’s ridiculous,” Rachel says. “That you’ve ‘seen the light’ so to speak. I understand why…”
“You don’t understand,” Quinn says, jumping off the sofa; the need to do something - pace, jump around, leave, anything - overcomes her. Rachel watches as Quinn grows more agitated by the second and reaches out to grab the blonde’s hand.
“I understand,” Rachel repeats, eyes locking onto Quinn’s.
“What?” Quinn asks hollowly, stomach twisting, legs turning to jelly. Is Rachel implying what she thinks she’s implying? “What?” she repeats.
“I understand,” Rachel repeats once more before standing up to take Quinn’s other hand.
“So, you’re saying…” Quinn tails off, knees trembling as she allows herself to look at Rachel more closely than she usually does. The shorter girl’s deep brown eyes stare back at her.
“I don’t think it’s entirely out of the realm of possibility…”
“Less words, Rachel. This is the time for less words,” Quinn says, laughing softly. The brunette blushes slightly and rolls her eyes.
“I like you,” Rachel says. Quinn feels her heart soar. She wants to do cartwheels around the Berry’s living room then run into the backyard and do some flips for good measure. “Watching that girl check you out earlier pretty much confirmed it for me. I felt jealous.”
“Jealous?” Quinn asks, raising an eyebrow.
“You were being all shy and… cute with her.”
“Rach, she asked if we were dating because we look cute together,” Quinn replies, suddenly aware that her hands are still gripping onto the brunette’s. Rachel makes no move to take her hands back so Quinn continues holding them, squeezing them in her own. Rachel looks down and smiles.
“There’s a problem though,” Rachel says, staring at their linked hands, how perfectly they actually do fit together.
“Yeah,” Quinn says, deflating slightly.
“I’ll talk to him,” Rachel says, glancing up to meet Quinn’s eyes again. She smiles reassuringly and Quinn exhales a little shakily.
“So they really thought I was hanging out with you just to get Finn back?” she asks. Rachel nods, guiding Quinn back to the couch. “Remind me to tell them that they’re the worst interventioners ever.”
“I’m pretty sure that isn’t a word,” Rachel giggles, dropping one of Quinn’s hands to cup the blonde’s cheek. “You look terrified.”
“I am,” Quinn admits.
“Don’t be,” Rachel whispers, pad of her thumb caressing Quinn’s cheek. The blonde’s eyes drift shut and she turns into Rachel’s touch, pressing her lips to the shorter girl’s thumb. “I think we should order dinner.”
“Good idea,” Quinn says, opening her eyes and nodding. “Definitely a good idea.”
Chapter 9