Learning Lessons: The Road To Faberrittana (3a/?)
Chapter Title: Conflicts of Opinion - Part A
Author:stargirl888
Word Count: Over 3000!!! (And that’s only part 1 ;)
Spoilers: None
Pairing: Santana/Rachel friendship, Quinn/Rachel, Side Santana/Brittany
Rating: M
WARNINGS: References to Domestic Discipline.
Summary: Rachel tells Quinn about her storm out.
A/N: Well I half made my self set deadline of posting an update today. This chapter just didn’t want to be written. I wrote and rewrote and rewrote and it still just didn’t want to happen. I finally squeezed this out and decided to post the first part so you got some sort of update. The plan is to post the second, final part by Sunday latest, so fingers crossed I can finish it by then. Special thanks should go to jennifer0912 for convincing me to write this follow up to the last chapter and not just move on to the next part and KFordy for all her thoughts on the chapter and verse in general.
It’s a little choppily written, but hopefully you’ll still enjoy it.
0-0-0-0
Rachel stared down at her phone apprehensively as she heard Santana’s car pull away from the drive. She knew she had to tell Quinn what had happened but she honestly had no idea how Quinn would react, having never been in this situation before.
She stared at the small screen of her phone where Quinn’s name was highlighted, her finger hovering over the call button for a moment before resolutely flipping it shut - she would wait for the morning. Quinn was probably asleep by now anyway.
Of course morning came around far too quickly for Rachels liking. She had to tell Quinn, she knew that it was better if Quinn found this out from her, but she also didn’t want to ruin Quinn’s time with her family, whom she was visiting up country (or at least that’s the reason she told herself), so Rachel decided to ignore the situation for now and just sent Quinn her customary good morning text before jumping in the shower to get ready for her day.
After showering and dressing, Rachel noticed she had two new text messages, the first was from Quinn, returning Rachels text with a short one of her own saying she was spending the day out with her cousins and would call in the evening. The other message was from Brittany, asking if she wanted to hang out her and Santana today.
Rachel quickly replied, suggesting they come around to her place and do a movie day. Plans were finalised and a few hours’ later Brittany and Santana were on her doorstep with junk food and dvd rentals in hand.
It would have been lying to say Rachel wasn’t embarrassed to see her friends after the previous night and it was with some trepidation that she answered the door, certain that awkwardness would ensue.
The second the door was open however, Santana was pushing her way into the house, wanting to get out of the cold, Brittany close on her heels. Having been to Rachels place quite a few times before, the girls immediately headed through the house to the kitchen to dump their bags on the counter.
Soon enough Brittany was busy microwaving up the popcorn while Santana melted some chocolate in a bowl over a pot of boiling water at the stove, preparing their traditional movie snack, and Rachel assuming the job normally left to Quinn, of preparing them some soft drinks.
Once the chocolate, popcorn and a bag of mini-marshmallows had been mixed together in a large bowl, and the glasses were on a tray, they all went through to the sitting room. Rachel quickly drug out some large throw blankets - it wasn’t cold in the house, but it wasn’t quite comfortably warm either, and they all settled down to watch the movie. Santana and Brittany cuddling together on one side of the couch while Rachel sat on the other, the bowl of chocolate covered popcorn separating her from the couple.
Santana had given in to watching Brittany’s selection first, and as much as she loved the girl, My Big Fat Greek Wedding had lost her interest after the fifth viewing so she settled instead for surreptitiously watching Rachel from the corner of her eyes.
Rachel actually appeared to have even less interest in the movie than she did as the petite girl fiddled absently with her phone, flipping it open and shut every couple of minutes, clearly bothered by something.
Rachel barely noticed the movie end or Brittany getting up to go to the bathroom, her revere only being broken when Santana reached over to snatch the phone out of her hand.
“Rachel, you need a new phone.” Santana observed as she glanced at the outdated phone before putting it on the side table beside her before looking back to Rachel, eyebrows raised in question.
“What?”
“Britt said you were going to call Quinn last night after she left.” Santana fished.
“I was, but then I thought it was late and didn’t want to risk waking her up.” Rachel explained defensively.
“She’s going to find out either way, do you really want her pissed just because you didn’t tell her first?”
“I was going to tell her this morning but she’s gone out with her cousins for the day.” Santana gave her a look that clearly said Rachel was just making up excuses.
