Hand in Hand - PLEASE READ AN!
Pairings: Quinn/Rachel
Summary: Rachel is tired of being on the bottom of the social ladder, so she does the one thing she can think of to increase her status, she tries to become a Cheerio. Takes place after the first episode of season 2, but with one or two minor changes.
Author's note: In this chapter Quinn isn't very nice to say the least (sorry for that), but please forgive her, she has her reasons. I think you can all figure out what they are, especially after reading this. Also, in real life I'm a really friendly person and just writing this chapter made me feel guilty, therefore the delay.
I love that you review, story alert/favorite, you are amazing. Every time my phone signals a new mail and it's from you I become happy before even reading it, so if you can find it in your hearts to leave a comment, you know you will make my day, no matter what you write.
My classes start the 17th and having four (4!) parallel classes is going to make it hard to find time to write. However I promise you at least one more chapter before that (unless something unexpected happens), and if you're lucky and help me with my motivation, maybe two chapters.
Again, anything from you makes me happy so please comment, and I do take suggestions if you have any. I only have certain events and a direction, but could need some help with what more I can write.
One more thing, please forgive both me and Quinn for this chapter, I feel awful for doing this to Rachel, but Quinn feels that she has to, to prevent herself from finding out what's in her heart.
Rachel was standing outside the door to the gym, dressed in the white and red Cheerios uniform, feeling more nervous than ever before. She looked down at herself and she had to admit that it felt strange wearing something that for so long had represented the one thing she loathed more than anything else, and honestly she missed her argyle sweaters already. She was also well aware of how sad that was after having only been wearing the uniform for 8 minutes and 32 seconds, but she felt safer in her normal clothes. She peaked into the large room, watching as the Cheerios walked in from the locker room, talking whilst awaiting the arrival of their coach.
Eventually Sue entered and looked sternly at the groups of girls currently chatting away with each other. Displeased with the lack of response, she called out.
"Fabray! Gather the troops, NOW!" Quinn immediately organized her cheerleaders in columns in front of Sue, all done with military precision. She then positioned herself in attention in front of the others and confirmed that they were ready, so Sue began.
"Ladies. There is going to be a change today. We have a new cheerleader joining, who unlike most of you and your sorry little asses, actually has some talent and even managed to impress me and will prove to be an asset to this squad. I know you will take good care of her and make her feel welcome." The girls started to look at each other, questioning with their eyes if anybody of them had the slightest idea of who this girl could be, but then Sue continued. "I believe you are all quite familiar with her, so without further ado, come out here and meet your new teammates, miss Rachel Berry."
"No freaking way!" Santana whispered as the short diva appeared in the sacred red and white Cheerio uniform.
As Rachel walked in, she took in the looks of surprise and shock on the girls' faces. Brittany leaned forward to Quinn and whispered.
"Look Q. Rachel isn't wearing argyle anymore. Doesn't she look better like this?" Quinn didn't reply, too busy fuming. It was then that Rachel noticed Quinn and the sight caused her to stop and swallow loudly. The blonde girl looked furious and actually started yelling at her coach.
"Ms. Sylvester, this is completely unacceptable! There is no way RuPaul can be a Cheerio! She's a dwarf-sized diva and not to mention the biggest loser in this school, in the whole state even!" Quinn was seething, but Sue wasn't being put off by this, so she explained.
"All very true miss Fabray, but you didn't see her when she tried out. She was almost as good as you and better than all of the others, she's in. SO DEAL WITH IT!" Quinn clenched her hands into fists and then spoke slowly with anger dripping from every word.
"Fine then. However as she captain of this squad I feel it's my duty to have a word with her, before she makes any final decisions." Sue nodded her head to verify that this was okay. So Quinn walked towards the diva with determined steps and when she was in arm's length she grabbed the brunette's hair and started dragging her by it toward the locker room. Rachel was at first too shocked to do anything but follow, but soon she started to scream due to the pain.
"Ow ow oww! Quinn, you're hurting me! Please let go, OWW!" However Quinn was completely unfazed by the other girl's plea and instead addressed Santana.
"S, lead the warmup. I want everyone ready when I come back. Is this understood!" She screamed out the question and Santana instantly nodded and started to yell out commands, while also discreetly peaking over her shoulder at the two girls who by now was disappearing through the door. She and Quinn was still not back to being the friends they used to be but she was smart enough to not start arguing with the blonde at this point.
Quinn threw the door shut after she had dragged Rachel in with her. She then, still dragging the diva by her hair, slammed her into the nearest lockers and stood herself inches in front of Rachel's face, with pure fury in her eyes. Rachel was freaking out and her whole body was shaking with the fear Quinn was educing in her. Too frighten to look Quinn in her eyes, she instead tried to look down, but the only thing that met her eyes there was the cheerleader's body, and although Rachel was completely confident that she was straight, it felt immensely wrong to be looking at Quinn's body at this point, regardless of how personable it was, and it truly was she added in her head.
