Safe Haven [Glee; Will/Quinn]
TITLE: Safe Haven
FANDOM: Glee
PAIRING: Will/Quinn (mostly friendship)
SPOILERS: "Sectionals"
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: "I don't know what I'm doing here."
*****
She was the last person he expected to find on his doorstep. "Quinn?" He furrowed his brows, squinting against the suddenly-bright porch light, having just been watching TV in the dark.
She shifted on her feet, obviously feeling awkward about being there, and looking even more-so. She opened her mouth to say something, closed it, then tried again. "I don't know what I'm doing here," she finally confessed, voice light and airy as always.
Will shook his head. "That's okay. I didn't ask." He had a pretty good idea anyway. Stepping aside, he gestured to the entryway. "Come in."
It was only upon watching her enter his home that he noticed she had a bag with her. "Here, let me get that," he offered automatically, noting how her hand strayed to her slightly-swollen abdomen as she moved to take the bag off her shoulder.
"Oh. Thanks." She smiled, two rows of perfectly-straight, practically-blinding white teeth directed at him.
Will could understand why Finn was so easily taken in by this girl... so easily fooled. In a certain light, Quinn Fabray actually reminded him of Terri, when they were much younger; when he was sixteen, and it was appropriate for him to be dating sixteen-year-old girls.
Outwardly, he cleared his throat, setting her bag on a nearby chair. "So."
"So." She smiled once more, though this one was weak in nature and slightly nervous. "I, uh, know you didn't ask, but you're probably wondering what I'm doing here."
Chuckling, Will scratched his head lightly. "Actually, I've got a pretty good idea."
Quinn nodded, confirming his suspicions when she told him, "Finn's mom kicked me out."
"Was she angry?"
The girl raised her brows and he pressed his lips together, nodding his understanding. Right -- stupid question.
Quinn sighed. "She didn't even yell. She just... glared at me. Told me it would be best if I packed my things and stayed someplace else for the night."
And then the real reasoning for her sudden appearance became clear. Will knew she wouldn't ask -- Quinn had too much pride -- but the way she bit her lip at him and made doe eyes got the request across all the same. He knew that look well -- Terri used to use it on him all the time.
But damn it if he didn't always have the same knee-jerk response to it. "Uh, well, you could stay here tonight," he offered, exhaling his smile.
"Really? You'd be okay with that?"
He nodded immediately, though a voice at the back of his mind was protesting dimly, the word 'inappropriate' floating through his stream of consciousness. "Yeah, of course. I mean, I'm not gonna kick you to the curb or anything."
"Thanks, Mister Schue." And then before he knew what was happening, Quinn threw herself against him in a hug, much like she had done a couple weeks ago, when she had been visiting with Terri as he arrived home. Her head nestled against his shoulder and, much like two weeks ago, his hands hung suspended in the air a moment before he hugged her back.
"You're welcome," he smiled against her hair. It smelled vaguely of vanilla, though he tried not to focus on it.
Quinn held tight to him much longer than she had the last time, and Will craned his neck to look down at her when she sniffled. "You okay?"
"Of course not," she spat suddenly, pulling away, and tears were already making their way down her cheeks. She turned away as if she could hide the fact that she was starting to cry, and he watched her back as she wiped viciously at her tears. "I'm an idiot."
Will shook his head, darting into the living room to grab a kleenex before returning to her, handing it over as he assured her gently, "You're not an idiot, Quinn. Okay? Don't say that. You just... made a bad decision."
"Pretty sure I made a bunch of bad decisions," she cried, gesturing to her pregnant belly before swiping at her tears a little more, and Will couldn't help but wonder if this sudden outburst was hormone-induced or genuine.
"Okay, so you made a few--" Off her swift and sharp glare, he corrected himself, "--a lot... of, um, bad decisions, but..." He shook his head, placing an arm around her and directing her toward the couch. "You can't beat yourself up about it."
"I can't? Let's see, here -- I cheated on my boyfriend, got pregnant from cheating, and then lied about who the father was."
