Just the Girl, a glee fanfic

Rachel Berry was on a mission.

That was plain to see as head Cheerio Quinn Fabray watched her practically sprint to glee after English class. She simply rolled her eyes however, because hello, anyone with eyes can tell that Rachel's a drama queen and she's probably just preparing to suggest to Mr. Schue that we sing Barbra Streisand or something. Quinn shudders involuntarily at the thought. Streisand was number two on the list of people whose voice annoys her to the point of wanting to tear her eyes out and stuff them in her ears; JewFro being number one of course.

After stuffing her unneeded books in her locker, she makes her way, albeit slowly, to the choir room. As she approaches she sees, then hears Mr. Schue and Rachel talking quietly outside. Rachel appears nervous, which is weird because she just doesn't do nervous, so Quinn quickly hides behind the nearest row of lockers to catch what she can of the conversation.

She first hears Mr. Schue ask Rachel if she's alright.

"I'm fine, Mr. Schue," she responds. "I just…Okay, I know this will sound strange coming from me of all people as I am normally bursting with confidence, but I am not so certain about this particular impromptu performance I am about to do." So she's singing for us today? Great. "I fear the reaction of my fellow club members, especially the one for which I am singing in the first place." Who is she singing for?

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Rachel. I bet she'll love it, and the rest of the group will too." Mr. Schue pauses, probably to do some sort of comforting gesture. "Just come in when you're ready."

Once Quinn hears the choir room door open and close, she casually steps out of her hiding place and walks past Rachel and throws an insult over her shoulder at the girl as she enters the room behind Artie and Kurt. She takes her usual seat to the left of Brittany and Santana and waits for everyone to arrive, mumbling "hey" to anyone who spoke to her. She was deeply curious as to who Rachel was planning on singing to that made her of all people afraid of performing.

The rest of the glee clubbers sat in their own little cliques and talked while they waited for Mr. Schue to approach them excitedly with another project, unaware that their self-appointed star had arranged a special song for one of their own.

The door groaned noisily as Rachel stepped inside, making everyone aware of her presence. Their attention was only on her for a second, however, before they all rolled their eyes at her and continued chatting with each other. Quinn was the only one whose focus never shifted. Rachel shuffled anxiously, an uncharacteristic behavior, and nodded to Mr. Schue, who smiled reassuringly at her.

He clapped his hands to gather the group's attention and said, "Okay guys, Rachel has a song for you today." The group groaned, and he gave them all a stern look. "Be nice. Now I want you all to listen to her and give her your full attention. Rachel?" As he said her name, he gestured to her in a "go ahead" way, and she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

She glanced up at Quinn, whose eyes she had felt burning a hole in her skull since she walked in the room, and cleared her throat. "The song I am about to perform is for a specific person, but I won't say who. You'll just have to figure that out on your own." A small smile graced her features but left as quickly as it had come. She nodded at the Jazz band, which then began to play.

Rachel tightly shut her eyes and swallowed hard before looking up at Quinn again, this time with a halfhearted smile on her face as she began to sing:

She's cold and she's cruel
But she knows what she's doin'
She pushed me in the pool
At our last school reunion
She laughs at my dreams
But I dream about her laughter
Strange as it seems
She's the one I'm after

Rachel rolls her eyes a little as she realizes how ridiculous and cliché all of this was. Her crush on Quinn – at this point, she's sure it's more than that – seems weird and it appears as if she's some kind of masochist, but really she isn't. She knows from their many almost-friendships that she and Quinn aren't truly enemies. Not friends, but not enemies. Quinn only says the things she says to uphold her image, which Rachel understands. If she had a reputation like that, she'd want to keep it too. She smiles at the object of her affection as she carries on with the song.

'Cause she's bittersweet
She knocks me off of my feet
And I can't help myself
I don't want anyone else
She's a mystery
She's too much for me
But I keep comin' back for more
She's just the girl I'm lookin' for

Quinn is petrified.

That is the understatement of the century. She can tell that Rachel is singing to her because she won't stop making lovesick-puppy eyes at her and it's making her seriously uncomfortable. She's pretty sure no one else has caught on yet, which is perfectly alright with her, but it's still unnerving to know that Rachel wants her. On the outside, she is simply staring blankly back at the diva, as if she was bored out of her mind.

Inside, she's swooning.

She doesn't understand this in the slightest, because come on, this is Rachel Berry and she hates this girl with a passion she has never had for anything else.

…Right?

Quinn isn't so sure as she watched her supposed enemy pour her emotions into the song, into Quinn's eyes, as they continue to stare each other down.

She can't keep a secret
For more than an hour
She runs on 100 proof attitude power
And the more she ignores me
The more I adore her
What can I do?
I'd do anything for her

Watching Quinn expressionlessly stare her down was starting to get to Rachel. Her initial reaction was to get the hell out of there before she got jumped or something, but she immediately put that thought out of her mind because Rachel Berry does not run from anything and she might as well finish what she started. Still, she couldn't help but feel a bit on edge under the Cheerio's intense gaze. She shifts her focus to her shoes to take a deep, calming breath before continuing.

