Author Note: Pure fluff. I couldn't help myself,I HAD to write something as I'm still on a complete high from the Faberry duet. Have you guys heard it? What do you think of it? I'm in love with the duet,I never thought their voices would sound that heavenly together. I Feel Pretty/Unpretty is now forever on repeat. Hope you enjoy :)
A while ago Quinn Fabray would've laughed in your face if you'd of told her she'd ever be singing a duet with Rachel Berry, simply because the mere thought was pretty absurd. But yet here they were, singing about beauty no less.
It was no secret that Rachel's appearance had been very much the main target of the bullying the girl had endured.
The nicknames 'man hands' and 'treasure trail' were bad enough but when a grown man added 'nose job' to that list, Rachel Berry wished she could wear a paper bag over her face for the rest of her existence, or at least until she could go under the knife without her daddies permission.
Finn had accidentally thrust his arm rather energetically during Glee rehearsal and had ended up hitting the poor little diva knocking her to the ground yelping as she held her nose that had taken the blow of the impact.
Quinn was immediately concerned and looking to her boyfriend disapprovingly.
She knew it was an accident but, did he really have to be such a klutz all the damn time? She knew what it was like to be caught by one of those arms so she genuinely felt for Rachel.
The club all stared down at Rachel as she stayed on the floor holding her nose, Mr Schue at her side checking she was okay.
"I think you should go to the nurse" their teacher suggested.
"I think a plastic surgeon is probably a much better suited option" she bit back through gritted teeth before fleeing the stage. Of all places for her to run from, the stage definitely wasn't one.
When she didn't return after fifteen minutes they realized that it wasn't just another storm out. She must have been in pain because she'd actually fled their rehearsal.
Tina went looking for her while everyone did one last run through, they'd almost finished when she returned to see a few members looking to her expectantly.
The Asian girl shrugged.
"She's not in the choir room, any of the bathrooms or the nurse's office"
"She's probably rushed to get a plastic surgeon to take a look at it, you know our resident drama queen" Mercedes chuckled.
Santana frowned and before she could help herself she was defending Rachel.
"Oh please, she's tiny and she just felt the full force of one of frankteen's gangly arms that might as well be branches by the way" she stated, "and we all know how insecure she is about that schnoz of hers"
"She did seem in a pretty bad way" Mr Schue said scratching his head thoughtfully, "okay guys we're done for today, great job and I'll see you all on Monday!"
They all collected their things and started making idle chatter about their weekend plans.
"Are you coming bowling with us tonight?" Brittany asked as she bounded over to Quinn excitedly, Quinn quirked an eyebrow at Santana who shot her a don't-even-start-bitch look.
The Latina was a sucker when it came to things Brittany wanted to do, and tonight it just so happened that bowling was on the agenda even though she hated it with a passion.
"I can't, sorry B, there's something I've got to do"
Santana folded her arms narrowing her eyes at her friend.
"If you're ditching us for that big chair kicking nose hitting boyfriend of yours again Q I swear I'll kick your skinny white ass..again"
Quinn scowled at mention of their previous altercation in the school hallway; Santana smirked as the blonde softened again.
"I'm not" she stated, "but I am busy"
Brittany gasped before leaning forward to whisper, "are you cheating on Finn?"
Quinn looked bewildered and she couldn't help the slight laugh that escaped her.
"No way! It's bad enough having one boy to put up with let alone there be another, handling Finn's mood swings is a full time job"
Santana snorted, it was no secret that she wasn't fond of the boy even if she had taken his virginity.
Their duet came out of nowhere and it was a whirlwind.
Rachel was constantly insisting they practice more to get the song perfect and Quinn did nothing but sigh and agree to forgo seeing Finn in order to keep the brunette happy.
Since taking a knock to the nose it seemed Rachel's confidence and self esteem had taken an even bigger one.
Quinn noticed the girl catch a glimpse of herself, the brunette scrunched up her face before wincing and touching her nose gently.
She turned back to the blonde with a sigh before getting straight back to business, Quinn tuned her out a little as she babbled on before Rachel noticed and started waving a hand in front of her face.
"I think we should change the song" Quinn blurted out and Rachel looked to her wide eyed.
She wanted to change now after all the hard work and effort they'd been putting in?
"We should do a mash up, I Feel Pretty and Unpretty"
The brunette looked thoughtful as she seemed to contemplate the idea, a small smile presented on her face.
"I think those two songs would sound brilliant mashed up together, and we can work out a wonderful harmony arrangement"
They practiced over and over until Quinn insisted they needed a break, they sat side by side in silence as they ate and drank water they'd bought from home.
"So, what made you choose those songs?" Rachel asked curiously as she leant back into her chair.
Quinn went a little pink and was glad that her hair chose that moment to fall over her face slightly.
"Because it's true" she said softly and Rachel's eyebrow rose. She paused before continuing.
"We all have something we're insecure about. For me it's my stomach, it just hasn't been the same since I carried a baby around in it. And I know that for you it's your nose, but you honestly don't have anything to worry about. I know we've made some awful comments about you in the past Rachel but they were never really meant, I was different back then and I just hope you know how pr-"
"I have to go" Rachel said quickly as she grabbed her bag leaving a very confused Quinn sat alone in the choir room.
