Fic: You're Gonna Lose That Girl (4/4)
Title: You’re Gonna Lose That Girl (4/4)
Pairing: Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. Just having a little fun.
A/N 1: This is the last chapter. I had a lot of fun writing this fic and I appreciate all of the reviews.
A/N 2: Shit hits the fan in this chapter.
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“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t have told her you were interested in the first place!” Finn yells, angrily. He and Rachel had been arguing for the better part of ten minutes and it was getting them nowhere.
“Should I have just lied then, Finn?!” she shrieks.
“You should have been with me! I am your boyfriend. Have you forgotten that?!”
Pressing her lips into a hard line, she thinks before she answers him. “Finn, I have not forgotten about you. However, I have also not forgotten about my feelings for Quinn. Finn, I’m sorry. You’re a great guy and a wonderful boyfriend, but I can’t deny my feelings for her.” Her eyes are misty with tears that are threatening to fall. “Please try to understand.”
He’s silent for a moment, processing “Do you love her?” he asks in a quiet, almost defeated voice. As if he already knows the answer.
“Yes,” she whispers through a choked sob. Her tears are falling freely now and Finn has the urge to console her even though his own feelings are hurt. He resists the urge though.
“Do you love me?”
“Finn-”
“It’s a yes or no answer, Rachel.”
She looks at the floor as she tries not to answer him directly. “You’re a really great person, Finn.”
“Unbelievable,” he whispers under his voice.
“I’m so sorry, Finn,” she says, crying harder now.
He’s silent for a moment as he paces the space in front of Rachel.
She waits for a moment longer, then feels as if she has to break the silence. “Please say something,” she pleads.
“What’s left to say? You want her, go get her.”
“I-I don’t know if she wants me after Saturday night,” she whispers, crestfallen.
“Did she say she loved you?”
“Yeah, she did.”
“Then she means it. If Quinn shows vulnerability then it’s for a reason. If she says she loves you then she does. It’s just that simple. Trust me, I would know.”
“Thank you, Finn,” she sniffles. “You truly are a wonderful person. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t apologize for being in love. It’ll take some time, but I’ll get over it.”
He wraps his arms around Rachel and lets her cry on him. She whispers “I’m sorry” over and over again. Finn just lets out a long exhale, trying to release the residual tension from his body.
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Quinn sits on the bleachers in the gym and tries to think past the headache she’s currently suffering from. She’s been avoiding Rachel all day, afraid that the shorter girl would tell her to fuck off if she saw her. And the truth is: Quinn is sorry. She’s sorry that she couldn’t control her temper, sorry that she pulled away from Rachel who was only trying to help. Right now, she feels as if she’s lost her chance to be with Rachel. It’s like she’s pushed her straight into Finn’s arms. Speaking of Finn…
“Hey,” Finn says conversationally as he approaches her, hands nervously fiddling in his pocket.
“Finn,” she sighs, tiredly, “I really don’t feel like arguing right now. Come back when I don’t have a headache and feel like shit.”
“You hurt her when you walked away from her at the party,” he says while ignoring her request to be alone. Suddenly, Quinn feels ten times worse. She buries her face in her hands with a groan. She figured Rachel would be angry, but she had no idea that she would be hurt.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” He questions, two rows from her. “You hurt her, Quinn. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I didn’t mean to hurt her, ok?!” She yells as she stands at full height. “Seriously Finn, get off my back about this. I can handle things in my own way!”
“And what way is that, huh?” He questions, goading her into the argument. “If you loved her so much like you claim then you wouldn’t have hurt her the way you did Saturday night.”
In the blink of an eye she’s standing directly in front of him as she peers up at him. Her eyes flashing in anger. “Don’t presume to know how I feel about her, Finn. Don’t ever presume to know how I feel about her,” she states in an eerily calm and controlled voice. “I love her.”
“Then fucking act like it,” he curses, rather uncharacteristically.
Quinn literally growls her words because she’s so angry. “Get the hell out of my face.”
“No, you need to-”
“Don’t tell me what I need to do! If you love her so much then why are you in my face instead of hers?” She questions, trying to get the heat off of herself.
It worked because suddenly Finn’s eyes become unfocused as he relives the last hour of his life. “She broke up with me,” he whispers.
“What did you say?” she replies, voice just as low. And she heard what he said. She heard because she’s been in his face for the past five minutes yelling. But she can’t process what he just said.
“She broke up with me.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think?” He questions as if the answer should be obvious to her. She fixes her eyes on the floor as if she’s giving it serious thought. After a beat she looks up at him questioningly and he finally realizes that she really doesn’t know.
“She loves you Quinn,” he says as he backs away from her and sits on the bleachers. “She doesn’t love me. Just you.”
