Inscription [04/06]
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Quinn/Rachel
Rating: PG13, warnings for femslash, language and probably excessive fluff
Length: 6,800/28,000 words
Spoilers: Season 01
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee; this is purely for my own personal enjoyment
Summary: Every week, she notices there's a new word inked on Quinn's skin. Rachel certainly hadn't expected junior year to turn out like this, just chock-full of surprises, mostly revolving around a certain blonde, drawing them slowly together.
A/N: So that stuff I said about slowing down on the updates and concentrating on work? I lied, apparently. Damn my lack of self-control. But yeah, I had already started this part and it was just begging to get outta my head. Also, I suck at writing angst. It still ends up fluffy. Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, here goes. Rock on.
Chapter 04
It’s a full 45 minute drive to Brittany’s house, which, by Lima standards, is far.
Rachel was beginning to feel a little suspicious. They had passed the city limits a little while ago, and they were currently zipping past miles of farmland. Just as she was about to ask, Brittany turns off the highway onto a dirt road. And that’s when it hits her.
Brittany lives on a farm.
They drive a little bit longer, past a chicken-wire fence and a grove of buckeyes and a herd of goats and a flock of ducks (well, no surprise there), eventually pulling up in front of a large stone cottage.
“Like my place, Rachel?”
“It’s fantastic, Brittany.”
As they disembark, a tall blonde woman appears around the corner of the house with a white stallion in tow. “Welcome home, Brittany.” she greets, speaking slowly, her voice thick with a Dutch accent.
“Hoi, mama.” the blue-eyed cheerleader replies with a smile. She receives a kiss on the forehead.
“Santana, Quinn, nice to see you back.”
The Latina waves, “Hey, Julia.”
“Hello ma’am. How are you?”
“I am good, Quinn, thank you. Who is this new one?”
Rachel smiles, “Hello, my name is Rachel Berry. I’m in Glee Club with them. You have a wonderful home. Thank you for having me here.”
Julia shakes her hand with a firm grip. “I am Julia. I am Brittany’s mother.” She turns to Brittany, “This is the one you tell me about? The little one that sings good and likes to talk?”
The three cheerleaders laugh as Rachel blushes. “That would be her,” Quinn quips.
Julia grins at Rachel. “Please sing later for me. These girls never do this. Dancing, yes, always. But singing, only in the shower.”
Rachel grins, “I would be happy to. And I’m sure I can convince them to join me as well.”
Santana groans and Quinn shakes her head ruefully. Julia laughs, “I like this one, Britt. You keep this friend.”
“Sure, mama.” Brittany replies with a grin.
The horse whinnies. Julia strokes its mane. “He has been restless. Maybe you all can make the horses run later too. After you study. So they will be tired.”
Brittany claps enthusiastically, “Yeah! We’ll teach you how to ride, Rachel!
The diva blinks and turns to Santana and Quinn. “You all know how?”
Quinn nods, “We’ve spent a lot of time here. B taught us years ago.”
“That one’s Ovid,” Santana says, pointing at the white steed with her chin, “We were actually there for his birth. He’s Quinn’s favorite.”
“Aw, now I wish you were here that day we sang Last Name with April.” gushes Brittany, “We went riding in the cowboy costumes. It was so much fun.”
Rachel giggles at the mental image, “It must have been.”
“Anyway,” Quinn interjects before the conversation can take a turn for the embarrassing, “We should head inside and get the work out of the way.”
They wave again to Julia and shuffle to grab their belongings from the trunk of the jeep. Quinn stops to pat Ovid’s muzzle on the way to the front door.
Once inside, they dump their bags in the living room. And then there’s a flurry of movement without anyone saying anything. Brittany runs upstairs. Santana moves into the kitchen. Quinn situates herself on the floor with the couch at her back and pulls out her laptop. She places it on the coffee table in front of her and boots it. Rachel, unsure what to do, stands near the fireplace, eyes darting around.
The cheerleading captain notices this and raises an eyebrow at her. “Sit, Berry.”
Santana walks back into the room with a bowl of chips and dip. “Yeah, we’re not gonna bite.”
The diva smiles sheepishly and places herself gingerly on one end of the couch while Santana plops herself down on the other. The Latina places a flash drive in Quinn’s waiting hand, and blonde inserts it into her USB port without delay.
“So what are we supposed to be doing?” queries Rachel.
Santana smirks. “You’ll see. Just leave it to Q.”
Brittany reappears, bounding noisily down the stairs, with a printer. She rounds the couch and sets it beside the laptop, along with another flash drive. Quinn picks up the end of the power cable of the printer and hands it to the taller blonde absentmindedly, “Stick that in the wall for me will you, B? And remember to be careful.”
“Yes, Q.”
After accomplishing her assigned task, Brittany moves back towards the couch. “Scoot for me, Rach.”
“But- Quinn is-”
“Just take off your shoes and sit Indian-style behind her, silly.”
“Oh, okay.”
The blonde on the floor unconsciously leans forward a bit to give Rachel room to reposition herself, not pausing in her work on the computer. When she senses the brunette has stopped shifting, she leans back again, resting her head against Rachel’s legs. Rachel’s hand, in turn, mechanically combs through Quinn’s hair.
“Right, all done. And… print!”
The printer whirrs to life.
“Then we shall now have our toast.” Santana declares, already distributing the remaining beers they had left. “And don’t worry, Berry. We only brought eight cans, so this is the last drink for you, me and Q.”
Rachel nods, “Very well. So what are we toasting?”
“To the Conspiracy!” cries Brittany.
“To the Conspiracy!” echo the other two cheerleaders.
“Um… to the Conspiracy…”
The cans clunk together and they knock back their drinks.
Then Rachel addresses them, “Okay, I’m a little afraid to ask, but what is the ‘Conspiracy’?”
“This.” Quinn picks up the dozen or so pages that have finished printing and drops them in the brunette’s lap.
Rachel studies them. As she flips through the papers, her eyes go increasingly wide. These were notes! But they weren’t just notes. They were meticulously detailed, but organized in such a manner for easy learning and retention. There were solutions to problems she knew she would find in her Math textbook, plus additional unsolved ones for practice. There were outlines for multiple possible answers to essay questions they had been assigned in History, and scores of supplementary information on each topic. There were pictures and charts and graphs illustrating the laws of physics and descriptions of several options for science projects.
“Oh my god, these are cheat sheets!”
Santana sniggers, “You could put it that way.”
“But not really. You still have to do a lot of the work yourself. And we’re not, like, psychic, so we don’t know what the teachers will put on the tests and stuff. You still have to study.” says Brittany, nodding sagely.
Quinn tilts her head back to meet Rachel’s eyes “What’s great about it though, is that you never have to take notes or even listen to the teacher if the subject isn’t your mission.”
“Mission?”
The cheerleader nods, “That’s how this works. Each of us has a mission, based on what we’re good at. For example, Brittany’s forte is stuff like history, because she’s actually really great at remembering loads of facts when she has to. And she likes stories and is insightful when it comes to people-”
“-and history is, like, one big story about lots of different people. It’s totally as if you’re gossiping about dead guys!” the taller blonde supplies. “Santana on the other hand is a total math whiz.”
“Anything to do with numbers, I’m your girl.” the Latina remarks, “And Quinn here is our resident science geek. Don’t ever watch a sci-fi movie with her. It’s embarrassing.”
“Shut up, S. You love Star Wars too.”
“Yes, but not enough to try to construct my own lightsaber.”
Color spreads across Quinn’s face and Rachel chuckles, idly stroking the blonde’s hair again.
“So let me guess this straight… each of you prepares fastidious notes for different subjects, and every two weeks, you guys get together and compile them all?” She receives three nods.
“And they’re prepared in advance,” Quinn adds in between mouthfuls of chips, “We buy notes off our seniors at the start of the year. And since most teachers just end up teaching the same stuff the same way every year, we pretty much know what to expect. So, all that…” she waves a hand over the papers, “should tide you over till the next meeting.”
“I’m impressed. And kind of horrified. But mostly, I’m impressed.”
The blonde smirks, “There’s a reason we were the only three Cheerios left when Figgins kicked everyone who wasn’t academically eligible off the squad last year. Before Slyvester threw her tantrum.”
Enlightenment crosses Rachel’s features, “I do remember that.”
Santana stretches lazily. “If you’re joining the Conspiracy, you can do your part by helping us tackle the other stuff. Like, you and Quinn have Literature together right? So there. Like Q said, you can practically sleep through all the core courses now.”
“The Conspiracy, huh?” echoes the diva, grinning.
Quinn chuckles, “Hey, we were 10 when we came up with it. Cut us some slack.”
“You mean when you came up with it.” Brittany teases, pinching Quinn’s cheek. The shorter blonde bats her hand away.
Rachel giggles, “10-years-old, Quinn, and you were already plotting world domination?”
Quinn smirks, “Just wait until I complete that lightsaber.”
+ + + + +
Hours later, after completing her homework in record time, learning to stay upright on a horse, eating dinner, performing a number for Julia and her husband (as well as managing to get the other three girls to sing too), and watching the season premier of House M.D., Rachel yawns in the passenger seat on the drive back home.
“Did we tire you out, Berry?” Quinn mocks good-naturedly from behind the wheel.
“You most certainly did.” the brunette replies sleepily, “But I’m not as tired are some of us are, apparently.” She turns her head slightly to sneak a peek at the Latina sprawled across the backseat.
