Title: Can't Take It Anymore
Rating: PG-13/T; subject to change in future.
Summary: What happens one day when Quinn stumbles upon Rachel, who just can't take it anymore?
Pairing: Faberry. Side Brittana.
Author's Note: So, this will be my first multichapter Faberry, but in order for my self-esteem to allow me to continue writing this story, I need some feedback, whether it be good, bad, or indifferent. Please review! Enjoy!
It wasn't that Quinn Fabray was homophobic. Quinn was definitely not homophobic, regardless of her strict Christian background. It was simply the fact Quinn didn't particularly enjoy Brittany and Santana engaging in a make-out session right in front of her. While she was eating.
Quinn didn't find it gross. In fact, she found it kind of cute. She was even happy for her friends; Brittany and Santana belong together. They had been friends for ages and regardless of how many fights they get into, they always make-up, so when Brittany finally grew the courage and the brains to dump Artie, she rushed straight to Santana. Santana, still a little peeved at the whole escapade, took a day to think about it. Obviously by the face sucking, it was clear Santana took Brittany back. Now the two had been even more inseparable than ever.
The reason her friends kissing made her upset was simply because she had tried so hard to maintain a loving relationship in the past, but each and every time she failed. Her relationship with Finn failed when the truth about her baby was revealed. Then after she and Puck gave Beth away, her relationship with him had dissolved. Sam and Quinn never had a chance. They were both too blond.
Finally Quinn couldn't take it anymore. She stood up, grabbed her brown paper bag and left the lunchroom. Brittany and Santana never even noticed.
Where could Quinn go at lunch time? While the majority of the high school would have a tough time answering the question, Miss Fabray resolved it with ease. She quickly glided through the halls towards the choir room. Due to the school's low budget, proper door locks had never been installed on the doors, so it was always open, even when Mr. Schue wasn't around.
She pulled open the door to the room and stepped inside. She hadn't even noticed Rachel Berry sitting on one of the chair in the back of room. She closed the door and sat down on the piano bench. She opened her lunch bag and pulled out her bottle of water.
Quinn twisted the cap off her water when Rachel spoke up. "Quinn?" As expected by everyone except Rachel, Quinn jumped up, accidentally splashing herself with water. Rachel rushed over to the wet Quinn's side and started her apology speech. Quinn returned the cap onto the bottle and put it down on the piano.
"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Rachel had never scared Quinn before – in fact, the only time Rachel had ever seen Quinn scared was when Finn confronted her over the identity of the father of her baby.
Guilt nagged at Rachel, resulting in an unsure answer. "I…I didn't…I don't know." Quinn glared angrily down at the brunette, who offered Quinn a small pack of tissues she always kept in her pocket. "I'm sorry."
Quinn snatched the tissues away from Rachel and quickly ripped open the plastic sheath. She bunched up a few tissues and started to wipe water off her face. Rachel remained motionless, observing Quinn as she dried herself.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Quinn asked sarcastically.
"Sorry…"
Quinn let out an irritated breath. The simple fact that Rachel was always apologizing made Quinn feel like less of a human being. She didn't tell Rachel this though, because if she did, Rachel would just apologize for apologizing. Of course Rachel could be a bitch – everyone could – but the fact that Rachel was a genuinely good person always provoked Quinn to attempt to set off something in Rachel that would piss her off. If Rachel could just once have a total meltdown on Quinn it would allow Quinn to have some justification for torturing the smaller girl.
Of course, that would never happen. Rachel was too nice.
"Quinn?" Rachel mumbled.
Quinn glared down at Rachel, who just swayed side to side ever so slightly. "What do you want, Berry?"
"Well, I was just wondering," Rachel cleared her throat, "what are you doing here?"
Why was Rachel getting so bunched up about this? It was a simple question that Quinn had no problems answering. Despite this, Rachel looked like she was about to cry out of fear.
Quinn crossed her arms. Maybe this was her chance to get that certain reaction out of Rachel. "What's it to you?"
"Well, I come here every single day at lunchtime and I've never once caught sight of you here." Rachel pursed her lips, glancing everywhere but at Quinn.
"I'm here because I'm here, Man-Hands. I had a headache. Unlike you. I don't know why you come here every day."
"I come here because"
"Because you're a freak who has social skills and can't properly communicate with other civilized beings. Because you have OCD and can't stand the dirty tables. Because you're a freak! I don't care."
Once again, Rachel looked like she was going to cry. She wasn't getting angry, but getting upset. Quinn saw this coming. "You can't even stick up for yourself. You're pathetic."
"I come here because"
"I told you, I don't give a damn! Okay?"
