Title: We Are Going to Make It 7/16
Author:
emmelia24 Rating: PG-13 mainly for some language but nothing too bad yet.
Pairing: Quinn Fabray and Sam Evans, eventually Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. This is purely and simply fiction. The characters belong to Fox and Ryan Murphy and a bunch of other people I do not know.
Summary: Future!fic. Quinn and Rachel’s lives have not turned out the way they had dreamed they would.
A/N1: Hello, my lovely readers! Look! I can update semi-fast, weird, I know. This chapter is a lot lighter than the past few so yay for a bit of fluff! There are some more developments in this installment so for all of my fellow fluff-lovers you shall enjoy this. Thank you guys so much for all of the comments and support. It means the world to me. Of course, a huge thanks to my kick ass beta,
cdn_torii for getting this to me by today. Enjoy! I’ll try to get the next one out just as fast.
Quinn Fabray sat on her bed staring down at her cell phone. It had been one day since she had gone to the Berry’s. Leroy had insisted that Quinn take home a platter of cookies for her parents.
She remembered how Rachel had smiled at her push over of a father as he shoved the plate into the blonde’s hands.
“Thank you Leroy,” Quinn said as she held the heavy plate in her hands.
The man smiled and pulled his husband closer into his body. Michael still did not approve of Quinn but Quinn knew he had every right to feel protective of his daughter. She had made her life a living nightmare. If it had been her daughter, she would not have even let herself into the house.
Rachel was standing by the door, her arms crossed over her chest and her lip caught between her teeth. Leroy pulled Quinn into a quick but warm hug. Michael merely let a small smile emerge as he watched his husband open the door. A cool breeze whizzed past the family. Quinn pulled her jacket closer to her body and looked over to Rachel. Their eyes met and Quinn felt her heart quicken. The brunette smiled and walked over to Quinn.
“Daddy, do you think it would be alright if I walked Quinn home? It is freezing out and I don’t think it is safe for her to be walking alone at this hour of night.”
Michael looked hesitant but Leroy approved the request instantly.
“I think that is more than alright, sweetheart. Be careful,” he said and kissed Rachel on the head.
Rachel beamed and grabbed her jacket from the coat closet. She chose a black winter coat and a pair of white gloves. Before she began to leave, Leroy insisted on her wearing a hat and Rachel rolled her eyes as he put it on for her. Quinn held the door open for Rachel who blushed, unbeknownst to the blonde, at the gesture. They walked down the icy pathway together, Quinn still behind Rachel, and into the cold. The sky was clear, the stars shining brightly. It really was the perfect night for a walk. Quinn moved next to Rachel and the two walked in silence. The blonde was the first to break the ice.
“I never realized how close we lived,” she said softly.
Rachel nodded, her head facing forward.
“Me neither,” the brunette lied.
The truth was Rachel was more than aware of where Quinn lived. When she was in elementary school, she used to ride her bike up and down Quinn’s street, hoping to catch a glimpse of the blonde in anyway. This was before she knew of the hatred the Fabray family had towards her family. This was before being popular mattered to the young blonde. This was before things were complicated. Seven year old Rachel had seen Quinn in school and had wanted so desperately to be friends. Quinn was quiet, but even at the age of seven she had a power over everyone she spoke to. Santana and Brittany were her best friends, everyone knew that, so Rachel was more than intimidated.
Once when she was ten, Rachel had been lucky and saw Quinn looking outside of her window. It looked like she was in a study of some sort and her eyes were heavy. The hazel orbs were infected with sadness that Rachel had wanted so much to cure. A tear, one tear, escaped and Rachel’s heart broke. Then, Quinn noticed Rachel and she panicked. Before Quinn had the chance to get outside, Rachel was on her way home, her legs pumping up and down as fast as they could. When she reached her home she was out of breath. She jumped off of her bike and onto the grass. As she had lied down on the soft blades of green, Rachel stared at the sky, the image of those sad eyes forever haunting her mind
“I wish I had known,” Quinn said even softer.
“Really?” Rachel asked in disbelief.
Quinn stopped and smiled shyly.
“Really.”
Another blush pervaded the brunette’s cheeks and she continued walking along side Quinn. It began to flurry and Quinn shivered.
“I still cannot believe you walked all the way to my house, Quinn. It is freezing!”
Quinn laughed.
“I cannot believe you volunteered to walk me home! It is freezing!”
