For the Love of Summer [2/3]
Title: For the Love of Summer
Pairings/Characters: Rachel/Quinn, mentions Brittany/Santana & Tina/Artie, the rest of New Directions & Mr. Schuester
Rating: PG-13 for this part. NC-17 overall.
Length: ~4,000 for this chapter. 13,300+ overall.
Summary: When Rachel signs New Directions up for Lima's summer softball league she doesn't expect it to be one of the most memorable summers of her life.
Author's Note: See Part 1
Part 1
-Part 2-
Rachel picked up the team t-shirts before she and Quinn went to their first game on Tuesday evening. When she said pink, she meant it. The shirts were fluorescent pink with Kurt’s design of “New Directions” printed on the front and each of their first names printed in block letters on the back. Everyone huddled in the dugout on the third base line and watched as the Gillis Chiropractic team warmed up on the field.
“This is like the time we saw Vocal Adrenaline at their invitational,” Kurt gasped. “I thought this was an amateur league.”
“It is,” Rachel sighed. “I guess they’re just really good. Don’t be discouraged, though! We’re batting first!”
Everyone groaned.
“Hey guys!” Mr. Schuester appeared out of nowhere behind the dugout. “You guys excited?”
Another groan and a few mumbles.
“Everyone’s just a little nervous, Mr. Schuester,” Rachel said. “But I believe we’ll do just fine.”
Brittany went up to bat first and managed to hit a single and get on base but just barely. Matt followed and got an out when he hit a pop-fly to the short stop. Finn hit a double to the outfield and then Puck drove Brittany home with another base hit. Mike hit another pop-fly and it turned into a double play when Finn got caught between third and home.
“Good job, everyone!” Rachel praised as the batters shuffled in. “I told you there was nothing to worry about!”
Mike’s very first pitch ended up in a home run for Gillis Chiropractic because the ball went to right field where Rachel was and she completely panicked and threw it in whatever direction she could and it landed still in the outfield between first and second. Matt and Brittany ran at the same time to get it and collided with each other and Santana missed the ball when Matt finally threw it to her because she was laughing so hard. The rest of the inning wasn’t much better and New Directions finally made the third out on a pop up to Mike but not until the other team scored their fifth run.
“We might as well forfeit now to spare ourselves the humiliation,” Kurt said.
“Shut your trap, Hummel.” Everyone looked at Quinn and she growled. “What? So we’re not the best in the league, who cares? At least we’re doing something other than sitting at home playing freaking video games.” Quinn grabbed a helmet and held it out. “Who’s up?”
Santana grabbed the helmet and on her way out of the dugout Puck smacked her ass. Brittany lunged for him but he fought her off.
“Just watch, okay?” Puck gestured to a very furious Santana who was striding to the plate.
Santana hit a double into the outfield. Mercedes was up next and hit the ball between first and second base, Santana managed to get on third but Mercedes was out when the ball got back to the first baseman a split second before she touched the base. Quinn shoved a helmet onto her head and stormed out of the dugout. She took her stance and Rachel swore she could see Quinn’s shoulders tense through her shirt. The blonde swung hard on the first pitch and missed completely. The second was low. The third was inside and Quinn had to jump out of the way. Rachel held her breath at the fourth pitch and watched Quinn swing and ball connected with bat and the blonde took off running. The ball landed somewhere beyond the left fielder who had been playing shallow. Quinn ran hard and rounded first, then second, Santana scored, Mike stopped Quinn at third and the entire team cheered.
Rachel shook nervously as Puck pushed her out of the dugout. She grabbed her bat and slowly walked up to the plate. She looked over at Quinn and the blonde smiled at her.
“You can do it, Rach,” Quinn called. “Just hit it and run.”
Rachel nodded and took her stance. The first two pitches were high and the catcher mumbled something about a midget. Rachel growled and gripped the bat a little tighter. She swung at the third pitch and missed, same with the fourth. The fifth was once again high. As the pitcher wound up Rachel took a deep breath and when she saw the ball come toward her she smiled a little and swung as hard as she could. She felt the ball connect and immediately dropped her bat and ran, not watching that the ball had skipped between the shortstop’s legs. Finn stopped her at first. She grinned when she got there and jumped up and down a few times, Quinn flashed a smile from walking to the dugout after having scored and gave her a thumbs up. Rachel was stranded on base as the last two outs came with Tina and Kurt.
The other team scored only four runs that inning and New Directions did everything they could to keep up. There were minimal problems the rest of the game and Rachel actually got the ball to go to her destination when she threw it to Brittany in the fifth inning. They still lost pretty badly with a score of 19-8 but Rachel was proud and the team agreed to go to Denny’s to celebrate making it out of the game alive.
The practices were getting easier and Rachel thought the team was actually getting kind of good. She didn’t hurt anyone on Thursday or Saturday and everyone stopped complaining so much. By their next game against Lima Dental Associates they were pumped and ready to go. Rachel lost focus after the third inning because she’d scored a run and New Directions was actually ahead, 5-3. However, because Rachel was so excited she missed a ball that was hit right to her and it landed about three inches away from her feet. She panicked and completely missed her throw and three more runs scored. New Directions lost again, 10-7.
