Well, you guys! This is the official translation of a Spanish fanfic of mine called "Candy Perfume Girl" -title inspired in the homonymous Madonna song from her 1998's album Ray of Light-. As you may -or may not- know, I do not speak English as my first language but, anyway, I'm trying my best to translate it propperly and as faithful to the original one as possible. I should get a beta soon, but they kind of scare me a little bit, I don't know. They're somehow intimidating.
Okay! This is a thirty-one-chapters-long story and I've already written twenty eight of them. I'm currently writing chapter number twenty nine, so the end is near. The title of every chapter is the name of the song I used to inspire myself and I will make sure to put the name of the artist/band the song belongs to.
I'm really nervous about this as the English fics are read for a lot more people than the Spanish ones so, you know, I'm once again intimidated. I don't know what your reactions could be, but I'd love if you could leave comments, whether to say what you thought about the chapter, to give me some love or the resquest me in the politest way possible to get the hell out of here and quit writing fics.
Well, enough of the meaningless rambling! Sorry for any typos and hope you enjoy!
Fromalities: Glee and its characters are not mine. They're property of Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuck and Ian Brennan.
Length: ~4000
Book 1: "I Feel Love" (Madonna)
Chapter 1: "Physical Attraction" (Madonna)
Something that has always been part of Noah Puckerman, was the need to have fun; and, as usual, he always came with an excuse to throw a party at his home. This time, the excuse: Regionals.
"But, Puck. I don't know if you remember," Quinn said "we lost."
"I know; but we deserve a party after all the effort we put on training and stuff" he said. Quinn smiled.
It's been a few months since Quinn had Beth -she actually didn't even have the opportunity to have her in her arms for longer than two miserable seconds that nurses were taking her away from her, from her life, and into the adoption room- and her stomach, despite the absence of that tiny being, was flat now; her abs lightly toned due to the exercise she's been putting herself to as soon as she was discharged, determined to fit into her cheerleader uniform and get back in action; get the power back.
With the baby gone, her changing moods disappeared -even if there were some kind of 'sequels' every now and then- as well as her constant and unstoppable, meaningless crying she used to suffer of.
The old Quinn Fabray returned not a lot after that: coach Silvester had accepted her once again on the team and, once she was reestablished as the Head Bitch in Charge of McKinley High -once she had her old power back-, everything was how it was supposed to be.
"Remember: Today. Big party. At my house. Eleven o'clock" Puck said from the risers, almost at the end of the class. Mr Schuester was looking for some scores to practice for one last song.
"What are we going to do at your place, yo?" asked Artie from lower.
"We're gonna have tons and tons of fun" he answered, lifting his left brow seductively, smirking towards Santana.
In the coir room was the entire Glee club. In the lower bleachers was Artie, Tina at his left, Mercedes, Kurt, Rachel and Finn; behind them was Mike Chang, sitting behind Artie, Matt besides him -as they always used to; like if they were some kind of Siamese twins-, Quinn, Puck, Brittany and Santana, that were linked by their pinkies.
As he heard about the party, Finn rubbed his shoulder with Rachel eliciting her to look at him. Their eyes were speaking a language only they could understand and therefore there was no need to say a thing: Finn was rather amused, while Rachel was looking at him pleadingly as if saying "No, please, don't make me do this".
. . . .
"Let's go to Puck's party" he said while driving Rachel home after Glee rehearsal.
"I rather not, Finn. We may have finished last year being able to be civil towards each other and talk without having to rise our voices, but they still hate me and they will definitely not like me being there because, in their eyes, I'm the antonym of fun" Rachel said.
"He made a point by deciding to throw the party, even if it was just an excuse." He said smiling, looking at the road, trying not to hit another mailman. "We kind of deserve this, Rach."
"Please, Finn. I really don't fell like going, I'm not gonna have fun. After all, the only thing they're gonna do is play dumb games and drink alcohol, which is bad for my vocal chords by the way" she answered.
The car stopped as they arrived to the Berry household.
"Please" he said smiling like a little puppy, kissing her left cheek. "Please."
