Fic: Autumn Nights - The sixth night - Part 1
Title: The Sixth Night-In Which Quinn Fabray Tries To Resist The Urge-To Get Into Rachel Berry's Pants-And The Irony Of Rachel Wearing Skirts (And Other Forms Of Torture)
Author: freshtilapia
Rating: NC-17 (for the whole series)
Length: 9,084 (split into two parts)
Spoilers: Season 1 & 2
Summary: (see Title; or the sequel to Summer Mornings, with the usual fluff and the promise of sex)
A/N: I know I'm almost breaking my promise of updating sooner than a month but I hope the length makes up for it and you'll find something in it that you love, even if there's a big chance you'll scream at me after reading, because I really loved writing this chapter. Thanks again to my beta, mjacton, for proofreading 8,100 words before watching the Glee episode and for helping me finish two important lines for Judy.
Previous Nights: The first night | The second night | The third night | The fourth night - Part 1 | The fourth night - Part 2 | The fourth night - Part 3 | The fifth night
The sixth night
Today, I had an epiphany.
And I’ve realized that what I need right now… even more than colder showers… to prevent things between Rachel and me from moving too fast… is to focus on one thing…
Romance…
…which is why I am gallantly opening the passenger door of my car for her as we are about to go to my house to have dinner with my mom.
She bites her lower lip and smiles, looking incredibly pleased, as I wait for her to get settled in her seat before closing the door.
I did the exact same thing this morning when I surprised her by showing up at her doorstep early, eager, and ready to drive her to school.
All the girls-and Kurt-want romance.
And I can’t believe how good it feels to be the one purposely doing all the wooing-instead of being wooed-and to have finally found ways to impress Rachel.
And with everything that I’ve done for her today, and how her eyes are twinkling as she looks at me, I’m pretty sure she’s thoroughly impressed.
I start the car and step on the gas then reach out to hold her hand with my right hand (because my left hand is still on the steering wheel, of course) and Rachel looks absolutely delighted.
“Do you want me to turn the radio on?” she asks.
I still haven’t switched back to my station. I just can’t risk hearing Teddy Pendergrass crooning Turn Off The Lights, or worse… Barry White.
“Whatever you want, baby,” I tell her with a smile.
It’s got to be all about her.
Her shoulders rise for a second as she smiles wider and leans forward to turn my car stereo on.
“-love, love, love, love, love…”
She catches me stealing a glance.
“Love, love, love, love, love…”
I turn away and smile.
“You make me feel love, love, love, love, love…”
I’m pretty sure she’s smiling back…
“Is this Paula Cole?” she asks.
“Sounds like her,” I answer.
“It sounds quite familiar,” she says. “I think I heard it in a movie.”
“Yeah, I think I heard it from the soundtrack of something, too.”
“Definitely not Dawson’s Creek-I should know.”
I chuckle, “It sounds good, though.”
“Yes, it certainly does…”
“You make me feel like a candy apple… red and… horny…”
Okay, I take that back.
“You make me feel like I wanna be a dumb blonde, in a centerfold, the girl next door…”
Rachel starts squirming in her seat.
“And I would open the door and I'd be all wet, with my tits soaking through this tiny-”
Oh, thank God, she turns it off!
“W-we don’t need music at the moment,” she says.
“Y-yeah…”
Damn it. My day was going so well…
“Baby, w-why aren’t we stopping?” Rachel asks as she suddenly notices where I’m going.
I stay silent and keep the smirk on my face.
She’s been so busy looking at me with googly eyes that she almost doesn’t notice that I didn’t stop in the corner where I usually drop her off whenever we ride to school together.
Normally, she steps out of my car behind a very large tree where we can’t be easily seen then walks the rest of the way while I go straight to the parking lot and enter the school building on my own.
…But not today…
And it takes her by surprise even more than my sudden appearance at her house earlier this morning. This time, I have not only rendered her speechless, but also immobile.
“Baby,” I tease as I finally turn to her after I park. “Close your mouth…”
Then I get out of my car with an even bigger smirk.
She’s not showing any signs of getting out though, which is a bit of a problem (I didn’t plan to open the door for her in front of the entire school).
