"What I Really Meant to Say"
Disclaimer: All rights belong to RIB and Fox. I own nothing.
Chapter 1: Of Doctors and Text Messages
"Do you, um, d-do you want to come over after school tomorrow, Quinn?" Rachel cautiously looked at the blonde before her. They were just about to leave the doctors' office and head their separate ways for the night. She knew she was prone to rapid mood swings and they seemed to be getting along so well at the moment and she didn't want to wreck it. Quinn peered at her thoughtfully, almost as if she were fighting her emotions. After all, she was supposed to hate the small girl near her.
"Sure," she finally uttered after a moment. Rachel instantly perked up.
"Amazing. I was thinking that we could possibly do a duet for glee club and tomorrow could be the perfect opportunity to practice – not that I need to – and just decide minor details. You know, like choreography – if we want it – and song arrangement. We could do a mash-up or –," Quinn put her hand up to signal to the small girl that she should stop talking now.
"Stop talking." Quinn rolled her eyes before marching through the door and toward the parking lot. Rachel beamed brighter and bounced out behind her. Then her face fell slightly when she realized they hadn't decided upon any details. She quickened her pace to catch up with the former Cheerio.
"Quinn! Wait! We haven't come to an agreement on the time yet and do you remember how to get to my house?" The brunette was nervous. Quinn whipped around and stared at the girl curiously. She didn't seem angry, but she did seem slightly annoyed.
"Rachel, stop. Find a ride to school and I will drive you home." She unlocked her car and slipped inside, quickly rolling down the window. "I will see you tomorrow. Stop freaking out." How did Quinn know she was freaking out? She was such an amazing actress. There was no way that the blonde could see the fear that Rachel was feeling. Although she wasn't entirely sure why she should be afraid to spend time with Quinn anyway. She was just a girl. The most popular and beautiful girl at McKinley, but other than that, she was just a girl, right? No need to be anxious. She noticed Quinn looking her over with a quirked eyebrow. Maybe she was a bit more transparent than she previously thought. The blonde broke her from her reverie. "Don't tell anyone about this. Especially Finn." She then rolled the window back up, waved slightly with an annoyed look on her face, before putting her car in reverse and slowly leaving the parking lot.
Rachel stared after her. Why couldn't she tell Finn? Why would Finn care if they were hanging out? Why would she tell Finn anyway? It's not like it was any of his business anyway…She'd been standing there an unusually long time before she realized she was staring off into space thinking about what Quinn had said to her. Turning around, she took tentative steps toward where she thought she had parked her own car. Crap! Where was the freaking car? It was like she was losing her mind. A few breaths later, she calmed down a bit and pressed the panic button on her keys. She facepalmed when she found it just behind a rather large SUV. Why she hadn't thought to look there, she'd never know…
XxoxX
Quinn didn't think much on her way back to her house. She sang along to her iPod and car danced whenever she was moved by a particular beat; but just as she was turning onto her road, the song changed and so did her mood. As the first few lines of TLC's "Unpretty" blasted through her speakers, she found herself relating to the lyrics and thinking how oddly her and Rachel's visit to the doctor fit in with the message. Rachel had said she wanted to sing a duet and Quinn thought she may have an idea for what song they should do. She subconsciously pulled into her driveway, barely noticing what she was doing and placed the vehicle in park. The last few lines washed over her and she pulled out her phone to text Rachel, but just as she tapped the new message button, she realized she didn't have the girl's number. She thought she had everyone's number from Glee, but she was apparently mistaken. Rachel had approached her in person to request her presence at her appointment, so the girl could not even look through her phone history to find the number.
She could wait until the next day to tell the brunette her idea, but she didn't want to. The idea popped into her head and she just wanted to share. No waiting. But who to ask for the girl's number? Finn was the obvious choice, but then he'd question why she wanted it. He was so oblivious when it came to almost everything. Everything except Rachel that is and he'd probably think she wanted it for some elaborate torture plan or something ridiculous like that. Puck would know, but he was probably busy with Lauren and wouldn't answer right away. Kurt was with Blaine. They had talked about it yesterday when she was hanging out with Finn. She didn't want to interrupt his boyfriend time. It would be unfair to the boy. Mercedes wasn't an option. They were friendly in school, but they hadn't talked outside the building in months. Sigh. She had two options: ask Santana or ask Brittany and have Brittany ask Santana. Sigh. Santana it is.
Hey, San. Question. Do you have Rachel's number? – Q
She used to have to text both Brittany and Santana to get an answer from the Latina: one to Santana to ask the question and one to Brittany to distract her from the make out session and ultimately forcing Santana to look at her phone. Their little rendezvous had become less frequent since Brittany started dating Artie, and seemed to have come to a screeching halt a few weeks ago. Quinn had her suspicions that the Latina had finally come to her senses about her feelings, but the girl refused to talk about it whenever she tried to bring it up.
