Fic: Lucky (6/?)
Title: Lucky
Author: cranberry_pi
Rating: R for themes.
Spoilers: Up to "Mattress," sort of. It's AU in that Quinn had a pregnancy scare, but wasn't really pregnant.
Summary: An attempt at this prompt.
WARNINGS: Cancer, Character Death.
“But all the miles that separate
Disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face”
Relief. The only thing that made the incredible pain in her skull worth living through was that wonderful moment when it went away. Fortunately, instead of the two days that it had taken her to get through the first time, this particular bout went away within eight hours, and she awoke in Santana’s dark guest room, trying to get her bearings and remember where exactly she was. In the wingback chair beside the bed, she saw a small feminine form, obviously asleep - it was too short for Santana or Brittany, she thought idly, and then it hit her. Rachel. Her head had lolled forward as she slept and there was a tiny string of drool trailing from her mouth down to her sweater, which was decorated with one of the animal prints she had such an affinity for, and Quinn thought that it might be the cutest thing she’d ever seen. She tried to take a mental snapshot to remember it by.
There was still the question of what she was going to do with this new situation between them, and Finn, but she was weary and just barely over her headache, and she didn’t want to think about it right then, so she settled for calling Rachel’s name instead. She snapped awake, looking frantic. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, wiping the bit of drool from her lip. “I was trying to stay awake in case you needed anything!”
“It’s okay,” Quinn smiled. “It’s better now - I just thought you could come and lie with me for a while, if you wouldn’t mind. You probably need to get to school, though - what time is it?”
“About six,” Rachel’s watch light glowed in the dark. “It’s fine, though - I’ll call my dads and let them know I’ll be absent.”
“We can go in for Glee, though,” Quinn yawned. “If you want.”
“Sure,” Rachel ducked out into the hall to make her call and then returned to join Quinn under the covers. The touch of her skin through the thin nightgown made Quinn shiver, and she felt her nipples harden. She took slow, deep breaths, trying to calm herself, and largely succeeded. With Rachel’s arms around her, she fell asleep again in minutes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Coach Sylvester?” Quinn asked, confused. It was an odd sight, Sue Sylvester in the Choir room. She and Will had been standing up front, in heated discussion about something, when Rachel walked her in. Finn jumped up to meet them, and Rachel surrendered her hand with a sad smile. He led Quinn to the back of the room, but she beckoned for Rachel to follow, and sat between them with one of each of their hands in her own.
“Q,” Sue nodded.
“What are you doing here?”
“I, uh,” Sue cleared her throat, and Quinn boggled. Did she have a tear in her eye? Could Sue Sylvester even cry? “I needed to talk to Schuester about something. And now that we’ve had a chance to talk, I wanted to talk to all of you. I have a couple of announcements that you should all hear. Firstly, I’ve decided to pull the Cheerios out of Nationals this year.”
“What?” Santana stared at her wide-eyed. “Why?”
“Well, if you’d stop interrupting me, I’d tell you. I’ve struck a deal with Figgins to redistribute some of the Cheerios funding for a school trip. It’s highly unorthodox, but I talked him into it.”
“What school trip?” Quinn was more confused than ever.
“The Glee Club,” Sue’s voice quavered a little. “Your trip to Disneyland.”
There was dead silence in the room. “What?” Quinn finally managed.
“I wasn’t lying when I said I saw a lot of myself in you, Q. When Santana and Brittany told me they were trying to raise money so you could go before - well, I, uh, I wanted to do what I could to help. I’ll never have a better Cheerios captain, you know.” Sue didn’t protest when Quinn stumbled, eyes filled with tears, down the stairs and into her arms. Instead she held her, and patted her on the back. “Take care, okay?” she whispered, then pulled away from Quinn’s hug and vanished into the hallway, leaving Quinn alone to sink to her knees and sob on the choir room floor.
Finn and Rachel got to their feet at the same time, both intending to go to her. Their eyes met, and there was a flash of recognition in Finn’s eyes, but they only nodded at each other in an unspoken agreement to defer any discussion to a later date. Both of them reached her at the same instant, each taking an arm and helping her to a chair. She clutched at both of them, and for a few minutes her crying was the only sound in the room. When she’d finally collected herself, Will stepped out into the middle of the room, not trying to hide the tears on his own face.
