Phobia
And then Rachel finds herself with an armful of Quinn Fabray.
Rachel is making her way out of the school when she hears it.
She stayed practicing in the choir room after everyone left and she could swear no one was never around at this time, but the distinct sound of knocking leaves no room for doubt.
She walks cautiously down the hall, her trained ears trying to catch where the sound is coming from, until she stops in front of the very source. The janitors closet.
The knocking doesn't stop. It sounds panicked. The force of the knocks make the door tremble. Rachel bites her lips, afraid; what's that behind the door? A caged animal? A monster? A zombie? She rolls her eyes and composes herself. Just then the knocking stops.
The brunette tentatively reaches for the knob and turns it. She opens the door a few inches and peers inside but she can only see darkness. As she pulls the door a little more, she hears the sound of sniffling, maybe even someone suffocating their sobs.
Okay, it's human, Rachel thinks.
She steps inside the room and reaches for the switch, turning it up and down a few times until she realizes the light is not working. She steps even further inside and opens her mouth to speak.
"Hello?"
The sobbing suddenly stops and she feels watched for a moment. She shifts in place, moving to stand against the wall and the door quietly closes next to her.
"NO!" The person who's in the closet with her cries. Rachel jumps startled, her hand gripping her chest and she feels movement beside her and someone grabbing the knob and frantically shaking it, trying to open the door.
Oh, Rachel thinks. The door doesn't open from the inside or at least, it seems to be broken and she just locked herself and this stranger up. "Fuck," she mumbles as the other person gives up on pushing and pulling for the door to open.
Suddenly she hears a wet gasp and a hand touches her arm. "Rachel?"
It takes three seconds for her to recognize the voice. "Quinn?"
"Oh m-my God, Rachel, I- I-, oh my God." And then Rachel finds herself with an armful of Quinn Fabray.
The blonde grips her sweater painfully, hiding her face in her shoulder, trembling and sobbing and Rachel finds herself torn between comforting the obviously terrified girl or pinching herself because there's no way on Earth that Quinn Fabray, the girl who supposedly hates her and the one whose boyfriend broke up with her for Rachel, is hugging her like her life depends on it.
She finally decides for the first option because if Quinn keeps breathing like that, she's sure she'll give herself a panic attack.
"Quinn, a-are you- what happened?" She asks softly as she rubs her hand up and down her trembling back.
"I- I came t-to find Britt and Santana, b-because S was supposed to drive me home and- and I thought they might be in here b-but the light isn't working and when I stepped in, the d-door closed and it- it- it locked me in!" Quinn stutters before breaking into another round of sobs.
Rachel frowns at the state of the girl. Never has she seen the blonde so vulnerable. She whispers comforting words into Quinn's ear when the memory strikes her.
"That's garbage, Quinn is claustrophobic!"
Rachel gasps, finally everything makes sense. She rubs her back a few more times before elaborating a plan of action. Quinn needs to calm down and they need to find a way out. Rachel reaches into her pocked with Quinn still smothering her and picks up her bedazzled phone. She opens it and a faint blue light falls around them. It's not enough to see the entire closet but it lets Rachel see the mane of golden hair on her shoulder.
"T-there's no signal. I- I tried and t-then my phone died," Quinn sobs. Rachel realizes that indeed, there's no signal. She sighs.
"Quinn. Quinn, listen to me."
The blonde sniffles a few times and when Rachel tries to break the embrace to talk to her, she grips harder.
"Quinn, I'm not going anywhere. We are going to find a way out okay?" The blonde shakes her head on Rachel's shoulder. "Yes, Quinn. Now, will you hear me? You need to calm down."
Quinn sniffles before taking a couple deep breaths.
"That's it, breath."
With Rachel's comforting words, the blonde regains a little bit of composure. She finally steps back, though still holds onto Rachel's arm, as if she stops touching the girl, she will disappear.
Rachel reaches out almost blindly, the light of her phone creating a blue glow that lets her see Quinn's vulnerable face for the first time and she cradles it, cleaning the tear streaks with her thumbs. "We're okay Quinn, alright? You are okay. Nothing bad is going to happen. We're going to break this door or find a window or- or something, okay?" The blonde doesn't answer. "Okay, Quinn? Talk to me."
"G-God I'm- I'm so sorry," Quinn finally says and Rachel's eyebrows disappear on her hairline.
"Wha- Quinn is not your fault, the door doesn't open. I came in and was careless enough to not hold the door open."
"No, I know that." Rachel sees the blonde nod and take a shuddering breath. "I mean, I'm sorry for practically molesting you. God, I'm so embarrassed. Is just- I don't know, for a moment I thought- I thought I was going to be here forever. Die here. I know it sounds ridiculous and I can't believe I lost control so much. I'm… really sorry, Rachel."
"It's fine, Quinn," Rachel replies with a smile. "We all have our phobias. Claustrophobia is a very common one."
"H-how did you know?"
"Finn."
