Learning Lessons - The Road to Faberrittana (3b/?)
Chapter Title: Conflict of Opinions - Part b
Author: stargirl888
Word Count: About 3 400
Spoilers: None
Pairing: Quinn/Rachel Brittany/Santana
Rating: M
WARNINGS: References to a consensual Domestic Discipline Relationship
Summary: Brittany has words with Quinn
A/N: Wow, I should write conflict more often if this is the sort of response it gets. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and told me your thoughts on the matter. I appreciate it and it helps to remind me of things I’ve neglected and points that I hadn’t thought about before. I’ve actually forgotten to mention it until now, but if you want to review and would like a reply but would rather not post it publically, you’re more than welcome to PM me your thoughts.
I think that this chapter will explain what was actually going on with Quinn a bit better. I have had a couple of people commenting that Quinn is uncaring or unloving, and I just wanted to mention that this is not the case at all. Quinn just tends to bottle up her emotions inside and that can come off as cold.
I know I said this would be up on Sunday and it’s now like Thursday - I really should know better than to give dates of updates because it inevitably doesn’t happen! Anyway, sorry about the delay and here’s part B.
-0-0-0-0-
“Santana?” Brittany asked, answering her phone on the second ring.
“Hey B.”
“ Please don’t tell me you pissed off coach and she only just let you go from practice?”
“No, she only kept me an hour late. I went to get something to eat afterwards, with Rachel.” Santana explained, flopping back onto her bed and kicking off her shoes. She had only just arrived home after saying goodbye to Rachel at the restaurant.
“Oh, okay. So how did that go?”
“It was interesting. Turns out Quinn spanked her for her storm out on Friday night.” Santana revealed, knowing Brittany wouldn’t be happy about it.
“What was the point of me even spanking her if Quinn was going to do it anyway?”
“Apparently Q thought you were too lenient or something.”
“Well that’s beside the point. “ Brittany snapped irritably. “She should have at least spoken to me about it.”
“I know. Rachel’s wanted to know if I thought Quinn was wrong but I didn’t want to get into the middle so I said it didn’t matter what I thought.”
“So Rachel thought she was wrong?”
“She doesn’t know. I think Rachel is trying to convince herself that Q was right. Q’s argument is that since she’s the one who decides what punishments are appropriate for Rachel it means that she can add to ones that she felt were insufficient.”
“I guess she’s not exactly wrong there,” Brittany admitted "But it’s not fair to Rachel, if she thinks the whole ordeal is over only to have further consequences.”
“I know,” Santana repeated, reminding Brittany that she wasn’t the one whose reasoning was being argued. “I agree with you, but Q’s always thought differently to us.”
“You know I wouldn’t even let it bother me if Quinn’s reasoning was different,” Brittany couldn’t help feel a little insulted. She knew Quinn’s punishments were always harsher than hers, but she didn’t think Quinn would go so far as to actually give Rachel a second spanking because of it. “I think I’m going to try talk to her tomorrow before school.”
“I thought we were trying not to meddle.” Santana asked pointedly.
“It’s not meddling. If Rachel has a problem with Quinn’s actions then she needs to learn to say something and that just because Quinn has the authority in their relationship doesn’t mean she’s not entitled to her own opinions on the matter, however, what I want to talk to Quinn about is her issues with how I handled things.”
“Okay,” Santana agreed “but while you do, could you also remind her, one dom to another, that a lack of argument does not always indicate agreements and relationships are not built on assumptions. Anyway, I’m tired and still have that English paper to write so I better get off the phone.”
“I’ll meet you at school tomorrow then, since I’m going to go see Quinn first?” Brittany confirmed
“Yes. I’ll see you then.’
-0-0-0-
“Quinn, you have a visitor.” Quinn’s mother called from downstairs. Quinn moved to her window that overlooked the street to see Brittany’s car in the driveway.
“Send her up.” A second later there was a knock on her bedroom door before Brittany entered.
“Hey Q,” Brittany greeted cheerfully as Quinn sat down at her dresser to finish applying her make-up.
“Hey B. Did we have plans to carpool today?”
:”No, I just wanted to talk to you before school.” Quinn glanced up to focus on Brittany’s reflection in the mirror, knowing her friends perchance for having serious conversations first thing in the morning.
“Okay,” Quinn agreed, screwing on the lid of her face cream and turning around to face Brittany properly.
“I heard you spanked Rachel for when she walked out on the Glee club on Friday.” Brittany cut to the chase without preamble.
