Summary: AU. Quinn is a cocky soccer player who likes Rachel and wants to date her, but Rachel hates the way Quinn acts and refuses to give into the other girl's advances. But when she discovers Quinn's deepest secret, things start to change. Written for a prompt on the LJ rq_meme.
Warning: This fic deals with physical abuse, so if you are sensitive to it, you might want to consider reading something else.
The final bell of the day rang, signaling the end of the school day. Finally! Rachel thought as she collected her books and headed toward her locker. After putting everything away and collecting some sheet music, she turned to walk down the hall towards the choir room for glee practice, which was easily the best part of her day.
Well, it had been, at least. After the events of this past weekend, she suspected there might be some awkwardness. But she was a professional, and she refused to let personal matters negatively affect her performance.
As she approached the choir room door, she heard raucous laughter coming from inside and instinctively paused in her steps. She didn't like walking into situations blind, especially if her now ex-boyfriend was inside. The split had been relatively amicable—and they both acknowledged that they made better friends than lovers—but there was always the possibility for lingering hurt feelings.
"Did you guys hear? Rachel broke up with Finn over the weekend," she heard Mercedes say. Rachel felt a bit relieved that Finn wasn't there yet, but slightly annoyed that people would be talking about her personal business.
"Oh really?" That was Quinn, and Rachel thought she sounded pleased.
"Oh, I know that look," Puck teased. "You want to get in her pants."
"Maybe," came the coy reply.
Rachel groaned. Oh, God, I hope not, she thought. While she could admit to herself that Quinn was beautiful—possibly the most beautiful girl in their school, in fact—she was well aware of Quinn's reputation, and that killed any attraction she might have felt toward the taller girl. Despite how many other girls had fallen for the blonde soccer player's "charms," Rachel was less than impressed to put it kindly.
"Yeah, good luck with that, Q," Puck said. "If she won't go out with me, what makes you think she'll want you?"
"Please," Quinn shot back. "Rachel actually has standards."
"Oh, snap!" came the sound of Matt's voice, followed by Mike and Mercedes' laughter.
"There's a reason I've gotten with more Cheerios than you, Puck. Now that Finn's out of the picture, Rachel won't be able to resist me."
Disgusted, Rachel rolled her eyes and shook her head. She couldn't believe the nerve of the other girl. "With that attitude, I certainly can resist you," she muttered to herself as she walked into the choir room, pointedly ignoring the group sitting on the back risers as she went to lay her sheet music on top of the piano.
"Speak of the devil," Puck commented with a smirk.
Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel saw Quinn return it with a smirk of her own before getting up to walk toward her. All eyes were on them, waiting to see what would transpire.
"Hey, Rachel," Quinn greeted with a confident smile as she sidled up alongside her, leaning casually against the piano to look at the smaller girl.
"Quinn," she replied coolly, keeping her focus on the sheet music before her.
Undeterred by Rachel's icy demeanor, Quinn continued. "So there's this new Italian restaurant that just opened up downtown that I'd love to take you to. I'll pick you up on Friday at 7:00."
Rachel couldn't believe how presumptuous the girl was. Still, she decided to opt for civility. "No thank you, Quinn," she replied with no small amount of annoyance as she turned to face her. "As I'm sure you know, I recently got out of a relationship, and-"
"Which is why you should go out with me," Quinn interrupted, smooth as ever. "No one knows how to show a girl a good time better than I do."
Rachel was irritated now. She put her hands on her hips, looking up at the other girl with a scowl. "I understand that girls with smaller brain capacities might be flattered by this approach, but I, as you so succinctly informed Noah earlier, have standards."
"Burn!" came Puck's shout as their fellow gleeks busted out laughing behind them.
Quinn was momentarily stunned speechless by Rachel's rejection—disbelief showing clearly in her hazel eyes. Rachel thought she saw a flash of hurt as well, but it was gone before she could be sure. Not that it matters. Serves her right for acting so cocky.
Just then, Mr. Schuester entered the room, saving Rachel from having to deal with Quinn any further. She jumped at the chance to end the conversation.
