The Rise of a King
Summary: "Why should she have to have her boyfriend chosen for her by the losers and idiots at that pathetic excuse for a school? She made herself a Queen Bee, and Quinn Fabray decided that this time, she was going to crown her own King. Everyone else would just have to fall in line."
Pairing: Quinn Fabray/Mike Chang
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of the characters associated with it! A few lines from this chapter are taken from Season Two, episode four "Duets"
Notes: SO exicted to finally start writing some more Mike/Quinn! Yay! Also, I'm so so so happy to see how many people agree that Mike was underutilized and underappreciated in the series! But rest assured, in this fic that will not be the case! ;)
Chapter Three: The First Steps
Luckily for Quinn's plans, she had plans to meet with Mike only the day after she had gone out to dinner with Sam. Though Santana, in typical Santana fashion, suggested something outlandish and very vulgar to get Mike's attention, Quinn decided to play her game slowly, and that meant simple flirting and letting Mike know that she was very available.
The opportunity came sooner than she expected. She'd no sooner let Mike into her house and gotten him a glass of water than he'd asked, "So, how was your date with Sam?"
Quinn fought off a grimace, "It wasn't a date, just dinner between friends, but it was good. Sam's a nice guy."
"Ouch." Mike grinned at her and sat down on te ouch in her living room, unzipping his backpack.
"What?" Quinn asked, sitting next to him.
"He's a 'nice guy', if that's all you have to say about a guy, it's like a death sentence. Trust me, locker room talk." Mike winked at her as he spoke.
Quinn laughed, "That's horrible! Nice is a compliment! It's just... not all there is. I'm not interested in Sam like that." She finished lamely.
Mike chuckled, "He seems quite smitten with you."
Quinn rolled her eyes, "Don't make fun, Mike. Sam doesn't even know me, he's smitten with the idea of me."
"I think everyone has been smitten with the idea of Quinn Fabray at one point or another." Mike offered, "Maybe he'll get over it soon."
Quinn smirked, "Are you saying that you've been smitten with the idea of Quinn Fabray, Mike?" She raised an eyebrow, expecting him to flush and look away.
Instead he met her gaze straight on and said playfully, "Am I a warm-blooded straight male, Q?" He laughed at the expression on her face, then continued, "What sort of project do you think we should do for Bio?"
Quinn tried not to blush and answered, "As long as it doesn't involve insects, I'm fine."
Mike laughed, "The fearsome Quinn Fabray is afraid of bugs?"
Quinn grimaced, "I had a bad experience with a centipede when I was younger. Don't ask."
Mike held his hands up, "I can respect a healthy fear for bugs, don't worry. How about something less creepy and crawly, like plants?"
Quinn smiled and tapped her pen against her thigh, "I'm listening."
"A project about CO2 emissions and their effects on an environment?" Mike suggested.
"Investigating the effects of global warming on a smaller scale?" Quinn clarified.
"Something like that." Mike replied, writing something down in his notebook, "It would be a bit of work to get the plants healthy and thriving at first but I think since this is a year-long project we have the time."
Quinn nodded, "We could catalogue the effects on a weekly basis, and then compare them to the effects being seen now on a global scale? Then from there maybe predict future climate changes due to the emissions."
Mike smiled, "I'm so glad I'm working with someone who can think on their own."
Quinn tried to not to be too pleased with Mike's comment. The truth was, it was nice to be acknowledged for something other than her looks (not that being acknowledged for her looks was all that bad, obviously).
"Thanks." She smiled back at him, then added teasingly, "Does this mean my secret fear of bugs is safe from ridicule?"
Mike considered for a moment, "Safe for now, definitely."
"Good." Quinn decided to chang ethe subject, "How has the new school year been treating you, Mike? We don't really get to talk much in Glee, between Berry's monologues pertaining to her talent and her impromptu duets with Finn."
Mike laughed, "It's an almost daily occurence, isn't it? Things have been good for me; I joined the decathlon team with Brittany, Artie, and ... Tina." Mike frowned slightly, and at Quinn's questioning look, explained, "We broke up."
