Sixteen Candles
Title: Sixteen Candles
Pairing: Rachel/Quinn
Rating: G
Length: ~4,700
Summary: Rachel's sixteenth birthday didn't go at all how she thought it would.
Author's Note: A fluff-tastic birthday fic for madndizzee! Happy birthday, bb! I hope you like it! <33
Rachel didn’t plan a party for her sweet sixteen. She knew it would be rather pointless. She was single, just fresh from the harsh breakup with Jesse after he defected back to Vocal Adrenaline. Regionals was over and done with, Quinn’s baby was in the arms of her adoptive parents. Everything was still the same. Except maybe that Quinn had been just a little bit nicer to her. She hadn’t heard ‘man hands’, ‘treasure trail’, or ‘RuPaul’ in a few weeks.
Her birthday fell on a Saturday that year and when she came down the stairs for breakfast her dads met her in the living room with hugs and birthday kisses. Her Daddy had made her favorite pancakes with his special “Very Berry Topping”. He’d perfected his technique over the years and all of the pancakes were in the shapes of treble clefs, music notes, and stars (which he made sure were perfectly golden). Rachel quietly helped herself to a few pancakes with the mixed berries. When she cleaned her plate her Daddy slid an envelope across the table. Rachel already knew what it contained and she grinned appreciatively. Inside was a gift card to the music store, as it had been for almost every birthday breakfast present since she could talk.
After she helped her dads clean up the kitchen they asked her what she wanted to do for the rest of the day. As always, she shrugged. Her “I don’t know” was cut off by the Berry doorbell ringing. Rachel quirked an eyebrow and both of her dads shrugged. The brunette went to the door and peeked out. The sight was shocking. Welcomed, but shocking.
Rachel nervously straightened out her appearance the best she could and cautiously opened the door expecting a slushie facial but all that came was a shy smile from none other than Quinn.
Quinn was holding a box wrapped in pink paper with gold ribbon wrapped around it and a gold bow stuck to the top. The blonde had her lower lip clutched nervously between her teeth as she stood on the Berry’s front step and looked up at Rachel.
The silence ticked by as Rachel’s eyes darted from Quinn’s head to her feet taking in the presence of the blonde. Despite her hateful demeanor toward Rachel since the beginning of high school, Rachel couldn’t help but like the ex-Cheerio. Part of it might have been sympathy for what Quinn had to go through but most of it was that Rachel liked her. As what? As an acquaintance? Friend? Crush? That she was unsure of. But she liked her.
“Hi,” Quinn finally said. “I…it’s your birthday.”
Rachel nodded. “Yes…would you like to come in?”
Quinn’s hazel eyes lit up and she gave a small smile before taking the two steps up from the front porch into Rachel’s house. Rachel, ignoring the slight increase in her heart rate, shut the door behind the blonde and introduced her to her dads before excusing herself and Quinn and leading the blonde upstairs to her bedroom. She glanced back a few times at Quinn who was looking around the house nervously.
“Expecting something else?” Rachel asked with a smile. “Really, just because I have two gay dads doesn’t mean the house will be plastered wall to wall with Broadway merchandise.”
“You have a lovely house,” Quinn barely whispered.
Once in her bedroom, Rachel let Quinn survey her surroundings and the blonde’s eyes finally settled on Rachel and she carefully held the box out. Rachel was hesitant.
“How did you know it was my birthday?”
Quinn pulled the box back to her and picked at the bow. “Every year in elementary school you brought in homemade cookies. Stars, always stars.”
Rachel laughed a little. “Stars are a metaphor…”
“And metaphors are important, I know.” Quinn held out the box again. “Happy birthday, Rachel.”
Rachel again hesitated but this time she reached out and took the box. She looked at it from all sides and back up to Quinn who had her lower lip clutched between her teeth again.
“It’s not going to bite me, is it? I just…after everything that occurred with Jesse, I’m not sure I can take anymore cruelty at the moment.”
Quinn shook her head. “I’m kind of over it,” she said. “I don’t really have a reason to hurt you. I never did…other than you were a little annoying but like I said, I’m over it. No one out of high school is going to care that my main activity was torturing someone at the bottom of the social ladder.”
“So this is a peace offering?”
Quinn shrugged. “I suppose. I mean, if you don’t want it I understand.”
“It would be rude of me to refuse a gift from a…teammate.”
“Yeah.” Quinn’s eyes focused on the floor. “Or a friend.”
Rachel grinned. “Yes, a friend.”
Rachel carefully tugged the ribbons off of the box and opened one end of the wrapping paper and then the other. She slid her fingers underneath the seam of the paper on the bottom of the box and was careful not to tear at the paper. Quinn sighed.
“You open presents like my grandmother,” the blonde said. “She saves the paper to reuse.”
“You did a lovely job of wrapping it,” Rachel said with a smile. “I wouldn’t want to destroy that.”
Rachel continued carefully peeling the paper away until she got to the simple brown box underneath. She smiled as she opened it and pulled out wind chimes. The weight suspended from the middle string was a glittery gold star.
“It’s not much,” Quinn said quietly. “But I saw them with the star and I had some glue and gold glitter so I…yeah. Happy birthday.”
Rachel suspended the chimes in front of her and looked at them in almost disbelief. She carefully touched her fingers to the gold star and the ball hit the chimes and their sound echoed through her room. A few flecks of glitter came off with her fingertips and she smiled.
“It’s wonderful, Quinn. I love it! Thank you!”
Rachel looked back to the blonde who was smiling and even bounced a little. She glanced up to her four poster bed to the beam that ran between the two posts at the foot and she dropped the box and hopped up on her bed. Carefully, she stretched up and tied the top string around the beam, making sure to knot it a few times to ensure it didn’t ever come undone.
“There,” the brunette said, taking a few steps back on her bed to admire the chimes again. “What do you think?”
Quinn furrowed her eyebrows. “Won’t it keep you awake? I mean, if you have a fan going or something.”
