Rachel floundered, her gaze flickering between Finn and Quinn as they stared at each other, the former in shock; the latter in amusement. Quinn's fingers curled around the edge of Rachel's jaw, her fingertips working miniscule circles in the soft skin under her ear.
Rachel sent Finn an apologetic glance as his mouth worked silently.
"Hey Puck." Quinn said softly, "Finn." She added with a smirk.
Finn was quite obviously grinding his teeth together. "Quinn," he bit out, his eyes moved to Rachel, "you stood me up last night for her?" he asked quietly, his voice small.
Rachel opened her mouth to reply, deny the accusation but Quinn's smirk stopped her. What could she say? There was nothing she could do. She fought the urge to sob, remembering where she was and who was with her.
Quinn's devilish green eyes taunted her; she bit back her emotions and took a deep breath.
"Finn, I-,"
"What's Frankenteen doing here?" An acerbic tone said from behind Puck. The boys turned around to face Santana and Brittney, both of which were carrying 7 or 8 various bags.
"We were just-," Finn began angrily but Santana cut him off, "Don't care. Leave."
Puck shrugged and began to walk off. Santana was obviously in a shitty mood and he liked having both of his balls. Finn started to bite back a reply but stopped as Puck began to leave. Instead he shot Rachel one last wounded look before following after Puck. He knew better than to confront Quinn or Santana without backup.
Rachel watched him go with longing, her eyes trained to his tall frame as it disappeared in the crowd. Biting back a sigh she turned back to Quinn who was watching her with a smirk.
Santana collapsed into the chair beside her captain while Brittney practically bounced into her seat next to Rachel.
"What did you get?" Quinn asked softly, turning her gaze to the two newcomers. She dropped her hand from Rachel's jaw, leaving it on the table in front of her. Rachel swallowed her disgust and hesitantly slipped her hand into Quinn's, who took it upon herself to intertwine their fingers.
"Some t-shirts, jerseys, dresses-," Brittney burbled happily, "-and lingerie."Santana added with a smirk, as Rachel released a yelp of surprise.
She opened her mouth to protest but Quinn's grip suddenly tightened and she glared at Quinn in anger. Quinn held her gaze, her stare dark and unwavering. Rachel ground her teeth, lowering her eyes.
Santana released a soft snort of amusement. "Good to see she's behaving." Rachel's head snapped up to the Latina, who stared coldly back.
"I'm hungrrry." Brittney whined, Santana's gaze moved to Brittney, who pouted. Rachel watched as Santana's cold stare softened and she smiled gently at the ditzy blonde.
"What do you want?" the Latina asked tenderly.
"A burger." The blonde chirped happily, smilingly toothily.
"Q?" the Latina asked, "You coming?"
"Yeah," the H.B.I.C. replied, "Berry, what d'you want?"
The brunette was silent, eyes scanning the available outlets. Seeing no clear vegan option she sighed, turning her gaze to Quinn. "I'm fine." She said softly.
Santana shrugged, turning to leave but stopping when she realised Quinn wasn't behind her. The blonde was silently staring at Rachel, frowning.
"I'll get you something." She said decisively, before following Santana.
Rachel sighed, past the point of caring. What's the worst Quinn could do? Force feed her? She felt fairly confident that not even the Head Cheerleader would stoop that far.
"Why are you so sad?" Brittney asked quietly.
Rachel turned to Brittney, unsure of what to say. She tried to smile but it only looked like she had a bad toothache. "I'm just tired Brittney." She murmured in an attempt to reassure the blonde dancer.
The other girl wasn't fooled but chose to ignore it. "Do you want to see what we got you?"
Rachel stared out the car window, watching the houses pass by. They'd parted ways with Brittney and Santana after they'd eaten. Quinn had ended up buying Rachel a specially ordered salad, which although Rachel had not openly admitted, tasted quite nice.
Deciding to swallow her pride and break the heavy tension she spoke.
"Thanks for the salad. Especially the peppers, they're my favourite."
"I know." The blonde replied softly. Rachel faltered, how did the blonde know that? Quinn glanced at the brunette, seeing the confusion apparent on her face.
"I heard you tell Finn once, in Glee club." She said with a shrug.
"And you remembered?" Rachel asked incredulously, "that must have been a significant amount of time ago. I don't even think Finn would-," she trailed off with a look of confusion, surprised at her own words.
Quinn released a soft snort at the diva's expression, well aware of how that sentence was going to have been finished.