“The longer you leave it the worse it will be.” Santana sang lightly, “besides, the hard parts already over with anyway.
“Easy for you to say.”
“Fair enough.” Santana agreed.
“Santana, can I ask you something...about last night?” Rachel asked nervously and Santana nodded for her to continue. “Is Brittany always so discursive before...”
“Well we normally discuss everything first, if that’s what you mean.” Santana replied questioningly - she had never really considered the details of what happened between Rachel and Quinn before a punishment, but she assumed it was pretty similar to how she and B did things. The idea of giving or receiving a spanking before discussing it fully and checking that you were both on the same page completely foreign to her “Doesn’t Quinn talk to you about it first?”
“Occasionally. I mean she always tells me what it’s for or whatever, but Brittany seemed to honestly want to know how I felt about the whole thing - if I thought I was wrong. I was just wondering if that was because it was me or if she’s always like that.”
“She always checks I agree with her assessment of the situation.”
“Oh.” Rachel murmured, clearly thinking something through.”With Quinn it’s more a case of her assessment is the right one, and she assumes I agree - which I generally do.”
“Well Quinn and Brittany are different people.” Was the genius response Santana could come up with. Rachel just nodded thoughtfully, though before she could say more, Brittany returned and they put in the next movie.
-0-0-0-
That evening found Rachel once again staring at her phone, nearly jumping out of her skin when it started ringing in her hand and Quinn’s name popped up on screen. Sighing, she reluctantly accepted the call.
Rachel listened quietly for a few minutes as Quinn described what she had been up to that day, wondering about the best way to bring the topic up when her girlfriend did it for her.
“So how was the benefit last night? You didn’t call me and I know you normally like to gush about a performance afterwards” .Quinn asked, raising the topic for her.
“Yeah, actually, I wanted to talk to you about that.” Rachel could sense Quinn’s concern, so she quickly rushed ahead with her explanation. “I didn’t really perform, because Mercedes and Kurt said some things that really got to me so I walked out.”
“Right before a performance?” Rachel could already recognise Quinns tone
“Yes, but Brittany already punished me for it.”
“Oh,” Quinn wasn’t sure how to react to that, “well we’re still going to have to talk about it when I get back. I don’t want to have this conversation over the phone.”
“Okay.” Rachel agreed, feeling a knot of anxiety settle at the pit of her stomach. She had hoped Quinn would say that if Brittany had punished her then they could lay the matter to rest without much discussion, but she had also known that that was unlikely. Quinn changed the subject then and they chatted for a few more minutes about inconsequential things before hanging up.
-0-0-0-
The following afternoon, Rachel received a text from Quinn informing her that she was home from her trip and Rachel headed over to the Fabray household.
“So how was your family?” Rachel asked, sitting on the corner of the bed and watching Quinn unpack the small suitcase she had taken with her.
“Good. I can’t believe how big my cousins have gotten.” Quinn replied snippily, continuing to unpack and clearly not in the mood for small chat right then. “Tell me about Friday night.”
“Well, like I said on the phone, Mercedes and Kurt said some things that really got to me so I walked out before the performance. I knew better, but I lost my temper.” Rachel relayed quickly “I didn’t have a car so I hung around in Mr Herberts classroom until Brittany came to find me. Santana gave us a lift back to my place where Brittany and I discussed what had happened and agreed that I deserved to be punished for my behaviour.” Rachel had gone rather red at her last few words. “So that’s what she did.”
“How?”
“How?” Rachel repeated
“Yes, how did she punish you?.” Quinn explained.
“A spanking,” Rachel replied embarrassedly
“I guessed that.” Quinn snapped “I mean did she use a paddle? How many smacks? That sort of thing.”
“Oh,” Quinn could tell she was embarrassing Rachel by forcing her to recount what had happened aloud, but she wanted to know. “I didn’t count but she spanked first with her hand and then the light olivewood paddle you brought me a few months ago.”
“Turn around.” Quinn ordered abruptly, tossing the t-shirt in her hand into the hamper and moving to Rachel. Rachel did as she was bid without question and Quinn quickly lifted her skirt, tucking it into the waistband before pulling down her panties. Rachels bottom had by this time returned to it’s normal pale colour. After examining unsuccessfully for any evidence that may help her judge the spankings severity, Quinn returned Rachels clothing to it’s original positions and went back to finishing empting her suitcase.