“If I can sleep through the neighbor’s miniscule dog yapping at all hours of the night I believe that sleeping through wind chimes will be no issue.”
Quinn nodded. Rachel jumped off her bed and collected the box and ribbons. Silence fell over the pair again until Rachel took a risk.
“Would you like to perhaps partake in a mutually agreed upon activity today, Quinn?”
“Are you asking me to hang out?”
“Yes.” Rachel nodded. “I am asking you to hang out.”
Quinn nodded a little. “I’d like that.”
Rachel tried to ignore the fact that her heart jumped a little. “What kind of activity would you like to do?”
“What do you want to do? You’re the birthday girl.”
“I…didn’t have anything planned. My dads will give me a gift at each meal, as per our tradition. Usually we end up watching movies together or engaging in a board game. The Monopoly tournament was very riveting last year.”
“Is that what you really want to do?”
Rachel shrugged. “I’ve never had anyone to offer anything else. My main activities revolve around school, voice lessons, dance class, and finding new ways to remove dyed corn syrup from my wardrobe.”
“Wardrobe…” Quinn grinned.
Half an hour later, Rachel found herself in the Lima Mall in front of Old Navy with her dads’ credit card in one hand and Quinn’s hand in the other. Quinn pulled the door open and immediately pulled Rachel to racks of jeans.
“I have jeans,” Rachel said.
“You have jeans you wear for glee club.”
“Quinn, I’m comfortable in my wardrobe. I like it. It’s comfortable for me. I have no desire to fit in with the current trends, only be comfortable.”
Quinn sighed. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I just thought…I don’t know.”
“We could shop for something else. There’s a Bath and Body Works here, or perhaps Claire’s. They have sensible accessories.”
Quinn shrugged. “We can look around.”
The pair walked through the mall in silence and Rachel felt a little guilty because now Quinn was quiet and sighing every now and then. They turned the corner and Rachel saw a sign and grinned. She slipped her hand into Quinn’s.
“Come on,” Rachel said, tugging the blonde along. “I know what we can do.”
Quinn furrowed her eyebrows and Rachel pushed through the crowds until they were standing in front of Nail Fever, who was advertising a two-for-one mani-pedi special.
“Is this acceptable?” Rachel asked. She clutched her lower lip between her teeth and looked up at the blonde.
“I…yeah!” Quinn’s eyes lit up and she smiled.
Rachel grinned proudly and inquired about the two-for-one special and handed over her dads’ credit card. A few minutes later she and Quinn were escorted to side-by-side chairs. They took off their shoes and socks and dropped into the seats and stuck their feet into the warm water. Quinn giggled when Rachel’s chair had to be lowered to get her feet into the water.
“I would be taller had I not damaged a growth plate in my wrist,” Rachel sighed. “Occasionally my short stature works to my advantage, in instances of having to duck under things. I do wish I were slightly taller, though.”
“Good things come in small packages.”
Rachel snapped her head to look at the blonde whose cheeks were tinged pink. Rachel felt her own blush creep into her cheeks and Quinn smiled. Rachel couldn’t help but mirror it.
“I’m very happy you came to my house today, Quinn.”
“Me too.”
“What…what would Santana and Brittany think of this?” Rachel shifted nervously.
Quinn shrugged. “They’ll get over it. If I want to be friends with you then I will.”
Rachel nodded slowly. She picked out glittering gold nail polish, Quinn playfully rolled her eyes and pointed to the same thing. Rachel bounced in her seat a little.
While the women filed and painted and chattered away in whatever language that wasn’t English that they were chattering in, Rachel engaged Quinn in casual conversation mostly revolving around glee club and the music that Mr. Schuester was picking out and the list of reasons why it was horrible. When Rachel realized that Quinn hadn’t said anything during the entire pedicure she snapped her mouth shut.
“I apologize,” the brunette said with a small smile. “I’m just not exactly accustomed to having someone to talk with. I sometimes forget to let the other person speak.”
Quinn only shook her head and giggled. “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if you stopped talking. I’d think the apocalypse was coming.”
During the manicure, Rachel tried to let Quinn get a few words in and she was successful. Quinn had given her opinion on Mr. Schuester’s music selections stating that she preferred soft ballads to the hip-hop he sometimes produced.
“If you could just sing ‘Don’t Rain’ or ‘On My Own’ over and over again I think I would be fine with that.”
Rachel looked down at her hand and her face felt like it was on fire. “Thanks,” she managed to squeak out. She felt Quinn’s hand on her arm and she looked over to see the glittery gold nails wrapped around her wrist.
“You’re good, Rachel. I’m…I’m really sorry I ever said those things on your MySpace videos.”
Rachel squeaked a little and had to remind herself to breathe. “It’s in the past,” she said. “I believe in letting go.”
“I’m glad.” Quinn released her grip and settled her head back on the chair. “I kind of…I need a friend right now. Brittany and Santana are okay and everything but…I think you’re the only one that would let me be who I want to be.”
Letting her confidence flow back into her, Rachel reached over and put her hand on top of Quinn’s.
“You’re a good person, Quinn. You simply let peer pressure rule your life for too long.”
Quinn nodded.
When they finished with the manicures they wandered aimlessly around the mall and went to a few shops. Rachel did end up buying one pair of black jeans that Quinn insisted looked amazing on her. They both bought a few pairs of earrings at Claire’s and they hit Bath & Body Works for body spray. They wandered around aimlessly with their bags until Rachel frowned at her rumbling stomach.
“Would you like to come back to my house for lunch?” Rachel asked on their way to Quinn’s car.
Quinn smiled. “Yeah.”
Lunch was homemade mini-pizzas. Rachel’s Daddy almost shrieked when Quinn told him she liked pineapple on her pizza and he stuck his tongue out at Rachel and his husband and declared that he was not weird and Quinn was his new pizza buddy. Rachel snorted and said they were both weird and Quinn tossed a chunk of pineapple at her. Rachel retaliated with a piece of pepperoni and before anyone knew what was happening there were chunks of fruit, mushrooms and pieces of meat flying back and forth. Quinn and Rachel’s Daddy teamed up against Rachel and her Dad.