The laughter escaping Rachel’s mouth warmed Quinn’s heart. It was a sound she had missed so much. She had only seen Rachel two times and both had been intense and sad, the star’s signature smile no where to be found.
“There’s that smile,” Quinn said as she found herself smiling too.
Rachel beamed at that and gazed up at the sky.
“I am not smiling!” she denied and she playfully hit Quinn on the arm.
“Whatever you say, Rachel,” Quinn giggled.
Rachel pretended to act defeated when in actuality she was relishing in the moment. It was comfortable, so comfortable, like they had been like this forever.
“God, look at the stars, Quinn. Aren’t they beautiful?” she whispered as her finger pointed to the stars.
Quinn stopped walking for a moment to look up at the sky. Her eyes saw little white spheres sparkling in the darkened sky. She didn’t know why but it gave her hope, like there was something bigger than her out there in space. Then she looked over to Rachel who was still gazing up. Her eyes were sparkling brighter than the stars; it was remarkable. Rachel was remarkable, how she could just stare up at the sky as if it were the most incredible thing she had ever seen. Quinn felt that familiar pull in the pit of her stomach and she took a deep breath. The light from the stars illuminated the brunette and Quinn was suddenly speechless. Rachel Berry was beautiful.
“Quinn, can I ask you a question?”
The question pulled Quinn out of her trance. She blinked and looked curiously at Rachel.
“Okay…”Quinn said quizzically.
“Why were you at your parents tonight?”
Quinn stopped her feet for a moment. She had been avoiding telling Rachel about her marriage, her situation. It was humiliating. After all she had been through, she still ended up in Lima married to someone she didn’t love. Despite her embarrassment, she decided to tell Rachel the truth. Rachel had told her everything; it was only fair that Quinn did the same.
“Every Friday night, we go to have dinner with my parents. I know, I know, Gilmore Girls, anyone?”
Rachel giggled softly at the joke, but she could tell this was sore subject. She decided to push Quinn a little further.
“We?
The blonde sighed, her eyes avoiding Rachel’s. She had to tell her, she deserved to know.
“Sam and I. We…we’re married,” she said in a solemn tone.
Anyone could tell she was not happy with her situation. Rachel looked down to the ground, unsure of why that information made her feel somewhat disappointed. Of course Quinn had married Sam. They are high school sweethearts. She never liked Sam now that she thought of it. Suddenly, she felt something in the pit of her stomach, a feeling she was all too familiar with, a feeling she had felt once before with the blonde.
“Oh,” she said softly, trying not to show her disappointment.
“Yeah,” Quinn sighed.
The blonde stopped at a small brick house. There were small yellow lights around the door and on a pine tree in the front yard. Almost all of the lights were off, save for one on the second floor.
“Well,” Quinn began, “this is me.”
Rachel’s heart dropped. She hadn’t wanted her evening with Quinn to end so soon. They were just starting to bond. She was just starting to learn about the girl that had been such a mystery to her all of her life. Quinn Fabray was an enigma that Rachel so desperately wanted to solve. The blonde was staring at her home, or what was supposed to be her home, with those same sad hazel eyes Rachel had seen when she was ten years old. It broke her heart. Before she could control herself, Rachel pulled Quinn into her arms, trying to fix whatever it was that had made Quinn broken.
“It’s going to be okay, Quinn,” she whispered softly.
The warmth overwhelmed Quinn as her arms formed around the brunette. It made her heart swell and her eyes become misty. Was it going to be okay? Quinn couldn’t answer that question; but in that moment, holding Rachel in her arms for the first time, she felt that maybe it could be okay. Maybe things could change. The scent of lavender engulfed her, making her dizzy.
Rachel held Quinn for a few minutes, never wanting to let go. Friends hug this way, right? Friends hug for five minutes, right? She pushed those thoughts away and pulled Quinn closer, wanting to absorb everything she could. It was so strange, the feeling she had holding Quinn. It was the most complete she had felt in years and she didn’t want to lose that feeling; but she had to let go.
They pulled out of the hug and stared at each other. Quinn’s heart was pounding as she gazed at Rachel’s soft lips. White puffs of air escaped from the brunette’s lips.
“I guess I’ll see you later then,” Quinn said softly, not wanting to leave
Rachel nodded, trying to hide her sudden sadness. Then she got an idea and her face brightened. Quinn smiled at the change in her expression, the smile causing her to feel notably happier. Rachel dug her hands into her pockets, searching for her cell phone.