“We’re getting better!” Rachel tried to argue. “Winning isn’t everything!”
“Never thought I’d hear that out of your mouth,” Santana said with a smirk. “Whatever, Berry. It’s no big deal.”
In their third game against Team Pick-n-Save they were tied 5-5 in the bottom of their last inning and the other team was up to bat with two outs. The woman had already hit three times right at Rachel and so the brunette was ready for her this time. She was holding her glove out and as soon as she heard the sound of ball hitting aluminum she looked up and there it was and before she knew it there was a pain in the palm of her hand and she gripped tight and looked at her glove at the fluorescent yellow sphere.
“I did it!” she shrieked. The brunette dashed in from right field and was met and surrounded by her teammates. “What now? Do we play more? It was tied, we play more, right?” Rachel started firing off questions.
“I don’t know,” Finn said.
Everyone looked to the umpire who was walking off the field.
“Hey!” Puck yelled. “It was tied, we have to play another inning!”
“Not in this league. A tie is a tie.” The man walked off the field toward the concession stands and everyone was silent for a minute.
“We didn’t lose!” came simultaneously from everyone. They scrambled to get their things together and met at Denny’s for a big celebratory dinner. Rachel didn’t miss that Quinn kicked Tina out of her chair to sit next to her.
“Don’t forget,” Rachel said as everyone got up to go pay their checks, “no practice on Thursday or Saturday, and no game on Tuesday because of Independence Day.”
“And party at my house Saturday night,” Puck said.
“Noah, doesn’t your mother ever know about these parties?”
“She takes my sister to see our relatives or whatever in Cleveland for Fourth of July weekend.”
Rachel nodded. “I’ll see if Quinn wants to go.”
“You got a thing for her?”
“No!” Rachel hissed, a little too loudly and insistently.
“Whatever, Berry. It’s cool. Can I watch you make out?”
“You’re disgusting. If she wants to go to the party we’ll be bringing our own non-alcoholic drinks, by the way. So don’t even think about it.”
-*-*-*-*-*-
“So what should we do this afternoon?” Rachel asked Quinn when Thursday came. “It’s supposed to rain.”
The blonde shrugged and clicked through a few more channels. “What do you want to do?”
“Well there are board games or movies. We could go bowling or perhaps we could…”
“I want to go for a drive,” Quinn said suddenly. “Just…a drive.”
“Okay. Where?”
“Anywhere. Let’s just go.”
An hour later it was pouring down rain and Rachel could barely see out her windshield. She spotted what looked like a gas station and the first building they’d seen in miles and so she pulled into the little gravel parking lot. A closer look at the building revealed it was abandoned. Quinn reached for her door handle and Rachel squeaked.
“You can’t go out there! What if there’s a crazy hobo hiding in that building! Or someone with a chainsaw!?”
“We’re laying off the serial killer movies.”
Quinn got out of the car but instead of running for the building she shut her door and just walked back toward the road. Rachel scrambled to get the umbrella out of her back seat and she got out and followed the blonde.
“Quinn, you can’t stand in the middle of the road!”
“Berry, we haven’t seen a car for thirty miles. I think it’ll be fine.”
“At least come under the umbrella.”
Quinn smiled and walked over to Rachel. She huddled underneath the umbrella and locked eyes with the brunette and smirked.
“Don’t hate me,” Quinn whispered.
Rachel quirked her eyebrow. Quinn reached up and pushed the button to make the umbrella fold up. Rachel shrieked and Quinn grabbed the umbrella before the singer could do anything. She chased the blonde around the parking lot and out into the road then back to the parking lot. Rachel yelled, Quinn laughed and started running circles around Rachel’s car.
“It doesn’t matter now, you’re already wet!” Quinn giggled. She opened the car door and tossed the umbrella in. “Just enjoy it. I know you like to dance so just…dance in the rain.” Quinn jogged back out into the middle of the road.
Rachel sighed and reluctantly followed. At least it was a warm rain. Quinn held her arms out and spun around in circles. Rachel watched and pretended not to notice Quinn’s soaking wet t-shirt and the way it clung to her body showing all of her curves. She swallowed hard when she felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. She put her focus back on Quinn’s face but that wasn’t much better. With the beads of water rolling down the blonde’s forehead and cheeks Quinn looked absolutely beautiful.
Quinn stumbled a bit when she stopped spinning and Rachel caught her arm. The blonde smiled down at her and Rachel felt her pulse start racing.
“I think it’s starting to let up,” Rachel said with a nod.
“Dance with me.”
“Okay.”
Quinn wrapped her arms around Rachel’s waist and the brunette slipped her arms up around Quinn’s neck and they swayed to the sound of the rain hitting pavement. Quinn tilted her head back and smiled up at the sky. When she finally looked back down she slowed the swaying to a halt and her arms stayed where they were. Rachel swore she saw the girl’s face get closer.
The brunette swallowed hard and closed her eyes and just as she felt the tip of Quinn’s nose touch hers there was a blaring car horn and the blonde pulled away. They both shrieked and ran back to the gravel parking lot.
“We should go,” Rachel said looking at the ground. “My dads are probably worried.”
