Title::..The True Queen
Spoilers::.Prom-asaurus
Rating::..G
Genre::..Fluff!
Characters::..Quinn Fabray and Joe Hart
Pairing::..Quoe
Author's Note::..I was disgustingly disappointed with Prom ending without any acknowledgement of the sexual tension between Quinn and Joe; I mean did y'all catch the way he was staring at her during Take My Breath Away? So I decided to go in and write how I would have liked the episode to end for my new OTP. I wrote the majority of this while listening to Naya and Dianna's rendition of Take My Breath Away on repeat so that provides a kind of explanation as to why it's so sickeningly sweet.
Summary::..Quinn and Joe decide to ditch Rick the Stick's Prom After-Party to celebrate on their own.
Quinn couldn't count the number of hands she had extended to her on her travelling out of the decorated gymnasium. It seemed everyone Joe pushed her past wanted to tell her how amazing and brave she was. Fellow students she didn't know the names of called her inspiring, tears threatening to ruin their perfected makeup.
She smiled gratefully to all of these admirers. Their kind words filled her with a feeling to far surpass her discovering of the Prom Queen. She had earned this victory with her honest determination – not with conning or exaggerated sympathy. Nothing could taint this Prom.
The wheelchair was necessary after Kurt and Mercedes had pushed her almost to the end of her newfound strength on the dance floor. Joe Hart's assistance wasn't essential, she probably could have rolled the chair on her own, but she could never say no to him.
The music had been silenced, the majority of the student body had disappeared and now the cleaning staff moved in – Prom was over for another year. Quinn was slightly relieved the event had finally come to a close, she was exhausted and her feet were recovering from the torture of being forced into high heels for the whole night. Relieved but satisfied and filled with good memories.
The cool night air was a blessing upon her flushed cheeks as Joe pushed her away from the building that had been home for the past three hours. The excited chattering of the others was rapidly dying away, reality sweeping in to reclaim them as its own.
Joe brought her to a stop beside his mom's borrowed car and pulled the door open for her. He looked upon her with those wide, cautious eyes. "Do you need me to help you in?"
She rolled the chair closer to the car with determination. "After all the crap I got away with tonight I can't keep expecting you to carry me around." She locked her hand around the interior door handle, grasping the headrest of her seat with the other hand. She slid forward and finally pulled herself out of the chair. Her arms trembled violently, her breath catching in fear at the sight of this. But a second later she was in the safety of the passenger seat.
She swung her legs in and looked up to show Joe a reassuring smile. He nodded and pushed the door shut, satisfied she was safe. He collected the chair and collapsed it in order to deposit it in the trunk.
She couldn't help grinning to herself as she reflected on the differences between the end of this Prom and last year's. She wasn't going home alone with no one to comfort her in her defeat. This time around she had gone with the right guy – a guy who had a genuine interest in her. Last year she had been so obsessed with living up to the expectations of a Queen she could never have imagined how wonderful it felt to be honest.
Joe climbed into the driver's seat and turned to face her immediately. Neither spoke straight away. Rather he studied her features, seeming to familiarize himself with the way she looked. It was something he did often. At first the habit had caused her great worry, leading her to think there was something out of place on her face, smudged makeup, a spot of food or any other number of mistakes to cause great embarrassment.
All the time they had been spending together allowed her to get used to this. Now she even enjoyed it. Every time he looked at her it was as if it were the very first time he had ever seen her, staring in disbelief. It had been such a long time since she had been looked upon as if she were the most beautiful thing in the whole world. No matter how many times he did it, it never failed to make her blush.
"Where do you wanna go now?" He asked. "I heard about this after-party at Rick the Stick's place. I'm not really sure why he invited me, I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know my name, but I guess it could be…I dunno…"
She couldn't help giggling lightly. "You make a good case, but I'm gonna have to go with no."
"I could take you home if you're tired." He offered.
She was feeling a little sleepy but she didn't want to go home yet. That was what she had done last year. She had left Prom, gone immediately home and cried herself to sleep – still in her light blue gown, but depressingly crown-less.
"No, I don't wanna go home yet." She told him.
He looked at her, a little clueless. "Where, then?"
"I dunno. You pick, somewhere nice where we can just hang out." She replied.
His gaze shifted away for a moment as he considered this. Then he nodded and purposefully turned the key in the ignition. "I think I've got an idea."
As soon as the car powered up the stereo switched on, filling the car with the sounds of Michael Jackson. Joe had Number Ones playing on repeat, again. They left the school car park and set off for an unknown destination.
