omg it's 3am and i have to get up in like 4 hours but i HAD to finish this. it would not get out of my head.
Disclaimer: I own nothing loltxtit
It's almost 8:30 at night when Quinn and Rachel finally decide to leave the library. They've been there since school got out hours ago, studying for the history exam scheduled for the next day. It turns out Quinn is a valuable study partner that Rachel only wishes she'd been able to use earlier ("Well duh, I got into Yale, Rach.")
Rachel flips her textbook closed as Quinn finishes scribbling her last couple of notes onto the worn out page. Her pen was full when they started and now it's almost out of ink. Rachel stands shakily, pulling her arms over her head and pulling at them one by one, sighing contentedly as she feels the kinks and stiffness crack out of them. Her back is still a little sore but some things can't be helped after sitting hunched over a table for so long.
She glances a little guiltily at Quinn as this thought passes her mind. The blonde is always sitting nowadays.
Quinn doesn't notice, she's stuffing her study tools into her backpack with gusto, obviously as ready to get out of the stuffy room as Rachel is. The brunette begins rolling her ankles while she waits. What was she thinking sitting with them crossed for so long, God they hurt!
Quinn chuckles as she looks up. "Looking a little worn there, Rach," she says. "Studying too intense for you?"
Rachel rolls her eyes, a grin threatening to break onto her lips. "I spend an hour every morning on my elliptical. I am an athlete, Quinn Fabray," she murmurs.
Quinn bites back a laugh, backing up a bit from the table before rolling up to Rachel. She holds out her hand to the brunette. "I can offer you a ride to the car," she says with ease.
Rachel's smile tweaks; she spares a glance at the blonde's legs. Nothing's noticeably out of the ordinary, but Rachel remembers all that time in the hospital. The bandages on them. She knows she isn't that heavy, as people go, but is hesitant to put that much weight on her new friend's legs.
Quinn senses Rachel's hesitance. "It's okay, Rach. Trust me."
Rachel glances up at Quinn's hazel eyes on more time before finally nodding, biting her lip. She pulls hers and Quinn's books into her chest before accepting the outstretched hand. She slides onto Quinn's lap carefully, despite the cheerleader's reassurances. She wobbles a little as she settles.
Quinn says nothing, just lifts Rachel's free arm and encourages her to slip it around her strong shoulders and neck. For safety, she tells herself.
Rachel blushes. She's never been this close (at least not this intimately) with Quinn before. She can feel the other girl's breasts pressed into her side as she begins to roll towards the exit. She feels Quinn's hard shoulder muscles, flexing and tightening every time she pulls at the wheels of her chair.
She's pretty sure she could get used to this.
The knowledge worries her.
x-x
Quinn hasn't seen Rachel once during the day. She knows Rachel's there, she has her perfect attendance record to keep after all, but can't seem to find the brunette. And she really wants to tell her about her appointment at physical therapy that morning, she has sensation back almost up to her knees in both legs!
Finally at lunch, after checking the choir room, the auditorium, and Rachel's previous class, Quinn runs into Finn, stalking around on his big giant legs. "Finn!" she calls, trying to get his attention.
He huffs and stops, hearing his name. His expression stays though.
"Have you seen Rachel?" Quinn asks, rolling to him. "I can't find her anywhere."
Finn scoffs, throwing a large hand in the air as he turns on his heel and storms off. "I don't fucking know, Quinn. Go check New York, since she can't seem to fucking think of being anywhere else!" she hears him slam into a few lockers on the way.
Well.
That was unexpected. Quinn turns her chair so fast she almost pops a wheelie; she knows exactly where Rachel is now.
The blonde finds her under the bleachers at the football field. Sometimes Quinn would go there to think when she was upset after the accident; Rachel always found her. The diva's sitting on an abandoned bench by the fence, angrily wiping tears that won't seem to stop streaming down her cheeks.
Rachel looks up at the sound of tires.
Quinn rolls right up until their knees are touching, taking one of Rachel's shaking hands in her own. "What happened?"
Rachel sniffs, wiping at more tears as they fall. "Finn gave me an ultimatum. I chose New York," she says shakily. "I chose my dreams."
Quinn fights down a smile at this. It's not as if she wants to see Rachel upset, but she knew for months that it would eventually lead up to this. And she's not lying when she says she honestly worried about what Rachel would choose for a while. Instead, she lifts one hand and wipes at the brunette's tear tracks. "I'm proud of you, Rachel," she murmurs, squeezing the other girl's hand. "You made a hard decision, but it was the right one for your future. Your dreams are more than that. You are more than that."
Rachel can't fight it anymore after this, and lifts her hands to face, sobbing. Her lungs threaten to give out. Everything is finally coming to a head.
Quinn reaches out, tugging at the brunette's arm, and Rachel gladly falls onto Quinn's lap. Her arms snake around the blonde's neck, holding her there as she cries. The cheerleader lets her hands slide around the trembling girl, whispering nothings into her ear, telling her it will be okay.
Quinn eventually rolls them to glee rehearsal, Rachel refuses to move.
x-x
"Come on, Quinn! You can do it! Just 3 more steps!"
Rachel can't even feel her hand because Quinn's gripping it so hard. Her arms ache from practically holding the other girl up, but she wouldn't have it any other way. Quinn grunts, lifting her leg again, one after the other.
"You did it!" Rachel cries, squeezing her and squealing in celebration.
