If It Hadn't Been For Love Chapter 2: Pre-requisites
"So. You remember what you have to do, right?"
"Oh my god, for the millionth time: yes! Jesus, San, you'd think that you're the one who's trying to achieve the impossible here." Quinn shut her locker and turned to face Santana, "I got this," she repeated assuredly.
Santana nodded, "Well, your sexual frustration and repression is so blatantly obvious and you're always wound so damn tight and its just exhausting to look at you, so fix this...situation," she gestured her hands in Quinn's general direction,"before I go crazy."
"Whatever," Quinn huffed before heading to first period. They had decided that Quinn could get nowhere on the whole Rachel front if the girl still believed Quinn hated her. Therefore, before the wooing commenced, she had to make sure Rachel was comfortable around her. Quinn arrived in English and began plotting.
Come third period (AP Government with Rachel), she'd get there early, engage the brunette in conversation, then smoothly slip in an invite to come over or something. Then, Rachel would come to her house, they'd chill, and Quinn would subtlely warm Rachel up for the coming storm of charm and irresistability Quinn would rain on her.
Perfect.
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The end of second period saw Quinn bounding out of her desk and borderline sprinting to her next class. She may have looked a little batshit, but hey, Quinn Fabray does nothing half-assed.
She arrived six minutes early and took a seat next to the desk she knew Rachel sat in every day, bouncing her knee and anxiously glancing at the door as she began to wait. Wasn't Rachel like, totally anal about being early to everything she ever attended? Quinn checked the clock; it had been a whole thirty seconds. Where was she?
Finally, after a few minutes, the diva walked in and sat down, jumping when she saw Quinn in the next seat looking at her.
She cleared her throat, "Hello, Quinn."
Quinn frowned at her cordial tone; Rachel took it as a response and shrugged, turning to the board. "Wait!" Quinn exclaimed, reaching out with her hand before realising she had nowhere to put it and quickly put it back down.
Rachel turned to the blonde, eyebrow raised. Hey!, Quinn thought, that's my thing.
"Yes?" Rachel looked annoyed- not a good sign.
"I...uhh..." Quinn struggled to find something to say to 'break the ice', per say. In hindsight, she probably should have thought of this beforehand, "did you do the...homework we had?" She pushed out. Laaaaaaaaame.
"You didn't?" Rachel asked, smiling a little to herself, "That's not like you."
Quinn had, in fact, done the homework. Days ago. "Yeah well, I had stuff, you know?"
Rachel nodded, "Of course. Well, class is starting soon, so..." She began turning away from Quinn, who suddenly remembered what the whole point of this conversation was; she was supposed to be charming and smooth and invite Rachel over!
As she opened her mouth to speak, the teacher walked in and clapped his hands, "Gooooood morning, class!" He exclaimed.
"Dammit," Quinn muttered under her breath. Oh well, there's still time.
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By the end of the day, Quinn was convinced that Rachel was some sort of ninja. There was absolutely no other way she could have evaded Quinn's searching eyes all day.
Nevertheless, Quinn was a smart cookie, and she had used the down time to formulate a better strategy of attack for their next encounter; if she pulled another Finn and stuttered her way through conversation, she'd look like an ass. Not acceptable.
Walking into the choir room for glee, Quinn saw that the only seats left were between Santana and Mike and between Rachel and Artie. She began to move in Santana's direction, not wanting to creep Rachel out with too much too soon, but as she did so the Latina caught her eye and jerked her head toward Rachel. Quinn hesitated, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room (thankfully no one was paying attention).
She looked pleadingly once more at Santana, who mouthed "Pussy" and promptly turned away, then sighed and sat delicately in the seat on Rachel's left. She looked over at the girl, who was bent over her sheet music, and lightly cleared her throat to get her attention.
When that failed, Quinn looked away and took a moment to gain her composure. She could do this, she was not a pansy. Besides, she had planned this out, painstakingly so, and she was absolutely confident in the infallibility of her brilliant plan.
