A/N:In this chapter I will act as if Quinn has been at Rachel's home and knows her dads. Which, technically, she has in Glee, however, the scene was cut. If you're wondering which episode it was, it was "Original Song", the production draft can be found on Glee Wikia. Also, I was writing this and then the Stereo Hearts clip was released. It was so full of Faberry that I couldn't resist putting it in. ;) Also tried to put in some P.O.V. from Rachel as an experiment.
Quinn is in the bathroom, she just finished reapplying her make-up when Rachel comes busting in.
"Hey Rachel, I was just about to search for you as I needed to tell you something." She turns around to face Rachel only to find out that she's smiling at Quinn with the biggest grin she has seen from the brunette in a while.
"You look very happy, did you hear something from NYADA?"
"Quinn! I got in! I'm a finalist!" She squeals with happiness. Before she can even register what's happening, Quinn wraps her arms around her, pulling her into a hug. Rachel sighs at Quinn's warm embrace as she wraps her arms around Quinn's neck and smiles. It feels so natural to hug Quinn. It's as if they've been familiar with doing that for a long long time. Which is weird, considering they've only become friends a year ago. Reluctantly she lets go of Quinn.
"I'm so happy for you. I told you, you'd get in. Never doubt me again Rach. Nor yourself for that matter." Quinn winks at her and grins when she sees that Rachel ducks her head shyly in response.
"So, have you told the rest yet?"
"N-No. Truth be told I've only told you and Kurt."
"Not even Finn?"
"No.. I'm kind of afraid what he'll say. I don't think that he truly thought that I was going to get in. I know he said he'd move with me to New York anyway, but I'm not so sure if he will. He hasn't even selected a college to attend yet." Rachel bites her lower lip and looks up at Quinn with a hint of fear in her eyes.
Quinn can't help but slipping in her reassuring role yet again. Especially when Rachel is looking at her like that.
"I'm sure it'll be fine. He's your boyfriend and he loves you, I'm sure he'll be happy for you. He should actually, because he's going to be your future husband, and being proud of one another is one of the fundamentals of a marriage if you ask me." She grabs Rachel's hand and squeezes it reassuringly.
I know I would be happy and proud if I were him.
Rachel suddenly looks down and fidgets with her skirt, as if she's nervous. She bites her lip before she looks up at Quinn with a determined look in her eyes.
"About that I ehm.. I was wondering if you.. if you'd like to be my maid of honor. I'd really feel honored if you'd do it."
Quinn's jaw drops on the floor. She didn't quite expect that.
"Ehm sure I can do that for you. When.. When are you marrying exactly?"
"I don't know yet, I mean I have to tell my dads first, I know he told Burt and Carole already, but I haven't really spoken to my dads yet. It won't be anytime soon though, I want to move to New York and settle down there first, before we jump into the wedding boat. So, like, in a year? I just wanted to ask you in advance."
Quinn releases a breath of which she wasn't even aware that she was holding it in.
"That's a long time in advance. And you know me, I can't say no to you Rach."
A lot can happen in a year, it's not over yet, keep breathing, you can do this, you can still change her mind in a year.
"Oh! You had something you wanted to tell me right?"
Yeah. But right now is not the time, not when you just asked me that.
"No, it's alright. I'll tell you some other time. You should go and tell Finn about your NYADA letter."
"You're right. Thanks Quinn, for being such a good friend." She stares at Quinn, not realizing that she's still holding her hand.
"You can let go of my hand, you know. Else you're never going to get out of here to talk to Finn." Quinn chuckles as she watches Rachel's' eyes widen slightly.
"O-oh. I'm sorry. I had totally forgot that we were still.." She quickly lets go of Quinn's hand, wiping her own hand on her skirt in the process.
When did her hand get so sweaty? She hopes that Quinn didn't notice. Her cheeks start to flush and it suddenly feels very hot in the bathroom.
It doesn't help that Quinn is watching her with a raised eyebrow and a bemused look either. She feels her face burning up even more.