"Mr. Schuester!" she called, running over to him. "After compiling an extensive selection of songs, I've narrowed down my setlist of what we should perform at Invitationals."
As Quinn went back to her seat, Rachel could only hope that the girl had gotten the hint.
Quinn had gotten the hint alright, but she wasn't planning on taking it. If anything, Rachel's reaction made her even more intrigued. She had liked Rachel for awhile, but she hadn't had the opportunity to go after the girl. Despite what people thought about her, going after girls already attached was not something she did. But now that Finn was out of the picture, she was in the clear.
"Nice going, Fabray," Puck teased as she took her seat. "I don't think I've ever seen you get shot down quite like that before."
Quinn smiled and shrugged. "She's a challenge. I like that."
"How do you know she's even into chicks, huh?" Matt asked.
"Since when has that ever mattered?" Quinn replied with a smirk, resulting in the boys laughing and giving her high fives.
"For the record, Rachel does swing both ways," Mercedes clarified quietly for Matt, since Quinn already knew that little tidbit of information.
Quinn noticed Rachel watching them out of the corner of her eye, clearly displeased with their conversation. She frowned slightly, feeling a little bad about it, so she decided to change the discussion. "Anyway, enough about that. What songs do you think Mr. Schue's going to pick for Invitationals?"
Mercedes and the boys all broke out into conversation then, excitedly talking about what they hoped they would be doing. Quinn allowed her eyes to wander back to Rachel, who looked on as Mr. Schue flipped through the sheet music the girl had handed to him.
Finn walked in then with Kurt, capturing Rachel's attention. The former couple exchanged hesitant but warm hellos. This made Quinn feel better about going after Rachel—it appeared that neither of them were hung up on each other.
Soon everyone was present, and Mr. Schuester began rehearsal. Practice went fairly smoothly considering that they were learning a new number. Quinn sort of wished that it would never end, even though she had every intention of approaching Rachel as soon as it was over.
But before Quinn got a chance to talk to her again, Rachel had already left with Artie and Tina.
"We heard Quinn asked you out yesterday," Tina said at lunch the next day. "I can't believe you said no to her."
"If by 'asked out' you mean just assuming she could pick me up on Friday night," Rachel retorted, crossing her arms. "She's so arrogant. I don't understand what those Cheerios see in her."
"Are you serious? She's really hot. I mean, I'm not into girls in the slightest, but even I'd go straight for her," Kurt commented.
Everyone at the table stared at him in disbelief before bursting out into laughter.
"Anyway," Rachel continued once their laughter subsided, "I think she got the point that I'm not interested."
"Are you sure about that?" Artie asked, his gaze shooting over her left shoulder.
Rachel turned around, only to see one Quinn Fabray walking toward their lunch table with a tray in hand.
"Hey, guys," she said with a smile, sitting in the empty seat next to Rachel.
"Hey, Quinn," they all replied warmly, including Rachel, who figured she was just joining them for lunch. Surely Quinn had gotten the hint that she wasn't interested yesterday.
"Hey, Rach," Quinn said, turning to face the girl beside her. "Thanks for saving me a seat next to you," she added with a sly wink.
Or not.
"So I meant to talk to you after glee practice yesterday," she continued, "but you left before I got a chance to. I'd really like to take you out to a movie after we have dinner this Friday."
Rachel sighed, feeling her irritation growing. She really wasn't in the mood for this. Still, she decided not to tear Quinn's head off in front of everyone. "I'm really not up for anything like that. I'm not over Finn yet."
Okay, so that was a lie. And granted, it probably hadn't been the smartest thing to say it in front of Mercedes, because that piece of information would most likely reach Quinn's ears eventually. And considering that Quinn looked like she wasn't buying it, it was obvious she knew the truth.
Quinn placed her arm around Rachel, her smile growing wider. "Come on, Rach. I know that's not true. Let me take you out. I promise you'll have fun."