So she reached over and gently tapped Rachel's shoulder, causing the brunette to glance up from her lap confusedly at first, then smile brightly. Quinn smiled back, "Teeth." Shit! That is so not what I meant to say! Shit, shit, shit. Say something!
Rachel was looking more confused by the second.
"Um, what?" Was the diva's intelligient response.
Quinn put her hands up in front of her to emphasize her words, "I, that's not, what I meant to say was, hello."
"Oh, well, why didn't you? Hello to you too, Quinn." She turned back to her music; Quinn continued to stare at her, perplexed. This was not what she had predicted. Rachel noticed her gaze on her and turned in her chair to face Quinn, "Is there something you needed?"
"No. Yes. I was wondering, wou-"
"Good afternoon guys, we ready to get started?" Mr. Schue exclaimed as he strolled in the door, the last one to arrive for rehearsal. Quinn fumed. Of course. Rachel looked apologetic and mouthed that they could continue later.
Maybe it was the fact that they had something to continue; maybe it was the exciting prospect of getting this whole operation really started, or maybe it was the way the light from the windows was hitting Mr. Schue's product-laden hair and reflecting right into Quinn's eyes, effectively blinding her, but she couldn't focus for the life of her on what was going on for the entirety of the hour.
In fact, the only part of the rehearsal she had actually payed attention to was the part where Mr. Schue bid them adieu and retreated to his office. This was it; time to turn on the charm. For real this time, though, she was gonna be smooth. What the hell was she thinking, anyway? 'Teeth'? Well, it'd been the first thing to pop into her head, for no apparent reason at all.
It was now or never. Well, not really, but it made Quinn feel more driven as she took a deep breath and turned around to go proposition Rachel with plans to hang out. When she did, though, she found the diva to be nowhere in sight. It appeared that she had already left. Quinn sighed. Of course Rachel probably only said they'd finish later to be polite. What had she expected when they weren't even friends?
"I guess you totally failed, huh?"
Quinn nailed Santana with a dark look, "Shut up, S." Santana laughed and gestured for Quinn to sit down, taking the seat next to her when she did.
The dark-haired girl put her arm around the back of Quinn's chair and breathed as she looked out the window, "What happened?" she inquired softly.
"I'm stupid, that's what happened," at Santana's questioning look, the blonde continued, "Well I got interrupted by the teacher in third period, but even then I was saying like, the lamest things ever. Then, when I had the chance to talk to her right before glee started, I freked out and said 'Teeth'," she finished, shaking her head.
"Oh my god, are you serious?" The girl burst into laughter, weakly holding up a finger to point at Quinn, "You said teeth? What the fuck? You are so lame! If Berry wasn't even lamer than you are, I'd say you have no chance," she pushed out through her incessant chortling. When her laughing finally died down, she stood up and patted Quinn on the back, "Cheer up, Q, there's always tomorrow, yeah?"
Quinn nodded slowly, "Yeah...yeah there is! Come tomorrow, I'm going to charm her pants off!" She exclaimed loudly, "Uh, I mean" cough, "make...friendly..." The blonde flushed.
"Right..." Santana chuckled once more and turned around to leave, waving over her shoulder as she walked out the door, leaving Quinn alone.
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Tuesday Afternoon
Rachel had had a pretty good day. Her classes had been relatively easy, her PB&J sandwich for lunch had tasted particularly delicious, and best of all, she hadn't been hassled, bothered, or nagged by anyone (read: Finn) all day. He had been especially pleading yesterday after glee when he had dragged her to the auditorium and listed all the reasons why she should take him back. After she politely denied his advances (for she was never one to be uncivil), Rachel had gone back to the choir room in search of a certain blonde; they'd had a conversation to finish after all. And maybe she was kind of wondering what was going on the the other girl, what with the whole teeh thing.
