Quinn woke suddenly, and immediately began to feel around her nightstand for the notebook she always kept there. She had trained herself to break out of dreams at will, in case an idea came to her in her sleep. Finally, she had a good one. This one felt like it really had potential. Of course, so did all the others, and they had always turned out to rather lame or just plain ludicrous on later examination. But this on felt different.
With her notebook and pen in hand, she experimentally opened her eyes, then quickly shut them. She reasoned that the burning sensation was her body's way of telling her that two hours of sleep was not enough, and was not an indication of vampirism. But one could never really be sure. She tried again, this time carefully opening her right eye a fraction of a centimeter. She half-blindly scribbled down everything she could remember from the dream. When she was done, she tossed her tools aside and collapsed back on the bed.
She was asleep almost instantly.
Quinn was roused again by the buzzing of her cell phone. She flailed her arm in the general direction of the nightstand, and succeeded in knocking the device to the floor.
"Fuck off," she muttered. She rolled over and held a pillow over her head.
Some time later, the phone buzzed again. She remembered that Rachel had said something about coming over today. Quinn dived out of bed to grab the phone.
2 New Messages
She opened the first message, which was time stamped twenty minutes earlier.
Rehearsal just ended. I'll be over in about 20. :) – RB
The next one wasn't even a minute old.
I'm at Starbucks. Do you want anything? – RB
While she was reading that one, another had come in.
Quinn Fabray, are you still sleeping? It's almost noon! If you don't answer, I'm getting you your usual. – RB
She smirked at the thought of Rachel scolding her for lying in. Quinn sent a quick reply to the text message.
Just woke up. Thnx for the coffee. – LQ
She didn't hear anything from Rachel until she burst through the apartment door Quinn had unlocked for her. By then, Quinn was perched in her favorite chair, translating her rambling dream into a coherent story.
"I was nearly run down by a crazed bike messenger!" Rachel said the instant the door shut behind her.
Quinn, who was used to Rachel's dramatics, didn't even look up.
"He didn't get my coffee, did he?"
"Quinn! How can you be so flippant about my well being? Imagine if he had hit me. Think of all the people who would never have the pleasure of hearing me perform live." Rachel was ranting indignantly, but Quinn could hear the playfulness in her voice, so she surmised that her coffee, and her friend were both fine.
"Hhmm. Just tragic." Quinn heard Rachel approach her chair. She turned to accept the hot cup of coffee that was offered to her. Rachel leaned over to read Quinn's notebook.
"That's not how it's spelled."
Quinn was taking a sip from her cup. She swallowed the scalding liquid quickly.
"What?"
"Magical." Rachel pointed to the word on the page. "It doesn't have a 'k'."
"Does if I want it to."
Rachel huffed. Quinn knew what was coming.
"Quinn! Have I not—." She also knew that her only chance was to cut Rachel off before she really got going. Grammar and Spelling Nazi Rachel could be useful at times, but sometimes it got to be a little much.
"You have. And have I not reminded you which one of us is a published author?" Rachel huffed again, and stomped her foot. "Besides, I like magick better."
"How do you do that?" Rachel said.
"Do what?"
"Pronounce the k."
Quinn's eyebrows furrowed.
"Just say it. Magick."
Rachel bounced excitedly.
"You did it again! It sounds exactly like magic, but somehow I know there's a 'k' in there."
"Repeat after me: magick."
"Magic."
"No, you're just saying it normally. Magick."
"Magiccckk."
"Well, now it sounds like you're tying to cough up a hairball."
"I do not have hairballs!" Rachel was still huffing and stomping her feet.
Quinn decided to take action. She set her notebooks and coffee on the side table and got up so she could face Rachel.
"I didn't say you did," she said soothingly.
"And why do you have to use your crazy incorrect spelling?" Rachel was really bothered by incorrect use of the English language, especially when the person using it incorrectly was a writer.
"Because it means something different. Magic is what Harry Potter does. You know, waving around a wand and saying funny words."
"As opposed to?"
Rachel sat down on the couch while Quinn was formulating her reply.
"Magick is… it's the little things that happen by accident that just brighten up your day. It's like randomly meeting someone new, and you instantly connect and you talk for hours. It's hearing you sing." It was the truth, but Quinn knew that flattery always helped when dealing with Rachel. She was smiling now, at least.
