Disclaimer: Don't own Glee. And for the record the law firm is completely made up, if there is actually a firm by that name no copy right infringement was meant.
Author's Note: Okay so this chapter got a ton more happy reviews, which is amazing. Thank you.
Agarza1538: I'm glad I have you hooked, I hope you continue to enjoy the story.
Sora-Hikari: I know it is indeed just fanfiction, but people will always have something negative to say no matter what. It's just society. And a happy Brittany is the best Brittany. ;) Oh and I do love an accent, just saying. =) You have plenty of reason to be proud of it.
IxHeartxGlee: I'll always fight on my beliefs. Thank you very much for your kind words, I hope the story will still be to your liking.
Kahlan35: Always a delight, honestly. It is solely based on how often you are put around it. If your with you family or spent a lot of time with someone with the same drawl, chances are your going to pick it up. Again I say, I do love a southern accent. =) That is really why I wanted to add this into the story. I'm assuming you've sort of figured out the plot line then hm? It will be a crazy ride.
Anon (miyuve): Just because you speak a certain way does not make you uneducated. I know a lot of southerns got bad names, but if you look in history books a lot of things were created by hard working, men and women, who can barely be understood half the time. Thank you for sharing your opinion with me. =)
suspenceme: Yes, sweet brittberry love indeed. I always swore I'd write something with the pairing. I had a whole fiction written out about them, but ended scrapping it. Originally I was going to put Pezberry in here but swapped at the last second. Honestly I'm not too familiar with the area around Lima. I do know that Lima is a very small, very conservative place...which will tie in to the story. That is why I didn't set it directly in Lima. I'm from Dayton. =) But I looked it up and here is a small town around that area that this could possibly be set in. Lafayette,OH. Population 304. =) It's about 18 minutes east of Lima.
rm06: Well this is my response to that. =) Thanks for the review.
XxMya09xX: This is my response to that lol. I seem to be having a lot of answers to y'alls ponderings. But yes G!Peen is a pretty kick ass subject if written well. There is a Pezberry one..that well damn...is written amazingly. It's on my favorites, if your interested.
momo0424: Thank you so much for your kind words. Here is more! =) I think it is cute as well, hence my main reason for adding it in. I could totally see her rocking it.
Okay now that I finished that, onwards to the story!
Leroy's Garage Chapter 3
The charger pulled up to the seemingly hole in the wall bar. It was a small building, only one large window spanning across the front next to the door that was propped open. Rachel shifted into park and cut the engine, turning her body to take in the blond who still wore her outfit from earlier. Her eyebrow was arched as she took in the establishment, her nose once more scrunching adorably in distaste. Brittany clapped her hands together and bounced a little in her excitement.
"Baby, Puck and Artie are here!" She smiles at the tanned girl. Her blue eyes landing on Quinn, her smile dims just slightly. "It's okay, everyone around here loves me and Ray. No one will bother you here."
Quinn blushes slightly at the ditzy girl that called her out. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to seem like I was looking down upon anything. It's just...small." She breathed out.
"Well, yeah Charlies is a little family owned place. A lot of the town frequents it." Rachel smiled, trying to placate the nervous woman. "I promise you'll love it once you get inside." With that she opens her door and steps out, reaching to let the seat up so the other woman could climb from the back.
Quinn pulls herself from the back, standing and straightening her clothes. Her hazel eyes flash down to chocolate brown eyes, suddenly noticing the closeness between their bodies. Pink quickly spreads up her neck and across her cheeks. She takes a quick step to the side, her hand brushing her short hair away from her face. A loud squeal drawls both of their gazes to Brittany who has already sprang from the car and was racing for Puck and a thinner boy in a wheelchair.
Rachel's soft smile at the interaction makes Quinn's heart skip again. Her hand pushes the car door shut, the blond takes a step forward on the gravel lot. It gives way underneath her heel causing her body to lurch into the mechanics. Rachel stumbles slightly and wraps a toned arm around the woman's thin waist.
"Whoa there. You okay?" Rachel tries not to laugh as her lips twitch slightly.
"Um..yeah...yes, thank you." Quinn flushes, clearing her throat quietly. It was a nervous habit of hers, and she was most definitely nervous. Heat surged through her body at the contact flushing against her left side.
"Ray!" Brittany's voice rang out, snapping them out of their small bubble.
"Yeah Britt?" Rachel calls back, her arm staying around Quinn as she leads her to more stable footing. Once they reach the small paved walkway leading up to the steps she lingers for just a second before pulling her body away.
"Artie said he has something important to tell us!" She chirps back, her blue eyes bright as she takes in the two. She was always good at noticing things that no one else did.