"A-Anyway I should be going. See you tomorrow Quinn."
"See you Rachel." She watches Rachel walk away, before she allows herself to grin.
What just happened? She just kept holding my hand, and when I told her she could let it go she suddenly became all flustered.
Not to mention that she ducked her head when I winked at her. Which was totally adorable, but not something you do when a platonic friend compliments you.
She is just musing about the fact that Santana definitely was right, until it dawns on her. Rachel really is serious about getting married. Else, she hadn't just asked her as maid of honor.
She quickly grabs her cell and sends a message to Santana.
Santana! I was about to tell Rachel about my feelings for her and she dropped the bomb on me, she asked me to be her maid of honor, oh my god, what do I do now?
Immediately her cell buzzes and a reply comes in.
Ugh Q, are you turning this into Imagine Me & You part 2.0? You better make a move soon and you'd better not wait until the wedding day or I'll slap some sense into you. She's just waiting for an alternative to replace Finnept, trust me.
How? I can't just drop the bomb on her like 'Hi I know you just asked me to be your maid of honor but I can't be your maid because I'd rather be the one you say yes to instead'. I need to win her for me Santana, I need to pry her away from Finn.
Q, you're so whipped it's unreal. It's valentine's day soon. Better make some use of it and impress her with your cheesiness Q, you know she's a big ol' mush when it comes to romance. And you know Finn is far from romantic, I mean, giving your VEGAN girlfriend a pig? REALLY? Just sing a song and give her a gift or something, I'll help you just as long as you promise me you won't wait until she's about to say 'yes' to that sad excuse for a guy.
I might have an idea in that case.
-=XXX=-
It's almost valentine's day. Normally Quinn never celebrated valentine's day, because simply, she never had anyone to celebrate it with.
But she has plans this year. Because, if she can't tell Rachel how she feels about her, she'll just show her that she's a better choice than Finn.
She grabs her cell and scrolls down in her contacts until she finds the person she needs, and presses dial.
Hopefully he'll pick up.
Her phone connects, thankfully he's there.
"Hey Quinn! How are you?"
It's Joe Hart, he visits the same church as Quinn, and he's been wanting to join New Directions ever since his band split up. Problem is, Schuester doesn't allow new members because the Regionals are coming up. But, Quinn has a plan to sweep Rachel off her feet andto impress the New Direction members with Joe's singing.
She muses to herself, catching two birds, with one stone,
"Hey Joe, I'm fine thanks for asking. Say, you wanted to join New Directions right?"
"Yeah, but you told me that your teacher wouldn't allow auditions this close to Regionals."
"Well, valentine's day is coming up and I have an idea. I'd really like to surprise a friend of mine and if you'd come and help me sing the song I have in mind, then you could impress my friend and the rest of New directions in return. I'm sure that Schuester can't refuse you if he has 10 of us begging him to take you in. Especially not with your voice."
"Alright I'm in, what are we going to sing?"
Quinn smiles. "Have you ever heard of Stereo Hearts by the Gym Class Heroes?"
-=XXX=-
It's time for plan B, a present for Rachel.
Quinn is walking to the nearest mall. She's about to walk through the entrance when she nearly bumps into a person whom just rushed out said entrance with a giant shopping cart full of food.
It takes her a few seconds before she recognizes him, it's Rachel's dad, Hiram Berry.
"Oh! Hey Quinn!"
"Hello Mr. Berry." She smiles politely at Rachel's dad.
"So, Quinn, when will you come over again? Last time you and Rachel worked on a song together was quite a while ago."
"I'd love to write an original song with her again, if we are given the chance." Quinn smiles sweetly at Hiram Berry.
"So, Rachel told me you're going to New York as well? Yale, right? And if I remember correctly, it was the drama apartment."
"That's correct, they gave me an early admission."
