Cabin Fever [1/10]
Title: Cabin Fever
Pairings/Major Characters: Rachel/Finn, eventual Rachel/Quinn, Rachel's dads (Bruce and Michael), Judy Fabray.
Mentions/Minor: Finn/Santana, Quinn/Finn, Quinn/Puck, Brittany/Santana
Other Characters: The rest of New Directions, a couple of OC's, and mentions Jacob Ben IsraelRating: R
Length: ~4,100/~33,000 (subject to change)
Summary: By a freak booking accident, Rachel and Quinn find themselves in the same cabin in upstate New York for two months over summer vacation.
Prologue
Chapter 1
Rachel was up at precisely 5:30am and in the back seat of the Berry SUV at 6:00am with her pink Carebear and pillow, ready for the lengthy drive to New York. She would’ve liked two months in the city, sure, but her dads had decided they needed time away from any kind of city life and the cabin by the lake was going to offer them exactly that.
The cabin was large; Rachel had looked over her Dad, Michael’s, shoulder when he booked the rental. There was one large common room with two stone fireplaces on either wall. In front of one fireplace was a large, red, plush-looking couch, two matching armchairs, and an area rug, the other fireplace only had a rug in front of it. There were bookshelves on either side of the fireplace where the seating area was. Beyond the fireplaces was a dining area with a large table to seat up to eight and then beyond that was the furnished kitchen area with an island and plenty of counter and cabinet space. Between the fireplaces and the dining area were two doors, one on each side, each of which led to two bedrooms and a bathroom. Rachel had asked her dad to put in a request to ensure that all dead, stuffed animals be taken down.
The fourteen hour drive was grueling; Rachel tried to sleep as much as she could but failed miserably. Her iPod had apparently decided it didn’t want to charge the night before and so she was stuck without music. She settled for reading Streisand: A Biography for the sixteenth time.
The Berrys were all exhausted by the time they reached the cabin. Rachel whined when she was asked to carry in a suitcase that wasn’t hers but got over it quickly when her dads threatened to take away her iPod charger. She unpacked all of her things into the provided dresser and closet space and put her own sheets on one of the twin beds in her bedroom. The trio collectively agreed that they’d go sight-seeing and shopping the next day before turning into bed. Rachel sent a goodnight text to Finn telling him she missed him. The response made her growl.
Got to lvl 17! Night!
Rachel was up at 8:00am the next morning feeling well rested and definitely ready to start her day. Her dads had commented on a diner they’d seen when coming through town and they decided to go there for breakfast. Unfortunately for Rachel, the only vegan breakfast item on the entire menu was bagels that looked like they’d been sitting on the counter for a while. She sighed and ordered a salad. Her dads both told her she might have to break her veganism for the summer if she was expected to eat anywhere other than the cabin.
Just before the Berrys paid their tab, Bruce’s cell phone rang. Rachel watched, semi-interested, as he conversed with whoever was on the line. When he sighed and his eyebrows furrowed, her sixth sense told her that something incredibly unpleasant was about to be unveiled.
“They double booked the cabin,” he said when he hung up. “The guy said they usually have two families in there but it’s always part of a group. He saw that the other family had the same town listed as us and assumed we were all together.”
“It’s someone from Lima?” Rachel asked curiously.
Bruce nodded. Michael sighed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Rachel chewed on her lower lip nervously. Her sixth sense was going nuts. For some reason, she couldn’t put her finger on it, the first thought that shot into her head was, “Oh my Streisand, what if it’s Quinn?”
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn was silent the entire shuttle ride to the airport. Her mother was next to her, absolutely glowing and giddy, as they drove to Columbus. They found their gate and waited with only three other people. When Quinn saw their plane, she groaned.
“Mom, it’s smaller than our house.”
“Nonsense, Quinnie! It’ll be fun!”
“Fun” turned out to be a turbulent flight with a smell that Quinn couldn’t quite identify. Luckily it was short; Quinn had never been so happy to see land in all of her life. Except that the runway was actually more like a field. She held on for dear life as the pilot practically crash landed. The “fun” continued when they actually hit a deer. They hit a deer. On the runway. At the airport. She’d landed in Hell…and hit a deer. They had to wait half an hour for the deer carcass to be picked up. Quinn was slightly unnerved that the men doing it looked like experts.
After exiting the plane and a snarky comment to the pilot about whether they’d crashed or been shot down, Quinn felt a little better. She reasoned that at least her life couldn’t get any worse. At least until her mother’s phone rang.
Quinn listened half way as her mother answered with few-word phrases like “I understand” and “That’s perfectly fine”. The younger of the two blondes simply grabbed her bags and walked toward the airport parking lot. Two men were standing near what looked to be the newest car in the entire lot with a sign that said “Fuhbray” on it. Quinn rolled her eyes and growled at them as she ripped the piece of paper out of the hands of one of them. Her mother hung up the phone and tipped each man with a five dollar bill, helped Quinn get the bags in the trunk of the car, and finally settled in.
“There’s been an issue with the cabin,” Judy said as she started the car. “It looks like we’ll be sharing with another family for the summer.”
“Great,” Quinn mumbled.
“Maybe they’ll have someone you can hang out with, dear!”
