Are You Ten Years Ago? [10/14]
Title: Are You Ten Years Ago?
Major Characters/Pairings: Quinn Fabray-Puckerman, Beth Puckerman, Noah Puckerman, Jr., Jasper Puckerman, Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson/OC, Mentions past: Quinn/Puck, Rachel/Puck, Rachel/Quinn
Minor Characters/Pairings: Mike/OC, Matt/OC, Artie/Tina, Rachel's dads Mentions: Brittany/Santana, Mercedes/OC, Kurt/OC
Rating: PG-13
Length: 45,200+
Summary: AU beginning after 'Funk'. Rachel got the hell out of Lima, Ohio immediately after graduation, breaking Quinn's heart in the process, and never looked back. Now, ten years later, she's back and Quinn is the one to show her the aftermath and the pieces of what she left behind - all the while trying desperately not to fall back in love with her ex-girlfriend.
Warnings: Pre-story character death discussed in detail.
-Chapter 10-
Quinn gathered the kids up in the van the next afternoon and they went to the house Rachel was thinking of buying. It was extremely spacious and the realtor that was showing them around mentioned that aside from the stairs the entire house was ADA accessible. Rachel had her catalogs with her and each new room she made Quinn pick out a few pieces of furniture she liked. She didn’t miss that Rachel’s eyes lit up when Beth went into one of the bedrooms and said she liked the view from the window and the fact that bedroom had its own bathroom. The master suite was indeed very large and Rachel had apparently already thought about how she would organize the walk-in closet that could’ve been another bedroom.
“It’s a beautiful house, Rachel. I still think it’s a little excessive for someone who will be living in it alone, though.”
Rachel shrugged. “I’m Rachel Berry. I won two Grammys. I’m allowed to be excessive.”
Quinn rolled her eyes and Beth doubled over laughing.
Rachel signed the papers from the realtor three days later and demanded Quinn help her make final decisions on furniture and appliances.
School ended and so did Beth's short-lived relationship with Jeremy. Rachel showed up at Quinn's house with a pint of ice cream and a box of chocolates sending Beth into a fit of giggles.
"Mostly we just kinda sat there and didn't talk," Beth said. "It's not a big deal. But the ice cream is awesome!"
Quinn convinced Noah to sign up for baseball and Beth wanted to play soccer. Rachel offered to coach either one of the kids’ teams and Quinn actually had to stifle her laughter when Rachel asked exactly which sport soccer was. Quinn shook her head and handed Rachel each of the kids’ schedules and thanked her for the offer but Finn had jumped at the chance to coach both teams already.
They got Rachel moved into the house with her new furniture. She brought over her old bedroom furniture from her dads house and set it up in the bedroom with the extra bathroom and as far as Quinn knew, she left the other two bedrooms empty. The contractors started work on furnishing the basement, Rachel had decided on a small home gym and an office.
They went to Denny’s with Finn and Kelsey to celebrate Noah’s first baseball game even though his team lost horribly. Quinn let him get a big stack of chocolate chip pancakes and Finn shared nachos with him. Rachel stayed the night and helped Quinn administer Mylanta to the boy three different times because he kept throwing it up along with his dinner. Finally, around three in the morning, he seemed to have completely emptied his stomach and kept down one last dose of Mylanta.
Rachel and Quinn collapsed on the couch and the brunette rested her head on the blonde’s shoulder. Quinn didn’t object.
“I was unaware that a nine-year-old’s stomach could hold that much,” Rachel said. “I would be rather impressed if I weren’t slightly disgusted.”
“You’d be surprised what kids’ stomachs can hold.”
Rachel yawned and snuggled a little closer. “Do you mind if I crash on your couch tonight?”
“Nope, it’s all yours.”
“Mkay.”
“I should go to bed.”
“Mkay.”
Quinn stayed where she was. Her body felt heavy and she really, honestly, didn’t want to move. She tried to convince herself that it didn’t have anything to do with Rachel snuggling into her side but she knew that part of it was that. The majority definitely was just being purely exhausted. The last thing she remembered was being glad that it was Saturday and she didn’t have to get up in three hours.
“Mom?”
There was something poking her shoulder and Quinn grumbled.
“Mom? Wake up.”
Quinn opened one eye. “What do you need, Beth?”
“I was kinda like, wanting to watch TV.”
“So watch it.”
“You and Rachel are taking up the whole couch.”
It wasn’t until Beth said it that Quinn realized she had a weight on top of her and that weight was Rachel. Rachel wasn’t even halfway on top of her. She was fully on top of her with her head on her chest and her arms wrapped around Quinn’s shoulders. Quinn gently gripped onto Rachel’s shoulders and shook her a little, the brunette groaned.
“Not now, comfy. Sleep.”
“Rachel, get up please.”
“No. Snuggle.”
Quinn glanced up at Beth who was trying to look anywhere but the couch and the blonde sighed.
“I’m sorry, Beth…just…one minute. Rachel, Barbra Streisand is on the phone. She wants to know if you’ll…”
Rachel sat bolt upright. “What?!”
“Good morning, sunshine.”
Rachel looked around at her surroundings and Quinn sat up before the brunette could lie back down. Beth looked between the small space between Quinn and Rachel and the space on the other side of Rachel she finally sighed and dropped to the end of the couch and grabbed the TV remote. Rachel attempted to lean back against Quinn but the blonde shrugged her off and went to the kitchen to start coffee. As expected, Rachel followed.
“Need any help?”
Quinn shook her head and loaded the coffee maker. “I need to talk to Beth.”
“What about?”
“What do you think? About just now.”
“Why? Nothing happened.”
“I just need to make sure she knows that.” Quinn took down two cups from the cabinet and Rachel sighed as she pulled out a kitchen chair.
“What if something had happened, Quinn? What would you tell her then?”
“Nothing would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have let it.”
“Why are you so worried about this? Would it honestly be that big of a deal if maybe we did go out on a date or maybe we…”
“No, Rachel. It is a big deal. It’s a big deal because I don’t want my kids thinking I’m trying to replace their father. It’s not about me.”
“It should be,” Rachel mumbled. “Save your coffee. I’ll go ahead and go.”
Quinn turned in time to see the brunette walk through the living room and say a quiet goodbye to Beth before slipping on her shoes and grabbing her purse. Quinn followed Rachel out of the house and to the brunette’s car and she held onto the door when Rachel tried to close it.
“Rachel, I have my kids to think about here. I can’t just start dating without talking to them.”
“Do you want to date me, Quinn?”
Quinn swallowed hard. Her immediate response was “God yes, Rachel!” but it wouldn’t come out of her mouth. The words caught in her throat and Rachel looked like a kicked puppy before she pulled her door shut. Quinn stood standing on the curb and watched Rachel drive away. She slowly walked back to the house and Beth was looking up at her, eyes wide.
“Is Rachel okay?”
“She’s fine, sweetie.”
“She didn’t look fine.”
“We had an argument, don’t worry about it. And don’t worry about this morning, okay? Rachel was just tired and she fell asleep.”
Beth furrowed her eyebrows. “I don’t sleep on top of my friends. Just ask her out already.”
“Well…I…I don’t want to do anything that would make you unhappy, sweetie.”
Beth shrugged. “I like Rachel. She’s nice and Noah and Jasper like her so it’d be cool or whatever if you went out with her.”