"Well, see? So that's only three bad decisions," he kidded her lightly, smiling when she managed a tearful chuckle. Once he helped her take a seat on the couch, he dropped down beside her, touching the hand that rested on the couch cushion. "Quinn, listen to me. Everyone messes up, okay? Everyone." Smiling ruefully, he added, "I'm a prime example of that."
When that earned him a slight smile, he went on. "But think about the situation you're in -- you were scared. Things started to pile up on you. Anyone, when put in that position, could react the same way. So, like I said." He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up about it, okay?"
She nodded, tucking a slice of long blonde hair behind her ear. "Okay." She stared at her lap a moment before looking up to meet his eyes. "Thanks again, Mister Schue."
"Hey, how about we make a deal." He nudged her good-naturedly. "At school, you call me 'Mister Schue.' Here, just call me Will."
"Okay." Another smile, then, "Thanks, Will."
"Sure." He watched her as she dabbed at her remaining tears, before gesturing behind him. "You want something to drink? I've got water, juice... really old milk..."
Quinn giggled at that. "Water would be good, thanks."
"You got it." He jumped up from the couch to head for the fridge, part of him thankful for the distance. After returning to her with a bottle of water, he sat down again, a few inches further away than the last time.
"So, anything good on TV?" She nodded toward the flat-screen, the dark living room still painted with glowing colors from the picture.
"Ah, not really." He picked up the remote, flipping a few stations before tossing the remote on the table. "Infomercials, mostly."
"Oh." Things were getting awkward, and they both were aware of it -- he'd never spent much time with Quinn, after all, and couldn't strike up a conversation as easily as he could with Finn, or... pretend to keep up with a running babble as easily as he could with Rachel.
"Maybe I should get some sleep," she murmured after a moment had passed.
"Yeah. Yeah, you're probably tired." He leapt to his feet, reaching down to take her hand and help her up.
"I only have a blanket. Do you have some spare sheets I could lay out, maybe?" she asked, quirking a brow, and Will made a face.
"What?" When she gestured to the couch, he shook his head. "No, Quinn, I'm not letting you sleep on the couch. I'll take the couch, you can have the bed." Off her attempt to protest, he shook his head once more and insisted, "Out of the two of us, you're the one that needs a comfy spot for the night -- it'll be better for your back, and for the baby."
At mention of the baby, he noticed her hand automatically rested on her belly. "Well... thanks."
He nodded, then gestured toward the hallway. "Bathroom's off to the left if you need to change."
Will had made up the couch with the spare sheets and blankets, grabbing his pillow off the bed while Quinn changed in the bathroom. He listened to the sounds of the water running as she brushed her teeth and smiled when he heard the soft humming as she finished readying herself for sleep.
When she came into the bedroom, he smiled, finishing fluffing the remaining pillows for her and pulling back the covers. "Y'know, I always forget what a great voice you've got. I gotta make sure to give you more solos this semester."
Quinn smirked, rolling her eyes. "Good luck breaking that news to Rachel."
"Nah, I'm not worried. The sooner Rachel learns to share the spotlight, the better off she'll be."
The smirk remained on her lips as she arched an eyebrow and quipped, "If you say so."
He chuckled, tossing the last pillow onto the bed for her. "Well, there ya go -- all set."
"Awesome," she smiled. "And hey, thanks again for being so great about--"
He cut off the rest of her gratitude with a simple shake of his head, and a friendly smile. "No worries. You need someone, I'm here."
"I'll keep that in mind," she grinned, and Will spent the next twenty minutes lying on the couch, trying to figure out if that was flirtation or friendliness he heard in her voice.
**
"Will? Will..."
The whisper drifted to him from the doorway to the living room, and he shook himself out of the light sleep he'd fallen into. "Hmm?"
Craning his neck with one arm bent behind his head, he spotted Quinn upside-down, leaning against the doorway pouting at him. "I can't sleep."
Chuckling, he turned on his stomach and folded his arm beneath his pillow. "Don't tell me you need a bedtime story."
