Fic: Remains (4/?)
Title: Remains (4/?)
Author: cellochick92
Words: ~1,500
Rating: R overall
Disclaimer: Not mine. Woe.
Warning: This fic deals with abuse of all kinds involving a minor. If this is triggering for you, please don't read. It's not especially graphic yet, but it may get there.
Summary: Done for an anon prompt over at the rq_meme: Rachel finds out Quinn is being abused by her mom (Quinn's, not Shelby!) No pregnancy. Unbeta'd.
A/N: So this is a lovely intermediary chapter...I needed a way to get from point A to point B, and thus this chapter was born. It's shorter than the others, but full of fluff and pretty much no angst, so hopefully it'll tide you over till I can get the next chapter up tomorrow night =)
Part One Part Two Part Three
__________________________
Quinn hesitated as she stood in front of the Berry's front door, unsure whether she really wanted to knock or not. Yes, Rachel had invited her over, but...it seemed a little fast for forgiveness and friendship, even for the diva. Quinn couldn't help but worry that maybe the brunette had thought better of her offer and would refuse to let her in, or perhaps sic her fathers on the blonde in revenge.
Muttering under her breath about being paranoid and irrational, Quinn forced her hand to rise but couldn’t quite bring herself to actually make her hand come in contact with the door. Instead, her knuckles stopped mere centimeters away, and Quinn let out a defeated sigh. It was pathetic, but she wasn’t sure that she could handle rejection from the brunette, and she reasoned that it was probably best if she just cut off the friendship before it could really get started.
After all, Rachel hadn’t even mentioned the incident in the park or whether the blonde had a safe place to go home to. Since trying to keep an eye on the brunette had been her main motivation in even talking to the other girl, Quinn tried to tell herself that there was no other reason to try to maintain communications with her.
After another few seconds of indecision, Quinn bit her lip and slowly turned away from the door. Walking slowly, she wrapped her arms around herself tightly to try to ward off the chill in the air as she contemplated where to go. The temptation to turn around was strong, and she barely caught herself as her head started to turn to look back at the house. Shaking her head at herself, she started walking more quickly, unsure how long her resolve would last.
As the blonde disappeared around the corner, Rachel sighed from her spot in the second-floor window. She had been watching Quinn wage some sort of internal war at her front door, and had been hopeful that the other girl had decided to finally knock when she raised her hand. The disappointment when her arm dropped after a few seconds of doing nothing was extreme, and Rachel had to fight to keep from throwing open the window and shouting at the blonde’s indecisiveness.
As much as she wanted Quinn to make good on her decision to be nicer, she also wanted it to be the blonde’s decision and not something she was pressured into. Reluctantly getting up from her perch, she padded down the stairs. Her daddy was waiting for her and raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“Honey? Who was that?”
Rachel had told her fathers all of the stories about how Quinn tormented her at school, and she winced at the look on her daddy’s face when she replied, “Quinn Fabray.” Hastening to explain, she quickly said, “It’s okay, Daddy, don’t worry about her. She’s decided to try to make amends, so I invited her over.”
Frowning, he asked, “Are you sure this isn’t just some ploy on her part to try to get you to trust her so she can do something cruel?” At Rachel’s incredulous look, he shrugged defensively. “What? After everything I’ve heard about her, I wouldn’t put it past her!”
Growing frustrated with her daddy’s reluctance to trust her judgment, Rachel waved off his concerns. “Daddy, it’s fine, I promise. And even if it isn’t, I think it’s at least worth a try to see where things go. I invited her over so she would be on my territory, and so that if anything went wrong, I could simply ask her to leave.”
Turning and going back up to her room, Rachel flopped back down on the bed. She had really wanted to believe Quinn earlier, but the blonde’s departure from her doorstep left her feeling somewhat let down. Maybe it had all been too good to be true. Groaning and rolling over onto her stomach, she closed her eyes and decided to take a quick nap before dinner.
When she woke up, the house was dark and quiet. Going slowly down the stairs, she flipped the light in the kitchen on and saw a bright yellow note on the kitchen table telling her that her fathers had run to the store to pick up some ingredients they needed for dinner. Sighing, she was about to go back up to her room to start on some homework when she heard a knock on the door.
Unsure who might be there and slightly wary, she peeked through the eyehole and saw Quinn standing there, warm breath puffing around her face in the cool night air. Debating internally whether to open the door or not, Rachel was quickly won over by curiosity about what Quinn was doing outside her house- again. Opening the door, she saw a flash of relief pass across Quinn’s face before it was quickly buried.