Rachel ducked behind the island with her Dad and poked her head up. A piece of pineapple went whizzing past her head and she fired back with a mushroom but was hit in the head with a piece of ham in the process. Rachel grabbed the bowl of flour that was intended to make the dough easier to work with and her Dad started tossing mushrooms while Rachel crawled around the side of the island. She surprise attacked Quinn and gently tackled her to the ground and grabbed a handful of flour and tossed it at the blonde. Quinn shrieked and fumbled for the flour bowl, she managed to get a handful and toss it back.
Rachel didn’t notice her Daddy getting up and reaching for something on the counter top until she was faced with a spatula. She jumped up and grabbed a whisk and dueled with the older man. Quinn joined in with a wooden spoon and Rachel’s Dad continued tossing mushrooms.
When the ammo was all gone and the kitchen was an absolute mess the four collapsed on the floor in a fit of laughter and Rachel’s Daddy finally composed himself enough to say he was going to order pizza and he sent Rachel and Quinn upstairs to clean up. Rachel helped Quinn pick out a couple of pieces of pepperoni that had somehow managed to stick in the blonde’s hair and rinse out the flour. Quinn pulled bits of ham from Rachel’s hair and returned the favor of washing out the flour. When they returned downstairs they helped clean up the mess in the kitchen.
By the time they were finished cleaning the pizza had arrived. One ham and pineapple, the other mushroom, pepperoni, and extra cheese. The four settled in the living room, Rachel’s dads on the loveseat and Quinn and Rachel huddled close together on the floor sitting at the coffee table. On the table was a small box wrapped in a white bow that Rachel eyed. Her dads insisted she couldn’t open it until the movie was done and Rachel whined a little but reluctantly agreed. Her Daddy smirked as he hit ‘play’.
Video of baby Rachel in the bathtub came up on the screen and Rachel shrieked and Quinn started laughing at the girl’s shampoo Mohawk.
“Puck would be jealous,” Quinn said between giggles.
Rachel growled. “Turn it off!”
“But we’re not to the good part!” her Daddy argued.
Miniature Rachel was babbling away in the bathtub and her dads were talking right to her. She started singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and the words were perfectly clear. When she finished she went back to babbling and playing with the rubber duck.
“We couldn’t get her to talk for anything,” her Dad said. “But she would sing and every word was clear as a bell. Now we can’t get her to stop doing either!”
Both men and Quinn dissolved into laughter and Rachel pouted a little. When Quinn’s head ended up on Rachel’s shoulder she stopped pouting and the blonde stayed there. Bits of Rachel’s first elementary school talent show played. They watched her blow out her candles at her seventh birthday and Rachel’s first visit to New York City that summer. Pictures of an eleven year old Rachel outside of the theater where Wicked was playing came on the screen and then there was Rachel getting a cast on her wrist that seemed to take place soon after.
“What did we learn today, Rachel?” her Daddy asked as the pink layer was being added.
Adolescent Rachel sighed. “Just because Elphaba can defy gravity doesn’t mean I’m capable of doing it.”
“No more jumping off the swing set, right?”
“Right.”
Quinn giggled and shifted her head a little on Rachel’s shoulder. The video progressed all the way up through sectionals and the screen went black just after the last note of “Don’t Rain on My Parade”.
“It’s the same video every year,” Rachel said. “Except they add to it.”
“I thought it was brilliant,” Quinn said. She lifted her head and pushed Rachel’s hair back out of her face with a smile. “So you really tried to fly?”
“’Try’ being the key word,” Rachel said. She blushed for the umpteenth time that day and her eyes fell on the box on the coffee table. “Can I open it now?”
“I suppose,” her Daddy said with a dramatic sigh.
Rachel grabbed onto the box and tugged off the white ribbon. She lifted the lid carefully and gasped at the silver charm bracelet inside. There were gold stars dangling on it and she squealed a little.
“Dad, Daddy, it’s beautiful! Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, sweetie,” came in unison.
Rachel picked up the bracelet and got it looped around her left wrist. She fumbled with the clasp for a few moments before Quinn slipped her fingers over Rachel’s and clasped it. Her fingertips lingered for a few seconds as did Rachel’s gaze into Quinn’s eyes.
“Thanks,” the brunette whispered.
“No problem.” Quinn smiled.
“Would you…like to stay for dinner?”
Quinn nodded. “I’d love to.”
Rachel’s Daddy cleared his throat and both girls’ gazes snapped up to him. He grinned.
“We’ll take your plates and glasses to the kitchen if you’re finished,” he said.
The men left the room and Rachel slowly turned her head back to Quinn.
“What should we do for the rest of the afternoon?”
Quinn shrugged. “Up to you, birthday girl.”
“We have an extensive catalog of movies. I promise not all of them are musicals. Are you a John Hughes fan? I believe Sixteen Candles would be an appropriate selection.”
“I love that movie, I haven’t watched it in forever.”
Rachel hopped up off the floor and immediately went to a shelf and pulled out the DVD case for the movie and put it into the player. Quinn got up off the floor and settled herself toward the center of the couch and Rachel took a deep breath before sitting next to her. She relaxed and leaned back against the cushions and started the movie. She wasn’t entirely sure what to do with her right arm, the one closest to Quinn, and so she settled her hand in small gap between the pair.
They were thirteen minutes and twenty-two seconds in (not that Rachel looked down at the display on the DVD player when it happened or anything) when Quinn’s hand brushed against hers. They were thirty-eight minutes and twelve seconds in when Quinn’s hand was on top of hers and forty-three seconds later, Quinn gripped onto Rachel’s hand. At fifty-two minutes and twenty-eight seconds, Rachel got brave and turned her hand over. It took two seconds for Quinn’s fingers to entwine with hers.