She rolled her eyes, pursing her lips. "No." Huffing, she made her way out to the living room while he sat up, and she plopped down beside him surprisingly easily for the size of her belly. "I get like this sometimes," she told him. "I think it's the pregnancy. I haven't been sleeping as well as I used to."
"Probably hormones or something," he shrugged, though he really didn't know one way or the other. It sounded right, though.
"Right." She sighed once more. "So?"
He raised his eyebrows at her in the near dark, the hallway light the only source of light now. "So... what?"
She nudged him. "Tell me a story."
Grinning, with his head leaning against the back of the couch, he couldn't help but tease, "I thought you didn't need a bedtime story."
"And I don't. But that doesn't mean I wanna sit here in total silence, bored out of my mind. That's not gonna help me sleep. So." She nodded once, definitively. "I think you should tell me a story."
Chuckling, Will scrubbed his hands over his face in an attempt to wipe away some of the grogginess. "Like what? You want a 'once-upon-a-time' kinda thing?"
"No, a real story. About you." After a pause, she suggested, "Tell me about when you were in the glee club."
So he did. He talked about practices, dress rehearsals, and going to competitions. By the time he started telling her about nationals, she had grabbed his hand rather suddenly, looking excited. "What?"
"She's kicking. Here, feel." She pressed his hand to her belly, and he paused in his story as he waited to feel the kicks.
"I don't feel anything."
"Keep talking, maybe she'll do it again."
So he restarted his story about nationals, when they won in 1993. And sure enough, he started to feel light little thumps against his hand. He turned widened eyes to Quinn's. "I can feel it."
"Yeah. I think she likes hearing you talk." Waving her wrist in a rapid circle, she gestured for him to continue. "Keep going."
So Will kept talking about glee club and nationals and divulged several embarrassing stories from his high school years. And while Quinn giggled, or gasped, or made faces in all the appropriate spots in the story, his hand remained resting on her belly as her baby continued to kick at his palm.
"And there I was, locked out of the hotel room without a stitch of clothing on, and my buddies had all the room keys."
"Oh my God," she giggled. "That had to've been bad."
"Worse -- they had the air conditioning blasting in the hotel, so it was freezing out in that hallway..."
Quinn practically doubled over in laughter, her hand still holding his against her abdomen. It wasn't until he had run out of stories that he looked down and realized that their fingers had entwined over her belly, all five digits of each of their hands perfectly aligned.
Quinn finally glanced down as well, laughter petering out as her gaze settled on their joined hands. And Will promptly pulled back, scooting away from her a bit. "Uhm, so!" He cleared his throat loudly, glimpsing quick at Quinn to find her nervously tucking her hair behind her ear.
"So. Right. Uh, I should be getting to bed. I think I'm sufficiently tired."
"Okay, cool." He stood up when she did, hands out in case she needed assistance getting to her feet, but with the slight belly she did just fine. "Hey, do you uh... do you need any more water before you head to bed, or anything?"
She shook her head. "No, I think I'm okay." Biting her lip, she searched his eyes for a moment, mumbling, "Um..." before gently grasping his arm. She then stretched on tiptoe, leaning in and pressing her lips to his cheek. "Thanks again, Mister Schue--" he didn't bother to correct her this time, "--for everything."
He nodded. "You're welcome." He watched her head for the bedroom again, calling her name when she reached the doorway. "Hey, Quinn..."
"Yeah?" One hand on the door frame, she spun on her heel to face him, blinking those large, Disney-princess eyes of hers at him.
"I meant what I said before, y'know." Off her brief look of confusion, he clarified. "If you need someone... some support... I'm here."
Quinn nodded, a wistful smile touching her lips. "I know. And thanks. It's nice to know I've got a safe haven to go to during all of this."
Will nodded back, watching as she gave him one last smile before disappearing into the bedroom, shutting the door softly behind her. He was then left, once more, with his thoughts as he went to lie down on the couch.
And he fell asleep thinking of Quinn, her resemblance to a young Terri, and how he wished he could be sixteen again.
FIN
Like what you've read? Why don't you watch or join the community?