“Please don’t ever mention ‘deer’ around me again.”
The drive to the town was boring. There were trees, trees, squirrels, and more trees. They drove through the small lake-front town; the sign said “Kent” but to Quinn it might as well have just said “Welcome to Hell. Population: You, loser.”
They drove for a while longer and Quinn groaned as she watched the mileage gauge register almost four miles from civilization. When they pulled up to the cabin the other family’s SUV was already there. As Quinn grabbed her bags from the back of the car she looked the SUV over and something was a little…off. She looked again just as her mother called to her from the front door and she saw it. There was a giant, glittery gold star decal on the back window.
“No way,” Quinn gasped. “No freakin’ way. Mom, we have to get out of here.”
-*-*-*-*-*-
The Berrys immediately headed back to the cabin after breakfast to await the arrival of their new housemates. Rachel selected a book from one of the enormous bookcases, Lady Chatterly’s Lover, and curled up on one of the couches in front of the un-lit fireplace in the sitting area.
Michael and Bruce pulled stools up to the kitchen island to start writing out a grocery list for when they drove to the nearest Wal-Mart in Albion that afternoon. The kitchen was bare aside from eight sets of flatware and a cabinet full of various cups. Between reading the rather…interesting…book she’d selected, Rachel rattled off things she wanted and was again told she might have to break her vegan diet.
Just as Rachel reached the end of the first chapter of her book for the second time (she’d gone back through and counted how many times the word ‘sex’ appeared in that chapter alone, it was thirteen) there was a car door slam outside. Rachel jumped and watched the front door nervously. Her fathers each waited next to the couch as they listened to two female voices argue rather loudly.
“Mom, we have to get out of here.”
“Why, honey? This place is so adorable! It’s so rustic! Come on, it’s not going to be that bad.”
“No, you don’t understand, we have to leave!”
Rachel started shaking her head as she scrambled off the couch. “No…no, no, no!”
“Rachel?” Bruce reached out to put a hand on his distraught daughter’s shoulder. “Rachel, is everything alright?”
“I know that voice.”
The front door burst open before Bruce could inquire any further and Rachel’s jaw dropped as Judy Fabray stepped into the cabin with two suitcases and a huge smile. Quinn followed right after, her head hung low.
“Hello!” Judy said happily.
“Quinn…” Rachel squeaked.
“Treasure Trail.”
“You two know each other?” Michael quirked an eyebrow.
“Dad, Daddy…Quinn Fabray and her mother-“
“Judy!” Judy exclaimed. She dropped her bags and immediately walked up to the Berry men and extended her hand. “Judy Fabray!”
Rachel stared blankly at the blonde with two suitcases in front of her and one in her hand. This was going to be Hell. She really, honestly thought she was going to have a peaceful summer and now…Quinn Fabray was standing in front of her, probably concocting ways to make Rachel’s entire summer completely miserable. Rachel could see it now: slushie facials before dinner, “RuPaul, pass the salt”, pornographic pictures carved into trees. Her eyes started to burn as she watched Judy Fabray shake hands with her dads and smile widely at them.
“This will be so much fun!” Judy said. “I was unaware that the gays were fond of the outdoors!”
Rachel didn’t bother sticking around to hear the response. She dropped the book on the couch and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her.
-*-*-*-*-*-
As her mother started rambling about seeing the glee club at regionals and how wonderful Rachel performed, Quinn clenched her fists at her sides and growled at the short brunette staring at her like she’d just seen a ghost. Quinn started to miss the tiny plane with the funky smell and decided that yes her life could definitely get worse.
Quinn stared down her enemy while her mother went completely insane over the two Berry men. Rachel’s eyes were wide with fear. Quinn took this as a good sign, a sign that she could instill enough fear in the diva to keep Rachel out of her hair. She watched a tear drop out of Rachel’s eye before the brunette took off running toward one of the doors on either side of the cabin. Quinn heard her mother say something about the gays and the outdoors which snapped her attention back to the adults.
“Well, Judy,” the tall, African-American man who had introduced himself as Bruce said, “we’re not that much different from anyone else. Honey,” he addressed the other man, “go see what’s wrong with Rachel, will you?”
The other one, Michael, Quinn recalled, nodded and retreated to their side of the cabin. Quinn rolled her eyes and focused back on the conversation her mother was having.
“Well, Bruce, I just want to let you know that despite what you’ve heard about my soon to be ex-husband, I’m very open minded. I have no problems with you and your partner. And neither does Quinn!”
At the sound of her name Quinn nodded absentmindedly until her mother spoke again.
“Would you be more comfortable with a pride flag hanging somewhere?”
Quinn choked back a laugh and tried to disguise it as a cough. “Mom!” she growled. “You can’t just…oh my God. I’m taking our stuff to the bedrooms.”
“Good idea, Quinnie. I’m going to stay here and chat with Bruce a little more.”
“I think you should help me with the bags,” Quinn said through clenched teeth. Her life already sucked enough, she didn’t need second hand humiliation because of her mother.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Rachel let out a long, frustrated growl once her bedroom door slammed shut. She paced the floor a few times, wondering why the world had suddenly decided to hate her more than usual. The sound of her phone signaling she had a text made her momentarily forget her anger until she read Finn’s message.
i watched road trip. is it tru that it dosnt count if ur not in the same area code n u cheat?