“I don’t think Noah would feel the same…but…there’s nothing to talk about.” Quinn shook her head. “We’re fine, aren’t we? The four of us?”
“Noah would be fine. I told you, he likes her.”
“Who do I like?” Noah yawned as he padded down the hallway. He crawled up on the couch next to Beth.
“Rachel,” Beth said. “You like Rachel, don’t you?”
“Yeah, she’s cool.”
“Mom wants to take her on a date.”
“I never said…”
“Can I go, too?”
“You can’t go with them on a date, Noah! It’s a date because it’s just the two of them so they talk about grown-up stuff. Like taxes or something. It’s boring. I saw it on TV.”
Quinn looked back and forth between her two oldest kids. “Beth, I never said I wanted…”
“Taxes sound boring,” Noah said as he hopped off the couch and headed to the kitchen. “You should take her to Chuck-E-Cheese.”
“They’re too old for that, Noah.”
“I’m gonna go to Chuck-E-Cheese even when I’m a grown up!” Noah called from the kitchen. “So where are you gonna go on your date?”
“Noah, I never said I was going to…what are you doing?”
Noah bounced back into the living room with a box of Frosted Flakes cereal and shoved a handful of it in his mouth. He handed the box to Beth and she took a handful.
“Since when do you two eat cereal right out of the box?!”
“Since every Saturday since forever when you get up late,” Noah said as he reached in. “Dad started it.”
“Mom, you’re blocking the TV.”
“I guess this explains why we go through so much cereal,” Quinn mumbled as she made her way to the kitchen to get coffee.
“Ask her out!” Beth yelled after her.
Quinn sighed as she poured a cup of coffee and listened to Beth and Noah chatter in the living room while passing the box of cereal back and forth. So she had the approval of two of her children and if she was honest with herself then she would admit that their approval was all of what she needed to ask Rachel out. However, before she could admit it, she was broken from her thoughts by the cries of her youngest son.
The remainder of the morning was spent with Quinn looking at her phone in between getting things Jasper needed and answering questions about dating from Noah. Every five minutes Beth would poke her shoulder and say, “call her”. After lunch she put Jasper down for his nap and checked on Beth and Noah who were on the couch watching TV.
“Call her!” Beth said with a smile as Quinn turned to go back down the hallway. The blonde rubbed her shoulder where she was sure a bruise was appearing from Beth’s repeated pokes.
“If I call her will you leave me alone?”
“I’ll leave you alone if you ask her on a date.”
“What if I don’t want to take her on a date?!”
“You so want to.”
Quinn scowled before she went to her bedroom. She pulled out her phone and stared at it. It was time, wasn't it? She had struggled with it but eventually let go of the past. Rachel had been there more than expected over the last two months and yeah...it was time. Nervously, Quinn sighed and scrolled through her contacts and hit “call”. It rang three times before Rachel picked up.
“Quinn…I wasn’t…I didn’t expect you to call.”
“I…yeah. Hi.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Will you go out with me?”
Quinn immediately snapped her jaw shut and rolled her eyes at how incredibly high school she sounded, her voice high pitched and the phrase falling out of her mouth before she could really think about it. It had been a really long time since she asked anyone on a date, though.
“I…what?”
Quinn took a deep breath. “Will you go out with me? On a date. Beth won’t leave me alone until I ask you and now I’ve asked you so can you please tell her to stop harassing me?”
“Beth?”
“We talked after you left this morning. She and Noah are fine with it.”
“Okay…okay so…how do we do this?”
“Do what?”
“The date.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Well of course it’s a yes! I would very much love to go out on a date with you! Do you need a babysitter? When should this take place? And where?”
“I…I hadn’t thought about it. Noah said I should take you to Chuck-E-Cheese.”
“I…Chuck-E-Cheese? I think there’s a height requirement.”
“So they’d only let you in, damn.”
Quinn giggled and Rachel gasped and let out an offended shriek.
“I’ll have you know that I am…I’m…Okay, I’m short. Beth being at eye level with me has taken away what little hold I had on my pride regarding my height.”
Quinn grinned. “So…a date?”
“Would you allow me to take you out to dinner and a movie? Or perhaps you can come over here and we can cook together and rent a movie.”
“I’d rather just come over…if that’s okay. I want to be somewhere that I know I can be reached, you know? I don’t want to have my phone go off in the middle of a theater.”
“I understand. When would you like this to take place?”
Quinn blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Is tonight too soon?”
Quinn heard Rachel’s smile in her response. “I’ll have to go to the store. I believe I can pick out an appropriate menu.”
“I’ll call Finn and Kelsey and see if they can come over and watch the kids.”
“So…six?”
“Sounds good.”
After saying goodbye and hanging up the phone Quinn felt her stomach drop to the floor. She’d just agreed on a date with Rachel Berry. She hadn’t been on a date in over ten years. Noah’s conception didn’t really count. The last actual date she had been on had been with Rachel right before the brunette left. They’d let Puck watch Beth for the evening and they went out to a nice restaurant and to a movie then back to Rachel’s and…Quinn blushed when she thought of the end of the date. Then she panicked because she didn’t know if she had anything to wear. The last time she’d gotten dressed up for anything was a co-worker’s wedding. She wondered if she even should dress up since all she was doing was going over to Rachel’s and cooking dinner, something that was easily done in jeans and a t-shirt. Her thoughts drifted back to the aftermath of their last date and her heart stopped.
Was she ready for this? She would be in Rachel’s house…alone. Without children. Alone with Rachel. In a house. A house that contained at least two beds and a couch. Quinn started pacing her bedroom floor, nearly shaking. She could say no…did she want to say no? Her fingers absentmindedly started playing with her wedding ring and she stopped. She looked down at her left hand and furrowed her eyebrows. She wasn’t entirely sure if it would be appropriate to wear her wedding ring on a date. A soft knock on her bedroom door tore her gaze away from the gold band.
“Mom?” Beth peeked her head into the door. “Look…I’m sorry if I like made you mad or whatever. It’s just…Rachel’s really cool and you’re always laughing and stuff when you’re around her and you look at her like you like her so I guess I just thought you’d want to date her.”
“I…I’m going on a date with her,” Quinn managed to get out. “Tonight.”
A grin spread across Beth’s face. “Really?!”
“Really.” Quinn nodded and attempted to not look like a terrified teenager. “Dinner and a movie at her house. I-I’m going to call Finn and Kelsey to see if they’ll come over and watch you guys.”
“Are you nervous?”
Quinn was torn between lying to her twelve-year-old daughter and completely breaking down. The only middle ground she saw was to nod a little. Which she did. Beth giggled and darted into the room.
“Okay so you’re like just going to her house so you don’t need to dress up. She doesn’t dress up to come here so I think your nice jeans and a nice shirt would be fine.”
“Since when are you the expert?”
Beth shrugged. “I read a lot of magazines. You really don’t have to impress her since she like, knows everything about you.”
“Good point…” Quinn walked to her closet and started rummaging around. She found her best pair of jeans and a light blue blouse. She held the outfit up for Beth and the girl nodded approvingly.
“Looks good. Put your hair up, you don’t want to get it in the food.”
“Right…and I need to call Finn. And I should shower.”