"Oh really?" Rachel's eyes fall on the boy with glasses, he wore a white short sleeved button down, a multi colored sweater vest over it. A pair of khakis cover his legs and a simple pair of black Adidas cover his feet. His hands hover over the wheels of his chair, adorned in black leather fingerless gloves.
"I most certainly do." Artie smiles toothily at her, flicking his head to the side causing his bangs to flip to the side slightly.
"Well then I'm assuming it's something happy?" Rachel's eyes sparkle, a small grin stretching her lips.
"You know it." He chirps back, wheeling himself backwards in to the bar.
"Hey Ray." Puck smiles as he drops his arm over the shoulder of the mechanic.
"Noah," Her eyebrow raises, the boy lets out a loud laugh. Leading them in to Charlies.
This leaves the two blond's. Brittany smiles brightly at Quinn, linking their arms she skips after the others. Quinn let out a soft laugh at the girls antics, but it was drowned out by the loud country music blaring from the antique style jukebox in the far back corner.
"Yeah!" Is called loudly from somewhere along the bar as Rachel hops on to a bar stool. She simply raises her hand and gives a small wave to the crowd of men. A boisterous laugh sets them off and the laughter fills the bar.
About an hour in to it and about two shots of tequila later, Quinn was tipsy and that would be putting it in easy terms. Brittany had dragged her to the dance floor, dancing closely with her to some Gretchen Wilson song. Rachel was clapping her hands to the beat and laughing with a trashed Puck and a surprisingly sober Artie.
"Damn I can't believe my boy is gonna be a daddy." Puck slurs out, sloppily wrapping his arms around Artie's shoulders. "Now I'm the only unmarried guy from high school." He laughs out.
"Yeah, that matters so much when you sleep with half the wives around here." Artie snorts out, causing a loud laugh to come from Rachel.
"He's got you there Noah." She pats the boy on the shoulder, her gaze falling back on the two blonds. Brittany had her arms wrapped around the defense attorneys waist, her front pressed against the shorter woman's back. They were laughing and swaying to the song. Occasionally Brittany would spin Quinn outward, only to bring her back in with a large smile.
"You got yourself one hell of a woman Ray." Noah murmurs out watching the two as well.
"True dat." Artie calls out right after, causing the two to burst into laughter again.
"Well thank ya kindly." She drawls out, pretending to tip her hat to the two boys. She smiles when Puck scoffs at her. "She is pretty amazing." She says softly, her eyes drifting from Brittany to Quinn.
Quinn's phone buzzed in her bag, sitting on the bar top. She reached out grasping it, in the middle of a break from dancing, pressing the button she pulls it up to her ear. Taking in a deep breath, her eyes on the dancing figures of Puck, Brittany and Rachel.
"Hello?" She tried not to laugh when Puck winked at her and belted out a note to a country oldie, by Dolly Parton.
"What the fuck? Are you at a bar?" Santana barks out. "Oh my god you are! I'm busting my ass on this case and your getting your 'yee-haws' on with the yokels!"
"So what if I am? I can't really work on the case out here can I?" Quinn snaps right back.
"Yeah well I have a question for you Honky." Santana quips back. "I mean if you can pull yourself away from Jethro long enough to answer."
"What the hell is your problem San?" Quinn barks, her hand coming up to rub her forehead.
"I don't know, maybe this situation? I mean who doesn't get a fucking tune up on their car before they travel over like two state lines?" She scoffs.
"What did you want to know?"
"What is the name of this Podunk little town your ass is in?" Santana breaths out, a rustling of
papers is heard over the line.
"Lafayette, why?" Quinn's eyebrows furrow.
"Well, shit." She huffs out. "That is where this all happened, Q, the towns people there weren't very happy when our clients came in and attacked one of their own. If I were you I wouldn't mention to anyone why your passing through."
"Um...too late?" Quinn's eyes shoot to the happy group again.
"Seriously? Did you manage to get pregnant again too? What the hell?" Santana growls out. A rustling is heard again.
"Sorry, I didn't think I would be risking a smack down by telling someone my job! Jesus, and that was a low blow Lopez." Quinn snarls at the end.
"With you, you can never really be sure. Listen, it says the man they attacked had a husband and a kid. Think you can manage to avoid at least two people in Amish country?"
"Yeah, who is it?" Quinn's eyes flicker across the bar. She can't really guarantee anything, she didn't even know these people.
"Looks like the husbands name was Hiram Berry and the kid is named Rachel. Says here they owned a ...fucking garage! God damn it Q!" Santana barks, the sound of her hand smacking the table can be heard. "Let's hope to all that is holy they don't connect the dots. Listen, I'm on my way now. I'll have Chang do the damn press release. I need to make sure someone doesn't go all single white female on your ass." A jingle of keys crosses the line. "Sit tight okay and call me if something happens. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Okay." Was the whispered response. Quinn didn't know much about this case, she was fully intent on crash coursing herself in it when she arrived in Dayton. The law firm was having paralegals doing most of the work, and rookie lawyers. All she'd have to do is brief herself and take the prep work to finish the job. The line went dead, she allowed her arm to drop to her side. Her hazel eyes locked on the laughing figure of the brunette.
