A/N: So, I know this is my third fanfiction, but honestly this idea just came to me and I've been meaning to do a Skank!Quinn fanfic for a while now. Don't worry, Transition and Drunk are still going to be updated, it's just that I've had exams and I've been a bit too mentally drained to even think about writing. I had my very last exam today and I started writing this yesterday after the idea came to me.
A few things: I've only ever really been to one concert in my entire life. And it wasn't the warped tour, so I have no idea what they do there. Please keep an open mind and remember that this is fiction.
As it says in the description, this fic is inspired by the song 'The Rock Show' by Blink 182, and that is why it has the place it has in this chapter. There will be a lot more songs as the story goes on and I promise you this is not a one shot! I have a lot of time on my hands now and I can keep up with three different fics.
Now that that's all been said. Enjoy the first chapter!
The crowd was quiet but the excitement hung heavy in the night air. It was dark but you could see lights flickering on stage. One scream from an electric guitar and the crowd roared. Hands were shot up in the air in pure joy. It was strange to think that you had anything in common with a thousand strangers but that's exactly how it felt at that moment. That's the beauty of music, no matter who you are or what you've been through, it brings you together with one objective in mind. To listen to the music that has pulled you through so much in your life.
The crowd was going nuts when that electric guitar was struck. And then the emcee spoke into the microphone.
"Good evening Ohio! Are you ready to rock?!"
Everyone cheered as loud as their voices would allow. Everyone would have sore throats tomorrow, but no one cared. The summer breeze blew through the night air and it was amazing.
Quinn Fabray stood in the crowd cheering and jumping in joy. She'd been looking forward to the warped tour all year long. She didn't even care how she had to get here. She sold some of her dad's old crap to get the money, she snuck out of the house after yet another argument with her mother about how she was going to that tour or die trying. She jumped into her 1960's Impala and drove off without a second to lose. She would be in deep shit with her mother after she got home, but she didn't give a shit. She didn't even care that her friends refused to go. So what if she was there alone? She was surrounded by a thousand strangers and the music she loved more than anything else, what else could she want?
The opening band was a cover band and at the moment they were blaring out 'Dirty Little Secret.' Quinn bounced and danced to the music. A small space opened up around her and she was jumping around, spinning and just enjoying herself. She got a few smiled and whistles and cheers and she just enjoyed it. Suddenly she felt a small body colliding into her.
"Oomph!"
"Ow!"
"Crap, I'm so sorry!" The person she collided with said from behind her. She turned around and saw this short, tan brunette with the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes.
"It's okay." She said softly.
"Good evening Ohio! Are you ready to rock?!"
Everyone cheered as loud as their voices would allow. Everyone would have sore throats tomorrow, but no one cared. The summer breeze blew through the night air and it was amazing.
Rachel Berry stood in the crowd and enjoyed the sounds of cheering. No one at school would believe that she would be here. Little miss Rachel Barbra Berry, aspiring Broadway star, at a rock show? Preposterous!
But the truth was that she was in fact here, albeit on her own. She had been saving up her allowance all year, along with her birthday money, and she may or may not have sold a few of her old baby toys to help. She didn't care that she was here on her own. She begged her fathers to let her go and, after careful bargaining and a power point presentation of how this was something every teen needs to experience, they let her go. She took the bus all the way from Lima and would have to take it again to get home. But none of those semantics mattered when she was here, enjoying the music that she never admitted to liking except to her best friend, who would roll his eyes. Kurt was great but he did not get her rocker side. But again, that didn't matter right now.
The cover band that was opening up the show were playing out 'Dirty Little Secret' like their lives depended on it and that's just how hard she was dancing and jumping around. She loved it. No one knew her around here. There were no fears of slushies or ridicule here. She didn't even need to wear her argyle. She was finally in her normal clothes and it just felt so, so good.