When the movie ended and the entirety of the credits had rolled through, Rachel noticed her dads hadn’t come back from the kitchen. She leaned over and looked through the sliding glass door and saw them sitting out in the back yard with their fingers entwined and probably watching the birdhouse she’d painted for them when she was six that always had a family of birds in it that time of year.
Quinn didn’t seem to want to give up her gentle grip on Rachel’s hand so the brunette turned the TV over to cable and settled on ‘I Love the 80’s’ marathon that was on VH1. It was 1984.
“Do you have any kind of curfew?” Rachel asked to break the silence.
Quinn shook her head. “My parents don’t really notice when I’m gone. Either that or they don’t care.”
Rachel simply nodded. “If you ever wanted anyone to talk to…I can’t relate to your situation at all but I am capable of listening.”
Quinn smiled a little and settled her head back on Rachel’s shoulder. “Thanks. I’m just counting down the days until we graduate.”
Rachel tilted her head until her cheek was pressed against the top of Quinn’s head. Fifteen minutes into 1985, Quinn started talking about her life. She told Rachel about the pressure from her parents to be perfect and following in her older sister’s footsteps. She talked about hating Cheerios from day one and how getting pregnant was almost a blessing in disguise because it got her away from what she hated and pushed her toward glee club even more. She talked about Brittany being there to hold her hand when she had the baby and her parents taking her back after she’d signed the adoption papers.
“When I gave her to that couple,” Quinn sighed, “I realized that they didn’t care if I was a good person or a bad person. They cared that they had a baby girl. That was when I knew that no one else outside of McKinley cared if I was good or bad. So…I guess you have her to thank for all of this.”
Rachel nodded and got brave again and she pressed her lips to the top of Quinn’s head.
They spent the rest of the afternoon giggling at the 80’s and early 90’s. Rachel’s dads ordered from their favorite Chinese place for dinner. They spread the cartons out on the kitchen table and chatted animatedly and playfully argued about who started the pizza fight in the kitchen. It almost ended up in another food fight when Rachel tossed an eggroll at Quinn but Rachel’s Daddy put a stop to it saying that cashew chicken was a lot harder to clean up than flour and pineapple.
Rachel and Quinn each tore into their fortune cookies with eagerness. Rachel grinned at the slip of paper.
“Today you will receive an unexpected surprise,” she read. “Shockingly accurate!”
Quinn grinned. “Do something daring. The reward will be great,” she read. “Maybe I’ll go bungee jumping!”
“Jumping off of a platform attached only to a rubber band is not my idea of a good time.”
“Says the girl who jumped off the swing set so she could defy gravity!”
Rachel stuck her tongue out at Quinn and the blonde dissolved into a fit of giggles.
Rachel’s Dad pulled an ice cream cake out of the refrigerator after dinner and Quinn stood with her as she blew out her candles and Rachel’s Daddy filmed it. Rachel’s final present was a small box and the brunette opened it excitedly. In it was a set of keys.
“We know you can’t take your test until next week,” her Daddy said. “But we thought you’d want to practice in what you’ll be driving.”
Rachel’s eyes widened and her Daddy pointed to the door leading to the garage. She jumped up out of her seat and Quinn followed close behind. In the garage was a two door blue car. Rachel shrieked and jumped up and down.
“It’s not brand new,” her Dad said. “But it runs good and it’ll get you where you need to go.”
“This is amazing!” Rachel gasped.
She hugged each of her dads twice and then Quinn out of pure excitement. Quinn wrapped her arms around the brunette and Rachel calmed for a few seconds as the scent of strawberry shampoo sent her into a little daze. When she pulled away, Quinn was smiling from ear to ear. Rachel’s attention turned back to the blue car in the garage and she sprinted to it and immediately hopped in. She adjusted her seat and her mirrors so they would be ready and looked in the center console and the glove box and inspected the rest of the car.
Quinn was standing next to the driver’s side when Rachel finally got out.
“My parents called,” the blonde said. “They’re actually wondering where I am. I should probably go.”
Rachel’s heart sank a little and she nodded. “I’ll walk you out.”
The brunette pressed the button to open the garage door and Quinn waved goodbye to Rachel’s dads and followed the brunette down the driveway to her car that was parked on the street. Quinn fumbled with her keys and Rachel shuffled her feet as they stood by the red car. Rachel finally found her voice after a few minutes of awkward silence aside from the sound of a few kids in the distance.
“Quinn I want to thank you,” Rachel said, staring directly into the blonde’s eyes. “I…I can say with absolute certainty that this has been the best birthday I’ve ever had.”
Quinn smiled. “I had a great day, Rachel. I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”
“I’d really like that, too.”
“I hope you have a good evening.”
“I wish the same for you as well, Quinn.”
Rachel watched Quinn take a deep breath and before she could think, Quinn’s lips were on hers for a brief moment. It was awkward, mostly because Rachel had no warning and the look on Quinn’s face was hard to read when she pulled away. Rachel did the only thing she could think of to do and she reached up and cupped Quinn’s face and pulled her back in. She was ready this time, her lips moved against Quinn’s for the second kiss. It was still brief but it was a little more coordinated than the first and this time when she pulled away, Quinn was smiling.
“I guess I should listen to my fortune cookies more often,” Quinn said.
Rachel was a little speechless at that moment. “You…you should.”
“You…you’re okay with that, right?”
Rachel nodded. “I’m very okay with that.”
“I have to go but um…Maybe I can come over tomorrow?” Quinn’s eyes were hopeful and Rachel felt like jumping again.
“Of course. You’re welcome any time.”
Quinn nodded and opened her car door. Her eyes darted around and she leaned down and pressed one last chaste kiss to Rachel’s lips before she ducked inside.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” the blonde said with a smile.
Rachel nodded. She watched Quinn drive away and didn’t move from her spot until Quinn’s car was long gone. She literally skipped up the driveway and back into the garage. She shut the door and headed inside and spun around a few times in the kitchen before she continued skipping into the living room. She dropped to the couch and sighed.
“Did you have a good birthday, sweetie?” her Daddy asked.
“I had,” Rachel smiled, “the best birthday ever.”