“Yes, I did.” Quinn didn’t try to deny it “I wanted Rachel to understand that just because I wasn’t there didn’t mean she’d get away with that sort of behaviour.”
“And she didn’t - I spanked her. Besides, I thought the reason was you thought I was too easy on her”
“There’s that too. You spanked her for storming out though, I spanked her for repeating behaviour we had already addressed in the past.” Quinn justified
“Did you not consider that I may have taken her past behaviour into account?”
“Britt, Rachel described to me how you spanked her.” Quinn replied condescendingly “She was back to normal the next day.”
“Don’t patronise me Q.” Brittany snapped, getting irritated with Quinn’s attitude “I delivered a spanking of the severity I thought appropriate, having considered Rachels behaviour, past and present, her feelings about her behaviour and the circumstances, and had you actually thought to ask I would have told you that. Or Rachel would have at least told you I asked about how many times she had been punished for similar behaviour in the past.”
“Oh.” Quinn muttered, though it was clear to Brittany what she was leaving unsaid.
“Q, you and I have very different philosophies about all of this, and as such we’re bound to do things differently, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but you need to take it into account.”
“Well what is your philosophy then?” Quinn demanded, not appreciating being lectured, although that was not Brittany’s intention.
“Simple. I acknowledge that Rachel is not a child.” Brittany knew it was a provoking comment, but she was annoyed at Quinn right then.
“You think I treat her as a child?”
“I think you forget sometimes that she’s the same age as you, and capable of understanding when she’s in the wrong, as well as forming her own opinions which may differ from yours. I’m well aware of the power trip that comes from having someone submit to you, but you have to remember that that doesn’t actually make you any smarter, better or superior to them.”
“So what, I should ask Rachel to pick her own punishments from now on?”
“No, but I’m sure she’d appreciate being consulted on whether she should be punished in the first place.”
“I would never do something if she said no.”
“The problem is you’re mistaking compliance with agreement. Just because she goes along with something doesn’t mean she agrees with it 100% and if you let that continue it’ll only lead to resentment. While you may be the one to decide on the consequences for something, Rachel is the one who decides if it’s appropriate or sufficient, and she felt that the spanking i gave her was sufficient.”
“First off, how would you know that? Did you ask her after you finished spanking and actually expect her to sign up for more by saying no? And secondly, the whole reason for my punishing her is so I can decide what is appropriate.”
“This is what I mean by treating her like a child.” Brittany pointed out “No, I didn’t ask her that, though if I had I would have trusted that, given a chance to think it through, she would have been honest as to whether she thought the punishment was too light or harsh. That may be naive but it’s true. However when someone doesn’t get what they thought they deserved and expected it leaves behind a feeling of bitterness and being cheated and that would manifest in her general behaviour. That is what I meant when I said she decides on the appropriateness of the punishment”
“So how can your lighter punishments and my harsher ones both be appropriate because I don’t recall Rachel’s behaviour in the past to in any way indicate she was unsatisfied with the outcome.” Brittany could tell Quinn was more trying to find a flaw in her reasoning than actually wanting an answer, but she decided to reply anyway.
“I’m not saying there’s some magical point with an exact number of smacks or something - there’s manoeuvring room. Like, lets say in a given situation Rachel was spanked twenty times. Now Rachel would have probably considered herself appropriately punished anywhere between 12 and 30 smacks, so 20 is fine, but if she were spanked only 10 times, she would not feel like she had been punished suitably and act out. The difference with you and me Quinn is that while I would choose a punishment on the lower end of that spectrum - say 15 smacks, you’d pick the higher end at say 25. We’re both still in range though so the spanking with serve it’s purpose.” Quinn had never looked at it that way, and though what Brittany was saying did kind of make sense, she was not about to back down and let Brittany win the argument...unfortunately she was finding the logic hard to argue with.
“Fine, whatever. Was there anything else or can I get back to finishing getting ready before I’m late.”
“Just one other thing. I don’t mind if you disagree with me, and I will always try to respect your authority over Rachel because of your relationship with her, if you want to punish her after I have done so then that’s fine, but I’d appreciate if you’d respect that when I’m the one to punish Rach for something, I have the authority and not just go and undermine me by claiming you’re only doing it because I was too lenient. If you have other reasons for punishing her again, then fine, but not because of your feelings on the punishment I delivered - rather discuss those problems with me. And I think it was a bit unfair spanking Rachel a day after she had thought her punishment for her storm out was over without at least giving her some heads up that that may happen.”