Rachel opened her trunk and pulled out two blankets to drape over the car seats on the ride home.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn didn’t bring it up and neither did Rachel. All Rachel knew was that Quinn Fabray was about to kiss her and she really wished she would have gotten the license plate number of that car so she could find and smack the driver. Things were almost normal between them through the weekend. They went to Puck’s party and agreed to stick close together so Puck wouldn’t try anything. It rained again on Tuesday and Rachel had to snap Quinn’s attention back to the Scrabble board more than once because the blonde was looking longingly out the window.
Thursday’s practice was brutal. Rachel didn’t realize how quickly she could actually get out of shape and Puck had been demanding in their workouts.
“I’d at least like to win one,” he said when Mercedes complained.
“You didn’t like the idea in the first place,” Rachel noted.
“Yeah but if we’re gonna do something then we better do it right.”
Rachel was pretty sore the next morning, Quinn seemed to be her usual bouncing self. When Rachel dropped to the couch in the basement next to the blonde and groaned Quinn just laughed.
“You should be used to working those muscles by now.”
“Not these muscles,” Rachel said. “My shoulders are killing me.”
“Turn around, back to me.”
Rachel obliged and Quinn gripped onto Rachel’s shoulders and pressed her thumbs deep. Rachel groaned and immediately relaxed and let Quinn work out the knots and the soreness. Quinn’s thumb grazed the bare skin on Rachel’s neck before she pulled away and the brunette shuddered. She turned around and smiled shyly.
“Thanks.”
Quinn nodded. “Anything good on TV?”
Rachel shrugged.
Quinn flipped through the channels and finally turned off the TV and tossed the remote on the table.
“Why are you doing this, Rachel?”
Rachel snapped her head to the side and whimpered then rubbed her neck a little. “What?”
“This. Letting me sit here on your couch and live in your house and eat your food,” Quinn turned her head to the side. “Why?”
“We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Since when?”
“I…I don’t know, really. Why did you accept my offer?”
“I had nowhere else to go.”
“That’s not true. You could’ve gone to Brittany or Santana or even Kurt.”
“No I couldn’t.” Quinn crossed her arms over her chest.
“Yes you could have, you just didn’t want to. You chose to come to me.”
“You chose to let me come here.”
“Because we’re teammates and I care about you. Do you think I don’t know what it’s like to be alienated, Quinn? Don’t forget the way I’ve been treated my entire life. I know what it’s like to not know who your friends are or if anyone cares about you. Despite the way you’ve treated me for the past few years I don’t wish upon you anymore alienation than you’ve already suffered.”
“So it’s a pity thing?”
“No, my friend needed someone to be there for her. So here I am. Take it or leave it.”
Quinn narrowed her eyes and smiled. “You have ‘Take Me or Leave Me’ stuck in your head right now, don’t you?”
Rachel blinked. “You can read minds? And more importantly, you’ve seen Rent?”
“No, I just know you. And yes, I’ve seen it. But only the movie version.”
“The traveling cast was in Columbus one year, I saw it there. And I own the movie, of course. And Daddy got me an autographed poster on e-Bay for my birthday.”
“You’re such a dork, Berry.”
“You really need to come up with new insults, Fabray.”
Quinn looked down at her lap and picked at her nails. “It’s not really an insult.”
“Last I checked, ‘dork’ was an insult.”
“No, ‘geek’ or ‘nerd’ would be an insult.”
“So what’s the difference?”
Quinn snapped her head up and stared directly into Rachel’s eyes and Rachel saw the girl swallow hard and smile a little.
“Dorks are cute.”
Before Rachel had a chance to respond Quinn had jumped up off the couch and scrambled up the stairs. Rachel sat with her jaw open and her heart racing. She hopped up off the couch and dashed up the stairs, Quinn was nowhere to be found. She went through the kitchen and living room. Her Daddy finally told her that Quinn had left. Rachel quickly slipped on her shoes and ran out the front door. Her sprint was stopped short when she tripped over Quinn on the front steps and went flying face first into the front yard.
“Rachel!”
Rachel groaned and sat up. She spat out the mouthful of grass and dirt and Quinn was hovering over her a second later.
“Rachel, are you okay?”
“I think so. Why are you sitting on the front porch?”
Quinn shrugged. “I didn’t have shoes on so I couldn’t really go running and my keys are in my room.”
“Why did you run?”
“Because I was scared. When I get scared I run.”
“You have no reason to be scared of me.”
Quinn sighed. “Yeah, I do.” She turned on her heel and went back into the house.
Rachel blinked a few times and growled at Quinn walking away yet again. She hoisted herself up off the ground and her first stop was her bathroom to rinse the dirt taste out of her mouth and to brush her teeth. She stood outside Quinn’s bedroom door and heard nothing but silence. She twisted the handle and pushed it open, the blonde was sitting in the middle of her bed staring at the door.
“Why are you scared of me?” Rachel crossed the floor and hopped up onto the bed.
“Because you’re kind of intense.”
“That’s never scared you before.”
“I didn’t like you before.”
“Oh.” Rachel looked down at her lap.
“I would’ve kissed you if that car hadn’t come.”
“I would’ve let you.”
Rachel gasped when Quinn put her fingertips underneath her chin and guided her head to look back up.
