Thank you all for your interest in this story and your kind reviews. This chapter is a bit longer but I just had issues trying to determine where to end this chapter to start the next one. There's just so much I want to fit into this story! Please read and review, tell me if it sounds a bit rambly, some parts are a bit drawn out, but tell me what you think!
One week into working for the show not much had changed. Quinn showed up to work, ran around dealing with whatever random malfunctions Tina sent her off to deal with, spent half the day blushing when she caught the gorgeous brunette staring at her. Yet, she still had no idea what Rachel did for the show, the dancer theory was becoming more and more likely but everyone seemed to have immense respect for her, so maybe dance choreographer? Quinn only truly saw the cast when they practiced on the stage and in passing in the break room.
"Hey Q, when you are done ogling, I could use a hand over here!" Tina shouted, far too loud for Quinn's liking and she quickly tore her eyes away from the brunette who was stretching like the first day they met as everyone else turned to smirk.
"I wasn't ogling!" Quinn whispered after giving her boss a light punch on the arm.
"Mhm, I'm sure. What is up with you and Berry anyways?" Tina asked and began to pile clothes from a rack into Quinn's arms.
"Nothing! We just talk sometimes," she talks and I blush like a highschooler, "and I'm there when she needs me," to hold her hair back or get her coffee, "we are just friends." I hope. Gosh, I really am acting like a highschooler! Ever since Quinn had given Rachel her phone number she had been jumping each time the cell chimed with a new message, hoping it was the teasing brunette.
"Ok, sure. The looks you two give each other. I swear, your eyes need to get a room or something!"
"Now you are just making stuff up!" Quinn spluttered, had she really been that obvious? "I really don't even know that much about her," aside from the fact that she is perfect, "I don't even know what she does around here?"
"Oh yeah, you weren't here during Funny Girl, you don't know! Well you will find out soon enough, we have the first run through in costume next week!" Tina said, her eyes glazing over at the last part, "It really is a sight to behold. The first run through always goes horribly, it's like a tradition. Everyone running round like their heads cut off, costume malfunctions, at least one person falling off some new piece of architecture, but theres always one moment. One perfect moment where everything goes right and it's just magic! You will find out who your little Berry really is then."
Quinn rolled her eyes, Tina could be so cryptic sometimes, "Well I look forward to it! What do you want me to do with all of these?" the blonde asked, her arms now so weighted down with clothes she could hardly see Tina over the pile.
"Take them to Glinda's dressing room for her fitting if you would."
"Sure...Where is that?" Yes, Quinn had worked there for two weeks now but she had yet to have reason to venture into the expansive labyrinth beneath the stage that was the leads' dressing rooms. It was rumored that years back when the theater was first created an intern went down to deliver sparkling cranberry juice to the leading lady at the time and was never heard from again.
"Oh honey, when you go down there just follow the trail of pink glitter!" Tina joked.
"And if I lose sight of that should I look for the yellow brick road?" Quinn yelled over her shoulder, eyes rolling and head shaking. Hm, if there was a pink glitter trail down there where would it really lead? Probably to that one girl Brittany's dressing room, she was always eating Pixie Stix. She absently wondered as she carefully picked her way down the dark, narrow stairway. How do more people not trip down here? Have these damn actors never heard of lights? The area she emerged into was horribly lit by flickering fluorescent bulbs. One large corridor seemed to go on forever, branching off randomly into smaller ones.
"Hey new girl, you're a long way from home." A sultry voice purred from a backlit doorway.
"Rachel?" Quinn startled.
The voice laughed, "Good guess. What are you doing down here? From what I've seen Tina keeps you on a pretty tight leash."
"I'm looking for Glinda's dressing room, she's got a fitting and I have, apparently, been demoted to a pack mule." the blonde babbled. Why can I never just shut my mouth around her? "Do you know where it is?"
"You came to the right person!" Rachel finally stepped out of the doorway and into the dim hallway. She looked different somehow but Quinn couldn't quite put her finger on it. "Follow me! I know where everything is down here." After a few moments of walking in comfortable silence the brunette spoke up again. "How are you liking working here?"
"It's, um interesting. Each day is a new challenge and I really enjoy trying to overcome them. The coworkers, they are another story."