{x-posted to quinnwill and gleefic}
FANDOM: Glee
PAIRING: Will/Quinn (mostly friendship)
SPOILERS: "Sectionals"
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: "I don't know what I'm doing here."
*****
She was the last person he expected to find on his doorstep. "Quinn?" He furrowed his brows, squinting against the suddenly-bright porch light, having just been watching TV in the dark.
She shifted on her feet, obviously feeling awkward about being there, and looking even more-so. She opened her mouth to say something, closed it, then tried again. "I don't know what I'm doing here," she finally confessed, voice light and airy as always.
Will shook his head. "That's okay. I didn't ask." He had a pretty good idea anyway. Stepping aside, he gestured to the entryway. "Come in."
It was only upon watching her enter his home that he noticed she had a bag with her. "Here, let me get that," he offered automatically, noting how her hand strayed to her slightly-swollen abdomen as she moved to take the bag off her shoulder.
"Oh. Thanks." She smiled, two rows of perfectly-straight, practically-blinding white teeth directed at him.
Will could understand why Finn was so easily taken in by this girl... so easily fooled. In a certain light, Quinn Fabray actually reminded him of Terri, when they were much younger; when he was sixteen, and it was appropriate for him to be dating sixteen-year-old girls.
Outwardly, he cleared his throat, setting her bag on a nearby chair. "So."
"So." She smiled once more, though this one was weak in nature and slightly nervous. "I, uh, know you didn't ask, but you're probably wondering what I'm doing here."
Chuckling, Will scratched his head lightly. "Actually, I've got a pretty good idea."
Quinn nodded, confirming his suspicions when she told him, "Finn's mom kicked me out."
"Was she angry?"
The girl raised her brows and he pressed his lips together, nodding his understanding. Right -- stupid question.
Quinn sighed. "She didn't even yell. She just... glared at me. Told me it would be best if I packed my things and stayed someplace else for the night."
And then the real reasoning for her sudden appearance became clear. Will knew she wouldn't ask -- Quinn had too much pride -- but the way she bit her lip at him and made doe eyes got the request across all the same. He knew that look well -- Terri used to use it on him all the time.
But damn it if he didn't always have the same knee-jerk response to it. "Uh, well, you could stay here tonight," he offered, exhaling his smile.
"Really? You'd be okay with that?"
He nodded immediately, though a voice at the back of his mind was protesting dimly, the word 'inappropriate' floating through his stream of consciousness. "Yeah, of course. I mean, I'm not gonna kick you to the curb or anything."
"Thanks, Mister Schue." And then before he knew what was happening, Quinn threw herself against him in a hug, much like she had done a couple weeks ago, when she had been visiting with Terri as he arrived home. Her head nestled against his shoulder and, much like two weeks ago, his hands hung suspended in the air a moment before he hugged her back.
"You're welcome," he smiled against her hair. It smelled vaguely of vanilla, though he tried not to focus on it.
Quinn held tight to him much longer than she had the last time, and Will craned his neck to look down at her when she sniffled. "You okay?"
"Of course not," she spat suddenly, pulling away, and tears were already making their way down her cheeks. She turned away as if she could hide the fact that she was starting to cry, and he watched her back as she wiped viciously at her tears. "I'm an idiot."
Will shook his head, darting into the living room to grab a kleenex before returning to her, handing it over as he assured her gently, "You're not an idiot, Quinn. Okay? Don't say that. You just... made a bad decision."
"Pretty sure I made a bunch of bad decisions," she cried, gesturing to her pregnant belly before swiping at her tears a little more, and Will couldn't help but wonder if this sudden outburst was hormone-induced or genuine.
"Okay, so you made a few--" Off her swift and sharp glare, he corrected himself, "--a lot... of, um, bad decisions, but..." He shook his head, placing an arm around her and directing her toward the couch. "You can't beat yourself up about it."
"I can't? Let's see, here -- I cheated on my boyfriend, got pregnant from cheating, and then lied about who the father was."