She takes a seat beside him, momentarily stunned. “She still…”
“Love never goes away, Quinn,” he responds, as if reading her mind. “She may be angry, she may be hurt, she may wanna kick your ass, but she still loves you. Love lasts.” He regards her for a moment. “I still love you.”
She inhales quickly and takes a stand, detaching herself from the situation. “Finn, I really don’t think this is appropriate. We haven’t been together in a very long time and I love Rachel anyway so-”
“My love for you is no longer romantic, Quinn, if that’s what you’re getting at. I’m not saying that I want to be with you; in fact I think our break up was for the best. And for the record, I love Rachel too. I’m just saying that my love for you is more of a brotherly, sisterly love,” he explains. “Y’know, if the brother and sister had a weird incestuous relationship and the sister got pregnant by someone but told the brother it was his-”
“Ok, I get it,” she says as she holds a hand up to quiet him. “Why do you still love me?” she asks in a whisper that almost sounds pained. “I’ve lied to you, cheated on you…now I’m trying to take your girlfriend. I’ve been awful to you. And to her,” she says, thinking of Rachel. “Why do you both love me? I don’t deserve it.” By the end of her rant she’s reduced to teary eyes and a hiccupping sob.
Finn wraps his arms around just as he did Rachel and tries his best to console her. “Well, for one, she’s not my girlfriend anymore,” he jokes, trying to make her laugh. It only serves to make her cry harder. “Hey, look,” he says, pulling back and holding her by the shoulders at arms length. “If you love her, then don’t let me stand in your way. And don’t let your own occasional self-loathing get in the way either. She was never mine to begin with and I can see that now.”
“She’s ‘not a piece of meat, Finn Hudson’,” she laughs through a sob, echoing Rachel’s words to him.
“You’re right; she’s not a piece of meat. But I’ve been treating her like that ever since this whole competition began. Constantly trying to make out with her to prove I was the best and trying to make her dance at that party.”
“Why did you invite her?” Quinn laughs, genuinely this time about the absurdity of Rachel Berry at a party. “She would have rather watched “Grease” at home.”
“Oh,” is Finn’s completely clueless response.
“Don’t you at least know the things she likes?”
“Well, we weren’t really dating for that long. Plus, I had football practice and glee stuff…”
Raising an eyebrow at Finn’s poor excuses, Quinn releases a noncommittal “Uh-huh” as she sits back down on the bleachers. Finn sits down beside her.
They’re both silent for a moment; lost in their own thoughts. Quinn is marveling at the fact that people actually love her. That Rachel actually loves her. Life’s been rough since her pregnancy was leaked to seemingly everyone in Lima, Ohio. Love has been a particularly hard thing to find and now she has it. She fucked it up with Finn but now she has it with the one person she’s loved more than anyone. She wants to salvage their love. Wants to see Rachel again for the first time since Saturday night. She doesn’t know what to do though.
Resting her head on Finn shoulders, she tells him, “I don’t know what to do.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t have a plan.”
“There has to be a plan?” He asks with amusement in his voice.
“Of course there has to be a plan. This is Rachel Berry we’re talk-”
“You’re exactly right,” he interjects. “This is Rachel Berry we’re talking about. Which means that I’m perfectly sure she has a speech prepared that you’re going to do nothing for except nod and not speak.”
“You really think she has a speech?” She asks, hopeful for some odd reason.
“She probably has three separate speeches and is currently wondering which one to deliver once she sees you again.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sure of it. Now, can you kindly leave? Basketball season is starting soon and I need to work on dribbling.”
“Isn’t that a basic technique, Finn?”
“It is when you’re not as uncoordinated as I am.” He smiles as he drags her to the exit of the gym.
She spins in his grasp just before he kicks her out. “Thank you, Finn. For everything. For loving me, for helping me, for being such a great friend. I appreciate it all.”
“You’re welcome. Now go.” He tells her. Kicking her out of the nest of sorts. She has to learn how to fly now.
Once he’s left alone, he grabs a ball to practice his jumpshot. All the while muttering to himself, “Finn Hudson, dates two girls whom inevitably leave him and fall for each other. This will do wonders for my image.”
“Umm, excuse me. Are you Finn Hudson?” A voice calls from behind him.
Turning around, he’s met with a brunette that’s about 5'5" in a Cherrios uniform.
“Yes, yes I am,” he answers with enthusiasm.
“I think you play football very well Finn. You’re really good…and really cute,” she says boldly as she eyes him up and down.
What a great way to rebound, he thinks to himself as he talks to the girl long enough to get her number.
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Quinn finds Rachel in her favorite place: on stage. She’s on the stage in the school auditorium stroking keys on the piano there, only to stop once she feels Quinn’s presence in the room.
“I’m mad at you,” she states as she continues to stare at the keys.
“I know,” Quinn replies quietly as she positions herself so that the piano is between the two of them, giving Rachel the space she probably needed at the moment.