Quinn wasn’t entirely sure how five hours could go by so quickly and so slowly at the same time. At five-thirty Finn and Kelsey showed up and Finn pulled Quinn into the kitchen and once again gave her his “I don’t want you to get hurt” speech and she smiled and hugged him and told him everything would be okay before grabbing her purse and giving him money for pizza for dinner. She kissed each of her kids on the top of the head and checked three times that she’d left Rachel’s cell phone number and finally she pushed herself out the front door and to her van.
Once in the driveway of Rachel’s house Quinn sat and stared at her wedding ring. She had three minutes to make her decision. She looked up and saw Rachel peek out one of the windows and smile. Shakily, Quinn tugged at the gold band and it slipped off her finger and brought it to her lips and kissed it before she tucked it into her jeans pocket and grabbed her purse.
“I love you, Puck,” she whispered as she looked up at the sky as she got out of the van. “But I think this is something I really want. I hope you understand.” Quinn stuck her hand in her pocket and gave the ring one last squeeze before she knocked on the door and was met with a Rachel Berry smile. Rachel was in jeans and a yellow polo and any apprehensions Quinn had about her own wardrobe vanished.
“Hi,” Quinn said with a small smile as she stepped over the threshold.
“You sat out there for quite a while, is everything alright?”
“It’s fine…just a little nervous.”
“Of course. I hope you’ll find the selected menu appropriate,” the brunette said as she led the way into the kitchen. “I already prepared some things to snack on while we cook the main course. I recalled that one of your favorite meals was chicken Alfredo so I thought we could make that. I bought a loaf of garlic bread that is being kept warm in the oven because I have yet to learn how to make it myself without setting it on fire.”
Quinn smiled. “I never minded having it blackened.”
Rachel snorted and pulled out everything she needed from the refrigerator. “Shall we?”
The familiar rhythm of slicing and dicing and boiling and baking wasn’t anything new aside from when Rachel was doing dishes while they waited for the pasta noodles to boil Quinn nervously wrapped her arm around the singer’s waist; Rachel smiled down at the soapy dishwater and Quinn felt her cheeks tinge red at the sight.
Rachel demanded that she bring out her best dishware and candlesticks if they were going to eat dinner in the dining room but Quinn won out and convinced her that they could eat and watch a movie at the same time so they settled next to each other on the tan sectional in the living room and Rachel flipped through the pay-per-view movie channels and they settled on a romantic comedy.
“The lead actor is a jerk,” Rachel said with a mouthful of pasta. “I worked with him at a Relay for Life charity event and wanted to smack him the entire time.”
“Don’t tell Beth that, she went to see this with her friends and gushed to me about how cute he was.”
“Appearances can be deceiving. Like her,” Rachel pointed when a minor character came on the screen, “married twice, cheated on both men with their sisters yet is in charge of some organization promoting healthy marriages. And the director of this tried to get me in bed with him when I was married.”
“Do you know everything about everyone in Hollywood?”
“Everyone knows everything about everyone in Hollywood. They just know to keep their mouths shut about it.”
“Except for you.”
“Well, you’re special.”
Quinn blushed and stuck another forkful of pasta in her mouth.
By the time the movie ended Rachel had her head on Quinn’s shoulder and the blonde had slipped her fingers in between Rachel’s.
“Dessert?”
Quinn nodded and Rachel took their plates to the kitchen. The blonde took a few deep breaths and fidgeted in her seat and with her bare ring finger. She was grateful that Rachel hadn’t tried to make a move other than settling her head on her shoulder but the apprehension of something happening was close to short circuiting Quinn’s nerves. When Rachel returned with two bowls of ice cream, one of them fixed exactly the way Quinn liked it, the blonde waited for her to set the bowls on the coffee table before she reached up and grabbed the front of Rachel’s shirt and pulled the brunette down on her.
Rachel landed straddling Quinn’s lap and the blonde took charge before she changed her mind and she wrapped one hand around the back of Rachel’s neck and pulled her in close. Rachel rested her forehead against Quinn’s and resisted being pulled in further.
“Are you sure about this?” Rachel whispered.
“I’m sure. Not…not all of it…but…I need to do something before I either go crazy or chicken out.”
“Okay. Stop me anytime.”
Quinn nodded. Rachel hesitated for just a moment before Quinn felt her relax and then there they were. Rachel’s lips were on hers very, very softly. It was more of a brush that a kiss. Quinn reached around Rachel’s back with her other arm and settled her hand at the small of the brunette’s back; Rachel’s hands settled on Quinn’s sides. The blonde made the first move to deepen the kiss, darting her tongue out once, twice, and on the third time Rachel opened her mouth and their tongues connected and Quinn was pretty sure her brain exploded.
When Rachel pulled away and breathily started to ask again if Quinn was okay the blonde responded by taking Rachel’s bottom lip between her teeth and pulling her back in. The brunette responded with enthusiasm and moved her hands a little higher. Quinn pulled away and kissed down Rachel’s neck, the star let out a groan when Quinn sank her teeth into tan flesh. Rachel retaliated minutes later.
The battle of tongue and teeth and lips went on until Quinn’s phone went off. Rachel groaned and Quinn reached blindly for her purse and pulled out her phone. Finn’s cell number flashed on her screen.
“Finn? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, totally. Noah and Beth just wanted to call to tell you goodnight. Already got Jasper in bed.”
“What? What time is it?!”
“It’s like almost nine.”
“Really?”
Finn chuckled. “Yeah, really.”
Rachel started placing soft kisses on Quinn’s neck and the blonde had to hold back giggles. She gasped when Rachel’s tongue darted out and her teeth grazed the skin.
“Okay, let me talk to them real quick.”
“Sure thing.”
When there was a silence Quinn gently pushed Rachel away and the brunette giggled and pressed on more feather-light kiss to the pale skin before she rested her head on Quinn’s shoulder.
“Hi mom!” Noah’s voice came on. “Are you havin’ fun? Did you talk about taxes?”
“I am having fun, thank you. And no, we haven’t talked about taxes. Have you been a good boy?”
“Yeah! We played games and Uncle Finn went and bought us all ice cream from Dairy Queen! I had a Oreo blizzard!”
“Sounds like you had a great night. Keep being good, okay? I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight, I love you.”
“Love you too, mom! ‘Night!”
Quinn smiled and waited for Noah to hand off the phone. Beth giggled as she answered.
“Hi mom!”
“Hey baby girl, have you been good?”
“Totally! How’s Rachel? Are you having fun?”
“Rachel’s fine, and yes, I’m having fun.”
“Did you kiss her?”
“Uh…” Quinn glanced down and Rachel was stifling a giggle, she’d obviously heard the question. “I…well…”
“Oh my God you totally did!”
“Uh…”
“You’re not allowed to kiss in front of me, that’s just gross, okay? It was gross when you and dad did it and it’ll still be gross so none of that.”
“Right.”
“Uncle Finn is shaking his head.”
Quinn sighed. “Uncle Finn needs to mind his own business. Make sure Noah takes his pills and brushes his teeth, please?”
“I will. Go back to your date!”
“Goodnight sweetie. I love you.”
“Love you too, Mom. ‘Night.”
Beth hung up the phone and Quinn dropped hers to the coffee table. Rachel resumed pressing kisses to Quinn’s neck and the blonde grinned.
“When do you have to be home?” Rachel whispered between a kiss and a bite.