Quinn falls into the wheelchair waiting for her at the top of the stairs with a wide smile on her face, albeit under a sheen of sweat. "I don't remember ever hating stairs as much as I do right now," she laughs, wiping her forehead.
Rachel goes to her knees, wrapping Quinn in another hug. "I'm so proud of you! You're weeks ahead of where your physical therapist said you should be!"
They celebrate a bit more, wheeling into Quinn's room where there's cold water waiting for the exhausted cheerleader. "I just wish my mom hadn't been snapping unattractive pictures of my ass from the bottom of the stairs," Quinn says before glugging it down.
Rachel shakes her head, smiling. "She's just proud of you, Quinn. We both are."
"I'll be dancing at prom no problem," Quinn jokes. Upon seeing the indecisive look on Rachel's face, she quickly adds, "Just kidding, Rachel. I know I probably won't be at that point by then."
The brunette doesn't press the subject. "Do you have a prom dress yet?" she asks instead. "I forgot…I should be taking you out shopping for one! How completely inconsiderate of me!"
Quinn chuckles at her overreacting friend. "Check the closet, Rachel. I'd been dreaming of Prom Queen since I was 5, remember?"
Rachel raises her eyebrow at this, before walking over and throwing both the folding doors open. She gasps. Sitting at the back of her giant walk-in closet is a full row of prom dresses, all different colors and design. She goes back to them, running her hands over the fabrics.
One violet one catches her eye, so she pulls it off the hanger, twirling around in it. She never really obsessed over prom like so many other girls, but she could admit that it was fun to feel like a princess sometimes. Rachel goes to hang it back up when something on the shelf above it catches her eye.
Quinn finally feels cooled off, wiping her face on the towel laying on her bed. "Did you get lost in there, Rach?" she calls playfully. She looks back up and sees her friend in the doorway, cradling something.
"You still have this?"
The corsage Finn gave her last year for prom. The gardenia.
It seemed silly, after the disaster that occurred during it, to want such a memorabilia. But Quinn couldn't help it, it was her favorite gift. She loved it.
Quinn shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm sorry…if it makes you uncomfortable. It was just…the one thing Finn did right last year. It meant a lot to me, so I could never bring myself to get rid of it."
"It wasn't him."
Rachel opens and closes her mouth a couple of times. She can't believe she just said that. Quinn's prom gardenia was supposed to be one of those small secrets she took to her grave. Her cheeks are flooding with blush, she has a hard time making her mouth work again. Especially when Quinn's flashing that eyebrow at her.
Rachel sighs, looking at the ground. She carefully walks over to the girl, gently sitting herself down on her lap. "I told him what kind of corsage to get. The color, the flower…all of it," she murmurs, looking guiltily into Quinn's darkening hazel eyes. "Finn was just…he didn't know what to get you and I-"
Quinn slides her hand up Rachel's neck to her cheek, cradling it in her palm. She pulls her against her mouth, their lips mashing against each other in desperation. Rachel's grip around her neck tightens, and then relaxes as she kisses back, letting Quinn's lips slide over hers gently. Tongue is introduced somewhere and it turns into a playful battle as they collide again and again, until the need for air is just too great, and they have to come up.
"Thank you," Quinn whispers, her forehead nuzzling Rachel.
x-x
Quinn can be out of her chair, standing, for at least a good hour at a time by the time prom rolls around a few weeks later. She and Rachel stand in the Berrys' front lawn by a large tree while their parents take sentimental pictures. Rachel wears a light cream with glitter sprinkled along the skirt's length, while Quinn wears the strapless violet one Rachel picked for her out of her closet.
Midway through the pictures, Rachel pulls out the corsage intended for Quinn. It's simple, a lily with a cream ribbon wrapped around it, but the blonde loves it instantly. Although she wishes Rachel will tell her what meaning the lily has, the brunette has sworn she'll say nothing until Quinn looks it up later.
At Judy's insistence, the couple come into the McKinley gym together with Quinn in the chair. The blonde's annoyed, but knows deep down that her mother's right and she won't be able to have fun if she's pushing herself all night. Her legs and hurting already by the time she's talked Rachel into 4 dances, and she and her new girlfriend haven't even been able to slow dance yet.
Rachel shakes her head with a smile on her lips, and doesn't let Quinn out of the chair for a while. She wants their last couple dances to be together and doesn't want the blonde to get hurt so early.
At 10 they announce prom King and Queen, and Quinn feels tears prick her eyes when they announce that she's won; she didn't even know she was nominated. ("Too much time sucking face with the dwarf in the hallway," as Santana had said).
Finn was elected as King, and when the dance floor clears for them to have their dance, and he reaches for her with that smug smile on his face, knowing he has it all, Quinn ignores him, and rolls straight up to Rachel. "May I have this dance?" she husks low, extending her hand to her date.
Rachel smiles, reaching down to tuck a stray hair behind Quinn's hair, and nods. But instead of leading the blonde onto the floor, she takes her hand and slips herself onto her girlfriend's lap, arm around her neck. "Let's dance," she whispers into Quinn's cheek.
The song is perfect, the cello singing out its notes alongside them as Quinn slowly wheels them in a circle, just the way any slow dance should be. Piano joins the cello's soft moans as the blonde carefully pulls her head back from Rachel's. "The lily means 'I dare you to love me'," she says. "I do, Rachel. I love you." Chocolate eyes light up with tears.
"I love you too."
Incredibly sappy ending courtesy of "Imagine Me and You" which I did steal the lily line from. Oops. xx