I apologize for the lateness in this and I hope you'll still be interested. I'm working on editing more chapters so I hope to give you more Addict'd goodness. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just the idea.
List of all characters (main & minor/mentions): Quinn Fabray, [Delia] Rachel Berry, Santana Lopez, Brittany Pierce, Tina Cohen-Chang, Mike Chang, Puck, Finn Hudson, Sam Fabray, Shelby Corcoran, Cera Michaels, Hannah Brette, Neve Lennon, Tehya Brunette, Ruth Ann Berry, Kai Evans & Autumn Chase
Pairings: Rachel/Quinn, Santana/Tehya, Tina/Mike, Hannah/Sam, eventual Brittany/Santana
Minor/Mentions: Rachel/Brittany, Rachel/Neve, Quinn/Kai,
Warning: This does contain forms of physical/emotional/mental abuse, violence, drugs and alcohol (no matter how big or small, if this could trigger something, just be warned); femslash of the biggest kind and minor hetero. So yes, there's angst, drama and epic!romance.
Chapter 2 | It All Shifts Here
Quinn sat forward in her seat, unwinding a pair of headphones she had stuffed in her pocket earlier that day. Her shift would be starting within the next 15 minutes and in order to relax, she usually listened to music. It had always helped her in the past. She had landed a position at one of New York's hottest radio shows as a DJ. Knowing her experience from hosting her hometown's radio station helped her land the job. Quinn had a confidence about her when it came to being held in a small booth, talking to a world full of people. She was only confident because she felt safe and secure behind those walls and no one could judge her to her face. It was the perfect job for her.
She also loved to mix up the music and being in charge of the playlists gave her more of a reason to attend work. She thought it was cool that they had set up a mixer so she could make her own stuff when she wanted to.
"You are always here earlier than me." A female voice came into the small room and jolted Quinn out of her thoughts.
The blonde spun around in her chair to face her first official friend and co-worker since being in the city and gave her a shrug while smiling. "I already had my morning run and didn't feel like going back home just to run into traffic on the way back again."
Tina Cohen laughed and handed Quinn a slushie from one of street vendors on her way into work. "Which is why I love living in the city; easy access everywhere. Mike doesn't like it all that much but I told him we can find a house once our apartment lease is up."
"I'm not that far away from here. I just really like being able to drive down my street without yellow cabs parked everywhere." Quinn smirked and thanked her friend for the slushie. "Blue raspberry, my favourite!"
"I know it is. See? I'm such a great friend. I may as well be your best." Tina giggled and threw her purse onto an empty table before taking her seat. "So, have you talked to Scott yet?" She nodded her head towards their tall blonde boss standing outside the glass door.
"Nope, why?" Quinn raised an eyebrow before squinting at the small pain in her head from drinking the slushie too fast.
"Well, you've heard of Addict'd, right? A pretty popular club around Times Square?" When she watched Quinn shake her head, she smiled. "We're doing a live show there in a couple of weeks with a few of the finest New York City bands." Tina smiled, finishing her last bit of cherry slushie.
"Great." Quinn sighed and bit her bottom lip. "I can handle being behind the mic just not in front of others, especially a whole club full of people. I'll probably have an anxiety attack or something."
"Oh honey, it'll be a piece of cake! Our fans are devoted to us and you'll get to meet so many great people. Plus, I'll be there to hold your hand the entire time." Tina cheerfully pumped her fists in the air. "It'll be awesome."
Quinn realized that the girl's energy was pretty contagious and found herself rather intrigued. If anything, it will give her a night out to distract herself from her depressing thoughts. Between the breakdowns and thinking non-stop about her mother and her ex girlfriend, not much else managed to occupy her mind. So she'd welcome the night out with Tina, even if was only for work.
"Cera, this song sucks cock; we can't play this on stage in front of everyone." Santana put her hand on her hip and looked at the drummer.
"Gee thanks, love your work too bitch." Cera spat out bitterly. "If you think it sucks cock so much why don't you write a song?" She scratched her forehead and sighed, trying to calm her emotions. Santana and Cera were the only two in the group that constantly butt heads.
"Hey." Hannah piped in, "Listen, we've got three days left to rehearse and only four songs to play so far. Our set requires 7 so I'm sure one crappy song won't hurt us," she looked at Cera. "Sorry."
"We want to sound good all the time, Han." Santana sighed in frustration. "And where the fuck is Berry?" Pushing the chair back she was sitting on, Santana grabbed a bottle of Dr. Pepper from the mini fridge.
"Late as usual and you know it ain't fuckin traffic either." Cera replied. "Probably a fight with Neve again."