"Details," Quinn began with a smirk, "have never really been Hudson's strong point, shall we say?"
Rachel remained silent, staring resolutely ahead. Quinn chuckled lowly at the brunette's stubbornness, continuing on, "I've lost count of the amount of times I told him that I loved Lilies and hated Roses. 6 months we were together and he always bought Roses."
Rachel said nothing.
She snorted, "I mean, was he deaf? Our first date, he asks me, "What's your favourite flower?" and I say, "Lilies. I know Roses are the most common but I've always thought they were so cliché." And on our next date? He brings me Roses." She shook her head in frustration, while Rachel watched her in her peripheral.
"Mayb-," Rachel began. "Maybe what?"Quinn said sharply. "Maybe he forgot? Or maybe he never really listened. Or more believably, he just never cared." Quinn fell back into her seat with a thump. "Face it Berry. Hudson only care's when he wants to. All the times he stood aside and watched you get slushied or put down, ridiculed and he never said a word? He only cares when it suits him."
"But you know he loves me," Rachel argued, "Or you wouldn't be doing this." She stated, motioning between the two of them. "This wouldn't be happening if Finn didn't care."
Quinn laughed, "Sure he cares. But he'll care more because it's me that stole you away."
Rachel fell back into her seat with a shaky sigh.
The car slowed and came to halt as Quinn parked. "Home sweet home honey." The blonde said with a saccharine smile as she unbuckled her seatbelt. "Lead the way."
Quinn took her time entering the foyer of the Berry house, taking in the various photos that lined the wall. They were all candid, mostly of Rachel. From baby Rachel, cute and cuddly; tiny in her bundle of blankets to toddler Rachel, bright eyed and laughing. On it went, all through Rachel's childhood to the current Rachel, microphone held tightly in hand, alone on stage singing.
Rachel closed the front door before leaning back on it. She watched Quinn take in the photos, hands full of shopping bags.
"Would you like something to eat?" she asked politely, always the perfect host, "Perhaps something to drink, I ma-,"
"Where's your room?" Quinn asked bluntly.
Rachel faltered, hoping to preserve her sanctuary for at least a little while longer.
"Well?" Quinn barked tersely, as Rachel paused. The brunette swallowed before nodding reluctantly, "Ye-yeah. Um...it's-," Quinn quirked an eyebrow, surprised by Rachel's dithering, "this way." The short brunette stated, moving toward the stairs. She paused at the bottom, her doe eyes glancing at Quinn, who then understood.
She doesn't want me in her room. The H.B.I.C. realised with a start. She arched an eyebrow, motioning with her head for the brunette to begin moving. With a sigh, Rachel began to step up the stairs, Quinn following closely behind.
Finally at the end of the hallway they came to a wide oak door with a broad gold star emblazoned across it. Quinn released a soft snort of amusement, while Rachel paused. She glanced behind her at Quinn who simply waited. With visible pain, Rachel pushed open her bedroom door.
Rachel hated having the Head Cheerleader, her head tormentor in what was her only sanctuary against the cruelty of the outside world. Not even Finn, Jesse or Noah had been in her room. The closest Noah had got had been the guest room further down the hall.
Quinn set the shopping bags down at the foot of her bed before she explored the room.
"I'll admit," the blonde murmured with a rueful smile, "I expected it to be a lot pinker."
Rachel frowned. "Why?"
The Cheerleader shrugged, "I dunno, I guess I just assumed that pink was your colour."
The brunette bit her lip as she contemplated the other girl's words. "My favourite colour's yellow." She said softly, eyes downcast.
"Puck said there was a lot of pink." Quinn said defensively.
Rachel's gaze snapped up to Quinn, "Noah's never been in my room."
Quinn drew back in surprise, "He said-,"
"He lied." Rachel said stoutly, "He has only ever been in the guest room down the hall. However Daddy redecorated it and it no longer holds such a substantial amount of pink."
"Then Jess-," the blonde said decisively, "Was never in my room either." The brunette countered softly.
"Finn?" the blonde asked weakly. Rachel shook her head.
"You mean to tell me, that nobody has ever been in your room apart from yourself and your dads?" the blonde questioned.
Rachel nodded, her eyes moving to her dresser, "my room was the only sanctuary I had from everything." She murmured. The use of the past tense wasn't lost on Quinn.