Quinn smiles knowingly. “You didn’t have to do any of Sylvester’s drills of death today though.”
“No, I did not. However, you seem alright.”
The blonde nods idly. “S is the strongest, and B is the fastest, but I have the most stamina among the three of us.”
“Hmm… and I’m sure the fact that those two snuck away twice to have sex didn’t help.”
They both chuckle. Rachel closes her eyes and lets out a content sigh. “I had fun today.” she admits quietly.
“I’m glad.” is the equally soft response.
The light ahead turns red and Quinn slows a stop. Suddenly, Santana bolts upright. “Quinn!”
Quinn is slightly startled at first, then turns to face her friend with concern. “What, San?”
“I just realized something.” says the Latina in a low voice, expression somber.
“And?” the blonde prods.
“You and me… we pretty much rule McKinley, right?”
“Pretty much.”
“Right. And we’re both gay, yeah?”
Quinn and Rachel glance at each other, brows furrowing, both wondering where this is going. “Yes, S. So?”
“Sooooo… the main high school in the most conservative, backwater hellhole ever… is run by power lesbians.”
There’s a beat of silence. And then all of them erupt into raucous laughter, literally rolling in their seats. The light turns green, and the car behind them honks angrily, but they don’t care.
They’re defying gravity.
+ + + + +
“Perfect! You’ve got it!”
“Oh, thank heavens.” Quinn grunts as she lets herself fall back onto Rachel’s bed, legs dangling over side. It’s Tuesday afternoon and they’ve just spent a good part of it perfecting Quinn’s new solo for Glee. “Remind me why I let you talk me into this again? You’re almost as hard a taskmaster as Coach.”
“I didn’t talk you into anything, Quinn.” the diva retorts, “You asked me to help you with your solo.”
“I did?”
“Yes. Last week, when you decided to put aside your pride, recognize my talent and admit to me that you would value my assistance.”
The blonde smirks, “I wonder what on earth could have possessed me to do that. You didn’t drug me, did you?”
Rachel leans back against the headboard. “I resent that accusation. You were the one on the quest to practice humility.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
A pillow hits Quinn in the face. Both girls giggle.
“Hey, Quinn?”
“Yeah?”
“Ambition?”
The blonde grins. “Nice try, but no. Three more guesses, Berry.”
“Hmph. I’ll figure it out. You’ll see.”
Suddenly, the chorus of Tubthumping blares. Quinn fumbles for her phone. Her face scrunches together when she gets a look at the screen.
“What is it?”
“Number I don’t recognize.” The cheerleader presses ‘Ignore’.
Rachel nods. She knows Quinn gets random calls sometimes from people hoping to get a date with her. Ah, the price of being popular and single. They used to wonder how people even got her number, until Santana let them know that information like that was sold for good money at school. Quinn completely stopped entertaining any unknown callers after that to make sure their ‘purchases’ were rendered useless.
Then All Star sounds out in the room and Rachel picks up her own phone from her night table. “Hi, Daddy!” she greets merrily. “Yes, we just finished practicing… okay, I’m listening…”
Quinn notices the brunette’s smile disappear and her face go pale. The blonde sits up, worry creasing her forehead. Chocolate brown eyes meet hers with a look of alarm.
“W-what… okay… a-alright, I understand… I will… okay.” Rachel hangs up and opens her mouth to say something, but no words form.
The cheerleader moves closer to the brunette. “Rachel? Rachel, what’s wrong?”
“I… I need you to take us to the hospital.”
+ + + + +
They’ve just arrived in the lobby of St. Luke’s. Rachel is on the phone again, “We’re here, Daddy… okay, see you in a bit.”
Quinn raises a questioning eyebrow at the brunette as she turns to her. She had no idea of what was going on; Rachel hadn’t said a word on the trip over, just fiddled with fingers her the entire time. She was worried, a lot more worried than she was letting on. But she hadn’t wanted to push, so she just did as she had been asked and drove.
“Let’s sit.” the diva says.
“Okay.”
They make their way to the chairs lined up against the wall to the side and settled down. Rachel angles her body towards the blonde and reaches out to grasp her hand. Quinn lets their fingers intertwine. She notices the diva’s hand is shaking.
“Quinn, I… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this earlier, but I wasn’t too sure how you’d react, and as you know I don’t have my driver’s permit yet, so I needed you to be able to drive.” She pauses to swallow thickly, and Quinn squeezes her hand encouragingly through her own confusion. “Quinn… your mother had an accident.”
The cheerleader feels her mind go blank. “What?”
“She fell down some stairs… at her office. She broke her arm. They- They took her into surgery. Daddy, he’s a doctor, but not really, I mean he is, but he doesn’t practice. He teaches. He’s a university teacher, Public Health. But he was here today… he had some agenda with some friends of his who work here, and he… he was there when they brought her in. He recognized her last name.”
Rachel studies Quinn’s face for her reaction. The blonde is pretty much frozen. Her eyes have taken on a glazed appearance. So she presses on, “They tried to call you, but you didn’t pick up… it must have been that unknown number from earlier. Daddy knew we would be rehearsing together this afternoon though, so he called me right away.”
Quinn continues to remain motionless until Rachel squeezes her hand. The blonde blinks, so slowly it’s almost excruciating. “Mom… is in surgery?” she croaks.
The diva nods, and adds a “Yes” when it’s unclear if Quinn’s mind had registered the movement.
The blonde takes a deep breath, and as she exhales, she sinks slowly into her seat, letting out a very long, very low exclamation of “Fuuuuuck.”
Rachel instinctively wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls Quinn against her gently, but firmly.
“Rachel.”
The brunette looks up and is met by the sight of her father standing over them. “Daddy…”
Jeremiah gives his daughter a small smile and then turns to the girl beside her, “Hey there, Quinn.”
Quinn meets his sympathetic gaze and manages a weak smile, “H-hello, sir…”
The man tenderly places a hand on top of her head. “From what I know, there’s nothing life-threatening about her situation. The doctors are going to do everything they can, okay? I need you to just wait here while they take care of her. Can you do that for me?”
The cheerleader nods numbly. “Just wait. Okay. I’ll wait.”
“Good girl.” He turns to Rachel, “I’m going to call your dad and let him know what’s going on and that he should order some take-out for himself. And I’ll come back when I have more information. You watch over your friend here, okay kiddo?”
“Of course, daddy. I don’t need to be told that.” his daughter huffs.
Jeremiah presses a kiss to her cheek and also gives Quinn’s knee a pat before leaving.
Quinn sags against Rachel more, closing her eyes and leaning her head on the brunette’s shoulder. Rachel rubs her hand up and down Quinn’s arm.
“I’m going to call Kurt, since his dad is close to your mom too, okay? They’ll want to know. And then I’ll borrow your phone and call your sister, alright?”
“Thank you…” Quinn mumbles. Her breath is warm against the brunette’s collarbone.
“Anything you need.”
+ + + + +
Kurt and Burt arrived within the hour. Christina, Quinn’s sister, is driving through the night from Boston with her best friend.
Currently, Quinn’s head is in Rachel’s lap. Her eyes stay shut as the brunette slides her hand repeatedly through Quinn’s hair.
They’re sharing Rachel’s iPod. The diva skips over most of the showtunes that come up and tries to stick to songs she thinks Quinn would appreciate. Thankfully, she’s gotten a better idea of the cheerleader’s musical preferences recently.
Kurt, on the other hand, has Quinn’s bare feet in his lap. He massages her soles and ankles soothingly. Both he and Rachel pretty much glare at anyone that looks like they would ask them to move (since Quinn is taking up three seats by herself). Burt sits on his son’s other side, ignoring the disapproving looks he gets for allowing the younger ones to get away with it and burying his nose in a magazine instead.
Jeremiah Berry takes in this scene as he draws near them with a small, shrewd smile. He calls out softly. Four sets of eyes focus on him. He focuses on the pair that belongs to the girl his daughter is holding protectively.
“She’s fine. They have her in room 310 now.”
The blonde is up and sprinting towards the stairwell in an instant.
“Quinn! Shoes! …Oh, hell.” Rachel throws her hands in the air and takes off after her.
+ + + + +
She finally catches up to Quinn, who’s standing motionless just inside the door of Judy’s room, staring at her mother’s equally motionless form. Rachel’s gaze flicks between the two blondes. She sees Quinn’s features morph from shocked, to pained, to hesitant. The brunette places a hand on the small of her back and pushes ever so slightly.
“It’s okay, Quinn. Go to her.”
The cheerleader advances towards the bed unsteadily. She takes Judy’s hand, the one not sealed in a cast, and cups it between both of her own. “Mommy…”
It breaks Rachel’s heart, the way her friend’s voice sounds so small and scared.
The men finally arrive at the room. Kurt moves to flank Quinn’s side opposite Rachel. His dad stands on the other side of the bed.
Jeremiah clears his throat and draws their attention. “This is Dr. Connor,” He tilts his head towards a man beside him with graying hair, kind eyes, and white coat. “He’s Judy’s attending physician.”
“You can call me Neil.” he says to all of them, but mainly addressing the young blonde in the room, “Her surgery went well. She broke the bone in her forearm, but we reset it and it should heal properly. She’ll have the cast for about six weeks. After that, it’s best if she went for some physical therapy to get her arm back into full shape. She suffered no other major damage from the fall as far as we can tell, though we can’t be 100% sure until she wakes up from the anesthesia.” He smiles soothingly, “But it looks like your mom will be just fine. We hope to let her go home by tomorrow.”