"You're unbelievable," Rachel huffed, her patience snapping as she shoved Quinn's arm away. "As I told you yesterday: I'm not interested." She pushed her chair back and abruptly stood, staring down at Quinn, who looked both amused and a touch nervous. "And stop calling me 'Rach.' Only my friends are allowed to call me that."
And with that, she spun on her heels, prepared to storm out of the cafeteria.
"Ouch," she heard Tina say behind her.
That was enough to make Rachel feel a little guilty about being so harsh, but she promptly pushed it down and walked out, not bothering to look back.
Quinn decided to wait until after school to approach Rachel again. Kurt had suggested actually trying to ask Rachel to go out on a date with her instead of just telling her she would pick her up. Quinn hadn't even realized how often she did that with girls since they always agreed, but, of course, Rachel was different. And Quinn really wanted to be given a chance, so she figured she'd try a different approach.
There was no glee rehearsal that day, but she did have soccer practice to get to, so she was hoping to catch her before then. Fortunately, she found Rachel by her locker shortly after the final bell rang. She looked to be in deep concentration as she punched a text message into her bedazzled cell phone.
"Hey, gorgeous," Quinn greeted her, mindful not to use 'Rach' again. Plus, she thought that the other girl would appreciate the compliment.
Rachel tensed up at the words and looked over at Quinn warily.
"So, I was wondering if you'd like to try that new Italian place and then maybe hit up a movie this Friday. I'll pick you up at 7:00, okay?" There, she had phrased it in the form of a question. Sort of.
Rachel slammed her locker closed and turned to face Quinn fully. "As I've told you before, Quinn, no, I will not go out with you," she huffed. "Not Friday. Not ever."
That stung, but Quinn quickly pushed down the hurt she felt at the rejection. Instead, she grinned and chuckled. "You know, you're adorable when you play hard to get."
Rachel narrowed her eyes before stomping her foot and storming off down the hall.
Quinn stared after the girl's retreating form and sighed, deflating slightly and beginning a slow walk toward the girl's locker room.
"Way to go, Q," Puck teased, elbowing her as he came to walk alongside her. "You managed to get her to do that diva storm out thing."
She quickly regained her confident demeanor and replied with a grin, "That's actually the second time I've done that."
"Impressive."
"I'll win her over."
"Why do you even like Rachel anyway?" Puck asked Quinn as they walked through the parking lot after their respective football and soccer practices. "She's been nothing but a bitch to you lately."
"She hasn't always been a bitch to me."
"Yeah, not until you started trying to get into her pants."
Quinn rolled her eyes. "I'm not trying to get into her pants."
Puck looked at her disbelievingly.
"Well, not entirely," she said with a smirk before growing more serious. "I don't know. Rachel's different from any other girl I've been with. She's really smart and talented. She's passionate about the things she cares about."
Puck looked at her oddly for a second. "You really do like this chick, huh?"
Quinn smiled wistfully. "I do."
"I don't understand why you keep saying no to Quinn, Rachel," Brittany said as she sat beside her in the choir room, her pinkie entwined with Santana's, as per usual. "She's super hot."
"I will concede that she's quite beautiful, but her cockiness is extremely off-putting," Rachel replied. "Some confidence is good, but she takes it too far."
"Like you're one to talk," Artie teased.
"It's not the same!" she argued. "I don't assume that everyone should want to date me like Quinn does. I just know what my own talents are."
"Right, and Quinn knows her talents. Being really awesome at sports and being really awesome in bed," Brittany commented with a dreamy smile before furrowing her brow in thought. "Although, she hardly ever let me and Santana see her naked."
"Okay, that is way too much information to be sharing with these losers, B," Santana interjected.
Artie looked disappointed.
"While I object to being called a loser, I definitely have to agree with that being a little TMI," Rachel agreed, but there was something that Brittany had said that caught her attention—something that seemed unusual for someone who seemed to exude so much confidence. Before she could consider it further, Santana started talking again.
"Whatever, Berry. I know you're less of a social pariah now that you've dated Finn, but you should do yourself a favor and go out with Quinn."
