When the whistle blew, it startled Quinn's fellow cheerleader and blonde, Brittany S. Pierce (who was conveniently at the bottom of the pyramid) and caused a chain reaction as the girls all fell to the floor.
"Embarrassing! Get out of here!" Coach Sylvester screamed through a megaphone. The cheerleaders groaned, but they were also kind of proud of themselves. Last week they had been 'disgusting'. 'Embarrassing' was definitely an improvement. Quinn didn't pay attention to her coach's insults because she was too busy trying to remember the way to Rachel's house. She walked into the locker room, imagining the street under her feet, and she could almost see the white house straight ahead, right in front of her. She changed into a pair of tight jeans she had bought the day before, and a pink tank top with white lace that ran along the bottom hemline and slipped on her white sneakers. She waved goodbye to the girls and her comfort zone as she began to walk to Rachel's house.
This situation was almost too weird for Quinn. She couldn't believe it was really happening. She was giving up an evening she could spend trying on new clothes, to sing with Miss Manhands. But if Mr. Schuester wanted to challenge them, she was not gonna humiliate herself by doing a horrible job. That would only lead to humiliation, a desire to quit, and disappointing Finn, who would probably then leave her. She swallowed her pride and crossed the bridge over to the house of the biggest nerd in the school. Once she reached the house of Berry, she stopped and stared at it as if it was a monster from her past. She took a deep breath and walked up to ring the doorbell.
"Well, hello there!" Mr. Berry (the one who can cook) greeted her at the door. "My, how you've grown!" He threw his arms around her and suddenly Quinn's nose was filled with familiar scents. She then walked upstairs to meet Rachel, and things were a bit blurry. When she opened the door, something urged her to sit on the floor and look for the nearest Barbie doll, but when she looked up, there sat a teenaged Rachel Berry. Her bed sheets didn't have unicorns on them anymore, and she looked surprised to see her.
"Quinn! You finally made it! I've made some very good notes to the music Mr. Schue gave us, and I think you'll agree!" Rachel sat on her bed looking down at the music sheet and taking notes on where she would take a breath. Quinn ignored her and as she threw her stuff on the floor, she quickly ran to shut the blinds so no one would see her there and sat in front of Rachel as she handed her the music sheet with her notes on it.
"What language is this?" Quinn quickly noticed all the doodles Rachel had added to the music, it was almost impossible to understand.
"They're my notes, Quinn." Rachel blushed and looked down at her pink sheets, almost embarrassed about caring too much for Glee club. Quinn Fabray was at her house, in her room. It had been way too long... She stood up, and with her back turned to the blonde, she continued, "I will begin and then you can sing the words after me, okay? You'll learn from the best."
"Fine, whatever, let's just do this." She lowered the volume of her voice and continued, almost whispering to the air, " I can't believe I am doing this sober. What I would give for a drink right now..." Quinn flipped through the stapled papers and decided to just do whatever Rachel tells her so she could get out of there as soon as possible.
Rachel, being the kind of girl she is, who wants to please everyone, took Quinn's comment literally, and whispered back, "I can get you something?" She remembered the all the pink drinks she kept hidden from her parents. They were for whenever Rachel felt like dressing up and practicing her award acceptance speeches. Quinn looked at her with impatience, and Rachel got the drinks out fast, and poured some for Quinn, who instead took the bottle and chugged it. Rachel looked at her kind of puzzled, but then decided, 'hey, whatever gets the job done'...
"Okay, Quinn, see here's the thing about singing. It's half-acting and half-vocal skills. You need to not only sing the song... you need to feel the words, and perform them. You have to show the audience how you feel." She sat next to Quinn. "See? This song... Elvis is singing about being in love... with someone he isn't sure he should be. But, it's a beautiful song, because..." Rachel got up, and looked straight at Quinn, "love is beautiful no matter what. He doesn't care what people would say... He loves her too much." She paused. "So, let's give this a try. Stand up."
"God you talk a lot..." Quinn mumbled as she put the empty bottle down and stood up. "I'm up! Now what?"
"Now, you sing to me. Like I was the love of your life..." Quinn decided to be uncooperative and stood completely still with a blank look on her face.
"Here, let me show you." She put the papers down. She already knew the words. Rachel imagined the love of her life in Quinn's place. The quarterback. Finn. She imagined him standing in front of her, so she took Quinn's hand and began singing. "Wise men say only fools rush in. But I can't help falling in love with you..." She had gotten a lot closer to the cheerleader, and was now holding both of her hands. Quinn stared into her eyes, also pretending Rachel was Finn. They were two girls lost in the same fantasy.
"Shall I stay?" Quinn sang the next line. "Would it be a sin... if I can't help falling in love with you."
Suddenly, the girls let go off each other, and it began to rain outside. Quinn peeked through the blinds and mumbled "Great, now I have to stay even longer." Rachel sat down and sang the next line. "Like a river flows, surely to the sea; darling, so it goes, some things are meant to be." Quinn shrugged, and picked up the music sheet, "Take my hand, take my whole life too..." She took Rachel's hand, who stood up and spun, with a smile on her face, and joined Quinn as they both sang "for I can't help falling in love with you." Rachel tried to spin again, and because Quinn didn't think to let her hand go, the girls both fell to the floor, Rachel on top of Quinn. When they hit the floor, and entered reality again they realized they had both stopped pretending the other was Finn, and had apparently forgotten what he even looked like. Quinn laughed, half-drunk, half-completely aware of what was going on. Rachel looked straight into Quinn's eyes with the most serious look on her face... then she looked down at her lips. Quinn seemed just as curious as Rachel.. She just lay there, with this brunette on top of her. Laying in awkward silence, until Rachel hesitantly placed her hand on Quinn's waist. Quinn looked down at Rachel's hand, then back up at Rachel, and she placed hers around the brunette, holding her body close to her. Rachel whispered the last verse, almost speaking the words, and truly realizing what they meant.
"Shall I stay... would it be a sin...?" Quinn's eyes got bigger as she finished Rachel's sentence, "if I can't help..." Or, tried to. Quinn couldn't move her lips to say the last five words, as Rachel's lips had stopped her. Rachel's lips. They tasted sweeter than Finn's ever did. They shared a slow and gentle kiss... a passionate kiss Elvis himself would've been proud to have inspired. Once it was over, they both stood up and stared at the wall in silence, but on the inside they were both exploding with confusion and curiosity.
"Okay..." Quinn broke the silence. "I should just..."
"No! I... If you leave..." She looked down and said softly, "We need to practice the song. We got caught up in the moment. Look it's still raining!" She pointed at the window, and then ran to lock the door. "You... You can't leave Quinn. Not until everything's perfect."