They talked in little spurts – they were in agreement over their dislike of the theme, she criticized some of the worse dresses, they discussed the playlist and Blaine's hair came up as a topic of interest. She could feel him dancing around the topic of Rachel getting the crown she had campaigned for. But none of the silences this induced were uncomfortable.
It didn't take long for her to lose track of where they were, which she didn't mind. She trusted him and was certain he wouldn't lead her into any trouble.
She was especially certain of this when she realized where he had just brought the car to a stop. She turned to look at him, her eyebrows raised as he hummed along to Billie Jean. "The park?"
"Yeah." He replied, smiling proudly. "Have you ever been to the park at night? It's great. I come here to pray and meditate. It's so peaceful and you get a great view of the stars. I thought we could take a walk, give our eardrums a chance to recover."
"You are such a hippie." She teased.
"You told me to pick." He defended.
"I know and it sounds like a great idea, I'm glad you picked it." She comforted him.
"Great." He beamed.
She pushed open her door and placed her feet on the ground beside the car. She had decided to truly go along with his plan and walk in the park with him. After standing up on stage and dancing with her friends she thought it would be a major buzz-kill to have to return to the restrictions of the chair again.
He hadn't meant for her to take his suggestion literally and so he pulled her wheelchair out of the trunk before he realized her intentions. "What are you doing?" He asked, steering the chair in front of him as she took the first careful steps away from the car.
"I'm going to walk with you in the park." She informed him. "Put that thing away."
After all of the physical therapy he had been at her side for he knew how much she wanted this. He had watched all of her had work and knew better than to try to talk her out of it. He rushed to put the chair away and she was glad to see it swept away quickly.
They set off with his arm wrapped securely around her waist, trying to support all of her weight against his body. They were the only two at the park. Two very well dressed teenagers strolling beneath a cloudless sky. Her sparkly heels clicked on the concrete path, cutting clearly through the crisp still air.
At first she enjoyed his arm around her waist, the proximity was delicious. But she wanted to prove to him that she could do it, she could walk in the park. He had seen her so broken for so long and now she needed to show him she wasn't a fragile doll that might break at any moment.
He furrowed his brow as she pulled out of his arm. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just feel like you're trying to walk for me." She said. "I can walk for myself."
"You're not tired?" He asked.
"No, I'm fine." She told him. "Now offer me your arm like a gentleman and let's walk properly."
He wasn't intimidated by her forwardness; instead he smiled, extending his arm to her. She linked her arm through his and they started walking again. She paid a lot of concentration upon placing one foot in front of the other. She didn't want to rely too much on his arm and risk losing credibility.
"How come Rachel ended up Prom Queen?" He inquired. She quickly lifted her eyes from her shoes to look at him as he continued. "I know this is only my first year in an actual high school and I don't know a lot, like how Brittany could be nominated for King and how Kurt could win Queen when he's a dude. But the whole Rachel thing just makes no sense. How could she win if she was never nominated?"
"She didn't get nominated and she didn't get a single vote." She replied. "I was the one who won. I'm the Prom Queen."
He stopped walking, completely astounded by this revelation. "You won? You're Prom Queen?"
She smiled widely, feeling a greater appreciation for the title now than she had upon tallying the votes with Santana. "Yep."
"Congratulations, that's so awesome Quinn!" He enthused before pausing, his smile falling. "Then how come Rachel has the crown?"
"I realized that she needed to feel that win more than I do right now." She told him. "She's been walking around like the living dead, she literally had her dream sucked out of her. You haven't known Rachel for very long so maybe you can't fully grasp how dramatic the change in her has been. I saw the opportunity to put the stars back in her eyes and I took it."
They walked in silence as he processed all of this. He was looking at the ground, clearly deep in thought.
As she strolled the image of Rachel returned to Quinn's mind. She had looked so beautiful, so exquisite and so grown-up. She was light-years away from the uncomfortable girl in animal sweaters and knee-high socks. Tonight she had looked fit for the red carpet she felt had been ripped out from beneath her. That crown belonged on her head; Quinn didn't regret her decision in the slightest.
"But I don't get it…" Joe began, his brow still furrowed deeply. "You wanted Prom Queen so bad. It's all you talked about for months and you did all that campaigning with Finn. How could you change your mind like that?"
"I've already got so much; I didn't need that crown or that moment on stage with everyone applauding for me." She explained. "Look at me, I survived a car crash and I'm walking again and pretty soon I get to go to Yale. Enough of my dreams have come true. That crown wasn't going to give me anything I don't already have."
He pondered this, then decided. "That's kind of better than winning Prom Queen."
"That's what I thought." She agreed.