"You look like someone killed your cat." Noah slurs to Quinn as the make their way out of the bar, the blond had sobered up when the call came in.
"Noah," Rachel looks at him, her eyes narrowed threateningly.
"Baby, I wanna see Lord Tubbington now." Brittany looks over to the tanned girl with a small pout. Artie makes his way down the small wooden ramp off the side of the stairs. She looks to him as he pushes himself to the house directly next to it. Raising her hand she waves towards him. "Bye Artie! Tell Tina I said Hey!"
"I'll drop you off at your house on the way baby, you can have your mama drive you by tomorrow to come get your car." Rachel responds opening the door for her, Quinn having already went around to the drivers side to slide in to the back seat. Puck lumbers in right after her.
"Thank you Ray." Brittany chirps, leaning over to place a sloppy kiss on the mechanics cheek.
Rachel hums in response, gently shutting the door after the girl. She makes her way to her side and slides in, Puck's arms drape over her shoulders when she finally settles in. Her eyes roll and she starts the car, a roar coming from the engine.
"Rachie...I can stay over at yours tonight right? My ma said if I came home drunk one more time on a night Sarah has to go to school she'd kick my ass."
"Yes Noah, you know I always got room for you." She smiles at him in the mirror, he leans up and places a kiss on her shoulder.
"Your a life saver."
After a ten minute drive and a five minute make out session against the side of the car, Brittany had officially been dropped off. Rachel was now pulling in to the gravel lot of Leroy's. Quinn's hazel eyes took it in with a new light, a small frown marring her features. A loud 'thwack' interrupted her thoughts, Rachel had managed to park in the garage and get out of the car she was now leaning over the passed out form of Puck. A soft snore passed the boys lips, Rachel's gaze met hers for a second, she rolled them and shot her a soft smile. She then balled her hand into a fist and punched him in the chest. He let out a high pitched squeal and brought his hand to the injured area. His brown eyes blinking rapidly.
"Why'd you do that for?" He seemed almost like he was a scolded child, his lip pushed out in a very unmanly pout.
"Aw, poor baby." She cooed to him, her finger reaching out and tapping his lower lip. "I just wanted to get you awake, I didn't want to drag you up to the house again unless really needed."
He let out a small breath and slowly dragged himself from the car, with Rachel's help of course, Quinn slid out behind the friends. Her eyes watched as Rachel wrapped her arm around his bulky waist, his arm dropping on her shoulders as he slightly leans on her. Quinn stepped over towards her car, pulling her spare key from inside her bag. She presses the button to pop the trunk and grabs the Louis Vuitton duffel from the back. Throwing it on her shoulder, she closes the trunk, and heads outside with the two. Rachel was standing just outside the door waiting. Once she came out she pressed a button on the security panel on the wall, the garage doors closing.
"House is just right around this way." Rachel murmured, the wooden gate swinging open. She ushered Quinn in first and then followed with Noah.
"It's very pretty." Quinn turned to her with a soft smile.
"Thank you, I'm sure my Daddy would be quite pleased to hear you say that." She smiled back.
"You got a nice ass lady." Noah slurred out. A smack to his, probably already bruised, chest was Rachel's response.
"Don't be so crass Noah." She growled slightly.
"What happened to your speech?" Quinn questions with a small tilt of her head, her gaze snapping back to the steps as she makes her way up to the porch.
"Oh, whenever I spend too much time around Burt I usually end up talking like that." She laughs slightly. "He is a regular at the shop. Brings in his own car, his wife's and his two sons. Usually ends up helping me with them too. He worked with my Dad for the longest time until the accident happened. He got hurt and had to quit. His accent is very distinct." She smiles as the boy next to he nods in agreement.
It took Rachel all of ten minutes to get the boy to the unused room on the other side of the kitchen. It was dark and when Quinn helped her drag him in there, she noticed that it seemed untouched. There were mens clothes hanging up in the opened closet, a set of overalls dangling from a nail on the wall. The quilt with solid white with a blue and pink floral design. The carpet was a beautiful blue. A deep freezer sat next to the bed, a telephone and a lamp on it, just next to that was a chest with a large mirror across the top. Pictures were shoved in the corners, one an aged wedding photo of a large black man with his arms wrapped around a smaller white male. A few others are scattered across the glass, most of the men and Rachel some with Brittany and two other adults in it.
