"Quinn, why am I in your phone as 'Bear?'" The two girls were laying back against Rachel's bed, side by side. Neither was quite sure when they'd crossed the line from enemies to friends. Or when Rachel had grown comfortable enough to check Quinn's texts for her.
It'd probably happened when both girls had found themselves single. Finn as sick of Quinn fawning over Sam, who was still distracted by Santana. After Regionals the blond had approached Rachel, head bowed, apologizing for her cruel words. Rachel had accepted. She'd always been the forgiving type. But what had really certified that the two would remain friends was when Finn tried to wriggle his way back into the petite brunette's heart. He'd sang to her in Glee, something sweet and romantic. They'd gone to speak afterwards, and everyone (even Quinn) had expected to see Finchel hand in hand once more.
No one expected to see the quarterback standing at his locker alone the next day. Rachel and Quinn passed him, the diva's arm looped through the blond. That was the moment McKinley realized the two girls friendship was anything but tentative.
And here they were now, both single and fine with it. The two girls had recognized that what they needed most wasn't a boyfriend, but just a friend. Someone who wouldn't abandon them for something better.
"What?" The blonde glanced to the side, smirking as her friend scrolled through her texts. "Your last name's Berry. Kind of obvious."
""No." Rachel shook her head, holding out the device so Quinn could see the screen clearly. "It's spelled b-e-a-r. Like the animal. Why?"
Quinn had never foreseen having this conversation. She flushed, muttering "It's stupid."
"Quinn." She was using her authoritative voice. The one reserved for when she knew she was going to get her way. Quinn huffed, crossing her arms, relenting.
"Because when we started becoming friends I didn't want to keep calling you Berry. But Rachel or Rach didn't feel right. So I started thinking Ber and it sort of..." She hesitated. "You remind me of a bear." She bit back a laugh at Rachel's expression of disbelief. "When you're angry you're like a grizzly. And one time when you were crying your mascara smudged around your eyes and you looked like a panda." It was Rachel's turn to blush, but Quinn wasn't finished. "But usually you're like a baby brown bear."
Rach just stared at her friend, utterly bemused. Quinn swallowed, looking back at the movie they'd been watching earlier.
"That's adorable."
"Shut up." Quinn shoved her playfully, and the two giggled.
Two weeks later, Quinn was perusing through Rachel's phone, and was surprised when she couldn't find her name. Thinking it had been accidentally deleted, she punched in her name and number, planning to resave it. She beamed when she clicked enter, a small message popping up.
This number already exists. Do you want to delete Mama Bear?
She pressed no.