Disclaimer: The characters belong to Fox unfortunately. The idea shown below of how the show should've gone do, however belong to me.
Authors Note: So it's been a long time since I've written anything. My faberry ship has sailed but I had these stories written from way, way back while I still shipped them and never got around to typing them till now. I figured I might as well put them out hoping that y'all might enjoy them rather than collect dust… Please review if you feel so inclined.
Authors Note 2: Unbeta'd – all mistakes are mine. Season 2 Nationals Episode. The twist is that Finchel *blech* and Brittana are still couples.
Synopsis: Truth is revealed about who really wrote the song.
Pretending
by srortiz87
Quinn had just returned to the common room where everyone was writing their songs before the Nationals competition began. Leave it to them again to wait till the last minute to figure out what they would be performing, Quinn thought. Everyone was talking amongst themselves. The couples gazing lovingly at each other made the blonde's stomach turn just a bit when her eyes fell on Finn and Rachel. She quickly looked away, looking for her notebook to help distract herself from the pain that ebbed within her. She glanced around the desk till she found it open with a page missing, more specifically the page with the song she had written about Rachel that she never intended to share with anyone. An increasingly overwhelming bout of fear and anxiety swelled within her. No one was supposed to find that. Panic had in turn produced anger and that made for a dangerous combination.
Quinn thought quickly who would've stolen her song. Her eyes darted from one couple to another searching for signs of their thievery. Hazel eyes fell on her number one suspect. Finn. Her suspicions were confirmed when Finn smiled smugly at Rachel who was perched on his lap. The ever present ache in Quinn's heart surged and intensified, a lighting strike burning her from the inside out as she watched the look of pride Rachel was bestowing on her boyfriend.
Without another thought, Quinn stomped over to the tall boy with a dangerous purpose, no fate besides an excruciatingly painful death on her mind.
"Where is it?!" she growled at him.
"Hi Quinn," Rachel greeted her happily. Quinn's expression softened for a moment, baring a sweet smile at her before turning her attention back to Finn.
"Is this it?" Quinn asked as she ripped the paper out of his hand revealing the familiar words expressing unrequited feelings in her handwriting. A momentary look of shock passed over Finn's face before settling on a confident smirk.
Quinn realized in that moment that Finn knew exactly what he'd accomplished. Finn bet that Quinn wouldn't, couldn't take credit for the song because then she'd expose her true feelings for the tiny brunette. It was almost impressive at how well he thought this through. A gamut of emotions flitted across her face: fear, sadness, disbelief, resentment.
"Quinn," Rachel said, breaking the blonde's deathly gaze from Finn. "What's wrong? Why are you mad about Finn's song? I think he did a great job!" It took Quinn a few moments to confirm whether she heard the brunette right. Realizing she did, her jaw dropped. Disbelief morphed into fury within seconds. Quinn's eyes narrowed on the tall boy, her jaw clenched and body rigid. The paper wrinkled as Quinn's hands balled into tight fists. "You told her you wrote this?!"
Confusion fell over Rachel's face and the room went dead silent. "Why are you getting mad at Finn? Of course he did!" Hearing Rachel defend the tall idiotic boy made Quinn want to scream. It's now or never, she thought. You've spent your whole life pretending. For once in your life, be honest. Don't be a coward anymore. Quinn took one last deep breath, summoning up as much courage as she could before uttering confidently, "No. He didn't."
Finn's smile fell. He wasn't counting on Quinn being honest. Rachel shook her head in doubt, "Why would you say that? I know that you're not happy with our relationship but—,"
"I can prove it," Quinn interrupted in a soft tone, one that very few people ever heard. She flattened out the crumpled paper as best as she could and handed it to Rachel. She could feel her confidence was waning with each passing moment Rachel's gaze remained on her with an inscrutable expression. "Look at it," Quinn encouraged. "It's been ripped out. Look in Finn's comp book. I can guarantee you there aren't any pages ripped out in his."
Finn's panic became quite evident when he pulled his composition book out of Rachel's grasp. "Rach, why do you even believe her? It's not true! She's a liar and she cheats!"
Rachel held out her hand to the tall boy, confused by his behavior. Disappointment grew within her at her boyfriend's words. "There's no need to point out Quinn's past mistakes to me Finn. Give me the book so I can prove her wrong!"
"No!" Finn shouted petulantly as he held the book above his head. "This is stupid! I'm your boyfriend!" Almost everyone rolled their eyes hearing that. Rachel huffed in annoyance at the tall boy's weak protest.
"Besides the fact that I've heard better excuses from a three year old," Santana pointed out in a nasty tone to Finn, "Berry, why would he rip out a page from his own book?" Just as Finn was distracted by wanting to tell Santana off, Brittany slowly made her way behind Finn and leaped gracefully capturing the notebook successfully from his unsuspecting grip. The Latina grinned at her girlfriend-her very own ballerina ninja. The tall blonde happily handed it over to Rachel. Finn made a move toward Brittany in anger but Santana swiftly moved in front of her girlfriend to protect her. Quinn just stood there nervously waiting and quickly raised her eyebrows in mild shock at how stupid Finn was to go anywhere near Brittany with the smallest hint of malicious intent and not experience brutal repercussions from the dangerous Latina.
