Quinn threw the apartment door open – they never did lock it despite living in one of the worst apartment buildings in New York City – and groaned loudly. "Fuck relationships, fuck work, fuck men!" Quinn said loudly as she barged into the kitchen, throwing open the freezer and pulling out a tub of ice cream, oblivious to the people in the apartment. "Rachel, call Brittany; It's a 91-" Quinn paused as she turned, spoon in hand, seeing two guys – one sporting a 'bad boy' looking mohawk while the other looked very boy-next-door and extremely tall, even as he sat. "Rachel!" she called, turning from the boys as if she hadn't seen them.
"Quinn?" Rachel said, walking out of the washroom. She stopped once she saw Quinn and looked at the tub of ice cream and spoon. "Already?" she asked in disbelief.
Quinn nodded and rolled her eyes. "And I don't want these people I don't know to see me bawl my eyes out for the next 3 hours." Quinn said, finally looking at the guys. Mr. Mohawk looked slightly amused while the other guy looked thoroughly confused.
"What's happening?" The tall guy asked.
"Oh, nothing much," Quinn said, sarcastically, "I just walked in on my now-ex-boyfriend fucking my assistant, but that happens every day! The sad part is, it actually does! Now, can you two leave because I don't think me bawling my face red will make a very good first impression, although I'm pretty sure that ship has already sailed!"
"Wow," The mohawk guy said, standing. "Sucks."
"Sucks? Sucks!" Quinn repeated, taking a step forward, "Sure as fuck it sucks! I know it sucks, you know it sucks, and now my ex-boyfriend knows exactly what my good for nothing assistant sucks! I do not need you to tell me it sucks, I need you to get the fuck out so I can cry and rant to my best friends!"
To Quinn's utter surprised – and annoyance -, mohawk boy laughed. "Whatever you say, Barbie."
Quinn took another step forward, fully set on slapping that annoying smirk off his face, only to be held back by Rachel. "I'm so sorry, she's pretty upset, uh, we'll talk tomorrow." Rachel said.
"Uh...yeah, sure." The tall boy said, standing up, "See ya later, Rachel." He smiled at Rachel sweetly; Quinn could practically feel her best friend's heart swelling. She resisted an eye roll. "Uh, bye, sorry 'bout your ex-boyfriend," the boy said to Quinn before walking out with the mohawk boy. Quinn's green-eyed glare follow Mr. Mohawk out the door, resisting the urge to slap him when he winked, smirking.
Once the door closed Rachel let go of Quinn and took another spoon before following Quinn to the couch where she grabbed the phone, pressed 3 – Brittany's speed dial – and waited for Brittany to pick up. Immediately, Quinn opened the tub of Chunky Monkey and dug in. Around the ice cream she said, "Who were those guys?"
Still holding the phone to her head Rachel answered, "The one you nearly murdered is Puck and his friend is Finn, they just moved in across the hall."
"Puck? What kind of name is that?" Quinn said, crinkling her nose in disgust.
"His real name is Noah, I think."
"Lemme guess," Quinn said, shooting Rachel a smirk, "You were too busy making googly eyes with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome?"
Rachel's blush answered Quinn's question. "His name is Finn."
"Exactly," Quinn said, stuffing her mouth with a spoon full of ice cream as Rachel got a hold of Brittany. "Tell her to bring more Chunky Monkey!"
Rachel barely had to say anything, Brittany knew the drill all too well and within ten minutes Brittany came into their apartment, a tub of Chunky Monkey in her hands and a bottle of strong liquor under her arm. "Kay, I'm here, what happened?" she asked, setting everything on the coffee table and sitting on Quinn's other side. Rachel had placed a tissue box on the table.
"Well, you guys know I was dating Erik," Quinn started. It wasn't a question but the two girls nodded anyways, Brittany scoffed. She never liked him. You could call her dumb all you wanted, but she was definitely a good judge of character. "Well, I told him to wait in my secretary's office while I finished up. It took longer than I expected and by the time I got out there his pants were half way off and she was sitting on the desk with her panties off and her dress hitched up. You can figure out the rest." Quinn waved her hand dismissively, grabbing a tissue roughly and blowing her nose.
"What d'ya do?" Brittany asked tentatively. Brittany was never the brightest crayon in the crayola box, but since high school she had definitely improved – thanks to Rachel's excessive tutoring. She still had her "blonde" moments, this just didn't happen to be one.
"Told him to pull his pants up and get the hell out then I fired her slutty ass."
"Su-"
Quinn cut Brittany off before she could finish. "Do not say sucks. Do not."
Rachel bit back a laugh and told Brittany about what happened earlier with Quinn and Puck.
"What kind of name is Puck anyways! Isn't that something in hockey?" Quinn said, abandoning the ice cream and grabbing the alcohol, chugging it.
"But... he is cute." Rachel rose an eyebrow at Quinn, daring her to disagree.