“What if I kissed you now? Would you still let me?”
Rachel nodded. She was really glad she’d brushed her teeth before this. She closed her eyes and again the tip of Quinn’s nose touched hers only this time there was no car horn. Just soft lips against hers and a warm tongue darting out to pass over her bottom lip and silently ask for permission. Rachel opened her mouth and her tongue met Quinn’s halfway. Quinn moaned a little and pulled Rachel a little closer and deepened the kiss a little more, Rachel tangled her fingers into blonde hair. Quinn was the one to pull away and Rachel slowly opened her eyes and attempted to read the expression on Quinn’s face.
“Quinn?”
“I really want to do that again.”
-*-*-*-*-*-
Rachel had trouble focusing during Saturday’s practice and she blamed Quinn entirely. The blonde was whistling at her from the outfield and the dugout. Rachel missed three perfectly good pitches and Quinn could do nothing but giggle.
“God you guys,” Santana growled when they were on water break, “be more obvious that you did it, please. I dare you to try.”
“Santana!” Rachel shrieked. “We did not as you so eloquently put it, ‘do it’! And if we had ‘done it’ then it would’ve been none of your business.”
“That is so hot,” Puck said with a grin. “You guys should make out. Like…right now.”
“Noah, you are disgusting.”
Rachel decided to get a little revenge on the blonde so she gave Santana $10 to tell Finn she wanted to sit out and Rachel eagerly took the Latina’s place behind the plate. When it was Quinn’s turn to bat the second that Mike wound up Rachel smirked.
“I love your ass in those shorts.”
Strike one.
“Rachel!” Quinn hissed. “That…” she giggled. “Throw the ball back!”
Rachel tossed the ball at Mike and squatted down again. Mike wound up.
“Your thighs look really kissable right now.”
Strike two.
Quinn growled but it quickly turned into a giggle when Rachel smiled innocently. The brunette tossed the ball back and Mike wound up once again.
“I wonder what your tongue feels like when it’s somewhere other than my mouth.”
Strike three and Quinn threw the bat on the ground and pulled Rachel up by the collar of her shirt and kissed her.
“Holy shit,” Puck groaned.
“Mail! Oh God! Mail!”
Rachel pulled away in time to see Finn run off the field.
“Practice is done!” the short brunette yelled. “Game is at seven thirty on Tuesday, field four!”
“What’d you do that for?” Quinn asked with a smirk. “I was fine with playing for another hour or so.”
“You don’t want to go back home and make out for an hour?” Rachel shrugged. “Fine, I’ll call it back on.”
“You’re such a dork, Berry.”
-*-*-*-*-*-
New Directions’ next game was against M C Sporting Goods and although everyone expected to get completely slaughtered because duh, it’s a sporting goods store, they kind of sucked. They were tied in their records each with two losses and a tie. New Directions scored five runs in the first inning and Santana borrowed Rachel’s trick she'd used against Quinn when the other team started gaining on them and after that it was strike after strike. The bottom of the final inning had them tied, 7-7, with Mike up to bat and Matt on third. Mike’s hit was perfectly landed in the outfield and Matt ran home. The entire team was in disbelief. They’d just won their first game of the season.
“That was so amazing!” Rachel shrieked as she bounced out of the bathroom after her shower. “It was like when we won sectionals! We should do this next summer, too! We would be even better by then, I’m sure.”
Quinn smiled up from thumbing through a magazine while sitting in the middle of Rachel’s bed after her own shower. “We should.”
“You played amazingly, by the way.”
“So did you, Rach. You’ve come a long way from getting hit in the forehead.”
Rachel giggled and situated herself next to Quinn and leaned her head on the blonde’s shoulder.
“I hate that we only have three more games.”
“I hate that we have to go back to school.”
“Why? School won’t change anything, will it?”
“I’ll have to go back to my parents. They have to sign stuff and get me registered. They'll know I'm gone because I won't be talking about Cheerios practice.”
“You’re going to re-join the Cheerios?”
Quinn shrugged. “I’ll still be in glee club.”
“What about us, though? I mean, Brittany and Santana can get away with it because both of them are Cheerios but if any of them knew you were…we were…together…”
Quinn smiled and tilted Rachel’s head up to kiss her forehead. “I don’t want to worry about it right now. I just want to have a good summer, okay? We’ll worry about us right now, not them.”
Rachel pulled away. “It’ll be just like this summer never existed, won’t it? You’ll be civilized but you’ll go along with whatever the Cheerios want you to do because you give in to peer pressure easily. You won’t want to be seen with me in the hallways.”
“It won’t be like that.”
“Is this real or is it just a fling to you, Quinn?”
Quinn slipped her hand behind Rachel’s neck and pulled her in for a searing kiss. Rachel completely had her breath taken away and she gripped onto the blonde’s shoulder. When Quinn pulled away she stared deep into Rachel’s eyes.
“It’s real, Rachel. You and me, it’s real. This, us, right now, it’s all real. Don’t screw it up by assuming things about me. High school isn’t real. It’s just…there. I don’t want to think about it.”
“And your parents?”
Quinn was silent.
“We’ll wait,” Rachel said. “We’ll just…get through the summer.”
