It was just for one night, Quinn Fabray thought that if she could get through one dinner with her father, she would be able to relax and enjoy the rest of her winter vacation in peace. Her mother wouldn't be home for several more days because of a business conference in Columbus. She was kind of upset about how her mom wouldn't be able to spend time with her on christmas but she eventually figured out how she was going to keep herself occupied in her mother's absence. She planned to spend the next few nights by herself and wanted to actually grieve properly over Beth while having a few drinks. "What's the worst that could happen?" She told herself sarcastically after rolling her eyes at the memory of what happened the first time she was in the presence of alcohol. She figured she would be safe since she was going to be doing it alone and not around some hormonally-charged teenaged boys. That was the plan until the doorbell rang.
Apparently whoever was at the door was very impatient and knocked almost immediately after the ringing. Quinn started mumbling to herself as she put earrings in while tripping over herself. "Whoever it must be had better be dying or else I'm gonna-" Quinn was cut off by another knock. She opened the door furiously at whoever was knocking and was about to chew them out for bothering her on Christmas Eve, of all nights, but was surprised to find a disheveled Rachel Berry at her doorstep. Quinn was about to ask what she was doing here but Rachel answered her as if she was reading her mind. "I'm sorry for inconveniencing you at such an hour but..-" Quinn stood at the door wondering what the infuriating small girl wanted to say. As Rachel was at a loss for words (surprisingly, Quinn thought), Quinn took the moment to take in the sight of her. Her hair looked really messy, as if she just woke up, her eyes were red her, and face had tear stains. She figured Rachel must've been crying on the way here. Her heart ached a little knowing someone made her cry. She and the diva weren't actually "friends" per say, she and rachel talked and hung out every once and awhile with other kids from glee, but never alone. And definitely not like this.
"Rachel come inside, please. You must be cold. We can talk about whatever you need to inside…" Rachel, of course, declined and suggested that she leave and that they could talk tomorrow. Quinn literally had to force the poor girl in because rachel was acting odder than usual and she wanted to find out why. She knew rachel wouldn't have come here if it wasn't important In her mind she was hoping that she could have an excuse for missing dinner with Russel Fabray. "Quinn, I assure you that I am fine. In fact my fathers must be worried about me because I had been out walking for quite some time now." Rachel protested. "You can call your Dads on my phone and tell them where you are because I am not letting go until you tell me why you came tonight." Quinn thought she was feeling kind of off too. Maybe it was just the usual nerves before meeting her father. Rachel at this point decided not to argue anymore because she was cold from walking while it was snowing and that Quinn had her HBIC 'don't mess with me' face on.
Just as Quinn was handing Rachel her phone, it went off. Rachel looked up at Quinn who froze when she seen the caller ID. 'Russel Fabray' it read. She was wondering what her dad was calling her about. She really didn't want to talk to him right now and wanted to assess the situation in front of her while it was still in her control, but instead looked at Rachel sheepishly and answered the phone. "Yes hello...I understand… I see... Really? I hadn't noticed… so not tonight but some other time? I'll see you next week. Bye." Quinn looked out the window in response to what her father was telling her. Ever since she invited Rachel inside, it started snowing harder, piling up and apparently the roads had iced over. Quinn sighed, unsure if it was a sigh of relief because of not having to spend time with Russell or if it was one of stress because it was too dangerous to take Rachel home. "Here" she said, handing the phone to Rachel, "It was just my dad calling to let me know it's too dangerous on the roads right now." the lights flickered as if to punctuate what she said. Rachel took the phone and proceeded to call her "Daddy". Quinn giggled because she still called one of her fathers daddy. Rachel noticed how Quinn's shoulders were shaking from containing laughter. Rachel couldn't do anything about it because her fathers were chastising her for being out so late anyway.
"Daddy" She emphasised pointedly, " just told me to stay here until it is safe for you to drive me home and according to the weather report, it won't be anytime soon." Rachel sighed and gave Quinn her phone back. Now that that was out of the way she could finally interrogate the diva as to why she is here and who made her cry. "So" Quinn started, "Care to tell me why you were crying?" She knew that Rachel was going to deny that such a thing ever happened so she interjected before Rachel even had a chance. "And don't think about lying to me, Berry. I know we're not the closest of friends but since we've got literally all night to change that, why don't you just tell me." She grimaced inwardly at the use of her last name. If she was gonna be her friend, she was gonna do it right.
Rachel sighed, she knew somehow that this was gonna come out. Quinn was waiting and was telling the truth. They were gonna be here all night so there was no point in excuses anymore. "I visited Shelby." Her voice was so quiet, like she was ashamed at the fact. She was. "What happened?" Quinn wanted to ask so many questions about Beth but reminded herself that this was about Rachel and how she wanted to make amends with the poor girl. "I went to tell her something, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable telling you.." she trailed off. "Rachel, listen. I know in the past i haven't been kind to you, but ever since Beth… " She said her daughter's name carefully, "...Ever since her, I've seen the error of my ways. I know what it's like to get picked on just because of a situation you couldn't control. And I now know it's hard to trust people after all that they've done to you-" She backtracked, "That I've done to you..." She looked at Rachel and noticed how tears were welling up in her eye. She barely even noticed how she was starting to cry. Quinn's apology was so sincere that all of everything just started pouring out, she was hoping Rachel would understand. "Rachel, I want to be your friend because you're the only person that I feel like I can trust. I know that you're different and I like that about you. I only teased you because I was jealous of how talented you were and how you knew for sure that you were gonna get out of this town. You're certain about yourself and even though some may not like it, you're brutally honest. Oh, I wish I had a clock to turn back time. I have no other way to put it. I am so sorry for.. for"Tears were streaming down her face in a steadily as she searched for the right word, "Everything." Rachel finished for her.
Rachel was beaming at Quinn for her sincerness even though she was crying in spite of herself. Rachel pulled Quinn into a bearhug. If Quinn wanted to be her friend there was one thing she had to learn: Rachel was a hugger. She finally felt the pressure of the weight of the world release a little bit because she knew she finally had someone by her side. Even when Rachel was with Finn or Noah, she has never been this happy to have a person willingly be around her and probably never will again. Rachel thought about letting go of Quinn but decided against it for fear that this was somehow an elaborate prank (even though she knows she was the person who came here first) and half expected to see Santana jump out of the coat room with a slushie and a video camera.
Quinn (reluctantly) was the first to let go after four comfortable minutes hugging (holding) Rachel berry. She really wanted to know what Rachel had been doing at shelby's, especially after what happened before regionals, but she first wanted to make sure rachel was comfortable in her home. After all Rachel was guest in her house.