Still…
Maybe I can get away with it if I do it just right…
I get my bag from the backseat, close the door, walk around the car to get to her side, put on a fake scowl, and open her door.
And in a fake angry low voice, I tell her, “Whether you like it or not, I’m walking you to class, hot stuff.”
Ugh, ‘hot stuff?!’ I am so lame.
“Are you-are you sure, Quinn?” she asks.
I look straight into her eyes to let her see how serious I am then nod without a word.
She takes a deep breath and smiles that soft smile before stepping out of my car, one leg at a time and, God… her thighs… on display between her short plaid skirt and white knee-high socks… looking as incredibly smooth as they feel on my-
She clears her throat. I snap my eyes back to her face and realize how close she’s standing in front of me. If I lean forward a few more inches, then-
God! Get a grip, Fabray! Romance!
Right…
“Just so you know,” I murmur, “I really wanna hug the hell out of you, right now.”
She looks up and I notice that her chest is heaving. And with how her long-sleeved turtleneck shirt is clinging tightly to her-
“Well, just so you know,” she says just as softly, “I actually want to do more than just hug you right now.” I quickly grab the roof of my car because my knees almost gave out. “Namely, kiss you senseless.”
…
“Quinn?”
“Huh?”
“You’re not… thinking twice about walking together to class, are you?”
Are you kidding?! I’m thinking of ways to-
“I understand your reputation is important to you and-”
“I’m walking you to class, Rach.”
I’m surprised I sound a lot less shaky than how I feel (it’s definitely not out of nervousness from being seen with Rachel in school).
She nods and smiles weakly.
Okay, I need to try harder…
I need to make Rachel feel just how special she is and how special she is to me without ripping her-
Damn it. Can I just go a few minutes without thinking about that? (No) Ugh.
“Ready?”
She nods again, bites her lower lip, then turns around and I walk over to her right so as not to have my humongous gym bag between us.
I take a quick look at her before putting on my Queen Bitch sneer (the one I wore when Coach Sylvester made me head cheerleader again) and walking beside her with my head held high.
We’ve only taken a few steps but we’ve already made a couple of heads turn.
Rachel glances nervously at me so I wink at her and hope to God that my confidence will carry over.
But just when we’re about to enter the building, Santana shows up out of the blue, walks alongside Rachel, nods to us, and says, “Cupcake, Creampuff…”
I just about greeted her as ‘Jiggles.’
“Good morning, Santana,” Rachel smiles. “Where’s Brittany?”
Santana suddenly turns to Rach, looking very cross, and gripes, “I don’t know, okay? How the hell should I know? I don’t keep her in one of my pockets.”
Rachel blinks at her then slowly turns to me. I snort.
“Oh, shut up, you two,” Santana cries out before ditching us and ranting away in Spanish, not remembering to go to her locker.
And Rachel giggles.
Thank God for Santana… Thanks to her, Rachel’s starting to relax and forget about any misgivings she may have had just a couple of seconds ago as we continue walking towards our lockers.
“I’ll just take a minute,” I tell her when we’re in front of mine.
“Okay…”
Hers is a bit further down… which isn’t so bad considering the… view… it’s affording me…
I’m actually tempted to walk one foot behind her all the way to class, just so I can keep staring at her perfect… figure… and I have every right to appreciate my girlfriend’s… assets… But Rachel will probably get the wrong idea, so I won’t.
I’ll take every opportunity to sneak a peek though… In fact, there’s a perfect opportunity right about… now…
I slow down as we round the corner and let her turn left ahead of me then lower my gaze. I smile a little. But when I look up, I see two pairs of eyes widening in shock.
“Please tell me that my eyes are not deceiving me and that I seriously don’t need eyeglasses yet.”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Good. You know I just can’t rock that look and I’m not ready for contacts.”
They seem to have been frozen in place.
“Kurt, Mercedes,” Rachel greets them with a smile. “How are you this morning?”
“I was fine three seconds ago,” Kurt answers.
“Hey guys,” is all I say.
“So, like, what-you BFFs now?” Mercedes asks.