"Okay" she said smiling after a moment, lowering her eyes and raising them a second later to look Finn at the face. "Okay. We'll go."
. . . .
"Are we gonna go to Puck's" Santana wrote on Quinn's Facebook wall.
Quinn saw the message and opened an MSN window. Santana was connected.
"I don't know, we may get bored" she wrote.
"We could use it to... Relax a little" Santana typed.
"The last time I mixed alcohol and relaxing with Puckerman, things didn't end well."
"Come on, Q; it's gonna be fun" Brittany wrote. It didn't surprise Quinn that Brittany was linked to the chat 'cause she was always were Santana was. It was like their bodies were always moving along with each other. Like there was some kind of invisible force, or physical attraction -scientifically speaking, of course- that elicited them to act that way. Quinn did never understand that. It just did never happen to her; not with Finn, not with Puck.
"Okay, we're going. But If it's boring, I get the hell out of there" she replied.
"I like ducks" Brittany wrote with a happy face at the end of the sentence. Quinn rolled her eyes and closed the chat window; stood up from the chair in front of the screen and let her body fall over the bed.
She wondered why she didn't act that way with the boys she had been in a relationship with, arriving to the conclusion that it was because they just bored her; they couldn't keep her entertained, nor challenged. Even if Finn was a good boy, a good person -leaving aside how stupid he was sometimes-, Quinn just dated him because of the image they sent to the rest of the world: she was the head cheerleader -not to mention she was Christian and president of the Celibacy Club- and the Natural Order of Things demanded that she dated the star quarterback of the school team; besides, leaving some things aside, Finn was really near to the perfecto boyfriend ideal: he was kind, he drove her home, opened the door, gave her his jacket if it was cold outside and bought her ice cream; but, overall, he did whatever she told him to do. Puck, on the other hand, was mysterious and attractive, with his toned body and his sexy Mohawk; but, even though, Quinn has only been once with him, and while drunk -and feeling fat-, and it wasn't good at all, not mentioning the things that happened after that -aka The Big Fall From Grace-. Puck didn't have boyfriend material because he didn't have what she was looking for. She needed comfort and fidelity; things that did not emanate at all from Noah Puckerman.
She supposed she never felt like -as it seemed- Santana and Brittany felt, because they -Finn and Puck- didn't represent something of utmost importance to her, something essential, indispensable; something irreplaceable. Something she could never live without.
She didn't believe in love: for her that feeling was a total bullshit that adults made you believe in, convincing you that there was some kind of perfect man -the so-called Prince Charming- that would rescue you from the claws of the evil dragon. But they didn't teach her how to distinguish the prince charming from the other guy, the one that knocked you up and ran away, leaving you alone with his bastard growing in your stomach. They didn't warn her or tell her that story, the complete story. And omission is betrayal.
She didn't feel one thing about them but it did upset her when someone dared to flirt with them. Specially Rachel Berry. They were her property, no one else's, and if someone didn't respect that and dared to go against her will, she was determined to remind them who was the HBIC and how things worked under her domains.
Anyway, she didn't have to worry about that because she was no longer with Finn and she did not have any intention to start dating Puck; after all, Puck would always be Puck and he wouldn't change for anybody, not even for her, who he said he so loved. He didn't change when he found out about the pregnancy and he wouldn't change now; at least not 'till he grows up.
Quinn felt a little bit uncomfortable at the fact that she did not feel anything about them, but at least she had that advantage; she wasn't emotionally dependent. But sometimes, just sometimes, she felt like an empty bitch.
. . . .
"Dad, may I ask something to you?" Rachel said entering into Evan's -one of her two gay dads- studio. There was a big pile of papers all over the desk, drawings of dissections of the human body and notes here and there. Probably he was revising things he needed to know for some surgery he had to do, revising the procedure, every step, analyzing every single thing that could go wrong and how to react if that happened, just to be cautious.
"Yes, hon. What do you need?" he asked turning to see her, taking off his glasses.
"There's a party, tonight;" she cleared her throat "at Noah's house."
Her father frowned.