After their encounter, Rachel had discretely checked her teeth in her reflection on her phone, but there was nothing. Then there was earlier, when Quinn had uncharacteristically sat next to her in AP Government and, even more uncharacteristically, forgot to do the homework. Something was up. Therefore, Rachel was eager to get to the choir room and confront Quinn about her behavior. If her intention had been to make Rachel suspicious, it had definitely worked.
Arriving at the choir room and seeing that no one was there, Rachel sat down and fished her iPod out of her purse. Closing her eyes, she leaned back and immersed herself in the soft music. Naturally, she didn't notice that someone had sat down next to her until she opened her eyes.
"Quinn!" The brunette jumped and clutched at her heart.
Said blonde was busy taking out a piece of paper and doodling on it, making nonsensical patterns and shapes. She paused her drawing and glanced at Rachel, "Hey." She turned her attention back to her lap, leaving Rachel to stare and ponder what went on in that pretty head of Quinn's. She decided to ask her herself.
"Quinn?"
"Yes?" Quinn responded absently as she scribbled away.
"We're friends, right?" This got the other girl to pause. She slowly looked up and met Rachel's eye.
"Well, yeah, I suppose."
Rachel nodded, not sure what to say now; the two just sat in tense silence, both wanting to speak but neither doing so.
After a few minutes, Quinn broke it, "Nobody's here." She commented.
"Yes, it is kind of wierd, how early do you think we were?" She said, checking her phone for the time; it was 3:00, glee should've been in full swing by now.
"Hmm. Let me text S." She said, pulling out her phone and quickly typing a message. She turned back to Rachel, "So. Um, how was your...day?"
Rachel studied Quinn for a moment, trying to see if she was being genuine or not. It appeared so, " Exceptional, actually," the diva beamed, happy someone was taking interest in her everyday life. "What about you?"
Quinn smiled; she couldn't help it, the shorter girl's smile was so contagious. "It was so-so. I was pretty distracted-" she was cut off by her phone vibrating. She looked down at it, then back at Rachel, "Did you know glee was cancelled today?"
"What? No, was I supposed to?"
Quinn waved a hand, "Whatever, it doesn't matter now." They lapsed into silence again, neither wanting to leave.
"So what were you distracted by today?" Rachel asked carefully; she wasn't quite sure how far their tentative friendship would allow her to go.
Quinn looked caught off guard, "Oh. Um..." She trailed off, attempting to gather the courage to say what she wanted to say.
"You don't have to tell me, of course," Rachel backtracked, "I was just asking."
"No, no it's fine." Cough. "Well, honestly?" Quinn took a calming breath and looked straight into Rachel's eyes, "You."
To say the least, Rachel was taken aback. That was not at all the answer she'd been expecting. She pointed to herself, "Me?"
"Yeah. Well, I mean. No. But yes. I," Quinn shut her eyes and willed herself to be smooth, be cool. "I was wondering if you wanted to, y'know, hang out or something." She mentally patted herself on the back; that hadn't sounded too shaky.
Rachel's brow furrowed, "Why?" She asked simply.
"Why not?" The blonde countered.
Rachel paused, considering the situation. Quinn seemed honest enough, but she was still wary. "Fair enough," she agreed.
"So that's a yes?" Quinn said, getting up and gathering her stuff.
Rachel nodded.
"Cool. I'll text you. I gotta go though, my mom cherishes dinnertime." She playfully rolled her eyes, and walked to the door, "Later, Rachel." She threw over her shoulder as the door closed.
Rachel sat in her chair, a little dumb struck.
"What just happened?" She breathed.
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As soon as Quinn stepped out into the parking lot, she pumped her fist in the air and jumped, shouting, "FUCK YES!"
She hadn't expected it to be that easy, and she was baffled as to why she couldn't have done it before. She just hoped Rachel never found out that she'd given a 'message' from Mr. Schue to all the glee kids that practice was cancelled. As for the man himself, Quinn had alerted him about a 75%-off-all-hair-products sale that the local Sally Hansen's and he'd eaten it up. It'd been all too easy.