Not waiting for a reply, Brittany quickly left. She was already kicking herself for meddling as much as she did and provoking Quinn, though it was too late to change it now, and while Brittany knew it may have been better to remain silent, she stood by what she had said.
Climbing into her car, she pulled out her phone and speed dialed Santana, putting it on speaker before starting the engine.
“Hey. You at school yet?” Santana answered after a couple of rings
“No, just leaving Quinn’s place and wanted to see if you’d like a lift?”
“Thanks but I’ve already left.”
“You’re speaking on speaker, right?” Brittany asked with a slightly warning tone.
“Yes,” Santana confirmed, rolling her eyes. “How did the talk with Quinn go?”
“Don’t ask. I think I definitely just allied her insecurities surrounding me and Rach.”
“Thanks B, she’s going to be insufferable at practice today.” Santana remarked with mild annoyance.
“Yeah well, it’ll most likely be directed at me since I basically told her she treats Rachel more like a child than a girlfriend.”
“Harsh much?” Santana commented though without judgment.
“I suppose,” Brittany agreed, “”I’m sure I did nothing but allied her feeling of being threatened by me.”
“Because you spanked Rachel?” Santana asked
“Partly, but I think there’s more to it than that. I’m here,” Brittany added as she pulled into a parking space.
“I’m already in the gym.”
“K, meet you there.” Brittany confirmed before hanging up.
-0-0-0-0-
“What’s going on between you and Brittany today?” Rachel asked Quinn as they both began unwrapping their lunch, having picked up on the tension between class. They were sitting alone in the backstage area of the auditorium.
“Nothing.” Quinn answered succinctly
“Really?”
“I don’t like being lectured about how I treat you, nor do I like you running and complaining to her about me.” Quinn remarked pointedly.
“I wouldn’t do that” Rachel replied honestly, not understanding where this was coming from.
“Don’t lie to me Rach. She came to me today saying it was unfair of me to spank you on Sunday, and that I treat you like a child rather than my girlfriend. Why would she say that if you didn’t say something to her first?”
“I don’t know, but I’ve barely spoken to Britt other than in passing since I saw her on Saturday.”
“Rachel, just be honest with me.” Quinn tried coaxing
“I am being honest.” Rachel replied, hurt by the way Quinn was just refusing to believe her. She had a fair idea that whatever Brittany had said stemmed partly from her conversation with Santana, but she wanted Quinn to believe she was telling the truth about not speaking to Brittany first because this was quickly evolving into an issue of trust. Unfortunately, Quinn could tell Rachel was holding back something, which only solidified her belief that Rachel was lying
“No, you’re not Rachel, and I’m not going to put up with being lied to my face.” Quinn moved to pull Rachel up from her seat, as she had in the past only to have Rachel determinedly yank her arm back and refuse to rise.
“Rachel.” Quinn warned
“No Quinn, I’ve done nothing wrong this time.” Rachel argued
“You’re lying to me!” Quinn exclaimed exasperatedly.
“You can’t just try to spank me whenever you don’t believe me and I’m not lying, though if you can’t believe me then we have more problems than I thought.” Rachel said as she carefully rewrapped up her sandwich before standing up and walking out without another word.
Quinn stared after her in worried confusion, still sure Rachel was lying, but also not believing she would take the lie this far.
The only other people she could to ask to determine the truth would be Brittany herself, though Quinn was still annoyed with her, or Santana who was annoyed with Quinn for torturing them during Cheerios practice.
Deciding she’d take her chances with the fiery latina and realising that she wouldn’t have time to actually go and find Santana, she pulled out her cell phone to call her instead.
“Fair warning, this has not been a good day and I’m already pissed. I cannot be held responsible for what I say after this point.” Santana answered the phone, referring to the tough practice Quinn had put the Cheerio’s through as well as a pop quiz a teacher had sprung on them and she knew that she had not done well on it..
“You do understand that since my number is blocked I could have been anyone.” Quinn replied
“Warning would still apply, it’s only more pertinent because it’s you.” Santana could practically hear Quinn rolling her eyes.
“I just wanted to check something quickly. Has Rachel been complaining to Brittany about me?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“As sure as I can be. Britt didn’t mention anything like that to me and she normally would.”
“Oh, then how did Brittany find out about Sunday?”
“From me.” Santana answered easily, causing Quinn to mentally kick herself, of course if Brittany hadn’t found out from Rachel the only other person she could have learnt it from was Santana. “And to pre-empt your next question, I found out from Rachel, but before you get the wrong idea, Rachel wasn’t complaining o me about you either, she just needed to talk to someone.”