Part 3
Pairings/Characters: Rachel/Quinn, mentions Brittany/Santana & Tina/Artie, the rest of New Directions & Mr. Schuester
Rating: PG-13 for this part. NC-17 overall.
Length: ~4,000 for this chapter. 13,300+ overall.
Summary: When Rachel signs New Directions up for Lima's summer softball league she doesn't expect it to be one of the most memorable summers of her life.
Author's Note: See Part 1
Part 1
-Part 2-
Rachel picked up the team t-shirts before she and Quinn went to their first game on Tuesday evening. When she said pink, she meant it. The shirts were fluorescent pink with Kurt’s design of “New Directions” printed on the front and each of their first names printed in block letters on the back. Everyone huddled in the dugout on the third base line and watched as the Gillis Chiropractic team warmed up on the field.
“This is like the time we saw Vocal Adrenaline at their invitational,” Kurt gasped. “I thought this was an amateur league.”
“It is,” Rachel sighed. “I guess they’re just really good. Don’t be discouraged, though! We’re batting first!”
Everyone groaned.
“Hey guys!” Mr. Schuester appeared out of nowhere behind the dugout. “You guys excited?”
Another groan and a few mumbles.
“Everyone’s just a little nervous, Mr. Schuester,” Rachel said. “But I believe we’ll do just fine.”
Brittany went up to bat first and managed to hit a single and get on base but just barely. Matt followed and got an out when he hit a pop-fly to the short stop. Finn hit a double to the outfield and then Puck drove Brittany home with another base hit. Mike hit another pop-fly and it turned into a double play when Finn got caught between third and home.
“Good job, everyone!” Rachel praised as the batters shuffled in. “I told you there was nothing to worry about!”
Mike’s very first pitch ended up in a home run for Gillis Chiropractic because the ball went to right field where Rachel was and she completely panicked and threw it in whatever direction she could and it landed still in the outfield between first and second. Matt and Brittany ran at the same time to get it and collided with each other and Santana missed the ball when Matt finally threw it to her because she was laughing so hard. The rest of the inning wasn’t much better and New Directions finally made the third out on a pop up to Mike but not until the other team scored their fifth run.
“We might as well forfeit now to spare ourselves the humiliation,” Kurt said.
“Shut your trap, Hummel.” Everyone looked at Quinn and she growled. “What? So we’re not the best in the league, who cares? At least we’re doing something other than sitting at home playing freaking video games.” Quinn grabbed a helmet and held it out. “Who’s up?”
Santana grabbed the helmet and on her way out of the dugout Puck smacked her ass. Brittany lunged for him but he fought her off.
“Just watch, okay?” Puck gestured to a very furious Santana who was striding to the plate.
Santana hit a double into the outfield. Mercedes was up next and hit the ball between first and second base, Santana managed to get on third but Mercedes was out when the ball got back to the first baseman a split second before she touched the base. Quinn shoved a helmet onto her head and stormed out of the dugout. She took her stance and Rachel swore she could see Quinn’s shoulders tense through her shirt. The blonde swung hard on the first pitch and missed completely. The second was low. The third was inside and Quinn had to jump out of the way. Rachel held her breath at the fourth pitch and watched Quinn swing and ball connected with bat and the blonde took off running. The ball landed somewhere beyond the left fielder who had been playing shallow. Quinn ran hard and rounded first, then second, Santana scored, Mike stopped Quinn at third and the entire team cheered.
Rachel shook nervously as Puck pushed her out of the dugout. She grabbed her bat and slowly walked up to the plate. She looked over at Quinn and the blonde smiled at her.
“You can do it, Rach,” Quinn called. “Just hit it and run.”
Rachel nodded and took her stance. The first two pitches were high and the catcher mumbled something about a midget. Rachel growled and gripped the bat a little tighter. She swung at the third pitch and missed, same with the fourth. The fifth was once again high. As the pitcher wound up Rachel took a deep breath and when she saw the ball come toward her she smiled a little and swung as hard as she could. She felt the ball connect and immediately dropped her bat and ran, not watching that the ball had skipped between the shortstop’s legs. Finn stopped her at first. She grinned when she got there and jumped up and down a few times, Quinn flashed a smile from walking to the dugout after having scored and gave her a thumbs up. Rachel was stranded on base as the last two outs came with Tina and Kurt.
The other team scored only four runs that inning and New Directions did everything they could to keep up. There were minimal problems the rest of the game and Rachel actually got the ball to go to her destination when she threw it to Brittany in the fifth inning. They still lost pretty badly with a score of 19-8 but Rachel was proud and the team agreed to go to Denny’s to celebrate making it out of the game alive.
The practices were getting easier and Rachel thought the team was actually getting kind of good. She didn’t hurt anyone on Thursday or Saturday and everyone stopped complaining so much. By their next game against Lima Dental Associates they were pumped and ready to go. Rachel lost focus after the third inning because she’d scored a run and New Directions was actually ahead, 5-3. However, because Rachel was so excited she missed a ball that was hit right to her and it landed about three inches away from her feet. She panicked and completely missed her throw and three more runs scored. New Directions lost again, 10-7.