"It's nice." Quinn said with a hint of awkwardness. She cleared her throat, glancing around the room once more, eager to avoid Rachel's crestfallen expression. Why was this so damn hard? Probably because you're the main reason Rachel's so defensive about her 'sanctuary' in the first place, she reminded herself.
"What do we do now?" the brunette inquired, the awkward silence beginning to grate on her.
"Show me around?" Quinn said with a shrug of her shoulders. Rachel released a soft huff of air before nodding once to herself resolutely.
"Of course."
The tour didn't take that long and then silence reigned once more.
"I'm staying the night." Quinn stated firmly once they returned to the brunette's room.
"Have you got something to sleep in?"Rachel inquired softly, bypassing her own surprise and annoyance; she knew that she didn't have a choice.
"Yeah," the blonde replied offhand as she got comfortable on the bed, "I've got my duffel in my car."
Rachel's brow dropped in confusion as she stared at the blonde from the foot of the bed. "I never saw you put a duffel bag in the boot."
Quinn stiffened and Rachel watched her suspiciously, intrigued by her reaction.
"I put it there last night." The blonde said decisively, but her tone was slightly off. Rachel narrowed her eyes, about to push the issue further but was cut off by Quinn.
"How about we have something to eat?" the H.B.I.C. said in an overly cheerful voice, obviously changing the subject. Rachel opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it. Quinn clearly didn't want to talk about it and pushing the topic wouldn't do anything to improve her mood. So she shrugged and moved towards the door.
"Sure."
Darkness fell around the house, but its comforting atmosphere no longer reassured the short diva. There was a stranger in her house, an unwelcome presence, worse yet; an enemy. And there was nothing Rachel could do about it.
She shook her head at herself, as if to clear it. That was a lie. She could do something about it but at what cost? She could redeem herself from years of bullying and torment, diva behaviour and such but a sex tape scandal? That could destroy her career before it even had the chance to begin. Worse yet, the reactions of her dads, how would they feel? What would they think?
She frowned, returning back to the present when the door to her en-suite bathroom opened and a changed Quinn Fabray waltzed through.
With her long blonde hair falling in waves over her shoulders, dressed in a grey wife beater and black sleeping shorts, the blonde was nothing short of breath-taking. Her supreme good looks coupled with the way the lighting from the bathroom created an almost halo affect did nothing to lessen her beauty. Quinn was stunning. Rachel couldn't deny that, it was something of a common fact, like how the sun was hot and the snow was cold.
For that brief moment, when Quinn first stepped through the door, Rachel forgot what had conspired between them, she forgot that Quinn was forcing her into this fake relationship in an effort to get even, she forgot it all.
All she saw was the beautiful green eyed girl, scantily dressed, about to climb into herbed, with her to spend the night. And she was in complete awe.
A few minutes prior...
Quinn took a deep breath as she surveyed herself in the mirror. The grey wife beater and short black sleeping shorts left quite a large amount of skin on show and little to the imagination. However that was what she wanted.
She smirked at her reflection, taking note of her body, the firm curves, perky breasts, her soft skin, unblemished face. She knew she was desirable. She knew she was pretty. Many wanted her, were attracted to her.
This was it. She was seducing Rachel Berry. She tilted her head to the side. Perhaps seducing wasn't the best term. Entrapping? She shook her head at her reflection. No. It was more, convincing. Although she had planned to simply take Rachel however and whenever she wanted, demanding the singer to play her role and such she now realised that wasn't what she wanted.
The plans had changed slightly. She was going to subtly woo the brunette, make her fall for her, desire her, all the while baiting Finn. And when she was certain Rachel was completely and utterly in love with her she was going to drop the diva faster than a ton of bricks.
She smirked once more at her reflection. This new revised plan was even better than the first. It would thoroughly destroy Rachel and if she played this out well enough, Finn too. Because the minute I drop Berry, Quinn thought with glee, Hudson will be over her like a rash. And for the first time, she won't want him.
She took one last beep breath, before turning from her reflection, pushing open the bathroom door and walking through.
She paused in the doorway, allowing the light from the bathroom to create an almost halo effect. She locked gazes with the short brunette sitting on the large queen sized bed, taking stock of the shock and awe in those big doe eyes.
She smirked as she watched brown orbs darken as a faint blush rose in the brunette's cheeks before the singer looked away. Yes, the Cheerleader thought with satisfaction, this is going to be easier than I thought.
