You look familiar
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of its characters
You look familiar
I would just like to say thanks to FeelingGrey for helping making the story easier to read and fixing a errors.
Rachel and Quinn have known each other longer than high school however they both don't realize it until it's almost senior year.
Chapter 1
'Wait a minute, Quinn is Lucy Caboosey', Rachel stands there shocked after their performance of Born this way. 'Maybe….but I have to make sure, I am sure I have photos somewhere in the attic from the stuff my dad's kept from my childhood'.
"Rachel, I want to lock up, you coming?" Mr. Schue asks.
"I'm coming" Rachel replies.
'I'm sure it's in here somewhere'. "2006… , no 2005… ,no 2004… yes!" Rachel mumbles while she gets more and more excited. Rachel flicks through all the memories of 2004. 'There I am the first time I won the junior singing competition'.
"Aha there's the photo I've been looking for" Rachel exclaims. "There's Lucy sitting right next to me in the grade photo". I wondered what happened to her after she left in 2006. I need to go to Quinn and find out what happened.
Rachel knocks on the door of the Fabray house. Judy Fabray opens the door. "Hi, Rachel is it?", Judy greets a smile.
"Hi Mrs. Fabray, yes I'm Rachel. Is Quinn here?".
"Yes she is, come in, while I go get her for you".
"Thanks Mrs. Fabray".
"Honey there's someone here to see you".
"Coming mom" Quinn screams back which sounds like it came from the other side of the house.
"Rachel what do you want?" Quinn looks irritated at Rachel.
"Can we speak somewhere privately?", Rachel asks Quinn.
"Why don't we go to my room".
"Okay, sounds private enough". Rachel followed Quinn through the house. When they arrived at her room, Quinn locks the door behind her.
"Why are you here, Rachel?".
"Uhm..." Rachel decides it's better to show her then tell her, so she takes the grade photo out of her handbag and hands it to Quinn.
"Where did you get this?", Quinn started to get mad.
"Who is in this photo Quinn?".
"That's me sitting there in the front, why are you doing this Rachel. What's the point of showing me this Rachel?", Tears were starting to form in her eyes.
"That's not my intention Quinn, who is sitting next to you on that photo?".
"My only friend through grade school, Barbra. I wonder what happened to her after grade school we never saw each other again. I miss her alot she was a true friend", the tears were starting to stream down Quinn's face. She tried to wipe them away but it wouldn't stop.
"You know, she was the only true friend I ever had, ya we accept each other in the glee club but I can tell none of them wants to be friends with me, the fact I still have no real friends at this school. She was the only one I ever had….Rachel why on earth did you bring me this photo".
Rachel herself tried to stop the tears, her only reaction was to embrace Quinn. Quinn rests her head on Rachel's shoulder. "I miss her so much, what I wouldn't give to see her again", Quinn continued.
Rachel could feel her blouse getting wetter. "Quinn", Rachel's voice came out rough.
"Ya?".
"Barbra isn't gone".
"Yes she is and if she ever sees me again she wouldn't know that it's me, what don't you get about it", Rachel could barely make out the words through Quinn's sobbing.
"Quinn, I'm Barbra", Rachel says very quietly.
Quinn becomes rigid and removes herself from Rachel. "Rachel what is wrong with you?".
Rachel feels taken aback. "Fine if you want to be like that", Rachel storms out of the room, tears in her eyes and leaves the photo behind with Quinn. Quinn stares at the photo and recognizes Rachel. Realization hits Quinn at that moment. Quinn sprints out the room. 'I'm glad I still have my cheerleader fitness'. She catches up to Rachel just as she was exiting the front door. "Rachel wait, Rachel please stop. I'm sorry, I know your Barbra I can see the resemblance on the photo. Please can we go back to my room and talk about this?", Quinn screamed as she rushed to Rachel.
"So you can be mad at me for something that I'm not to blame for, no thanks", Rachel says while walking towards the gate.
"Rachel please we need to talk about this, I'm not mad at you I'm mad at myself for letting you go", Quinn puts one hand on Rachel's shoulder.
Rachel relaxed a little, "Fine, sorry I tend to over dramatize everything".