"If 'cute' suddenly means obnoxious, annoying, and cocky then fuck yes he's cute!" Quinn took another long drink. "He looks like a ferret died on his head." She that quieter, into the bottle. Rachel laughed and grinned at her friend.
The rest of the night was spent making fun of Erik and drinking. Eventually, they were all hammered and giggling like fools.
"You lurve Finny!" Quinn said pointing at Rachel before her and Brittany burst into hysterical giggles.
"Do not!" Rachel said, only to burp half way through, ruining it. The three girls all burst into giggles then. The music was on high, blaring the songs the trio of girls sang back in high school when they were a band. Quinn lay on the floor, her legs up on the couch, Rachel lay on the couch, and Brittany sprawled in the lazy boy Quinn demanded they get. They knew they were making a lot of noise but they did every time Quinn had a bad break up – which happened more often than not – and no one in the building seemed to mind.
Or, they didn't. There was a knock on the door that they didn't seem to hear and after a minute, Mr. Mohawk walked in. "Whoa, you guys are having a party and didn't invi-" Puck started, before looking at the three wasted girls and raising an eyebrow. "Wha?"
"Ferret boy!" Quinn cried, lifting the bottle of vodka in the air and beaming at him.
Brittany and Rachel dissolved into drunken giggles. "Come join us!" Rachel said loudly.
"Yeah, bring Finn!" Brittany said, causing Quinn to erupt in giggles.
Puck laughed and turned, calling for Finn to get his ass over there. Finn showed up in less than a minute and Quinn and Brittany cheered. "Yay! It's soon to be Mr. Berry!" Brittany said, pumping her fist.
Quinn giggled. "No, no, no. Brittany, he would still be Mr. Hislastname, Rachel is soon to be Mrs. Hislastname!" The two girls giggled again. "Hey! You! Tall one, what's your last name?" Quinn said, pointing at him drunkenly.
"I bet it's really long," Brittany said. "'Cause he's tall." Quinn and Rachel, who had covered herself with the quilt they always kept there, giggled at this and Quinn took another swing.
"Hudson..." Finn said, looking questionably at them.
"Well, Mr. Hudson, come join Ms. Fabray, Ms. Pierce, and Soon-To-Be Mrs. Hudson!" Quinn said, pointing to the three girls as she said the names, before rolling onto her side and giggling till she was wiping tears from her eyes.
Puck laughed loudly and walked over plucking the bottle from Quinn's hand and taking a swing of it before plopping on his butt beside Quinn. "Yeah, c'mon Finnessa!" he said, grinning.
Finn raised his eyebrows at the room before shrugging and walking in. "Where's the booze?" he asked, causing all the girls to giggle and Puck to laugh as he handed Finn the bottle.
After less than an hour and almost all the liquor Rachel and Quinn had, they were all wasted. Rachel, Brittany and Finn were talking about their favourite places in New York City, sharing a bottle of vodka, while Quinn and Puck fought over the bottle they shared. "Why?" Quinn suddenly asked, abandoning the bottle and looking utterly defeated.
Puck, who was laying beside her on the ground, looked over and raised an eyebrow. "Why what?"
"Why'd he cheat on me?" Quinn's voice was just above a whisper.
"'Cause he's an idiot." Puck said with no hesitation.
"You really believe that?" Quinn looked up at him her eyes wide and brimmed with tears. "Maybe there's something wrong with me. Maybe I'm not pretty enough, or I'm not good in bed." Quinn took the half empty bottle from Puck and took a swing. It was the fifth bottle they'd had since the beginning of the evening with at least two more left.
Puck gave a dry laugh and shook his head. "Nope. You're hot as hell and your attitude just screams hot in the sack."
Quinn giggled and took another swing. "You're just saying that. And you've never had sex with me so you wouldn't know."
"Wanna give me a sample?" He rose an eyebrow suggestively at her and smirked.
Quinn rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm. "You wish, ferret boy."
"Hell yes."
"Hey," Finn said from his spot beside Rachel. "Who's singing these songs?" he asked.
"Us," Brittany said simply.
"As in Quinn, Brittany, and myself," Rachel expanded the answer. "We were a band for a brief period during senior year."
"You guys rock," Finn said, grinning.
"Hey, we have a band." Puck butted in. "Finn's the drums, I'm the guitar, and my ex girlfriend slash best friend, Santana is the vocals but we were looking for some more members."
"You should talk to Sam." Quinn told them. "Sam is Brittany's brother slash my ex. He's awesome with a guitar. Rachel acts and sings, but mostly show tunes, Brittany dances, and I can talk anyone into doing anything, it's part of being the manipulative bitch." Quinn grinned sarcastically.
"Yup, Quinn's the manipulative bitch, Sam's the geeky, charming musician, Brittany's the sweet, sort of ditzy blonde, and I'm the soon-to-be Broadway star." Rachel beamed.