Rachel took a deep breath but refused to make eye-contact with Quinn. "I…"
"You? You what?"
"Can you please stop shouting at me?" Rachel asked quietly. Quinn hadn't even realized she started shouting at the midget. She wouldn't stop though.
"Go on." Quinn commanded.
Rachel clenched her fists and put them at her sides. "I come here every day because"
"Damn it Rachel! Just say whatever the hell you want to say!"
Quinn didn't even know what was happening when she felt hands on her shoulder yank her down towards Rachel. Two soft lips crashed against her own. And Quinn, in a knee-jerk reaction she would later regret, shoved Rachel away. Rachel fell onto the ground, sliding slightly. She never realized how strong Quinn was. Clearly those few weeks off the Cheerios didn't have much impact on her.
Quinn gazed down at Rachel, completely bewildered. Her lips tingled with the awesome feeling she experienced from that brief kiss she shared with the tiny girl. The feeling was slightly mutual. Regardless of the fact she had just been knocked on her ass, Rachel was in a state that could only be described as euphoric. The kiss she had dreamt about for so many nights felt even better than what she believed possible. The feeling was an undiscovered one. Her smooches with Finn and Puck were like match strikes compared to this firework display. And this feeling was much like that of cocaine or marijuana – it would become an addiction. Maybe not now, not enough time had passed for it to become engraved in her brain, but soon Rachel would be craving the sensation of Quinn's lips on her own.
"What's wrong with you?" Quinn hissed at Rachel; a shard of glass sliced through Rachel's heart. She had been floating on cloud 9 just a moment ago, when Quinn pushed her off. Now she was at rock bottom. And it was a long fall.
Quinn knew what Rachel would say next: I'm sorry. "I couldn't take it anymore." Rachel smiled slightly, somewhat embarrassed. Quinn had wanted Rachel to have an outburst, to get angry at some point in the situation, to stick up for herself. This may not have been exactly what Quinn had in mind, but it was definitely an improvement from the coy Rachel Berry she was so used to.
"I…there's nothing wrong with you. It's me…" Quinn glanced around the room quickly, suddenly panicked. Rachel was still on the floor, but the brief smile she wore had dissipated. "You can have my lunch." Quinn whispered; her heart rate spiking as she pivoted and ran out of the room. Rachel lurched up to follow her, but the door shut just a moment before she reached it, and so, instead of the door moving forward with her, it remained steady and Rachel's nose crashed into it. Rachel bounced back, shooting her hand to her nose. Upon feeling a dot of blood drip into her pal, she reached for some tissues from her package, but Quinn had used them all. You're kidding me.
Quinn resolved to escape to the girls' bathroom after the incident with Rachel. Why? It was the most cliché place she could think of, which means Rachel would realize this and overlook the bathrooms, at least until enough time had passed until the bell had rung for lunch to end and both their classes to start. It had been five minutes or so.
Then the door opened to the bathroom; the echo of flat shoes bounced around the room. Suddenly it stopped, and Quinn realized there was somebody standing in front of the stall she was hiding in.
"Quinn?" that was Rachel. She sounded different, as if somebody had clogged her nose with tissues. Quinn remained silent, hoping that Rachel wasn't entirely sure that it was… "Quinn, please talk to me." Never mind. She heard the sound of knees hitting the dirty bathroom floor, and finally Rachel's head popped in the stall from under the door.
"Go away!" Quinn growled furiously, clenching her eyes shut. Rachel attempted to come in more, but Quinn unlocked the stall and jumped out. Then Rachel returned to her feet and grabbed Quinn's arm. Quinn retaliated by shoving Rachel back down again. This time Rachel's head bounced against the solid floor.
"How many times are you gonna do that today?" Rachel whined, rubbing the back of her head. Quinn glared down at Rachel, finally realizing the tissues stuff in Rachel's nostrils.
"What happened to you nose?" Quinn asked; then the thought of why she cared ran through her head. Well, it would've if there was one. Rachel started to shakily stand up, the pain showing through her tightly shut eyes.
"I banged it against the door running after you."
A wave of guilt washed through Quinn.
"Don't run after me then."
The girl winced from the harsh remark. All she wanted was for Quinn to like her. Not love, but like. Have some positive feelings for her. But as time went on, Rachel lost more hope of this ever happening. Quinn turned her back on Rachel and left the bathroom. She wasn't ten feet away when she heard Rachel's footsteps behind her. She turned around, ready to yell at the girl, when the face of Brittany popped in front of her.
"Where have you been?"
"I…" she didn't want to hurt Brittany's feeling, "I had to go to the bathroom."
"Where's your lunch?"