"Haha, you could say that. The ASMs are like the island of misfit toys, but at least you are not all at each others throats and all compliments are genuine." That was when Quinn realized what was different about the petite brunette, when she laughed it sounded hallow and empty. The light that always shone in her eyes when she smiled was not there.
"Yeah, is the cast not like that?" the blonde asked delicately.
"There are some small groups that are close and genuine but mainly it's just backstabbing and fake smiles. Heres your stop!" They came to a halt in front of a door with a pink star on it with the words, 'Glinda the good witch', written in the middle. With some rhyming substitutions.
"Thanks! How do you know how to navigate around here so well anyways?" Quinn asked trying to prolong the time before she would have to say goodbye to the beautiful brunette.
"When I was accepted onto the cast for Funny Girl, I was still in college and I was the youngest one there. The rest of the crew was accepting enough but I didn't really fit in with them." the shorter woman began slowly. "When I got lonely or nervous I would come down here and just wander. I wanted to lose myself but now I know the area so well I come down here out of habit." Quinn just stood there, still processing what she heard. She was not used to seeing this quiet, vulnerable side of the normally flirty confident brunette.
"Where you a choreographer for Funny Girl too?"
"I'm sorry, a what?" Rachel spluttered. "You really think I'm a choreographer? That's rich!"
"But then the dancing, and the stretching, and the... the so what do you do!?" Quinn was completely at a loss.
"You'll find out soon enough new girl!" Before Quinn could argue the woman was retreating down the dark hall. She shook her head and headed into the dressing room.
-v-v-
WHOMP- Quinn was going to make her roommate try out for the Yankees, with her arm there was no way she couldn't make it. "What do you want it's like 2 in the morning!" She yelled her voice hoarse with sleep and her hair newly mussed up from the pillow that had impacted her head.
"Your phone keeps ringing and I don't know how to shut it up. Q, you are officially the worst roommate I have ever had. No concept of beauty sleep!" Santana shouted back, now throwing the phone at the blonde.
Checking the device she confirmed that yes, indeed she had seven missed calls from an unknown number. Who is this and why won't they stop calling me? As if the caller had heard the question, the phone came to life and began ringing again. Ok, Santana had a point, 'Walking on Sunshine' was less than desirable at 2 in the morning. "Hello?"
"Hey new girl." A slightly slurred voice greeted.
"Rachel! What do you want? It's two am!"
"You, have a very symmetrical face. Did you know that? And your hair. It's so yellow!" Rachel was clearly proud of herself for being able to form a coherent thought.
"Yes, yes it is yellow!" Quinn didn't have the heart to say anything else to the clearly drunk girl. "Where are you? Do you need a ride home?"
"That would be spectacular! I don't really know where I am... There's a street lamp and a subway station, and oh Quinn! There's a guy playing the drums on a bucket! You have to hear this guy listen Quinnie!" Then the distant sound of hands on a trash bin and shouting.
"Rachel? Rachel, don't move. Stay where you are and don't talk to people! I'm on my way!" Quinn was already out of bed shoving her feet into a pair of boots and thanking the lord that she wore pants to bed, unlike her roommate.
"Where are you going Fabray?" Santana yelled across the room.
The blonde was already out the door "Work."
"Ok, if you aren't back by tonight can I have your shoes?" the Latina asked hopefully before laying backdown and falling back into a deep sleep.
Think Q. She heard drumming and saw a subway station. What bar is near a station where people drum on trashcans in the city? Oh wait all of them! Quinn pulled out her phone and dialed Rachel's number again. Come on pick up, pick up!
"Hello beautiful!" Oh God, her voice is even more slurred. How could she possibly be even more drunk?
"Hey there Rachel. I need you to do me a favor." Quinn's voice took on that of an adult talking to a small child.
"Anything for you new girl." Quinn could feel goosebumps break out on her arms that had nothing to do with the cold air of the city.
"Can you find a street sign and tell me what it says?" she asked praying the brunette wouldn't accidentally wander into the street when she was looking for a sign. Hedging her bets Quinn headed towards the theater- if Rachel went drinking after work it was probably somewhere near the theater.
"Bingo I found a sign! It says Broadway, Quinn I'm on Broadway!" Rachel practically yelled into the phone.