"Well, see? So that's only three bad decisions," he kidded her lightly, smiling when she managed a tearful chuckle. Once he helped her take a seat on the couch, he dropped down beside her, touching the hand that rested on the couch cushion. "Quinn, listen to me. Everyone messes up, okay? Everyone." Smiling ruefully, he added, "I'm a prime example of that."
When that earned him a slight smile, he went on. "But think about the situation you're in -- you were scared. Things started to pile up on you. Anyone, when put in that position, could react the same way. So, like I said." He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up about it, okay?"
She nodded, tucking a slice of long blonde hair behind her ear. "Okay." She stared at her lap a moment before looking up to meet his eyes. "Thanks again, Mister Schue."
"Hey, how about we make a deal." He nudged her good-naturedly. "At school, you call me 'Mister Schue.' Here, just call me Will."
"Okay." Another smile, then, "Thanks, Will."
"Sure." He watched her as she dabbed at her remaining tears, before gesturing behind him. "You want something to drink? I've got water, juice... really old milk..."
Quinn giggled at that. "Water would be good, thanks."
"You got it." He jumped up from the couch to head for the fridge, part of him thankful for the distance. After returning to her with a bottle of water, he sat down again, a few inches further away than the last time.
"So, anything good on TV?" She nodded toward the flat-screen, the dark living room still painted with glowing colors from the picture.
"Ah, not really." He picked up the remote, flipping a few stations before tossing the remote on the table. "Infomercials, mostly."
"Oh." Things were getting awkward, and they both were aware of it -- he'd never spent much time with Quinn, after all, and couldn't strike up a conversation as easily as he could with Finn, or... pretend to keep up with a running babble as easily as he could with Rachel.
"Maybe I should get some sleep," she murmured after a moment had passed.
"Yeah. Yeah, you're probably tired." He leapt to his feet, reaching down to take her hand and help her up.
"I only have a blanket. Do you have some spare sheets I could lay out, maybe?" she asked, quirking a brow, and Will made a face.
"What?" When she gestured to the couch, he shook his head. "No, Quinn, I'm not letting you sleep on the couch. I'll take the couch, you can have the bed." Off her attempt to protest, he shook his head once more and insisted, "Out of the two of us, you're the one that needs a comfy spot for the night -- it'll be better for your back, and for the baby."
At mention of the baby, he noticed her hand automatically rested on her belly. "Well... thanks."
He nodded, then gestured toward the hallway. "Bathroom's off to the left if you need to change."
Will had made up the couch with the spare sheets and blankets, grabbing his pillow off the bed while Quinn changed in the bathroom. He listened to the sounds of the water running as she brushed her teeth and smiled when he heard the soft humming as she finished readying herself for sleep.
When she came into the bedroom, he smiled, finishing fluffing the remaining pillows for her and pulling back the covers. "Y'know, I always forget what a great voice you've got. I gotta make sure to give you more solos this semester."
Quinn smirked, rolling her eyes. "Good luck breaking that news to Rachel."
"Nah, I'm not worried. The sooner Rachel learns to share the spotlight, the better off she'll be."
The smirk remained on her lips as she arched an eyebrow and quipped, "If you say so."
He chuckled, tossing the last pillow onto the bed for her. "Well, there ya go -- all set."
"Awesome," she smiled. "And hey, thanks again for being so great about--"
He cut off the rest of her gratitude with a simple shake of his head, and a friendly smile. "No worries. You need someone, I'm here."
"I'll keep that in mind," she grinned, and Will spent the next twenty minutes lying on the couch, trying to figure out if that was flirtation or friendliness he heard in her voice.
**
"Will? Will..."
The whisper drifted to him from the doorway to the living room, and he shook himself out of the light sleep he'd fallen into. "Hmm?"
Craning his neck with one arm bent behind his head, he spotted Quinn upside-down, leaning against the doorway pouting at him. "I can't sleep."
Chuckling, he turned on his stomach and folded his arm beneath his pillow. "Don't tell me you need a bedtime story."
