A.N. Okay, part 2. Quinn's reaction to things. Enjoy!
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Quinn came home to an empty house.
It was the same every day. Her mother was enjoying her newfound freedom and had been dating every chance she got. Sure, her mom had lured her home with false promises of family and togetherness and trying to make it all right.
What a bunch of crap.
They barely spoke. Perhaps it was the years of waiting for Russell Fabray to speak first and then to simply answer him. Perhaps it was the rift that had formed between them when Quinn realized how alone she truly was back then. How her mother sacrificed her for Russell. Perhaps it was the regret that flashed in Judy's eyes every time she saw Quinn that made Quinn wonder if she regretted throwing her out or asking her to come back.
Either way it was suffocating. So they simply didn't speak unless it was absolutely necessary.
Quinn got her bedroom back with her clothes and her car and her computer. She got her life back. She got her Cheerios uniform and the cutest guy in school, back in Coach's good graces and even some of her old friends.
But she kind of missed the old ones.
Mercedes wasn't comfortable in her house. Not since the time Russell had shown up unexpectedly in the middle of the afternoon, completely drunk, to confront his soon to be ex wife and seen Mercedes and Quinn in the kitchen. One drop of the N-bomb from her father had been enough for Mercedes to keep her distance.
Sometimes she missed being an outcast. She missed the freedom of wearing her own clothes to school and being able to talk to whomever she wanted to without the fear that someone would knock her down a social peg or two.
She missed Mercedes and Kurt the most. Especially after the weird afternoon she was having. Having Kurt to talk to would have been especially nice.
The mash up competition had gone so well that the guys would have to have Usher himself perform with them to beat the girls this year. They were that good.
And they looked amazing.
That was the part that had her freaking out. All the girls looked fantastic in their outfits.
Especially Rachel.
She was trying not to freak out. She had protested in rehearsals about having to stand next to Rachel for the end of the number but when they had performed for real, she had barely been able to keep her eyes off the diva singing next to her.
She had seen enough of Rachel during the Britney Spears week and she knew that the brunette had an amazing body. And Quinn herself had many nights denying that she found any part of Rachel Berry attractive.
Denial was a game she was a master at.
But it seemed that fate decided that Quinn was its bitch and wanted to make her suffer further. Because an afternoon with Rachel Berry wearing what she'd been wearing and looking the way she had all afternoon had Quinn wallowing in denial once again.
It was getting a little out of hand.
A ring of her doorbell snapped her out of her thoughts and she was completely grateful. When she pulled the door open she was surprised to find Santana on the other side. Things had been rather frosty between the two of them since the day Coach let her back on the squad and she and Santana had a fight in the hallway at school.
"Hey, Preggers," Santana greeted as she pushed through the door.
Quinn rolled her eyes and shut the door. "Not pregnant anymore, remember?"
"Whatever," Santana mumbled with a roll of her eyes. "So, I've been thinking and I think we should call a truce."
"Why would we do that?" Quinn asked.
Santana shrugged. "Separate, we're powerful, there's no question about that. But together? We're kind of invincible. You know it, I know it."
Quinn considered this for a moment. "No more Preggers from you."
"Fine," Santana agreed with a shrug. "So we're good?"
Quinn nodded. "We're good."
Some people would have found it strange the way the two of them worked, but it was how it had always been between them. Since first grade.
"Good," Santana breathed. "Because I have a giant Rachel Berry-sized problem."
Quinn's eyes went wide, wondering if Rachel had brain washed them all into thinking about her. It was a little weird that she herself had her own Rachel problem. "What's she done now? Steal Puck from you?"
Santana snorted. "Yeah right." She grew serious. "This stays between us." Quinn nodded. "Was it just me or did she look really good today?"
Quinn raised her eyebrow, trying to swallow her panic. Did Santana suddenly gain the ability to read minds?
It was eerie.
"Are you kidding me right now?" Quinn asked honestly.
"I know, right?" Santana wondered, suddenly pacing the floor in front of Quinn. "I was totally freaked out by it so me and B went back to mine and started fooling around and then I hallucinated that Brit was Rachel. It was fucked up."
Quinn looked at her suspiciously. Maybe she'd been talking to herself and Santana had been listening outside her window or something and was messing with her. "I'm supposed to believe that you have a crush on Rachel?"
Santana glanced around and scowled. "Will you keep it down?" She sighed. "I have no idea where the hell this even came from. And don't call it a crush. I just happen to think she looks hot in leather and part of my brain wonders what she looks like without the leather on."
Quinn shook her head "Don't be gross."
Santana shot her a half-glare. "You've done the dirty deed, Quinn. Stop acting all holy roller just because you want to get back in everyone's good graces. They can see right through it and that's why you're still not on top."
"Neither are you," Quinn sneered back.
Santana shrugged. "Maybe not the top of the cheerleading pyramid, but the social pyramid is quite comfortable."
"I remember," Quinn growled. "I also remember that it was me that dragged you to the top."
"Whatever," Santana dismissed with a wave of her hand. "This is getting us nowhere on the Man Hands front. What the hell are we going to do about it?"
A thought suddenly occurred to Quinn. "You say they can all see right through me?"
Santana nodded. "Totally."
A slim eyebrow rose as her plan grew wings in her head and took off. "Well maybe rehabilitating my image wasn't exactly the right route to go. Maybe my image needs to be shaken up."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Santana wondered.
"Maybe I need to do something that no on expects," Quinn explained. "Like date a girl."
"Rachel being that girl?" Suddenly Quinn's plan sounded terrible to Santana. "You do remember she's dating your ex boyfriend."
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Finn has the emotional capacity of a banana. We both know how high maintenance Rachel is. If she has someone suddenly tuning in to all her wants and needs I'm positive that she'll dump him in the first puddle she finds outside and go out with me instead."
Santana's eyes narrowed suddenly. "Well what about me?"
Quinn's eyebrow rose slowly. "What about you?"
"I just told you that I'm hallucinating about her," Santana reminded her slowly. "What if I like her too?"
"You want to get in her pants," Quinn clarified. "Not the same as liking her."
"You just want to use her for your image," Santana shot back. "You don't like her either."
"I could," Quinn argued.
"So could I," Santana growled.
The girls seemed to realize their situation simultaneously and both took a step back. They eyed each other for a moment.
"Terms?" Quinn asked, as if this had been done before.
Santana pondered a moment. "Three months. Whoever gets her virginity wins."
Quinn's eyes narrowed. "No. We both date her for three months and let her decide who wins. Christmas Eve."
Santana rolled her eyes. "Fine. Winner gets the top of the pyramid, too. Permanently."
"Fine," Quinn agreed. She had this in the bag.
They shook on their bet with a nod.
"I'm so kicking your ass, Fabray," Santana sang as she headed for the front door.
"Not a chance, Lopez," Quinn called after her.
XX
A.N. Hmmm…how will this play out at school? We'll just have to wait and see. Want more? Drop me a note. Have an opinion on who you prefer Rachel with? Drop me a note. Any and all notes appreciated. Thanks for reading!