They silently walk back to her room. "It really is you", Quinn says softly as she sinks down on the bed and bursts into tears.
"Quinn what's wrong?".
"Rachel I am so… so sorry", Rachel embraces Quinn from the side.
"It's not your fault we separated".
"No, I mean the way I am towards you these past years….the crazy bitch hell-bent on destroying your life thing….why didn't you ever tell me about this and why now?", she said staring at Rachel.
"I didn't know it until yesterday after we performed 'Born This Way' and it isn't as if we were on speaking terms", Quinn flinched at the last part.
"Didn't you see the posters of me around school?", Quinn looks at Rachel with a curious look.
"What posters?", Rachel looks at Quinn with confusion written all over her face.
"Never mind".
"Quinn didn't you ever think that I was Barbra all these years?".
"Yes…no…maybe…I don't know. The first time I saw you I thought you looked a bit like her but then afterwards I tried to push the resemblance between you and Barbra out of my mind…but I couldn't so I decided to bully you".
"Oh", was all Rachel could get out.
"Rachel, do you think it's too late to get back what we had after all that's happened?".
"I don't think so, I don't want to think so, it's not too late, but I think we just have to give it time to get it back".
Quinn looks at Rachel with the most earnest look whilst holding Rachel hands, "I promise Rachel, that I will do anything to get back what we had, no more bitching, rivalry or any of that".
Rachel couldn't help but ask the next question, "why did you leave Quinn?".
"I had to".
"What do you mean 'had to' Quinn?", Rachel made quotation marks.
"I couldn't take it anymore in that damn school…the bullying and the teasing got too much".
Quinn looked like she was ready to kill someone, her hands tightened around Rachel's, "Ow! Quinn calm down….you're hurting my hands".
Quinn let out a sigh, "S-Sorry…did I hurt you bad?", Quinn looked at Rachel's hands, "no I'm fine….I don't understand why you're so mean towards everyone, if you been in the same situation many times yourself?".
"I think I have that one figured out though it sounds really selfish and it makes me feel like even more of a bitch….in my mind I thought it was payback for all the times I went through it, so I belittled people just because it will make me feel better….I targeted you most of all because you reminded me most of my past all the time….you reminded me of Barbra all the time, the way you were always up in everyone's business….the way you could easily speak your mind….the way you stood up for yourself which I liked because you would always protect me from the bullies back then. See, you were the one I hurt by leaving. I felt terrible about that", she didn't even finish the sentence and the crying got worse.
Quinn rested her head on Rachel's shoulder. Rachel just put her arms around Quinn, "it will all be okay".
"How are you so calm about all this?", Quinn managed to get out.
"I'm not I'm I", Rachel started crying, "I'm really glad I have you back Quinn. I, like you don't have any real friends. Every time I would see Lauran around school, I would instantly be reminded of you, sort of, Lauran is like the meaner, less shy person you were…Do you remember the day we first met?".
"Ya, it was in the second grade at the beginning of the second semester".
Flashback: Grade 2 second semester
Lucy was sitting at the cafeteria table, alone, it was lunchtime and she was sitting all by herself, like always. 'I hate school. No one likes me here. Oh no someone is approaching this table'.
"H- Hi", Lucy said a little scared.
"Hi", 'This girl is mixing sadness with excitement'.
"I'm Lucy, who are you and what do you want from me?".
The brunette started to cry, "may I please sit with you?".
"What!...who sent you here?, are you just going to tease me?".
Barbra just shook her head.
'I can't let this girl sit alone'."Okay you can sit here, I don't bite", Lucy said with a little smile.
Barbra sat down next to Lucy, "why aren't you sitting with someone else, why me?", Lucy asked.
"Everyone else chased me away after a day or two", Barbra replied.
"I'm sorry they were so mean to you, you can sit here and I will never chase you away".
'I don't care if I'm her last resort at least I am an option'.
At that Barbra smiled, "Really?".
"Yes really", Lucy herself smiled.
"So why did everyone chase you away?", Lucy asked.
"I'm really annoying, I talk too much…you can tell me when I do that so I'll stop".
"Yes I will", Lucy giggled. 'I may have just finally gotten a friend and she is honest about who she is'.
