"Quinn Fabray I know your secret." I looked at the typed note and after rereading it for the third time it finally sunk in. Someone knew something I didn't want them to. The questions started to go through my head who knew, what would I have to do to make them quiet and lastly what secret were they talking about? They could be talking about me being pregnant, that the father wasn't my boyfriend or something that no other living soul knew about. The next week I spent thinking about the note. The second note came a day after Christmas and all it said was to wait for more notes. This note was also typed so I knew I wouldn't be able to decipher the handwriting. I impatiently waited for the next note which came the next day.
"Meet me at the school in two hours." I didn't know when the person had brought the note so to be safe I left at that moment. I got to the school and only saw one car in the parking lot and it was a car I knew well so I walked into the school thinking I could put this whole thing behind me.
"Brittany, what are you doing here?" I asked wanting to hear Brittany admit what she'd done.
I realized I wouldn't get an admonition when she turned around surprised and said, "Hi. Santana called and wanted to 'talk'" I smirked when she put quotations around the word talk, but let her continue, "I'm assuming she called Puck and he couldn't be here so she called me." As she finished explaining we heard Brittany's name being yelled. "I'm over here." She said not dropping her smile.
We were soon joined by Santana who put her arm around Brittany's waist and said, "Hey, Quinn Jacob Ben Israel's looking for you." My blood boiled at his name.
"Where is he?" I asked through clenched teeth.
They shared a look before Santana replied, "Choir room. Is everything okay or do you need back-up?"
"I'll be fine, but I'll call if I need help." They nodded before I turned around and walked toward the choir room.
"Quinn good I was beginning to think you wanted your secret to be told."
"Word of advice next time don't write two hours write an exact time and oh yeah stop doing this to me and I won't kill you." I felt angrier seeing the smug look on his face.
"I don't think you're in a position to threaten I can tell everyone your secret." I closed my eyes and counted to ten to calm myself, but it was pointless because when I opened my eyes to see his smirk all the anger came back.
"Why don't you tell me what secret you're talking about?" I asked through clenched teeth.
"You have more than one? Oh, this is great! Why don't you tell me your secrets and I'll tell you whether you're right."
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" he made a face and I added, "Don't answer that. Just tell me what you're hanging over my head."
"No, I don't think I'm gonna do that."
"Fine have it your way. Just let me call Santana and I'll kick your ass." I pulled out my phone when I heard him laugh.
"No, you're not going to do that, but you are going to do what I say."
"What do you want?" I asked realizing it was the only thing I could do.
"You're going to be my date to the New Years party." I scoffed.
"My boyfriend will totally agree." I said sarcastically and he smirked again.
"You'll make him agree or I'll tell him your secret." I had a two out of three chance that if Finn heard one of them he'd leave me so I nodded.
"I'll meet you at the party." I turned around to leave but he started speaking again.
"No, I'll pick you up so you don't go back on me." "Damn." I thought before walking out without a word. I tried to forget what Jacob had said hoping he would forget, but unfortunately he didn't and came to my house at nine o'clock on New Years Eve. I had told Finn to meet me at the party just to be safe so I left in Jacob's old Toyota and arrived at Puck's to see only a few cars in the driveway. I followed Jacob in the house and saw Puck setting up beer and Brittany and Santana making out on the couch. Jacob wouldn't take his eyes off my best friends so I walked away to walk over to Puck.
"Where's Finn?" he asked looking at me for a second before going back to the keg he was setting up.
"He's meeting me here." I answered simply. "You came with that Jacob kid right?" I looked behind me to make sure no one could hear.
"He knows about us."
"So to keep our secret you have to be his date?" I nodded. "Did you tell Finn?"
"I just told him to meet me here I didn't tell him why." He nodded in understanding. "I'm gonna go get Jacob before Brit and San beat him up." I said walking back into the living room. By the time I walked back Brittany and Santana were yelling at Jacob.
"Stop watching us, perv." Santana said vengefully.
"Jacob, come here." I said calmly. He looked up and walked over to me. "Stop talking to my friends." He smirked, but after looking into my eyes nodded. I walked past him and sat on the couch he just left and started talking to Brittany until people arrived.
When Finn saw me standing next to Jacob he wondered if he was bugging me. I pulled him off to the side and explained that Jacob knew I was pregnant and to keep him quiet I had to be his date tonight. Finn agreed and I walked away feeling guilty. I walked around with Jacob and saw Rachel talking to Puck. My throat constricted at the sight of her dressed in a black dress that was different than anything I'd ever seen her in. Rachel looked at Jacob and met my eyes apologetically. I found myself subconsciously smiling and before I could say hi I was dragged away. Time got closer to midnight and I felt more relief with each passing minute. When it was fifteen minutes to twelve Jacob turned to me.
"You're gonna kiss me at midnight and this is not our only date."
"What! I am never kissing you or going on another date with you." I replied infuriated.