"I see your game Fabray. Trying to distract me by stroking my ego."
"Did it work?"
"Yes," Rachel admitted.
"Good. Now that you're sufficiently buttered up, I want to ask you about something." Quinn was suddenly feeling quite a bit more nervous than she should have. She sat back down in the chair and picked up her coffee to give herself something to do.
"I'm not moving anything for you."
"What? No, why…? Whatever. There's a Christmas tree lighting thing in the park tomorrow night, and a concert after. Your friend, with the band, what's his name?" Rachel supplied her with the name Jeff. "Right, Jeff. His band is playing. I was wondering if you wanted to go."
"Like a date?" Rachel blurted out. If Quinn hadn't been so busy restraining herself from saying 'yes', she would have seen Rachel's cheeks color.
"No! Well, not like a date-date. Like a friends date." Quinn wondered why that hadn't sounded so lame in her head.
"That sounds like fun!" Rachel's enthusiasm almost entirely covered over her disappointment.
Quinn restrained the stupid grin from breaking out on her face while she arranged a time and place to meet Rachel and while they talked for the rest of Rachel's lunch break, but she spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around her apartment in a daze.
They met at a small coffee shop just across the street from the park. They dealt entirely in fair trade products, and Quinn knew Rachel would appreciate that. She had arrived a few minutes early and ordered Rachel a soy hot chocolate.
She breezed through the door at precisely 6:30. Quinn waved her over to her table by the window.
"I got you a hot chocolate." She presented the cup to Rachel.
"Oh, thank you." Rachel sat down in the chair Quinn had surreptitiously pushed out for her.
They chatted over their drinks until a little before seven, when they made their way into the park for the tree lighting. They got caught up in the crowd, and arrived just as the countdown ended.
First the lights on the huge pine tree in front of them came on, then all around lights turned on in sequence. It appeared that every tree in sight had been covered in millions of Christmas lights.
Rachel looked around in wonder, then smiled up at Quinn. Quinn smiled back and squeezed her hand. She had grabbed onto it earlier, under the pretense of not losing her in the crowd. It was a valid concern. Rachel was so tiny.
Once the lights were light, the man who had read out the countdown directed their attention to a makeshift stage off to the left, where Jeff's band, The Bent Spoons, was warming up. They quickly launched into their set.
The band was taking a short break when Jeff surveyed the audience and spotted Rachel.
"Rachel! Rachel Berry, get up here!" He was point at her and waving towards the stage.
Rachel looked to Quinn, who nodded, then made her way to the stage. Jeff pulled her up and they were immediately engaged in conversation.
A minute or two later, Rachel jumped off the stage. She quickly pushed through the crowd to rejoin Quinn.
"You know 'O Holy Night', right?"
"Yeah." Quinn could see where this was going, and she didn't like it very much.
"Will you sing with me?"
"I don't think so, Rach."
Quinn knew what was coming when she saw Rachel's eyes widen slightly. She tried to look away. Then the lip rolled out and Quinn was done. There was no way to resist Rachel Berry's pouty face. Rachel held the face for a second, then spoke.
"Please, Quinn?" Right then, Quinn probably would have ran to the Brooklyn Bridge and thrown herself into the East River if Rachel had asked.
"Okay."
Suddenly, Rachel's pout was replaced by a huge grin, and Quinn was being dragged onto the stage. The bassist handed a pair of microphones to Rachel, who passed one to Quinn. Then Rachel was dragging her to center stage and Jeff was introducing them.
"So that tiny girl over there is my good friend Rachel Berry, who has the most amazing voice ever. Seriously, you are all going to die of awesomeness. So, here's Rachel and her, um, friend, Quinn." When he said 'um, friend', he glanced over at them and the both blushed. Rachel glared at him. He just pretended to tune his guitar.
With a nod from Rachel, Jeff began strumming a simple melody on his guitar. Rachel joined in after a few bars.
The chattering of the crowd immediately stopped on hearing Rachel's first note. Everyone, including Quinn, was enthralled.
Quinn would have missed her cue to join in if Rachel hadn't poked her in the ribs. She managed to remember the lyrics and hit almost all of the right notes. Even she thought they sounded good together, but if asked, she would attribute that entirely to Rachel.