What are we doing to the dwarf? Please tell me it's something good. – S
Sigh. Maybe she's becoming psychic, like Rachel claimed to be, or maybe she just knows her friend a little too well. Either way, she totally saw this coming. And now she was preparing herself for the mocking that her fiery friend would undoubtedly start as soon as she found out that there was no plot and that she actually wanted the diva's number for a simpler purpose.
Nothing, San. We're not doing anything to Rachel. I just need her number. Do you have it or not? – Q
She grabbed her bag from the back seat and snatched her keys out of the ignition. Just as she was placing the key in the door, her phone buzzed, letting her know she had a response.
I may or may not have it. ('She does', Quinn thought) I need to know why you need it before I can divulge whether or not I have said information, however. – S
This is seriously like pulling teeth. Quinn growled aloud as she jammed the keys in the door and roughly twisted it before taking the stairs two at a time. Once inside her room, she tossed her bag in the corner and collapsed onto her bed. What could she tell her that would warrant the least amount of teasing? Definitely not the truth. I need her number to tell her my idea for a song that the two of us could sing. She'd probably tell her she was gay. That seemed to be her go-to insult lately.
She left her binder in Glee today and I want to make sure she doesn't need it for homework or something. Otherwise I'd just wait until tomorrow to tell her. – Q
Hey, it was plausible. Santana would see through it in a second, but maybe she wouldn't question it.
That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard you use, Q. Try again. – S
God, this freaking girl was infuriating. Quinn groaned into her pillow. She should have just texted Brittany. One more excuse.
Fine. I forgot my homework for history and she's in my class and I need to find out the assignment. – Q
They really did have history together. They just didn't have homework for the night.
Nice try, but no dice. You don't have homework. The midget mentioned it to Finessa in front of her locker today. –S
Why was she eavesdropping? And when was Finn talking to Rachel? She did not remember this…
Why don't you just tell me the real reason you need it. You just know that you are dying to tell me ;) – S
Bitch.
Rachel asked me to go to the doctor with her today because she wants my nose. She wants to sing a duet. I need her number to talk to her about it. – Q
See that wasn't so hard was it? I knew about the doctor btdubs. Didn't know about the duet though, thanks for that! – S
Her phone buzzed again almost immediately.
Oh, and I don't have the midget's number. Try B. – S
Argh! She went through all that for nothing. Great. Just great.
Thanks for nothing, bitch. – Q
Quinn flipped through her contacts and clicked on Brittany's name.
Hey B! Do you have Rachel's number? – Q
Quinn got off her bed and headed toward her desk. It sometimes took Britt quite a while to respond to messages, so she decided she'd start researching the song, get the lyrics and look for some sheet music. Bzzzzzz.
Love you too, Q. :P – S
She was tempted to chuck her phone across the room. Instead she took a few calming breaths, grabbed her iPod, and plugged it into her stereo. Carolyn Dawn Johnson's "Complicated" started up and the blonde turned back to her computer, singing along softly as she went. Where to start? The lyrics would be the easier part, so she decided to save that for when she was frustrated with Google and she just wanted it to be useful for a little while. Twenty minutes in and she was frustrated. She was just in the middle of typing in the search bar when her phone buzzed.
Sorry, Q. Lord Tubbington was laying on my phone and I couldn't find it. Rachel who? – Britts
Quinn's eyes slightly bugged. She'd seen that cat. She was amazed the phone was still intact after that torture.
Rachel, B. Like Rachel from glee. – Q
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I had it written down, but I think Lord Tubbington ate it. He likes to eat my stuff. – Britts
Face meet palm.
You don't have it in your phone? Like listed in your contacts? – Q
Oh. Maybe. Lemme check. – Britts
Quinn finished typing into the search bar and as expected, she could easily find the lyrics she needed. She hit print and opened up Facebook.
Nope. Just you, San, and my parents in there. – Britts
Sigh.
Thanks, B. – Q
Back to Facebo- wait a minute! Maybe she has it listed on Facebook! That seems like the kind of thing Rachel would do. After getting distracted by the random interests listed on her profile, Quinn finally scrolled to the bottom of the info page and found what she had been looking for. Yay! She clapped slightly to herself.
Approximately one hour after her genius proposal popped into her head, she was able to put her plan to action. Whipping her phone in front of her, she typed the number in the address bar and then drew a blank. What was it exactly that she wanted to say? She couldn't just say that she wanted to sing the song. This was Rachel freaking Berry. She'd want some sort of explanation or at least a preface to why she chose the song. She smiled remember the small girl's introduction to the "Halo/Walking on Sunshine" mash-up they did the previous year. So Rachel. Yep. She'd want something other than just the song choice.