She rolled her eyes, pursing her lips. "No." Huffing, she made her way out to the living room while he sat up, and she plopped down beside him surprisingly easily for the size of her belly. "I get like this sometimes," she told him. "I think it's the pregnancy. I haven't been sleeping as well as I used to."
"Probably hormones or something," he shrugged, though he really didn't know one way or the other. It sounded right, though.
"Right." She sighed once more. "So?"
He raised his eyebrows at her in the near dark, the hallway light the only source of light now. "So... what?"
She nudged him. "Tell me a story."
Grinning, with his head leaning against the back of the couch, he couldn't help but tease, "I thought you didn't need a bedtime story."
"And I don't. But that doesn't mean I wanna sit here in total silence, bored out of my mind. That's not gonna help me sleep. So." She nodded once, definitively. "I think you should tell me a story."
Chuckling, Will scrubbed his hands over his face in an attempt to wipe away some of the grogginess. "Like what? You want a 'once-upon-a-time' kinda thing?"
"No, a real story. About you." After a pause, she suggested, "Tell me about when you were in the glee club."
So he did. He talked about practices, dress rehearsals, and going to competitions. By the time he started telling her about nationals, she had grabbed his hand rather suddenly, looking excited. "What?"
"She's kicking. Here, feel." She pressed his hand to her belly, and he paused in his story as he waited to feel the kicks.
"I don't feel anything."
"Keep talking, maybe she'll do it again."
So he restarted his story about nationals, when they won in 1993. And sure enough, he started to feel light little thumps against his hand. He turned widened eyes to Quinn's. "I can feel it."
"Yeah. I think she likes hearing you talk." Waving her wrist in a rapid circle, she gestured for him to continue. "Keep going."
So Will kept talking about glee club and nationals and divulged several embarrassing stories from his high school years. And while Quinn giggled, or gasped, or made faces in all the appropriate spots in the story, his hand remained resting on her belly as her baby continued to kick at his palm.
"And there I was, locked out of the hotel room without a stitch of clothing on, and my buddies had all the room keys."
"Oh my God," she giggled. "That had to've been bad."
"Worse -- they had the air conditioning blasting in the hotel, so it was freezing out in that hallway..."
Quinn practically doubled over in laughter, her hand still holding his against her abdomen. It wasn't until he had run out of stories that he looked down and realized that their fingers had entwined over her belly, all five digits of each of their hands perfectly aligned.
Quinn finally glanced down as well, laughter petering out as her gaze settled on their joined hands. And Will promptly pulled back, scooting away from her a bit. "Uhm, so!" He cleared his throat loudly, glimpsing quick at Quinn to find her nervously tucking her hair behind her ear.
"So. Right. Uh, I should be getting to bed. I think I'm sufficiently tired."
"Okay, cool." He stood up when she did, hands out in case she needed assistance getting to her feet, but with the slight belly she did just fine. "Hey, do you uh... do you need any more water before you head to bed, or anything?"
She shook her head. "No, I think I'm okay." Biting her lip, she searched his eyes for a moment, mumbling, "Um..." before gently grasping his arm. She then stretched on tiptoe, leaning in and pressing her lips to his cheek. "Thanks again, Mister Schue--" he didn't bother to correct her this time, "--for everything."
He nodded. "You're welcome." He watched her head for the bedroom again, calling her name when she reached the doorway. "Hey, Quinn..."
"Yeah?" One hand on the door frame, she spun on her heel to face him, blinking those large, Disney-princess eyes of hers at him.
"I meant what I said before, y'know." Off her brief look of confusion, he clarified. "If you need someone... some support... I'm here."
Quinn nodded, a wistful smile touching her lips. "I know. And thanks. It's nice to know I've got a safe haven to go to during all of this."
Will nodded back, watching as she gave him one last smile before disappearing into the bedroom, shutting the door softly behind her. He was then left, once more, with his thoughts as he went to lie down on the couch.
And he fell asleep thinking of Quinn, her resemblance to a young Terri, and how he wished he could be sixteen again.
FIN
Like what you've read? Why don't you watch or join the community?
{x-posted to quinnwill and gleefic}