Chapter 3: Rude Awakening

Rachel woke that morning on the far edge of her bed to sunlight streaming through the window because of the curtains she'd forgotten to close because of her so very unexpected visitor. Blinking in the bright light, she tried to move, and her heart skipped a few beats. Sometime during the night, Quinn had made her way over to Rachel's side of the bed and wrapped herself securely around her. The blonde had almost half her body on top of Rachel, clutching her tightly even in sleep, with her face burrowed in the crook of Rachel's neck, their legs entwined.

Rachel was sure that never in her life before had she woken so blissfully.

Quinn was even snoring softly against her ear and she stifled the giggle that threatened to bubble up in her throat. She couldn't bear to ruin this oh so perfect moment by waking her. So she subtly shut off her alarm clock that had been set for the usual 6AM, before snuggling back further and let herself drift off again, peaceful and loved in Quinn's arms.

So what if she wanted to pretend for a little while longer?

A few hours later, she felt the warm body behind her stirring, Quinn gave a sleepy sort of moan and Rachel couldn't resist a huge smile. She'd stayed in bed long past her usual routine and was perfectly content to do so. Quinn's arms tightened round her for a moment then went slack.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes, knowing what was coming and wishing it didn't have to.

Quinn yanked her arms back and slid away as far as she could on the bed in a flash. Rachel mourned the loss but simply turned over trying to remain as impassive as she could about the surely awkward situation they both felt themselves placed in. She hoped the blonde wouldn't overreact.

Quinn didn't overreact. She didn't yell or snarl or glare at her like she usually did in a way that seemed to be so second nature. Instead, she just seemed embarrassed, her cheeks a rosy color as she tried to blink away the sleep.

Rachel gazed at her in sheer wonder. Quinn was so beautiful. Her hair was adorably bed mussed, her eyes still a bit unfocused, and she had the most adorable expression on her face as she tried to wake herself. Yawning, she stretched in an almost catlike manner, her back arching off the bed, and fell back with a sigh, her hand resting against her cheek.

"Sorry," she mumbled, ducking her gaze. "I-I'm not usually like that. I don't… I'm usually a personal space person. Sorry."

Rachel just shook her head.

"I didn't mind," she said softly. "Good morning."

Quinn looked at her for what seemed the longest time, a hard stare, as though she were trying to figure out some sort of puzzle in her head. There was something else she wanted to say, something that Rachel could feel dying to spill from her lips, but then Quinn's eyes landed on something behind her.

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

They shot up at the same time, Rachel in disbelief and Quinn in a rage.

"What is it? What's wrong? And honestly, is that kind of language necessary?"

But she wasn't listening. She'd jumped out of bed and was running around the room like a mad woman, stripping as she swore under her breath.

"Damn it, Rachel!" she snarled. "I thought you always set your alarm for six! Isn't that what you said? You wake up every day at six! Even on weekends! What the hell? Today of all days you chose to not be your freakishly anal self?"

She was a tad speechless as she watched Quinn rip off her clothes leaving her shamelessly nude while she tore apart her bag looking for her clothes. All the while, the blonde was still ranting at her. Rachel had no idea what to make of it. Why would Quinn be so upset about sleeping in? She would have thought the girl would appreciate her turning off the alarm and allowing her more time to sleep in. Isn't that what people usually liked? She was sure of it. Her fathers never liked waking before nine at the latest on the weekends.

"I-I turned it off earlier. I didn't want to wake you."

"Son of a bitch!" the blonde growled as she accidentally stubbed her toe on Rachel's dresser.

"Quinn!" she exclaimed worriedly. "Would you just calm down? Tell me what's wrong."

She ignored her, zipping up the back of her Cheerios skirt, and dove to the floor to find her top.

"Hey…"

Rachel crawled to the foot of the bed, reaching out a reassuring hand to touch her shoulder, only to have it slapped away. She swallowed hard.

"I can't believe this," Quinn muttered, "cannot fucking believe this!"

She didn't even slow down enough to put on her top before she grabbed her bag, shoes, and went tearing out the door. Rachel listened as she heard footsteps scurry down the stairs and the front door slam. Within moments, she heard the screech of tires as Quinn roared out the driveway.

The brunette could only sit there.