Quinn gingerly held her phone away from her ear, no need to go deaf. "Rach, Broadway is like twenty miles long, I'm gonna need a cross street.
"..."
"Rachel? Are you still there?"
"You called me Rach." the brunette said slowly, sounding suddenly sober.
Quinn had arrived at the theater and was quickly glancing up and down the street looking for the intoxicated woman. "I guess I did. How are we coming on that cross street?"
"Umm I think I see, oh Quinn!" the blonde could hear the shrieking as though it was coming from right behind her when suddenly she found herself facedown on the disgusting sidewalk. If she had managed to grab more than shoes and a phone before running out she would be afraid of getting mugged. Now she was just pissed and concerned for Rachel.
"Who the fuck do you think you are!? I Know Juditsu and have pepper spray. Get the hell off of me before I go all Lima Heights Adjacent on your ass!" Quinn was yelling and trying to push herself upright.
"Quinnie it's me!" the excited brunette breathed in her ear, causing her to shiver. "I found you, I win!"
"Yes you did Rachel, can you get off of me now please?"
Rachel just laughed. "This is how we met, remember? Just the other way around!" Finally Quinn was able to coax the brunette up and get both of them on their feet.
"Of course I remember Rach." She laced her arm with the shorter woman's to prevent her from tipping over. How much has she had?
"I like it when you call me Rach. You smell good!" Rachel giggled.
"Come on, little miss tipsy, where do you live?" Quinn needed to get home fast and get a cold shower if she was supposed to function after being stuck underneath the brunette and now with the way the shorter woman seemed to melt into her side.
"They took my keys." Rachel mumbled, snuggling in closer to Quinn's side and forcing the blonde's arm to relocate around her waist. "at the bar. We'll be locked out anyways."
"Ok, my place it is. We aren't that far." she began steering the inebriated woman towards her apartment. "Oh and you'll get to meet my roommate... that is sure to be fun."
"Quinnie, you didn't even buy me dinner first." That giggle, it was infectious and every time it spilled from Rachel's lips Quinn couldn't help but smile.
"We'll get you some black coffee." After some light coaxing, gentle steering, and practically having to carry Rachel up the three flights of stairs- the elevator had been broken since they moved in- the pair arrived at Quinn's apartment. She unlocked the door and led Rachel inside. "You can take my bed and I'll sleep on the couch."
"But Quinnie, I'll miss you! And it just doesn't seem fair to make you sleep on the couch just because I drunkenly called you in the middle of the night."
"Are you sure? I don't mind." Quinn wasn't sure if she could make it the whole night sleeping beside the brunette beauty without spontaneously combusting.
"Of course I'm sure silly," Rachel began to stumble towards where she assumed the bedroom would be, kicking out of her heels and dropping her purse and coat on her way. Quinn grabbed her elbow just as she was about to run into the coffee table, chuckling to herself and led her the rest of the way. Within seconds Rachel was under the covers and out like a light. Quinn moved slowly and carefully as to not wake her sleeping coworker and curled up on her side. This girl really is a bed hog, she thought idly when suddenly a warm body pressed itself firmly into Quinn's front. "You're really warm." Rachel mumbled, shifting her backside impossibly closer into the blonde who resigned her self to the inevitable, this was bound to be a long night.
-v-v-
Quinn awakened to the sound of laughter and the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Groaning, she rolled over and reached her arm out in search of the petite woman she had fallen asleep next to.
"Looking for your Berry?" an amused voice asked as Quinn felt the corner of her bed dip down. Finally, the blonde found the resolve to open her eyes, wincing and squinting at the bright sunlight that streamed through her normally closed blinds. Santana was perched on the edge of her bed, nursing a steaming coffee mug while a wicked smirk blossomed on her lips.
"Three things," Quinn mumbled, her mouth dry and tongue heavy with sleep. "First, gimmie a sip of that," she snatched Santana's mug and grimaced when her first sip reminded her the brunette drank it black and scorching hot. Oh well, caffeine is caffeine. "Second, she's not 'my Berry.' and third, where is she?"
"Three things," Santana began, mocking her roommate. "First, paws off my coffee, you know I needs my morning pick me up." and retrieved her cup of molten lava from the blonde with a death glare, "Second, you two were way too cuddly last night for her not to be 'your Berry' or at least for you not to want her to be 'your Berry'." Santana relished in the blush that crept up Quinn's face despite her furious expression, " And third, she's in the shower. Which I'm gonna go on and let slide because she makes the best coffee."