Rachel almost threw her phone at the wall but decided against it and instead typed a furious message back to him.
YES IT COUNTS. Why would you ask me such a thing?!
Well ur gonna b gone 4 ever. I miss u…and u kno…stuff.
Quinn Fabray ruining her summer and her boyfriend badgering about the lack of sex for two months? Rachel rolled her eyes and punched out the response so hard she feared the phone might break. She loved Finn, she really did…but he was a moron and she couldn’t deny it. Especially not now.
I’m sure you can figure out a way to take care of your urges without the help of someone else.
Well yah but its more fun when ur here.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Yeah, fun for you and the mailman,” she muttered. “We do it once before I leave and now he’s in permanent heat.”
I can’t deal with this right now, Finn. My entire summer has just been completely ruined. If you wish to engage in affairs with other persons, go ahead. Just don’t expect me to be considered your girlfriend anymore.
Wait, r u breaking up w/ me?
I will break up with you if you cheat on me.
Rachel waited for a response but it never came. She tossed her phone on her nightstand just as her bedroom door creaked open. Michael poked his head in with a soft smile and Rachel nodded for him to come in.
“Sweetie, is everything okay?”
Rachel shook her head and blinked back her tears. “This is horrible, Dad. Absolutely horrible!”
“Rachel, I don’t really understa-“
“Quinn Fabray! Head Cheerio, Quinn Fabray! She’s made my life a living hell since junior high. Name-calling, slushie facials…summer is supposed to be my time to remove myself from that toxic environment and now I’m being forced to live with one of my main tormentors!”
Michael sighed and cautiously sat down on Rachel’s bed. Rachel leaned into her father’s side as he rubbed her back while she let the tears spill over.
“Maybe since this is a different environment she’ll be less abrasive,” he said, his voice full of hope.
“I highly doubt it.”
“Give it a few days, okay honey? If there are any problems then I’ll have a talk with Judy. If the situation can’t be resolved then we’ll leave.”
Rachel nodded. “I believe I can agree to those terms.”
“That’s my girl,” Michael said with a soft smile. “Is there anything else?”
“I hate boys.”
“Oh.” Michael stiffened. “Well, Rachel, I can’t say I didn’t see this com-“
“No!” Rachel shrieked. “I don’t mean it like that! Finn’s just being…well, he’s being a typical teenage male.”
“Right, typical teenage male. Do I need to get your daddy to beat him up?”
“As much as I’d love to take up your offer at the current moment I’m sure I’ll be over it by the time we return to Lima.”
“Alright baby girl. But you know we’re here for you whenever you need us, right?”
“Of course.”
Michael kissed his daughter on the top of the head and exited her room. Rachel stared at the door for a few moments before looking back to her phone and letting out a heavy sigh. She knew that the first chance Quinn got that the blonde would be texting her friends, telling them she was stuck in a cabin with RuPaul for two months and that Quinn would get sympathy while all she had was a boyfriend who only cared about getting high scores on video games and sex. She would have to make the best of things, though. So, in resilient Rachel Berry fashion, she dried her tears and washed her face and walked back out to the common room to face the music.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn grumbled a few choice words under her breath as she dragged her mother to their side of the cabin with the suitcases. They looked in each room and Quinn chose the room with the two twin beds and let her mother have the queen size. She unpacked all of her things and took her toiletry bag to the bathroom before going into her mother’s room.
“Mom, you’re really sure we have to stay here?”
Judy smiled up from tucking things away into her dresser. “Quinnie, it’ll be wonderful! A real cultural experience! The gays have their own culture, you know?”
“Okay, first of all, please stop with that.”
“With what?”
“The whole ‘the gays’ thing. It’s embarrassing.”
“I’m trying to make new friends, Quinn. Your father and his narrow-mindedness completely alienated everyone except for my bible study group. I believe that Michael and Bruce would be very fun to have around.”
“Please don’t do this,” Quinn muttered. She couldn’t believe her ears. Her mother was completely set on befriending the fathers of her mortal enemy. She stopped thinking that her life couldn’t get any worse. Every time she thought it, it did. Quinn sighed and stared out the window; she was completely unaware that her mother left the room until she heard voices.
“What do you men think about redecorating?”
Quinn’s eyes widened with horror. She tripped over the bed in trying to get to her mother before the woman said anything else embarrassing.
“Well, Judy,” Bruce said, “I don’t really see the need. It’s only for two months and the décor here is alright, I guess. I don’t really know much about interior decorating.”
“Neither do I,” Michael added.
Quinn scrambled to get back to the common room but was too late.
“Oh…well…that’s odd. I thought the gays were fabulous decorators. The man I hired to decorate our house when we first moved in was absolutely amazing. Maybe you know him! His name is--“
“Mom! Stop!”
“Quinn, you know better than to interrupt.”
