a/n: songs by order of appearance:
'radio' by lana del rey.
'kids' by mgmt.
"she" by josh beech and the johns (alchemy session)
Chapter 2: Kids
Day 02. 1:34 PM.
Everything did not turn out alright.
Halfway through the Lana Del Rey set, some guys got a little too pushy with Puck, and he completely lost it; arms swinging, hitting anyone within his immediate vicinity. Finn got pulled into the fight, and so did Sam, and Mike. Sooner than later, there was a full out brawl in the middle of the crowd while Lana Del Rey continued singing the chorus to 'Radio', seemingly having no clue as to people getting their faces punched in during her show. When Finn had finally managed to escape the fight, if only for a moment, Quinn was dragged along as Rachel scolded him to the moon and back. Finn had none of it, and pushed her aside, jumping right back into the scuffle. Security eventually caught wind of the situation, and the boys were escorted out, kicking and yelling.
Quinn looked at Rachel, knowing she was on the brink of tears, and when Rachel looked back at her- she caught a serious case of déjà vu of prom last year.
Those were very different circumstances, and Rachel suddenly realizes they've come full circle.
And that's why she breaks down, right as Lana Del Rey finishes her last song, and waves goodbye to the crowd.
Quinn decides that maybe the middle of a full house of people where a fight just broke out isn't the most comfortable of places to have a cry, so she just grabs onto Rachel's hand and leads her out of the building.
It drizzling, slightly, so they make their way into someone's tent, because tents don't actually belong to people down here, and everyone's free to do whatever they want. It's the north field that holds all the high end celebrities who own entire plots of lands that no one can step on without their permission. So Quinn lets her sit down in someone else's chair, in someone else's tent and cry for a good ten minutes.
"Finn's a dick, sometimes." Quinn says, quietly, feeling like she should say something, partly. Mostly, though, she hates silences.
She's sitting- or more like squatting in front of her, hand unknowingly resting on Rachel's knee. They were forced to touch each other more because of the handcuffs, and Quinn was becoming less and less aware of those times.
Rachel puts her hand on hers, and that's when she notices. But Quinn doesn't pull away, like she thought she would.
"No, I…" Rachel chokes in a sob. "I'm not- I'm not upset because of that- because of him."
"Oh." Quinn mumbles. "Then what's… wrong?"
"Is this how it was for you?"
"What do you mean?"
"When you had Finn, when you were where you thought you wanted to be in life? Did it feel this…" Rachel moves her free hand, frantically, as if physically searching for the words.
"Empty?"
Rachel just nods.
"Yeah. It did."
"Is that why you ran away? I mean- the pink hair, the skanks- all that? You were trying to find yourself?"
"I think so. But it didn't help." Quinn looks up at her. "Why? You planning on dying your hair blue? Tina has some dye, I think."
Rachel smiles, despite herself. "Do you think I should?"
"Do you think it'll help?"
Rachel takes in a shaky breath. "I really don't know, but I've never allowed myself to rebel, you know? Never allowed myself to be a child, or a teenager; I've been an adult for as long as I can remember, and now that I'm actually going to be an adult, I… well, the idea doesn't sound all that appealing, to be honest. I don't want to."
"Like I said, Tina still has some dye, if you're interested." Quinn says. "Sometimes, things are about impulses; life is about impulses. It's those rushes, those sudden feelings that turn everything on it's head. You might want to dye your hair tonight, and you might hate it in the morning, and that's fine. It's fine because you can wash it out when, and if you want to. And if you want to keep it, then you've found something you like. You don't know certain things until they happen, you know?"
"Whoa, who're you?" A girl enters the tent, saying. She's holding a Yorkshire terrier like a baby in her arms, her face covered in paint, and Quinn distinctly remembers that the sign said 'no pets' at the entrance of the festival.
"Sorry." Quinn says, helping Rachel up. "We needed a place to-"
"Whoa, handcuffs?" She says. "Kinky." She adds with a smirk.
"We'll be going." Rachel says, sniffling and tugging on Quinn's arm.
Quinn lets her drag her out of the tent by handcuffed arm, and into the rain, before speaking. "What was that?"
Rachel places her handcuffed hand above her head, in an attempt to shield them from the rain, prompting Quinn to do the same. "What was what?"
"That?" Quinn motions back to the tent. "We can't go around letting people think that we have weird sex in tents with handcuffs!"
"It could be worse."
"Why do you keep saying that? How could it possibly be worse?!"
"There you guys are!" Tina yells over the rain, and the muffled sound of MGMT's synth solo in their song, 'Kids'. "We've been looking for you. It's pouring!"
"And you know what that means!" Puck says, pushing past her. He dashes by them and into the mud field, doing a backflip into the mud. Mike follows, yelling 'woohoo', as he front flips over Puck.