A small space opened up around her and she jumped and twirled and danced and just fell in love with music all over again. There were whistles and cheers at her and she just enjoyed that feeling of being free for once in her life. Away from all the torment and doubters. She reveled in it. Suddenly she felt a body colliding with her own.
"Oomph!"
"Ow!"
"Crap, I'm so sorry!" She said apologetically. She turned to see who she bumped into and suddenly she was looking up into the most gorgeous set of hazel eyes she's ever seen. It took her a moment to register that the girl also had pink hair and a nose piercing.
"It's okay." The taller girl said softly. She had the most beautiful voice.
Suddenly the band changed songs and they were playing 'The Rock Show' and there was another roar of cheers before everyone settled down into the music, singing and jumping along.
"I love this song!" Rachel exclaimed.
"Me too." Quinn giggled. "Wanna dance?"
"I'd love to!" Rachel said. She didn't even know this person, then again she didn't know anyone here and it wasn't every day she was asked to dance to one of her favorite rock songs. The taller girl held out her hand and she took it willingly as they started jumping, dancing and just plain fooling around in the crowd while they sang along loudly. Quinn twirled Rachel around and they sang basically to each other. What they were doing couldn't even be called dancing anymore. It was random jumping and spinning and just a bunch of spontaneous movements they came up with on the spot. But they were loving every minute of it.
The song ended without either of them realizing and they danced together for about three more songs before they got exhausted from all the jumping around and screaming of lyrics. They stopped and laughed while they tried to steady their breathing.
"That was fun." Rachel said with a giggle.
"Yeah it was." Quinn nodded in agreement.
"What's your name?" Rachel asked.
"Quinn, you?"
"Rachel."
"It's awesome to meet you Rachel." Quinn said, holding out her hand.
"The feeling is definitely mutual Quinn." Rachel said, taking her hand and shaking it.
"You wanna grab a beer?" Quinn asked. Rachel hesitated for a second but then she realized. No one knew her here. No one could tell her dads or ridicule her at school about it. She smiled at the pink-haired girl and nodded happily. Quinn grabbed her hand gently and lead her through the crowd towards the beer stall. She ordered two beers and saw Rachel pulling out her money from the corner of her eye.
"It's okay, I'll take care of it." She said with a smile.
"I can't let you do that, I mean you don't even know me." Rachel said.
"It's cool, let me buy you a beer, then I can get to know you, what do you say?" Quinn said and Rachel giggled.
"It's kind of hard to refuse an offer like that." Rachel said with a smile. She suddenly had butterflies in her stomach.
"That was the plan." Quinn said, shooting her a quick wink before pulling out a five and handing it to the guy. She grabbed the bottles and handed one to Rachel. "So where you from Rach?"
"Lima." Rachel said, taking a swig of her beer.
"No way, me too!" Quinn said with a smile, taking a gulp of her own beer. "Do you go to McKinley?"
"I do, It's funny I've never seen you around before." Rachel answered.
"That's probably because I don't go to any of my classes, except for art, and I hang out under the bleachers all day." Quinn said with a smile and a nod. Rachel giggled.
"Yeah that makes sense. Me I'm boring. I never skip a class and I spend extra time after school to practice in the choir room." Rachel said.
"McKinley has a choir room?" Quinn asked with a giggle.
"Yes." Rachel said before letting out a burst of laughter. "I'm actually in the glee club."
"Oh yeah, I saw you guys perform at the only pep rally I bothered showing up too. You guys performed push it. That was uh…that was interesting." Quinn said.
"Oh God don't remind me, not one of my best ideas." Rachel said, taking another swig.
"I think it was pretty badass, performing something like that in front of the whole school, teachers and all." Quinn said. Rachel smiled at her again.
"Wow. Thanks. No one's ever called me badass before." She said, shyly looking down and swiping a loose hair behind her ear.
"Do your friends even know you like this kind of music?" Quinn asked.
"Well, I don't have that many friends, I have one, Kurt, he's my best friend and yes he does but he thinks I'm crazy for coming here. It's not what I usually listen to, just kind of a guilty pleasure you know?" Rachel said with a shrug.