"She's always gushing about her during dinner, you should hear her! Even more than about Finn." Hiram chuckled. "Really, she's excited that you'll be going to New York too. That means she has at least one good friend there. If I'm honest with you I'm not sure if that Finn will go to New York, last time I talked to Burt he said that Finn was going to take over his tire shop. Kids these days.. Getting married at a way too young age."
"Anyways, you should come over for dinner once in a while, Quinn." Hiram winks at her.
"I will, if Rachel will have me."
"I'm sure she'd love to!"
"Anyways Quinn, I have to go, Leroy and I have a dinner to arrange tonight for Rachel and Finn. It was nice talking to you again. See you!"
She watches him walk off to his car, before she walks into the mall to buy the things she needs.
-=XXX=-
It's valentine's day at McKinley, today is the big day.
Quinn stands in the empty hall, in front of Rachel's locker.
She peers inside her bag and looks around whether the hall truly is empty, before she sneakily opens Rachel's locker. She had spied on Rachel putting in her code just a few days ago.
I'm sure she'll like this. No more hiding behind words, it's time for action.
Quinn smiles at herself, butterflies fluttering through her stomach as she imagines Rachel's reaction. She hopes that she'll like it. And maybe, just maybe, she'll start to see Quinn in a different light. Not just as her best friend, but as more than that.
She grabs something from her bag and carefully puts it inside Rachel's locker, on top of her books. It's a big stuffed teddy bear holding a heart with the words "You're Adorable" witten on it. Maybe it's a bit cheesy, but she doesn't care. Reaching into her bag once more, she pulls out a rose and puts it in the bear's paws as well. After that, she closes the locker again. Quinn bites her lower lip and smiles before she walks off.
She grabs her cell from her pocket. it's time to start with plan B, so she quickly types some text messages and sends them, before she walks off to her next class.
If I don't sweep Rachel off her feet today, I don't know what will.
-=XXX=-
Rachel is sitting at her regular spot at the lunch tables. Surprisingly enough, Quinn, Sam, Mercedes and Santana are missing.
Right now she's just chatting with Mike, Tina, Artie and Brittany about valentine's day, and whether they had gotten something from their respective partners.
She's just about to ask where the rest of the Glee Club is, when Santana bursts into the lunchroom and walks to Rachel's table.
"Hey Rachel, Quinn asked me to come and fetch you, she wants to see you outside."
"Oh really? What's going on?"
"You'll see."
Rachel gets up and walks after Santana, to the courtyard. When she comes outside she sees that it's crowded with people, but most of all, Quinn is standing there, smiling very broadly at her.
But she's not alone, Mercedes and Sam are there too. And a new guy with dreads instead of normal hair. He kind of looks like Puck, minus the bad-ass attitude. She walks to them and looks at Quinn expectantly.
"Hey Rach. Please allow me to introduce you to Joe Hart. You know him right? I told you about him before. We used to go to the same church. I told him that we could use him for New Directons and he's interested in joining."
Joe smiles at Rachel and extends his hand to her.
"Hey. I'm Joe, nice to meet you in person Rachel. Quinn told me all about you."
Rachel takes his hand and shakes it. "Oh did she? Only the positive things I hope." She bites her lower lip and looks at Quinn, whom smiles back reassuringly.
"Don't worry, she has."
"So, you can sing?"
"Yeah, I've been playing in a band for quite a while. We had to stop though, some of the members just couldn't invest as much time in it as we'd like, and trying to find new ones just wasn't really working out."
"Anyways that's why we brought you out here Rachel. We have a surprise for you." Quinn chips in.
"Really? What kind of surprise?" Rachel's eyes light up with anticipation.
"We're going to sing." She winks at Rachel and motions for Joe to start.
"My heart's a stereo, it beats for you, so listen close, hear my thoughts in every note."
Rachel can't help but smile. Her eyes flicker between Quinn and Joe, not sure whom she should focus on. The music makes her feel giddy.
"Make me your radio, turn me up when you feel low, this melody was meant for you. Just sing along to my stereo."