Quinn breathes in deeply and nods with a faint smile.
Rachel eyes turn from the blonde to the doctor, “Thank you, Dr. Neil, for taking care of her.”
“My pleasure. I’ll be around for a while and you can have the nurses page me.” He pats Jeremiah on the shoulder, and leaves.
As soon as he steps out of the door, Quinn’s knees buckle. Rachel manages to loop her arms around her waist before she hits the ground. Kurt, the past few hours of anticipation having frayed his nerves, screams in his panic.
“Kurt, this is not the time to be performing an aria! Get a goddamn chair over here now!”
When Rachel Berry tells you to do something while cursing… you just do it.
The boy hurriedly slides an armchair towards them and Rachel falls back into it with Quinn’s weight on top of her. She cradles the blonde in her lap and rocks her gently as Quinn finally lets her tears fall, crying silently into Rachel’s hair.
“Shh… it’s okay, Quinn, its okay… she’s going to be okay…”
+ + + + +
It’s not very long before Judy wakes up. Burt is the first one who notices, because after Quinn had calmed down enough, Rachel had managed to get the cheerleader to snuggle with her on the ratty couch and watch Discovery Channel on the small TV provided. The diva had also just sent out her father and Kurt to hunt for edible food.
“Hey you. You gave us quite a scare there.”
“Burt?”
“Mom?”
“Quinny…”
Mother and daughter hug (carefully, of course). Rachel hears Quinn mumbling a prayer of thanks.
Burt smiles reassuringly at Judy, “I’m gonna go call your doctor, okay? Don’t go anywhere.”
The woman laughs lightly, “Right. I’ll stay put.”
“How are you feeling, mom?” ventures Quinn.
Judy tentatively shifts a bit, eyeing the white cast encasing her arm. “Well, I’ve certainly seen better days, haven’t I? But I feel alright. Just a little… sore. And more than a little foolish for being so clumsy.”
Quinn pats her mom’s shoulder affectionately, “It’s okay. It’s not your fault you’re getting old.”
They share a laugh and Quinn hugs her again. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Mom.”
“Me too, Quinny. Me, too.” As they break apart, Judy turns to the other occupant in the room. “Hello there. You look familiar, but I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“This is Rachel, Mom.”
The brunette shakes Judy’s hand delicately, “Hello, Ms. Fabray. I wish we’d met under better circumstances.” She smiles somewhat apologetically.
“Rachel…” the woman muses, obviously trying to place her. “Oh! Rachel Berry.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rachel confirms a little stiffly as she watches things click into place in Judy’s mind. Rachel Berry, the one with two dads- she shouldn’t have a problem with that anymore, right? After all, she knew about Quinn-
“Rachel Berry, Glee club captain. Never stops talking. Small body, big voice.” Judy’s eyes glint with amusement as she turns to her daughter again, “Isn’t that right, Quinny?”
Rachel smacks Quinn on the arm, “Is that what you all tell your parents about me?!”
“Well, it’s true!” the blonde protests, “And I totally said it out of love!”
Both girls blush at the admission.
Judy grins, “I might also mention that she added ‘even bigger heart’ to that description, although I’m not quite sure she had meant for me to hear that part.”
They blush harder.
At that moment, Burt returns with Dr. Neil, and Kurt and Jeremiah return bearing sandwiches.
Kurt raises an eyebrow at the two girls, “Hmm, I think we need to turn up the air-conditioning.”
+ + + + +
Santana, Brittany and Mercedes drop by just after Rachel has succeeded in forcing Quinn to finish her food despite her lack of appetite. They’ve brought a change of clothes, and toiletries, and a blanket and pillows for Quinn. All per Rachel’s instructions, of course.
They don’t stay long, because visiting hours only lasted for another half-hour, and they leave with Kurt and Burt after doling out well-wishes and hugs.
Rachel is allowed to stay for longer thanks to her Daddy’s influence. If she had her way, she’d be staying the night with Quinn, even if she had to sleep on the floor. She gave up on the idea only after the blonde threatened to never, ever reveal what the word hiding under her wristband was, even if Rachel did guess correctly.
They go back to nestling together on the couch, watching some crappy B-movie they didn’t catch the title of and criticizing everything about it while Judy slips in and out of sleep.
Eventually, they hear Jeremiah knock softly on the door, back from killing time by playing catch up with old colleagues. “Sorry, kiddo, but we should go. I’ll meet you downstairs; I have to pick up some stuff at the desk.”
“Okay.”
The girls disentangle themselves from each other and Rachel grabs her purse. “So, Mercedes will be here tomorrow morning to pick you up for school, okay?”
Quinn glances at her mother, “Do I have to?”
The brunette smiles sympathetically, “I know you have your reservations about leaving her alone, but we already discussed this with your mom. She’ll probably end up sleeping through most of the morning anyway, and the nurses are really great, and your sister will be arriving before noon and will be here when your mom gets discharged.”
“She gets to miss school.” the cheerleader grumbles.
“She’s a college student, Quinn. Cutting class, it’s what they do.”
Quinn raises an eyebrow at her. “I don’t think you would skip class, even in college.”
Rachel smirks. “You never know. Like you said, you may be rubbing off on me.”
The blonde mock-gasps, “What, innocent li’l ol’ me? Corrupt you?”, then she grins, “Rachel the Rebel. Has a nice ring to it.”
“Yes, well. We’ll see. I’m stubborn, so corrupting me won’t be that easy.” chuckles the diva.
Quinn tilts her head cockily. “I dunno, Berry. I’m kind of hard to resist.”
Inwardly, Rachel is thinking ‘You don't know the half of it’. Outwardly, she rolls her eyes. “I’ll see you at school, Quinn.”
The cheerleader smiles and wraps her arms around Rachel’s shoulders. “Thank you, Rachel, for everything. Good night.”
Rachel’s hands flex lightly on the blonde’s hips. “Good night.”
+ + + + +
The next afternoon after school, Mercedes drives them home to Quinn’s. Christina’s beat-up SUV is in the garage.
Upon entering the living room, they find Quinn’s mom, her sister, and a girl with chin-length red hair, freckles, and glasses over shocking green eyes. And she was, to put it simply, hot.
She smiles rather deviously when she sees them, “Hey, Quinn.”
The cheerleader goes a little red in the face, and she swallows. “Jacqueline. Hi.”
Both Judy and Christina cough.
Jacqueline flushes too, and the two girls look away from each other.
Mercedes lips form an “O” shape, and she bobs her head slowly up and down. “Daym, girl!” she whisper-shouts at Quinn, “Score!”
The blonde whimpers. Rachel is stuck gaping.
Judy stands and moves towards the kitchen, “I’m going to make some popcorn.” When both daughters try to object, she holds up a hand, “Its microwave popcorn. I still have one fully functioning limb, thank you.”
Christina comes up to them then and envelopes Quinn in a tight embrace. “Good to see you again, li’l sis.”
“You too, C.”
The elder Fabray sibling winks at Mercedes and Rachel. “Hey. I’m Chris. The one on the couch is Jack. Feel free to ignore her.”
“Hey!”
“Uh huh.” says Mercedes with a grin, obviously still highly entertained by the situation, “Mercedes Jones.”
“Rachel Berry.” the diva says, obviously not nearly as amused.
“We were just about to pop in a DVD.” informs Christina, “You should watch with us.”
“I… don’t know…” Quinn hesitates, glancing at Jacqueline.
The redhead smirks, “C’mon Quinn. I won’t bite you.” Pause. “Again.” Another pause. “Maybe. I’m here till Sunday after all.”
Rachel wants to bang her head against the wall as her imagination kicks off again.
Quinn drops her face in her hands. “Kill. me. now.”
Jacqueline chuckles, “Aw, you weren’t this bashful a couple of months back. What happened to that feisty blonde I met?”
Quinn glares.
“There she is! That cheerleading uniform looks great on you, by the way.” the redhead remarks, not bothering to disguise the leer that lingered on the pleated skirt.
The blonde huffs, but then smirks and places a hand on her hip, “I know. Red has always been my color.”
Mercedes covers her mouth, masking her subdued but thrilled exclamation of “O-ho! Hell to the yeah!” (Quinn and Rachel hear it perfectly though.)
Jacqueline twirls a lock of her hair around her finger, “Is that so? So you like red?”
Rachel thinks she might scream. Her emotions are bouncing around like ping-pong balls inside her, and they’re too fast and too many for her to get a hold of any one of them. But she does know that she wants to strangle this girl and its taking a lot of self-control not to.
Fortunately, Christina steps in and kicks her best friend in the shin, “Stop it, you. We’re staying in my mom’s house, which means she lives here, and I’d really rather not have to go through an even more awkward experience than what happened in the summer. Need I remind how awkward that was? It was awkward!”
“But Chrisssss…” Jacqueline whines, “You know I hate not finishing something that I’ve started!” A meaningful glace is sent Quinn’s way. “And besides, your mom adores me.”
“And that’s the only reason we all got away with it last time. Don’t push it.”
The redhead pouts, “Fine. But I wouldn’t need to hit on your cute little sister if you would just put out for me.”
“Babe. I love you. But no, I like penis.”
“You have seen the strap-on I own, haven’t you?”
+ + + + +
Things progress smoothly for rest of the day. Jacqueline obediently ceases the shameless flirting, and turns out to be really rather pleasant. Still, Rachel feels a pang of apprehension when she and Mercedes have to leave before dinner, both having promised their parents that they would eat at home.