What had been the closest to perfect of mornings she'd ever had was utterly demolished by cruel reality, as it life had always done to her and would likely always continue to do.

She'd ruined it. Quinn wasn't going anywhere near her now.

She had barely zipped up her uniform top as she sprinted across the field to the squad already well into their routine.

The Cheerios were required to attend all-day Saturday practices, starting at 7AM sharp. Quinn was nearly two hours late. She had counted on Rachel's alarm to wake her in time and this morning was a disaster. She knew exactly what she was in for now.

Breathless, she tightened her ponytail, and tried to sneak into the routine without Coach Sylvester noticing but it was useless.

"Q!" a demonic-sounding magnified voice echoed across the field.

She'd had her megaphone personally modified with a voice changer just to make it sound that much more intimidating.

Wincing, Quinn stepped out in front, seeing Brittany's worried gaze and Santana's 'what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you' face.

"Yes, Coach?"

"YOU'RE LATE!"

"I know, Coach, but my Mom is really sick and I was with her at the hospital just now. The doctors told me she might not make it through the day, and they begged me to stay, but I said I had to go to practice."

"YOU ALLOWED SOMETHING AS ABSURDLY INSIGNIFICANT AS A DYING PARENT MAKE YOU TWO HOURS LATE FOR MY MANDATORY SATURDAY TRAINING?"

"Yes?"

"GET YOUR HIDEOUSLY STRETCH MARK RIDDEN THIGHS BACK OUT THERE AND DO YOUR JOB!"

Quinn nodded and ran back to take her place.

"CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY THAT MY ACTIONS ARE RESTRICTED BY THE 'UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE' –THE MEMBERS OF WHICH HAVE A PERSONAL VENDETTA AGAINST ME AFTER A FEW STRONGLY WORDED LETTERS PROPOSING THAT CERTAIN ACTIONS BE CONSIDERED JUST FAIR GAME. THOSE VINDICTIVE SONS OF CANARIES HAVE PROHIBITED ME FROM USING EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE MEDIEVAL TORTURE TECHNIQUES, IN WHICH I AM SO MAGNIFICENTLY WELL VERSED, WITH THREATS OF LIFETIME IMPRISONMENT AND VERY POSSIBLY A DEATH SENTENCE TEXAS WOULD BE ENVIOUS OF!"

"Damn, Q, do you realize what you've done to yourself?" Santana muttered as discreetly as she could. "If all she does is murder you today, you'll have gotten off easy."

"I'm sorry about your Mom, Quinn," Brittany whispered and patted her back sadly.

The blonde took a deep breath and steeled herself as she listened to the Coach rattle off the number of torture methods she considered personal favorites and describe each one in explicit detail.

"AS I ALWAYS SAY, ONE MAN'S 'SADISTIC' IS JUST ANOTHER WOMAN'S 'FUN TIME'."

Santana couldn't have been more right. By the end of practice, Quinn was praying the Coach would just kill her already and be done with it. Sue Sylvester never let anyone get away with being late for practice, not even one minute, without some form of punishment. As Captain, Quinn not only had to suffer the consequences of her tardiness, but she also had to serve as an example to the others, so she had to meet the highest standard.

Which meant she got wrecked.

It was half past six when she finally started for home. Quinn could hardly keep her eyes open as she drove down the sparsely populated streets of Lima. Honestly, she was just glad to be seeing straight again. She'd had to wait a while before her vision corrected itself and she could start the car.

Sue forced Quinn to do double everything the squad did, double the usual laps, double the suicides, double the crunches, double the pushups, and so on. That was only the beginning though. She had the coveted spot at the top of the pyramid and Sue decided that, as part of her punishment, the Cheerios holding her would be ordered to dump her off, not just once, but twice. Quinn landed on the ground brutally both times, having trouble standing after the second.

Then after everyone was dismissed, she had to stay an extra hour running drills with Sue screaming at her through the megaphone. She made Quinn go so hard, she ended up vomiting on the grass, but Sue told her to untwist her panties and keep running. So she wiped her mouth and moved her legs.

Yet, through the whole nightmare, all Quinn could think about was when she would get to see Rachel again. The very image of the brunette's face as she had woken to her that morning filled her head and refused to leave. Even as her lungs burned, her body ached, her muscles trembled, all she could think about was how much she wanted to be with Rachel right then.