"Diva." Quinn and Brittany coughed the word into their hands. Rachel scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Basically," Quinn said, "Brittany and I don't sing anymore. Brittany dances and I'm an under appreciated lawyer. Rachel still sings but she mostly acts now. Sam's the only one that's still actually sings."
"But you guys are awesome." Finn said.
"Well, duh." Brittany said, snatching the bottle from Finn and taking a swing.
"What Finn means is, if you guys are so good, why'd you stop?" Puck explained.
"Because, that's the past. We tried, it didn't work. Rachel's got an amazing voice, but she has a much better chance at making it on Broadway than becoming the next Lady Gaga. Brittany can sing awesome, too, but she's a better dancer. I can sing, but I'm better at manipulating people. Sam's still optimistic about it all, though. We just stopped trying. It wasn't going anywhere and wasn't going to anytime soon. We're a couple girls from a small town that can sing pretty good, but the chances of getting noticed were slim to none." Quinn finished her very depressing speech with a swing of vodka. Quinn vaguely heard Rachel say, "I am way better than Lady Gaga!" but chose to ignore it.
"So was Justin Bieber and he sucks balls." Puck said instantly.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter. We don't sing anymore. End of story. Ask Sam."
"Sing. One last time. Right now."
Quinn shook her head and took another swing.
"For me." Puck's brown eyes caught Quinn's green ones and held them there.
Quinn swallowed hard, and for a second, even thought she might. "I don't sing anymore." She attached her lips to the rim of the vodka bottle as if to keep a song from escaping her lips. Puck raised his chin slightly, his eyes wondering her face. She felt her cheeks grow hot and quickly looked the other way.
The very awkward moment was interrupted by Finn's phone ringing. He quickly answered it with a big 'Hello!'. "Oh, hey," he said again when he realized who it was. Covering the mouthpiece with his hand he told Puck, "It's Mercedes with a gig." Puck nodded, taking the bottle from Quinn. Rachel sent Puck a question mark look as Finn started to talk to Mercedes, quickly assuring her they weren't at a club or party, but just 'getting to know' their new neighbours.
"Our manager, but she's mostly like a mom despite us all being older than her." Puck explained and Rachel relaxed, immediately crossing her off as a potential threat in the plan Quinn could already see forming in Rachel's head. Rachel is a go getter, had been since Quinn and her were in high school together, and Quinn can see Rachel's newest goal was to get Finn Hudson.
Puck shot Quinn a question mark look and Quinn quickly looked away, not willing to betray her friend to a guy she barely knew and definitely did not like. Quinn took slow, small drinks from her bottle every now and then as Finn's conversation with Mercedes raged on. Quinn didn't bother to listen to Finn's half, only hearing a word here and there. Rachel, however, had hung off his every word, biting her lip as she watched him.
Finally, after about a three minute conversation between the band's drummer and the band's manager, Finn said his goodbye and hung up the phone, a grin on his face. "We got a gig!" he cried, holding up the phone.
Puck let out a whoop and held up his hand toward Quinn for a high five. Quinn glared at the hand before meeting Puck's eyes and raising an eyebrow. Puck shrugged and let his hand drop. In spit of herself, Quinn laughed, shaking her head and took another small drink from her bottle.
"So, where is it?" Rachel asked, smiling.
"You would come?" Finn asked, eyebrows shooting up.
"Why not?" Rachel grinned. "Right, Quinnie?" She looked over at Quinn and shoot her a 'go along with it' look.
"First, I'm only letting 'Quinnie' slide cause you're drunk, and second, yeah, why not. It's not like I have a boyfriend to make plans with." Quinn said, giving a sarcastic smirk to the bottle before taking a drink from it. "What about you, Britt?"
"When is it?" Brittany asked, leaning back in her seat.
"Tomorrow, 10 pm at that new club near Times Square." Finn replied.
"Kay, then I can come."
Rachel clapped her hands together and beamed at the room. "Awesome! We can get Sam to come and he can listen to you guys, we can even try to get him to consider joining."
"Awesome!" Finn said, grinning.
"Wait, tomorrow? That means Santana's gonna wake us up at an unholy hour to rehearse..." Puck groaned and snatched the bottle from me.
"Exactly, so stop drinking and let's get to bed. You're already going to have a killer hangover." Finn reasoned.
"Fine," Puck said, over-dramatically and groaning loudly. Puck leaned over, handing Quinn the bottle and quickly stealing a drunken kiss on the cheek. Quinn felt her face heat and kept her eyes trained on the bottle's rim. Grinning, Puck stood and followed Finn out the door and to their room.
As the door clicked shut Brittany and Rachel both cried 'ahhh!'. "He totally likes you, Quinn!" Brittany exclaimed, grinning.
Quinn rolled her eyes and pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. A muscle twitched in her cheek. "I'm going to bed," she announced, placing the bottle on the coffee table. "I have to go to a bar tomorrow to watch a band play." Quinn smiled with mock-anger at Rachel who called a 'sorry' as Quinn let her bedroom door shut behind her.