Quinn shook her head and again mumbled a few choice words under her breath. “Please stop embarrassing me.” Judy squeaked and Quinn looked up to the two Berry me who were both looking at her with a little sympathy for her second-hand humiliation. “I’m so sorry,” Quinn mumbled to them. She may have been a cold and ruthless bitch but she wasn’t about to listen to her mother inadvertently offend the two men all summer long. “She…doesn’t get out much.”
“That’s going to change,” Judy said brightly.
“We’re going to Wal-Mart today,” Bruce said before anything else came out of Judy’s mouth. “The cabinets and refrigerator are all bare. Is there anything you two need? We’d be happy to pick it up for you so you can have some time to rest.”
“We’ll make a list,” Quinn said as soon as she saw her mother’s eyes go wide with excitement. Quinn knew, she just knew that her mother would say something about shopping with ‘the gays’. Just as Quinn pulled her mother to the kitchen to start writing out a grocery list, Rachel quietly walked back into the common room. Quinn glanced up from the notebook and took quick note of Rachel’s red eyes and dejected look and for a split-second she actually felt…well, she felt. It was some kind of feeling bordering on guilt as Rachel hugged her dads and then curled up on the couch with a book. Quinn finished up the grocery list and handed it off to the Berry men along with some cash to pay for their portion. Rachel scrambled up off the couch and followed her fathers out the cabin door.
“I’m going to go take a nap,” Quinn grumbled, heading to her bedroom. Her mother nodded and hugged her.
“I’m so glad you agreed to this, honey,” Judy whispered. “I really hope you’ll come around to like it.”
Quinn pulled away and nodded; her mother pushed her hair back and kissed her forehead.
“I might go into town while you’re napping.”
Quinn nodded again and silently retreated to her bedroom to try and sleep and to possibly conjure up ways to keep Rachel out of her hair.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Rachel wandered aimlessly around Wal-Mart with her dads searching for food. They had two and a half shopping carts full by the time they got to the check-out. Noting her solemn mood, Rachel’s dads attempted to cheer her up by letting her take her pick of the $5 movie shelf since there were no DVDs anywhere in the cabin and none of them had thought to bring any with them. They ended up with ten movies, all of which they had at home, but neither man said anything.
As the houses and small stores flew passed on their way out of Albion, Rachel tried desperately to figure out how she could make this work. She didn’t hate Quinn but it was very hard to like her with how the blonde insisted on treating people. Rachel figured that the best course of action would be to avoid Quinn as much as possible until they were used to each other’s company.
“Rachel, sweetie, look!” Michael half-shouted as he pointed across the SUV and out the driver’s side window. “There’s a berry patch!”
Rachel couldn’t help but giggle.
“It looks like they open in a few weeks, baby girl,” Bruce said. “Would you want to go?”
“Sure,” Rachel said with a shrug. “Fresh berries will be wonderful for breakfast.”
When they got back to the cabin, Bruce backed the SUV up close to the front door. There was loud music coming from inside and Rachel furrowed her eyebrows at the familiarity of the tune.
“Is that…Cher?” she wondered out loud. Both of her fathers shrugged.
Arms loaded up with groceries, the Berrys opened the front door to find Judy poking at an old record player that was on one of the bookshelves. The older blonde greeted the three with a smile.
“I found these in my closet,” Judy said. “There is a whole selection of records!”
Michael and Bruce each hurried to the kitchen with their bags and back outside again. Rachel shook her head and sighed.
“Mrs. Fabray…”
“Judy, dear. Please call me Judy.”
“Judy,” Rachel sighed, “I was unaware you were a fan of Cher.”
“Truthfully, I’m not. But I thought your family might be!”
“I do consider myself a fan but my fathers really aren’t. They’re more into classic rock.”
Judy furrowed her eyebrows. “Oh.”
“Thank you for your consideration, though,” Rachel said brightly. “We appreciate you being so accepting.”
The older blonde’s expression lightened considerably and she chatted animatedly with Rachel about the records she’d found. Rachel’s interest actually piqued when Judy mentioned a few Broadway titles. After the groceries were in the kitchen and put away Rachel sat on the floor in front of the fire place with Judy and went through the albums that had been found. Her dads joined them and found a few albums of interest themselves. When Bruce started telling the story of his and Michael’s first concert date and all of the things that went horribly wrong, Rachel finally let out a few genuine laughs and Judy was all but rolling on the floor.
-*-*-*-*-*-
From the doorway of her bedroom, Quinn peeked out to watch Rachel talking with her mother in front of the fireplace. She growled at Rachel’s smile when her mother handed over one of the records. She felt the tears sting her eyes as Rachel talked about musicals and her mother actually looked interested. Like, genuinely interested. Not just pretending to be interested. She was actually listening to Rachel Berry go on about some musical and she was asking questions.
Quinn retreated back to her room and tried to muffle the sounds of laughter coming from the common room by covering her head with a pillow. It also succeeded in muffling the sounds of her sobs as she wished that she could have the kind of relationship with her mother that Rachel seemed to fall into in only the few short hours they were there. But the relationship with her mother was so strained and had been for so long that she wondered if she could ever just…relax. The next thing Quinn was aware of was being woken up for dinner. She washed her face and tried to get the redness out of her eyes but knew she failed miserably when Rachel caught her gaze and the brunette’s eyes widened for a moment before she turned away.