Her mother was still away visiting her sister so that meant Quinn would be going home to an empty house. Just the thought of being alone right now was more than she could stand. It wasn't so much a decision as instinct that led her to where she wanted to go.

With tremendous effort, driving slower than she ever normally would, she managed to make it to the Berry household, which thankfully was closer to the school than her own house.

Limping her way up to the door - it had taken her some time to find the energy to lift herself out of the car - she dragged her bag along the ground, and knocked on the door.

A tall, rather attractive, dark skinned man answered, and Quinn would have given just about anything for the chance to run away.

She'd forgotten about Rachel's Dads.

Unfortunately, there was no opportunity to escape as the man took one look at her and ushered her inside.

"You must be one of Rachel's friends from the Glee club! Come in! Dear girl, you look exhausted. Are you alright? Can I get you anything?"

Quinn politely rebuffed his worries. "Just a long day of training, sir."

"Call me Leroy," he said and clasped her smaller hand in his warmly.

"Leroy," she said with a nod. "I'm, um, I'm Quinn Fabray."

If she hadn't been so exhausted, she would have seen the wary look of recognition cross his face.

"Is Rachel here?"

He hesitated, his demeanor suddenly warping into something not nearly as welcoming as before. If Quinn had been in a better state of mind, she would have attempted to do something to rectify it, offer some kind of olive branch, but as it was, she just didn't care. She saw him looking up the stairs nervously.

"Ah, yes, she is. If you'll just wait here, I'll go-"

The blonde ignored him entirely, already halfway up the stairs by the time he realized she wasn't going to wait around. With her muscles protesting every step of the way, by the time Quinn reached the top she was without a doubt convinced that stairs were the devil's work.

Not bothering to knock, or even thinking to, Quinn walked in to see Rachel lying on her stomach on her bed. She had her iPod on singing along with the music softly and didn't hear her come in. Without a hint of pretense, Quinn simply walked up to her and dropped her duffel bag with great relief. Rachel looked up in shock for a moment and then yanked out the earbuds.

"Quinn! Y-you came back?"

Then her surprise gave way to sincere concern.

Quinn was sure she must look a sight, what with Leroy's reaction and now Rachel's. Well, no matter what they were seeing, she knew she was feeling a thousand times worse. Really, she felt like she might pass out at any moment now. Just standing was proving to be the most difficult of tasks.

Leroy knocked on the door with a stern look, not pleased at all that the cheerleader had so rudely disregarded him. "Baby girl, is everything…"

"It's okay, Dad!" she replied quickly. "Everything's fine. Could we have some privacy please?"

"Are you sur-"

"Yes, Dad, please!"

Though extremely reluctant, he nodded, and closed the door behind him.

"What happened?" Rachel gasped quietly, stepping in closer to the blonde. "You look terrible. Are you alright?"

"Just…rough practice," she muttered. "We have all day Saturday practices and I was late so I had to do some extra drills and stuff. I was – um – really tired and your house is closest so…I didn't want to risk driving further in this condition…dangerous and all…"

Quinn could have kicked herself for not admitting the truth.

"Oh, of course!" Rachel nodded as though that were absolutely the most wonderful explanation she could have heard. "Wow, it must have been pretty brutal, I don't think I've ever seen you so-"

"Can I use your shower?" she blurted.

"Yes! I mean, yes, of course you can. Anything you need… I- well…" she trailed off nervously and then said, "Maybe you should take a bath instead?"

"A bath?"

"Yes," she nodded firmly, seemingly more confident in her decision. "From the way you look, I don't think you'll be able to stand long enough for a shower. I'll go draw you one right now."

She went straight into the bathroom and turned on the faucet.

Quinn listened to the water run and slowly started on the excruciating task of getting out of her cheerleading uniform. Her muscles were so sore that added with her exhaustion and the injuries she suffered, she almost cried trying to struggle with the form fitting clothes.

Rachel came back, looking on sympathetically. Quinn had no choice.

"Can you help?" she asked wearily, beyond any semblance of pride at the moment.