“You can sit down again.” She added when Rachel hadn’t moved more than to glance around to watch her. “How long would you say the effects of the spanking lasted?”
“Umm, well I was still a little tender the next morning.” Rachel replied honestly, though she had a feeling it would have been a better idea to exaggerate the after effects.
“Hmm, did you cry from the spanking?” Quinn moved the now empty case from her bed and watched Rachel closely. Rachel hesitated under the scrutiny, knowing she’s be caught out in a lie, before reluctantly shaking her head.
“Well it seems to me Rach, that you weren’t really punished sufficiently for your actions.” Rachel was starting to get a bad feeling about where this was going. She had thought that Quinn wanted to know how Brittany had spanked her out of a sense of curiosity, nothing more. “We’re going to have to take care of that.”
Quinn rose and went to shut the bedroom door. Rachel began to get anxious as it became increasingly apparent Quinn was about to punish her again after she had thought that her punishment for her behaviour was already over with.
“Quinn, that’s not fair, Brittany’s already spanked me.”
“I know, but I already told you, I think she was too lenient. This has been an issue we’ve gone over time and again, and you still haven’t learnt to think of others instead of just yourself.” Quinn moved to take a seat on the edge of her bed.
”But...” Rachel tried to protest again only to be cut off.
“Don’t make a fuss about it. You know you were in the wrong, and it’s my job to decide on a suitable punishment for your behaviour. Brittany’s decision was in no way sufficient.”
It still felt incredibly unfair to Rachel, and she had thought that the situation was pretty much over after Brittany had spanked her but Quinn seemed set on her course of action and Rachel knew arguing at this point would not work in her favour - plus Quinn did have a point about how it was her job to decide on Rachels punishments, though they had not discussed how that would work when Brittany had already punished her.
Resolving to discuss things later, Rachel resentfully moved to Quinn’s side.
-0-0-0-
“Okay, it’s all in the past now, and hopefully we won’t have to deal with this issue again.”
Rachel accepted the hug Quinn offered after her spanking, needing the comfort despite still being irritated that Quinn had spanked her in the first place for something that she had already been punished for. Quinn herself was oblivious as to the deeper reason for Rachel’s uncharacteristic emotional distancing.
Rachel had to leave shortly afterwards so she decided to wait to talk to Quinn properly for a time when they wouldn’t have to end the conversation in the middle and give herself a chance to think through what she wanted to say.
By the next morning however, Rachel was debating whether to even talk to Quinn at all, having half convinced herself that Quinn had every right to punish her more if she thought Brittany was too lenient, while still feeling that this was unfair on unidentifiable some level.
-0-0-0-
Santana, would it be possible for you and I to
Go for coffee after school today? Rachel *
Santana stared at the screen in surprise. Sure she and Rachel hung out quite often and Santana considered them friends, but in the past they always had either Brittany or Quinn with them, and always organised through one of them. This was the first time Rachel had ever approached her to hang out directly.
Rachel herself had been nervous about sending the text, unsure of what Santana’s reaction would be, but she really wanted talk about what had happened and get an objective perspective on everything, and though Santana wasn’t exactly unbiased, she was the least involved of the three options available.
Rachel jumped as her phone buzzed not even a minute later to reveal the reply.
K. @ Cheerio’s prac till 4, C u by ur locker @ 4:30?
-0-0-0-
At 4:55 that afternoon Rachel was still waiting for Santana by her locker and seriously debating between just going home and ignoring that Santana had stood her up or phoning to demand an explanation. She had finally decided to just go home when her phone rang. Flipping it open it showed she had a new text message from Santana.
Coach only just let me go now. Still need to change -
Meet me @ locker rm if u’re still @ school. S.
Feeling inordinately happy that Santana did actually have a valid reason for being so late, Rachel quickly shouldered her bag and headed to the locker room. The door to the room was half open when she arrived and Rachel could hear angry mutterings coming from inside.
She poked her head in cautiously. Despite being friends with three cheerleaders, one of which she was dating, Rachel had never been into the Cheerio’s locker room, the other Cheerio’s being rather territorial about the space. Rachel found it looked pretty similar to how she had imagined it, with red lockers lining the walls and a bench in the middle, there were two other doors on the opposite walls, one leading to the slip way through to the gym and the other to what appeared to be the showers. Santana herself was wrapped in a towel and had her back to the door Rachel entered through, bending over her bag and muttering furiously as she searched for something.