Chapter 2
Pairings/Major Characters: Rachel/Finn, eventual Rachel/Quinn, Rachel's dads (Bruce and Michael), Judy Fabray.
Mentions/Minor: Finn/Santana, Quinn/Finn, Quinn/Puck, Brittany/Santana
Other Characters: The rest of New Directions, a couple of OC's, and mentions Jacob Ben IsraelRating: R
Length: ~4,100/~33,000 (subject to change)
Summary: By a freak booking accident, Rachel and Quinn find themselves in the same cabin in upstate New York for two months over summer vacation.
Prologue
Chapter 1
Rachel was up at precisely 5:30am and in the back seat of the Berry SUV at 6:00am with her pink Carebear and pillow, ready for the lengthy drive to New York. She would’ve liked two months in the city, sure, but her dads had decided they needed time away from any kind of city life and the cabin by the lake was going to offer them exactly that.
The cabin was large; Rachel had looked over her Dad, Michael’s, shoulder when he booked the rental. There was one large common room with two stone fireplaces on either wall. In front of one fireplace was a large, red, plush-looking couch, two matching armchairs, and an area rug, the other fireplace only had a rug in front of it. There were bookshelves on either side of the fireplace where the seating area was. Beyond the fireplaces was a dining area with a large table to seat up to eight and then beyond that was the furnished kitchen area with an island and plenty of counter and cabinet space. Between the fireplaces and the dining area were two doors, one on each side, each of which led to two bedrooms and a bathroom. Rachel had asked her dad to put in a request to ensure that all dead, stuffed animals be taken down.
The fourteen hour drive was grueling; Rachel tried to sleep as much as she could but failed miserably. Her iPod had apparently decided it didn’t want to charge the night before and so she was stuck without music. She settled for reading Streisand: A Biography for the sixteenth time.
The Berrys were all exhausted by the time they reached the cabin. Rachel whined when she was asked to carry in a suitcase that wasn’t hers but got over it quickly when her dads threatened to take away her iPod charger. She unpacked all of her things into the provided dresser and closet space and put her own sheets on one of the twin beds in her bedroom. The trio collectively agreed that they’d go sight-seeing and shopping the next day before turning into bed. Rachel sent a goodnight text to Finn telling him she missed him. The response made her growl.
Got to lvl 17! Night!
Rachel was up at 8:00am the next morning feeling well rested and definitely ready to start her day. Her dads had commented on a diner they’d seen when coming through town and they decided to go there for breakfast. Unfortunately for Rachel, the only vegan breakfast item on the entire menu was bagels that looked like they’d been sitting on the counter for a while. She sighed and ordered a salad. Her dads both told her she might have to break her veganism for the summer if she was expected to eat anywhere other than the cabin.
Just before the Berrys paid their tab, Bruce’s cell phone rang. Rachel watched, semi-interested, as he conversed with whoever was on the line. When he sighed and his eyebrows furrowed, her sixth sense told her that something incredibly unpleasant was about to be unveiled.
“They double booked the cabin,” he said when he hung up. “The guy said they usually have two families in there but it’s always part of a group. He saw that the other family had the same town listed as us and assumed we were all together.”
“It’s someone from Lima?” Rachel asked curiously.
Bruce nodded. Michael sighed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Rachel chewed on her lower lip nervously. Her sixth sense was going nuts. For some reason, she couldn’t put her finger on it, the first thought that shot into her head was, “Oh my Streisand, what if it’s Quinn?”
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn was silent the entire shuttle ride to the airport. Her mother was next to her, absolutely glowing and giddy, as they drove to Columbus. They found their gate and waited with only three other people. When Quinn saw their plane, she groaned.
“Mom, it’s smaller than our house.”
“Nonsense, Quinnie! It’ll be fun!”
“Fun” turned out to be a turbulent flight with a smell that Quinn couldn’t quite identify. Luckily it was short; Quinn had never been so happy to see land in all of her life. Except that the runway was actually more like a field. She held on for dear life as the pilot practically crash landed. The “fun” continued when they actually hit a deer. They hit a deer. On the runway. At the airport. She’d landed in Hell…and hit a deer. They had to wait half an hour for the deer carcass to be picked up. Quinn was slightly unnerved that the men doing it looked like experts.
After exiting the plane and a snarky comment to the pilot about whether they’d crashed or been shot down, Quinn felt a little better. She reasoned that at least her life couldn’t get any worse. At least until her mother’s phone rang.
Quinn listened half way as her mother answered with few-word phrases like “I understand” and “That’s perfectly fine”. The younger of the two blondes simply grabbed her bags and walked toward the airport parking lot. Two men were standing near what looked to be the newest car in the entire lot with a sign that said “Fuhbray” on it. Quinn rolled her eyes and growled at them as she ripped the piece of paper out of the hands of one of them. Her mother hung up the phone and tipped each man with a five dollar bill, helped Quinn get the bags in the trunk of the car, and finally settled in.
“There’s been an issue with the cabin,” Judy said as she started the car. “It looks like we’ll be sharing with another family for the summer.”
“Great,” Quinn mumbled.
“Maybe they’ll have someone you can hang out with, dear!”