Santana narrowed her dark eyes at Finn and snapped, "Lay a finger on her and they will never find your body." Quinn and the other glee clubbers turned their attention to Rachel who flipped through Finn's book fast at first, and then slower and slower each time as if she were trying to assuage the pain from Quinn's accusation. After a fourth and final time of searching through the pages, she stopped and closed the book with an almost sense of finality. Quinn was right. Her eyebrows furrowed as the suspicions that she held at bay came back in startling force and transformed into truths.
Without a word, Quinn opened her own book to the page where the ripped paper would fit into along with the ripped page and moved close enough to hand it to the dark brunette but remained at respectable distance. Tossing Finn's book on a nearby desk, she took Quinn's offerings and everybody except Finn stood silently on baited breath as Rachel connected the two jagged edges of the papers fit perfectly together. Overcome by so many realizations at once, she let out a disbelieving scoff. Intense anger welled up within her at the fact that Finn, her boyfriend, had lied to her…again. Her eyes made their way to Quinn as if on instinct. Quinn. This girl who supposedly hated her had in fact written this beautiful amazing heartfelt song just for her.
"Well?" Kurt asked somewhat impatiently. His question broke her out of her reverie.
"It fits." Rachel said in a quiet tone. In that moment, she was overcome by a hard unrelenting wave of emotions that pulled and pushed her every which way. She felt like she couldn't breathe or make any sense of which way was up. The tears spilled from her eyes and seemingly unstoppable as they continued to fall down her face; everyone watched speechless having never bear witness to the tiny brunette so broken. Santana, never wanting to be seen as anything but tough and unbreakable, chose to keep her deathly glare trained on Finn rather than reveal any sort of pity to Rachel even though she felt it through and through. And Finn, found out with nowhere to hide offered no apologies, no explanations. He just stood there with his eyes trained at the ground embarrassed. Quinn stood frozen, her heart aching as she watched the girl she loved cry her heart out because the boy who was privileged to hold her heart just broke it into a million pieces.
Rachel finally collected herself, wiping away her tears that Finn had caused and turned to him one last time. "I put my trust in you…so many times," she said in disbelief. As she continued to speak, her voice and resentment intensified. "Despite the countless warnings from everyone, even my own fathers, I trusted you, I loved you and you lied to me. Again! I forgave you every time you put me down, every time you didn't bother to defend me!"
"Rach—" Finn said weakly.
"Don't Rach me Finn. Never again. Don't even bother to apologize. I know you don't really mean it. You don't mean anything you say." Fueled up from the anger and hurt, she added, "Since secrets are being revealed I should mention to Santana that you told me in confidence that you thought Brittany was mentally handicapped." Rachel turned to the Latina and the blonde. "Though the word he used was more crude and used as a common insult that I refuse to repeat. I'm sincerely sorry that I didn't tell you before Santana. As his girlfriend, I felt endeavored to keep his opinion in confidence even though I disagreed with him profusely. Since I am no longer his girlfriend nor will I ever be again, I give you free reign to do what you will to him. I'm sure Noah would love to join in."
As Rachel turned to leave, she saw an inhuman glint of fury in Santana's eyes as the Latina lunged at Finn. This time, everyone empathetic to Brittany and Santana made no move to stop her. Quinn's attention was distracted by the violent scene in front of her until she heard the sound of the hotel door click shut.
Rachel walks slowly into one of the glee club's empty hotel rooms reserved for the girls and uncharacteristically plops down on the edge of one of the beds. Still grasping the page of lyrics in her hand, she can't help but stare at the powerful and honest words, the all encompassing build up of angst that is laid out in front of her. She hears Quinn softly shuffle into the room and stop a few feet in front of her.
"So," Rachel draws out slowly. Her face is the very definition of bewilderment. Quinn's heart is racing and not only because she's alone with Rachel but mostly because she has no ideas as to how anything will work out. "You like me?" Rachel asks quietly as if asking any louder would spook the blonde.
Quinn wants to say "I love you" but she won't. She wants to wrap the brunette up in her arms to feel the soft tan skin first hand and expel everything she's kept hidden but she knows it'll only throw Rachel into further chaos of confusion. She takes hold of her ever reliant strength and refrains from acting on her desires. Instead, she sums all of her feelings into, "I really do, yes."
Rachel blinks. "Huh."
"Have I really rendered Rachel Berry speechless?" Quinn jests. Rachel looks up finally to see Quinn's hopeful smile which makes her beam in turn.