Rachel watches as the rest of the gang approaches them, and Quinn knows, watching her, that she's just searching for Finn.
He isn't there.
"Where's Finn?" Rachel asks.
Kurt shrugs. "He said he needed to 'clear his head'. As if it isn't clear enough already."
Blaine gives him a look of disapproval, which causes Kurt to playfully tap him on his nose. "Who's a little cutie when they get all condescending? You are!"
Rachel frowns.
"MUD FIGHT!" Puck yells, and immediately flings a fistful of mud to the back of Mercedes' head.
"OH HELL TO THE NO!" She scoops up two full hands of mud, pushes him over, and shoves it in his face. "THAT WAS MY FINEST WEAVE!"
Puck laughs, apparently swallowing mud in the process, but it didn't look like he minds much.
It's full out raining, now, but the drops aren't harsh, just plenty. They're all beyond soaking, and yet none of them seemed to care.
"We should find Finn…" Rachel says, quietly.
"Forget Finn." Quinn says, with a small smile, pulling Rachel toward the mud field. "Didn't you hear Puck? Mud fight!"
She pulls her into the mud, and everything becomes a flash of images. She can feel that's she's rolling, but she can't see much, she can only feel it. She feels the mud getting stuck to almost every inch or her skin, she can feel Quinn struggling against her, but she can't see any of it. It's a weird feeling; abruptly being blind, and letting only touch guide you, but for the moment it fits, and Rachel's already laughing.
Somehow, someway, Rachel manages to stop, and sit up. She wipes as much mud off her face (only smearing it in the process) in an attempt to see. Quinn's in front of her flinging mud at Tina, while Tina holds up her hands to guard her face. Everything is in slow motion. She hears Kurt yelling 'not in my hair! For the love of God, not in the hair!' to her right, she hears Blaine's infectious laughter. She turns and sees Mercedes, Sam and Mike making mud angels to her left. Puck keeps standing up, and jumping back into the mud. Everyone is laughing. Everyone is covered in mud. Everyone looks completely and utterly ridiculous.
No one seems to have a care in the world.
"CONTROL YOURSELF! TAKE ONLY WHAT YOU NEEEEED FROM IT!" Puck yells along to the song, jumping up and down and splashing about.
"A FAMILY OF TREEES WANTED TO BE HAUNTED!" Sam practically comes from nowhere, and tackles Puck back into the mud. They're laughing and they look like complete idiots.
Rachel feels dirty, slimy hands grip her own, and everything goes back to normal speed.
"You okay?" Quinn asks, smiling wider than Rachel could ever remember.
Rachel nods, simultaneously, scooping up mud with her free hand, and flattening it against Quinn's face in one swift movement.
At first, Quinn looks shocked, and Rachel begins scolding herself in her mind as to why she thought that would be a good idea- but all thoughts soon disappear as Quinn pins her down against the mud. Again, Rachel is laughing, and this time she can see, clear as day, that Quinn is too.
Day 02. 6:02 PM.
Most of them are asleep; mid-day nap, as everyone is exhausted from either the real fight, or the mud fight, or both. They're still sticky, only managing to clean off most of the dirt and grime in the showers, but some still stuck between fingernails and in ears and hair.
Kurt was awake, and so was Rachel. They had been sitting in silence, mostly, out of consideration for those sleeping. Blaine was lying on Kurt's lap, while Kurt did his best to pick the remaining bits of mud out of his hair.
Quinn was sleeping, slumped beside Rachel, and Rachel almost jumped out of her skin when Quinn suddenly slid and laid her head on Rachel's shoulder. Her hair was still wet from their speedy shower, but Rachel didn't mind that much. In fact, she didn't mind at all.
Rachel looked down at her hand, fingers slightly brushing Quinn's. She links her forefinger with Quinn's, and Quinn just nudges closer to her, body turning to completely face her.
Rachel smiles.
Kurt must have seen, because when she looks back up at him, he just shoots her a knowing smile.
She looks at him, expression reading 'what?'
"It seems you two are getting along quite well." He answers, whispering.
"It's gotten easier." Rachel whispers back.
"I thought she would have killed you by now."
"You and me both."
"You know, I've always gotten the feeling Quinn has liked you a little more than she lets on."
"Well, pardon me if I don't believe in your 'feelings'. I've witnessed firsthand how much Quinn 'lets on' that she 'likes' me, and I'll have you know, it's not by very much."
"Hm. Maybe we're not watching the same Quinn, then."
"What do you mean?"
"It's just that, the Quinn I see is the one that gives you the most sincere smiles I've ever seen the girl give, the one that shows the most emotion around you, the Quinn that listens to every piece of advice you give her, who waits on baited breath on your every word-"
Rachel sucks her teeth. "You're definitely imagining things."