“Not too late…Finn and Kelsey…” Quinn lost all coherent train of thought when Rachel’s teeth grazed that spot just under her ear. She gasped and Rachel let out a low giggle.
“I’d almost forgotten about that spot,” Rachel said. She let her teeth graze it again and Quinn wrapped her arms around Rachel’s back. “I hope you don’t have to leave now…”
“Few more minutes.”
Five minutes later Quinn felt Rachel’s fingertips start working the buttons on her blouse and she was running her hands up Rachel’s shirt. She shifted just right in her seat and her wedding ring pressed into her thigh and she gasped and pulled her hands away.
“Stop…stop! Rachel…”
Rachel pulled away and clutched her hands together. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry, I crossed a line. I didn’t mean to…”
“No…I’m just not ready.” Quinn moved her ring around in her pocket to get it to stop pressing into her thigh. Rachel’s hand followed and she ran her fingers over the outline of the ring.
“I understand,” Rachel said, eyes reflecting the sincerity behind the statement.
“I’m sorry,” Quinn mumbled.
Rachel smiled and cupped Quinn’s face in her hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She moved from straddling the blonde to curling up next to her and resting her head on the blonde’s shoulder and draping an arm over her stomach.
“I can wait,” Rachel said. “No pressure.”
“We’ll see how long that lasts.”
Rachel nuzzled deeper into Quinn’s side. “I think the ice cream melted.”
Quinn looked at the two forgotten bowls of now liquid and giggled.
“Would you like some coffee before you go?”
“Sure.”
Rachel moved to get up off the couch and Quinn caught her wrist and pulled her in for a quick kiss. Rachel’s cheeks turned red and Quinn followed the brunette to the kitchen, stopping at the bathroom. She looked into the mirror and the first thing her eyes went to were a few small hickeys on her neck. She smirked a little and splashed a little cool water on her face before heading to the kitchen and hopping up on one of the barstools at the island.
“Can I borrow some concealer?”
Rachel giggled from the coffee pot. “Yeah, I’ll go up and grab it in a second.”
Quinn looked at the coffee can sitting on Rachel’s counter. It matched the one in her cabinet. Rachel carefully poured the water into the reservoir and set the machine to percolate.
“Didn’t take you long to get over Starbucks.”
Rachel looked at the coffee can and back to Quinn and shrugged. “I kind of got used to it. Starbucks is overrated anyway. I’ll go grab my concealer.”
Rachel left the kitchen and Quinn listened to her run up the stairs. The blonde looked at her surroundings and sighed. She and Puck dreamed of having a house like this one day. Although anymore she’d take their old house in their old neighborhood any day. She wouldn’t mind a kitchen upgrade, though. The double oven at Rachel’s did indeed prove to be very useful.
Quinn smiled when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and a chin settled on her shoulder. Rachel pressed a soft kiss to her neck and Quinn leaned back into her.
“I have something I need to talk to you about,” Rachel whispered. “And it’s very imperative that you don’t interrupt me and make assumptions.”
Rachel let go and moved to stand in front of Quinn. She opened the compact of concealer and tilted the blonde’s chin up and started dabbing on the makeup over the small bruises.
“What is it, Rachel?”
“I’m going back to Los Angeles in August. I have to start doing press for the new movie and there are several events I’ve been scheduled to do. It’s not going to be released until November but there are interviews and preview screenings and things I need to be present for and I’ve signed on to shoot a film to fill my time with. I’ll be booked almost solid until the end of October, have a week off, and then I’ll be going to Europe for a while to do press there and a premiere party then New York and then back to Los Angeles to shoot a few more things; my agent has booked a few appearances on television shows. It should be over with by the end of November but the main point is that I’m not going to be here.”
Quinn nodded a little and Rachel started blending in the concealer on her neck. “Okay…”
“I will be coming back, though, I assure you. If I can steal a few weekends away then I will most definitely do that as well.”
“Okay.”
“Normally I would find someone to hire to do weekly house checks since that’s what I do with my houses in Los Angeles and New York but it’s a rather long and drawn out process to do background checks and have cameras installed to make sure all goes well.”
“Rachel…”
“Let me finish, Quinn. I am not going to ask you to move in with me right now. I’m going to ask you to move in when I leave. It would be a very big favor to me.”
Quinn grabbed Rachel’s wrist and pulled her hand away from her neck. “No. I know what you’re doing and the answer is no. I’m not doing this…Rachel I said I would take no charity from you!”
“Would you feel better if it were considered a job? You would be an employee of mine.”
“No!”
Rachel’s offer was unexpected yet Quinn couldn’t say she was shocked. She should’ve seen it coming, she thought. With the four bedrooms and making sure Quinn liked the furniture it was a little obvious that Rachel didn’t buy a house in Lima just for herself.
“Fine, then…Quinn, if you won’t consider it charity, consider that I would like you to move in with me.”
“Rachel! This is our first date! You don’t ask someone to move in with you on the first date!”
“Then tell me when I should ask you and I’ll do it then.”
“You don’t get it…” Quinn mumbled and jumped off the barstool. She headed for the front door and Rachel’s footsteps followed close behind.
“What’s there to get? I…Quinn, just listen to me, please!”
Quinn turned around and her glare met Rachel’s pleading eyes. “There’s a lot to get. I can’t turn my kids’ worlds upside down again…”
“Quinn, last week someone got shot two blocks away from you. Two weeks ago there was a meth lab fire within walking distance of your house. Every time I pick up the Lima paper and I see something like that it scares me, okay? It scares me for you and it scares me for the kids. If anything their world would be vastly improved. I’ve suggested that you move in when I leave because I know that us moving in together that quickly would probably be a very big mistake. This would give time for you to get settled and I would be here sporadically and for short periods of time and it would allow us to get used to the idea and if we decide it would work out then great.”
If Quinn believed in such things she would’ve thought Rachel had perfected her sixth sense to read minds. It was very true that the bad neighborhood a few blocks away from them was starting to leak closer and closer to her home and after the shooting she was scared to let Noah and Beth outside at all. She was wary of the two new residents of the house directly across the street because of it. And she would leave if she could but she couldn’t afford a mortgage, she could only afford the income-based rent she was paying plus the utilities and adding that on top of the medical bills…it was a lot. She gripped onto the door handle.
“And if it’s not a good idea? If it doesn’t work out? If we don’t work out?”
“Then I’ll move back to Los Angeles and come visit. The house is paid for in full and all you would have to worry about is utilities which I am fairly certain is either slightly cheaper or the same amount that you’re paying monthly right now in rent.”
“Rachel, you’re talking about practically giving me a house. A very nice house.”
“No, I’m talking about keeping your children safe and possibly sharing this house with me. Sharing, Quinn. Something we learned in elementary school.”
“Didn’t you once tell me you failed that subject?”
“I did not fail it. My dads had to come in to have a parent-teacher conference because I refused to share my gold star stickers. With you, I might add. So consider this also a peace offering from that. I’ll even throw in a sheet of stickers.”
“Rachel…this is a house. Not a gold star sticker.”
Quinn saw the look of defeat on Rachel’s face and the brunette nodded and backed away. However much she wanted to jump at this chance, the thought of taking charity from Rachel was still not something she was prepared to do. Not at this scale.
“I’m sorry,” Rachel said. “I would very much like it if we did do this again, though.”
