The Climb (6/9)
Title: The Climb (6/9)
Author:5musketeer
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Season #1
Word Count: 1396
Summary: the adventures and misadventures of Rachel Berry dealing with one Quinn Fabray.
Pairing: Rachel/Quinn.
Note: all mistakes are mine.
Another note: this chapter actually has a companion story in the making 'cause it was hard to resist writing Kurt and Mercedes's schemes.
Monday classes came and went and Rachel was feeling something close to happiness. She hadn't received a slushie facial, her voice was recovering quite nicely, Mercedes had come to her with an offering to hang out and, this was the best part, there was no trace of Quinn Fabray. They hadn't crossed paths in the hallways, they hadn't shared her usual classes - God bless coach Sylvester and her obsession to request extraordinary training sessions at the most unexpected moments - it was a completely Quinn-free day.
And because Monday had to keep being a bright and happy day, she decimated her frugal lunch and marched towards the auditorium.
------
She hadn't expected to find someone already occupying the stage. But Artie was there, playing an acoustic guitar, singing the last verses of his personal version of A Kiss From a Rose. When the final notes began to fade in the air she voiced her thoughts aloud.
"That's was beautiful." She felt like she had interrupted an intimate moment but couldn't help it, she was drawn to music.
The boy looked at her surprised, then visibly uncomfortable. She lowered her head sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. I'm going now."
"Rachel, wait." Artie hesitated a bit. "You can stay."
The girl stopped, a questioning expression in place.
"I was working in a song. For Tina."
"She is with Mike now, right?" The boy winced automatically. She had been too blunt, again. Finn was right, she had to work on her social skills. "Sorry, I've been inconsiderate. "
He lifted his right hand, playing it down.
"No worries, I'm winning her over." He smiled and just because his grin was contagious she smiled back, relieved. Approaching the end of the stage she sat, legs hanging off. "But I don't think the song is "goth" enough... Maybe I should sing something by 'The Cure'." He moved his wheelchair so he was more or less beside her.
"The song is cryptic enough. I mean, you don't know if he's talking about love or getting high." Artie chuckled. "But it makes it sound more mysterious. I'm sure she'll like it," she assured.
"You know, for having an awful personality you're pretty cool sometimes," he commented kindheartedly in spite of the words.
She feigned offense, she liked the boy and respected him. After all, he had endured all the craziness of her Run, Joey, Run video, and it had been fun to work with all the AV club.
"Eh... Thanks?"
He laughed openly this time.
"How is your voice going?"
"It's better. This time the infection seems to have remitted earlier. I'm not at the top of my vocal capabilities... but I'm not too limited either."
"You think you can manage some backup voices?"
"With you?"
"See someone else? I think the song will sound better." He made a skillful spin with the chair, hiding his face from the singer. "I want to dazzle her."
"Sounds like fun!" She practically beamed.
------
She kept practicing with Artie the next days. The solo had evolved into a duet and both were pretty satisfied with it. Also it kept her far away from the radar of a certain blond cheerio, who didn't fully comprehend the meaning of giving space to someone, and her new minions. During the course of the week, cheerio Kurt and sassy and deceptively honest Mercedes had fooled her, campaigned for Quinn as if she was running for president, followed her through all McKinley High School and - this was the last straw - locked her during English period in an empty classroom with the origin of all her problems. There, a very sorrowful looking Quinn had apologized over and over again for all the name-calling, all the slushies and gum thrown at her, all the awful caricatures and everything she could think of worth an apology. Rachel had been touched by it, she had reminded Quinn that she didn't hate her, had held the teary-eyed girl tightly against her chest for a long and meaningful moment. Maybe she had nuzzled her nose in the blond hair, and there was a possibility she had kissed the girl's temple, the memory was blurred. But kiss or not kiss willing, hyper-hormonal Quinn had kicked in in a matter of seconds, and Rachel had passed the rest of the confinement taking cover behind a table and pleading for more time to make up her mind until Brenda Castle had burst in and saved her. They had to endure a short rant about inappropriate use of school facilities, followed by a really inappropriate and graphic description of Castle's use of said school facilities in her student days interrupted by the bell, but all in all she had escaped with her brain almost completely unscathed.
After that she hid like a rat in the auditorium, waiting for Artie. Angry with Mercedes, Kurt and herself 'cause she still didn't know what to do. The idea of all being an elaborated prank didn't make sense anymore, too much effort for anybody, meaning Quinn really wanted to go out with her. She'd ask Brittany if her captain had suffered a head injury during summer practice, she wasn't in the mood to inquire the new Quinn's besties dynamic duo.
"Hey." Artie entered, guitar on his lap.
"Hey yourself."
He proceeded to tune the instrument with dexterous fingers and Rachel zoned out, back to her troubled inner world.
To dream about the unattainable was one thing, to obtain it another entirely different, she mused. This had been reinforced in her life several times: Jesse, Shelby... Finn. She had broken with the boy she thought she belonged just before junior year started.The relationship hadn't worked very well when she discovered they had little in common and she was beginning to think she was more in love with the idea of, well, being in love than with having a real relationship. She was better alone. There wasn't a guarantee all would be different with Quinn. With the girl who had tormented her for years only to decide out of the blue that she had the right to kiss her, to tell her she wanted her. She didn't resent the girl but it was all pretty confusing. Quinn Fabray was ruining considerably her otherwise perfect thinking process. That girl didn't deserve a hug. She deserved a slap. Why didn't she slap her?
She turned towards Artie, who was still tooling with tuning pegs and strumming strings.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," he said distractedly.
"Would you date Noah?"
The poor guy almost dropped the guitar to the floor.
"Rachel..."
"If she was a girl, but still had locked you in a latrine. And then had joined glee club..."
Artie frowned.
"I'm not that forgiving." He had a sudden inspiration. "But you dated Puck, right? And he had been awful to you."
"It seemed like a good idea at the moment," she muttered.
"I don't know whom are we talking about but please, tell me you're not going to date Karofsky." Only the idea made him retch.
"Eww. No! It's not Karofsky."
He released a breath.
"Well, do you like this person?"
Now it was her turn to exhale heavily. Did she like her? She had avoided answering directly to that question. Quinn had earned her title of head bitch over Santana, and that girl was like a catch dog. She listed mentally all Quinn's flaws: vain, liar, manipulative, egoistic, brash... But she couldn't deny she admired the girl since middle school. Quinn was ridiculously pretty, smart, astute, strong -she had gone from top to bottom and back to top in less than a year, and she had a gentle side she had caught a glimpse of during her pregnancy... and the last week. Her lips curved in a somewhat bitter, unRachel like smirk.
"I guess I do." She paused. "But I don't want to. It's the first time in my life I don't want to fall for someone."
He waited in silence, it was evident she wanted to say something more.
"I'm scared."
"Seriously?" His incredulous tone wasn't feigned. "You're braver than that. If this boy gave you a hard time, punch him in the face before going on a date with him if that makes you feel better. But don't tell me Rachel Berry is scared of falling for another stupid jock."
"Hey!"
"You have a personal record." She had to concede it was an irrefutable statement.
"I think I'll do that." The smirk changed into her signature smile. "Thank you, Artie."
"Come on. We are here to solve my sentimental problems not yours, I have to impress a woman tomorrow."
Part 7
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