“We’re-we’re partners,” Rachel says, “in… lab…”
“Yeah… we have Chemistry… together…”
“Well, now that you’ve mentioned it,” Kurt looks us up and down, “you do have chemistry-the volatile kind-and I think I wanna be there when it blows up-just not on my face-I just had a facial.”
Mercedes gives him a look that says, ‘what the hell are you talkin’ about?’ Then she turns to us with her eyebrows still furrowed and her gaze switching back and forth between us, shakes her head, and walks away, muttering, “Man… this day is whacked.”
And Kurt runs after her.
Yeah, I should probably tell Mercedes soon…
I ask Rachel once we take our seats in class.
“Can I tell Mercedes?” I whisper.
She seems taken aback.
“It’s… entirely up to you,” she whispers back.
“No, it’s not.”
She smiles a little, “But she’s your friend.”
“I wanna tell her. But only if you’re okay with it.”
“You are aware that if you tell her then it’s only a matter of time before the whole Glee Club will know…”
“That’s the idea,” I smirk.
“Are you saying we should…?”
“Think about it, okay?”
She nods and smiles wider.
Then the school bell rings.
Commence phase two of ‘Romancing Rachel Berry,’ which means I’m gonna shower with Rachel-I mean-I’m gonna shower Rachel… with compliments.
‘I didn’t notice earlier but your nail polish looks cute. Just like you.’
Okay, so maybe I need to improve in the compliments department-a lot. But it’s a good thing Rachel and I share the first two periods-that’s plenty of time for me to get better before moving on to phase three. And I flatter her every chance I get through texts on my iPhone, and whispers in her ear, and notes on small pieces of paper.
‘Did I ever tell you that you remind me of Hermione Granger when you raise your hand like that? She’s also the best in her year, you know.’
‘That was such a great answer, baby. I’m sure you even covered Mr. Burke’s next three questions.’
‘Wow, an A+! If I were your girlfriend, I’d be so proud of you. Oh, wait. I am!’
‘If you keep smiling at me like that, I might need to wear sunglasses to school again.’
‘Seriously baby, you’re really putting your bedazzler to shame right now.’
‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’
And so on and so forth… (You get the picture.)
I’m free third period so I make use of it by breaking into Rachel’s locker and slipping a love note inside.
I’ve always been very handy with a nail file.
Speaking of which, I should file my nails soon. Well, I should cut them short first then file-not that I see a… specific… use for it in the… immediate… future. It’s just… best to get into the habit and be prepared. Yeah. Rachel said it once. Be prepared. So, I am…
I lean back against my locker and wait for her to show up…
When she does, her eyes immediately seek mine and time seems to slow down as we gaze at each other from across the hall until that moment when our faces threaten to burst into smiles-then we turn away at once.
I keep my eyes on her feet and watch the steps that she’s taking…
When she stops in front of her locker, I turn around and take the time to open mine…
I tug at the lock and turn my head. She glances at the same time.
She questions me with knitted brows and narrow eyes. I answer with a raised eyebrow and a smile.
She opens her locker to put her things inside and the look on her face tells me that she has spotted the paper I folded in thirds.
She brings it out and moves her fingers along the line where I put pen to paper.
At the very top, it says, ‘A penny for your thoughts.’
She unfolds it and the next line reads, “A nickel for your kiss.’
She unfolds again and inside… is a dime.
God, I’m so cheesy! And Rachel doesn’t even eat cheese. Then again, I can be cheesy and she’ll eat me up-I mean, it-she’ll eat it up. But who cares if I’m cheesy? I’m in love.
The huge smile on her face makes it all worth it.
She folds the note back, holds it close to her heart, and looks in my direction. She’s not looking at me but she sees me. I just know it.
My smile is just as huge as hers.
I get my binder and my book, close my locker, and take one more look at her. The thought of skipping class crosses my mind but if I do, Rachel will probably spend the time lecturing me on the consequences of missing a class so I quickly forget about it, turn on my heels, and set off for fourth period.
“Were you just smiling at Rachel?”
Eep!
“No…”
“You were, weren’t you?”
“Go away, Puck.”
I walk faster but he keeps up with me.
“I knew it,” he smirks. “I knew there was something going on with you and Berry.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do. You’ve been getting it on since summer.”