"Well if it's any consolation I don't think you're crazy for coming here. Hell if you didn't I would have never met you and frankly you're making the whole concert more fun than I anticipated." Quinn smiled at the brunette before taking a swig of her beer.
"You really mean that?" Rachel said. Butterflies were battering her stomach again as the taller girl nodded. Her smile grew ten times wider. They finished off their beers and made their way back into the crowd just in time for the first band to be announced. The crowd went nuts as did both of the girls.
"I love these guys!" Rachel exclaimed. "It's too bad I can't see worth a damn, I hate being this short sometimes!"
"C'mere!" Quinn said. She crouched down and pulled Rachel onto her shoulders, lifting her up above the crowd. Rachel was surprised so she let out a squeal when she felt herself being lifted upwards, but once she realized what was going on she just giggled and let the butterflies attack her stomach once again. She had just met this girl and she was being way better than anyone at school ever was to her. She reveled in the feeling of finally being accepted and made a mental note to seek this girl out at school some time. Until then she cheered on her favorite band as Quinn jumped happily, making her bounce along on her shoulders. The band played their three songs and bid everyone a goodnight, making way for the following band. Quinn held Rachel up on her shoulders through all three songs and didn't let her down until it was asked of her.
"Oh my God! Thank you so much! I swear to God the lead singer waved at me and winked! I think I died!" Rachel rambled excitedly and Quinn started laughing.
"It was no problem." She said.
They enjoyed the rest of the concert. For two and a half hours they did nothing but sing, dance and laugh together. After a little while Quinn turned to Rachel.
"Hey are you hungry? You wanna grab a hot dog or something?" She asked.
"Oh umm, I'm a vegan." Rachel said. Quinn bit her lips and stood on her tip toes, looking towards the hot dog stand.
"They have fries. You eat fries right?" she asked. Rachel couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips just then.
She's actually trying. She thought to herself.
"Umm, yeah. Oh, but only if you let me pay, I mean you paid for the beers so…" Rachel said. Quinn chuckled, she couldn't get over how sweet this girl was.
She's actually trying. She thought to herself.
"Fine, it's a deal." Quinn finally nodded. Rachel took her hand in her own and led her out of the crowd towards the hot dog stand much like she had earlier that night. They ordered their food and Rachel paid for them. They sat on the sidewalk as they ate and chatted.
"So, tell me something." Rachel began.
"Yeah?" Quinn said as she bit into her hot dog.
"Why is the only class you go your art class?" Rachel asked, dipping a fry in ketchup and popping it into her mouth.
"I really like to draw." Quinn admitted. She looked down and tried to fight the blush that was coming on.
"That's so cool." Rachel said excitedly. "You'll have to show me something sometime!"
"Oh I think I have a picture." Quinn said. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and searched through her pictures. She found a picture she had save on her phone of a sketch she made of the old swing in her back yard. She handed the phone to Rachel so she could see.
"Oh my God. Quinn this is beautiful." Rachel said, mouth agape at how amazing the picture truly was. "You really did this all on your own?"
"Umm, yeah." Quinn said shyly. She could feel her cheeks burning.
"This is amazing!" Rachel said handing the phone back. "You would make a good illustrator!"
"Yeah but there's no hope of me ever even graduating, much less actually going to college to become an artist." Quinn said as she put her phone away.
"You never know, with enough hard work you could actually make it some day." Rachel said with a sure smile on her face. Quinn smiled back at her, it was heart warming how much this girl believed in her more than anyone ever had, and she had just met her.
"So tell me about you, what's your dream?" Quinn asked.
"Oh me? Well my dream is to be a star on Broadway." Rachel said with a smile and Quinn couldn't help but notice the little sparkle in her eye when she spoke about it.
"Really?" Quinn asked. Rachel nodded happily. "I have to say I'm surprised."