Pairing: Rachel/Quinn
Rating: G
Length: ~4,700
Summary: Rachel's sixteenth birthday didn't go at all how she thought it would.
Author's Note: A fluff-tastic birthday fic for madndizzee! Happy birthday, bb! I hope you like it! <33
Rachel didn’t plan a party for her sweet sixteen. She knew it would be rather pointless. She was single, just fresh from the harsh breakup with Jesse after he defected back to Vocal Adrenaline. Regionals was over and done with, Quinn’s baby was in the arms of her adoptive parents. Everything was still the same. Except maybe that Quinn had been just a little bit nicer to her. She hadn’t heard ‘man hands’, ‘treasure trail’, or ‘RuPaul’ in a few weeks.
Her birthday fell on a Saturday that year and when she came down the stairs for breakfast her dads met her in the living room with hugs and birthday kisses. Her Daddy had made her favorite pancakes with his special “Very Berry Topping”. He’d perfected his technique over the years and all of the pancakes were in the shapes of treble clefs, music notes, and stars (which he made sure were perfectly golden). Rachel quietly helped herself to a few pancakes with the mixed berries. When she cleaned her plate her Daddy slid an envelope across the table. Rachel already knew what it contained and she grinned appreciatively. Inside was a gift card to the music store, as it had been for almost every birthday breakfast present since she could talk.
After she helped her dads clean up the kitchen they asked her what she wanted to do for the rest of the day. As always, she shrugged. Her “I don’t know” was cut off by the Berry doorbell ringing. Rachel quirked an eyebrow and both of her dads shrugged. The brunette went to the door and peeked out. The sight was shocking. Welcomed, but shocking.
Rachel nervously straightened out her appearance the best she could and cautiously opened the door expecting a slushie facial but all that came was a shy smile from none other than Quinn.
Quinn was holding a box wrapped in pink paper with gold ribbon wrapped around it and a gold bow stuck to the top. The blonde had her lower lip clutched nervously between her teeth as she stood on the Berry’s front step and looked up at Rachel.
The silence ticked by as Rachel’s eyes darted from Quinn’s head to her feet taking in the presence of the blonde. Despite her hateful demeanor toward Rachel since the beginning of high school, Rachel couldn’t help but like the ex-Cheerio. Part of it might have been sympathy for what Quinn had to go through but most of it was that Rachel liked her. As what? As an acquaintance? Friend? Crush? That she was unsure of. But she liked her.
“Hi,” Quinn finally said. “I…it’s your birthday.”
Rachel nodded. “Yes…would you like to come in?”
Quinn’s hazel eyes lit up and she gave a small smile before taking the two steps up from the front porch into Rachel’s house. Rachel, ignoring the slight increase in her heart rate, shut the door behind the blonde and introduced her to her dads before excusing herself and Quinn and leading the blonde upstairs to her bedroom. She glanced back a few times at Quinn who was looking around the house nervously.
“Expecting something else?” Rachel asked with a smile. “Really, just because I have two gay dads doesn’t mean the house will be plastered wall to wall with Broadway merchandise.”
“You have a lovely house,” Quinn barely whispered.
Once in her bedroom, Rachel let Quinn survey her surroundings and the blonde’s eyes finally settled on Rachel and she carefully held the box out. Rachel was hesitant.
“How did you know it was my birthday?”
Quinn pulled the box back to her and picked at the bow. “Every year in elementary school you brought in homemade cookies. Stars, always stars.”
Rachel laughed a little. “Stars are a metaphor…”
“And metaphors are important, I know.” Quinn held out the box again. “Happy birthday, Rachel.”
Rachel again hesitated but this time she reached out and took the box. She looked at it from all sides and back up to Quinn who had her lower lip clutched between her teeth again.
“It’s not going to bite me, is it? I just…after everything that occurred with Jesse, I’m not sure I can take anymore cruelty at the moment.”
Quinn shook her head. “I’m kind of over it,” she said. “I don’t really have a reason to hurt you. I never did…other than you were a little annoying but like I said, I’m over it. No one out of high school is going to care that my main activity was torturing someone at the bottom of the social ladder.”
“So this is a peace offering?”
Quinn shrugged. “I suppose. I mean, if you don’t want it I understand.”
“It would be rude of me to refuse a gift from a…teammate.”
“Yeah.” Quinn’s eyes focused on the floor. “Or a friend.”
Rachel grinned. “Yes, a friend.”
Rachel carefully tugged the ribbons off of the box and opened one end of the wrapping paper and then the other. She slid her fingers underneath the seam of the paper on the bottom of the box and was careful not to tear at the paper. Quinn sighed.
“You open presents like my grandmother,” the blonde said. “She saves the paper to reuse.”
“You did a lovely job of wrapping it,” Rachel said with a smile. “I wouldn’t want to destroy that.”
Rachel continued carefully peeling the paper away until she got to the simple brown box underneath. She smiled as she opened it and pulled out wind chimes. The weight suspended from the middle string was a glittery gold star.
“It’s not much,” Quinn said quietly. “But I saw them with the star and I had some glue and gold glitter so I…yeah. Happy birthday.”
Rachel suspended the chimes in front of her and looked at them in almost disbelief. She carefully touched her fingers to the gold star and the ball hit the chimes and their sound echoed through her room. A few flecks of glitter came off with her fingertips and she smiled.
“It’s wonderful, Quinn. I love it! Thank you!”
Rachel looked back to the blonde who was smiling and even bounced a little. She glanced up to her four poster bed to the beam that ran between the two posts at the foot and she dropped the box and hopped up on her bed. Carefully, she stretched up and tied the top string around the beam, making sure to knot it a few times to ensure it didn’t ever come undone.
“There,” the brunette said, taking a few steps back on her bed to admire the chimes again. “What do you think?”
Quinn furrowed her eyebrows. “Won’t it keep you awake? I mean, if you have a fan going or something.”