“Here,” she said once she had finally found the device.
She gave her phone to the blonde.
“Put your number inside it and call me when you want to hang out or something.”
Quinn nodded and pulled out her phone.
“You too,” she said and handed her phone to Rachel.
They exchanged numbers and their hands grazed as they returned their phones. Quinn’s breath hitched at the contact that had caused a shot of electricity to ripple down her arm. What was this?
“I’ll call you,” she said smiling nervously as she turned to leave.
“Quinn?”
The blonde whipped around at the sound of her name. Rachel stood at the end of the walkway wringing her hands together timidly. She laughed nervously and shook her head.
“Never mind. Just, goodnight. It was lovely meeting you,” she said with a wink, trying to diffuse the tension she had just created.
Quinn walked back over to the brunette and took her gloved hand.
“It was lovely meeting you, Ms. Berry. Sweet dreams,” she whispered.
And now here she sat, staring at her damn phone. Why was this so difficult? It was a phone call, one phone call. She had been thinking about what to say since the moment she had walked into her house last night. What did Rachel like? What would they do? It wasn’t like she could be like “Hey, Rachel, it’s your former torturer, Quinn. I was wondering if you wanted to go bowling with me today.”
“I’m such an idiot,” she said to the empty room.
She took a deep breath. Her finger scrolled down to Rachel’s number and her thumb hit the green button. The instant she did so, her heart began to race.
What if she didn’t answer? Crap, she’s not going to answer.
***
Call from Quinn Fabray
Rachel jumped up and seized her phone. Had the phone been a human or small animal she would have choked it to death. She didn’t want to seem like she had been waiting all day for this phone call, which she had been, so she let it ring twice before answering.
“Hello?” she asked, trying to seem cool and collected when in fact she was so nervous her hands were shaking as she held the phone.
“Hey, Rachel. It’s Quinn.”
Rachel smiled at the sound of the blonde’s voice.
“Hi, Quinn,” she said happily.
She heard Quinn breathing on the other end. It made her hear beat faster than it already was.
“Uhm how are you?”
How am I? I’m ecstatic because I’m talking to you!
“I’m great! How are you?”
“I’m alright…so uhm what are your plans for today?”
Rachel jumped head first into her plans.
“Well, I have a matinee performance in two hours. After that I am eating lunch with my fathers at a quaint little restaurant near the theater. Then I have another performance at 7pm which will be over at exactly 9:30pm.”
There was silence on the other end.
“But after that I’m totally free!”
Quinn laughed and Rachel giggled too, relieved that Quinn didn’t make fun of her rambling.
“Well, I have something to go to at 7pm but maybe we can meet up after your show?”
Rachel beamed and nodded profusely.
“Rachel?”
Realizing that Quinn could not see her, Rachel began to agree even more profusely.
“Oh! Sorry, yes! That sounds lovely! What would we be doing after my performance?”
More silence.
Was she thinking? Maybe she doesn’t want to hang out anymore. I shouldn’t have said the word lovely. Lovely might have implied something negative or maybe she-
“Uhm, would you want to go bowling?”
***
Shit. I cannot believe I just asked if she wanted to go bowling.
“Sorry that was a stupid idea. What would you want to do?”
The conversation had gone so well until Rachel had asked what they were doing. Quinn hadn’t planned that far. Hell, Quinn hadn’t planned on Rachel even answering her call. She had been winging the entire thing.
“Well, after two performances I expect to be quite tired. Bowling may be too strenuous for me. Plus, bowling is definitely not one of my strengths. Would you maybe like to go to the coffee shop across from the theater? They have really great deserts and coffee. Oh! I could show you around the set too!”
Quinn laughed at her excitement. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t equally if not more excited.
“That sounds great, Rachel.”
She could hear Rachel smiling on the other end. Finally she had something to look forward to.
“So what time should we meet? Are you sure your prior plans at seven will not interfere with this?”
Quinn smiled.
“I’m sure it won’t conflict. I’ll meet you at the theater at 9:30pm. Sound good?”
“Sounds great!”
She laughed again feeling uncontrollably happy. She had plans. For once in her sad life Quinn Fabray had plans that didn’t involve monotonous chores, her horrible parents, or her husband. It was going to be a good night.
“I guess I’ll see you later, Ms. Berry.”
She heard a giggle on the other end of the phone.
“See you tonight, Ms. Fabray.”