Much to her amazement, Quinn and Sam start rapping right after Joe's verse. She didn't even know that Quinn could do that. It sounds great though.
Quinn walks up to Rachel and extends her hand, right before the second refrain starts. Smiling broadly, Rachel grabs it and allows Quinn to guide her around the courtyard. Quinn notices that from the moment that Rachel grabbed her hand she became very bashful and ducked her head with that adorable smile on her face. She can't help but smile at the situation herself. Why exactly hadn't she done this two years ago? She knows people are staring but she just doesn't care, because she is holding Rachel's hand and it makes her feel so good. She twirls Rachel around to the nearest bench and lets go of her hand again.
Rachel waits until they're finished and claps excitedly.
"That was beautiful guys. Thanks!" Rachel squeals with happiness. "So, to what do I owe the honor of this surprise?"
Quinn smiles mysteriously."All I can tell you is that it's a present from a secret admirer."
"Really? Who?"
"Can't tell you!"
"Quinn! At least have the decency to tell me! You can't just leave me hanging like this!"
"All I can say is that that person will be very glad you enjoyed it. And who knows, maybe you'll find out soon enough who it is. Come, let's go inside." She winks at Rachel before she taps her shoulder and nudges her to go inside.
-=XXX=-
Rachel and Quinn are walking in the hall towards their respective lockers.
"So, this Joe guy is rather cute."
"You think?"
"Yeah, don't you? I mean I'm not sure whom your type is but he's kind of like Puck with his guitar and all. And he's religious like you."
Quinn laughs. "Just because we're both religious doesn't mean that we're a match made in heaven Rach. He's very sweet and a nice guy but I'm not into him that way."
They arrive at their lockers and Rachel starts to fidget with her lock. Quinn resorts to doing the same, but tries to look at Rachel at the same time without being overly obvious.
This is it. Don't get nervous now, stay calm. I'm sure she'll enjoy it.
Rachel squeals when she sees the teddy bear and grabs it, holding it in front of her.
"That's soo cute!" Her eyes light up and sparkle, she turns towards Quinn and smiles.
Gosh she is so cute.
"Look, it's even got "You're Adorable" written on its stomach. And.. Is that a rose?" Rachel carefully picks the rose from the bears paw, trying not to sting herself on the thorns.
"Oh look there's a card! "I hope you enjoyed your presents today. Love, L". Who's L? I don't think I know anyone who's name starts with a L." Rachel muses to herself.
"I'm really wondering who gave these things to me. It's cuter than what Finn gave me.. He just gave me a CD with him singing French songs. It'd be nice, if his pronunciation wasn't terribly bad.." Rachel scrunches her eyebrows together. "Oh well, at least it wasn't a pig, nor a star named after him."
"Maybe it's from someone you don't expect Rachel." Quinn smiles at Rachel, hoping she'll get the hint.
"Honestly, with my amount of fans, I'd expect it from lots of people. There's only one person whom I wouldn't expect it from." Rachel stares at Quinn.
"Really? Who might that be?" Quinn raises her eyebrow questioningly.
"You. No offence but, first of all you aren't into girls and second of all, you're Quinn Fabray. As if you'd ever send me a stuffed teddy bear with a rose!" Rachel chuckles.
Ouch.
"Yeah that'd be.. unbelievable right?" Quinn tries to chuckle too, but it feels half-assed. Truth be told, she feels rather crap, but she can't show that to Rachel, ever.
"Anyway I have to talk something over with Santana. I'll catch you later." She flashes a smile at Rachel before she turns around, sadness suddenly overtaking her.
Rachel continues to stare at Quinn until Quinn walks around the corner.
Something was definitely off with her today, wonder what's going on.
She looks at her gift, her heart flutters and she starts to smile again.
Mental note: thank the person who gave this to me. Whenever I know who this L person is.