So Rachel decided to look up again but tried to look as far to her left side as she could, but Quinn grabbed her chin and turned it towards her. Rachel's response was to close her eyes, but this didn't sit well with the blonde.
"Oh no you don't, freak! You're going to look me in the eyes and listen to what I yell at you." Still holding Rachel's chin tight, she waited until the girl hesitantly opened her eyes and then locked eyes with Quinn. The blonde could see clear panic and tears starting to appear in the diva's eyes and this caused her to, again, hesitate. So she took a couple of deep breaths while glaring at the other girl, trying to figure out her next cause of action. When Rachel started thinking that the girl might have died from the anger, Quinn spoke, or rather yelled.
"Look, I don't know what your problem is Treasure Trail, but your last screw most have fallen out if you for even one second think we're just going to accept this! You think that just because you're wearing our uniform you'll become one of us and people are going to stop hating you! And you really think I'm going to let you touch my Cheerios with your disgusting man-hands?"
Rachel was just staring at the blonde girl, wise enough not to try and answer any of her questions. In fact, she didn't even breathe, to afraid to piss the other girl off even more. Quinn, oblivious to the brunette's inner turmoil, was still screaming her lungs out. It didn't really matter what she was screaming, she just had to make it clear that Rachel wasn't welcome and, of course, that she hated her, that last part was the most important.
"You do realize that absolutely nothing is going to change just because of the uniform? Sure, you won't get slushied while wearing this, but it does not protect you from everything else, and believe you me, if you go through with this, things will get so much worse for you. You're going to miss the days when all you got was a slushie in your face and a few mean nicknames." Quinn was subjecting Rachel's jaw to even more pressure and a single tear ran down the diva's cheek.
Quinn's stomach clenched from the guilt, but she knew that she couldn't show any weaknesses, more for her own sake than the Cheerio's. Then out of nowhere, Quinn's face softened and she started to talk calmly.
"You know, if you wanted people to stop hating you, you could have just stopped being so obnoxious and uptight all the time. Start wearing normal clothes and when you talk to people, don't make them feel inferior by telling them everything that they, according to you, do incorrectly" Rachel was stunned, in the middle of all the yelling and insults, Quinn had given her some friendly advice. Sure, she had basically told her to change everything that made her her, but still, immensely impressive considering the situation.
Quinn had silenced after this, giving Rachel some time to process what she had told her. She had also lessened the force with which she held the diva's head in place, but her hand was still on her.
However Rachel had during the silence started to full out cry. She was still terrified of the blonde, but now also utterly confused and moved by Quinn's actions to a point where she couldn't hold back the tears.
After another couple of minutes with a word being said, Rachel finally spoke.
"Although there is some validity to your suggestion; even if I did change all those things about myself, I still have two gay dads and that alone would be enough for you and the others to torment me." The reply was instantaneous.
"I don't care about your fathers!" Quinn said with emphasizing on the plural form of the word father, then she continued. "I only care about you..." The second part had passed her lips before she had been able to stop herself. Rachel instantly stopped crying and gaped at the blonde who herself had widened her eyes in what almost looked like fear. Rachel hesitated for a few seconds before slowly starting to speak, or more accurately stutter.
"Y-y-you c-care about m-me..?" Rachel couldn't believe her own ears, could Quinn, HBIC and her personal tormentor, Fabray really cared about her? Quinn no longer held her eyes on Rachel's, but rather everywhere else when the brunette's word made her realize that she was on very thin ice, so she did what she always did in compromising situations, she let her inner, very angry bitch take over.
"Are you fucking CRAZY! You actually think I care about you!" Quinn screamed while shooting arrows with her stare.
"Well you did say that you do..." She wasn't allowed to continue though, because Quinn wasn't finished.
"I know perfectly well what I said, but what I meant was that I hate you regardless of your two gay fathers! FUCK!" Quinn had now released Rachel and was pacing in front of her, constantly swearing and screaming. Rachel was following the other girl with her eyes and holding her breath, waiting for her next move. She didn't have to wait long though.
"FUCK! You can't keep messing with my mind like this, it's too confusing... this ends NOW!" With that last exclamation she drew her hand back, and launched it towards Rachel. The diva screamed with as much force as her lungs allowed her, which as everyone knows, was a lot. Time was slowing down as Quinn's fist came closer and closer. Rachel didn't even have time to close her eyes, which was probably a good thing, because if she had closed them, she wouldn't have seen Quinn's fist fly by her head, maybe as little as two inches from her, and slam into the locker next to her.