Waiting for the other girl to talk, Rachel watched with interest how uncomfortable Quinn seemed to be. After a few moments of silence and shuffling her feet, Quinn finally spoke. “I just…I wanted to say sorry, for earlier. I know I said I would come over, and I’m really sorry that I didn’t keep my word.”
Looking down at her feet and preparing for an angry lecture, Quinn was unprepared for the brunette’s simple, “Okay.”
Looking up quickly, as though unable to believe her ears, she asked, “Really?”
Nodding, Rachel said, “Really. I do, however, hope that you might be willing to try to do something again in the near future. If you’re interested, I’m free this weekend and would be more than willing to host a sleepover.”
A tentative smile broke over Quinn’s face and she nodded eagerly. “I would love to, Rachel. I promise not to let you down again.”
Raising an eyebrow at Quinn’s choice of words, Rachel shrugged it off and smiled. “Wonderful. We can get some movies if you like, and I’m sure my dads will be thrilled to have someone else to cook for!”
Quinn blanched at the mention of Rachel’s fathers. Trying to figure out a tactful way to ask if they hated her, she finally settled for just asking. “Are they…I mean, will they be all right with me coming over?”
Feeling suddenly protective at the way Quinn curled in on herself the tiniest bit, Rachel smiled reassuringly. “I’ll talk to them, but once they find out that you’re trying to amend past wrongs, I’m sure that they’ll be amenable to you coming over. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
The anxious look on Quinn’s face didn’t entirely disappear, but she seemed to accept Rachel’s answer. Forcing a half smile, she asked, “Okay. Did you have a specific time in mind?”
Smiling back, Rachel thought for a moment and then said, “How about Friday night? I don’t want to interfere with any church-going plans you may have for Sunday morning or cause any undue inconvenience. If that doesn’t work, though, then I’m more than happy to try to work something else out. I mean, really, whatever works best for you, I’ll try to make it happen-”
Quinn cut Rachel’s ramble off with a gentle smile as she spoke over her and said, “Rachel. Friday night works fine. Besides, you’re the one having me over, so it’s more about what works best for you than for me. Plus I already screwed up today, so I think I owe you one for that too.” Blushing at her own ramble, Quinn forced herself to stop talking.
Grinning, Rachel nearly bounced up and down with excitement. “Wonderful! I look forward to seeing you then, Quinn!”
Part Five
Author: cellochick92
Words: ~1,500
Rating: R overall
Disclaimer: Not mine. Woe.
Warning: This fic deals with abuse of all kinds involving a minor. If this is triggering for you, please don't read. It's not especially graphic yet, but it may get there.
Summary: Done for an anon prompt over at the rq_meme: Rachel finds out Quinn is being abused by her mom (Quinn's, not Shelby!) No pregnancy. Unbeta'd.
A/N: So this is a lovely intermediary chapter...I needed a way to get from point A to point B, and thus this chapter was born. It's shorter than the others, but full of fluff and pretty much no angst, so hopefully it'll tide you over till I can get the next chapter up tomorrow night =)
Part One Part Two Part Three
__________________________
Quinn hesitated as she stood in front of the Berry's front door, unsure whether she really wanted to knock or not. Yes, Rachel had invited her over, but...it seemed a little fast for forgiveness and friendship, even for the diva. Quinn couldn't help but worry that maybe the brunette had thought better of her offer and would refuse to let her in, or perhaps sic her fathers on the blonde in revenge.
Muttering under her breath about being paranoid and irrational, Quinn forced her hand to rise but couldn’t quite bring herself to actually make her hand come in contact with the door. Instead, her knuckles stopped mere centimeters away, and Quinn let out a defeated sigh. It was pathetic, but she wasn’t sure that she could handle rejection from the brunette, and she reasoned that it was probably best if she just cut off the friendship before it could really get started.
After all, Rachel hadn’t even mentioned the incident in the park or whether the blonde had a safe place to go home to. Since trying to keep an eye on the brunette had been her main motivation in even talking to the other girl, Quinn tried to tell herself that there was no other reason to try to maintain communications with her.
After another few seconds of indecision, Quinn bit her lip and slowly turned away from the door. Walking slowly, she wrapped her arms around herself tightly to try to ward off the chill in the air as she contemplated where to go. The temptation to turn around was strong, and she barely caught herself as her head started to turn to look back at the house. Shaking her head at herself, she started walking more quickly, unsure how long her resolve would last.