“Quinn?” Rachel queries as they step outside.
The blonde leans against the doorjamb with a raised eyebrow. She already suspects the nature of the question.
Rachel falters, but proceeds, “It wouldn’t happen to be Chastity, would it?” (She wonders why she thinks she sounds slightly hopeful.)
Quinn goes bug-eyed, and then laughs, and laughs, and laughs.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
+ + + + +
Thursday is as normal as it comes. In glee, they’ve finalized plans for a club slumber party at school tomorrow night. It was going to be both an extended rehearsal session for the upcoming Invitationals and a fun team-building/bonding thing. They couldn’t reach a consensus whether to have it at Tina’s or at Matt’s, so Mr. Schue suggested ‘neutral ground’. They agreed because of 1) the need to compromise, 2) their curiosity of what the campus was like at night, and 3) the endless potential for mischief.
Rachel texts Quinn that night:
Please tell me you’re not trying to save to world or something and that it isn’t something ludicrous like ‘Justice’.
The reply comes in ten seconds later:
I’d need that lightsaber first.
+ + + + +
The sleepover is epic.
They get the rehearsals and run-throughs out of the way first, because Rachel won’t have it any other way. Duh.
Then they wind down with pizza and charades. The boys’ team loses horribly because the girls kept making their representative act out romantic comedies which none of them knew, and no matter what they threw at the girls, one of them always got it (mystery/suspense: Tina, horror: Mercedes, musicals/animation: Rachel, sci-fi/fantasy: Quinn, action: Santana, porn: Brittany).
After that, they brought out the mattresses they had gotten the previous year from the ‘Jump’ commercial. Which, of course, resulted in one huge pillow fight. The boys got their revenge, mostly.
When they were finally tired out from that, they sat around and told ghost stories. Mr. Schue knew a lot of them. At one point, Mike ended up jumping into Finn’s lap.
Suddenly, Puck perks up. “Dude.” he says, slapping the back of his hand against Finn’s chest, “It’s September 21.”
Finn scrunches his eyebrows together, “Is it someone’s birthday?”
“No, doofus! C’mon! September 21!”
The boy still looks puzzled. So do most of their friends.
It’s Brittany who provides clarity, giggling, “Do you remember the twenty-first night of September?”
Everybody’s face lights up, and Puck gives her a high-five, “That’s my girl!
“Actually, I’m Santana’s.”
Santana smirks proudly and kisses her.
“Whatever. Finn, get behind the drums. Artie, you know this shit?”
“Who doesn’t?” he replies, already wheeling his way towards his electric guitar.
“Awesome, back me up here. Now, who can take keyboards?”
“Leave it to moi.” Kurt says haughtily, rushing to the synthesizer.
Mr. Schue picks up a trumpet, “I’ve got the brass covered, guys!”
“Righteous! Then all we need is… Quinn!”
The blonde, who is sitting practically draped around Rachel, with her chin resting on the brunette’s shoulder, raises an eyebrow.
“Aw, c’mon, you love this song!”
“I’m tired, and comfortable. I don’t want to get up.” she drawls.
Rachel giggles, unconsciously leaning back a little more against her.
Puck pouts, actually pouts, “Pwetty pwease with sugar lumps on top?”
“Oh my god, please don’t do that, I’ll have nightmares.” Santana gags, “What happened to your pride, Puckerman?”
“It’s Earth, Wind and Fire! I am willing to sacrifice my pride for that.”
Brittany tilts her head, “What would Q play anyway?”
The boy with the Mohawk picks up an electric bass and holds it out in Quinn’s direction. Everybody else gawks at her, with the exception of Finn who has that signature goofy grin of his on.
“You play the bass?!” Rachel asks astonished, angling to get a better look at Quinn’s face.
The cheerleader shrugs, “If you hang out with Finn and Puck long enough, you pick up on a few things. And I was Finn’s girlfriend for half a year, and their friend for even longer before that.”
“We made her learn so our jam sessions would be complete. She can be pretty kick-ass at video games too.”
“Quinn Fabray, you’re just full of surprises.” Rachel murmurs.
Quinn chuckles, and says in a low British accent, “You have no idea.”
Finn laughs, “C’mon, Uncle Scar. For old time’s sake, what d’ya say?”
The blonde’s demeanor softens and she gives Finn a crooked smile, “Alright, alright.”
“Great, now get your pretty butt up here.” Puck urges.
[ A/N: link to the song HERE (Earth, Wind and Fire - September + bass cover), this is how Quinn plays it (or how I play it) ]
Soon enough, Quinn has the bass strapped to her. Finn gives the count off, “One, two, three and-”
Puck and Kurt fire up the intro, and then rest of the instruments come in on cue.
Mike, Matt, Brittany and Santana start a dance-off in the middle of the floor.
Rachel, of course, rocks the first solo.
Do you remember the 21st night of September?
Love was changing the minds of pretenders
While chasing the clouds away
For the second verse, however, she is surprisingly content to let Tina take the vocal reins and watch Quinn deftly slide her hand up and down the neck of her guitar instead.
Our hearts were ringing
In the key that our souls were singing
As we danced in the night
Remember how the stars stole the night away?
Mike pulls her into a swing dance for the chorus. Matt does the same for Tina, and Mercedes is free to belt out the refrain.
Ha Ha Ha!
Ba de ya - say, do you remember?
Ba de ya - dancing in September!
Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day!
She ends up beside Quinn when Mike spins her out. The bassist grins and bumps hips with her. Everyone is singing now.
My thoughts are with you
Holding hands with your heart to see you
Hazel and chocolate lock together.
Only blue talk and love
Remember how we knew love was here to stay…
+ + + + +
Mr. Schue had them retire at 11, much to the chagrin of most of them because it was Friday, for crying out loud. The boys are sleeping in the classroom across the hall, separate from the girls. Except for Kurt, naturally. Quinn threw Santana and Brittany into Mr. Schue’s office so that none of them would have to wake up in the middle of the night to sex screams. Mr. Schue himself took up residence alone in the nurse’s office.
Rachel has been lying spread-eagled and staring at the choir room ceiling for the better part of an hour now. For some reason, she can still hear the blood rushing in her ears. Shouldn’t her adrenaline high be gone by now? The others are all fast asleep already, she can tell.
She closes her eyes and sighs. It’s been such an eventful week. Why isn’t she the least bit tired? She starts lecturing herself in her own mind about the importance of proper rest because she’s starting to get impatient with herself-
A light bulb goes off in her head. She grins so widely, it makes her cheeks ache. In her enthusiasm, she practically leaps out bed and onto the girl on the mattress next to hers.
“Quinn! Quinn, are you awake?” she calls, but not so loudly because she’s still somewhat mindful of the others sleeping in the room.
The blonde grunts as she feels herself being shaken, “I am now, Berry. What is it? If you want to go join the boys in vandalizing Coach’s trophies, just go. I’m too sleepy.”
Rachel grin grows even more, “You’re not mad.”
Quinn cracks her eyes open just slightly, “Do you want me to be?”
The diva shakes her head, still smiling, “And your mom was in surgery this week.”
“…and? Rachel, are you feeling alright?”
“Your mom was in surgery and you waited. You waited.” She has a look of absolute triumph on her face as she leans over the blonde, “You should have been pacing the halls and pestering the nurses every five minutes! But you weren’t. You sat quietly with me and Kurt, and you waited, for hours. You don’t do that.”
Quinn slowly props herself up on her elbows. “I was in shock?”
“I might believe that, if not for the fact that you also haven’t interrupted me mid-ramble for a single time all week. And that you didn’t complain even once when I was coaching you for your solo; you let me push you until I was satisfied. And that you didn’t bite my head off just now, when roused unceremoniously from your slumber.” She crosses her arms across her chest. “It’s Patience!”
The cheerleader stares at her impassively for a moment. Then she stretches her arm out and grabs her cellphone. She glances at the screen. “Oh my god, 11:59?! Seriously?! One minute left on the timer and she gets it!” She rolls her eyes and drops back down onto her back. “Only you, Twinkle.”
Rachel’s breath catches somewhat. “Twinkle?” she asks softly.
“Yeah,” Quinn lifts her head slightly, “is that okay?”
The brunette smiles warmly, “Yeah. Yeah, I like that one.”
Quinn smiles back, “Good, coz I like it too.” Then she glances at her phone again, “Oh look, midnight. I can be cranky again. Get off me, Berry, I really want to sleep right now, and I can’t do that with you straddling me.”
Rachel scoffs, “Quinn, what is the point of you trying to practice virtue if- eep!“
The diva suddenly finds herself the one being pinned to the mattress. Quinn’s face hovers mere inches away from hers, sporting her trademark smirk. “Good night, Twinkle.” It’s a whisper that’s sardonic, but tender.
Quinn rolls to the right, flopping onto her front. Her side stays pressed against the length of Rachel’s, and her left arm remains draped across the brunette’s collarbone.
Rachel smiles again. Her fingers reach for the white wristband, delicately pushing it aside. The word is faded now, and smudged in some places. But its there. Patience.
Belatedly, she realizes that the position they’re falling asleep in will probably beg a few questions in the morning from their friends (and maybe, it strikes her, from herself). But, she figures, some things can wait.
“Good night, Quinn.”
Rachel feels the faintest brush of lips against her shoulder.