The crash from the impact was so loud it could have been from a rifle. Rachel began breathing shakily as she turned her eyes to the fist still connected to the metal locker door. Quinn hadn't even flinched when her hand had hit the metal and when Rachel caught sight of it, she could see some blood but also a wrecked locker door. The dent was as big as her head and probably almost an inch deep. If Rachel had been able to create even the simplest thought, it would have been that she was incredibly impressed with Quinn's toughness and strength and thankful it wasn't her head, but at this point she was beyond shocked to accomplish anything except breathing and taking in Quinn's bleeding hand.
Outside every single one of the cheerleaders, and Sue, jumped at Rachel's scream and when they heard the bang, several girls, including Santana, took a couple of steps back. Brittany however walked over to the Latina and hid herself behind her friend and whispering into her ear.
"San, do you think Q is killing Rachel?" Santana was staring on the door to the locker room, seemingly contemplating if this could be the case. She would be the first to admit that she hated the annoying little diva, but she didn't really wanted her dead, and definitely didn't want Quinn to commit homicide. She peaked over her shoulder at Brittany and whispered back.
"I hope not B, but I think she might." Brittany tried to make herself as small as possible before asking her next question.
"Why don't you stop her?" Santana's eyes widen at what would happen if she did.
"Are you crazy! I'm not going in there. She would kill me too." She wasn't really mad at the blonde, but that was one shitty idea.
"I'm scared San." Brittany breathed out.
"Me too B, me too." Santana replied while stroking the other girl's hair.
Rachel had finally composed herself to form words.
"Q-Quinn... your hand is b-bleeding. You need to clean and plaster it."
"Fuck you Berry. I don't need your help and I'll make sure you're going to regret the day you first stepped into this school." At this she pulled out her phone and started typing and when she was done she grabbed Rachel's hair again and led her towards the door. When the pair reached it, Quinn open the door with a kick, grabbed the hem of Rachel's skirt and actually lifted her before throwing the small brunette several feet into the gym, before walking in after her. The other cheerleaders taking additional steps away, watching wide eyed at the scene.
Rachel immediately started crawling towards the other girls until she had enough momentum to get up and starting to run instead. The other Cheerios looked even more terrified when Quinn neared them; they had never seen their captain like this before.
Figuring she had to put a stop to this before Quinn murdered the other girl, Sue spoke up.
"You alright there Fabray?" Sue asked, looking at the girl's hand.
"Nothing I can't handle coach. Now, are we getting started or what?"
"Yes, let's do that as soon as you have taken care of your hand. You know I don't tolerate stains on my uniforms." Quinn was gone a few minutes and when she returned Sue barked out her order. "Okay ladies! Begin with routine 246-Beta and show the new girl how it's done." Hesitantly the girls began lining up and showing Rachel how it was done. Rachel knew she had to pay attention but she was still to shaken up to function properly, but when Quinn caught Rachel peaking at her, she screamed at her to concentrate. Rachel immediately complied so that she wouldn't anger the blonde even more.
Just like she had suspected, Rachel wasn't strong enough or had enough stamina to handle the physically torture of the routines and after awhile she started to feel dizzy. Then she felt her stomach turn and so she quickly ran to the nearest trashcan, barley reaching it before she started emptying the content of her stomach. Several of the girls made noises of repulsion, while others laughed at her. Quinn marched over and when Rachel had finally stopped, she grabbed the brunette's ponytail and pulled her up.
"Finished?" Was all Quinn asked and Rachel nodded so the blonde pulled the diva's head all the way up. This was when Rachel saw Mr. Schuester looking through the window in the door, his face pale and sickened by what he had witnessed for the last couple of minutes. Will looked on with disbelief when Rachel turned her head from him and walked back to the other girls to continue the routine they had been practicing before the interruption. He could only interpret this as Rachel making her choice, and it horrified him. So with one last look, he started walking away not knowing what he was supposed to do now.
Unknown to either of them, Sue had been observing Will and was utterly satisfied when Rachel had chosen to get back to the Cheerios instead of explaining to the man so she stood there with a smirk on her face, feeling happier than she had in a long time. She was certain that the man was going somewhere to cry, her heart rate picked up by just imagining the sight.
Rachel had somehow managed to survive the rest of the practice, but as soon as Sue ended it, she laid down on the floor, breathing heavily while the others went to the locker room. Sue stepped over to her and leaned into the brunette's field of vision, with a smug smile.
"Well Stubbles. That wasn't too bad, far from good obviously, but not bad. However your condition is ridiculous. That will have to improve in a very near future or you're out. Understood?" Rachel nodded weakly and between breaths, she panted out.
"Yes coach..." Rachel then struggled up and slowly walked to the locker room to shower.