“We leave on Sunday, guys - I’ll be sending home permission slips for everyone, and I’ll need them signed. I really hope all of you can make it.”
“We’ll all be there, Mister Schue,” Mercedes promised. “Now, could I propose a group hug? I need to do some hugging.”
“Seconded,” Tina sniffled.
Rachel and Finn helped Quinn to her feet, and the three of them were surrounded by the others. Mercedes looked up the front of the room. “You too, Mister Schue, get in here.” He did, and they all stood there together in a silent exchange of warmth and emotion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quinn asked both Finn and Rachel to accompany her to her house to have her father sign her permission slip for the trip, intending to make a quick retreat after that to Santana’s or some other sanctuary. Of course, Russell didn’t make it that easy for her.
“You know,” he said gruffly as he signed the paper, “you’re spending an awful lot of time away from us lately. Do you really think that’s fair, Quinn? Your mother and I are going to lose you to God soon, and you don’t think we’re worth spending time with?”
“Daddy,” she shook her head. “You’re at work most nights, and mom’s-“
“Watch it,” he warned with an outstretched finger. “You show your mother some respect. I’m disappointed in you, that’s all. Disappointed that you’d rather go to some Godless place like California, on a trip with a bunch of faggots and ethnics, then stay home and pray with your family.”
Quinn shook. She tried valiantly to restrain herself, but as she reached out to snatch the signed slip from his hand, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. “You know what?” she shouted. “This is why I don’t spend my nights here! Because you’re a racist, and a homophobe, and you hide behind the bible like it makes you right! When I spent two days in bed crying because the pain in my head was so bad, where were you? Where was mom? It was Finn - he looked after me! Respect thy father and thy mother, you always told me - why don’t you try being worthy of my respect? You’re too scared of my dying to even try to comfort me, and mom’s crawled so far into the bottle she’s going to need rehab by the time I’ve gone! Respect you? I don’t even like you! My boyfriend, and Rachel - who’s the beautiful product of two gay dads, by the way - they’re worth my respect! You’re not! You can pray to God all you want, daddy, but you’re still an asshole, and no amount of prayer is going to change that - the only one who can do that is you!”
“How dare you?” he thundered, leaping to his feet. “We raised you, we fed you and clothed you, and taught you right from wrong, and this is how you speak to me? By God, girl, you come here now, because you’re going over my knee!”
Finn stood up and interjected himself between them. “You’re not touching her.”
“And you’re going to stop me? I’m her family, son, and you’re going to get out of my way.”
“We’re her family,” Rachel stood up and took a position next to Finn.
“You stay out of this, you unnatural thing,” Russell sneered. “I hope you enjoy the heat in California, because there’s fire where you’re going, and it’s forever, and I’ll be laughing!”
“Daddy, shut up!” Quinn screamed. “Just shut up!”
Russell seemed to evaluate his odds against Finn, and decided not to press his luck. Instead he looked past him at Quinn. “Little girl, I hope you do enjoy spending your nights elsewhere. Because you’re not welcome in this house any longer. You and your friends have ten minutes to pack whatever you want to take with you and get out. But you know this, and mark it well. You will die alone, begging for your family. And we won’t come. And when you reach the gates, the book of life will be closed to you, for you have sinned against your parents and God. You will burn forever, and you will know that it is your own fault!”
“Shut your mouth!” Rachel shouted. “Don’t you understand what’s happening here? Don’t you see? Your job - your only job in this life is to love your children! And now you’re losing her! She’s going to die, and it’s going to be too late for you to fix this! But you listen to me, you sad, ignorant little man - she will never die alone. She’ll die surrounded by everyone who loves her. And it’s you that will beg, and it’s you that will burn!”
Russell turned away. “Ten minutes. If you’re not out by then I’m calling the police.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“You actually said that?” Santana asked Rachel incredulously. Behind them, Quinn had fallen asleep on the couch following an epic crying jag. They’d moved her things into Santana’s spare room, and Santana’s parents had assured her she could stay as long as she wanted.