Next Chapter
Pairing: Quinn/Rachel
Rating: PG13, warnings for femslash, language and probably excessive fluff
Length: 6,800/28,000 words
Spoilers: Season 01
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee; this is purely for my own personal enjoyment
Summary: Every week, she notices there's a new word inked on Quinn's skin. Rachel certainly hadn't expected junior year to turn out like this, just chock-full of surprises, mostly revolving around a certain blonde, drawing them slowly together.
A/N: So that stuff I said about slowing down on the updates and concentrating on work? I lied, apparently. Damn my lack of self-control. But yeah, I had already started this part and it was just begging to get outta my head. Also, I suck at writing angst. It still ends up fluffy. Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, here goes. Rock on.
Chapter 04
It’s a full 45 minute drive to Brittany’s house, which, by Lima standards, is far.
Rachel was beginning to feel a little suspicious. They had passed the city limits a little while ago, and they were currently zipping past miles of farmland. Just as she was about to ask, Brittany turns off the highway onto a dirt road. And that’s when it hits her.
Brittany lives on a farm.
They drive a little bit longer, past a chicken-wire fence and a grove of buckeyes and a herd of goats and a flock of ducks (well, no surprise there), eventually pulling up in front of a large stone cottage.
“Like my place, Rachel?”
“It’s fantastic, Brittany.”
As they disembark, a tall blonde woman appears around the corner of the house with a white stallion in tow. “Welcome home, Brittany.” she greets, speaking slowly, her voice thick with a Dutch accent.
“Hoi, mama.” the blue-eyed cheerleader replies with a smile. She receives a kiss on the forehead.
“Santana, Quinn, nice to see you back.”
The Latina waves, “Hey, Julia.”
“Hello ma’am. How are you?”
“I am good, Quinn, thank you. Who is this new one?”
Rachel smiles, “Hello, my name is Rachel Berry. I’m in Glee Club with them. You have a wonderful home. Thank you for having me here.”
Julia shakes her hand with a firm grip. “I am Julia. I am Brittany’s mother.” She turns to Brittany, “This is the one you tell me about? The little one that sings good and likes to talk?”
The three cheerleaders laugh as Rachel blushes. “That would be her,” Quinn quips.
Julia grins at Rachel. “Please sing later for me. These girls never do this. Dancing, yes, always. But singing, only in the shower.”
Rachel grins, “I would be happy to. And I’m sure I can convince them to join me as well.”
Santana groans and Quinn shakes her head ruefully. Julia laughs, “I like this one, Britt. You keep this friend.”
“Sure, mama.” Brittany replies with a grin.
The horse whinnies. Julia strokes its mane. “He has been restless. Maybe you all can make the horses run later too. After you study. So they will be tired.”
Brittany claps enthusiastically, “Yeah! We’ll teach you how to ride, Rachel!
The diva blinks and turns to Santana and Quinn. “You all know how?”
Quinn nods, “We’ve spent a lot of time here. B taught us years ago.”
“That one’s Ovid,” Santana says, pointing at the white steed with her chin, “We were actually there for his birth. He’s Quinn’s favorite.”
“Aw, now I wish you were here that day we sang Last Name with April.” gushes Brittany, “We went riding in the cowboy costumes. It was so much fun.”
Rachel giggles at the mental image, “It must have been.”
“Anyway,” Quinn interjects before the conversation can take a turn for the embarrassing, “We should head inside and get the work out of the way.”
They wave again to Julia and shuffle to grab their belongings from the trunk of the jeep. Quinn stops to pat Ovid’s muzzle on the way to the front door.
Once inside, they dump their bags in the living room. And then there’s a flurry of movement without anyone saying anything. Brittany runs upstairs. Santana moves into the kitchen. Quinn situates herself on the floor with the couch at her back and pulls out her laptop. She places it on the coffee table in front of her and boots it. Rachel, unsure what to do, stands near the fireplace, eyes darting around.
The cheerleading captain notices this and raises an eyebrow at her. “Sit, Berry.”
Santana walks back into the room with a bowl of chips and dip. “Yeah, we’re not gonna bite.”
The diva smiles sheepishly and places herself gingerly on one end of the couch while Santana plops herself down on the other. The Latina places a flash drive in Quinn’s waiting hand, and blonde inserts it into her USB port without delay.
“So what are we supposed to be doing?” queries Rachel.
Santana smirks. “You’ll see. Just leave it to Q.”
Brittany reappears, bounding noisily down the stairs, with a printer. She rounds the couch and sets it beside the laptop, along with another flash drive. Quinn picks up the end of the power cable of the printer and hands it to the taller blonde absentmindedly, “Stick that in the wall for me will you, B? And remember to be careful.”
“Yes, Q.”
After accomplishing her assigned task, Brittany moves back towards the couch. “Scoot for me, Rach.”
“But- Quinn is-”
“Just take off your shoes and sit Indian-style behind her, silly.”
“Oh, okay.”
The blonde on the floor unconsciously leans forward a bit to give Rachel room to reposition herself, not pausing in her work on the computer. When she senses the brunette has stopped shifting, she leans back again, resting her head against Rachel’s legs. Rachel’s hand, in turn, mechanically combs through Quinn’s hair.
“Right, all done. And… print!”
The printer whirrs to life.
“Then we shall now have our toast.” Santana declares, already distributing the remaining beers they had left. “And don’t worry, Berry. We only brought eight cans, so this is the last drink for you, me and Q.”
Rachel nods, “Very well. So what are we toasting?”
“To the Conspiracy!” cries Brittany.
“To the Conspiracy!” echo the other two cheerleaders.
“Um… to the Conspiracy…”
The cans clunk together and they knock back their drinks.
Then Rachel addresses them, “Okay, I’m a little afraid to ask, but what is the ‘Conspiracy’?”
“This.” Quinn picks up the dozen or so pages that have finished printing and drops them in the brunette’s lap.
Rachel studies them. As she flips through the papers, her eyes go increasingly wide. These were notes! But they weren’t just notes. They were meticulously detailed, but organized in such a manner for easy learning and retention. There were solutions to problems she knew she would find in her Math textbook, plus additional unsolved ones for practice. There were outlines for multiple possible answers to essay questions they had been assigned in History, and scores of supplementary information on each topic. There were pictures and charts and graphs illustrating the laws of physics and descriptions of several options for science projects.
“Oh my god, these are cheat sheets!”
Santana sniggers, “You could put it that way.”
“But not really. You still have to do a lot of the work yourself. And we’re not, like, psychic, so we don’t know what the teachers will put on the tests and stuff. You still have to study.” says Brittany, nodding sagely.
Quinn tilts her head back to meet Rachel’s eyes “What’s great about it though, is that you never have to take notes or even listen to the teacher if the subject isn’t your mission.”
“Mission?”
The cheerleader nods, “That’s how this works. Each of us has a mission, based on what we’re good at. For example, Brittany’s forte is stuff like history, because she’s actually really great at remembering loads of facts when she has to. And she likes stories and is insightful when it comes to people-”
“-and history is, like, one big story about lots of different people. It’s totally as if you’re gossiping about dead guys!” the taller blonde supplies. “Santana on the other hand is a total math whiz.”
“Anything to do with numbers, I’m your girl.” the Latina remarks, “And Quinn here is our resident science geek. Don’t ever watch a sci-fi movie with her. It’s embarrassing.”
“Shut up, S. You love Star Wars too.”
“Yes, but not enough to try to construct my own lightsaber.”
Color spreads across Quinn’s face and Rachel chuckles, idly stroking the blonde’s hair again.
“So let me guess this straight… each of you prepares fastidious notes for different subjects, and every two weeks, you guys get together and compile them all?” She receives three nods.
“And they’re prepared in advance,” Quinn adds in between mouthfuls of chips, “We buy notes off our seniors at the start of the year. And since most teachers just end up teaching the same stuff the same way every year, we pretty much know what to expect. So, all that…” she waves a hand over the papers, “should tide you over till the next meeting.”
“I’m impressed. And kind of horrified. But mostly, I’m impressed.”
The blonde smirks, “There’s a reason we were the only three Cheerios left when Figgins kicked everyone who wasn’t academically eligible off the squad last year. Before Slyvester threw her tantrum.”
Enlightenment crosses Rachel’s features, “I do remember that.”
Santana stretches lazily. “If you’re joining the Conspiracy, you can do your part by helping us tackle the other stuff. Like, you and Quinn have Literature together right? So there. Like Q said, you can practically sleep through all the core courses now.”
“The Conspiracy, huh?” echoes the diva, grinning.
Quinn chuckles, “Hey, we were 10 when we came up with it. Cut us some slack.”
“You mean when you came up with it.” Brittany teases, pinching Quinn’s cheek. The shorter blonde bats her hand away.
Rachel giggles, “10-years-old, Quinn, and you were already plotting world domination?”
Quinn smirks, “Just wait until I complete that lightsaber.”
+ + + + +
Hours later, after completing her homework in record time, learning to stay upright on a horse, eating dinner, performing a number for Julia and her husband (as well as managing to get the other three girls to sing too), and watching the season premier of House M.D., Rachel yawns in the passenger seat on the drive back home.
“Did we tire you out, Berry?” Quinn mocks good-naturedly from behind the wheel.
“You most certainly did.” the brunette replies sleepily, “But I’m not as tired are some of us are, apparently.” She turns her head slightly to sneak a peek at the Latina sprawled across the backseat.