“We haven’t been getting it on!” (I didn’t sound too bitter, did I?) “And even if we have, it’s none of your business.”
“Oh, if it’s about two hot chicks hooking up, I make it my business.”
“Leave me alone.”
“Okay,” he turns around, “I’ll ask Rachel.”
I grab him by the wrist and drag him to a corner.
“What do you want, Puck?!”
“Just admit it. I’m not gonna tell anyone.”
“Admit what?”
“This thing with Rachel,” he says, but I don’t answer right away. He sighs, “Look, Quinn, I know I’m a jerk most of the time… and too bad things didn’t work out between us but… I really care about you… and I just wanna thank the dude-or in this case, the… girl dude or whatever’s girl for ‘dude’-who’s making you happy… You deserve to be happy, babe… I mean, I’ve never seen you this happy before…”
“…Thanks, Puck. That is so sweet…”
“So…” He grins, “You and Rachel?”
I take a deep breath.
“I’m in love with her, Puck…”
That makes us both smile.
“Cool… since summer?”
I nod.
“Sweet… Did she give you that hickey?”
“What hickey?”
“The one that’s peeking out of your collar.”
“It’s not a hickey.”
“Oh, I know hickeys. I’m a freaking connoisseur.”
“Okay, I’m leaving.” I start walking again.
“Hold up, you’re both wearing turtlenecks,” he says as he catches up with me. “She’s got one, too!”
“Not talking to you anymore.”
“That’s freaking hot,” he says, still walking along with me. “So you haven’t popped Rachel’s berry?”
“Shut up.”
“Damn… you did…”
“No, I haven’t!”
“But you want to.”
“Goodbye, Puck!”
He stops and shouts, “Hey… can I be your wingman when you try?”
Ugh! I am so late for class…
And since I’m late, it takes some time before I get to text Rachel.
10:24 AM
Puck knows.
Knows what?
10:25 AM
About us. Sorry, baby. He ambushed
me in the hallway so I told him. He’ll
probably talk to you soon.
Oh! So that’s what the high five
was for!
He gave you a high five? So
typical.
10:26 AM
Yes he did. And now it’s really
only a matter of time before the
rest of the Glee-clubbers know
about us, isn’t it?
Yeah. Puck’s an even bigger
blabbermouth than
Mercedes. So sorry, baby.
10:27 AM
It’s okay, baby. Everything’s
going to be fine. xoxo
I miss you.
I miss you too!
But it doesn’t take long before Rachel texts again.
10:33 AM
Jacob knows!
What?!
He claims to have a photo of us
kissing in the driveway last night!
(Oh, shit.)
10:34 AM
But he told me not to tell you and
has threatened to run the story if
I do and also if I don’t give in to his
demands! We shouldn’t be seen
together until I
10:35 AM
find a solution!
I’m gonna kill him! I was looking
forward to lunch! What exactly
does he want from you?
Baby, you don’t want to know.
10:36 AM
I am really gonna kill him! I think I
know. Don’t worry, baby. I’ll
handle this.
How?
10:37 AM
Tell him to meet you by the door of
the girls’ bathroom on the 3rd floor
at 2:50pm and to bring the photos.
You need to see if he’s telling the
truth. Try to convince him to bring
the camera with the memory card.
10:38 am
I’ll text you again later with other
details, ok? Don’t stress yourself
out. I got this.
Okay <3
10:39 AM
And let me just say that you
channeling Sarah from that TV
show Chuck is like the
hottest thing ever.
Oh, God… If it weren’t for the fact that I haven’t done anything yet, I would’ve given myself a wink and a smile and called it a day right then and there.
But I have to do this for Rachel.
I want to do this for Rachel.
And I spend lunch until eighth period carefully planning my mission.
By ninth period, I’m pumped.
This is going to be the most amazing thing I’ve ever done for her, uhm… so far… and Jacob what’s-his-name unwittingly hands it to me on a silver platter.
And with Rachel being Rachel and Jacob being, well… overeager (and super gross), they enter the girls’ bathroom at 2:49pm (as expected).
One of them locks the door and then Rachel gasps.
“N-no, no-y-you-you s-stop right there!” she splutters.