"Then I'll just tell everybody." He made his way to the center of the room and said, "Excuse me, everyone, I have an announcement."
"No, Jacob, wait." I said quickly. He leaned toward me.
"You'll date and kiss me?"
"Hell no, I'm just gonna tell them." I looked across the room and saw two brown eyes that gave me all the strength I needed for what I was about to say. "I, Quinn Fabray, am pregnant with Pucks baby." I heard gasps and murmuring and waited to it be quiet before I continued "and . . ." everyone stopped to listen "I'm in love with Rachel Berry" I looked back to Jacob and saw his mouth hanging open "We done?" I asked and he nodded.
"I was just gonna tell them you collect comic books" I felt a nervous giggle escape me as I walked away to find Finn I found him sitting at the table taking a shot.
"Finn I'm sorry" I said scared. "You know what hurts the most" he asked quietly and I just shook my head "You being in love with Rachel." I looked at him surprised "I suspected the baby wasn't mine 'cause we never had sex, but I thought you were straight." I still stood looking at him surprised "I'm not mad Quinn hurt, but not mad." he stood up and before walking past me added, "I hope you guys work out."
"Thank you." I heard behind me before I could wrap my head around the situation. Finn walked away as I turned around to see my only weakness standing in the entryway
"That was brave what you did in there."
"Thanks." I said smiling feeling my stomach flip flop.
I watched her shift from one foot to the next before she looked at me and said, "Will you go on a date with me?" I smiled wider and opened my mouth to answer, but she kept talking "I heard what you said and I'm in love with you too, but I just want to take it slow."
"So slow that you won't kiss me at midnight?" I asked quietly.
She smiled a smile that made my heart nearly jump out of my chest and answered, "I'd be willing to do that, but after that I want to date before we do anything more serious."
"I can handle that." I said feeling like my whole body was floating. I took a step closer to her as she took a step closer to me and soon we were an inch away from each other. I barely heard the cheers erupt as her lips collided with my own.
"So about that date?" I asked when we'd broken apart.
"Yeah" she said nervously.
"Can I take you to breakfast?" she smiled and nodded.
"I'd like that." I grabbed her hand to interlock our fingers as we walked through the crowd to the cars
"Did you drive here?" Rachel asked when I stopped and looked around.
"I forgot Jacob drove."
"It's ok I drove." She answered with a giggle. We walked to her car and only let go of each others hand when we had to. "Where do you want to go?" she asked looking to me before she started the car.
"I didn't really think about it. To be honest all I was thinking about was being alone with you."
She dropped her head before picking it up and saying, "this might be dumb especially for a first date, but my dads usually make breakfast on New Years if you want to join."
"Sure that would be cool." I said without a second thought.
"Ok" she replied turning on the car and pulled away from the house. We were silent as she drove to her house. "They hate being called Mr. Berry so call them Leroy and Hiram ok?" she said as we got out of the car and walked to the front door.
"Which is which?"
"I'll tell you."
She opened the door and I heard a man yell, "There's our Prima Donna!" I heard Rachel sigh beside me.
"Daddy you know I hate when you call me that." I heard laughs as we walked through the foyer into the kitchen. When we walked all the way into the kitchen Rachel walked past me to place a kiss on both of her dad's cheeks. I looked around the kitchen and saw white walls with a few pictures of what I'm assuming was Rachel as a child, wood shelves and a linoleum counter top. The kitchen looked clean and expensive like one you would see on TV.
"Quinn, this is my father Leroy and this is my daddy Hiram." Rachel said as she pointed to each of her dads. Hiram was the shorter of the two with thinning brown hair and very pale skin and Leroy was a big tall black man who smiled at me warmly and walked up first to shake my hand.
"It's very nice to meet you." He said and his husband nodded.
"We've heard a lot about you."
"Dad!" I looked at Rachel and saw her blushing.
"Oh, really? What has Rachel said about me?" Before Hiram could talk Leroy cut him off.
"That you're in Glee with her." I could tell from his face that Rachel had said more and I again looked at Rachel.
"I told them I liked you." I smiled and Rachel's dads looked surprised.
"I admitted that I loved her at the New Years party." I said filling in the blanks.
They smiled and Hiram asked, "Is this a first date?"
Rachel blushed even more as Leroy looked at me and said, "I'm sorry my husband has no tact."
Rachel, Leroy and I laughed when Hiram said, "It's a good question."
"I'm sure you think so honey." Leroy said when he stopped laughing. I again looked at Rachel who now had her hand over her mouth. Her eyes met mine and she walked over to me.
"I apologize for their behavior."
"You don't have to. I kinda like 'em." She smiled a smile that made my whole body tingle.
"Let's eat." Hiram said as he carried a plate of pancakes to the table. We sat and ate with a mix of comfortable conversations and silences. I felt completely at ease so by the end of the night I didn't want to leave.
"Thank you for joining us Quinn we hope we haven't embarrassed Rachel too much that you won't join us again." Leroy said to me as Rachel and I were walking out.