"Oh wow Mike, I'm really sorry." Quinn said in faux-surprise. "Er, are you guys still friends?"
Mike shrugged, "We weren't really closer friends to begin with... and it was kind of out of nowhere. She just joined the Cheerios and then bam! - things are over."
Quinn shrugged, replying sympathetically, "Some girls let the uniform go to their head. Tina would have to be crazy to let a catch like you go." Nevermind that letting Mike go was a condition for Tina getting the uniform in the first place.
"Quinn Fabray thinks I'm a catch?" Mike teased, looking pleased.
"Mike, your lack of arrogance sets you apart from a lot of the jocks at McKinley but I have class with you, remember? I know you aren't stupid." Quinn deflected the question, "How did you and Tina end up together anyway? I didn't notice you guys talking last year...?"
Mike rubbed the back of his neck, clearly a bit uncomfortable talking about it. "We uh, were both counselors at an art camp, and hit it off. I thought we hit it off, anyway." He shrugged. Quinn nodded, before changing the subject.
"Anyway, I was thinking we could start with some plants that recreate a sort of rain forest environment?"
Quinn smiled, Santana may not agree with her methods, but her favorite story as a child had been the Tortoise and the Hare. Slow and steady wins the race.
"So he admitted to thinking about getting freaky with you, Fabray, big deal." Santana didn't bother looking up from the skirts she was examining. She, Brittany, and Santana had decided to go shopping, and since she'd had her study 'date' with Mike the night before, Quinn was obligated to fill her friends in. "Did anything juicy happen?"
Quinn rolled her eyes and leaned against a table in the store, "Juicy? No. But I didn't want anything juicy, not yet."
Santana smirked, "Q, seriously. Not to be rude but you got knocked up last year. There's really no reason to play the virgin Mary anymore."
Quinn felt her fists clench at her sides but managed a derisive laugh, "San, I'm not holding out to make myself look good, alright? Mike isn't the type to be wooed by your methods."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"It means he's not like Puckerman; he's looking for more than a quickie in the janitor's closet." Quinn smirked at her brunette friend.
"I'll have you know any guy would want a quickie with m-" Santana began to retort but was cut off by Brittany.
"Guys! Come on! No fighting!" Quinn and Santana glanced at each other and mumbled apologies. Brittany nodded, satisfied, before jumping into the conversation they'd been having previously, "You aren't going to hurt Mikey, are you, Q?"
Quinn shrugged, "Britt, it's not like we're going to get married." She sighed as Brittany began to frown, "I promise I'll do my best not to hurt him."
"Good." Brittany grinned, "Do you wanna know what he told me once?"
Quinn fought against rolling her eyes, "What, B?"
"He said he thinks you're really beautiful. Like the most beautiful girl in the school." Brittany beamed at her friend, "So there." As if that settled everything.
Santana did roll her eyes, "Looks like Chang is into that all-American, goody-goody look."
Quinn tried not to smile too much. Being called beautiful was nothing new for her, so it really shouldn't matter, but Mike didn't seem like the type to hand out compliments to just anyone.
Maybe it was time to move up the timetable on her plan.
"Mike, glad you could make it." Quinn smiled up at him as he slid into the seat across from her. The Lima Bean certainly wasn't he most romantic location, but it was public, and frequented by a lot of their classmates. By the end of the day word would be out that Quinn Fabray and Mike Chang had been seen together at the coffee shop, and the rumor mill would be working furiously to determine if it were a date, a homework project, or simply two friends getting a drink together.
"No problem, Q." Mike smiled easily at her. "Did you want anything...?" He trailed off, gesturing up to the counter, "I didn't order yet in case you wanted me to grab you something."
"Just an iced coffee, please." Quinn nodded in thanks as Mike stood to place their order. She wasn't sure how receptive Mike would be to her invitation, and was pleasantly surprised when he accepted. Maybe getting him interested in her wouldn't be as much work as she thought.
Mike soon came back with both of their drinks and sat down again. Then, to Quinn's confusion, he pulled his backpack onto the table before glancing up at her, "So, what are we working on?"