“Is that all you have to say?”
“Look Rachel, I’m sorry,” Quinn says trying to pour all of her sincerity into the sentence. “I acted way out of line and I understand you’re upset but please-”
“I’m not interested in what you have to say right now, Quinn. I have many things to say to you and I expect you to listen to them all, are we clear?”
Quinn can do nothing but nod, because at this point she feels that if she offers any resistance Rachel will go into ‘cut-a-bitch’ mode. And no one wants that. In the back of her mind she’s mildly amused because Finn was right; Rachel did have a speech prepared and Quinn was going to do nothing but shut-up and nod and key points.
“You really hurt me Saturday night, Quinn,” she tells the blonde, eyes still trained on the piano keys. “I was so used to seeing the softer, gentler side of you during the past week and it caused me to let my guard down. When you pulled away from me and looked at me like you didn’t recognize me, like you didn’t even know me, right after we…” she sighs, not even being able to speak the words. “It hurt, Quinn.”
Rachel finally looks up and Quinn’s heart breaks. Rachel’s cheeks are stained with tears old and new. Like she’s been crying for a while.
“Rachel, I’m so sorry,” she rushes the words past her lips as she races to the shorter girl’s side. She cups her face in her hands and works diligently to wipe away every tear. Kissing away the remaining tears, she whispers “I’m sorry” over and over again, with aching sincerity.
“I know you’re sorry, Quinn,” she whispers through all of the kisses she receives, sobs slowly dying down. “But I can’t help but wonder if you would do that if we actually did become a couple. I wonder if you’d treat me that way in school. What about when coach Sylvester comes around?” she asks as another tear falls.
“I wouldn’t do that to you,” she replies, wiping the tear just as it leaves Rachel’s eye. “Rachel, I get that I fucked up, but I’ve learned that I can’t treat people like shit. I can’t treat the person I love like shit. I’m so sorry-”
“Do you really love me, Quinn?” She peers up at the taller girl, eyebrows slanted with openness and vulnerability.
“Of course I love you,” Quinn responds like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. She wraps her arms around the shorter girl’s waist and nuzzles into her hair, relishing the closeness they have.
Rachel lets herself be held. She slowly returns the embrace, arms sliding up Quinn’s sides, her arms, finally linking her hands together behind her neck as she rests her head on Quinn’s collarbone.
“I love you, too,” she finally says after a moment of silence.
“I want to be with you. I…I want to be your girlfriend,” Quinn mumbles, cheeks tinged pink.
“Yeah?” Rachel asks, canting her head slightly to get a better view of Quinn. Thinking that a slightly shy Quinn is the most adorable thing in the world.
“Of course.”
“Well then, we’ll just have to do this right, won’t we?” the brunette asks with renewed enthusiasm.
“What do you mean?” A bewildered smile blossoms on Quinn’s face as Rachel pulls away from her and looks her square in the eye.
“Quinn Fabray, will you be my girlfriend?”
Quinn blinks, once, twice, three times before she can formulate a reply. “I wanted to be the one to ask.”
“Why should you be the one to ask?”
“Because I pursued you. Therefore I should be the one to seal the deal.”
Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Rachel replies slowly, “Quinn, this sounds like you’re trying to claim me.”
“Oh, I am,” Quinn replies with an insufferable smirk.
“I am-”
“-‘not a piece of meat, Quinn Fabray’, I know. Yada, yada, yada,” she finishes Rachel’s statement with that same smile on her face.
Rachel huffs in response and turns her back on the blonde, finishing with a very fierce cross of her arms. If anyone knew how to pout, it was Rachel Berry.
Quinn’s smirk slips into a loving smile as she steps up to Rachel and wraps her arms around her from behind, resting her head on her shoulder.
“I know you’re not a piece of meat, Rach,” she tells her in a low tone, delighting in the shiver she sees work its way through Rachel’s body. “But I would appreciate if you let me do this.” She pauses before speaking. “Rachel Berry, will you do me the honor of becoming my girlfriend?”
“I might consider it,” Rachel mumbles with a smile on her face and in her voice. Quinn spins the smaller girl in her arms, bringing them face to face.
“You’ll consider it? Maybe this’ll help my chances.” She gently grasps Rachel’s chin and guides their lips together in a teasing, feather light kiss. She pulls away and watches as Rachel opens her slightly darker eyes.
“I think…you just improved your chances,” she says in a throaty whisper.
“Well then I guess I better keep working,” Quinn’s husky voice wafts through the air between them and Rachel shivers for a second time as she’s kissed by Quinn again.
It took three more kisses, two involving tongue and some under the clothes fondling before Rachel agreed to be Quinn's girlfriend, moaning out the words 'Yes, Quinn'. They walk out of the auditorium hand-in-hand with flushed countenances and smiles on their lips.
Fin...not to be confused with Finn