Rachel, of course, obliged and moved in closer. Quinn tried not to let the nearness affect her. Rachel's fingers curled beneath the top and she tugged it off as gently as she could. She had to grit her teeth to keep from crying out in pain. Rachel was frowning deeply. When the miserable thing finally came off, the other girl gasped.

"Quinn!"

"Oh, it's showing already?" she muttered absently.

Quinn knew what her shoulder probably looked like - a mass of ugly purple and black. She knew it had been bad when she found herself struggling to move it afterwards.

"What happened?" Rachel asked in a near whisper.

"It's nothing," she brushed off her concern. "Coach just had it in for me today. She told them to dump me off the pyramid. I landed pretty hard on my shoulder."

"That's…that's…that is abominable," she hissed. She had a crazy dark rage in her eyes usually reserved for peak moments when she had to fight for a solo. "How can that monster even be allowed to-"

"I'm fine," she said tiredly and shimmied out of her skirt, leaving her in just her bra and matching red spanx.

Quinn was of no mind to deal with Rachel Berry's high-strung intensity, and seeing that, the girl reeled back, but the fire in her eyes didn't change.

She glanced longingly towards the bathroom where the tub of deliciously hot water was waiting for her. "I can't…" She blushed, looking down at the floor before screwing up the nerve. "I can't get out of this." She motioned to the bra. "My shoulder…"

Rachel swallowed thickly, but didn't say a word. With her gaze firmly fixed on Quinn's face, to allow a semblance of modesty, her nimble fingers went to help her lift it over her head. Quinn knew she was going as slowly and gently as she could, but it still hurt like hell.

Rachel looked near tears.

"This is why you were so freaked out this morning…" she murmured almost to herself, "Because you knew you'd be punished for being so late. It's my fault you-"

"No." Quinn shook her head. "You didn't know. Don't blame yourself. I'm fine. Just bath then sleep and I'll be good as new."

"Quinn…"

"I'm fine, Berry," she said pointedly. "Now I'm getting in the tub."

She nodded, biting her lip to keep herself from saying more. Quinn went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her, and pulled off the last remaining item of clothing, her spanx. In the mirror, she saw that not only was her shoulder turning a nasty color, but a large bruise spanning from her hip to below her butt cheek was forming as well.

Fucking Sue Sylvester.

Sliding into the hot water, Quinn bit back a moan at the relief it offered to her abused body. Rachel had even placed a folded towel on the end so that she could rest her head back comfortably. After she managed to wash herself up a bit, she fell back with a sigh. The next thing Quinn knew, she was waking up to Rachel kneeling beside her.

"What are yo-!"

"I knocked," she explained hurriedly. "Three times! And called for you, but you didn't answer and I got worried. With how exhausted you are, you could have fallen asleep, slipped under the water, and drowned! Statistics show that such unfortunate accidents in the home happen far more often than we would believe."

"Oh." She yawned. The water was uncomfortably cool now. Her fingers had pruned. "Hand me a towel?"

Rachel held one out for her as she struggled to get up. It took some effort, her hands braced against the sides to lift herself, but she managed to stand and Rachel modestly held the towel up. Quinn wrapped it around herself and held the other girl's shoulder for support as she stepped out.

As she moved in closer, their noses a mere inch apart, Quinn gulped. Even in this state, she still felt the surge of desire; her heartbeat picked up. Rachel looked at her with those big, dark brown eyes, and Quinn wanted to melt. She was so close, those perfect lips were right there, she could just lean in and…

"My Daddies are making dinner; it should be ready soon. You must be famished."

Though Rachel had spoken with casual ease, Quinn could hear the slight edge in her voice that told her that the other girl had been thinking the same thing.

Quinn wanted nothing more than to fall into bed right now, but she hadn't eaten all day and knew that if she didn't get something into her stomach, she would feel even sicker.

"Okay." She nodded.

"Are you staying over again tonight?" she blurted all of a sudden.

Quinn wrapped the towel around her securely, avoiding the brunette's intensely fixated gaze.

"I-If you don't mind…"

She heard Rachel breathe in sharply and looked back to see an overjoyed smile on the other girl's face. Quinn couldn't help but smile too…just a little bit.