"Whatever. I say she gets serious about this band and music or we vote her ass out," the Latina spoke and wiped her mouth quickly, looking down at her tank top to find a few dribbles that escaped. She rolled her eyes at her clumsiness and hastily wipe her hand over the mess.
"Oh, and here I thought you were my best friend." Rachel walked in slowly, her eyes catching the three women in the garage. She hesitated briefly before making her way into the room fully.
"And I am but damn it Rachel, for five years we've been playing together and ever since you met 'Bitch Trash' two years ago, we've been nothing but the backseat. Now I don't know about these ladies, but I'm sick of waiting on you and I'm so sick of her. Things have got to change if we ever think we can stay a band." Santana threw her hands up in the air before crossing them and casting a steely gaze at the short brunette.
"Look. I'm sorry okay? I wasn't with Neve and haven't seen her since Saturday night. Truth." Rachel ran her fingers through her hair and sat in Santana's previous chair backwards. "Grams isn't doing too well and I'm scared of leaving her side lately." She looked over at her friends, her eyes hidden behind her sunglasses. She could tell Santana softened a bit and looked a little guilty. "I know I should've called but I wanted to wait until she was asleep. I'm sorry."
"Jesus San, what's wrong with you? You always have to be such an ass with Rachel, give her a break." Hannah practically hissed.
"I didn't know okay? I'm sorry." Santana barked back. "I just figured since we hadn't heard from her since Saturday, she was with Neve."
"Well she wasn't now back off." The redheaded keyboardist raised an eyebrow and stepped in Santana's line of sight. Hannah was always the one to try and mediate things but more than that, she tried to stick up for everyone. It was a hard job and with that group, it could get exhausting.
"Can you two just chill?" Rachel yelled, removing her sunglasses. She bared the dark bruise that Neve left on her upper left cheek. "I've had a terrible week so far and I just want to play, okay? So let's just play." Strapping on her guitar, Rachel tuned it and did a voice test through an old microphone.
Santana, Cera and Hannah looked at each other with concern and confusion. Instead of asking their friend about the bruise and the attitude, they got their instruments ready and tuned.
"So which songs?" Cera asked, still upset that no one wanted to do her song.
"Yours Cer, we'll just add a little more bass and electric guitar to speed it up if that's okay with you?" Rachel smiled at her friend, trying to forget the pain she was feeling inside.
"I love you!" Cera squealed, sticking her tongue out at Santana, who in return rolled her eyes.
"Okay ladies from the top and lets drop the C chord an octave lower." Rachel ran her fingers against her guitar strings making a loud tune.
The band began to play what was simply of soft rock turning into angry punk - thanks to Rachel.
Santana eyed up her best friend and knew that she had to give Rachel another talking to about Neve… or else she'd take matters into her own hands.
"Sam! I'm having a blast here! Anyway, I know you have a late shift, so give me a call this weekend. I have exciting news! Love ya!" Quinn left a message on her brother's voicemail; her tone was happy for once and she wondered and hoped that Sam would be able to catch on.
"Duke," she knelt down and rubbed the white dog's head, "what do you say we call it an early night?" Just as she was about to head to her bedroom, her cell vibrated loudly on the table. Checking the screen, she noticed it wasn't her brother but Tina. "Hey Tina."
"Hey sweetie." A quiet voice leaked through the speaker.
Quinn sat back on her couch, getting ready for a long night on the phone. "What's up?"
"I won't keep you too long but I just wanted to see if you were free for a late lunch tomorrow? I know it's your day off but I thought I'd give it a shot," Tina laughed.
"I don't know, I have such a busy schedule and all." Quinn replied in a sarcastic tone, giggling.
"So that's a yes? Yes!" Tina squealed, "I want you to meet my fiancé, I mean, it's about time you meet him and my friend, Suzy. She used to work at TZ101, the little radio station across the city. She was just transferred to us at NYC 92.5. I think you two will get along great!"
"Sounds like a plan, consider me in. Name a time and place." Quinn got a pen and paper ready.
"Alright, 2:30pm at Roger's Via. It's about two blocks south from work." Tina said in her cheery tone.
"I'll find you, no worries," Quinn laughed and stretched back on her couch. The action made Duke jump up and curl his growing body on top of hers.
"Great, until tomorrow then!" They said their goodbye's and hung up.
Quinn eyed up her puppy, snuggling his head. "I think we're going to have an interesting time here Duke."
Duke huffed contently and Quinn smiled, closing her eyes.