When she got in she found all the other cheerleaders standing in a U-shape, with Quinn in the opening. Rachel stopped, wary of them, but she then found herself pushed by Santana who had been hiding behind the door. Once she was in the middle of the group with Quinn, the others formed a circle instead. This made Rachel even more nervous and then Quinn stepped close to her with a mischievous smile.
"Please strip sweetie!" Was the single command she gave the brunette. Rachel gaped, unable to process the situation. Quinn soon grew tired of waiting and spoke again.
"Didn't you hear me? Strip!" Rachel closed her eyes to prevent tears from starting to run down her cheeks and then very quietly spoke.
"Are you going to rape me or something..?" Most of the cheerleaders started to laugh but when Quinn rose her hand everybody stopped.
"No. We have other plans for you, now STRIP!" Rachel hesitantly started to take of her uniform, first the top and then the skirt. However when she reached to unhook her bra Quinn stopped her.
"No need for that. No one here wants to see you naked." More laughter filled the room and Rachel stopped. Quinn then picked up the uniform and left with it before taking her place in the circle.
"Girls, begin." At this every single one of them pulled out a slushie each, that they had apparently been hiding behind their backs. This was probably why Quinn had sent away a text earlier Rachel thought, to organize this. Then one of the girls walked up to her and poured the slushie over her head, giving her a smirk before taking her place again. Then the next girl did the exact same thing, and so it was repeated until only the three most powerful girls were left, Brittany, Santana and Quinn.
Brittany was the first of the trio to walk towards Rachel, who by now was completely covered in the icy syrup and was standing in several inches of it. After the first girl Rachel had lowered her gaze to the floor , but when Brittany reached her she looked up, pleading with her eyes. The blonde sighed and mouthed 'Sorry' before pouring the substance over the girl, making sure to miss her with most of it, an act that didn't go unnoticed by the diva.
Next was Santana who pulled a little at the hem of Rachel's panties so that she could pour it into her panties, both front and back. Rachel was shivering from the cold but had managed to not start crying, that is until Quinn got close. Rachel lost it and started to cry hysterically, pleading to Quinn between sobs.
Quinn was close to breaking down herself. She was disgusted with what she had ordered and she felt like the worst person alive. But she knew that it she didn't go through with it, questions she neither wanted to be asked nor answer was going to hail over her. So she lifted the cup over the Rachel's head and slowly let it flow over her, making sure the girl got a lot of it over her face. When the cup was empty she positioned it upside-down on Rachel's head and started talking.
"Now, you're going to stand here until the rest of us are done and have left. If the cup falls or you move there will be hell to pay, got it?" Rachel slowly nodded, making sure the cup wouldn't fall. Then the rest started to take of their clothes and walking to the showers, leaving a frozen Rachel alone, crying but standing perfectly still. Then Brittany came up to her with a towel and an apologetic smile.
"Here, take this and dry yourself of before you get sick." Brittany offered. Rachel slowly shook her head and replied.
"No thank you. Quinn will kill us both when she finds out, just hurry and get ready if you would be so kind. I want to get home as soon as possible." Brittany sighed and looked sadly at the other girl.
"Fine." But before she rounded the corner to the showers, she turned around and address Rachel again. "She's dealing with something that is very hard for her and unfortunately she's taking it out on you. I'm not sure what it is yet, but I can see it in her eyes, and I think it has something to do with you." With those words she left, leaving Rachel to wait until everybody had left to go home.
All the Cheerios left at the same time and on the way out Quinn turned off the lights and pulled out the key needed to activate the gym's lights. So Rachel was left alone in the dark to take of her ruined underwear and taking a shower. During her wait for the other girls to finish, the syrup had dried up, coloring her skin with its many shades. It had taken almost an hour in the ice cold shower before she had removed all the residues she could see in the dark and then she could finally get dressed.
She had cried the whole time under the stream of water and even more once she realized she didn't have any clothes with her, the most warming item was an argyle sweater she had brought with her just in case. Rachel had no choice but to wear her uniform again, hoping nothing was left on her body to stain it, and pulled the sweater over the red and white top and went home.
When she finally got home she ran passed her dads, up the stairs and into her room, instantly locking the door and throwing herself onto the bed and started crying yet again. Her father's had stood outside of her room for almost three hours that night, trying to get her to unlock the door or at least talk to them, tell them what had happened. But Rachel just cried, not wanting to talk to or see anyone. What the Cheerios had done to her today had been the worst and most humiliating experience of her entire life, and she started to doubt that her plan would ever succeed.
She didn't get more than perhaps 45 minutes of sleep that night, to occupied with crying and sobbing loudly, unaware that at the same time, another girl in Lima was doing pretty much the same thing, but for her the reason was for causing it rather than experiencing it...