“We’re getting better!” Rachel tried to argue. “Winning isn’t everything!”
“Never thought I’d hear that out of your mouth,” Santana said with a smirk. “Whatever, Berry. It’s no big deal.”
In their third game against Team Pick-n-Save they were tied 5-5 in the bottom of their last inning and the other team was up to bat with two outs. The woman had already hit three times right at Rachel and so the brunette was ready for her this time. She was holding her glove out and as soon as she heard the sound of ball hitting aluminum she looked up and there it was and before she knew it there was a pain in the palm of her hand and she gripped tight and looked at her glove at the fluorescent yellow sphere.
“I did it!” she shrieked. The brunette dashed in from right field and was met and surrounded by her teammates. “What now? Do we play more? It was tied, we play more, right?” Rachel started firing off questions.
“I don’t know,” Finn said.
Everyone looked to the umpire who was walking off the field.
“Hey!” Puck yelled. “It was tied, we have to play another inning!”
“Not in this league. A tie is a tie.” The man walked off the field toward the concession stands and everyone was silent for a minute.
“We didn’t lose!” came simultaneously from everyone. They scrambled to get their things together and met at Denny’s for a big celebratory dinner. Rachel didn’t miss that Quinn kicked Tina out of her chair to sit next to her.
“Don’t forget,” Rachel said as everyone got up to go pay their checks, “no practice on Thursday or Saturday, and no game on Tuesday because of Independence Day.”
“And party at my house Saturday night,” Puck said.
“Noah, doesn’t your mother ever know about these parties?”
“She takes my sister to see our relatives or whatever in Cleveland for Fourth of July weekend.”
Rachel nodded. “I’ll see if Quinn wants to go.”
“You got a thing for her?”
“No!” Rachel hissed, a little too loudly and insistently.
“Whatever, Berry. It’s cool. Can I watch you make out?”
“You’re disgusting. If she wants to go to the party we’ll be bringing our own non-alcoholic drinks, by the way. So don’t even think about it.”
-*-*-*-*-*-
“So what should we do this afternoon?” Rachel asked Quinn when Thursday came. “It’s supposed to rain.”
The blonde shrugged and clicked through a few more channels. “What do you want to do?”
“Well there are board games or movies. We could go bowling or perhaps we could…”
“I want to go for a drive,” Quinn said suddenly. “Just…a drive.”
“Okay. Where?”
“Anywhere. Let’s just go.”
An hour later it was pouring down rain and Rachel could barely see out her windshield. She spotted what looked like a gas station and the first building they’d seen in miles and so she pulled into the little gravel parking lot. A closer look at the building revealed it was abandoned. Quinn reached for her door handle and Rachel squeaked.
“You can’t go out there! What if there’s a crazy hobo hiding in that building! Or someone with a chainsaw!?”
“We’re laying off the serial killer movies.”
Quinn got out of the car but instead of running for the building she shut her door and just walked back toward the road. Rachel scrambled to get the umbrella out of her back seat and she got out and followed the blonde.
“Quinn, you can’t stand in the middle of the road!”
“Berry, we haven’t seen a car for thirty miles. I think it’ll be fine.”
“At least come under the umbrella.”
Quinn smiled and walked over to Rachel. She huddled underneath the umbrella and locked eyes with the brunette and smirked.
“Don’t hate me,” Quinn whispered.
Rachel quirked her eyebrow. Quinn reached up and pushed the button to make the umbrella fold up. Rachel shrieked and Quinn grabbed the umbrella before the singer could do anything. She chased the blonde around the parking lot and out into the road then back to the parking lot. Rachel yelled, Quinn laughed and started running circles around Rachel’s car.
“It doesn’t matter now, you’re already wet!” Quinn giggled. She opened the car door and tossed the umbrella in. “Just enjoy it. I know you like to dance so just…dance in the rain.” Quinn jogged back out into the middle of the road.
Rachel sighed and reluctantly followed. At least it was a warm rain. Quinn held her arms out and spun around in circles. Rachel watched and pretended not to notice Quinn’s soaking wet t-shirt and the way it clung to her body showing all of her curves. She swallowed hard when she felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. She put her focus back on Quinn’s face but that wasn’t much better. With the beads of water rolling down the blonde’s forehead and cheeks Quinn looked absolutely beautiful.
Quinn stumbled a bit when she stopped spinning and Rachel caught her arm. The blonde smiled down at her and Rachel felt her pulse start racing.
“I think it’s starting to let up,” Rachel said with a nod.
“Dance with me.”
“Okay.”
Quinn wrapped her arms around Rachel’s waist and the brunette slipped her arms up around Quinn’s neck and they swayed to the sound of the rain hitting pavement. Quinn tilted her head back and smiled up at the sky. When she finally looked back down she slowed the swaying to a halt and her arms stayed where they were. Rachel swore she saw the girl’s face get closer.
The brunette swallowed hard and closed her eyes and just as she felt the tip of Quinn’s nose touch hers there was a blaring car horn and the blonde pulled away. They both shrieked and ran back to the gravel parking lot.
“We should go,” Rachel said looking at the ground. “My dads are probably worried.”