She changed into the same thing she had worn the night before, since it was all she had with her, but was glad to see that she had a pair of her Cheerios sweatpants in her bag. Her tank top, however, left her more exposed than she liked for dinner with parents. Also, she was going to have to deal with the men's questions about her black and blue shoulder. Whatever…she was too tired to care.

Rachel came in, informing her that dinner was ready, but instead of looking at Quinn's face, her gaze kept drifting down to the exposed shoulder. Quinn knew she felt guilty, but didn't know how to further reassure her that it really hadn't been her fault. Just being here with her again, Rachel fussing over her every move, was more than worth it.

Of course, she would never admit to such a thing. She was only here for convenience, right, safety and all that? Forget the part where she hadn't been able to stop thinking about her all day. Forget that she was the only person she actually wanted for company. Forget that she could never stop freaking kissing her.

Yawning, she blithely went to follow her downstairs for dinner, but the girl stopped all of a sudden, causing Quinn to bump into her. Before she could question it, Rachel spun around, stood on her tip toes, and pressed her lips to hers sweetly.

Pulling away all too quickly, the brunette blushed, ducking her head shyly to look at the floor before turning back up to meet Quinn's eyes. She did so with such wariness, like a rabbit about to bolt, as if Quinn would reprimand or chastise her in some way. Rachel had stuck her hand in the cookie jar and she was waiting for Quinn to smack it away.

Licking her lips cautiously, the blonde wasn't sure at first how to respond. Her head said one thing, while another part of her demanded something else entirely. At her lack of reaction, Rachel looked like she was about to backtrack, and try to cover it up. Quinn wasn't about to let that happen. She leaned in and kissed her deeply. Her hands went to Rachel's neck, cupping her there as she stroked her cheek, lips and tongue melding ever further.

Never breaking the kiss, they stumbled back towards the door, Rachel letting out a gasp when her back met the wood. Quinn pressed her body into her, using the solidity to her advantage to feel Rachel against her. The brunette's hands had been hovering lightly over Quinn's back, but when she hit the door, she dropped her arms to wrap around her waist tightly, wanting them even closer. Grunting at the pain from Rachel pressing against the bruised flesh at her hip, Quinn yanked away, panting hard.

"W-what happened? Did I do something wrong? Did I bite you? I've been told I-"

"It's nothing," Quinn replied through gritted teeth, as she waited for the shooting pains to subside once more. "We should go eat."

Without giving Rachel the chance to inquire further, Quinn left the room, and headed downstairs. She didn't want Rachel to know about the other injury if she could help it. The girl already was beating herself up over seeing her shoulder there was no need to add to it.

For crying out loud!

Since when did Quinn care about not hurting Rachel Berry? Hadn't she made it a very clear mission in life to do precisely the opposite?

Oh, right, since last night.

At least, that's what she was telling herself.

Dinner with Rachel's Dads was surprisingly not horrible. Leroy was an avid volleyball player and accustomed to such sports injuries so as soon as she came down, he was already prepared and wrapped her shoulder with an ice pack in an expert fashion, handing her two ibuprofen as well.

Apparently, Rachel had already talked them down from wanting to interrogate the infamous cheerleader who had made their baby girl's life hell for so many years. Hiram watched her like a hawk, while Leroy was still annoyed about her previous rude behavior, but both men soon backed off when they realized just how exhausted and beaten the poor girl was. Quinn was barely able to keep her head up at the table, nodding off once or twice, until Rachel would gently squeeze her thigh to rouse her. For the little that she was conscious during that dinner, she actually found herself enjoying the conversation.

After Quinn thanked them both for the meal, and stifled the hundredth yawn of the night, Rachel automatically offered her a shoulder to help her trudge back up the stairs (still the devil's work!). She couldn't have been more relieved to collapse face first onto Rachel's bed and crawled her way up to the pillows with a heavy sigh.

Quinn didn't realize that in doing so, her sweatpants slid down a bit, revealing a glimpse of the bruised flesh at her hip. Rachel gasped and, without bothering to ask for permission, pulled her pants down further to see the full extent of it. Quinn stifled a groan into the pillow.

"Oh, Quinn…" she murmured sadly.

"Don't apologize again," she warned and fumbled for her hand before grasping it and tugged her upwards so they were face to face. "Just let me sleep, okay?"

"Sleep." She nodded in agreement.