"Night, night Noah." She kisses the boys forehead after she manages to wrestle his boots and jeans off, shoving him underneath the covers. She turns her gaze to Quinn seeing her eying the pictures. "That's my Daddy and Dad." She steps closer to the wedding photo her finger caressing the tall black mans face.
"They look very happy." Quinn whispers, stepping closer towards the mechanic.
"They were, Dad got ambushed by guys that were associated with the Klan." Her brown eyes start to fill with tears, some track down her cheeks. Her gaze still locked on the photo. "Three men came here just when him and Burt were closing up. They heard that two men were living in town and had a small girl, not to mention they were bi-racial. It was like a big ol red flag to them. So they came up here and they confronted him about it. He never denied it. They told Burt to leave so they could teach him a lesson, he wouldn't though. So the men took their bats and their fist and just came out swinging. Calling him all sorts of filthy names. Me and Daddy were inside making dinner, we heard a lot commotion outside and just thought maybe Burt's boy came down and started fussing."
Quinn steps closer, placing her hand gently on the small of the girls back. Rachel turns her head, her teary eyes meeting hazel. Neither says anything for a few minutes. The blond was almost scared to ask what the extent of damage was, but she had to know now. She knew that the files wouldn't have the depth of the damage, not quite like the victims daughter would. Rachel let a shaky breath
"I went outside to find out what was going on. I remember opening the gate and my Dad's eyes met mine. There was so much pain in them, but there was also a strong sense of pride and love for us both. Burt was busy fighting off one of them, I screamed so loud I think everyone in the whole dang town heard me. I just kept screaming..." She pauses her chest heaving slightly, trying to keep the sobs inside. "The men told me to shut up, I watched as the bashed the bat into my father's skull. I heard that crunch. The man came at me then...Burt tried to stop him, but the one he was fighting pulled a knife from somewhere and stabbed him in his back...it hit his spine. He is so lucky he isn't paralyzed, but he can't bend that much anymore or lift anything. He watched as the men started hitting on me. It didn't last that long though because Brittany's mom, the town sheriff heard me screaming from the store up the road. She called back up and came rushing down here."
"Oh my god." Quinn breaths out, in shock that these men were who she was defending.
"I don't really remember much after I saw her, I sort of slipped in to a coma. Massive head trauma or something. One of the men kicked me in the head with his boot. My Dad had slipped into a coma as well, but he was put on a ventilator, he couldn't breathe. Daddy had a panic attack when he heard what happened...Artie's daddy is a doctor and had to admit him for awhile. He just got released about six months ago. He's getting better though, which is good. I stayed in the hospital for two months, I broke my arm, my ribs and punctured a lung. I had swelling in my brain because I had a temporal bone fracture. My Dad, Leroy, he had swelling too and well...it caused severe brain damage. He didn't make it, I mean he was nothing but a vegetable. He had it in his will though that he didn't want to be on life support, so he was taken off of it after I was released, and they were sure he wouldn't come back." Her chest heaves again. "My Daddy wasn't really able to do much, so I had to plan his whole funeral...and take care of Daddy when he came to it. He broke down again and John, Artie's Daddy, had to sedate him and take him back to the hospital."
By now tears were streaming down Quinn's face, she quickly wrapped her arms around the girl. Rachel slowly pushed them backwards, out of the room. She didn't break the embrace, simply made it in to her own room, kicking the door shut behind her. Her sobs finally broke once she was in the comfort of her bedroom though, she clung to Quinn as a year's worth of suffering freed from her shoulders. It seemed like hours that the girl sobbed in to the defense attorney's shoulders, however in reality it was roughly fourty minutes. She started to quiet down, her small gasps for air shook her frame, sniffles following right after.
"I'm sorry for breaking on you like that." Rachel's voice is low, husky and slightly muffled by Quinn's shoulder.
"It's okay." Quinn says softly, watching as the mechanic pulls back slightly.
"I probably look a mess." She strangles out a small laugh as she wipes at her eyes. They had some how ended up sitting on the queen sized bed.
"No, you don't. I think you look beautiful." Quinn murmurs back, her fingers reaching out to gently brush across the girls clenched jaw.
"You don't have to be nice Quinn." She smiles lightly, tilting her head down.
"I'm not being nice, I've thought it since the moment I laid eyes on you." Quinn's soft voice calls back. She trails her fingers down the girls jaw, just underneath her chin to lightly push it back up. Leaning forward slightly she locks eyes with the girl. "I mean it."
"I know.." Rachel breathes out, her eyes darkening slightly.
Neither girl knows which made the first move, but suddenly their lips were locked in a passionate, but very soft kiss.
Heyyyyy...I know right? Haha, well this is where it's gonna end this time. I think I threw a lot out there for y'all to process. And I would love to hear your take on it all, so hit me up with a PM or a comment.