“I did - I was so furious,” Rachel hissed.
“I didn’t think Jews did the hell thing.”
“We don’t - but he does, and that’s the language he understands.”
“Got it. Thank you - both of you. If you hadn’t been there - well, I don’t like to think about it.”
“No problem,” Finn shrugged awkwardly. “Uh, Santana - can you give Rachel and me a minute alone?”
“Uh - yeah, okay. Don’t wake up Q, okay?” Santana vanished into the kitchen, and Finn looked at Rachel across the expanse between their two easy chairs.
“Do you want to tell me?”
“I think Quinn-“
“I’m not asking Quinn, Rachel. I’m asking you.”
"I don't know what you'd like me to-"
"Do you love her?"
Rachel looked away. "Yes. I always have."
"And does she love you?"
"Finn, she's the only one that can answer that. This is very new to her, and I don't know if she even knows what she's thinking right now."
"But do you think she might?"
"Yes," the admission was a whisper, and somehow loud as a gunshot.
Finn was silent for a long time, and Rachel got more nervous the longer the silence was drawn out. Finally he sighed, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "Okay."
"Finn, please listen - I never meant to hurt you, or get in the way of what the two of you share, it just sort of - happened."
"Here's how I see it," he said slowly, as if he hadn’t heard her. "I don't want her to have to choose, okay? I can't make her do that - it's not fair to her. In the time she's got, she needs all the love she can get, because soon she won't be here to love anyone, right? So, I think I - we, I mean - should just deal. We'll both be here for her, and we won't get pissy about who she spends more time with, or even who she sleeps with, we'll both - we'll just love her with everything we've got. Agreed?" He reached across the table for a handshake.
Rachel shook her head, taking his hand. "Finn, you - you've really grown up a lot, you know. Since the first day you joined Glee."
"It's her," Finn gestured toward Quinn. "She's made me better. She's made me want to be better, you know? Even more now, knowing that I’m going to lose her so soon. I want her to see the best of me."
"Yeah," Rachel looked at her, and felt her heart expand. "I know just what you mean."
6.) Get Santana and Brittany together.
Author: cranberry_pi
Rating: R for themes.
Spoilers: Up to "Mattress," sort of. It's AU in that Quinn had a pregnancy scare, but wasn't really pregnant.
Summary: An attempt at this prompt.
WARNINGS: Cancer, Character Death.
“But all the miles that separate
Disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face”
Relief. The only thing that made the incredible pain in her skull worth living through was that wonderful moment when it went away. Fortunately, instead of the two days that it had taken her to get through the first time, this particular bout went away within eight hours, and she awoke in Santana’s dark guest room, trying to get her bearings and remember where exactly she was. In the wingback chair beside the bed, she saw a small feminine form, obviously asleep - it was too short for Santana or Brittany, she thought idly, and then it hit her. Rachel. Her head had lolled forward as she slept and there was a tiny string of drool trailing from her mouth down to her sweater, which was decorated with one of the animal prints she had such an affinity for, and Quinn thought that it might be the cutest thing she’d ever seen. She tried to take a mental snapshot to remember it by.
There was still the question of what she was going to do with this new situation between them, and Finn, but she was weary and just barely over her headache, and she didn’t want to think about it right then, so she settled for calling Rachel’s name instead. She snapped awake, looking frantic. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, wiping the bit of drool from her lip. “I was trying to stay awake in case you needed anything!”
“It’s okay,” Quinn smiled. “It’s better now - I just thought you could come and lie with me for a while, if you wouldn’t mind. You probably need to get to school, though - what time is it?”
“About six,” Rachel’s watch light glowed in the dark. “It’s fine, though - I’ll call my dads and let them know I’ll be absent.”
“We can go in for Glee, though,” Quinn yawned. “If you want.”
“Sure,” Rachel ducked out into the hall to make her call and then returned to join Quinn under the covers. The touch of her skin through the thin nightgown made Quinn shiver, and she felt her nipples harden. She took slow, deep breaths, trying to calm herself, and largely succeeded. With Rachel’s arms around her, she fell asleep again in minutes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Coach Sylvester?” Quinn asked, confused. It was an odd sight, Sue Sylvester in the Choir room. She and Will had been standing up front, in heated discussion about something, when Rachel walked her in. Finn jumped up to meet them, and Rachel surrendered her hand with a sad smile. He led Quinn to the back of the room, but she beckoned for Rachel to follow, and sat between them with one of each of their hands in her own.