Hey, Rach! (The girl would appreciate proper grammar in a text message. Quinn could feel it.) When I was on my way home I was listening to my iPod and the perfect song played. I think we should sing it as our duet. It definitely fits our situation and we could use it as part of our glee club assignment as well. That is, if you want to work with me on that. Interested? – Q
After she hit send, she realized she never said which song she wanted to sing. The air of mystery behind the message would definitely intrigue the girl though. That much she knew.
Quinn! What a surprise! I did not even know that you had my phone number. Interested? More like intrigued. Do tell. - *Rachel* (Leave it to Berry to have stars in her signature).
I didn't actually. Have your number, I mean. I found it on Facebook (since Santana and Brittany were absolutely no help). I printed out the lyrics, since I've been having a difficult time finding the sheet music. We may have to improvise. Have you ever heard "Unpretty" by TLC? – Q
Umm, duh; and yes that is perfect! I have the perfect song we can mash with it too (: It's a surprise though ;P You will just have to wait until tomorrow.- *Rachel*
Seriously? – Q
Yes, Quinn. I am very serious. I will also use my extensive knowledge of music websites to help look for sheet music, now that I am aware of your song choice. As you said though, if we cannot collectively find it, we may need to spend some of our time tomorrow improvising the music. - *Rachel*
Sounds good. See you tomorrow, Miss Berry. – Q
P.S. I think you should tell me the song you picked. – Q
Nice try, Miss Fabray, but you will just have to waaaaiiiitttttttt (: - *Rachel*
Mean. – Q
See you tomorrow, Quinn. - *Rachel*
Mission accomplished. She enjoyed that more than she should have. She actually got along with Rachel via text message. Scary thought. Maybe they'd get along that well all the time if she made some effort to not hate the girl. Well she didn't actually hate Rachel. She just didn't like her. Well that wasn't true either. When she thought about it, like really thought about it, she realized she didn't dislike the girl at all. She just refused to give the girl a chance. A fair one anyway. She always entered into their conversations with a closed mind. She did get the Glee Club a yearbook picture for her last year though and she helped her when she thought Finn wasn't fully into their relationship. Hell, she even went to the doctor with her today. Okay, so maybe she liked the girl. She'd never admit it though. God, what Santana would say?
Oh well. Though Santana was right, she didn't have any history homework, she did have calculus work to do, and she had just spent the last two hours not doing it. Her mother would be home soon though with dinner, so she might as well just wait until after she ate. Tumblr until dinner it was then!
XxoxX
Rachel still had a grin plastered on her face as she sat at the table scarfing down the delicious meal her daddy had cooked.
"You okay, honey?" her daddy asked. He sat there, fork mid-air, just staring as his daughter practically inhaled the food on her plate with an almost maniacal grin. She was usually calm and composed at dinner and would calmly discuss how her day went.
"Yes, Daddy," she said between mouthfuls. "I am quite well. Why do you ask?" She looked at him curiously but continued to devour the food. She added as a side note, "This is absolutely delicious, by the way." She gestured toward her plate quickly.
"Yes, I can see that you think that," Her other father, her dad, looked on too, slightly disgusted. "Did you have fun with your friend after school?"
Rachel nodded vigorously. "She's coming over tomorrow. We're going to sing a duet. I think it's going to work out splendidly. Though she doesn't have my vocal range or power, her voice is quite angelic and I think that we'll blend well together. I won't accept it any other way really." She turned back to her food, then paused and added, "Plus, I think it will be a great bonding experience and I would love to bond with Quinn."
"Wait." Her fathers exchanged glances. "Quinn? Like Quinn Fabray?"
The small girl knit her eyebrows together. "Yes. Why?"
"Well," her Daddy started. "I was unaware that you were friends."
"Yes," her Dad continued. "We were actually under the impression that the two of you don't like each other. You know, based on what you tell about what goes on at that school of yours."
"Oh." Rachel placed her fork down onto her now empty plate. "Though I do understand your concern due to the fact that Quinn was a Cheerio, she is no longer part of that crowd. Though she participated in the name-calling, she never threw a slushie, and I can't actually remember the last time she called me anything other than my name."
"Still." Both men nodded.
"Just be careful, sweetie." Her Dad leaned across the table and placed his large hand over her small one.
"We just don't want you to get hurt."
"We do, however, like that you are extending friendship to this girl. She honestly seems like she needs it."
She beamed. "I agree whole-heartedly. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some sheet music to find. I'm hoping to start mashing the music together as well. I think this is going to be quite the performance." She hugged both of her fathers. "She's not going to know what hit her when I reveal my song choice tomorrow." She started to leave. "It goes so well with hers, too. It really was perfect when she suggested it."