Quinn is thoroughly confused. She's never before had feelings for the smaller girl, or any girl for that matter, so why was she feeling like this now? Surely if she was attracted to women she would have been attracted to one of the Cheerios, seeing as there were many beautiful girls on the squad who would be very easy to fall for. Why then, of all people, would she be swooning over Rachel Berry? The same girl who told Finn that he wasn't the father of her child, resulting in a world of pain for both of them. The girl who constantly pissed Quinn off simply by existing. The girl she tortured mercilessly. Sure, it was sweet that Rachel had the balls to get up in front of everyone and confess that she was in love with her, but that shouldn't change her hatred towards the girl. In fact, that should make her hate her more.

So why was her heart melting and her head filling up with not-so-clean thoughts of the girl serenading her?

And when she sees it's me
On her caller ID
She won't pick up the phone
She'd rather be alone
But I can't give up just yet
Cause every word she's ever said
Is still ringin' in my head
Still ringin' in my head

Rachel watches a blush creep up Quinn's neck and spread to her cheeks and she grins. Quinn glares back at her, but she notices that there is little-to-no anger behind the gesture. Her smile only grows as the blonde huffs in annoyance and looks away, crossing her arms in the process. She can't quite figure out how no one has made the connection between her and Quinn yet, but she figure's it's for the best. Quinn seems to know the song is for her, and that was all she wanted.

The HBIC's reaction was entirely unexpected, however. Rachel expected the other girl to throw things at her, curse her out, beat her up, or something along those lines. Instead, she watched as Quinn's response went from blank staring to utter confusion and then, to the one look she had least expected.

Lust.

She's cold and she's cruel
But she knows what she's doin'
Knows just what to say
So my whole day is ruined

Quinn tries to keep her sudden desire for the smaller girl internalized, but obviously fails as she notices Rachel's grin get impossibly wider. The blonde can blatantly see that Rachel knows what she's thinking and blushes. Hard. As she turns away, she realizes that she's finding it more and more difficult to fight the urge to run to the front of the room and kiss Rachel senseless. She has no idea where the urge came from but she knows that if she keeps looking at the other girl, keeps staring into her beautiful eyes as she sings her heart out, that she will, without a doubt, actually act on it. And she knows for a fact that if she were to do that, she would become an outcast again, and she doesn't want that. She's worked way too hard to get back to her former position as head Cheerio and HBIC; she couldn't throw it all away for some girl just because she serenaded her in public and made her feel things she's never felt before.

Could she?

'Cause she's bittersweet
She knocks me off of my feet
And I can't help myself
I don't want anyone else
She's a mystery
She's too much for me
But I keep comin' back for more

Rachel knows Quinn's listening, even if she's turned sideways and pretending she's not, and that alone makes her happier than she thought possible. But what makes her impossibly happier was the knowledge that the object of her affection may possibly share her feelings. Maybe not with the same intensity – not yet anyway – but there is definitely a spark of something there.

'Cause she's bittersweet
She knocks me off of my feet
And I can't help myself
I don't want anyone else
She's a mystery
She's too much for me
But I keep comin' back for more
Oh, I keep comin' back for more
She's just the girl I'm lookin' for
Just the girl I'm lookin' for

Quinn can't help but look back at Rachel again. She also couldn't help the light blush that stained her cheeks as she took in and appreciated each of the other girl's features. Her curves were perfect and driving the cheerleader insane and it didn't help that the ridiculous argyle sweater and painfully short skirt she was wearing seemed to flaunt them splendidly.

She was dying over here.

She senses movement and realizes too late that Rachel is walking towards her in a rather sexy manner. Her heart beat picks up considerably and her eyes widen in fear. She just knows that the lust in her eyes is obvious, and she is fairly certain that when she swallows hard, everyone hears it, but she can't bring herself to care.

At this point, Rachel Berry is all she sees.

Just the girl
I'm lookin' for
She's just the girl
I'm lookin' for
Just the girl
I'm lookin' for

Rachel lowers her voice as she approaches Quinn. She doesn't care if anyone else hears anymore. When she reaches her favorite blonde, she places her hand on the other girl's cheek and softly sings the last line:

Just the girl I'm lookin' for

The room is excruciatingly silent for an unknown amount of time as all the glee clubbers gape at the two girls lost in their own world.

"You-you sang. For me. You sang for me. Why did you sing for me?" Quinn asks, an adorably puzzled look on her face.

Rachel giggles softly. "Because I love you, silly. I thought I had made that perfectly clear."

"But…But why?"

"Because I know that there's a heart in you, even though you act like you're a total ice queen. And I know because I've seen it." She pokes Quinn's chest as she says this. "And you're ridiculously hot, too." She adds as an afterthought, smirking when the taller girl blushes deeply.

"Are you guys gonna make out now?"

Every pair of eyes in the room turn simultaneously to glare at Puck for ruining the moment. Fearing a glee club beatdown, he mumbles and apology and gazes intently at his hands in his lap. Everyone's focus returns to the diva and the cheerleader, only to find them in a passionate liplock. Several gasps echo throughout the quiet room.

Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry are too wrapped up in one another to notice.