"You're the true Prom Queen to me." He stated.
His genuine tone cut through how cheesy it sounded. "Thanks." She thought she preferred this acknowledgement to having the whole student body know. The idea popped into her mind to rest her head on his shoulder in quite an intimate gesture. But then he started talking again and she listened with her bottom lip snagged between her teeth.
"It's good you didn't win in front of everyone. This way I didn't have to watch you dancing with Finn. I really didn't like him tonight." He admitted.
"I kind of noticed that." She pointed out.
"I know you were only dancing with him to keep up your image or whatever. But seeing him with you just made me so mad. Especially tonight, because you look so beautiful." He explained. "Seeing you look so amazing in this dress and then having to watch you go off with him killed me a little."
"Why didn't you say anything?" She inquired.
"Because I thought you would be happier living out that fantasy of Prom King and Queen and I figured I was being selfish, trying to have you all to myself all the time." He replied.
She twisted her arm around to secure his hand in hers. "I'd rather be with you than maintaining a lie with Finn. I'm sorry it took me so long to shake myself free of that lie."
"It's okay." He dismissed.
"No, it's not." She rebutted almost at once. "We didn't even get a photo together."
"That dinosaur was tacky anyway." He said, trying to help her feel better.
She smiled; relieved everything was forgiven between them. No regrets could hold enough strength to ruin this moment.
"You're not cold, are you?" He inquired.
"No, I'm perfect." She replied happily, finally placing her cheek upon his shoulder.
The heels may not have provided ideal comfort. But the cute pumps allowed her a rare opportunity to be close-to the same height as her dreadlocked date. Her head fit snugly against his shoulder, a jigsaw piece falling into its destined spot.
She could relax as walking came steadily more natural. Everything felt natural. She couldn't recall the last time she had felt as unafraid.
"You distracted me when I was singing." She announced.
"I'm sorry." He replied automatically, like a taped recording. "Wait…what?"
"The way you were staring at me so intensely, as soon as I saw you I knew I couldn't look away." She elaborated. "Everyone knows a good performer connects with the whole audience. How could I do that when I couldn't take my eyes off of you? You ruined my performance."
"You're welcome." He joked.
They started laughing. It was light and carefree; prompting her to think all of the drama she had experienced could be left behind.
Then she placed a foot incorrectly and found herself stumbling.
He caught her before any damage could be done. He helped her steady herself on aching feet. She released a shaky breath, releasing her petrified grip on his arms. He was giving her the Porcelain Doll look again. She couldn't complain, she had earned it.
She laughed nervously. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought."
"There's a bench up there, you can rest while I get your chair." He offered.
"Okay." There was no way to argue with him as he replaced his arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him again. She leant against him, trying to relieve most of the pressure from her feet.
She landed on the bench and he quickly removed his jacket to place it around her shoulders before moving back off to the car. Her heart was hammering, unable to believe how close she had come to falling: ruining her dress and ruining the whole night.
She looked up at the stars, trying to recover her breath. Steadily she relaxed, comforted by the firm bench beneath her. The trembling of her hands calmed. She was safe again.
She felt foolish for almost landing flat on her face. But she had to set her limits beyond the safety mat at physical therapy. Now she knew how far she could push herself on her own feet.
But she wasn't really without her safety mat. Not while she had Joe looking out for her.
She heard his footsteps and looked around to track his path. At the sight of him jogging toward where she sat her heart started pounding again. It leapt into her throat and pounded perhaps harder than what the near-fall had caused.
"Help me up?" She held both hands out to him.
He took her hands and tugged her off the seat. Back on her feet she shuffled closer to him. He watched this with a slightly confused expression, yet unwilling to release her hands.
Engulfed in his body heat she decided to eliminate the space between them once and for all. Their lips connected and her breath was robbed from her by his arms snaking around her, bringing their bodies together.
She thought her feet might fail her again when his tongue swiped at her lips. Her mouth slackened and a dizzying rush of pleasure flooded her head. She sighed, relinquishing all control and leaving herself at his mercy.
Gently he brushed the few strands of her hair back from her face and she knew no crown could ever make her feel as complete as being in his arms did.
"Now I really need my chair." She gasped after they had separated.
She wasn't bothered by having to return to the wheelchair. It took a while for her heart rate to return to normal and her cheeks were flaming. She licked her lips as he wheeled her toward the car. She resettled the purple skirt over her legs. "I thought you were a nice guy Joe."
There was the usual pause as he tried to find any hidden meaning in what she was saying. "What do you mean?"
"Nice guys don't kiss like that."
The End.