“If I can sleep through the neighbor’s miniscule dog yapping at all hours of the night I believe that sleeping through wind chimes will be no issue.”
Quinn nodded. Rachel jumped off her bed and collected the box and ribbons. Silence fell over the pair again until Rachel took a risk.
“Would you like to perhaps partake in a mutually agreed upon activity today, Quinn?”
“Are you asking me to hang out?”
“Yes.” Rachel nodded. “I am asking you to hang out.”
Quinn nodded a little. “I’d like that.”
Rachel tried to ignore the fact that her heart jumped a little. “What kind of activity would you like to do?”
“What do you want to do? You’re the birthday girl.”
“I…didn’t have anything planned. My dads will give me a gift at each meal, as per our tradition. Usually we end up watching movies together or engaging in a board game. The Monopoly tournament was very riveting last year.”
“Is that what you really want to do?”
Rachel shrugged. “I’ve never had anyone to offer anything else. My main activities revolve around school, voice lessons, dance class, and finding new ways to remove dyed corn syrup from my wardrobe.”
“Wardrobe…” Quinn grinned.
Half an hour later, Rachel found herself in the Lima Mall in front of Old Navy with her dads’ credit card in one hand and Quinn’s hand in the other. Quinn pulled the door open and immediately pulled Rachel to racks of jeans.
“I have jeans,” Rachel said.
“You have jeans you wear for glee club.”
“Quinn, I’m comfortable in my wardrobe. I like it. It’s comfortable for me. I have no desire to fit in with the current trends, only be comfortable.”
Quinn sighed. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I just thought…I don’t know.”
“We could shop for something else. There’s a Bath and Body Works here, or perhaps Claire’s. They have sensible accessories.”
Quinn shrugged. “We can look around.”
The pair walked through the mall in silence and Rachel felt a little guilty because now Quinn was quiet and sighing every now and then. They turned the corner and Rachel saw a sign and grinned. She slipped her hand into Quinn’s.
“Come on,” Rachel said, tugging the blonde along. “I know what we can do.”
Quinn furrowed her eyebrows and Rachel pushed through the crowds until they were standing in front of Nail Fever, who was advertising a two-for-one mani-pedi special.
“Is this acceptable?” Rachel asked. She clutched her lower lip between her teeth and looked up at the blonde.
“I…yeah!” Quinn’s eyes lit up and she smiled.
Rachel grinned proudly and inquired about the two-for-one special and handed over her dads’ credit card. A few minutes later she and Quinn were escorted to side-by-side chairs. They took off their shoes and socks and dropped into the seats and stuck their feet into the warm water. Quinn giggled when Rachel’s chair had to be lowered to get her feet into the water.
“I would be taller had I not damaged a growth plate in my wrist,” Rachel sighed. “Occasionally my short stature works to my advantage, in instances of having to duck under things. I do wish I were slightly taller, though.”
“Good things come in small packages.”
Rachel snapped her head to look at the blonde whose cheeks were tinged pink. Rachel felt her own blush creep into her cheeks and Quinn smiled. Rachel couldn’t help but mirror it.
“I’m very happy you came to my house today, Quinn.”
“Me too.”
“What…what would Santana and Brittany think of this?” Rachel shifted nervously.
Quinn shrugged. “They’ll get over it. If I want to be friends with you then I will.”
Rachel nodded slowly. She picked out glittering gold nail polish, Quinn playfully rolled her eyes and pointed to the same thing. Rachel bounced in her seat a little.
While the women filed and painted and chattered away in whatever language that wasn’t English that they were chattering in, Rachel engaged Quinn in casual conversation mostly revolving around glee club and the music that Mr. Schuester was picking out and the list of reasons why it was horrible. When Rachel realized that Quinn hadn’t said anything during the entire pedicure she snapped her mouth shut.
“I apologize,” the brunette said with a small smile. “I’m just not exactly accustomed to having someone to talk with. I sometimes forget to let the other person speak.”
Quinn only shook her head and giggled. “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if you stopped talking. I’d think the apocalypse was coming.”
During the manicure, Rachel tried to let Quinn get a few words in and she was successful. Quinn had given her opinion on Mr. Schuester’s music selections stating that she preferred soft ballads to the hip-hop he sometimes produced.
“If you could just sing ‘Don’t Rain’ or ‘On My Own’ over and over again I think I would be fine with that.”
Rachel looked down at her hand and her face felt like it was on fire. “Thanks,” she managed to squeak out. She felt Quinn’s hand on her arm and she looked over to see the glittery gold nails wrapped around her wrist.
“You’re good, Rachel. I’m…I’m really sorry I ever said those things on your MySpace videos.”
Rachel squeaked a little and had to remind herself to breathe. “It’s in the past,” she said. “I believe in letting go.”
“I’m glad.” Quinn released her grip and settled her head back on the chair. “I kind of…I need a friend right now. Brittany and Santana are okay and everything but…I think you’re the only one that would let me be who I want to be.”
Letting her confidence flow back into her, Rachel reached over and put her hand on top of Quinn’s.
“You’re a good person, Quinn. You simply let peer pressure rule your life for too long.”
Quinn nodded.
When they finished with the manicures they wandered aimlessly around the mall and went to a few shops. Rachel did end up buying one pair of black jeans that Quinn insisted looked amazing on her. They both bought a few pairs of earrings at Claire’s and they hit Bath & Body Works for body spray. They wandered around aimlessly with their bags until Rachel frowned at her rumbling stomach.
“Would you like to come back to my house for lunch?” Rachel asked on their way to Quinn’s car.
Quinn smiled. “Yeah.”
Lunch was homemade mini-pizzas. Rachel’s Daddy almost shrieked when Quinn told him she liked pineapple on her pizza and he stuck his tongue out at Rachel and his husband and declared that he was not weird and Quinn was his new pizza buddy. Rachel snorted and said they were both weird and Quinn tossed a chunk of pineapple at her. Rachel retaliated with a piece of pepperoni and before anyone knew what was happening there were chunks of fruit, mushrooms and pieces of meat flying back and forth. Quinn and Rachel’s Daddy teamed up against Rachel and her Dad.