As the blonde disappeared around the corner, Rachel sighed from her spot in the second-floor window. She had been watching Quinn wage some sort of internal war at her front door, and had been hopeful that the other girl had decided to finally knock when she raised her hand. The disappointment when her arm dropped after a few seconds of doing nothing was extreme, and Rachel had to fight to keep from throwing open the window and shouting at the blonde’s indecisiveness.
As much as she wanted Quinn to make good on her decision to be nicer, she also wanted it to be the blonde’s decision and not something she was pressured into. Reluctantly getting up from her perch, she padded down the stairs. Her daddy was waiting for her and raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“Honey? Who was that?”
Rachel had told her fathers all of the stories about how Quinn tormented her at school, and she winced at the look on her daddy’s face when she replied, “Quinn Fabray.” Hastening to explain, she quickly said, “It’s okay, Daddy, don’t worry about her. She’s decided to try to make amends, so I invited her over.”
Frowning, he asked, “Are you sure this isn’t just some ploy on her part to try to get you to trust her so she can do something cruel?” At Rachel’s incredulous look, he shrugged defensively. “What? After everything I’ve heard about her, I wouldn’t put it past her!”
Growing frustrated with her daddy’s reluctance to trust her judgment, Rachel waved off his concerns. “Daddy, it’s fine, I promise. And even if it isn’t, I think it’s at least worth a try to see where things go. I invited her over so she would be on my territory, and so that if anything went wrong, I could simply ask her to leave.”
Turning and going back up to her room, Rachel flopped back down on the bed. She had really wanted to believe Quinn earlier, but the blonde’s departure from her doorstep left her feeling somewhat let down. Maybe it had all been too good to be true. Groaning and rolling over onto her stomach, she closed her eyes and decided to take a quick nap before dinner.
When she woke up, the house was dark and quiet. Going slowly down the stairs, she flipped the light in the kitchen on and saw a bright yellow note on the kitchen table telling her that her fathers had run to the store to pick up some ingredients they needed for dinner. Sighing, she was about to go back up to her room to start on some homework when she heard a knock on the door.
Unsure who might be there and slightly wary, she peeked through the eyehole and saw Quinn standing there, warm breath puffing around her face in the cool night air. Debating internally whether to open the door or not, Rachel was quickly won over by curiosity about what Quinn was doing outside her house- again. Opening the door, she saw a flash of relief pass across Quinn’s face before it was quickly buried.
Waiting for the other girl to talk, Rachel watched with interest how uncomfortable Quinn seemed to be. After a few moments of silence and shuffling her feet, Quinn finally spoke. “I just…I wanted to say sorry, for earlier. I know I said I would come over, and I’m really sorry that I didn’t keep my word.”
Looking down at her feet and preparing for an angry lecture, Quinn was unprepared for the brunette’s simple, “Okay.”
Looking up quickly, as though unable to believe her ears, she asked, “Really?”
Nodding, Rachel said, “Really. I do, however, hope that you might be willing to try to do something again in the near future. If you’re interested, I’m free this weekend and would be more than willing to host a sleepover.”
A tentative smile broke over Quinn’s face and she nodded eagerly. “I would love to, Rachel. I promise not to let you down again.”
Raising an eyebrow at Quinn’s choice of words, Rachel shrugged it off and smiled. “Wonderful. We can get some movies if you like, and I’m sure my dads will be thrilled to have someone else to cook for!”
Quinn blanched at the mention of Rachel’s fathers. Trying to figure out a tactful way to ask if they hated her, she finally settled for just asking. “Are they…I mean, will they be all right with me coming over?”
Feeling suddenly protective at the way Quinn curled in on herself the tiniest bit, Rachel smiled reassuringly. “I’ll talk to them, but once they find out that you’re trying to amend past wrongs, I’m sure that they’ll be amenable to you coming over. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
The anxious look on Quinn’s face didn’t entirely disappear, but she seemed to accept Rachel’s answer. Forcing a half smile, she asked, “Okay. Did you have a specific time in mind?”
Smiling back, Rachel thought for a moment and then said, “How about Friday night? I don’t want to interfere with any church-going plans you may have for Sunday morning or cause any undue inconvenience. If that doesn’t work, though, then I’m more than happy to try to work something else out. I mean, really, whatever works best for you, I’ll try to make it happen-”
Quinn cut Rachel’s ramble off with a gentle smile as she spoke over her and said, “Rachel. Friday night works fine. Besides, you’re the one having me over, so it’s more about what works best for you than for me. Plus I already screwed up today, so I think I owe you one for that too.” Blushing at her own ramble, Quinn forced herself to stop talking.
Grinning, Rachel nearly bounced up and down with excitement. “Wonderful! I look forward to seeing you then, Quinn!”
Part Five