“Please don’t ever mention ‘deer’ around me again.”
The drive to the town was boring. There were trees, trees, squirrels, and more trees. They drove through the small lake-front town; the sign said “Kent” but to Quinn it might as well have just said “Welcome to Hell. Population: You, loser.”
They drove for a while longer and Quinn groaned as she watched the mileage gauge register almost four miles from civilization. When they pulled up to the cabin the other family’s SUV was already there. As Quinn grabbed her bags from the back of the car she looked the SUV over and something was a little…off. She looked again just as her mother called to her from the front door and she saw it. There was a giant, glittery gold star decal on the back window.
“No way,” Quinn gasped. “No freakin’ way. Mom, we have to get out of here.”
-*-*-*-*-*-
The Berrys immediately headed back to the cabin after breakfast to await the arrival of their new housemates. Rachel selected a book from one of the enormous bookcases, Lady Chatterly’s Lover, and curled up on one of the couches in front of the un-lit fireplace in the sitting area.
Michael and Bruce pulled stools up to the kitchen island to start writing out a grocery list for when they drove to the nearest Wal-Mart in Albion that afternoon. The kitchen was bare aside from eight sets of flatware and a cabinet full of various cups. Between reading the rather…interesting…book she’d selected, Rachel rattled off things she wanted and was again told she might have to break her vegan diet.
Just as Rachel reached the end of the first chapter of her book for the second time (she’d gone back through and counted how many times the word ‘sex’ appeared in that chapter alone, it was thirteen) there was a car door slam outside. Rachel jumped and watched the front door nervously. Her fathers each waited next to the couch as they listened to two female voices argue rather loudly.
“Mom, we have to get out of here.”
“Why, honey? This place is so adorable! It’s so rustic! Come on, it’s not going to be that bad.”
“No, you don’t understand, we have to leave!”
Rachel started shaking her head as she scrambled off the couch. “No…no, no, no!”
“Rachel?” Bruce reached out to put a hand on his distraught daughter’s shoulder. “Rachel, is everything alright?”
“I know that voice.”
The front door burst open before Bruce could inquire any further and Rachel’s jaw dropped as Judy Fabray stepped into the cabin with two suitcases and a huge smile. Quinn followed right after, her head hung low.
“Hello!” Judy said happily.
“Quinn…” Rachel squeaked.
“Treasure Trail.”
“You two know each other?” Michael quirked an eyebrow.
“Dad, Daddy…Quinn Fabray and her mother-“
“Judy!” Judy exclaimed. She dropped her bags and immediately walked up to the Berry men and extended her hand. “Judy Fabray!”
Rachel stared blankly at the blonde with two suitcases in front of her and one in her hand. This was going to be Hell. She really, honestly thought she was going to have a peaceful summer and now…Quinn Fabray was standing in front of her, probably concocting ways to make Rachel’s entire summer completely miserable. Rachel could see it now: slushie facials before dinner, “RuPaul, pass the salt”, pornographic pictures carved into trees. Her eyes started to burn as she watched Judy Fabray shake hands with her dads and smile widely at them.
“This will be so much fun!” Judy said. “I was unaware that the gays were fond of the outdoors!”
Rachel didn’t bother sticking around to hear the response. She dropped the book on the couch and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her.
-*-*-*-*-*-
As her mother started rambling about seeing the glee club at regionals and how wonderful Rachel performed, Quinn clenched her fists at her sides and growled at the short brunette staring at her like she’d just seen a ghost. Quinn started to miss the tiny plane with the funky smell and decided that yes her life could definitely get worse.
Quinn stared down her enemy while her mother went completely insane over the two Berry men. Rachel’s eyes were wide with fear. Quinn took this as a good sign, a sign that she could instill enough fear in the diva to keep Rachel out of her hair. She watched a tear drop out of Rachel’s eye before the brunette took off running toward one of the doors on either side of the cabin. Quinn heard her mother say something about the gays and the outdoors which snapped her attention back to the adults.
“Well, Judy,” the tall, African-American man who had introduced himself as Bruce said, “we’re not that much different from anyone else. Honey,” he addressed the other man, “go see what’s wrong with Rachel, will you?”
The other one, Michael, Quinn recalled, nodded and retreated to their side of the cabin. Quinn rolled her eyes and focused back on the conversation her mother was having.
“Well, Bruce, I just want to let you know that despite what you’ve heard about my soon to be ex-husband, I’m very open minded. I have no problems with you and your partner. And neither does Quinn!”
At the sound of her name Quinn nodded absentmindedly until her mother spoke again.
“Would you be more comfortable with a pride flag hanging somewhere?”
Quinn choked back a laugh and tried to disguise it as a cough. “Mom!” she growled. “You can’t just…oh my God. I’m taking our stuff to the bedrooms.”
“Good idea, Quinnie. I’m going to stay here and chat with Bruce a little more.”
“I think you should help me with the bags,” Quinn said through clenched teeth. Her life already sucked enough, she didn’t need second hand humiliation because of her mother.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Rachel let out a long, frustrated growl once her bedroom door slammed shut. She paced the floor a few times, wondering why the world had suddenly decided to hate her more than usual. The sound of her phone signaling she had a text made her momentarily forget her anger until she read Finn’s message.
i watched road trip. is it tru that it dosnt count if ur not in the same area code n u cheat?