“I’ll give you that much,” Quinn said with a teasing smile. She turned and Rachel reached up to brush their lips together. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Chapter 11
Major Characters/Pairings: Quinn Fabray-Puckerman, Beth Puckerman, Noah Puckerman, Jr., Jasper Puckerman, Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson/OC, Mentions past: Quinn/Puck, Rachel/Puck, Rachel/Quinn
Minor Characters/Pairings: Mike/OC, Matt/OC, Artie/Tina, Rachel's dads Mentions: Brittany/Santana, Mercedes/OC, Kurt/OC
Rating: PG-13
Length: 45,200+
Summary: AU beginning after 'Funk'. Rachel got the hell out of Lima, Ohio immediately after graduation, breaking Quinn's heart in the process, and never looked back. Now, ten years later, she's back and Quinn is the one to show her the aftermath and the pieces of what she left behind - all the while trying desperately not to fall back in love with her ex-girlfriend.
Warnings: Pre-story character death discussed in detail.
-Chapter 10-
Quinn gathered the kids up in the van the next afternoon and they went to the house Rachel was thinking of buying. It was extremely spacious and the realtor that was showing them around mentioned that aside from the stairs the entire house was ADA accessible. Rachel had her catalogs with her and each new room she made Quinn pick out a few pieces of furniture she liked. She didn’t miss that Rachel’s eyes lit up when Beth went into one of the bedrooms and said she liked the view from the window and the fact that bedroom had its own bathroom. The master suite was indeed very large and Rachel had apparently already thought about how she would organize the walk-in closet that could’ve been another bedroom.
“It’s a beautiful house, Rachel. I still think it’s a little excessive for someone who will be living in it alone, though.”
Rachel shrugged. “I’m Rachel Berry. I won two Grammys. I’m allowed to be excessive.”
Quinn rolled her eyes and Beth doubled over laughing.
Rachel signed the papers from the realtor three days later and demanded Quinn help her make final decisions on furniture and appliances.
School ended and so did Beth's short-lived relationship with Jeremy. Rachel showed up at Quinn's house with a pint of ice cream and a box of chocolates sending Beth into a fit of giggles.
"Mostly we just kinda sat there and didn't talk," Beth said. "It's not a big deal. But the ice cream is awesome!"
Quinn convinced Noah to sign up for baseball and Beth wanted to play soccer. Rachel offered to coach either one of the kids’ teams and Quinn actually had to stifle her laughter when Rachel asked exactly which sport soccer was. Quinn shook her head and handed Rachel each of the kids’ schedules and thanked her for the offer but Finn had jumped at the chance to coach both teams already.
They got Rachel moved into the house with her new furniture. She brought over her old bedroom furniture from her dads house and set it up in the bedroom with the extra bathroom and as far as Quinn knew, she left the other two bedrooms empty. The contractors started work on furnishing the basement, Rachel had decided on a small home gym and an office.
They went to Denny’s with Finn and Kelsey to celebrate Noah’s first baseball game even though his team lost horribly. Quinn let him get a big stack of chocolate chip pancakes and Finn shared nachos with him. Rachel stayed the night and helped Quinn administer Mylanta to the boy three different times because he kept throwing it up along with his dinner. Finally, around three in the morning, he seemed to have completely emptied his stomach and kept down one last dose of Mylanta.
Rachel and Quinn collapsed on the couch and the brunette rested her head on the blonde’s shoulder. Quinn didn’t object.
“I was unaware that a nine-year-old’s stomach could hold that much,” Rachel said. “I would be rather impressed if I weren’t slightly disgusted.”
“You’d be surprised what kids’ stomachs can hold.”
Rachel yawned and snuggled a little closer. “Do you mind if I crash on your couch tonight?”
“Nope, it’s all yours.”
“Mkay.”
“I should go to bed.”
“Mkay.”
Quinn stayed where she was. Her body felt heavy and she really, honestly, didn’t want to move. She tried to convince herself that it didn’t have anything to do with Rachel snuggling into her side but she knew that part of it was that. The majority definitely was just being purely exhausted. The last thing she remembered was being glad that it was Saturday and she didn’t have to get up in three hours.
“Mom?”
There was something poking her shoulder and Quinn grumbled.
“Mom? Wake up.”
Quinn opened one eye. “What do you need, Beth?”
“I was kinda like, wanting to watch TV.”
“So watch it.”
“You and Rachel are taking up the whole couch.”
It wasn’t until Beth said it that Quinn realized she had a weight on top of her and that weight was Rachel. Rachel wasn’t even halfway on top of her. She was fully on top of her with her head on her chest and her arms wrapped around Quinn’s shoulders. Quinn gently gripped onto Rachel’s shoulders and shook her a little, the brunette groaned.
“Not now, comfy. Sleep.”
“Rachel, get up please.”
“No. Snuggle.”
Quinn glanced up at Beth who was trying to look anywhere but the couch and the blonde sighed.
“I’m sorry, Beth…just…one minute. Rachel, Barbra Streisand is on the phone. She wants to know if you’ll…”
Rachel sat bolt upright. “What?!”
“Good morning, sunshine.”
Rachel looked around at her surroundings and Quinn sat up before the brunette could lie back down. Beth looked between the small space between Quinn and Rachel and the space on the other side of Rachel she finally sighed and dropped to the end of the couch and grabbed the TV remote. Rachel attempted to lean back against Quinn but the blonde shrugged her off and went to the kitchen to start coffee. As expected, Rachel followed.
“Need any help?”
Quinn shook her head and loaded the coffee maker. “I need to talk to Beth.”
“What about?”
“What do you think? About just now.”
“Why? Nothing happened.”
“I just need to make sure she knows that.” Quinn took down two cups from the cabinet and Rachel sighed as she pulled out a kitchen chair.
“What if something had happened, Quinn? What would you tell her then?”
“Nothing would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have let it.”
“Why are you so worried about this? Would it honestly be that big of a deal if maybe we did go out on a date or maybe we…”
“No, Rachel. It is a big deal. It’s a big deal because I don’t want my kids thinking I’m trying to replace their father. It’s not about me.”
“It should be,” Rachel mumbled. “Save your coffee. I’ll go ahead and go.”
Quinn turned in time to see the brunette walk through the living room and say a quiet goodbye to Beth before slipping on her shoes and grabbing her purse. Quinn followed Rachel out of the house and to the brunette’s car and she held onto the door when Rachel tried to close it.
“Rachel, I have my kids to think about here. I can’t just start dating without talking to them.”
“Do you want to date me, Quinn?”
Quinn swallowed hard. Her immediate response was “God yes, Rachel!” but it wouldn’t come out of her mouth. The words caught in her throat and Rachel looked like a kicked puppy before she pulled her door shut. Quinn stood standing on the curb and watched Rachel drive away. She slowly walked back to the house and Beth was looking up at her, eyes wide.
“Is Rachel okay?”
“She’s fine, sweetie.”
“She didn’t look fine.”
“We had an argument, don’t worry about it. And don’t worry about this morning, okay? Rachel was just tired and she fell asleep.”
Beth furrowed her eyebrows. “I don’t sleep on top of my friends. Just ask her out already.”
“Well…I…I don’t want to do anything that would make you unhappy, sweetie.”
Beth shrugged. “I like Rachel. She’s nice and Noah and Jasper like her so it’d be cool or whatever if you went out with her.”