"What's for dinner?" She asked her mom as she entered the kitchen, kicking off her shoes.
Judy grinned at her daughter, "I made your favorite."
Quinn's face lit up, "Mom, you're the best!"
"I know" the older blonde replied, wiping imaginary dust off her shoulder, "So what has you in such a chipper mood?"
Quinn shrugged, "I just had a good day. I'm gonna go up to my room, call me when dinner's ready, ok? Oh and heads up, Rachel's coming over Thursday. I told you it was a four day week, right?"
"Oh! Well I must find something to make; she's vegan, yes?"
"I got it covered, Mom, thanks." Quinn rushed up the stairs and into her room, falling onto the bed and pulling out her phone. She pressed 'New Text' and scrolled through her contacts, stopping at Rachel's name. She put her fingers to the keys, debating on whether it was too soon to do this or not. Screw it, she thought, typing out a message.
Hey, it's Quinn. Does Thursday sound good?
She hit send and settled into her comforter, pulling out a book to keep her company while she waited. As soon as she opened it, her phone buzzed.
Thursday sounds wonderful. -R
Quinn was stumped. What should she say now? She wanted to keep talking, but Rachel hadn't given her much to work with.
Perfect :) So what's up?-Q
Oh well, generic was better than nothing.
Can I ask you a question? -R
Sure?-Q
Why are you being so...nice all of a sudden? If you don't mind me asking. -R
Quinn debated what to say to this. She didn't want to say she wanted to be friends because that ight forever trap her in the friend zone and she certainly wasn't about to tell her of her massive crush on the other girl. She decided on mysterious.
I just thought it was high time for...new beginnings, if that makes sense. -Q
Oh, well, that's admirable. And to answer your previous question, I'm currently listening to music.-R
Reading :P -Q
Wanna hear a joke? -R
Depends, is it funny? -Q
Why are graveyards fenced in? -R
Lol I don't know, why? -Q
Because people are just dying to get in! Ha ha! -R
This elicited a giggle from the blonde; she had a secret love for bad jokes.
You're kind of adorable :) -Q
She hit send and waited with baited breath. She didn't know how Rachel would take that, but she couldn't not say it. Plus, she needed to keep a sort of subtle flirtiness when around the brunette so it wouldn't be as wierd when she asked her out. Or at least, that's what Brittany said.
Why thank you, Ms. Fabray, it's good to know I'm appreciated (: -R
Ms. Fabray? You make me sound like an old lady . -Q
"Quinn! Dinner!"
Quinn debated skipping out; who needs food anyway?
"Come on, Quinnie! Don't make your poor, sad ol' mother wait!" Rolling her eyes at her mother's dramatics, Quinn shot Rachel another text saying she had to go.
When she got to the table, she checked her phone one last time.
Goodbye, Quinn -R
p.s- I think this 'new beginning' is off to a marvelous start :)
Quinn's face cracked into an unbelievbly large grin.
"What are you so smiley about?"
"Oh, you know, just," Quinn bit her lip in an attempt to reign in her smile, "things."
Judy smiled knowingly, "Right. Things."She teased, winking as she did so.
Quinn crumpled up her napkin and playfully threw it at her mom, "Shut up, I'm happy."
The older blonde looked at her daughter, really looked at her, and it was plain to anyone that she was happier than she'd been in a long while. Her life in the past year had been disastrous. And really, all a good parent ever really wants is to see their child's beautiful smile peeking out through the wreckage.
She mirrored her daughter's expression of pure joy.
"I know."
A/N: So sorry for the wait, I've been terribly busy BUT the next update should be in a few days as I've already got the next chapter written, and I'll definitely be more regular with them now my finals are coming to a close. I hope you liked this although it's kind of just a lead-into sort of chapter :) Tell me whatcha think! Cheers!
P.s- Not edited, sorry for any mistakes!