“Q,” Sue nodded.
“What are you doing here?”
“I, uh,” Sue cleared her throat, and Quinn boggled. Did she have a tear in her eye? Could Sue Sylvester even cry? “I needed to talk to Schuester about something. And now that we’ve had a chance to talk, I wanted to talk to all of you. I have a couple of announcements that you should all hear. Firstly, I’ve decided to pull the Cheerios out of Nationals this year.”
“What?” Santana stared at her wide-eyed. “Why?”
“Well, if you’d stop interrupting me, I’d tell you. I’ve struck a deal with Figgins to redistribute some of the Cheerios funding for a school trip. It’s highly unorthodox, but I talked him into it.”
“What school trip?” Quinn was more confused than ever.
“The Glee Club,” Sue’s voice quavered a little. “Your trip to Disneyland.”
There was dead silence in the room. “What?” Quinn finally managed.
“I wasn’t lying when I said I saw a lot of myself in you, Q. When Santana and Brittany told me they were trying to raise money so you could go before - well, I, uh, I wanted to do what I could to help. I’ll never have a better Cheerios captain, you know.” Sue didn’t protest when Quinn stumbled, eyes filled with tears, down the stairs and into her arms. Instead she held her, and patted her on the back. “Take care, okay?” she whispered, then pulled away from Quinn’s hug and vanished into the hallway, leaving Quinn alone to sink to her knees and sob on the choir room floor.
Finn and Rachel got to their feet at the same time, both intending to go to her. Their eyes met, and there was a flash of recognition in Finn’s eyes, but they only nodded at each other in an unspoken agreement to defer any discussion to a later date. Both of them reached her at the same instant, each taking an arm and helping her to a chair. She clutched at both of them, and for a few minutes her crying was the only sound in the room. When she’d finally collected herself, Will stepped out into the middle of the room, not trying to hide the tears on his own face.
“We leave on Sunday, guys - I’ll be sending home permission slips for everyone, and I’ll need them signed. I really hope all of you can make it.”
“We’ll all be there, Mister Schue,” Mercedes promised. “Now, could I propose a group hug? I need to do some hugging.”
“Seconded,” Tina sniffled.
Rachel and Finn helped Quinn to her feet, and the three of them were surrounded by the others. Mercedes looked up the front of the room. “You too, Mister Schue, get in here.” He did, and they all stood there together in a silent exchange of warmth and emotion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quinn asked both Finn and Rachel to accompany her to her house to have her father sign her permission slip for the trip, intending to make a quick retreat after that to Santana’s or some other sanctuary. Of course, Russell didn’t make it that easy for her.
“You know,” he said gruffly as he signed the paper, “you’re spending an awful lot of time away from us lately. Do you really think that’s fair, Quinn? Your mother and I are going to lose you to God soon, and you don’t think we’re worth spending time with?”
“Daddy,” she shook her head. “You’re at work most nights, and mom’s-“
“Watch it,” he warned with an outstretched finger. “You show your mother some respect. I’m disappointed in you, that’s all. Disappointed that you’d rather go to some Godless place like California, on a trip with a bunch of faggots and ethnics, then stay home and pray with your family.”
Quinn shook. She tried valiantly to restrain herself, but as she reached out to snatch the signed slip from his hand, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. “You know what?” she shouted. “This is why I don’t spend my nights here! Because you’re a racist, and a homophobe, and you hide behind the bible like it makes you right! When I spent two days in bed crying because the pain in my head was so bad, where were you? Where was mom? It was Finn - he looked after me! Respect thy father and thy mother, you always told me - why don’t you try being worthy of my respect? You’re too scared of my dying to even try to comfort me, and mom’s crawled so far into the bottle she’s going to need rehab by the time I’ve gone! Respect you? I don’t even like you! My boyfriend, and Rachel - who’s the beautiful product of two gay dads, by the way - they’re worth my respect! You’re not! You can pray to God all you want, daddy, but you’re still an asshole, and no amount of prayer is going to change that - the only one who can do that is you!”