"Never." Rachel was adamant. There was no way she would ever go out with a girl like Quinn Fabray, no matter how pretty she was.
"You know, I think I figured out why Rachel keeps saying no to you," Brittany said to Quinn while she and Santana watched her eat her lunch.
"Enlighten me," Quinn replied, eager for any information that might get Rachel to agree to go on a date with her.
"Well, I think she would say yes, but she said she doesn't like your cock."
"What?" Quinn was flabbergasted. "B, what are you talking about? You know I don't have a cock. I'm all woman."
"Baby, what Berry said was 'cockiness,'" Santana clarified.
"Oh," Brittany replied, but she still looked a little confused.
"Apparently your 'attitude' is a total turnoff for her," Santana said to Quinn with a roll of her eyes. "Otherwise, I'm pretty sure she'd let you hit that. She does think you're hot, so at least we know she isn't completely insane."
And then everything clicked for Quinn. She knew what she had to do to win Rachel over.
Rachel stood at her locker, sorting through the books she would need in order to do her homework that night. As she went to grab her history textbook, she spotted Quinn coming toward her out of the corner of her eye.
She straightened, readying herself as Quinn came to stand alongside her.
"Hey, Rachel. Listen, I-"
"That is it!" she interrupted, furious. "I have had it up to here with you, Quinn! No means no! You're presumptuous, arrogant, and rude! It takes more than pretty eyes and a nice smile to win me over. You have nothing to offer me. Let me say it again so that it gets through your thick head: Leave. Me. Alone."
Everyone left standing in the hallway was silent and staring at the two of them now, and Quinn was clearly embarrassed. Rachel almost felt guilty, but she was really getting tired of the arrogant girl constantly trying to get her to go out with her.
However, Quinn quickly collected herself, giving off her usual air of confidence. "You're loss," she said with a shrug, before turning away.
Rachel watched her go, unsure of how to react. If she hadn't seen how embarrassed Quinn was with her own eyes, the girl's response would have infuriated her. Now, she was just confused.
Sighing, she turned back to her locker, and the students around her continued on with their own business.
Quinn sat on her couch, staring at the TV but not really processing what was on. She couldn't believe what had happened at school today. Maybe it was better that she hadn't gotten the chance to say what she had intended on saying if Rachel's reaction was any indication. It was obvious that Rachel wanted nothing to do with her, and Quinn found that it really hurt.
The sound of the front door opening pulled Quinn from her thoughts. She looked over to see her father walk through the front door, and it was immediately apparent that he was in a foul mood. Quinn unconsciously tensed up, knowing all too well that never boded well for her. It was just a matter of time before she would unintentionally set him off.
Dinner was a silent affair. As she ate, Quinn made sure to keep her gaze down at her plate to avoid meeting her father's hard eyes. Her mother did the same, all the while consuming a rather large glass of wine, as was typical.
When the meal came to a close, Quinn dutifully got up to clear the table as she normally did. She went to pick up her father's empty plate first, but she moved too quickly and accidentally knocked over his scotch. Dread twisted in her stomach as she watched the brown liquid seep into the white table cloth.
With terrifying swiftness, her father was on his feet and grabbing at Quinn's right arm, forcing her to drop the plate, and pulling her away from the table. She cringed, knowing all to well what was coming.
"You stupid klutz!" he spat in her face before his open hand cracked across her cheek.
Tears sprung to her eyes, and she struggled to get out of his grip. Angry at her resistance, he tightened his hold on her before pushing her up the stairs and to her bedroom, all the while kicking at the backs of her legs to get her there faster.
When they finally reached her room, he shoved her down on the floor and removed his belt. Quinn knew the beating that was coming, but that didn't make it any less painful or terrifying. She covered her head with her arms as the first blow landed on her side.
"Look what you made me do! If you weren't so clumsy and disobedient, I wouldn't have to do this!" he yelled as the blows continued to rain down on her back, stomach, and thighs.
"I'm sorry, Daddy," she cried, trying to placate him, despite knowing it was useless. "I'm sorry."