Rachel almost threw her phone at the wall but decided against it and instead typed a furious message back to him.
YES IT COUNTS. Why would you ask me such a thing?!
Well ur gonna b gone 4 ever. I miss u…and u kno…stuff.
Quinn Fabray ruining her summer and her boyfriend badgering about the lack of sex for two months? Rachel rolled her eyes and punched out the response so hard she feared the phone might break. She loved Finn, she really did…but he was a moron and she couldn’t deny it. Especially not now.
I’m sure you can figure out a way to take care of your urges without the help of someone else.
Well yah but its more fun when ur here.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Yeah, fun for you and the mailman,” she muttered. “We do it once before I leave and now he’s in permanent heat.”
I can’t deal with this right now, Finn. My entire summer has just been completely ruined. If you wish to engage in affairs with other persons, go ahead. Just don’t expect me to be considered your girlfriend anymore.
Wait, r u breaking up w/ me?
I will break up with you if you cheat on me.
Rachel waited for a response but it never came. She tossed her phone on her nightstand just as her bedroom door creaked open. Michael poked his head in with a soft smile and Rachel nodded for him to come in.
“Sweetie, is everything okay?”
Rachel shook her head and blinked back her tears. “This is horrible, Dad. Absolutely horrible!”
“Rachel, I don’t really understa-“
“Quinn Fabray! Head Cheerio, Quinn Fabray! She’s made my life a living hell since junior high. Name-calling, slushie facials…summer is supposed to be my time to remove myself from that toxic environment and now I’m being forced to live with one of my main tormentors!”
Michael sighed and cautiously sat down on Rachel’s bed. Rachel leaned into her father’s side as he rubbed her back while she let the tears spill over.
“Maybe since this is a different environment she’ll be less abrasive,” he said, his voice full of hope.
“I highly doubt it.”
“Give it a few days, okay honey? If there are any problems then I’ll have a talk with Judy. If the situation can’t be resolved then we’ll leave.”
Rachel nodded. “I believe I can agree to those terms.”
“That’s my girl,” Michael said with a soft smile. “Is there anything else?”
“I hate boys.”
“Oh.” Michael stiffened. “Well, Rachel, I can’t say I didn’t see this com-“
“No!” Rachel shrieked. “I don’t mean it like that! Finn’s just being…well, he’s being a typical teenage male.”
“Right, typical teenage male. Do I need to get your daddy to beat him up?”
“As much as I’d love to take up your offer at the current moment I’m sure I’ll be over it by the time we return to Lima.”
“Alright baby girl. But you know we’re here for you whenever you need us, right?”
“Of course.”
Michael kissed his daughter on the top of the head and exited her room. Rachel stared at the door for a few moments before looking back to her phone and letting out a heavy sigh. She knew that the first chance Quinn got that the blonde would be texting her friends, telling them she was stuck in a cabin with RuPaul for two months and that Quinn would get sympathy while all she had was a boyfriend who only cared about getting high scores on video games and sex. She would have to make the best of things, though. So, in resilient Rachel Berry fashion, she dried her tears and washed her face and walked back out to the common room to face the music.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn grumbled a few choice words under her breath as she dragged her mother to their side of the cabin with the suitcases. They looked in each room and Quinn chose the room with the two twin beds and let her mother have the queen size. She unpacked all of her things and took her toiletry bag to the bathroom before going into her mother’s room.
“Mom, you’re really sure we have to stay here?”
Judy smiled up from tucking things away into her dresser. “Quinnie, it’ll be wonderful! A real cultural experience! The gays have their own culture, you know?”
“Okay, first of all, please stop with that.”
“With what?”
“The whole ‘the gays’ thing. It’s embarrassing.”
“I’m trying to make new friends, Quinn. Your father and his narrow-mindedness completely alienated everyone except for my bible study group. I believe that Michael and Bruce would be very fun to have around.”
“Please don’t do this,” Quinn muttered. She couldn’t believe her ears. Her mother was completely set on befriending the fathers of her mortal enemy. She stopped thinking that her life couldn’t get any worse. Every time she thought it, it did. Quinn sighed and stared out the window; she was completely unaware that her mother left the room until she heard voices.
“What do you men think about redecorating?”
Quinn’s eyes widened with horror. She tripped over the bed in trying to get to her mother before the woman said anything else embarrassing.
“Well, Judy,” Bruce said, “I don’t really see the need. It’s only for two months and the décor here is alright, I guess. I don’t really know much about interior decorating.”
“Neither do I,” Michael added.
Quinn scrambled to get back to the common room but was too late.
“Oh…well…that’s odd. I thought the gays were fabulous decorators. The man I hired to decorate our house when we first moved in was absolutely amazing. Maybe you know him! His name is--“
“Mom! Stop!”
“Quinn, you know better than to interrupt.”
Quinn shook her head and again mumbled a few choice words under her breath. “Please stop embarrassing me.” Judy squeaked and Quinn looked up to the two Berry me who were both looking at her with a little sympathy for her second-hand humiliation. “I’m so sorry,” Quinn mumbled to them. She may have been a cold and ruthless bitch but she wasn’t about to listen to her mother inadvertently offend the two men all summer long. “She…doesn’t get out much.”