"Uhm," Quinn blinked and tried to find her train of thought. She quickly composed herself, "Working on?"
Now it was Mike's turn to look confused, "Yeah... I thought you wanted my help with homework?"
Quinn's eyes widened slightly and she fought to keep herself from blushing. This was mortifying. She'd thought she'd been asking Mike on a casual, quasi-date, a clear indicator that she was interested in him without having to say so. And he thought she was asking him to tutor her?
"Mike," Quinn began, closing her eyes and breathing deeply for a moment before continuing, "I didn't... I didn't ask you here as a study session. That's not what I meant."
Mike looked distinctly uncomfortable, "Oh God, I'm sorry, Q, I just assumed... most people want tutoring and so I just thought..."
"Oh... well. No." Quinn kept her eyes on her coffee for a moment. She wasn't used to this, making the first move. Finn had asked her out; Puck had hit on her. And here was an opportunity for Mike to ask her out, laid out before him, and he didn't even think to. Was he just not interested? Quinn swallowed a lump in her throat. It had been so long since she'd had to take 'no' for an answer, and the idea of Mike-of anyone--not being interested in her in the slightest just took her back to her days in middle school.
She blinked and stood abruptly, "I am, I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding. Uh, I just remembered, I told my Mom I'd be home soon. I have to go." Her mom wasn't even home. But the more she dwelled on her past, the more she knew she needed to get to the sanctity of her room. She wasn't going to react to this; not here.
"Quinn? I-are you sure?" Mike stood, looking concerned.
"Yeah, I'm really sorry, Mike. I'm sorry to have wasted your time." She tried not to sound bitter, "Uh, I'll talk to you later. Or something." Quinn could barely remember the last time she'd ran from a situation, but here she was. Running.
She'd made it out the door and was fumbling with her car keys before she realized she was probably overreacting. But the damage had been done and she couldn't very well go back in and continue the conversation now, could she? She groaned to herself and sped out of the parking lot.
If only she hadn't frozen up. If she hadn't automatically thought of the days when she'd been a nobody, when she'd been Lucy, then she could've kept her cool. Quinn Fabray should've laughed off the misunderstanding, twirled her hair and batted her eyes while flirting to make her intentions clear. She shouldn't have run away like a pathetic puppy dog with her proverbial tail between her legs.
Mike must think she's a total basket case. Quinn wasn't sure if she'd be able to repair the damage she'd done to his image of her, ever. More than likely, she'd have to start back at square one, searching for a new person of interest to occupy her time and effort.
Great, just great.
It was after dinner and Quinn was in her room, working on homework but mostly dwelling on what a fool she'd made of herself earlier that day at the Lima Bean. She groaned and flung herself back on her bed, wishing it would swallow her whole.
Seriously, why had she spazzed out so much at the thought of Mike Chang not liking her? Sure, it would set her plans back but in the grand scheme of things, one guy not being interested in her shouldn't be a huge deal. It was bound to happen, Quinn wasn't stupid; though she was the most popular girl in school, she knew there were guys that weren't totally into her. So why did she act like a desperate Rachel Berry drama queen?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knocking on her door. Quinn sat up and ran a hand through her hair. "Come in." She called, watching curiously as her mother poked her head in the doorway.
"Quinnie." She started hesitantly, before holding up a familiar, pale green envelope. "This came in the mail for you today, do you...?"
Quinn stared at the envelope, a frown growing across her face, "No, uhm, no. Its all right. I-just get rid of them."
Her mother looked nervous but stepped further into the room. "Darling, are you sure-"
"Yes, mother." Quinn crossed her arms and shrank back against her headboard, "Just-I don't know, give them to Mrs. Puckerman the next time you see her at the grocery store or something."
Her mother sighed and nodded, "If that's what you want, Quinnie."
"It is." The blonde replied tersely. Her mom offered no other fight, wishing her daughter a goodnight before closing the door behind her.
Quinn sat perfectly still for a moment before burying her face in her pillow and exhaling deeply. Between that and her situation with Mike earlier, there was no way Quinn was getting any homework done tonight.