“Why delay the inevitable?” Jacob asks innocently in his usual sickening, trembling voice.
“J-just show me the photos!” Rachel demands.
“Okay…”
Then, a zipper opens. (I really hope it’s from a bag.)
“Here,” he says.
“Oh my…”
There’s silence in the bathroom for what seems like forever… until Rachel asks, “How did you get all these?”
“I was… hiding behind a bush on your neighbor’s lawn,” he says.
“You’ve been stalking me?!”
“For several weeks now… Word on the street was that you broke up with Finn Hudson over someone else… but nobody knows who… so I was compelled to investigate.”
“You mean, stalk.”
“I knew I’d hit a gold mine when I kept seeing Quinn Fabray at your house every day.” (He sounds like he’s smiling and I just wanna wring his neck.)
“Ha-have you told anyone about this?” Rachel asks.
“No one…”
“Good.”
“It wasn’t until last night that I’ve secured some clear photographic evidence of your intimate liaisons with the Queen Bee,” he says proudly (and I seriously want to punch him in the face).
“And what do you want from me, Jacob?”
“I want in on your panties.” (Eww) “Let me bask in the splendor of post-coital bliss with you, Rachel.” (More eww)
“And-and if I won’t?”
“I’ll run the story of your Sapphic ways and Quinn Fabray will surely be disgraced… again.”
A pause and then…
“Alright,” Rachel says, sounding resigned.
She takes another pause before she speaks again.
“Why don’t you head over there in the corner,” she tells him, “while I… prepare…”
“Yes!” he cheers and noisily shuffles across the bathroom.
“And stay there,” Rachel orders as she stands by the door of the first cubicle. Then she opens it a crack, slips inside, and locks it in a hurry.
When she turns around again, she quickly takes two steps, reaches out for me, and wraps her arms around my neck.
I try to comfort her by holding her tight and quietly kissing her shoulder and her neck.
When we pull apart, I cup her face and mouth, ‘You okay?’
She nods.
‘Okay,’ I mouth again.
I’m sitting on top of the toilet tank with my feet up on the bowl and I stay where I am for now and nod to Rach. She knows what to do next.
She turns to face the door, takes off her top, and hangs it over the door.
I try hard to look anywhere but her gorgeous back and I try harder to ignore the noises coming from outside the stall.
I turn my head to the left and Santana’s mouth is open and her right eyebrow is shot.
She’s sitting beside me on top of the tank and I give her a nudge to stop her from looking at Rachel.
She turns to me with her eyebrows furrowed and mouths, ‘What?’
I glare at her. She rolls her eyes. Then I push her hand holding the digital camcorder up to tell her not to capture Rachel taking her clothes off (it’s been recording since Rachel and Jacob entered the bathroom). And Santana rolls her eyes again but tilts the camcorder higher.
I turn back to Rach and-oh, my ass…
Whoever says that black lace is the sexiest underwear hasn’t seen Rachel in white cotton (with her knee socks on).
Lord, give me strength…
There’s work to be done.
Okay… Inhale… Exhale…
This time, she drapes her skirt over the door.
Inhale… Exhale…
I snap out of it when she turns her head to look at me.
So I look at Santana, who nods. Then Rachel puts her left hand on the lock. And we’re all set. I use my fingers for the countdown.
We’ll take action in three… two…
I point at the lock and Rachel opens the door as Santana simultaneously leaps off the toilet with the camcorder set to capture Jacob in whatever state he’s in and rushes out the door. I immediately go after her and we find Jacob buck naked and huddled against the wall with his hands covering his boy parts.
“You weren’t supposed to know!” he croaks.
I want to beat him to a pulp but he’ll bruise and I can’t have him accusing me of assault.
I hear a beep from the camcorder and turn to Santana, who has turned it off. She swivels the LCD monitor back in place and says, “Got it.” So I raise my hand and click on the tiny remote that Lauren Zizes of the AV Club has provided to turn off the CCTV camera that I asked her to install on the ceiling. Then Santana takes the memory card from Jacob’s digital SLR.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
I turn to Jacob and glower.
“What does it look like we’re doing?” Santana retorts.