“That’s going to change,” Judy said brightly.
“We’re going to Wal-Mart today,” Bruce said before anything else came out of Judy’s mouth. “The cabinets and refrigerator are all bare. Is there anything you two need? We’d be happy to pick it up for you so you can have some time to rest.”
“We’ll make a list,” Quinn said as soon as she saw her mother’s eyes go wide with excitement. Quinn knew, she just knew that her mother would say something about shopping with ‘the gays’. Just as Quinn pulled her mother to the kitchen to start writing out a grocery list, Rachel quietly walked back into the common room. Quinn glanced up from the notebook and took quick note of Rachel’s red eyes and dejected look and for a split-second she actually felt…well, she felt. It was some kind of feeling bordering on guilt as Rachel hugged her dads and then curled up on the couch with a book. Quinn finished up the grocery list and handed it off to the Berry men along with some cash to pay for their portion. Rachel scrambled up off the couch and followed her fathers out the cabin door.
“I’m going to go take a nap,” Quinn grumbled, heading to her bedroom. Her mother nodded and hugged her.
“I’m so glad you agreed to this, honey,” Judy whispered. “I really hope you’ll come around to like it.”
Quinn pulled away and nodded; her mother pushed her hair back and kissed her forehead.
“I might go into town while you’re napping.”
Quinn nodded again and silently retreated to her bedroom to try and sleep and to possibly conjure up ways to keep Rachel out of her hair.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Rachel wandered aimlessly around Wal-Mart with her dads searching for food. They had two and a half shopping carts full by the time they got to the check-out. Noting her solemn mood, Rachel’s dads attempted to cheer her up by letting her take her pick of the $5 movie shelf since there were no DVDs anywhere in the cabin and none of them had thought to bring any with them. They ended up with ten movies, all of which they had at home, but neither man said anything.
As the houses and small stores flew passed on their way out of Albion, Rachel tried desperately to figure out how she could make this work. She didn’t hate Quinn but it was very hard to like her with how the blonde insisted on treating people. Rachel figured that the best course of action would be to avoid Quinn as much as possible until they were used to each other’s company.
“Rachel, sweetie, look!” Michael half-shouted as he pointed across the SUV and out the driver’s side window. “There’s a berry patch!”
Rachel couldn’t help but giggle.
“It looks like they open in a few weeks, baby girl,” Bruce said. “Would you want to go?”
“Sure,” Rachel said with a shrug. “Fresh berries will be wonderful for breakfast.”
When they got back to the cabin, Bruce backed the SUV up close to the front door. There was loud music coming from inside and Rachel furrowed her eyebrows at the familiarity of the tune.
“Is that…Cher?” she wondered out loud. Both of her fathers shrugged.
Arms loaded up with groceries, the Berrys opened the front door to find Judy poking at an old record player that was on one of the bookshelves. The older blonde greeted the three with a smile.
“I found these in my closet,” Judy said. “There is a whole selection of records!”
Michael and Bruce each hurried to the kitchen with their bags and back outside again. Rachel shook her head and sighed.
“Mrs. Fabray…”
“Judy, dear. Please call me Judy.”
“Judy,” Rachel sighed, “I was unaware you were a fan of Cher.”
“Truthfully, I’m not. But I thought your family might be!”
“I do consider myself a fan but my fathers really aren’t. They’re more into classic rock.”
Judy furrowed her eyebrows. “Oh.”
“Thank you for your consideration, though,” Rachel said brightly. “We appreciate you being so accepting.”
The older blonde’s expression lightened considerably and she chatted animatedly with Rachel about the records she’d found. Rachel’s interest actually piqued when Judy mentioned a few Broadway titles. After the groceries were in the kitchen and put away Rachel sat on the floor in front of the fire place with Judy and went through the albums that had been found. Her dads joined them and found a few albums of interest themselves. When Bruce started telling the story of his and Michael’s first concert date and all of the things that went horribly wrong, Rachel finally let out a few genuine laughs and Judy was all but rolling on the floor.
-*-*-*-*-*-
From the doorway of her bedroom, Quinn peeked out to watch Rachel talking with her mother in front of the fireplace. She growled at Rachel’s smile when her mother handed over one of the records. She felt the tears sting her eyes as Rachel talked about musicals and her mother actually looked interested. Like, genuinely interested. Not just pretending to be interested. She was actually listening to Rachel Berry go on about some musical and she was asking questions.
Quinn retreated back to her room and tried to muffle the sounds of laughter coming from the common room by covering her head with a pillow. It also succeeded in muffling the sounds of her sobs as she wished that she could have the kind of relationship with her mother that Rachel seemed to fall into in only the few short hours they were there. But the relationship with her mother was so strained and had been for so long that she wondered if she could ever just…relax. The next thing Quinn was aware of was being woken up for dinner. She washed her face and tried to get the redness out of her eyes but knew she failed miserably when Rachel caught her gaze and the brunette’s eyes widened for a moment before she turned away.
Chapter 2