"You're gonna let it slid? Santana I can't even begin to count the number of times you've brought some random woman home!" Quinn said indignantly, "What time is it? Tina's going to literally kill me if I'm late, we have the first official run through today."
"Don't worry, we'll get there in time." Rachel assured her, rounding the corner to stand in Quinn's doorway. Her hair, still damp from the shower, snaked down her neck and clung lightly to her shoulders. Even without makeup, clad in Quinn's shabby old towel, the brunette was breathtaking. Wait, my old towel? "But we had better hurry up. It always takes forever to get everyone through costume, hair, and makeup the first few times. Be glad we are only running through the first act."
"Um, yeah.. Ok.." Quinn spluttered, vaguely punching Santana on the arm when she smirked ate Quinn's floundering to form a sentence. Rachel moved into the room, deftly grabbing her neatly folded clothes from their place atop a dresser, and heading back out the door with a suggestive sway in her hips.
As soon as they heard the bathroom door click shut again Quinn let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding and Santana gave a low whistle, reminding the blonde she was still here. "How come you never look that good in that ratty old towel Q?" the Latina asked, earning herself a proper punch in the arm as her roommate rolled out of bed and began rifling through a drawer for a shirt.
"No leering without a permit S. Besides she's way too, good, for you."
"Too good? Have you seen me lately Fabray cause I'm smoking!" Santana asked gesturing up and down her pajama clad body. The whole thing probably would have been more effective if she wasn't sporting an impressive case of bed head.
Finally Quinn settled on a simple yellow v-neck and threw it on after peeling off the t-shirt she slept in. "It's not just that. She's too smart, too strong, too confident, too unique, too mature, just overall too good for you!"
"Cough, cough," the Latina faked, "excuse me, I had some disgusting sentimentality and stomach churning affection stuck in my throat. Q! You are practically drooling over this woman!"
"Am not!" God I feel like I'm back in elementary school Quinn thought shimmying into a pair of dark skinny jeans. "Besides, I do not drool. How do I look?"
"Like a lemon, now get your sour ass out there!" Santana practically shoved the blonde out of her bedroom. She stumbled down the hallway trying to simultaneously pull her hair back into a pony and put on a pair of flats.
"Ready to go Rach?" Where did she go? The brunette was not in the bathroom, or the living room. Finally Quinn spotted her in the kitchen, lounging on a barstool as if she lived there.
"Yup!" the shorter woman said jumping up and grabbing her purse. "Lets head out." They descended the stairs to the street in comfortable silence while Rachel finished eating a bagel she had 'borrowed' from the refrigerator. "Thank you, for letting me stay over. And coming to get me last night"
"No problem! What are ASMs for if not to make sure drunk cast members don't get abducted in the middle of the night?" Noting the slightly dejected droop of Rachel's head at the mention of work, Quinn quickly added, "Of course it's nothing I wouldn't do for any of my good friends."
The brunette's head shot up, "You consider us good friends?" Her eyes sparkled with such hope Quinn couldn't believe this was the same woman who had flirted with and teased her relentlessly for the past week.
"Yeah I do, do you?"
"Considering we have already slept together and you found an excuse to mount me within the first minute you met me, yes I suppose we are pretty good friends." the confidence back in her voice. "Maybe next time I will have to call you before I get drunk so you can keep an eye on me. We wouldn't want a repeat of last night now would we?"
I wouldn't mind a repeat of the end, "If you are referring to getting tackled on a New York street by a crazed drunk no, let's not repeat that part." Two can play at the flirting game. "So when do I get to learn what you actually do on the show?" Quinn asked, trying to steer the conversation to a less loaded subject.
"Oh, I'm sure you will know by the end of the day. My makeup is a bit... over the top."
"You aren't a munchkin are you!? Because if you are I take back the whole close friends thing. I don't think my reputation could recover from that." Rachel elbowed the blonde and they finished the walk to the theater with Quinn taking turns guessing what part Rachel played and Rachel pretending to be outraged at the guesses- "Flying monkey!?" "Do I look like an ape to you?"- and by the end Quinn was even more clueless than she had been.
