Soon to be Rachel/Quinn
Post-Prom, pre Nationals, AU from there
Author's Note: Long time reader here. First time poster. Enjoy!
Chapter 1:
Rachel returned home from the prom, tears and mascara rimming her eyes. She had tried so hard to forget Jesse St. James but she let him back into her life. Too easily she couldn't help but think. She had her reasons though. She was convinced that she had to let go of Finn Hudson. She had tried so hard to move on but kept coming back. Strike one. Jesse St. James. Strike two, it would seem. Strike three came in the form of Quinn Fabray's hand across her cheek. Now, more than ever, she realized just how out she was.
Makeup off. Her favorite gold star patterned pajamas on. Life could be hard but this moment was about making things right. Making herself right. Curling into herself under her blankets, she could only think about the eyes that fell upon her tonight. Finn's had bored into her while she sang, a fire there that was very familiar. Yet it wasn't his gaze that unsettled her the most. Swaying back and forth, Quinn's eyes locked on to hers with each pass. The look didn't host a drop of malice. Definitely not disgust. Something more towards curiosity came across, a look that confused Rachel to no end. She was the bane of the Cheerio's existence, was she not?
Rachel sighed.
The slap, if anything, had confirmed that thought.
And the matter of Jesse St. James was still unresolved. His sudden reappearance in her life muddied things even further. Nothing was easy for the gold star, she had known this for quite some time. Her strive for excellence only grated on her friends and teachers. She would get them on her side somehow. Most of them, at least. Others would take significantly more work. With nationals coming up, the glee club needed to pull together as a team. But how?
A plan began to form, but sleep quickly began to overtake her.
Before those last seconds of consciousness, images flashed in front of her. Not of her friends or dads. Not of strong, protective arms wrapping around her. No, of gentle, soft, elegant fingers wrapping around her own hands. These thoughts were lost, though, as sleep came to her.