“How dare you?” he thundered, leaping to his feet. “We raised you, we fed you and clothed you, and taught you right from wrong, and this is how you speak to me? By God, girl, you come here now, because you’re going over my knee!”
Finn stood up and interjected himself between them. “You’re not touching her.”
“And you’re going to stop me? I’m her family, son, and you’re going to get out of my way.”
“We’re her family,” Rachel stood up and took a position next to Finn.
“You stay out of this, you unnatural thing,” Russell sneered. “I hope you enjoy the heat in California, because there’s fire where you’re going, and it’s forever, and I’ll be laughing!”
“Daddy, shut up!” Quinn screamed. “Just shut up!”
Russell seemed to evaluate his odds against Finn, and decided not to press his luck. Instead he looked past him at Quinn. “Little girl, I hope you do enjoy spending your nights elsewhere. Because you’re not welcome in this house any longer. You and your friends have ten minutes to pack whatever you want to take with you and get out. But you know this, and mark it well. You will die alone, begging for your family. And we won’t come. And when you reach the gates, the book of life will be closed to you, for you have sinned against your parents and God. You will burn forever, and you will know that it is your own fault!”
“Shut your mouth!” Rachel shouted. “Don’t you understand what’s happening here? Don’t you see? Your job - your only job in this life is to love your children! And now you’re losing her! She’s going to die, and it’s going to be too late for you to fix this! But you listen to me, you sad, ignorant little man - she will never die alone. She’ll die surrounded by everyone who loves her. And it’s you that will beg, and it’s you that will burn!”
Russell turned away. “Ten minutes. If you’re not out by then I’m calling the police.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“You actually said that?” Santana asked Rachel incredulously. Behind them, Quinn had fallen asleep on the couch following an epic crying jag. They’d moved her things into Santana’s spare room, and Santana’s parents had assured her she could stay as long as she wanted.
“I did - I was so furious,” Rachel hissed.
“I didn’t think Jews did the hell thing.”
“We don’t - but he does, and that’s the language he understands.”
“Got it. Thank you - both of you. If you hadn’t been there - well, I don’t like to think about it.”
“No problem,” Finn shrugged awkwardly. “Uh, Santana - can you give Rachel and me a minute alone?”
“Uh - yeah, okay. Don’t wake up Q, okay?” Santana vanished into the kitchen, and Finn looked at Rachel across the expanse between their two easy chairs.
“Do you want to tell me?”
“I think Quinn-“
“I’m not asking Quinn, Rachel. I’m asking you.”
"I don't know what you'd like me to-"
"Do you love her?"
Rachel looked away. "Yes. I always have."
"And does she love you?"
"Finn, she's the only one that can answer that. This is very new to her, and I don't know if she even knows what she's thinking right now."
"But do you think she might?"
"Yes," the admission was a whisper, and somehow loud as a gunshot.
Finn was silent for a long time, and Rachel got more nervous the longer the silence was drawn out. Finally he sighed, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "Okay."
"Finn, please listen - I never meant to hurt you, or get in the way of what the two of you share, it just sort of - happened."
"Here's how I see it," he said slowly, as if he hadn’t heard her. "I don't want her to have to choose, okay? I can't make her do that - it's not fair to her. In the time she's got, she needs all the love she can get, because soon she won't be here to love anyone, right? So, I think I - we, I mean - should just deal. We'll both be here for her, and we won't get pissy about who she spends more time with, or even who she sleeps with, we'll both - we'll just love her with everything we've got. Agreed?" He reached across the table for a handshake.
Rachel shook her head, taking his hand. "Finn, you - you've really grown up a lot, you know. Since the first day you joined Glee."
"It's her," Finn gestured toward Quinn. "She's made me better. She's made me want to be better, you know? Even more now, knowing that I’m going to lose her so soon. I want her to see the best of me."
"Yeah," Rachel looked at her, and felt her heart expand. "I know just what you mean."
6.) Get Santana and Brittany together.