Quinn smiles knowingly. “You didn’t have to do any of Sylvester’s drills of death today though.”
“No, I did not. However, you seem alright.”
The blonde nods idly. “S is the strongest, and B is the fastest, but I have the most stamina among the three of us.”
“Hmm… and I’m sure the fact that those two snuck away twice to have sex didn’t help.”
They both chuckle. Rachel closes her eyes and lets out a content sigh. “I had fun today.” she admits quietly.
“I’m glad.” is the equally soft response.
The light ahead turns red and Quinn slows a stop. Suddenly, Santana bolts upright. “Quinn!”
Quinn is slightly startled at first, then turns to face her friend with concern. “What, San?”
“I just realized something.” says the Latina in a low voice, expression somber.
“And?” the blonde prods.
“You and me… we pretty much rule McKinley, right?”
“Pretty much.”
“Right. And we’re both gay, yeah?”
Quinn and Rachel glance at each other, brows furrowing, both wondering where this is going. “Yes, S. So?”
“Sooooo… the main high school in the most conservative, backwater hellhole ever… is run by power lesbians.”
There’s a beat of silence. And then all of them erupt into raucous laughter, literally rolling in their seats. The light turns green, and the car behind them honks angrily, but they don’t care.
They’re defying gravity.
+ + + + +
“Perfect! You’ve got it!”
“Oh, thank heavens.” Quinn grunts as she lets herself fall back onto Rachel’s bed, legs dangling over side. It’s Tuesday afternoon and they’ve just spent a good part of it perfecting Quinn’s new solo for Glee. “Remind me why I let you talk me into this again? You’re almost as hard a taskmaster as Coach.”
“I didn’t talk you into anything, Quinn.” the diva retorts, “You asked me to help you with your solo.”
“I did?”
“Yes. Last week, when you decided to put aside your pride, recognize my talent and admit to me that you would value my assistance.”
The blonde smirks, “I wonder what on earth could have possessed me to do that. You didn’t drug me, did you?”
Rachel leans back against the headboard. “I resent that accusation. You were the one on the quest to practice humility.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
A pillow hits Quinn in the face. Both girls giggle.
“Hey, Quinn?”
“Yeah?”
“Ambition?”
The blonde grins. “Nice try, but no. Three more guesses, Berry.”
“Hmph. I’ll figure it out. You’ll see.”
Suddenly, the chorus of Tubthumping blares. Quinn fumbles for her phone. Her face scrunches together when she gets a look at the screen.
“What is it?”
“Number I don’t recognize.” The cheerleader presses ‘Ignore’.
Rachel nods. She knows Quinn gets random calls sometimes from people hoping to get a date with her. Ah, the price of being popular and single. They used to wonder how people even got her number, until Santana let them know that information like that was sold for good money at school. Quinn completely stopped entertaining any unknown callers after that to make sure their ‘purchases’ were rendered useless.
Then All Star sounds out in the room and Rachel picks up her own phone from her night table. “Hi, Daddy!” she greets merrily. “Yes, we just finished practicing… okay, I’m listening…”
Quinn notices the brunette’s smile disappear and her face go pale. The blonde sits up, worry creasing her forehead. Chocolate brown eyes meet hers with a look of alarm.
“W-what… okay… a-alright, I understand… I will… okay.” Rachel hangs up and opens her mouth to say something, but no words form.
The cheerleader moves closer to the brunette. “Rachel? Rachel, what’s wrong?”
“I… I need you to take us to the hospital.”
+ + + + +
They’ve just arrived in the lobby of St. Luke’s. Rachel is on the phone again, “We’re here, Daddy… okay, see you in a bit.”
Quinn raises a questioning eyebrow at the brunette as she turns to her. She had no idea of what was going on; Rachel hadn’t said a word on the trip over, just fiddled with fingers her the entire time. She was worried, a lot more worried than she was letting on. But she hadn’t wanted to push, so she just did as she had been asked and drove.
“Let’s sit.” the diva says.
“Okay.”
They make their way to the chairs lined up against the wall to the side and settled down. Rachel angles her body towards the blonde and reaches out to grasp her hand. Quinn lets their fingers intertwine. She notices the diva’s hand is shaking.
“Quinn, I… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this earlier, but I wasn’t too sure how you’d react, and as you know I don’t have my driver’s permit yet, so I needed you to be able to drive.” She pauses to swallow thickly, and Quinn squeezes her hand encouragingly through her own confusion. “Quinn… your mother had an accident.”
The cheerleader feels her mind go blank. “What?”
“She fell down some stairs… at her office. She broke her arm. They- They took her into surgery. Daddy, he’s a doctor, but not really, I mean he is, but he doesn’t practice. He teaches. He’s a university teacher, Public Health. But he was here today… he had some agenda with some friends of his who work here, and he… he was there when they brought her in. He recognized her last name.”
Rachel studies Quinn’s face for her reaction. The blonde is pretty much frozen. Her eyes have taken on a glazed appearance. So she presses on, “They tried to call you, but you didn’t pick up… it must have been that unknown number from earlier. Daddy knew we would be rehearsing together this afternoon though, so he called me right away.”
Quinn continues to remain motionless until Rachel squeezes her hand. The blonde blinks, so slowly it’s almost excruciating. “Mom… is in surgery?” she croaks.
The diva nods, and adds a “Yes” when it’s unclear if Quinn’s mind had registered the movement.
The blonde takes a deep breath, and as she exhales, she sinks slowly into her seat, letting out a very long, very low exclamation of “Fuuuuuck.”
Rachel instinctively wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls Quinn against her gently, but firmly.
“Rachel.”
The brunette looks up and is met by the sight of her father standing over them. “Daddy…”
Jeremiah gives his daughter a small smile and then turns to the girl beside her, “Hey there, Quinn.”
Quinn meets his sympathetic gaze and manages a weak smile, “H-hello, sir…”
The man tenderly places a hand on top of her head. “From what I know, there’s nothing life-threatening about her situation. The doctors are going to do everything they can, okay? I need you to just wait here while they take care of her. Can you do that for me?”
The cheerleader nods numbly. “Just wait. Okay. I’ll wait.”
“Good girl.” He turns to Rachel, “I’m going to call your dad and let him know what’s going on and that he should order some take-out for himself. And I’ll come back when I have more information. You watch over your friend here, okay kiddo?”
“Of course, daddy. I don’t need to be told that.” his daughter huffs.
Jeremiah presses a kiss to her cheek and also gives Quinn’s knee a pat before leaving.
Quinn sags against Rachel more, closing her eyes and leaning her head on the brunette’s shoulder. Rachel rubs her hand up and down Quinn’s arm.
“I’m going to call Kurt, since his dad is close to your mom too, okay? They’ll want to know. And then I’ll borrow your phone and call your sister, alright?”
“Thank you…” Quinn mumbles. Her breath is warm against the brunette’s collarbone.
“Anything you need.”
+ + + + +
Kurt and Burt arrived within the hour. Christina, Quinn’s sister, is driving through the night from Boston with her best friend.
Currently, Quinn’s head is in Rachel’s lap. Her eyes stay shut as the brunette slides her hand repeatedly through Quinn’s hair.
They’re sharing Rachel’s iPod. The diva skips over most of the showtunes that come up and tries to stick to songs she thinks Quinn would appreciate. Thankfully, she’s gotten a better idea of the cheerleader’s musical preferences recently.
Kurt, on the other hand, has Quinn’s bare feet in his lap. He massages her soles and ankles soothingly. Both he and Rachel pretty much glare at anyone that looks like they would ask them to move (since Quinn is taking up three seats by herself). Burt sits on his son’s other side, ignoring the disapproving looks he gets for allowing the younger ones to get away with it and burying his nose in a magazine instead.
Jeremiah Berry takes in this scene as he draws near them with a small, shrewd smile. He calls out softly. Four sets of eyes focus on him. He focuses on the pair that belongs to the girl his daughter is holding protectively.
“She’s fine. They have her in room 310 now.”
The blonde is up and sprinting towards the stairwell in an instant.
“Quinn! Shoes! …Oh, hell.” Rachel throws her hands in the air and takes off after her.
+ + + + +
She finally catches up to Quinn, who’s standing motionless just inside the door of Judy’s room, staring at her mother’s equally motionless form. Rachel’s gaze flicks between the two blondes. She sees Quinn’s features morph from shocked, to pained, to hesitant. The brunette places a hand on the small of her back and pushes ever so slightly.
“It’s okay, Quinn. Go to her.”
The cheerleader advances towards the bed unsteadily. She takes Judy’s hand, the one not sealed in a cast, and cups it between both of her own. “Mommy…”
It breaks Rachel’s heart, the way her friend’s voice sounds so small and scared.
The men finally arrive at the room. Kurt moves to flank Quinn’s side opposite Rachel. His dad stands on the other side of the bed.
Jeremiah clears his throat and draws their attention. “This is Dr. Connor,” He tilts his head towards a man beside him with graying hair, kind eyes, and white coat. “He’s Judy’s attending physician.”
“You can call me Neil.” he says to all of them, but mainly addressing the young blonde in the room, “Her surgery went well. She broke the bone in her forearm, but we reset it and it should heal properly. She’ll have the cast for about six weeks. After that, it’s best if she went for some physical therapy to get her arm back into full shape. She suffered no other major damage from the fall as far as we can tell, though we can’t be 100% sure until she wakes up from the anesthesia.” He smiles soothingly, “But it looks like your mom will be just fine. We hope to let her go home by tomorrow.”