"Why?" Rachel asked.
"Well, this isn't the usual scene for aspiring Broadway stars." Quinn said.
"Like I said before, no one really knows or expects this from me. It's sort of a guilty pleasure." Rachel shrugged.
"That makes you even more badass." Quinn said.
"Why?" Rachel said with a giggle.
"Cause, you're breaking the status quo." Quinn said with a warm smile. "So is it just punk rock or rock in general?"
"I'm a sucker for classic rock too." Rachel said.
"Who's your favorite classic rock band?" Quinn asked.
"Queen, you?" Rachel asked.
"Queen." Quinn repeated back and Rachel raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"
"Nothing, I just didn't expect that since…you know." Rachel said, pointing to Quinn's Rolling Stones t-shirt. Quinn looked down at the shirt and smile back at the girl.
"Yeah, well, I thrive to never live up to anyone's expectations." Quinn said. "It's fun seeing people be surprised when you do what they don't expect you to. Which is why I think it's so badass that you like this kind of music. It's unexpected."
"You like the unexpected?" Rachel asked and Quinn nodded. "Well, I wouldn't expect the school's resident bad girl to make it as a big artist, so I suppose I should wait and see huh?"
"If you say so, just don't expect anything from me, you'll be surprised." Quinn said and shot her a playful wink. Rachel giggled.
Within a few minutes they were finished with their food and were back in the middle of the crowd as they danced and sang along to the music. Half the time they didn't even know what the lyrics were, they just sang along with what they thought they heard the band sing and danced around, enjoying each other's company more than anyone thought two strangers could. The concert went on well into the night and before they knew it it was half past midnight. Rachel looked at her watch.
"Oh my God." She said.
"What is everything okay?" Quinn asked.
"Yeah it's just, I have to go." She said.
"What?" Quinn asked. She felt her heart drop. She was having so much fun with this girl and she didn't want this night to end.
"Yeah I have to go catch the last bus home." Rachel said sadly.
"Let me take you home. I've got a car." Quinn said.
"Well okay but my curfew is 2 AM so-"
"Let's stay for another half hour okay?" Quinn pleaded. She really wanted to savor the last few moments with this girl. They enjoyed themselves as much as they could till 1AM and then Quinn led her to her car. As soon as Rachel caught the first sight of the 1960's Impala she let out a short burst of laughter.
"What?" Quinn asked.
"You're such a liar." Rachel giggled.
"What are you talking about?" Quinn asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Nothing, it's just this is exactly the car I imagined you'd have. Some old, vintage, run down-"
"Shh!" Quinn said placing her hands on the hood of the car. "She might hear you!"
Rachel burst out laughing again.
"She didn't mean it baby." Quinn whispered softly to her car, loud enough for Rachel to hear.
"Oh my God!" Rachel laughed out again. Quinn giggled at the sight of Rachel laughing.
"Come on Broadway, let's get you home!" Quinn said, walking to the passenger side door and opening it for Rachel.
"Oh why thank you, you're so chivalrous!" Rachel giggled.
"Didn't expect that did you?" Quinn said as she closed the door and walked to the driver side door. She got in and started the car.
"Okay I guess you win that one." Rachel nodded. "I get points for the car though."
"Fine, deal. But we are two to one, I get points for the shirt." Quinn said.
"Fine. But you should know that Rachel Berry never backs down from a challenge." Rachel teased.
"Neither does Quinn Fabray." Quinn teased back.
"Hah!" Rachel said victoriously. "I expected you to say that."
"Dammit!" Quinn said with a giggle. "Fine, we're tied, but this isn't over Berry!"
"Oh no Fabray, I do believe it has only just begun!" Rachel said back at the pink-haired girl.
They joke around and chat while Rachel gives Quinn directions to her house. They arrive and Rachel is about to open the car door and get out when Quinn beats her to it. She walks Rachel over to the front door.
"I had fun tonight. You really made that concert memorable." Quinn said.