"Oh."
Rachel winces, realizing at this moment the blonde possibly doesn't want to hear about him.
"Okay, so, here's what we're going to do." Rachel reaches down finally and grasps Quinn's still shaking hands, her thumb brushing softly over the blonde's knuckles. She doesn't stop to think that this level of trust and familiarity should be weird between them but in the almost complete darkness of the small janitor's closet, it feels like it's always been this way. "We're going to move around, see what we can find to unlock the door or tear it from its hinges or some way of communicating with someone, okay?"
Quinn inhales deep through her nose then exhales through her mouth and nods. "But," the blonde stops, like she's battling with herself to say this, "d-don't let go of my hand, please."
Rachel feels her stomach flip-flop and she scolds herself for letting her mind interpret Quinn's words in that way. The blonde is only scared and needs the constant contact that will keep her grounded. It has nothing to do with Rachel being Rachel.
"Of course," Rachel softly replies.
They start looking around, with the help of Rachel's phone and there's a moment when Rachel trips with a mop and Quinn catches her before giggling softly.
"Shush, it's really dark, okay?" Rachel says with a blush, Quinn's hands still holding her waist, even though she's secretly relieved that Quinn seems to be better.
"Whatever you say, Berry," Quinn teases. Rachel brings the phone up to her face and sticks her tongue out, making Quinn laugh again.
Their search continues, but with each passing minute they are more aware of the other person moving beside them than the contents of the shelves and drawers.
Quinn looks down at their joined hands, even though she can't really see them and then back at Rachel's face, who's illuminating a high shelf with her tongue stuck out. The blonde unconsciously starts stepping closer.
"Oh my God!" Rachel yells breaking Quinn out of her trance.
"What? What did you find?"
Rachel doesn't answer, instead she holds up a key. Quinn snatches Rachel's phone to focus the light on the little key and holds her breath.
"Do you think…?"
Rachel wants to be realistic but she can't contain her excitement. "Let's try it."
They both move back to the door, hands still firmly clapped and Quinn illuminates the keyhole for Rachel to introduce the key. They glance at each other and Quinn gulps before nodding.
The brunette puts the key in and sends a quick prayer before turning it. It clicks.
The sound of the door unlocking is the most beautiful sound they've ever heard. They look at each other, faces breaking into big grins and Rachel jumps a little in her place just before Quinn lunges forward capturing her into another tight embrace.
"Thank God, thank God, thank God," Quinn repeats under her breath again and again. She moves her head back a coupel inches and looks at Rachel intently, "thanks for coming for me," and Rachel wants to say that it was by chance, that it was a coincidence that she stayed until later today practicing or that she chose this way to go back to her car but her words die in her throat when Quinn leans forward and plants a kiss on her lips.
It's a firm kiss, but not forceful. It's conveying all the gratitude Quinn feels but it's so much more. The blonde cradles Rachel's face with both hands and the kiss changes. Her lips glide softly against Rachel's and there's a hint of tongue once or twice.
Rachel thinks that maybe she should have pinched herself earlier.
Quinn breaks their embrace before it gets deeper and drops her hands heavily to her sides, taking a step back. She clears her throat. "Uhm, open it."
Rachel, still on a daze, does as told and turns the knob easily, tearing the door open and squinting her eyes at the light on the hall. She steps out, followed closely by Quinn.
They stand there, alone and quiet, none really sure what to say or how to proceed now that they're out in the real world, when Rachel suddenly recalls Quinn saying she needed a ride from Santana.
"Do you need-" "I don't have a-" they say at the same time.
"You first," Rachel says, still not looking at Quinn directly.
"Oh, it's nothing. Is just that I don't have my car but I can walk home," she mumbles.
"I can give you a ride," Rachel glances up at the blonde, "if you want."
Quinn gulps and nods. "Yeah."
They turn to walk out, Quinn a couple steps back and Rachel can practically hear her berating herself and building back her walls. But Rachel won't let that happen again, not after what took place in that closet.
She slows her pace, letting Quinn catch her and steps beside her, her hand slipping carefully into the blonde's one, like it has been for the last hour. Quinn snaps her eyes to their joined hands, then to Rachel's face, which is hidden behind a curtain of brown hair and finally back to their hands, with a small smile playing on her lips.
She squeezes Rachel's hand and Rachel squeezes back. They walk back to her car like that and when they get into the car, their hands find each other again.
Things will get awkward when they reach Quinn's place. Quinn will stutter out some kind of speech and Rachel will silence her with a kiss. The awkwardness will only get worse for a few days where they won't know where they stand and shy smiles and lip-bites and furtive glances will be exchanged until the day Rachel will hold Quinn back after Glee and officially ask her on a date. The blonde will say yes.
Oh and the janitor's closet will be their favorite rendezvous space for the rest of high-school. After all, Rachel made sure to keep the key safe in her pocket.
A/N: Another small piece that my muse just wouldn't let go. :)