The five minutes they sang for passed in the blink of an eye. The audience remained silent for the entire song and for several seconds afterwards. Then they burst into wild applause and cheering. They both bowed, and moved towards the back of the stage.
"That was beautiful, Rach," Quinn said with a huge smile.
"You were quite good too, Quinn."
"Not as good as you." They were both ducking their heads and trying not to blush.
"Hey girls, get back up here!" Jeff called. They were recruited to join in on several more Christmas carols, and lent their voices to the big closing number, which was one of The Bent Spoons' better known singles.
As they sang, it began snowing. Quinn danced out to the edge of the stage that wasn't protected by the awning and tried to catch the fat white flakes on her tongue. She heard Rachel giggling, so she grabbed the smaller girl and spun her around.
Later, after they performed two encores and Rachel said farewell to her friends, they walked down an almost empty street along the edge of the park. The heavy, wet snow was sticking to everything it fell on. They could have been walking through a Christmas card.
They had been silent for a while, just enjoying the company. They both pretended not to notice that Rachel's right hand was clasped in Quinn's left.
Quinn had been sneaking glances at Rachel. For the last few minutes, she seemed to be on the edge of saying something, and looked ready to burst.
"Oh, come on, you're just dying to say it aren't you?" Quinn finally spoke, unable to just watch Rachel anymore.
"Say what?"
"You know what."
Rachel was good at putting on a puzzled face. It probably would have fooled anyone else. Quinn just arched her eyebrow.
"You were a little sharp on a few notes in the last chorus," Rachel rushed out. Quinn laughed at her.
"I knew it!"
"Most of your performance was quite good. Even where you were sharp, you were only off slightly. I think you're even better than you were in high school." Quinn became very interested in the falling snowflakes.
"Not as good as you, though."
"Well, no one is as good as me," Rachel said smugly. Quinn giggled and pushed Rachel lightly with her shoulder. "Thank you for taking me to the show. I had a lot of fun tonight."
"Thank you for making me sing with you. I haven't done anything like that for a long time." After Quinn had pushed into Rachel, neither pulled away, so they were walking with their arms pressed tightly together. Rachel leaned her over to rest against Quinn's shoulder.
"Was that the first time you've sang in public since high school?"
"No, there were a couple times when I was in Paris. Remember that French guy I set Kurt up with?" Rachel 'hmm'd' to indicate she did. "He had a band. They needed a female vocalist for a few shows, so I helped out."
Rachel stopped without warning. This jerked Quinn's hand, and made her spin around to face Rachel, who reached out to grasp her free hand. There was hardly any space between them.
"You should sing more, Quinn. I really like your voice." Rachel's tongue darted out to lick her lips.
Rachel looking up at her with rosy cheeks and her red beret pushed back on her head reminded Quinn of high school. It made her feel the same way it did then. But now, she could identify that feeling. And she could see the signs that Rachel felt the same way. So she used their joined hands to pull Rachel even closer, and leaned in to kiss her.
Rachel met her halfway. Neither of them pushed very hard into the kiss, but it still sent a tingling feeling shooting throughout Quinn's body. It wasn't just their lips that met, but their whole bodies. They were pressed against each other, and stayed that way when they pulled back from the kiss.
Rachel giggled, and a dopey grin broke out on Quinn's face. Neither one really knew what to say, so they stared at each other with identical lovestruck looks on their faces. Until Rachel saw something over Quinn's shoulder.
"Quinn, look!" she breathed out excitedly. Quinn released on of Rachel's hands to look at what she had seen.
They had stopped at a corner where a little side street branched off from the road they were on. It was lined with rows of little shops and old fashioned street lamps. Most of the shops had lights or Christmas decorations hanging off of their signs. The falling snow blurred the scene, and limited their vision to a few short blocks, but what they could see looked like a seen from a movie.
Everything was covered with snow. The lamps, the signs, the sidewalks, all buried. Even the street was covered in the heavy white powder. And it was all completely untouched. There wasn't a single person, apart from the two of them, present.
"It's magical." Quinn turned back to Rachel when she spoke.
"You mean magickal?"
"Yes."
"You're still saying it wrong."