“I don’t think Noah would feel the same…but…there’s nothing to talk about.” Quinn shook her head. “We’re fine, aren’t we? The four of us?”
“Noah would be fine. I told you, he likes her.”
“Who do I like?” Noah yawned as he padded down the hallway. He crawled up on the couch next to Beth.
“Rachel,” Beth said. “You like Rachel, don’t you?”
“Yeah, she’s cool.”
“Mom wants to take her on a date.”
“I never said…”
“Can I go, too?”
“You can’t go with them on a date, Noah! It’s a date because it’s just the two of them so they talk about grown-up stuff. Like taxes or something. It’s boring. I saw it on TV.”
Quinn looked back and forth between her two oldest kids. “Beth, I never said I wanted…”
“Taxes sound boring,” Noah said as he hopped off the couch and headed to the kitchen. “You should take her to Chuck-E-Cheese.”
“They’re too old for that, Noah.”
“I’m gonna go to Chuck-E-Cheese even when I’m a grown up!” Noah called from the kitchen. “So where are you gonna go on your date?”
“Noah, I never said I was going to…what are you doing?”
Noah bounced back into the living room with a box of Frosted Flakes cereal and shoved a handful of it in his mouth. He handed the box to Beth and she took a handful.
“Since when do you two eat cereal right out of the box?!”
“Since every Saturday since forever when you get up late,” Noah said as he reached in. “Dad started it.”
“Mom, you’re blocking the TV.”
“I guess this explains why we go through so much cereal,” Quinn mumbled as she made her way to the kitchen to get coffee.
“Ask her out!” Beth yelled after her.
Quinn sighed as she poured a cup of coffee and listened to Beth and Noah chatter in the living room while passing the box of cereal back and forth. So she had the approval of two of her children and if she was honest with herself then she would admit that their approval was all of what she needed to ask Rachel out. However, before she could admit it, she was broken from her thoughts by the cries of her youngest son.
The remainder of the morning was spent with Quinn looking at her phone in between getting things Jasper needed and answering questions about dating from Noah. Every five minutes Beth would poke her shoulder and say, “call her”. After lunch she put Jasper down for his nap and checked on Beth and Noah who were on the couch watching TV.
“Call her!” Beth said with a smile as Quinn turned to go back down the hallway. The blonde rubbed her shoulder where she was sure a bruise was appearing from Beth’s repeated pokes.
“If I call her will you leave me alone?”
“I’ll leave you alone if you ask her on a date.”
“What if I don’t want to take her on a date?!”
“You so want to.”
Quinn scowled before she went to her bedroom. She pulled out her phone and stared at it. It was time, wasn't it? She had struggled with it but eventually let go of the past. Rachel had been there more than expected over the last two months and yeah...it was time. Nervously, Quinn sighed and scrolled through her contacts and hit “call”. It rang three times before Rachel picked up.
“Quinn…I wasn’t…I didn’t expect you to call.”
“I…yeah. Hi.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Will you go out with me?”
Quinn immediately snapped her jaw shut and rolled her eyes at how incredibly high school she sounded, her voice high pitched and the phrase falling out of her mouth before she could really think about it. It had been a really long time since she asked anyone on a date, though.
“I…what?”
Quinn took a deep breath. “Will you go out with me? On a date. Beth won’t leave me alone until I ask you and now I’ve asked you so can you please tell her to stop harassing me?”
“Beth?”
“We talked after you left this morning. She and Noah are fine with it.”
“Okay…okay so…how do we do this?”
“Do what?”
“The date.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Well of course it’s a yes! I would very much love to go out on a date with you! Do you need a babysitter? When should this take place? And where?”
“I…I hadn’t thought about it. Noah said I should take you to Chuck-E-Cheese.”
“I…Chuck-E-Cheese? I think there’s a height requirement.”
“So they’d only let you in, damn.”
Quinn giggled and Rachel gasped and let out an offended shriek.
“I’ll have you know that I am…I’m…Okay, I’m short. Beth being at eye level with me has taken away what little hold I had on my pride regarding my height.”
Quinn grinned. “So…a date?”
“Would you allow me to take you out to dinner and a movie? Or perhaps you can come over here and we can cook together and rent a movie.”
“I’d rather just come over…if that’s okay. I want to be somewhere that I know I can be reached, you know? I don’t want to have my phone go off in the middle of a theater.”
“I understand. When would you like this to take place?”
Quinn blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Is tonight too soon?”
Quinn heard Rachel’s smile in her response. “I’ll have to go to the store. I believe I can pick out an appropriate menu.”
“I’ll call Finn and Kelsey and see if they can come over and watch the kids.”
“So…six?”
“Sounds good.”
After saying goodbye and hanging up the phone Quinn felt her stomach drop to the floor. She’d just agreed on a date with Rachel Berry. She hadn’t been on a date in over ten years. Noah’s conception didn’t really count. The last actual date she had been on had been with Rachel right before the brunette left. They’d let Puck watch Beth for the evening and they went out to a nice restaurant and to a movie then back to Rachel’s and…Quinn blushed when she thought of the end of the date. Then she panicked because she didn’t know if she had anything to wear. The last time she’d gotten dressed up for anything was a co-worker’s wedding. She wondered if she even should dress up since all she was doing was going over to Rachel’s and cooking dinner, something that was easily done in jeans and a t-shirt. Her thoughts drifted back to the aftermath of their last date and her heart stopped.
Was she ready for this? She would be in Rachel’s house…alone. Without children. Alone with Rachel. In a house. A house that contained at least two beds and a couch. Quinn started pacing her bedroom floor, nearly shaking. She could say no…did she want to say no? Her fingers absentmindedly started playing with her wedding ring and she stopped. She looked down at her left hand and furrowed her eyebrows. She wasn’t entirely sure if it would be appropriate to wear her wedding ring on a date. A soft knock on her bedroom door tore her gaze away from the gold band.
“Mom?” Beth peeked her head into the door. “Look…I’m sorry if I like made you mad or whatever. It’s just…Rachel’s really cool and you’re always laughing and stuff when you’re around her and you look at her like you like her so I guess I just thought you’d want to date her.”
“I…I’m going on a date with her,” Quinn managed to get out. “Tonight.”
A grin spread across Beth’s face. “Really?!”
“Really.” Quinn nodded and attempted to not look like a terrified teenager. “Dinner and a movie at her house. I-I’m going to call Finn and Kelsey to see if they’ll come over and watch you guys.”
“Are you nervous?”
Quinn was torn between lying to her twelve-year-old daughter and completely breaking down. The only middle ground she saw was to nod a little. Which she did. Beth giggled and darted into the room.
“Okay so you’re like just going to her house so you don’t need to dress up. She doesn’t dress up to come here so I think your nice jeans and a nice shirt would be fine.”
“Since when are you the expert?”
Beth shrugged. “I read a lot of magazines. You really don’t have to impress her since she like, knows everything about you.”
“Good point…” Quinn walked to her closet and started rummaging around. She found her best pair of jeans and a light blue blouse. She held the outfit up for Beth and the girl nodded approvingly.
“Looks good. Put your hair up, you don’t want to get it in the food.”
“Right…and I need to call Finn. And I should shower.”