“And she chose you over me?” It was meant to come off as disbelief but Santana heard the undertone of uncertainty.
“Q, you’re not always the most open person when it comes to differences of opinion and sometimes it helps to talk to someone who’s not as involved.”
“So what did she want to talk about then?”
“No, it’s not that easy.” Santana replied smugly, not willing to betray Rachel’s confidence and knowing it would annoy the hell out of Quinn. “You need ask her if you want to find out.”
“Fine.” Quinn agreed “I got to go.”
She hung up without waiting for a response, beginning to wonder just how much she had screwed up. What was meant to be a simple spanking had mutated into something much larger.
Quinn barely saw Rachel the rest of the day so after school she headed over to the Berry household. Rachels father was home for lunch and let her in and she promptly headed upstairs.
“Rach, can I come in?” Quinn called, knocking on her bedroom door.
“I suppose.” Came the response, and so Quinn entered to see her girlfriend sitting on her bed with her laptop open in front of her.
“Rach, I think we need to talk about earlier.” Rachel sighed and reluctantly shut her laptop and moved it to her bedside table before turning to give Quinn her full attention.
. “I should have believed you.” Quinn admitted hesitantly, not one to generally make apologies.
“Do you say that because you believe me or because you phoned and asked Brittany?” Rachel asked, unimpressed.
“Santana.” Quinn admitted, not missing the flash of disappointment in Rachels eyes.
“Quinn, how is this relationship going to work without trust? What happens the next time you don’t believe something I say and there’s no way to confirm it?”
“I don’t know. I do normally trust you and It’s not that I don’t want to, because I really do, but trust has never been easy for me. I’m working on it though. ” Quinn replied with the only assurance she could give her, sinking onto the bed so she was level with Rachel.
“I suppose that’s all I can ask for.” Rachel observed. “But Quinn, I meant what I said earlier - you can’t just spank me when you think I’m lying.”
“I know - I shouldn’t have tried that.” Quinn admitted, ashamedly gazing at the bedspread.
“You also should have told me the real reason you spanked me when you got back on Sunday.” Quinn’s gaze flicked back to Rachels in surprise.
“What do you mean?” Quinn asked, suddenly panicked and wondering how Rachel could have figured it out.
“I thought about it, but it was only after what happened at lunch that I realised that while on the surface your reason, that Brittany was too lenient, made sense, it wasn’t the full reason. It’s only natural to feel a little insecure after Brittany did something that I previously only allowed you to do.,”
“That’s not -“ Quinn tried to deny it, while flushing at being found out because though she hadn’t consciously considered it at the time it was exactly what was going on. Rachel cut her off.
“Quinn, Brittany could never replace you.” Rachel replied with complete conviction, taking Quinns hands in her own “My feelings for her are completely different to the way I feel about you, and no matter what happens she is not going to change that. Okay?” Quinn nodded, mollified by her girlfriends reassurances “I would however prefer that if you want to go all caveman and assert your position or whatever, that you find another way to do it. When we first began our rather unconventional relationship, we agreed that spanking would only be for when I misbehaved and I want to keep it that way.”
‘Alright” Quinn agreed seriously before her expression changed to a michevious smirk as she shifted to she was kneeling on the bed. “So about these other ways to assert my position...” she husked, leaning forward to capture Rachels lips with her own in a searing kiss, pushing Rachel back so she was lying under her.
“That would work.” Rachel panted when they broke apart and Quinn turned her attention to the smaller girls collar bone. “But there’s just one more thing.”
“Mmm?” Quinn mumbled against her skin, her attention already moved on from their serious conversation of moments ago and Rachel was having a hard time holding onto her own train of thought.
“Do you think that next time you could maybe check with me as to whether I agree with your reasoning before you spank me?”
Quinn moved so she was balancing on her forearms over the diva, her face once again serious. “Rachel, if you ever think I’m wrong to punish you over something, you must say so. I will try to remember to ask you, but if I forget and you don’t agree you must still say something.”
“K.” Rachel agreed and Quinn waited a moment to check there was nothing else, before returning to her attention to a much more pleasurable activity.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Of course everything couldn’t be sorted out in one conversation but it was a start and Quinn spoke to Brittany the next day and agreed to talk to her first if something like the severity of the punishment was ever in question.
AN2: Crap ending, ik but I just wanted to do something to give the Brittany/Quinn situation some sort of resolution.
Please leave a comment with your thoughts!