"Do you want half of my chocolate bar?", Lucy asks Barbra.
"Sure thanks", Barbra smiled. 'Maybe I will have someone that likes me as a friend and not chase me away'.
'I like this girl she doesn't even care that I am very chatty', Barbra thinks to herself.
"So tell me a bit about yourself?".
"Okay, well my name is Barbra, I love to perform, singing and dancing and acting. I love gold stars and I dream of one day of being a big star…what about you?", Barbra says while looking up at the clouds.
"That's nice…well I love watching movies….I love all sorts of sweets and chocolates, I don't know what I want to be yet. And I can sing a bit better than others can", Lucy said while Barbra just smiled at her.
The bell rang. "I got to get to class, thanks for sitting with me, Barbra".
"No thank you Lucy, what class do you have now?".
"Maths with Mrs. Harbour, I used to have class with Mr. Grogin but he's gone".
Barbra beamed at this, "me too, so we can walk together?".
"I would like that", Lucy smiled at Barbra.
Arriving at class it looked like they were early, "hey Lucy why don't we sit at the back corner?".
"Sure". They went to the back of the classroom and waited for the rest of the class to arrive.
The class was over very fast and Lucy and Barbra exited the classroom.
"Lucy what period you have now?".
"English with Mr. Fardin, you?".
Barbra's expression changed from happy to a little disappointed, "reading with Mrs. Lopez".
Lucy knew the whole school like the palm of her hand, "that's right next to mine so we could walk together?", Lucy offered.
Barbra smiled at her and hooked her arm in with Lucy's. 'I really like how it's so easy to make her happy'.
Class ended and it was time to go home, "ummm… Barbra I was wondering if you would like to sit with me at recess tomorrow?".
"Really, I'd love to", Barbra hugged Lucy and she hugged back.
"See you tomorrow", Lucy smiled and waved at Barbra while she did the same.
End of Flashback
By the end of the memory Quinn and Rachel was smiling, "you know, Rachel the first night after I met you….", Quinn says to Rachel with tears forming again in her eyes.
"Yes, Quinn?".
"It was the first school night I went to sleep without crying….every single school night I would cry myself to sleep because even back than in Grade 1 I got bullied for the way I look", Quinn lays her head on the side of Rachel's shoulder.
"You were not the only one", Rachel said with a slight eye roll.
Quinn looked at Rachel with curiosity and tears in her eyes, "what do you mean, Rach?".
"I too went to sleep at night crying myself to sleep…the whole time in first grade I was from table to table people kicking me out the next day or excluding me from their conversations….Quinn, that day you let me sit with you meant the world to me because you liked me and didn't chase me away the next day", Rachel having a slight smile on her face as she finished the last sentence.
"Rachel, you made me feel the same way….that day would stay in my memory as one of my favorites forever….when you came up to talk to me, I thought that you were going to tease me...but you came to me with those sad eyes, I instantly felt you were rejected and I know how that feels, rejecting you was the last thing I was going to do….Though I did like you a lot, you were always so chatty, you would chat about anything and everything, you were someone who can sat with me and was nice to me and you easily broke the silence….Rachel if it wasn't for you, by fifth grade I would have probably killed myself", Quinn staring sobbing.
"Quinn are you serious?...why?", Rachel grabbed Quinn into an embrace.
"Rachel you made my life a lot better….you were like a light through all the darkness….I looked forward to just seeing you at school, from the moment I got home till I arrived at school. Bullies knew to stay away from me when you were near me, after you got Joshua expelled for bulling me in Maths….but that's not the biggest part of it….you knew how to be a friend, a genuine friend….if I needed someone to play with me or chat to you were there….Rachel I always wanted to say thanks for being my friend for all those years….I never regretted being friends with you", Quinn couldn't stop sobbing.
Rachel grabbed Quinn into another tighter hug, "it's okay Quinn….It will all b…", now Rachel got even more emotional than Quinn, "Quinn, I know I said that we have to wait for our friendship to heal by itself, but I don't want to wait, life is too short for that , what do you say?".
"I don't know?" Rachel's face fell.