"I think you have. I'm just so…I don't even know." Hearing that brings the blonde to sit beside her on the bed. "What's there to be surprised about Rachel? You're gorgeous and talented and you have such a good heart," Quinn explains with a sense of ardency, her heart swelling making it hard to breathe. "You're so incredibly strong…no matter how many times people try to bring you down you always rise above. You're awe inspiring Rach." It's impossible not to hear the conviction in her voice nor the unsuspecting love. Rachel is wide eyed and her smile is so bright, it could rival the sun. "You called me Rach."
Quinn shakes her head chuckling, "Really? Out of all that, hearing me call you by your name is what sticks?" The brunette can't hide the blush that spreads across her cheeks. Trying to make sense of the situation but failing altogether just the same, Rachel uncharacteristically rubbed her face with her hands momentarily before saying, "This is just…crazy. I must be dreaming – I have to be. This is just one crazy stress induced dream."
Quinn is trying her hardest to quell the laughter rising in her from Rachel's dramatic rambling. "Rachel. Rach!" Quinn yells attempting to break through the diva's mini breakdown, gently pulling soft small hands away from Rachel's face. "Hey, you're not dreaming. If anybody is it would be me sitting here with you right now since you're not running away from me."
Rachel quirks an eyebrow giggling, "That's so corny." Quinn uncharacteristically shrugs. Her sheepish smile makes Rachel's smile grow even wider. Rachel decides that seeing this shy side of Quinn makes her heart swell.
An awkward silence fills the room and for a few moments they're silently sneaking glances at each other.
"I'm sorry," Quinn murmurs.
Rachel sputters, "For what?"
Ever so slowly Quinn moves her hand to Rachel's clasped ones and let it hover before grazing soft pale fingers across Rachel's tanned one. Unconsciously Rachel's hand turns itself over as if it has a mind of its own. Quinn takes the brunettes hand in her own and gently rubs a thumb across the back of it, sending thunderous tingles and sensations through Rachel.
"I'm sorry for losing it with Finn. I know you like him but I just couldn't—I couldn't stand him lying."
Rachel's head whips to look at Quinn, surprised and touched. "You have nothing to apologize for. But about that song," Rachel trails off. "How long have you felt this way?"
Quinn wants to say "Since I first met you but I was too much of a coward to be honest with you so I tortured you instead. I'm no better than a grade school bully pulling on the pretty girl's' pigtails because I don't know any better." But she can't say that. Instead she replies, "Awhile."
Rachel's brows furrow. "Like how long does awhile mean? Weeks? Months? Ye—," Rachel's barrage of questions are interrupted by soft, warm lips. And when Rachel realizes that those lips belong to Quinn, the girl that she's been fascinated with since the first day she set foot at the high school, the pinnacle of perfection according to everyone, she can't help but gasp from shock and elation. There's a monsoon of butterflies that are crashing within her stomach.
Quinn isn't overwhelming her mouth with lips like Finn does, but instead gently gives little slow pecks with just enough pressure to make her want more. And she does, so Rachel kisses back with fervor. Rachel can't compare Quinn from Finn because the blonde is winning in leaps and bounds. Rachel hasn't felt any hint of a tongue like she'd expect right away from Finn not that she'd need to—Quinn is a master at this. Gentle hands slowly caress up Rachel's sides, rising to move along her arms to her hair resting to rest gently at the nape of her neck. Their kisses grow more intense, and with the way Quinn is moving her fingernails gently across the back of the brunette's neck is making Rachel seriously considering never moving again, forgetting about school or Broadway if Quinn just keeps kissing her the way she's always dreamed about.
Overcome with a coiling heat building the brunette pulls Quinn closer to her and releases a whimper when the blonde softly tugs on Rachel's lip with her teeth. Without notice Quinn pulls away, but only enough for them both to regain breath. When Quinn's eyes meet Rachel's the blonde's pupils are blown. Both of their hearts are racing and moderately innocent kiss that they shared evokes some sort of wildness and wantonness within the brunette that she's never felt before.
Ever so gently the blonde traces her fingers down the side of Rachel's eyebrow to her jaw, her thumb running along her bottom lip. Quinn tilts her head forward, Rachel mirroring the action till their foreheads are touching. "If I never live to take another breath, I can die as the luckiest person in the entire world having had the privilege to kiss you."
Rachel could do nothing but blink for any and all words escaped her. No one had ever uttered such a romantic notion to her. Quinn's words made her feel so completely and utterly loved, cherished. This moment felt so inexplicably perfect and she knew right then that she never wanted to give it up, nor the person who she shared it with. Somehow, she knew that the blonde would always make her feel this way.
Suddenly the lyrics to Quinn's song rang through her mind. All the questions of possibilities, of fear, of happy endings that were laid out with such truth and angst from Quinn made her heart ache. Never again would Quinn have to wonder. "No more pretending," Rachel said.
Seeing Quinn's expression of awe and happiness show reaffirmed within Rachel that she had made the right choice.
"You're my happy ending," Quinn said. "You always have been."
Then they fell back onto the bed, Rachel snuggling into Quinn and they both fell asleep in each other's arms.