Rachel opened her trunk and pulled out two blankets to drape over the car seats on the ride home.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn didn’t bring it up and neither did Rachel. All Rachel knew was that Quinn Fabray was about to kiss her and she really wished she would have gotten the license plate number of that car so she could find and smack the driver. Things were almost normal between them through the weekend. They went to Puck’s party and agreed to stick close together so Puck wouldn’t try anything. It rained again on Tuesday and Rachel had to snap Quinn’s attention back to the Scrabble board more than once because the blonde was looking longingly out the window.
Thursday’s practice was brutal. Rachel didn’t realize how quickly she could actually get out of shape and Puck had been demanding in their workouts.
“I’d at least like to win one,” he said when Mercedes complained.
“You didn’t like the idea in the first place,” Rachel noted.
“Yeah but if we’re gonna do something then we better do it right.”
Rachel was pretty sore the next morning, Quinn seemed to be her usual bouncing self. When Rachel dropped to the couch in the basement next to the blonde and groaned Quinn just laughed.
“You should be used to working those muscles by now.”
“Not these muscles,” Rachel said. “My shoulders are killing me.”
“Turn around, back to me.”
Rachel obliged and Quinn gripped onto Rachel’s shoulders and pressed her thumbs deep. Rachel groaned and immediately relaxed and let Quinn work out the knots and the soreness. Quinn’s thumb grazed the bare skin on Rachel’s neck before she pulled away and the brunette shuddered. She turned around and smiled shyly.
“Thanks.”
Quinn nodded. “Anything good on TV?”
Rachel shrugged.
Quinn flipped through the channels and finally turned off the TV and tossed the remote on the table.
“Why are you doing this, Rachel?”
Rachel snapped her head to the side and whimpered then rubbed her neck a little. “What?”
“This. Letting me sit here on your couch and live in your house and eat your food,” Quinn turned her head to the side. “Why?”
“We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Since when?”
“I…I don’t know, really. Why did you accept my offer?”
“I had nowhere else to go.”
“That’s not true. You could’ve gone to Brittany or Santana or even Kurt.”
“No I couldn’t.” Quinn crossed her arms over her chest.
“Yes you could have, you just didn’t want to. You chose to come to me.”
“You chose to let me come here.”
“Because we’re teammates and I care about you. Do you think I don’t know what it’s like to be alienated, Quinn? Don’t forget the way I’ve been treated my entire life. I know what it’s like to not know who your friends are or if anyone cares about you. Despite the way you’ve treated me for the past few years I don’t wish upon you anymore alienation than you’ve already suffered.”
“So it’s a pity thing?”
“No, my friend needed someone to be there for her. So here I am. Take it or leave it.”
Quinn narrowed her eyes and smiled. “You have ‘Take Me or Leave Me’ stuck in your head right now, don’t you?”
Rachel blinked. “You can read minds? And more importantly, you’ve seen Rent?”
“No, I just know you. And yes, I’ve seen it. But only the movie version.”
“The traveling cast was in Columbus one year, I saw it there. And I own the movie, of course. And Daddy got me an autographed poster on e-Bay for my birthday.”
“You’re such a dork, Berry.”
“You really need to come up with new insults, Fabray.”
Quinn looked down at her lap and picked at her nails. “It’s not really an insult.”
“Last I checked, ‘dork’ was an insult.”
“No, ‘geek’ or ‘nerd’ would be an insult.”
“So what’s the difference?”
Quinn snapped her head up and stared directly into Rachel’s eyes and Rachel saw the girl swallow hard and smile a little.
“Dorks are cute.”
Before Rachel had a chance to respond Quinn had jumped up off the couch and scrambled up the stairs. Rachel sat with her jaw open and her heart racing. She hopped up off the couch and dashed up the stairs, Quinn was nowhere to be found. She went through the kitchen and living room. Her Daddy finally told her that Quinn had left. Rachel quickly slipped on her shoes and ran out the front door. Her sprint was stopped short when she tripped over Quinn on the front steps and went flying face first into the front yard.
“Rachel!”
Rachel groaned and sat up. She spat out the mouthful of grass and dirt and Quinn was hovering over her a second later.
“Rachel, are you okay?”
“I think so. Why are you sitting on the front porch?”
Quinn shrugged. “I didn’t have shoes on so I couldn’t really go running and my keys are in my room.”
“Why did you run?”
“Because I was scared. When I get scared I run.”
“You have no reason to be scared of me.”
Quinn sighed. “Yeah, I do.” She turned on her heel and went back into the house.
Rachel blinked a few times and growled at Quinn walking away yet again. She hoisted herself up off the ground and her first stop was her bathroom to rinse the dirt taste out of her mouth and to brush her teeth. She stood outside Quinn’s bedroom door and heard nothing but silence. She twisted the handle and pushed it open, the blonde was sitting in the middle of her bed staring at the door.
“Why are you scared of me?” Rachel crossed the floor and hopped up onto the bed.
“Because you’re kind of intense.”
“That’s never scared you before.”
“I didn’t like you before.”
“Oh.” Rachel looked down at her lap.
“I would’ve kissed you if that car hadn’t come.”
“I would’ve let you.”
Rachel gasped when Quinn put her fingertips underneath her chin and guided her head to look back up.