Right when she wants to put the bear in her bag, she smells something. There's a faint smell of perfume radiating from the bear. Funny enough, she recognizes it almost instantly. Confused she stares at it for a few seconds before she puts it inside her bag.
Funny, it smelled like Quinn's. But that can't be it, because Quinn wouldn't give something like this to me. She's not gay. And someone as gorgeous as her would never fall for someone like me, she's made that clear. It's a perfume for women though, so apparently, my secret admirer is a female. Interesting.
-=XXX=-
Quinn walks into the Cheerio changing room, searching for Santana.
Instead of finding Santana, she finds Brittany instead. Thankfully she's clothed, Quinn chuckles to herself.
Last time she caught them was rather embarrassing, it was after Cheerios practice and she thought she was all alone in the dressing room until she walked into the showerroom only to find them naked and under the same shower.
"Hey Britt, where's Santana?"
"Oh, she's just under the shower, she'll be here in a few minutes. Why, you want to ask her something?"
"Yeah, I'm thinking of rejoining the Cheerios. I've been missing the dance routines and the work-out is good for my body so.."
"Oh! That's so awesome Q! We missed you on the team. It's not the same without you, you know." Brittany rushes over to Quinn and hugs her.
"Look, I've got to feed Lord Tubbington now, if San comes out of the shower, tell her I went home already alright? Tell her to come over, we've still got some homework to do." Brittany winks at Quinn and walks off.
Homework, huh? Is that what they call it nowadays?
"Hey Q, what are you doing here?"
Quinn startles and turns around, only to find Santana standing behind her, clad in a simple shirt and jeans.
"Oh! You started me." Quinn chuckles. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you. I've been thinking about it a lot and well, I decided I wanted to rejoin the Cheerios. I kind of miss it."
Much to her surprise, Santana starts to laugh. "Yeah, sure, I bet you just miss staring up the other girls their skirts."
Quinn snorts. "Seriously Santana? I'm not like you. I remember you doing that all the time, you even tried to peek under mine when you thought I wasn't watching!"
"Oh Q, you loved it admit it. Anyways I've got Britt's skirt to stare under now so I don't need to check out the others." She watches Quinn with a smirk. "OH! Right, I totally forgot that you're only a big 'ol gaymo for Rachel Berry. Do you think that she'll allow you a peek under her skirt when she sees you in that hot Cheerio uniform?"
Quinn's face suddenly feels hot as her fantasy is taking a spin with her. She's pretty sure her face is as red as a tomato right now.
"Shut up Santana!"
"Sorry Q, just teasing you. You know me." She winks at Quinn. "Anyway, what about your surprises for Rachel? Did she like them?"
"She loved the song and she thought that the stuffed bear was cute. She just said that.." Quinn casts her eyes to the floor. " That.. she couldn't imagine that it was from me."
"Did you tell her?"
"No, she was wondering who gave it to her. I just said that it could've been someone she expected the least. That's when she told me that that person would be me, and she could never imagine me doing that for her. Probably because she finds me gorgeous and I used to call her those horrible things.. What am I doing wrong? Can't she see that I've changed? I'm not that Quinn Fabray anymore."
"I'm sorry to hear that Quinn, I know it was a bit mushy but it was still cute. But I can't really help you with how to deal with this. I've never been in your situation, I mean, I've always been nice to Brittany you know?"
Quinn looks up at her with sadness lingering in her eyes.
"But you know, I think I know someone who can help you."
-=XXX=-
Never in her life had Quinn thought that she'd end up doing what she was doing now.
Quinn exhales deeply before she walks up to the front door and rings the bell. Thankfully, she doesn't need to wait long before the door opens.
"Hey. I know we've never talked much at McKinley but Santana advised me to talk to you. Because I'm.. kind of.. in the same situation as you and Kurt were. Are."
"It's alright Quinn. Santana told me you'd be paying me a visit. Please come in." Karofsky smiles reassuringly at her before he steps aside so Quinn can come in.
With a sigh of relief, Quinn walks into Karofsky's house.