The next day they were due to perform their duet in front of the rest of the club in the auditorium, Rachel was taking her time to show up and Quinn was starting to worry that she wasn't going to after her abrupt departure the previous afternoon.
The brunette finally turned up and she looked pretty tired, she gave everyone a smile but it wasn't full of the usual Rachel Berry pizzazz.
She looked to Quinn before quickly running up on stage to join her, adjusting her microphone stand nervously. Quinn frowned, Rachel Berry was nervous?
"Are you scared I'm going to sound off pitch or something?" the blonde asked quietly as she placed a hand on the girl's arm, Rachel looked down at the hand before back up to her face. She shook her head and managed a small smile.
"No, Quinn, our voices sound perfect together for this"
The band started playing their music and they sung their hearts out, their audience were smiling and swaying in their seats.
Towards the end of the song Quinn had noticed Rachel was crying but managed to keep her vocals from suffering, the last note sounded and the girl ran from the stage.
Quinn went after her clearly concerned at the girl's puzzling behaviour.
"Rachel" she called as she continued to follow her, they were now right back stage in a more dimly lit area.
The brunette froze on the spot before turning back around to face Quinn, tears glistening and flowing down her cheeks.
"What's the matter?" the blonde asked her voice full of concern.
"You'll just make fun of me"
"I promise that I won't make fun of you, Rachel, I just want to know what's wrong"
She sighed before holding out her pinkie for a pinkie swear.
"I never feel pretty, Quinn" she sniffed, "I always feel like my looks are never good enough. My nose is too big and I want to be thinner"
Quinn was shaking her head in disbelief.
"We all want to change things about ourselves, Rach"
"Not you, you're perfect" Rachel said with a sigh.
The blonde blushed slightly.
"Nobody's perfect, especially not me, or did you fail to notice my disastrous fall from shoo in prom queen to knocked up homeless girl?" she drawled sarcastically.
"You didn't let me finish" Rachel said gently, Quinn gestured for her to continue.
"When you started talking about appearance in the choir room the other day I ran, I ran because I can't accept praise about my looks, mainly because I don't hear it from anyone other than my dad's, who are sort of obligated to lie"
"They aren't-"
The brunette hovered a finger over Quinn's lips to silence her.
"But out there with you, singing with you, I felt pretty, Quinn"
Rachel knew she was blushing and she tried to hide it but the blonde wouldn't let her.
"That's because you are, Rachel" she told her as she gave one of her hands a gentle squeeze.
They smiled at each other shyly, not used to this kind of conversing or interacting in the slightest.
"But you shouldn't have to sing with me to feel pretty, I know it's hard given our history but I'm really trying here, do you think you could believe me?"
Rachel bit her lip nervously before shaking her head.
"I-I don't know how, I don't see.."
Before anything else could be said they met in an awkward but heartfelt hug, it felt strange but still they couldn't deny that the height ratio was sort of perfect.
Rachel was used to having to stretch as was Quinn, Finn really was abnormally tall, so it was a nice break, and it was a nice different.
There was no stench of any sports aerosol deodorants, no overly large hands on the smalls of backs, no hairy arms rubbing against smooth skin.
Neither girl could fail to notice how easily they fell into holding each other. Quinn's chin rested easily on top of the smaller girl's head whose arms fit easily around her waist.
It was easier than breathing and it was as if neither could bring themselves to pull away, their bliss was cut short as Santana's heels clicked indicating her presence.
They pulled away coughing a little embarrassed as she smiled at them.
"That sure was somethin', now am I seeing progress here or am I gonna need one of you to give me the ten dollars I'll have to give to Puck if I'm wrong" she smirked.
The girls shared a longing look before turning their attention back to the Hispanic who looked incredibly amused as she held up a hand.
"Go back to your disgustingly cute hugging; I can see my money's safe, though maybe not if I place a bet on Q leaving Finn for the injured little gold star"
Santana laughed as she walked away leaving the two more embarrassed and sort of tongue tied.
"She lives to make people uncomfortable" Quinn laughed as she nervously ran a hand through her hair, "do you want to get back to our disgusting hug?"
"Don't you have to get back to Finn?" Rachel asked.
Quinn shrugged, "it won't kill him to wait"
"You don't want to make him angry, think of the chairs" Rachel grinned.
Rachel Berry had made a joke, much to Quinn's surprise.
The blonde rolled her eyes but couldn't fight the smile on her lips.
"At least if it's a chair it's not your poor nose" Quinn said wincing slightly thinking back to the incident, "speaking of which how are you feeling now?"
"Pretty" Rachel said in surprise, both girls smiled.
"Good, because you are" Quinn said softly.
"You said that already"
"I'll say it until you completely believe it without the need for song"
Rachel swallowed thickly as their eyes met in a loaded gaze again.
"You're beautiful, Quinn" she whispered.
Quinn's breath caught in her throat, she'd been called pretty before but never beautiful. Not by her parents, not by Finn, not by Puck and not by Sam. She blinked at the realization and Rachel looked to her worried.
"Quinn, are you okay?"
Quinn shook her head clear of the thoughts of her lame ass boyfriends and she smiled before surprising Rachel by hugging her tightly.
She sang softly.
"I feel pretty and witty and bright"