Quinn breathes in deeply and nods with a faint smile.
Rachel eyes turn from the blonde to the doctor, “Thank you, Dr. Neil, for taking care of her.”
“My pleasure. I’ll be around for a while and you can have the nurses page me.” He pats Jeremiah on the shoulder, and leaves.
As soon as he steps out of the door, Quinn’s knees buckle. Rachel manages to loop her arms around her waist before she hits the ground. Kurt, the past few hours of anticipation having frayed his nerves, screams in his panic.
“Kurt, this is not the time to be performing an aria! Get a goddamn chair over here now!”
When Rachel Berry tells you to do something while cursing… you just do it.
The boy hurriedly slides an armchair towards them and Rachel falls back into it with Quinn’s weight on top of her. She cradles the blonde in her lap and rocks her gently as Quinn finally lets her tears fall, crying silently into Rachel’s hair.
“Shh… it’s okay, Quinn, its okay… she’s going to be okay…”
+ + + + +
It’s not very long before Judy wakes up. Burt is the first one who notices, because after Quinn had calmed down enough, Rachel had managed to get the cheerleader to snuggle with her on the ratty couch and watch Discovery Channel on the small TV provided. The diva had also just sent out her father and Kurt to hunt for edible food.
“Hey you. You gave us quite a scare there.”
“Burt?”
“Mom?”
“Quinny…”
Mother and daughter hug (carefully, of course). Rachel hears Quinn mumbling a prayer of thanks.
Burt smiles reassuringly at Judy, “I’m gonna go call your doctor, okay? Don’t go anywhere.”
The woman laughs lightly, “Right. I’ll stay put.”
“How are you feeling, mom?” ventures Quinn.
Judy tentatively shifts a bit, eyeing the white cast encasing her arm. “Well, I’ve certainly seen better days, haven’t I? But I feel alright. Just a little… sore. And more than a little foolish for being so clumsy.”
Quinn pats her mom’s shoulder affectionately, “It’s okay. It’s not your fault you’re getting old.”
They share a laugh and Quinn hugs her again. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Mom.”
“Me too, Quinny. Me, too.” As they break apart, Judy turns to the other occupant in the room. “Hello there. You look familiar, but I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“This is Rachel, Mom.”
The brunette shakes Judy’s hand delicately, “Hello, Ms. Fabray. I wish we’d met under better circumstances.” She smiles somewhat apologetically.
“Rachel…” the woman muses, obviously trying to place her. “Oh! Rachel Berry.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rachel confirms a little stiffly as she watches things click into place in Judy’s mind. Rachel Berry, the one with two dads- she shouldn’t have a problem with that anymore, right? After all, she knew about Quinn-
“Rachel Berry, Glee club captain. Never stops talking. Small body, big voice.” Judy’s eyes glint with amusement as she turns to her daughter again, “Isn’t that right, Quinny?”
Rachel smacks Quinn on the arm, “Is that what you all tell your parents about me?!”
“Well, it’s true!” the blonde protests, “And I totally said it out of love!”
Both girls blush at the admission.
Judy grins, “I might also mention that she added ‘even bigger heart’ to that description, although I’m not quite sure she had meant for me to hear that part.”
They blush harder.
At that moment, Burt returns with Dr. Neil, and Kurt and Jeremiah return bearing sandwiches.
Kurt raises an eyebrow at the two girls, “Hmm, I think we need to turn up the air-conditioning.”
+ + + + +
Santana, Brittany and Mercedes drop by just after Rachel has succeeded in forcing Quinn to finish her food despite her lack of appetite. They’ve brought a change of clothes, and toiletries, and a blanket and pillows for Quinn. All per Rachel’s instructions, of course.
They don’t stay long, because visiting hours only lasted for another half-hour, and they leave with Kurt and Burt after doling out well-wishes and hugs.
Rachel is allowed to stay for longer thanks to her Daddy’s influence. If she had her way, she’d be staying the night with Quinn, even if she had to sleep on the floor. She gave up on the idea only after the blonde threatened to never, ever reveal what the word hiding under her wristband was, even if Rachel did guess correctly.
They go back to nestling together on the couch, watching some crappy B-movie they didn’t catch the title of and criticizing everything about it while Judy slips in and out of sleep.
Eventually, they hear Jeremiah knock softly on the door, back from killing time by playing catch up with old colleagues. “Sorry, kiddo, but we should go. I’ll meet you downstairs; I have to pick up some stuff at the desk.”
“Okay.”
The girls disentangle themselves from each other and Rachel grabs her purse. “So, Mercedes will be here tomorrow morning to pick you up for school, okay?”
Quinn glances at her mother, “Do I have to?”
The brunette smiles sympathetically, “I know you have your reservations about leaving her alone, but we already discussed this with your mom. She’ll probably end up sleeping through most of the morning anyway, and the nurses are really great, and your sister will be arriving before noon and will be here when your mom gets discharged.”
“She gets to miss school.” the cheerleader grumbles.
“She’s a college student, Quinn. Cutting class, it’s what they do.”
Quinn raises an eyebrow at her. “I don’t think you would skip class, even in college.”
Rachel smirks. “You never know. Like you said, you may be rubbing off on me.”
The blonde mock-gasps, “What, innocent li’l ol’ me? Corrupt you?”, then she grins, “Rachel the Rebel. Has a nice ring to it.”
“Yes, well. We’ll see. I’m stubborn, so corrupting me won’t be that easy.” chuckles the diva.
Quinn tilts her head cockily. “I dunno, Berry. I’m kind of hard to resist.”
Inwardly, Rachel is thinking ‘You don't know the half of it’. Outwardly, she rolls her eyes. “I’ll see you at school, Quinn.”
The cheerleader smiles and wraps her arms around Rachel’s shoulders. “Thank you, Rachel, for everything. Good night.”
Rachel’s hands flex lightly on the blonde’s hips. “Good night.”
+ + + + +
The next afternoon after school, Mercedes drives them home to Quinn’s. Christina’s beat-up SUV is in the garage.
Upon entering the living room, they find Quinn’s mom, her sister, and a girl with chin-length red hair, freckles, and glasses over shocking green eyes. And she was, to put it simply, hot.
She smiles rather deviously when she sees them, “Hey, Quinn.”
The cheerleader goes a little red in the face, and she swallows. “Jacqueline. Hi.”
Both Judy and Christina cough.
Jacqueline flushes too, and the two girls look away from each other.
Mercedes lips form an “O” shape, and she bobs her head slowly up and down. “Daym, girl!” she whisper-shouts at Quinn, “Score!”
The blonde whimpers. Rachel is stuck gaping.
Judy stands and moves towards the kitchen, “I’m going to make some popcorn.” When both daughters try to object, she holds up a hand, “Its microwave popcorn. I still have one fully functioning limb, thank you.”
Christina comes up to them then and envelopes Quinn in a tight embrace. “Good to see you again, li’l sis.”
“You too, C.”
The elder Fabray sibling winks at Mercedes and Rachel. “Hey. I’m Chris. The one on the couch is Jack. Feel free to ignore her.”
“Hey!”
“Uh huh.” says Mercedes with a grin, obviously still highly entertained by the situation, “Mercedes Jones.”
“Rachel Berry.” the diva says, obviously not nearly as amused.
“We were just about to pop in a DVD.” informs Christina, “You should watch with us.”
“I… don’t know…” Quinn hesitates, glancing at Jacqueline.
The redhead smirks, “C’mon Quinn. I won’t bite you.” Pause. “Again.” Another pause. “Maybe. I’m here till Sunday after all.”
Rachel wants to bang her head against the wall as her imagination kicks off again.
Quinn drops her face in her hands. “Kill. me. now.”
Jacqueline chuckles, “Aw, you weren’t this bashful a couple of months back. What happened to that feisty blonde I met?”
Quinn glares.
“There she is! That cheerleading uniform looks great on you, by the way.” the redhead remarks, not bothering to disguise the leer that lingered on the pleated skirt.
The blonde huffs, but then smirks and places a hand on her hip, “I know. Red has always been my color.”
Mercedes covers her mouth, masking her subdued but thrilled exclamation of “O-ho! Hell to the yeah!” (Quinn and Rachel hear it perfectly though.)
Jacqueline twirls a lock of her hair around her finger, “Is that so? So you like red?”
Rachel thinks she might scream. Her emotions are bouncing around like ping-pong balls inside her, and they’re too fast and too many for her to get a hold of any one of them. But she does know that she wants to strangle this girl and its taking a lot of self-control not to.
Fortunately, Christina steps in and kicks her best friend in the shin, “Stop it, you. We’re staying in my mom’s house, which means she lives here, and I’d really rather not have to go through an even more awkward experience than what happened in the summer. Need I remind how awkward that was? It was awkward!”
“But Chrisssss…” Jacqueline whines, “You know I hate not finishing something that I’ve started!” A meaningful glace is sent Quinn’s way. “And besides, your mom adores me.”
“And that’s the only reason we all got away with it last time. Don’t push it.”
The redhead pouts, “Fine. But I wouldn’t need to hit on your cute little sister if you would just put out for me.”
“Babe. I love you. But no, I like penis.”
“You have seen the strap-on I own, haven’t you?”
+ + + + +
Things progress smoothly for rest of the day. Jacqueline obediently ceases the shameless flirting, and turns out to be really rather pleasant. Still, Rachel feels a pang of apprehension when she and Mercedes have to leave before dinner, both having promised their parents that they would eat at home.