"Noah Puckerman?" asked Evan. Rachel nodded but before he could reply, she headed first. "I'm going with Finn." And Evan sighed, eased by the mention of his daughter's boyfriend, but still tense. "And Tina and Mercedes are gonna be there. All members of the Glee club, actually" she said and her father supported his arm on the back of the chair he was currently sitting in.
"Okay. But I trust you won't do anything you don't want to, or anything that you're not allowed to do. Respect yourself, because if you don't, nobody will for you. Okay?" he said. Rachel smiled and flushed lightly because it sounded like her father thought she was planning on having sexual intercourse with Finn, which she hadn't thought at all about; actually, she had never thought about that; after Jesse intended to convince her once and she almost agreed, it was really uncomfortable for her to think about it.
"Thanks, daddy" said Rachel and pecked him on the cheek. "I'm going to help dad prepare dinner."
"Okay. See you later, darling" he said while his daughter went upstairs to the living room in the upper floor.
. . . .
Rachel's parents were gone because they had the late shift at the Hospital, so she was all alone at her house only with the petition to take care of herself and not to get back late after the party. She was laying on her bed, face looking down, reading William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night Dream" and listening to some music. She saw lights sticking out of the window, indicating her that probably there was a car parking in front of her house. The sound of a horn and her cell going off at the sound of Express Yourself just confirmed her hypothesis that it was indeed Finn parking outside.
. . . .
At Quinn's house everything was silent as her mother was in bed and they already had dinner a long ago. The vibration of her cellphone, lying at her right on the bed, warned her that it was Santana that parked outside her place, waiting for her to get out so they could go to Puck's.
"I'm coming" she said and hung up rapidly.
She grabed her keys and her cell and put them inside her little wallet. She stood up, walked to the door and turned over her heels to look at her room one last time. Once the light was turned off, she was walking through the hall to the stair that leaded her, through the living room, to the entrance door.
"What took you so long?" Quinn asked rather annoyed while closing the back door. In the driver seat was Santana, and at her right was Brittany, as usual; they shared a silent look at hearing what she said, and the taller blond smiled. That's all it took to make Quinn want to take back the question. "You know what? I don't care. Just go."
. . . .
It was about twelve o'clock and there was Mercedes, Kurt, Artie, Tina and Mike Chang at Puck's. A knocking on the door made the host run from the kitchen where he was preparing some drinks and open it.
"Welcome to Puck's party. Drinks and fun granted, if not, we'll give your money back" he said while letting in the image of Finn and, a rather moody, Rachel.
"Hi" Finn waved and got in with Rachel, because of whom everybody turned around and scoffed a little. They didn't wanna have to stand her outside school, too. She simply made an effort not to go back to the safe surroundings of her comfy home because she told Finn they would go, but she was not in the mood to stand said and not said comments about her presence in the party.
"What are you doing, guys?" she asked, reaching Mercedes and the rest.
"We are playing Rock Band" Artie answered, focused at looking at the Puckerman's 42' screen television, with a little guitar; moving along the beat of the song while playing the chords.
"Awesome! Can I play?" Finn asked.
"Of course. Take it. I'm not so good at playing the percussion" said Tina, giving him the sticks.
"Thanks!" he said smiling. His expression was the one of a little boy with a new toy.
"Let's do it properly" said Puck that came with a black guitar that seemed even tinier than Artie's in comparison with his big, muscled body. He selected a KISS song and the game began.
They were in the middle of a solo when the bell rang.
"Can somebody go get that?" Puck asked, almost screaming unconsciously, probably because of the excitement of being playing the solo and the high level of the volume of the television.
"I'll get it" Rachel said standing up.
She walked through the living room and got to the main door. She took her hand to the knob an opened the door.
"Welcom-" she said but couldn't end the phrase as one Quinn Fabray had already shoved her out of her way; along with her, Brittany -who smiled and said "Hi" to her- and Santana walked to the place where the music came from.
"Please, let's do something fun" said Quinn turning off the console and stepping in front of the tv screen, hands on her hips. Puck was about to cut her throat if it wasn't because he realized it was her, and simply let his big body fall onto the sofa.