"Of course Rachel, why do you even ask?", and Quinn hugged Rachel so tightly that she felt like she couldn't breathe.
"Quinn you're squeezing the life out of me", Quinn laughs at her and releases her.
"Sorry, Rachel umm… do you want to stay for dinner?".
"Well, I-" Rachel started.
"Rachel….want to know a little secret I never told anyone else?", Quinn looked with a mocking raised eyebrow.
"Yes, what deep dark secret does Miss Fabray have?", Rachel says with a mocking shocked expression on her face.
"I'm also a vegan", Quinn says to Rachel slowly.
"I knew it!", Rachel squeals.
"How?".
"Simple, you never ate anything in the cafeteria and once when Mercedes gave you that chocolate milk you flinched at it and quickly tossed it into the garbage and when we had snacks at that party you wouldn't take anything but chips and dip….but what confirmed my suspicion was the hotdog Finn got you for lunch I could see from a distance that you were yelling at him about it", Rachel looks outside the window.
"Rachel you were spying on me and Finn weren't you?", she said trying to contain her amusement with Rachel looking ashamed at what she said.
"I'm sorry….I tend to be a Nancy Drew sometimes".
"No probs, Rach", she waved it over.
"So you staying for dinner?".
"I'll have to ask my dads, but I think it will be okay".
"I'll be right back", Quinn said and exited her room.
Rachel decided to look around the room. 'It's very minimalistic and yet it feels like anything more would make it look crowded. There is the square lamp. Everything is in lime green with hints of azure everywhere'.
"Rachel my mom says it's okay if you stay for dinner, why don't you call your dads and find out if it's okay with them?".
"Okay I'll call them now".
She dialed a number really fast, "hi daddy, I called to ask if I can please stay over at the Fabrays for dinner?".
"Sure, pumpkin.…it's date night so we'll be out all night, so have fun".
"Thanks daddy. Tell dad I said Hi. Bye".
"Will do pumpkin, bye", Rachel then hangs up the phone.
"They said yes", Rachel squealed.
'I have never seen Rachel so happy before'.
"Yes", Quinn gave Rachel one of the biggest smiles she has ever seen Quinn do.
"Lets go eat, Barbra".
"Sure thing, Lucy". 'I didn't even flinch when she said my real name', Quinn thought.
While they were having dinner, "Quinnie, what brought all this on?" Judy asks.
"Mom doesn't Rachel look familiar to you?".
"She sort of looks like-" Judy stopped knowing how much it upsets her daughter.
"Mom, it's okay….Mom this is Rachel Barbra Berry", Quinn puts emphasis on Barbra.
"You mean grade school Barbra who used to visit you a lot and you visited her a lot too?".
"Yes, exactly her", Quinn puts on a smile that is not fake, but real.
"Quinnie that is wonderful news" Judy beamed.
"I wouldn't have noticed you were Barbra, Rachel….you changed a lot….longer hair and everything".
"I know, I hated having short hair and I grew into my body", Rachel says softly.
"Your mother is nice Quinn", Rachel sits down on Quinn's bed.
"Yeah she got a lot nicer when she kicked out my dad", she says it as a fact with no emotion at all.
"Oh, I wanted to compliment you on your room".
"Thanks I chose the colors, you really like it?".
"Like it? I love it".
"Hey Rach, can you come and stand next to me? I want to see something in the mirror. "Okay" . Rachel stood next to Quinn in the mirror.
"I thought you might look sexier than me but we have like the exact same body size and shape".
"Umm… Thanks".
"I mean it Rach, you have a stunning body", Rachel's face got bright red at that comment.
"We'll look at the time…I better go home".
"Rachel, why don't you sleep over here it is a Friday night and your parents know you're here?".
"Okay why not".
Rachel and Quinn talked till early in the morning. They discussed what happened in middle school. They remembered the good times in grade school and everything.
"Rachel can I ask you something?".
"Sure, what is it Quinn?", Rachel was standing opposite Quinn and playing with the end of her dress.
"Close your eyes. I want to show you something", Quinn had a small smile on her face.
"Okay", Rachel just smiled.
Quinn leaned in and kissed Rachel on the lips.