“Quinn?” Rachel queries as they step outside.
The blonde leans against the doorjamb with a raised eyebrow. She already suspects the nature of the question.
Rachel falters, but proceeds, “It wouldn’t happen to be Chastity, would it?” (She wonders why she thinks she sounds slightly hopeful.)
Quinn goes bug-eyed, and then laughs, and laughs, and laughs.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
+ + + + +
Thursday is as normal as it comes. In glee, they’ve finalized plans for a club slumber party at school tomorrow night. It was going to be both an extended rehearsal session for the upcoming Invitationals and a fun team-building/bonding thing. They couldn’t reach a consensus whether to have it at Tina’s or at Matt’s, so Mr. Schue suggested ‘neutral ground’. They agreed because of 1) the need to compromise, 2) their curiosity of what the campus was like at night, and 3) the endless potential for mischief.
Rachel texts Quinn that night:
Please tell me you’re not trying to save to world or something and that it isn’t something ludicrous like ‘Justice’.
The reply comes in ten seconds later:
I’d need that lightsaber first.
+ + + + +
The sleepover is epic.
They get the rehearsals and run-throughs out of the way first, because Rachel won’t have it any other way. Duh.
Then they wind down with pizza and charades. The boys’ team loses horribly because the girls kept making their representative act out romantic comedies which none of them knew, and no matter what they threw at the girls, one of them always got it (mystery/suspense: Tina, horror: Mercedes, musicals/animation: Rachel, sci-fi/fantasy: Quinn, action: Santana, porn: Brittany).
After that, they brought out the mattresses they had gotten the previous year from the ‘Jump’ commercial. Which, of course, resulted in one huge pillow fight. The boys got their revenge, mostly.
When they were finally tired out from that, they sat around and told ghost stories. Mr. Schue knew a lot of them. At one point, Mike ended up jumping into Finn’s lap.
Suddenly, Puck perks up. “Dude.” he says, slapping the back of his hand against Finn’s chest, “It’s September 21.”
Finn scrunches his eyebrows together, “Is it someone’s birthday?”
“No, doofus! C’mon! September 21!”
The boy still looks puzzled. So do most of their friends.
It’s Brittany who provides clarity, giggling, “Do you remember the twenty-first night of September?”
Everybody’s face lights up, and Puck gives her a high-five, “That’s my girl!
“Actually, I’m Santana’s.”
Santana smirks proudly and kisses her.
“Whatever. Finn, get behind the drums. Artie, you know this shit?”
“Who doesn’t?” he replies, already wheeling his way towards his electric guitar.
“Awesome, back me up here. Now, who can take keyboards?”
“Leave it to moi.” Kurt says haughtily, rushing to the synthesizer.
Mr. Schue picks up a trumpet, “I’ve got the brass covered, guys!”
“Righteous! Then all we need is… Quinn!”
The blonde, who is sitting practically draped around Rachel, with her chin resting on the brunette’s shoulder, raises an eyebrow.
“Aw, c’mon, you love this song!”
“I’m tired, and comfortable. I don’t want to get up.” she drawls.
Rachel giggles, unconsciously leaning back a little more against her.
Puck pouts, actually pouts, “Pwetty pwease with sugar lumps on top?”
“Oh my god, please don’t do that, I’ll have nightmares.” Santana gags, “What happened to your pride, Puckerman?”
“It’s Earth, Wind and Fire! I am willing to sacrifice my pride for that.”
Brittany tilts her head, “What would Q play anyway?”
The boy with the Mohawk picks up an electric bass and holds it out in Quinn’s direction. Everybody else gawks at her, with the exception of Finn who has that signature goofy grin of his on.
“You play the bass?!” Rachel asks astonished, angling to get a better look at Quinn’s face.
The cheerleader shrugs, “If you hang out with Finn and Puck long enough, you pick up on a few things. And I was Finn’s girlfriend for half a year, and their friend for even longer before that.”
“We made her learn so our jam sessions would be complete. She can be pretty kick-ass at video games too.”
“Quinn Fabray, you’re just full of surprises.” Rachel murmurs.
Quinn chuckles, and says in a low British accent, “You have no idea.”
Finn laughs, “C’mon, Uncle Scar. For old time’s sake, what d’ya say?”
The blonde’s demeanor softens and she gives Finn a crooked smile, “Alright, alright.”
“Great, now get your pretty butt up here.” Puck urges.
[ A/N: link to the song HERE (Earth, Wind and Fire - September + bass cover), this is how Quinn plays it (or how I play it) ]
Soon enough, Quinn has the bass strapped to her. Finn gives the count off, “One, two, three and-”
Puck and Kurt fire up the intro, and then rest of the instruments come in on cue.
Mike, Matt, Brittany and Santana start a dance-off in the middle of the floor.
Rachel, of course, rocks the first solo.
Do you remember the 21st night of September?
Love was changing the minds of pretenders
While chasing the clouds away
For the second verse, however, she is surprisingly content to let Tina take the vocal reins and watch Quinn deftly slide her hand up and down the neck of her guitar instead.
Our hearts were ringing
In the key that our souls were singing
As we danced in the night
Remember how the stars stole the night away?
Mike pulls her into a swing dance for the chorus. Matt does the same for Tina, and Mercedes is free to belt out the refrain.
Ha Ha Ha!
Ba de ya - say, do you remember?
Ba de ya - dancing in September!
Ba de ya - never was a cloudy day!
She ends up beside Quinn when Mike spins her out. The bassist grins and bumps hips with her. Everyone is singing now.
My thoughts are with you
Holding hands with your heart to see you
Hazel and chocolate lock together.
Only blue talk and love
Remember how we knew love was here to stay…
+ + + + +
Mr. Schue had them retire at 11, much to the chagrin of most of them because it was Friday, for crying out loud. The boys are sleeping in the classroom across the hall, separate from the girls. Except for Kurt, naturally. Quinn threw Santana and Brittany into Mr. Schue’s office so that none of them would have to wake up in the middle of the night to sex screams. Mr. Schue himself took up residence alone in the nurse’s office.
Rachel has been lying spread-eagled and staring at the choir room ceiling for the better part of an hour now. For some reason, she can still hear the blood rushing in her ears. Shouldn’t her adrenaline high be gone by now? The others are all fast asleep already, she can tell.
She closes her eyes and sighs. It’s been such an eventful week. Why isn’t she the least bit tired? She starts lecturing herself in her own mind about the importance of proper rest because she’s starting to get impatient with herself-
A light bulb goes off in her head. She grins so widely, it makes her cheeks ache. In her enthusiasm, she practically leaps out bed and onto the girl on the mattress next to hers.
“Quinn! Quinn, are you awake?” she calls, but not so loudly because she’s still somewhat mindful of the others sleeping in the room.
The blonde grunts as she feels herself being shaken, “I am now, Berry. What is it? If you want to go join the boys in vandalizing Coach’s trophies, just go. I’m too sleepy.”
Rachel grin grows even more, “You’re not mad.”
Quinn cracks her eyes open just slightly, “Do you want me to be?”
The diva shakes her head, still smiling, “And your mom was in surgery this week.”
“…and? Rachel, are you feeling alright?”
“Your mom was in surgery and you waited. You waited.” She has a look of absolute triumph on her face as she leans over the blonde, “You should have been pacing the halls and pestering the nurses every five minutes! But you weren’t. You sat quietly with me and Kurt, and you waited, for hours. You don’t do that.”
Quinn slowly props herself up on her elbows. “I was in shock?”
“I might believe that, if not for the fact that you also haven’t interrupted me mid-ramble for a single time all week. And that you didn’t complain even once when I was coaching you for your solo; you let me push you until I was satisfied. And that you didn’t bite my head off just now, when roused unceremoniously from your slumber.” She crosses her arms across her chest. “It’s Patience!”
The cheerleader stares at her impassively for a moment. Then she stretches her arm out and grabs her cellphone. She glances at the screen. “Oh my god, 11:59?! Seriously?! One minute left on the timer and she gets it!” She rolls her eyes and drops back down onto her back. “Only you, Twinkle.”
Rachel’s breath catches somewhat. “Twinkle?” she asks softly.
“Yeah,” Quinn lifts her head slightly, “is that okay?”
The brunette smiles warmly, “Yeah. Yeah, I like that one.”
Quinn smiles back, “Good, coz I like it too.” Then she glances at her phone again, “Oh look, midnight. I can be cranky again. Get off me, Berry, I really want to sleep right now, and I can’t do that with you straddling me.”
Rachel scoffs, “Quinn, what is the point of you trying to practice virtue if- eep!“
The diva suddenly finds herself the one being pinned to the mattress. Quinn’s face hovers mere inches away from hers, sporting her trademark smirk. “Good night, Twinkle.” It’s a whisper that’s sardonic, but tender.
Quinn rolls to the right, flopping onto her front. Her side stays pressed against the length of Rachel’s, and her left arm remains draped across the brunette’s collarbone.
Rachel smiles again. Her fingers reach for the white wristband, delicately pushing it aside. The word is faded now, and smudged in some places. But its there. Patience.
Belatedly, she realizes that the position they’re falling asleep in will probably beg a few questions in the morning from their friends (and maybe, it strikes her, from herself). But, she figures, some things can wait.
“Good night, Quinn.”
Rachel feels the faintest brush of lips against her shoulder.
Next Chapter