"It's been fun." My eyes met Rachel's "I'll come back" Rachel's smile matched my own.
"My dads love you." she said when we'd gotten to her car.
"Isn't that a good thing?" I asked amused.
"Yes it is in a way, but if you ever come over again we won't be alone."
"We'll just have to go to my house then won't we?" She looked at me after she pulled into my driveway.
"Does that mean you want to go out again?"
"I was hoping. Why does that surprise you?"
"Because you're Quinn Fabray and I'm Rachel Berry. You've called me Man-Hands, RuPaul and Treasure Trail since we started high school. We're from different parts of the school. Should I continue?"
"No, I got it." I said quietly. "I'm sorry I did that, but it's like you said we're from different cliques so I had to put up a front to hide my feelings."
"How long have you liked me?" she said smiling.
"Since sixth grade when I saw you stand up against Dave Karofsky because he said that I would never be a cheerleader with the moves I was showing Brittany and Santana."
"I hate seeing people getting picked on and I could tell how much it hurt you." She answered and I felt a warmness settle in my stomach.
"How long have you liked me?" she put her head down, but not before I saw her cheeks turn red.
"Since the end of fifth grade when I saw you help Brittany sing her part in the musical."
I smiled widely, "Everything's music for you isn't it?"
"It didn't start liking you 'cause of the music. I liked you because you were sweet and patient to Brittany even though she never really did get it." I smiled at the memory of a simpler time. My eyes fell on my house and I instantly felt uncomfortable. The house was completely dark meaning that my parents were either asleep or still out at their party and knowing them it was the latter.
"Nobody home?" Rachel asked seeming to pick up on my mood.
"I don't think so. They're probably still partying." I opened the door
"I'll see you later Rachel thanks for tonight."
I looked back at her as I was half way out the door and she said, "You can stay at my house." My heart started hammering hard in my chest.
"Why?"
"If you don't want to spend the night in an empty house."
"That's sweet, but I'm sure your dads would allow it." I said feeling a heat settle on my cheeks.
"Let me talk to them." She replied smirking and pulling out her phone.
"If you can convince them then I'd love to stay at your house." She quickly dialed and after a few minutes of hearing her explain than blush before she said, "thank you." She looked at me proudly. "They said yes do you need anything inside?"
"Yeah I'll be right back." I again started to get out of the car, but this time Rachel turned off the car and got out with me.
"I don't want to wait out here alone." She explained when I gave her a weird look.
"Ok." I smiled and took her hand to walk inside. We walked in and after I turned some lights on the house started to look better. I didn't let go of Rachel's hand until we had walked up to my room and she stood in the doorway looking around while I walked to my dresser to pull out pajama's and a change of clothes for the next day. I put them in a bag before walking across the hall to the bathroom while Rachel still looked around my room.
"What do you think?" I asked when I walked back to see she'd moved and was looking at the pictures I had on my dresser by my bed.
"Is that your sister?" she asked pointing to a picture of me with my arm around a girl who looked like an older me.
"Yup. I don't get to see her very much 'cause she lives in Cleveland with her "perfect" husband." She looked at me confused. "That's what my parents call him. He's the perfect Christian guy according to them and they are so happy my sister married him. They like him so much they want me to marry his little brother." She looked at me sympathetically. "You want to hear the funny part?" I asked smiling and she nodded. "He's gay and has a serious boyfriend who everyone thinks is just his best friend."
"Wow, I would hate it if my dad's set me up with someone. Although, right now I think they want us to date."
"How much of that is because of what you told them about me?" I asked playfully and I noticed her blush again.
"Most, but they like you almost as much as I do." She said the last part quietly so that I almost didn't hear her. We stood silently as I started at the picture.
"I love you Rachel and quiet frankly that scares the shit out of me."
She looked at me and in a small voice said, "Why does it scare you?"
"I've dated Finn and some other guys and I've slept with Puck, but none of them have made me feel the way you do. My stomach flip flops when I think about you and I find myself smiling when I know I'm going to see you."
"My heart goes crazy when I see you." She mumbled. I marveled at the comfortableness of the silence until she grabbed my hand again to interlock our fingers. "Are you sure you want to put up with me?" I looked at our hands then met her ours.
"I could ask you the same thing and add on baby."
"How far along are you?" she asked staring at my stomach.
"About a month and I don't even know what I'm going to do besides not getting an abortion." She finally met my eyes and they seemed to dance in the light.
"I want you Quinn. I need you and if you're willing to have me I will take care of you and if you decide to keep it I'll help you with your baby." I felt tears spring to my eyes at the honesty and pure affection I heard in her tone. Instead of answering I pulled her in for a kiss that I hoped conveyed my love for her. When we broke apart we stood in silence in my room for a few minutes and it felt perfect to be in her arms with a promise hanging around us.
"Ready to go?" she asked finally and I nodded letting her lead me out of the house and into my future with her.