“What if I kissed you now? Would you still let me?”
Rachel nodded. She was really glad she’d brushed her teeth before this. She closed her eyes and again the tip of Quinn’s nose touched hers only this time there was no car horn. Just soft lips against hers and a warm tongue darting out to pass over her bottom lip and silently ask for permission. Rachel opened her mouth and her tongue met Quinn’s halfway. Quinn moaned a little and pulled Rachel a little closer and deepened the kiss a little more, Rachel tangled her fingers into blonde hair. Quinn was the one to pull away and Rachel slowly opened her eyes and attempted to read the expression on Quinn’s face.
“Quinn?”
“I really want to do that again.”
-*-*-*-*-*-
Rachel had trouble focusing during Saturday’s practice and she blamed Quinn entirely. The blonde was whistling at her from the outfield and the dugout. Rachel missed three perfectly good pitches and Quinn could do nothing but giggle.
“God you guys,” Santana growled when they were on water break, “be more obvious that you did it, please. I dare you to try.”
“Santana!” Rachel shrieked. “We did not as you so eloquently put it, ‘do it’! And if we had ‘done it’ then it would’ve been none of your business.”
“That is so hot,” Puck said with a grin. “You guys should make out. Like…right now.”
“Noah, you are disgusting.”
Rachel decided to get a little revenge on the blonde so she gave Santana $10 to tell Finn she wanted to sit out and Rachel eagerly took the Latina’s place behind the plate. When it was Quinn’s turn to bat the second that Mike wound up Rachel smirked.
“I love your ass in those shorts.”
Strike one.
“Rachel!” Quinn hissed. “That…” she giggled. “Throw the ball back!”
Rachel tossed the ball at Mike and squatted down again. Mike wound up.
“Your thighs look really kissable right now.”
Strike two.
Quinn growled but it quickly turned into a giggle when Rachel smiled innocently. The brunette tossed the ball back and Mike wound up once again.
“I wonder what your tongue feels like when it’s somewhere other than my mouth.”
Strike three and Quinn threw the bat on the ground and pulled Rachel up by the collar of her shirt and kissed her.
“Holy shit,” Puck groaned.
“Mail! Oh God! Mail!”
Rachel pulled away in time to see Finn run off the field.
“Practice is done!” the short brunette yelled. “Game is at seven thirty on Tuesday, field four!”
“What’d you do that for?” Quinn asked with a smirk. “I was fine with playing for another hour or so.”
“You don’t want to go back home and make out for an hour?” Rachel shrugged. “Fine, I’ll call it back on.”
“You’re such a dork, Berry.”
-*-*-*-*-*-
New Directions’ next game was against M C Sporting Goods and although everyone expected to get completely slaughtered because duh, it’s a sporting goods store, they kind of sucked. They were tied in their records each with two losses and a tie. New Directions scored five runs in the first inning and Santana borrowed Rachel’s trick she'd used against Quinn when the other team started gaining on them and after that it was strike after strike. The bottom of the final inning had them tied, 7-7, with Mike up to bat and Matt on third. Mike’s hit was perfectly landed in the outfield and Matt ran home. The entire team was in disbelief. They’d just won their first game of the season.
“That was so amazing!” Rachel shrieked as she bounced out of the bathroom after her shower. “It was like when we won sectionals! We should do this next summer, too! We would be even better by then, I’m sure.”
Quinn smiled up from thumbing through a magazine while sitting in the middle of Rachel’s bed after her own shower. “We should.”
“You played amazingly, by the way.”
“So did you, Rach. You’ve come a long way from getting hit in the forehead.”
Rachel giggled and situated herself next to Quinn and leaned her head on the blonde’s shoulder.
“I hate that we only have three more games.”
“I hate that we have to go back to school.”
“Why? School won’t change anything, will it?”
“I’ll have to go back to my parents. They have to sign stuff and get me registered. They'll know I'm gone because I won't be talking about Cheerios practice.”
“You’re going to re-join the Cheerios?”
Quinn shrugged. “I’ll still be in glee club.”
“What about us, though? I mean, Brittany and Santana can get away with it because both of them are Cheerios but if any of them knew you were…we were…together…”
Quinn smiled and tilted Rachel’s head up to kiss her forehead. “I don’t want to worry about it right now. I just want to have a good summer, okay? We’ll worry about us right now, not them.”
Rachel pulled away. “It’ll be just like this summer never existed, won’t it? You’ll be civilized but you’ll go along with whatever the Cheerios want you to do because you give in to peer pressure easily. You won’t want to be seen with me in the hallways.”
“It won’t be like that.”
“Is this real or is it just a fling to you, Quinn?”
Quinn slipped her hand behind Rachel’s neck and pulled her in for a searing kiss. Rachel completely had her breath taken away and she gripped onto the blonde’s shoulder. When Quinn pulled away she stared deep into Rachel’s eyes.
“It’s real, Rachel. You and me, it’s real. This, us, right now, it’s all real. Don’t screw it up by assuming things about me. High school isn’t real. It’s just…there. I don’t want to think about it.”
“And your parents?”
Quinn was silent.
“We’ll wait,” Rachel said. “We’ll just…get through the summer.”
Part 3