"What can we do, then?" Finn asked a little bit annoyed by the intrusion. Puck disappeared somewhere in the kitchen and showed up with an empty bottle of beer on his left hand, looking playfully at everyone in the living room, mostly at the cheerleaders.
"Let's play spin the bottle" he said and Mercedes and Kurt scolded. "Come on, don't be such pussies. We're gonna have fun."
They sat forming a circle, being, from left to right: Santana next to Brittany, then Quinn, Artie, Tina, Finn, Rachel, Kurt, Mercedes, Mike, Matt -Siamese twins!-, and Puck, in that order. He decided to take the initiative and spun the bottle.
. . . .
"No, that's not fair! You're boyfriend and girlfriend!" Puck said while Artie and Tina shared a kiss.
"Sorry, but the bottle has talked" Finn said and Rachel mouthed to him "Spoken"; Puck glared at him. The QB took the bottle and spun it, stopping after a while and pointing at Rachel, who smiled at him. Puck scolded while they kissed. It was Rachel's turn then and she proceeded to do what was supposed; Puck looked at her, lasciviously; Finn shifted uncomfortably and she took his hand to calm him down. The bottle spun once, twice.
Quinn, for her part, watched as the bottle spun, thinking about nothing in particular, actually, not wanting to share a kiss with anybody. Although, there was some midget's name running around her mind as the one she definitely did not want to kiss.
When the bottle came to a stop everybody stopped talking and suddenly the place was immersed in a total silence.
"That's not fair!" said Finn, grabbing the bottle with the intention to spin it again. "She has to do it again."
"Sorry, dude, the bottle has talked." Said Puck, stopping and mocking him while thinking that even if he was a little disappointed that it wasn't him kissing Quinn, at least he was gonna enjoy the lip show between her Baby Mama and Rachel. The sole idea was pretty stimulating.
"I think I'll pass" said Rachel quietly, squeezing Finn's hand tightly. He looked at her, not knowing what to do or say.
"Sorry, Berry. Rules are rules." Said Puck. "Finally some action."
"Puck!" Mercedes hit him in the arm.
"Ouch! What?" he said while touching the bruising area.
" Don't be such a pig and behave."
"You've got to be kidding me." Said Quinn, finally realizing she was in trouble.
"You were the one who wanted to do something fun." Puck said. "So now you're gonna lock your lips with Berry's so we can move on."
Quinn looked at him defiantly, half-closing her eyes.
"Fine." She said unwillingly. Rachel looked at her terrified. "But I'm not gonna do it here. We'll do it in that closet over there."
Puck thought about it for a second.
"Fine." He said in the same way Quinn did a moment ago. Rachel was petrified and white. "Come on."
. . .
They were in the dark as Puck just about shoved them into the closet, closing the door behind them. Rachel's breathing was anything but even, she was breathing harshly, totally audible for Quinn to hear and notice her nervousness at such a situation.
"I really rather not do this" she said, her voice faltering, almost whispering so the outsider wouldn't hear. Her lack of speech just showing even more how nervous she was. Even though, it seemed like Quinn wasn't paying any attention and, judging by the noises around her, the cheerleader was struggling to find something she couldn't see under the darkness they were currently in.
"Where is it?" she said and a second after, out of nowhere, a light turned on, coming from that little bulb hanging from the roof by a hanger. "There it is."
As there was light now, they could stare at each other faces.
"We don't have to do it, Berry. We just have to stay here for like two minutes and then we'll pretend we did it and make something up" she said, crossing her arms over her chest, seemingly more interested in her nails.
"Yes, you have to do it" said Puck from the other side of the door. "If you don't, you won't get out of here."
Quinn made an effort to open the door but it was in vain 'cause Puck had locked it.
"Puckerman!" She growled.
"Sorry, babe. Rules. Now, less blabbing and more tonguing." Really classy, Quinn thought.
"One word: Vendetta" said the cheerleader.