Quinn wasn’t entirely sure how five hours could go by so quickly and so slowly at the same time. At five-thirty Finn and Kelsey showed up and Finn pulled Quinn into the kitchen and once again gave her his “I don’t want you to get hurt” speech and she smiled and hugged him and told him everything would be okay before grabbing her purse and giving him money for pizza for dinner. She kissed each of her kids on the top of the head and checked three times that she’d left Rachel’s cell phone number and finally she pushed herself out the front door and to her van.
Once in the driveway of Rachel’s house Quinn sat and stared at her wedding ring. She had three minutes to make her decision. She looked up and saw Rachel peek out one of the windows and smile. Shakily, Quinn tugged at the gold band and it slipped off her finger and brought it to her lips and kissed it before she tucked it into her jeans pocket and grabbed her purse.
“I love you, Puck,” she whispered as she looked up at the sky as she got out of the van. “But I think this is something I really want. I hope you understand.” Quinn stuck her hand in her pocket and gave the ring one last squeeze before she knocked on the door and was met with a Rachel Berry smile. Rachel was in jeans and a yellow polo and any apprehensions Quinn had about her own wardrobe vanished.
“Hi,” Quinn said with a small smile as she stepped over the threshold.
“You sat out there for quite a while, is everything alright?”
“It’s fine…just a little nervous.”
“Of course. I hope you’ll find the selected menu appropriate,” the brunette said as she led the way into the kitchen. “I already prepared some things to snack on while we cook the main course. I recalled that one of your favorite meals was chicken Alfredo so I thought we could make that. I bought a loaf of garlic bread that is being kept warm in the oven because I have yet to learn how to make it myself without setting it on fire.”
Quinn smiled. “I never minded having it blackened.”
Rachel snorted and pulled out everything she needed from the refrigerator. “Shall we?”
The familiar rhythm of slicing and dicing and boiling and baking wasn’t anything new aside from when Rachel was doing dishes while they waited for the pasta noodles to boil Quinn nervously wrapped her arm around the singer’s waist; Rachel smiled down at the soapy dishwater and Quinn felt her cheeks tinge red at the sight.
Rachel demanded that she bring out her best dishware and candlesticks if they were going to eat dinner in the dining room but Quinn won out and convinced her that they could eat and watch a movie at the same time so they settled next to each other on the tan sectional in the living room and Rachel flipped through the pay-per-view movie channels and they settled on a romantic comedy.
“The lead actor is a jerk,” Rachel said with a mouthful of pasta. “I worked with him at a Relay for Life charity event and wanted to smack him the entire time.”
“Don’t tell Beth that, she went to see this with her friends and gushed to me about how cute he was.”
“Appearances can be deceiving. Like her,” Rachel pointed when a minor character came on the screen, “married twice, cheated on both men with their sisters yet is in charge of some organization promoting healthy marriages. And the director of this tried to get me in bed with him when I was married.”
“Do you know everything about everyone in Hollywood?”
“Everyone knows everything about everyone in Hollywood. They just know to keep their mouths shut about it.”
“Except for you.”
“Well, you’re special.”
Quinn blushed and stuck another forkful of pasta in her mouth.
By the time the movie ended Rachel had her head on Quinn’s shoulder and the blonde had slipped her fingers in between Rachel’s.
“Dessert?”
Quinn nodded and Rachel took their plates to the kitchen. The blonde took a few deep breaths and fidgeted in her seat and with her bare ring finger. She was grateful that Rachel hadn’t tried to make a move other than settling her head on her shoulder but the apprehension of something happening was close to short circuiting Quinn’s nerves. When Rachel returned with two bowls of ice cream, one of them fixed exactly the way Quinn liked it, the blonde waited for her to set the bowls on the coffee table before she reached up and grabbed the front of Rachel’s shirt and pulled the brunette down on her.
Rachel landed straddling Quinn’s lap and the blonde took charge before she changed her mind and she wrapped one hand around the back of Rachel’s neck and pulled her in close. Rachel rested her forehead against Quinn’s and resisted being pulled in further.
“Are you sure about this?” Rachel whispered.
“I’m sure. Not…not all of it…but…I need to do something before I either go crazy or chicken out.”
“Okay. Stop me anytime.”
Quinn nodded. Rachel hesitated for just a moment before Quinn felt her relax and then there they were. Rachel’s lips were on hers very, very softly. It was more of a brush that a kiss. Quinn reached around Rachel’s back with her other arm and settled her hand at the small of the brunette’s back; Rachel’s hands settled on Quinn’s sides. The blonde made the first move to deepen the kiss, darting her tongue out once, twice, and on the third time Rachel opened her mouth and their tongues connected and Quinn was pretty sure her brain exploded.
When Rachel pulled away and breathily started to ask again if Quinn was okay the blonde responded by taking Rachel’s bottom lip between her teeth and pulling her back in. The brunette responded with enthusiasm and moved her hands a little higher. Quinn pulled away and kissed down Rachel’s neck, the star let out a groan when Quinn sank her teeth into tan flesh. Rachel retaliated minutes later.
The battle of tongue and teeth and lips went on until Quinn’s phone went off. Rachel groaned and Quinn reached blindly for her purse and pulled out her phone. Finn’s cell number flashed on her screen.
“Finn? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, totally. Noah and Beth just wanted to call to tell you goodnight. Already got Jasper in bed.”
“What? What time is it?!”
“It’s like almost nine.”
“Really?”
Finn chuckled. “Yeah, really.”
Rachel started placing soft kisses on Quinn’s neck and the blonde had to hold back giggles. She gasped when Rachel’s tongue darted out and her teeth grazed the skin.
“Okay, let me talk to them real quick.”
“Sure thing.”
When there was a silence Quinn gently pushed Rachel away and the brunette giggled and pressed on more feather-light kiss to the pale skin before she rested her head on Quinn’s shoulder.
“Hi mom!” Noah’s voice came on. “Are you havin’ fun? Did you talk about taxes?”
“I am having fun, thank you. And no, we haven’t talked about taxes. Have you been a good boy?”
“Yeah! We played games and Uncle Finn went and bought us all ice cream from Dairy Queen! I had a Oreo blizzard!”
“Sounds like you had a great night. Keep being good, okay? I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight, I love you.”
“Love you too, mom! ‘Night!”
Quinn smiled and waited for Noah to hand off the phone. Beth giggled as she answered.
“Hi mom!”
“Hey baby girl, have you been good?”
“Totally! How’s Rachel? Are you having fun?”
“Rachel’s fine, and yes, I’m having fun.”
“Did you kiss her?”
“Uh…” Quinn glanced down and Rachel was stifling a giggle, she’d obviously heard the question. “I…well…”
“Oh my God you totally did!”
“Uh…”
“You’re not allowed to kiss in front of me, that’s just gross, okay? It was gross when you and dad did it and it’ll still be gross so none of that.”
“Right.”
“Uncle Finn is shaking his head.”
Quinn sighed. “Uncle Finn needs to mind his own business. Make sure Noah takes his pills and brushes his teeth, please?”
“I will. Go back to your date!”
“Goodnight sweetie. I love you.”
“Love you too, Mom. ‘Night.”
Beth hung up the phone and Quinn dropped hers to the coffee table. Rachel resumed pressing kisses to Quinn’s neck and the blonde grinned.
“When do you have to be home?” Rachel whispered between a kiss and a bite.
“Not too late…Finn and Kelsey…” Quinn lost all coherent train of thought when Rachel’s teeth grazed that spot just under her ear. She gasped and Rachel let out a low giggle.