“Santana?” Rachel called cautiously, not wanting to startle the clearly irritated latina.
“Oh. Come in then, I’m the only one here.” Santana invited, glancing over her shoulder to check it was indeed Rachel. “Coach made me stay late and run fucking suicides because she claimed my footwork was sloppy and then made me redo the routine like fifty times. I didn’t have a chance to get to my phone and text you earlier.”
“It’s fine.” Rachel waved it off, moving to sit on the far end of the bench and trying to look anywhere but Santana’s half naked form. Santana smirked as though she knew exactly where Rachels mind had gone, her heavy mood lifting somewhat. She finally withdrew a tank top from her bag.
Turning so her back was once again to Rachel, Santana adjusted the towel so that it sat around her hips, leaving her top half bare and taking her time, pulled on the top. Turning back around to Rachel, who was blushing lightly, Santana retrieved her sweat pants, slipping them on under the towel before removing the towel and chucking it in the overflowing laundry basket by the door.
Pulling her damp hair into a loose bun, Santana watched Rachel shift in her seat as her eyes landed on where Santana’s nipples were clearly visible through the thin fabric of the top. Realising Santana had caught her staring Rachel quickly looked away guiltily.
“There’s no harm in looking.” Santana remarked as teasing Rachel with her body lightened her mood even further after the hellish practice.
“I’m dating Quinn.” Rachel protested weakly as Santana gave her shoulders a playfully boastful shake, making her breasts bounce before doubling over in mirth at Rachels expression. Once she had calmed down Santana took pity on her and put on a loose tracksuit top over the tank.
“Dating Quinn doesn’t make you blind to everyone else.” Santana replied, shouldering her pack. “So I know this was meant to be coffee, but I’m starving.”
They settled on a place not far from the school before separating since they both had their own cars that day.
Once at the restaurant, they both ordered, Santana deciding on a chicken salad while Rachel was content with just a side plate of chips.
“I told Quinn about Friday night.” Rachel said in a rush once the waiter had gone.
“How did that go?” Santana asked curiously, taking a sip from her water.
“Can you try be unbiased about this?” Rachel asked, and Santana just gave a nod “She thought Brittany was too lenient.”
“Well I kind of expected that.” Santana revealed.
“I did too, but I didn’t think she’d actually...do what Brittany did, again, because of it.” Rachel murmured in a hushed tone so the people at the next table wouldn’t overhear or understand if they did. Santana’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “At first I thought she was being unfair, but Quinn said that it’s her job to decided on punishments and so on and I thought that she had a point there, and now I’m just confused because it still feels wrong to me.”
“Did you tell Quinn?” Santana asked, remembering what Rachel said on Saturday about Quinn just assuming she agreed with her.
“I tried but I think she thought I was just trying to get out of it, so I decided to wait until afterwards, but then I had to leave and when i woke up this morning I couldn’t even decide if I should tell her.”
“Rachel, it’s clearly bothering you and this is something that could happen again in future so you need to talk to Quinn about it. It was the first time that Brittany took on that role for you so there’s bound to be some things to work out and Quinn’s probably also feeling a bit unsure of herself with Brittany having essentially taken her place in that situation.”
“Do you think Quinn was wrong?”
“It’s not important what I think since it’s not my relationship.” Santana deflected, striving to not get into the middle of things.
“If it were you and Brittany?” Rachel pushed, though Santana’s answer had given her her answer by not giving a straight answer.
“Brittany and I are different from you and Quinn.” Santana sighed. “I just think this is something the two of you need to discuss.”
“How do we do that when Quinn always expects me to defer to her.” Rachel practically pouted.
“Quinn just likes to believe she knows better than everyone else. Rachel, you’re in a relationship with her, if she does something you don’t like, you’re entitled to tell her about it, just try not to let it sound like a criticism, and don’t pressure her into accepting your side.”
“Okay.” Rachel agreed and the conversation moved on to other topics then as they finished their meal.
-0-0-0-
AN2: I know, I know, I didn’t write out the whole spanking scene and I’m sorry, I just wanted to focus on the story this time round and couldn’t put myself in the right mood to write it (particularly since I take issue with Quinn’s decision). I’d still love your thoughts on the chapter, and I want to know where you all stand on Quinn’s decision to spank Rachel a second time, so comment and let me know?