Rachel ducked behind the island with her Dad and poked her head up. A piece of pineapple went whizzing past her head and she fired back with a mushroom but was hit in the head with a piece of ham in the process. Rachel grabbed the bowl of flour that was intended to make the dough easier to work with and her Dad started tossing mushrooms while Rachel crawled around the side of the island. She surprise attacked Quinn and gently tackled her to the ground and grabbed a handful of flour and tossed it at the blonde. Quinn shrieked and fumbled for the flour bowl, she managed to get a handful and toss it back.
Rachel didn’t notice her Daddy getting up and reaching for something on the counter top until she was faced with a spatula. She jumped up and grabbed a whisk and dueled with the older man. Quinn joined in with a wooden spoon and Rachel’s Dad continued tossing mushrooms.
When the ammo was all gone and the kitchen was an absolute mess the four collapsed on the floor in a fit of laughter and Rachel’s Daddy finally composed himself enough to say he was going to order pizza and he sent Rachel and Quinn upstairs to clean up. Rachel helped Quinn pick out a couple of pieces of pepperoni that had somehow managed to stick in the blonde’s hair and rinse out the flour. Quinn pulled bits of ham from Rachel’s hair and returned the favor of washing out the flour. When they returned downstairs they helped clean up the mess in the kitchen.
By the time they were finished cleaning the pizza had arrived. One ham and pineapple, the other mushroom, pepperoni, and extra cheese. The four settled in the living room, Rachel’s dads on the loveseat and Quinn and Rachel huddled close together on the floor sitting at the coffee table. On the table was a small box wrapped in a white bow that Rachel eyed. Her dads insisted she couldn’t open it until the movie was done and Rachel whined a little but reluctantly agreed. Her Daddy smirked as he hit ‘play’.
Video of baby Rachel in the bathtub came up on the screen and Rachel shrieked and Quinn started laughing at the girl’s shampoo Mohawk.
“Puck would be jealous,” Quinn said between giggles.
Rachel growled. “Turn it off!”
“But we’re not to the good part!” her Daddy argued.
Miniature Rachel was babbling away in the bathtub and her dads were talking right to her. She started singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and the words were perfectly clear. When she finished she went back to babbling and playing with the rubber duck.
“We couldn’t get her to talk for anything,” her Dad said. “But she would sing and every word was clear as a bell. Now we can’t get her to stop doing either!”
Both men and Quinn dissolved into laughter and Rachel pouted a little. When Quinn’s head ended up on Rachel’s shoulder she stopped pouting and the blonde stayed there. Bits of Rachel’s first elementary school talent show played. They watched her blow out her candles at her seventh birthday and Rachel’s first visit to New York City that summer. Pictures of an eleven year old Rachel outside of the theater where Wicked was playing came on the screen and then there was Rachel getting a cast on her wrist that seemed to take place soon after.
“What did we learn today, Rachel?” her Daddy asked as the pink layer was being added.
Adolescent Rachel sighed. “Just because Elphaba can defy gravity doesn’t mean I’m capable of doing it.”
“No more jumping off the swing set, right?”
“Right.”
Quinn giggled and shifted her head a little on Rachel’s shoulder. The video progressed all the way up through sectionals and the screen went black just after the last note of “Don’t Rain on My Parade”.
“It’s the same video every year,” Rachel said. “Except they add to it.”
“I thought it was brilliant,” Quinn said. She lifted her head and pushed Rachel’s hair back out of her face with a smile. “So you really tried to fly?”
“’Try’ being the key word,” Rachel said. She blushed for the umpteenth time that day and her eyes fell on the box on the coffee table. “Can I open it now?”
“I suppose,” her Daddy said with a dramatic sigh.
Rachel grabbed onto the box and tugged off the white ribbon. She lifted the lid carefully and gasped at the silver charm bracelet inside. There were gold stars dangling on it and she squealed a little.
“Dad, Daddy, it’s beautiful! Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, sweetie,” came in unison.
Rachel picked up the bracelet and got it looped around her left wrist. She fumbled with the clasp for a few moments before Quinn slipped her fingers over Rachel’s and clasped it. Her fingertips lingered for a few seconds as did Rachel’s gaze into Quinn’s eyes.
“Thanks,” the brunette whispered.
“No problem.” Quinn smiled.
“Would you…like to stay for dinner?”
Quinn nodded. “I’d love to.”
Rachel’s Daddy cleared his throat and both girls’ gazes snapped up to him. He grinned.
“We’ll take your plates and glasses to the kitchen if you’re finished,” he said.
The men left the room and Rachel slowly turned her head back to Quinn.
“What should we do for the rest of the afternoon?”
Quinn shrugged. “Up to you, birthday girl.”
“We have an extensive catalog of movies. I promise not all of them are musicals. Are you a John Hughes fan? I believe Sixteen Candles would be an appropriate selection.”
“I love that movie, I haven’t watched it in forever.”
Rachel hopped up off the floor and immediately went to a shelf and pulled out the DVD case for the movie and put it into the player. Quinn got up off the floor and settled herself toward the center of the couch and Rachel took a deep breath before sitting next to her. She relaxed and leaned back against the cushions and started the movie. She wasn’t entirely sure what to do with her right arm, the one closest to Quinn, and so she settled her hand in small gap between the pair.
They were thirteen minutes and twenty-two seconds in (not that Rachel looked down at the display on the DVD player when it happened or anything) when Quinn’s hand brushed against hers. They were thirty-eight minutes and twelve seconds in when Quinn’s hand was on top of hers and forty-three seconds later, Quinn gripped onto Rachel’s hand. At fifty-two minutes and twenty-eight seconds, Rachel got brave and turned her hand over. It took two seconds for Quinn’s fingers to entwine with hers.
When the movie ended and the entirety of the credits had rolled through, Rachel noticed her dads hadn’t come back from the kitchen. She leaned over and looked through the sliding glass door and saw them sitting out in the back yard with their fingers entwined and probably watching the birdhouse she’d painted for them when she was six that always had a family of birds in it that time of year.