"Maybe I am. Or maybe you're the one imagining things. Or maybe you're not imagining enough."
"You've lost me."
"I thought so." Kurt smiles. "I want you to promise me something, Rachel."
"What?"
"Let it happen."
"Kurt," Rachel says, an extremely serious expression on her face. "Did you take any illicit substances while you were at that rave earlier today?"
He chuckles a bit. "No. Still sober as can be, but not blind. Not like you, anyway."
"I honestly have no clue what you're saying."
"Just promise me you'll let it happen. You always want to be in control- you don't like when things don't go as planned, but sometimes the best things in life are unplanned. Let it happen. You have to let things happen to you, sometimes, instead of having it all under wraps, you know? If there's one thing I want you to do on this trip is let go. Just let go. Let go and let it happen." He smiles to himself. "After all, that's what this trip is all about, right? Letting ourselves go before the weight of the world is on our shoulders. This is our last chance to make mistakes, Rachel. You're getting married soon. We'll be in college in different states; it's our last chance to screw up. Just let yourself make mistakes; let it happen."
"But what is 'it'?"
"'It' can be a lot of things, or it can be one thing. It can be something or it can be nothing. Just let 'it' happen."
"Well, thank you for that, Mad Hatter, I'll be sure to pass the message along to the Cheshire cat."
He laughs, again. "The Mad Hatter was always my favorite."
"Josh Beech and the fucking Johns!" Puck runs into the tent, yelling.
Quinn shoots up, looking around frantically. Rachel immediately misses the contact.
"Josh!" Puck claps his hands. "Beech!" He claps them again. "and" he claps it in Kurt's face, causing Blaine to wake up, startled. "the" he pounds his chest. "Johns!"
"What the hell are you going on about?" Kurt asks.
"Josh Beech and the Johns! Right outside! Impromptu performance!"
Sam scrambles to his feet, throwing the tattered blanket off of him. He runs up to Puck and pushes him, hard. "Josh Beech and the Johns?"
"Josh Beech and the Johns!" Puck pushes him back.
"I don't understand what's happening. What is happening?" Blaine asks. "Why are they pushing each other?"
"Let's go! Get off your sweet asses! Josh Beech and the Johns!" Sam says, excitedly, sprinting out of the tent.
"Who are 'Josh Beech and the Johns'?" Quinn asks, rubbing her eyes.
"Wait a second…" Kurt says. "Josh Beech is that really hot English model! He sings? Oh God yes."
Blaine frowns.
"Oh, stop, Blaine, you'll say the same thing once you see him." Kurt says, helping him up.
"He better be really hot." Blaine says, still pouting.
"You'll love him." Kurt says, walking out.
"I guess we should go, huh?" Rachel says, standing up.
Quinn just nods, and gets up, too.
They exit the tent to find a little makeshift stage, literally, a few feet away from their campsite. It was slightly elevated from the ground, and wasn't nearly as large as any of the stages they had seen so far. There was already a crowd gathered, surrounding the band, all swaying side to side, some lighters and cellphones in the air. Just in time for night, Rachel thought.
They squeeze their way through, trying to get as close to the stage as possible. They stop beside Puck and Sam who are yelling along to the song, along with most of crowd;
don't look back
never look back
all you can do is
Puck nudges Rachel, urging her to sing along. She just shakes her head, because she doesn't know the words.
don't look back
never look back
all you can do is
move on
'cause life goes on
"Come on, everybody!" The singer yells, before continuing. He's jumping up and down, along to the drums, and his drummers are going absolutely insane. The crowd erupts the same way.
don't look back!
never look back!
all you can do is
move on!
People get up on the stage, clapped their hands, stomped along; the stage shakes with the sheer energy of the moment. And the way Quinn was pulling Rachel forward and through the front of the crowd, told her that she wanted to be one of those people.
don't look back!
never look back!
all you can do is
don't look back
never look back
all you can do is
move on!
Everyone got louder, and louder. Quinn helped Rachel up, and she only got a glimpse of the crowd before she was being spun around. Quinn was jumping up and down, and mouthing 'come on, come on!' or maybe she was saying it. Rachel couldn't tell because of all the singing and the drums and the guitars and the stomping. Quinn's hair was absolutely wild, and Rachel didn't know the words to the song but jumped right along with Quinn, and sang anyway;
don't look back!
never look back!
all you can do is
don't look back
never look back
all you can do is
Finn watched from the crowd. He was the only thing motionless in a sea of people, bobbing and jumping. He just wanted Rachel to turn around, if only for a moment. Just to see him, and for him to see her. He wanted her to look back.
move on!
She never looked back.