"I…" Quinn's eyes bounced around, searching for something to make an excuse about when her eyes discovered a poster for charity. "I donated it to charity." This made Brittany smile.
"Aw, how nice." Brittany linked her arms with Quinn's and she led them to the lunchroom.
Back in the bathroom, Rachel's head was surrounded in an aura of pain. She looked at herself in the mirror – her nose was starting to develop a bruise, an obvious purplish colored one that would remain on her face for days to come. Rachel had already checked her singing voice, and thankfully it was as powerful as ever. She splashed some water on her face and dried it off with a paper towel. Her nose had stopped bleeding, something she was grateful for.
Exiting the bathroom, Rachel was just in time for the bell to ring, signifying the end of lunch. She ran to the choir room to collect her things. Upon reaching her possessions, she heard the voice of her teacher, Mr. Schue. "Rachel, what are you doing here?" Rachel attempted to keep her face from Mr. Schue's vision.
"Nothing." She replied simply, quickly walking towards the door.
"Rachel." Mr. Schue called, a bit more sternly. "Look at me." Rachel slowly rotated towards him, biting her bottom lip. Schue came over by Rachel. "What happened to your nose?" he asked, genuinely concerned.
"I…hit it?" a moment passed before Rachel told her teacher of what happened, minus the kissing Quinn and the bathroom scene. The frown plastered on his face clearly expressed his dislike of the situation, and Rachel had to all but beg him to prevent him from confronting Quinn on what happened.
"Tell me if anything else happens, okay?" Rachel nodded, a small smile blooming. She always enjoyed the feeling of love and concern, especially when it was projected on her. Rachel hurried off to her next class.
Of course Rachel's parents were concerned with what had happened to Rachel, it was simply the fact that they trusted her that they didn't press the matter when she simply stated that she tripped and hit her nose. The brunette hurried upstairs and scribbled an entry in her diary about how enjoyable her kiss with Quinn was and how painful the subsequent rejection had been, but that she had been through it many times before (not the kiss) and that some Barbra Streisand movies and Celine Dion would patch her heart right up.
But it was then that it occurred inside Rachel that she may have possibly been a lesbian. It was a tiny feeling that with some thought grew into a large nuisance that she needed to deal with. She definitely liked Quinn, and she definitely was not crushing on any guys in the school. Or outside. Maybe if she hadn't been through so much pain and suffering with her previous relationships she would be bisexual, but because of the humiliation and betrayal she experienced with Jesse and the regret and pure suffering she received from her relationship with Finn, she had removed her sights from the male population and had started noticing herself more and more attracted to the females. Quinn specifically. She had always found the cheerleader beautiful, and it was undeniable that she was attractive (simple fact of life), but it wasn't until about a month ago that she started to really develop feelings for her.
Hiram and Leroy both peeked into Rachel's room simultaneously to see her staring at her comforter. And it wasn't just that, it was also taking into account she simply had a blank stare on her face, there were no signs of thoughts on her face.
"Rachel?" Leroy said.
Rachel returned to reality, her head shooting up towards her dad.
"Hi dad." A small smile accompanied the greeting. She shut her diary and leaned back onto her pillows. Her dads slowly walked inside.
"Hey sweetie." Rachel figured this was her prime opportunity.
"I have a question for you two." Both her parents sat on her bed, listening with every ounce of their fiber. "And this is hypothetical…" both her parents gave her confused looks. "What if I was gay?"
She stared at both her fathers, who were doing the same vice-versa. A smile spread across Hiram's face. "Well, this is something I wouldn't understand, seeing as boys are much more attractive than girls," his husband and daughter laughed at this, "but I'm sure I speak for both of us when I say we'd love you just the same."
"Actually, I don't think I could handle another guy in the family. Especially a straight one. I think it might be easier finding a lesbian than an accepting straight guy." Leroy laughed, put his hand on his lover's. Rachel looked down and smiled – the fact that her parents supported her made her so much more comfortable. The idea that they wouldn't support her seemed palpable twenty minutes ago, but not she wanted to beat the crap out of herself for even doubting her parents' unmatchable, unconditional love.
"Are you?" Hiram asked, suddenly remembering the original phrasing of the question.
Rachel shrugged, grabbing her ankles. She opened her mouth, but when nothing came out, she shrugged once more. Her parents smiled and out their hands on hers. "We're completely fine with whatever your heart wants. Unless it wants animals."
Rachel laughed at her father's joke. But while she was laughing and smiling on the outside, on the inside, the confirmation to herself that she was gay came with the confirmation she was in love with the bitchy, uncaring, beautiful, passionate Quinn Fabray.