"You mean that?" Rachel said with a smile.
"I do." Quinn nodded.
"I had fun too." Rachel said.
"So…I'll see you at school?" Quinn said.
"Unless you hid under the bleachers all year again." Rachel said with a giggle.
"Ah but see now you expect it of me." Quinn said.
"Lucky me then." Rachel said. Suddenly the door was swinging open and her daddy Leroy, who towered above them at six feet tall, was standing at the door.
"Oh, hi daddy…umm…This is Quinn." Rachel pointed to the pink haired girl.
"Nice to meet you." Leroy said. His arms were crossed over his chest.
"You too sir." Quinn nodded.
"Thanks for the ride Quinn, oh, and the great night." Rachel said. She gave Quinn a quick peck on the cheek. "Goodnight."
Before Quinn knew it Rachel had gone inside and the door was closed. She smiled to herself and walked to her car, driving back home. In about five minutes she was back home. Rachel was lying in bed in her own home, just thinking about how amazing her night was. That was when her phone beeped, telling her that she had a message.
Quinn: Hey.
She raised her eyebrow. She didn't remember asking Quinn for her number, so how on earth was it in her phone?
Rachel: Hey? How the hell do I have your number?
Quinn: You asked me to hold your bag while you were in the bathroom.
Rachel: Okay?
Quinn: I took your phone and put my number in, then I called my own cell with yours so that I'd get your number. Unexpected huh? ;)
Rachel: I was thinking more along the lines of 'crazy psycho stalker.' But sure let's go with that.
Quinn: Haha! Yes! Fabray: 3 Berry: 2
Rachel: You're a little kid behind all that pink hair aren't you?
Quinn: Your dad is huge, what the fuck happened with you? You're like…tiny.
Rachel: I have two gay dads, that was my daddy Leroy, he's not my biological father.
Quinn: Was your other dad Munchkin number four in Wizard of Oz?
Rachel: Just as I expected: you're not funny.
Quinn: Oh please, you laughed.
Rachel: Nope.
Quinn: Not even the slightest giggle?
Rachel: Okay, I kind of did that bull thing…
Quinn: What?
Rachel: You know, where you blow out a gust of air from your nose? Like a bull.
Quinn: Oh, yeah. Oh well, I'll take it. So is your dad really short though?
Rachel: He's only slightly taller than me…stop laughing.
Quinn: I'm not…
Rachel: Oh really?
Quinn: Okay, I did that bull thing.
Rachel: That counts as a point for me.
Quinn: Okay. Fine.
Rachel: So was there a reason you texted me? Or were you just curious as to where my genetics got fucked up the ass?
Quinn: HAHA! Nice! I texted you to ask if you wanted to hang out tomorrow.
Rachel: You really want to hang out with me?
Quinn: You seem surprised.
Rachel: It's like I said, I don't have many friends.
Quinn: So is that a yes?
Rachel: It's a hell yes.
Quinn: Sweet!
Rachel: So what are we doing?
Quinn: I was thinking we could hang out at my place and just listen to music.
Rachel: Sounds great!
Quinn: I'll pick you up at noon, cool?
Rachel: Cool, goodnight Quinn.
Quinn: Goodnight Rachel!
Rachel shut off her phone with a contented sigh and got up. She changed into a tank top and didn't even bother putting on any shorts. She slid under the thin bed sheet and closed her eyes with a small hint of a smile still on her face. That night had been the best one all summer and she found that she couldn't wait for the next day.
Across the other end of town, Quinn smiled at her phone and shut it off after bidding Rachel a good night. She dropped it onto the bedside table and took off her jeans and t-shirt, tossing them aside and not even bothering with any clothes to sleep in. She kicked the bed sheet over her and let it fall haphazardly over her. She turned over and fell asleep with only one last thought in her mind.
She'd had so much fun with Rachel that night she didn't even realize she forgot her cigarettes at home.
A/N: So what did you think? Please review!