“I’d almost forgotten about that spot,” Rachel said. She let her teeth graze it again and Quinn wrapped her arms around Rachel’s back. “I hope you don’t have to leave now…”
“Few more minutes.”
Five minutes later Quinn felt Rachel’s fingertips start working the buttons on her blouse and she was running her hands up Rachel’s shirt. She shifted just right in her seat and her wedding ring pressed into her thigh and she gasped and pulled her hands away.
“Stop…stop! Rachel…”
Rachel pulled away and clutched her hands together. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry, I crossed a line. I didn’t mean to…”
“No…I’m just not ready.” Quinn moved her ring around in her pocket to get it to stop pressing into her thigh. Rachel’s hand followed and she ran her fingers over the outline of the ring.
“I understand,” Rachel said, eyes reflecting the sincerity behind the statement.
“I’m sorry,” Quinn mumbled.
Rachel smiled and cupped Quinn’s face in her hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She moved from straddling the blonde to curling up next to her and resting her head on the blonde’s shoulder and draping an arm over her stomach.
“I can wait,” Rachel said. “No pressure.”
“We’ll see how long that lasts.”
Rachel nuzzled deeper into Quinn’s side. “I think the ice cream melted.”
Quinn looked at the two forgotten bowls of now liquid and giggled.
“Would you like some coffee before you go?”
“Sure.”
Rachel moved to get up off the couch and Quinn caught her wrist and pulled her in for a quick kiss. Rachel’s cheeks turned red and Quinn followed the brunette to the kitchen, stopping at the bathroom. She looked into the mirror and the first thing her eyes went to were a few small hickeys on her neck. She smirked a little and splashed a little cool water on her face before heading to the kitchen and hopping up on one of the barstools at the island.
“Can I borrow some concealer?”
Rachel giggled from the coffee pot. “Yeah, I’ll go up and grab it in a second.”
Quinn looked at the coffee can sitting on Rachel’s counter. It matched the one in her cabinet. Rachel carefully poured the water into the reservoir and set the machine to percolate.
“Didn’t take you long to get over Starbucks.”
Rachel looked at the coffee can and back to Quinn and shrugged. “I kind of got used to it. Starbucks is overrated anyway. I’ll go grab my concealer.”
Rachel left the kitchen and Quinn listened to her run up the stairs. The blonde looked at her surroundings and sighed. She and Puck dreamed of having a house like this one day. Although anymore she’d take their old house in their old neighborhood any day. She wouldn’t mind a kitchen upgrade, though. The double oven at Rachel’s did indeed prove to be very useful.
Quinn smiled when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and a chin settled on her shoulder. Rachel pressed a soft kiss to her neck and Quinn leaned back into her.
“I have something I need to talk to you about,” Rachel whispered. “And it’s very imperative that you don’t interrupt me and make assumptions.”
Rachel let go and moved to stand in front of Quinn. She opened the compact of concealer and tilted the blonde’s chin up and started dabbing on the makeup over the small bruises.
“What is it, Rachel?”
“I’m going back to Los Angeles in August. I have to start doing press for the new movie and there are several events I’ve been scheduled to do. It’s not going to be released until November but there are interviews and preview screenings and things I need to be present for and I’ve signed on to shoot a film to fill my time with. I’ll be booked almost solid until the end of October, have a week off, and then I’ll be going to Europe for a while to do press there and a premiere party then New York and then back to Los Angeles to shoot a few more things; my agent has booked a few appearances on television shows. It should be over with by the end of November but the main point is that I’m not going to be here.”
Quinn nodded a little and Rachel started blending in the concealer on her neck. “Okay…”
“I will be coming back, though, I assure you. If I can steal a few weekends away then I will most definitely do that as well.”
“Okay.”
“Normally I would find someone to hire to do weekly house checks since that’s what I do with my houses in Los Angeles and New York but it’s a rather long and drawn out process to do background checks and have cameras installed to make sure all goes well.”
“Rachel…”
“Let me finish, Quinn. I am not going to ask you to move in with me right now. I’m going to ask you to move in when I leave. It would be a very big favor to me.”
Quinn grabbed Rachel’s wrist and pulled her hand away from her neck. “No. I know what you’re doing and the answer is no. I’m not doing this…Rachel I said I would take no charity from you!”
“Would you feel better if it were considered a job? You would be an employee of mine.”
“No!”
Rachel’s offer was unexpected yet Quinn couldn’t say she was shocked. She should’ve seen it coming, she thought. With the four bedrooms and making sure Quinn liked the furniture it was a little obvious that Rachel didn’t buy a house in Lima just for herself.
“Fine, then…Quinn, if you won’t consider it charity, consider that I would like you to move in with me.”
“Rachel! This is our first date! You don’t ask someone to move in with you on the first date!”
“Then tell me when I should ask you and I’ll do it then.”
“You don’t get it…” Quinn mumbled and jumped off the barstool. She headed for the front door and Rachel’s footsteps followed close behind.
“What’s there to get? I…Quinn, just listen to me, please!”
Quinn turned around and her glare met Rachel’s pleading eyes. “There’s a lot to get. I can’t turn my kids’ worlds upside down again…”
“Quinn, last week someone got shot two blocks away from you. Two weeks ago there was a meth lab fire within walking distance of your house. Every time I pick up the Lima paper and I see something like that it scares me, okay? It scares me for you and it scares me for the kids. If anything their world would be vastly improved. I’ve suggested that you move in when I leave because I know that us moving in together that quickly would probably be a very big mistake. This would give time for you to get settled and I would be here sporadically and for short periods of time and it would allow us to get used to the idea and if we decide it would work out then great.”
If Quinn believed in such things she would’ve thought Rachel had perfected her sixth sense to read minds. It was very true that the bad neighborhood a few blocks away from them was starting to leak closer and closer to her home and after the shooting she was scared to let Noah and Beth outside at all. She was wary of the two new residents of the house directly across the street because of it. And she would leave if she could but she couldn’t afford a mortgage, she could only afford the income-based rent she was paying plus the utilities and adding that on top of the medical bills…it was a lot. She gripped onto the door handle.
“And if it’s not a good idea? If it doesn’t work out? If we don’t work out?”
“Then I’ll move back to Los Angeles and come visit. The house is paid for in full and all you would have to worry about is utilities which I am fairly certain is either slightly cheaper or the same amount that you’re paying monthly right now in rent.”
“Rachel, you’re talking about practically giving me a house. A very nice house.”
“No, I’m talking about keeping your children safe and possibly sharing this house with me. Sharing, Quinn. Something we learned in elementary school.”
“Didn’t you once tell me you failed that subject?”
“I did not fail it. My dads had to come in to have a parent-teacher conference because I refused to share my gold star stickers. With you, I might add. So consider this also a peace offering from that. I’ll even throw in a sheet of stickers.”
“Rachel…this is a house. Not a gold star sticker.”
Quinn saw the look of defeat on Rachel’s face and the brunette nodded and backed away. However much she wanted to jump at this chance, the thought of taking charity from Rachel was still not something she was prepared to do. Not at this scale.
“I’m sorry,” Rachel said. “I would very much like it if we did do this again, though.”
“I’ll give you that much,” Quinn said with a teasing smile. She turned and Rachel reached up to brush their lips together. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Chapter 11