"Why do you want the curtains up every time you're over here?" Ruth Ann coughed slightly looking at her granddaughter questioningly.
"Grams every time I'm over, the moment I walk through that door I can feel the glooming emotion of darkness and you need to shed more light in here." Rachel sat on her grandmother's couch.
"You're stubborn, just like me." The old woman muttered and shuffled slowly to sit beside the brunette. "How's life treating you?"
Shrugging, Rachel looked into Ruth Ann's pale brown eyes. "The best part of my day is the part where I get to come and see you." She smiled softly, wrapping her arm around the older woman's boney shoulders.
"Truth?" Grams asked in a childlike voice. Her fragile body shaking slightly.
"Truth." Rachel smiled and kissed her grandmother's cheek. "So, did you take your pills yet?"
Ruth Ann was going on 76 and had been diagnosed with cancer earlier on in the year. It was a hard adjustment because she was always a strong hardworking woman, but she couldn't help but feel drained every day. Rachel was her only relative that she knew she could count on, her only grandchild in fact and it killed her that she had to drag the young brunette into the mess that was her life.
Rachel didn't grow up in a typical family home. She was the only child of Shelby Corcoran, who had refused the young girl any information about her birth father. Rachel spent most of her early teenage life trying to find out who her father was. After digging into her mother's things, she came across a letter to Shelby, dated back to the year Delia Rachel Corcoran was born.
That was when she found out that she wasn't meant to be Shelby's in the first place. Michael and Steven Berry had sent a letter saying that they were going to call every lawyer they could in the state of Ohio to bring Shelby down. They had signed an agreement on her being a surrogate for the couple but Shelby had took off right before her due date, knowing she could probably raise the baby better than a gay couple from a small town.
After Shelby found out her daughter was a lesbian, she gave her one choice: to attend Church and to stop seeing her then girlfriend Brittany Pierce. When she refused to stop seeing Brittany and didn't attend Church, Shelby packed her bags and threw her out.
The letter had brought so many answers to Rachel's young mind. After she was kicked out for refusing to leave her girlfriend, she took the first bus (with said girlfriend) to the address that the letter had on it. She found herself face to face with an older short woman and instantly it was like something clicked. Rachel was staring into the eyes of her future self and she couldn't believe it.
"Hi, my name is Rachel Corcoran. I know this is going to sound so weird but I think," she took a deep breath and held onto the hand of a taller blonde beside her, "I think I'm your granddaughter."
The older woman blinked a few times before tears sprung to her eyes and she was pulling Rachel in a tight embrace. "Oh thank you Lord." She prayed and rocked them back and forth.
Rachel blinked back her own tears before returning the embrace and burying her head in the woman's neck. She had never felt so much love from someone that didn't even know her.
"You are so beautiful." Ruth Ann pulled back and wiped the tears off the young girl's cheek. "You look like your father with those big brown eyes."
Rachel blushed and let out a ragged breath. She was sixteen years old and her life had just changed dramatically but she couldn't help but feel it was for the better. "I found a letter in Shelby's things. I… I didn't have a name but-"
"Shh, child. You don't need to make up any excuses." Ruth Ann smiled fondly and for the first time she took in the sight of the taller blonde standing beside Rachel protectively. "I'm Ruth Ann," she shook her hand.
"Brittany." The blonde smiled widely, her eyes practically dancing with joy. "I'm Rachel's girlfriend."
Rachel smiled and squeezed the girl's hand before looking at her biological grandmother, expecting words of hatred to leak from them much like Shelby did.
"How lovely!" Ruth Ann laughed and tugged them both inside.
That same night, Ruth Ann sat Rachel down, drying the young girl's eyes. "Honey, you are welcome, more than welcome to live here with me. Your beautiful Brittany can come over as freely as she wants and I won't treat you any differently."
Nine years later, Rachel had just turned 24 and was the only person to care for the old woman. She never did get to meet Steven Berry, her birth father, because unfortunately he had passed away when she was only a child. Ruth Ann couldn't blame Michael Berry for secluding himself after the horrific car accident and death of his husband. She hadn't seen him since her son's funeral.
"Woman, you know I can take care of myself." Ruth Ann looked serious but then broke into a smile, showing her granddaughter that she was teasing.
Smiling, Rachel got up and went into the kitchen knowing Ruth Ann would follow. "Hungry?" she asked, grabbing a pill bottle from the top of the fridge and digging out the pills for her Grams.
"You can make me your famous grilled cheese." The older Berry wiggled her eyebrows and swallowed her medication like a good girl.
Nodding Rachel got what she needed to make Ruth Ann her favourite lunch.