Quinn didn’t seem to want to give up her gentle grip on Rachel’s hand so the brunette turned the TV over to cable and settled on ‘I Love the 80’s’ marathon that was on VH1. It was 1984.
“Do you have any kind of curfew?” Rachel asked to break the silence.
Quinn shook her head. “My parents don’t really notice when I’m gone. Either that or they don’t care.”
Rachel simply nodded. “If you ever wanted anyone to talk to…I can’t relate to your situation at all but I am capable of listening.”
Quinn smiled a little and settled her head back on Rachel’s shoulder. “Thanks. I’m just counting down the days until we graduate.”
Rachel tilted her head until her cheek was pressed against the top of Quinn’s head. Fifteen minutes into 1985, Quinn started talking about her life. She told Rachel about the pressure from her parents to be perfect and following in her older sister’s footsteps. She talked about hating Cheerios from day one and how getting pregnant was almost a blessing in disguise because it got her away from what she hated and pushed her toward glee club even more. She talked about Brittany being there to hold her hand when she had the baby and her parents taking her back after she’d signed the adoption papers.
“When I gave her to that couple,” Quinn sighed, “I realized that they didn’t care if I was a good person or a bad person. They cared that they had a baby girl. That was when I knew that no one else outside of McKinley cared if I was good or bad. So…I guess you have her to thank for all of this.”
Rachel nodded and got brave again and she pressed her lips to the top of Quinn’s head.
They spent the rest of the afternoon giggling at the 80’s and early 90’s. Rachel’s dads ordered from their favorite Chinese place for dinner. They spread the cartons out on the kitchen table and chatted animatedly and playfully argued about who started the pizza fight in the kitchen. It almost ended up in another food fight when Rachel tossed an eggroll at Quinn but Rachel’s Daddy put a stop to it saying that cashew chicken was a lot harder to clean up than flour and pineapple.
Rachel and Quinn each tore into their fortune cookies with eagerness. Rachel grinned at the slip of paper.
“Today you will receive an unexpected surprise,” she read. “Shockingly accurate!”
Quinn grinned. “Do something daring. The reward will be great,” she read. “Maybe I’ll go bungee jumping!”
“Jumping off of a platform attached only to a rubber band is not my idea of a good time.”
“Says the girl who jumped off the swing set so she could defy gravity!”
Rachel stuck her tongue out at Quinn and the blonde dissolved into a fit of giggles.
Rachel’s Dad pulled an ice cream cake out of the refrigerator after dinner and Quinn stood with her as she blew out her candles and Rachel’s Daddy filmed it. Rachel’s final present was a small box and the brunette opened it excitedly. In it was a set of keys.
“We know you can’t take your test until next week,” her Daddy said. “But we thought you’d want to practice in what you’ll be driving.”
Rachel’s eyes widened and her Daddy pointed to the door leading to the garage. She jumped up out of her seat and Quinn followed close behind. In the garage was a two door blue car. Rachel shrieked and jumped up and down.
“It’s not brand new,” her Dad said. “But it runs good and it’ll get you where you need to go.”
“This is amazing!” Rachel gasped.
She hugged each of her dads twice and then Quinn out of pure excitement. Quinn wrapped her arms around the brunette and Rachel calmed for a few seconds as the scent of strawberry shampoo sent her into a little daze. When she pulled away, Quinn was smiling from ear to ear. Rachel’s attention turned back to the blue car in the garage and she sprinted to it and immediately hopped in. She adjusted her seat and her mirrors so they would be ready and looked in the center console and the glove box and inspected the rest of the car.
Quinn was standing next to the driver’s side when Rachel finally got out.
“My parents called,” the blonde said. “They’re actually wondering where I am. I should probably go.”
Rachel’s heart sank a little and she nodded. “I’ll walk you out.”
The brunette pressed the button to open the garage door and Quinn waved goodbye to Rachel’s dads and followed the brunette down the driveway to her car that was parked on the street. Quinn fumbled with her keys and Rachel shuffled her feet as they stood by the red car. Rachel finally found her voice after a few minutes of awkward silence aside from the sound of a few kids in the distance.
“Quinn I want to thank you,” Rachel said, staring directly into the blonde’s eyes. “I…I can say with absolute certainty that this has been the best birthday I’ve ever had.”
Quinn smiled. “I had a great day, Rachel. I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”
“I’d really like that, too.”
“I hope you have a good evening.”
“I wish the same for you as well, Quinn.”
Rachel watched Quinn take a deep breath and before she could think, Quinn’s lips were on hers for a brief moment. It was awkward, mostly because Rachel had no warning and the look on Quinn’s face was hard to read when she pulled away. Rachel did the only thing she could think of to do and she reached up and cupped Quinn’s face and pulled her back in. She was ready this time, her lips moved against Quinn’s for the second kiss. It was still brief but it was a little more coordinated than the first and this time when she pulled away, Quinn was smiling.
“I guess I should listen to my fortune cookies more often,” Quinn said.
Rachel was a little speechless at that moment. “You…you should.”
“You…you’re okay with that, right?”
Rachel nodded. “I’m very okay with that.”
“I have to go but um…Maybe I can come over tomorrow?” Quinn’s eyes were hopeful and Rachel felt like jumping again.
“Of course. You’re welcome any time.”
Quinn nodded and opened her car door. Her eyes darted around and she leaned down and pressed one last chaste kiss to Rachel’s lips before she ducked inside.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” the blonde said with a smile.
Rachel nodded. She watched Quinn drive away and didn’t move from her spot until Quinn’s car was long gone. She literally skipped up the driveway and back into the garage. She shut the door and headed inside and spun around a few times in the kitchen before she continued skipping into the living room. She dropped to the couch and sighed.
“Did you have a good birthday, sweetie?” her Daddy asked.
“I had,” Rachel smiled, “the best birthday ever.”