Quinn waited a few hours, until she was sure her mother would be asleep before opening her bedroom door quietly and creeping downstairs. She tiptoed through her home, entering the kitchen and turning on the light over the stove before glancing at the island in the center of the room. That was where she'd found it last time, and true to her mother's predictable nature, the pale green envelope sat on the counter, contrasting starkly against the dark marble countertop.
The first envelope had arrived about three months ago. Quinn hadn't known was it was then, and since it was addressed to her, she'd opened it when she'd gotten home from school.
She didn't leave her room for the rest of the night, and wouldn't talk about it to her mom in the days following, no matter how much Judy hinted that she wanted to discuss the torn envelope and its contents that she'd found on the living room floor.
Quinn grabbed this envelope with shaking fingers and opened it before pulling out the first photo. She leaned against the counter and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as she gazed at the small, chubby face with blonde hair and hazel eyes so like her own staring back at her.
"Beth." She said the name, mulling over how it rolled off of her tongue. Her daughter. Beth.
She pulled the rest of the photos out of the envelope, about twenty in total, and looked through them, taking her time to memorize each before going on to the next.
She was beautiful. Quinn blinked back tears suddenly. She was more than beautiful, she was perfect. There was no other word to describe her. She smiled as she came to a picture where Beth had made a mess while eating. Even with a food-smeared face, her daughter was the most flawless thin she'd ever laid eyes on.
Except, Quinn reminded herself, she wasn't her daughter anymore. She was Shelby's.
Quinn felt the ache in her chest grow as she placed the pictures back in the envelope the way she'd found them. She would never be a part of Beth's life, and while... it was nice of Shelby to try, sending reminders of that did nothing but make Quinn question things that she couldn't question.
She'd made the right choice. She knew it, and she needed to live with it. And that meant no dwelling on pictures of beautiful baby girls that she'd never get to know.
Still, Quinn couldn't help but slip a picture of Beth (dressed up in a pretty green dress that brought out her eyes into the pocket of her pajamas).
Puck wouldn't miss one picture, after all.
The next morning Quinn was beyond tired, but hid it by drinking three cups of coffee before she left for school tightening her ponytail before locking the door behind her.
It was like Coach always said: a tired Cheerio might as well be a dead Cheerio.
Her fellow Cheerios could tell almost instantaneously that today was a day when Quinn shouldn't be bothered. The squad had learned over the past year to tell by the way she greeted them in the hallways what kind of mood she was in, and todays mood definitely read "uninterested in talking to anyone unless absolutely necessary".
Which is why she was so surprised to feel a finger tapping on her shoulder as she pulled her morning books out of her locker. She spun around, eyes narrowed, only to come face to face (or face to shoulders, really) with Mike Chang.
"Quinn, hi." Mike smiled at her, leaning against the lockers next to hers.
Quinn swallowed whatever retort she'd had prepared and forced a smile on her face. It wasn't totally Mike's fault that she was in a horrible mood. "Hey, Mike."
"Look, I just wanted to apologize again for misunderstanding things yesterday. I get the feeling I really upset you and I didn't mean to at all." Mike ran a hand through his hair nervously, "I was wondering if you'd let me make it up to you."
Quinn felt some of the tension un the pit of her stomach uncoil. "Make it up to me?" She smirked, leaning against her locker and eyeing him speculatively, "It's quite all right, Mike, you don't need to make it up to me, but... how were you planning to?"
Mike grinned, apparently less nervous now that it became clear that Quinn wasn't going to be angry with him, "Let me take you out to dinner?"
Quinn couldn't help the smile that made its way across her face. She glanced at the clock, noting that they were very nearly late for class. "Sounds fun. It's a date, then?"
Mike nodded "It is." He gestured to her books, "We're going the same way, right? I'll carry those for you." Quinn could only nod, pleased, as he took her books out of her hand.
It was only a date, but for now, that was definitely enough.
Yay! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for the longer wait between updates, I'll try to be faster next time! Please let me know what you think!