"I really don't want to do it. I knew I shouldn't have listened to Finn in the first place, and just stayed at home instead; and secondly, I shouldn't have followed Noah's lead and play spin the bottle. I should've stayed at my house, I should've stayed at my house" she said, but Quinn stopped her.
"Just shut up, Berry" she said and grabbed her by the collar of her blue sweater, leading her towards herself, posing her lips softly against Rachel's -full, she noticed- ones. For her part, Rachel was tense, her hands tightly fisted, showing her nervousness and how uncomfortable she was; her arms stretched at both sides of her body.
And suddenly, she gave in to an energetic and dominant Quinn.
The adrenaline was rushing through her veins, boiling her blood and her skin at the contact they were having. She could feel Quinn trying -surprisingly for both of them- to bring her tongue into game; and Rachel -again, surprisingly for both- let her. The taste of it was a mix of strawberry and cherry; probably because of Quinn's chapstick and her own gloss. Rachel couldn't move a single muscle. All her body had already given in, focused on the kiss.
The sound of the keys in the lock dragged Quinn back to reality and so she broke the kiss instantly, stepping away from her while letting go of her blue sweater.
"Okay, ladies" said Puck, introducing his head with the intention to catch a glimpse of somethin' somethin' between Quinn and Rachel, but it was already over. He opened the door, letting them to get out. "You can go now."
Quinn was the one out, almost crushing Puck in the way, glaring at him, making sure he knew he was going to pay. Rachel got out a few seconds later, followed by a wanton Puck who was biting his lip seductively.
"How was that, Berry?" He asked. Rachel looked at him, trying to formulate some kind of answer, but she couldn't find anything, she couldn't get her brain to work properly as it was in shock after what happened in there, after the short circuit it suffered at the contact with Quinn Fabray's -Head Bitch in Charge and Head Cheerleader- rosy lips.
. . . .
Once they were back, everyone was already doing something else, but Puck made them come back to play. They spun the bottle and it pointed to Artie, again, and Brittany. He couldn't help the -rather weird- jump of joy he executed on his chair, eliciting a glare from Tina and Santana into grabbing the bottle and making it point towards her. Nobody questioned her, because they all knew what Lopez was capable of.
"Sorry, Wheels, don't even think about it" she said threateningly, scaring the shit out of Artie and leaving him speechless and pale. Puck wanted to get into the closet with them, but Santana pushed him away. They were in there for like, ten minutes so everybody got bored, including Noah, who resumed his place at the front of the television to play Rock Band with Artie five minutes after the ladies got into the closet to do their duty by what the bottle had "told".
Quinn and, really, everyone else were boringly watching them play, Rachel and Finn lost somewhere in the kitchen whispering and laughing under their breath. But even though, they could be heard from the living room, and it was annoying.
The head cheerleader got up in an attempt to get some juice to get rid of the taste -and smell- of the alcohol of her mouth and as he entered to the kitchen she felt something between embarrassment and repulsion mixed with another feeling, one that she could not recognize at that moment; Finn and Rachel were kissing and she just walked into them doing it. God. Rachel was leaning against the kitchen table, her arms lightly curled around Finn's neck, on tiptoes while his body was arched towards her so she could reach his lips, his hands soldered to her hips.
"Ew!" said Quinn. Finn and Rachel broke apart, startled by the interruption. Finn looked like he just lost his brain and was drooling, literally. His kisses were always all wet-y, boring and sloppy. Quinn remembered very well how he kissed. He was like this little puppy that you have to teach everything, while Puck always knew what he was doing and his toned body was sexy and perfect to put your hands over his chest during a make-out session. That was why Puck was more interesting than Finn, more attractive; but Hudson, by the other hand, was a good boyfriend, being that the reason why Quinn had chosen to be with him in the first place; but, now that they were no longer together, she didn't see the point on wasting her time thinking about that stuff. Even if she didn't miss him being with her, she did miss how he treated her, though. Like if it was worth it to be with her, like if she was important somehow.
Rachel, as her kiss was interrupted by one Quinn Fabray, had her cheeks flushed, because of the adrenaline of the moment -Quinn thought-, and stepped away from him, embarrassed.
Quinn just got back to the living room.