Rachel looked away from the striking blonde, feeling a blush rise in her cheeks. In a flash she had remembered the night prior, Quinn's lips on hers, on her breasts; teasing, tasting, Quinn's tongue inside of her, making her-she looked away. She guessed from her broad smirk that Quinn had a good idea of where Rachel's thoughts had led her.
Tension filled the room as Rachel kept her eyes locked on her fingers in her lap and Quinn folded up her clothes from the day, placing them back inside her large grey duffel.
In her peripheral Rachel watched Quinn step toward the bed and slowly clamber on. Reflexively Rachel shot up off the bed, "I better get changed." She said in an attempt at nonchalance but failing as her words came out in an uneven squeak.
Quinn fought the urge to laugh at Rachel's antics, settling for a soft snort which caused the short brunette to glance back at her with apprehension.
"Take your time." Quinn called sweetly. Rachel flushed and fled, the door closing firmly behind her.
Quinn reclined back on the queen sized bed, sighing softly as she did so. Another motive for continuing this facade; Rachel's bed was awesome. She smirked to herself, if Rachel's reaction was anything to go by, it wouldn't be that hard for Quinn. Or so she hoped.
Rachel rested her forehead against the wall of her shower, lost in thought as the water ran over her body. She reminded herself of what Quinn had done to her. Forcing her to have sex. Blackmailing her into a fake relationship. Taking her virginity. Treating her like a belonging. Rachel ground her eyes shut in frustration. The way Quinn looked at her, like a disobedient pet, a toy, made her stomach roil.
And Finn. She felt the tears run down her face as she thought of the tall boy. His wounded expression and broken tone reverberated in her mind; "you stood me up last night for her?"
She raised her head from the cool tiles, turning to face the stream of water.
Yes, Rachel thought with contemplation, allowing the water to wash away her tears, Quinn was beautiful. And apparently the brunette's body was extremely responsive to the blonde. But if the tangible ache within her chest was anything to go by, her heart certainly wasn't.
Satisfied with her wash Rachel briskly dried herself, changing into the sleeping attire that she'd grabbed before her hasty exit of the bedroom. As she assessed her reflection she felt the urge to slap herself.
In her jumbled thought processes she'd grabbed what she normally would have worn to bed, a slightly overlarge t-shirt and a clean pair of underwear. In this situation though, her meagre clothing was not appropriate. It would come across as rather seductive and encouraging to the blonde Cheerleader in her bed, the exact opposite of what Rachel wanted.
She frowned at her reflection, running a critical eye over herself. She pouted, knowing that there was nothing she could do but walk out and simply grab a pair of pyjama pants from the drawer.
If Quinn didn't get to her first that is.
Quinn was still underneath the covers, her back to the bathroom, as Rachel peered through the slightly ajar door. She bit her lips and slowly pushed the bathroom door open fully, mentally cheering when it did so silently. She tiptoed through the door and made to move to her drawers halting abruptly when Quinn smoothly rolled over.
"Hi." The blonde murmured huskily.
"Hi." Rachel squeaked.
Quinn smirked, patting the space beside her. "Coming to bed?"
Rachel paused, glancing at her dresser in slight desperation. Smiling meekly she nodded, giving her dresser one last fleeting look before moving to the bed. Quinn smirked, her heavy gaze running along the length of Rachel's body.
The diva blushed, trying to ignore the way her stomach flipped when Quinn's hazel green eyes turned a deep golden. She clambered onto the bed and under the covers, lying awkwardly on the edge of the bed to maintain space between herself and the blonde. Quinn chuckled before reaching out with her arm and hauling the small girl against her body.
Rachel shuddered minutely, the firm warmth of Quinn's body causing heat to flare in her abdomen. She could feel the Quinn's breath on her neck, two firm mounds against her back, hard nipples pressing against her shoulder blades, a toned arm wrapping around her waist from underneath, while the other rested on her hip, fingers massaging small circles into the skin above the waistband of her panties.
"Goodnight Rachel." A husky voice murmured into her ear. The brunette shivered slightly, suddenly apprehensive. Quinn wasn't going to make a move? She briefly considered asking the blonde what she was doing but thought better of it.
"Goodnight." She whispered back.
She remained tense in the blonde's embrace, waiting for the opportunity to roll away. The Head Cheerleader sensing this smirked, preparing for the long night ahead. The blonde remained awake, holding the diva close until sometime after midnight when Rachel finally relaxed in her arms and fell asleep.
"I'll win your heart yet Berry." Quinn murmured softly when the diva began to snore lightly, "Just you wait and see."