“Time for some serious talk, Jewfro,” I tell him as I move forward with my hands on my hips.
Santana tags along and stands on my left with her arms crossed.
“If you so much as save a draft of your story about us on your blog, with our pictures on it… I will not only get you expelled… I will get you arrested… for stalking… lewd conduct… and extortion. And one of them is a felony.”
“But you’re… guilty of blackmail yourself right now… aren’t you?” he asks nervously.
“Maybe I am,” I smirk, “but you don’t have a video to prove it, do you?”
“Which sucks for you,” Santana says.
“So here’s how it’s gonna go,” I take one step closer and loom over him. “You will not pee in your hands. You better be quivering because of fear and not because of your bladder. You got that?”
He nods.
“You will not talk or write about my relationship with Rachel, with anyone or anywhere. You will not even confirm that you knew anything about it when we finally come out. But here’s the most important part, so listen more closely-are you listening?”
He nods again.
“From now on, you will not look at Rachel. You will not go anywhere near Rachel and you will not follow her around. You will not go to her neighborhood, her house, her class, the choir room, the auditorium, or any of the places she frequently visits and performs. If you just happen to have the same class with her, transfer. Still listening?”
He gulps then nods again.
“You will not speak to Rachel and you will not speak about Rachel. The only time that you can is when you have to interview her for the school paper, not your blog. But you will not interview her alone and it has to be about Glee or the musical that she stars in. And when she’s famous and people find out that you went to high school together, the only thing you can say is that she’s beautiful and you’ve always admired her talent,” I smile faintly before glaring at him again.
“But if you write or say anything out of spite, if Rachel feels threatened by you in any way, or if you think about her again, watch her videos, or listen to her recordings when you touch yourself, I swear… I will hunt you down and cut off your penis and your balls way before you can even dupe a nice Jewish girl into marrying you.”
“Oh, and FYI,” Santana chimes in, “with the tiny situation you’ve got going on there, it’ll be very easy.”
“Imagine how disappointed your mother would be if you couldn’t give her any Jewish offspring,” I add. “I know a thing or two about Jewish mothers… and I bet your mother would be incredibly disappointed, wouldn’t she?”
“Yes…”
“So have I made myself clear?”
“Crystal…”
“Good,” I pull back, relax, and smile. And in my sweetest voice, I tell him, “As a reward for your cooperation, I’ll tell Puck not to throw you in the dumpster for the rest of our stay in high school.”
He nods and whimpers, “Can I go now?”
“Go change in one of the deserted classrooms outside and cover yourself as you go,” I instruct. “We don’t want to see any more than we did earlier.”
He hastily grabs his clothes on the sink, covers himself, and runs out the door.
Rachel wisely gets out of his way.
She’s now fully clothed, leaning against the sink near the door, and looking at me expectantly. But her eyes shift to Santana, who’s making a face and shaking her head.
“Why did we even like boys?!”
“Beats me…”
She holds the camcorder and the memory card up, turns to me, and says, “I’ll give these to you later,” then starts walking towards the door. But she stops beside Rachel, turns to her and says, “Nice bod, Berry. If it doesn’t work out between you two, call me.”
“Santana,” I growl.
“What? I said ‘if,’ okay?” Then she looks at her watch and says, “You’ve got seven minutes,” and leaves.
The moment she closes the door, Rachel’s lips are on mine and she’s clinging to my neck.
Now, this… is seven minutes in heaven…
And we’re not wasting a second of it…
So when our time is up and our lips are sore, Rachel simply grins as she lets go and says, “I’ll see you later…”
“Uhuh…” I nod hazily.
And I’m grinning like an idiot again as I leave the bathroom, text Lauren to remove the surveillance camera, and get to practice with my hands on my hips but with a newfound swagger.
It feels like I’m walking in slow motion and James Brown is singing just for me…
Whoaaa! I feel good!
Tananan-nanan-nanan
I knew that I would, now.
Tananan-nanan-nanan
I feel good…
Tananan-nanan-nanan
I knew that I would.
Tananan-nanan-nanan…
So good! So good! I got you!
Tan-tan-tan-tannnn…
I really hope things continue to go well way after dinner.