Disclaimer: These characters belong to the creators of Glee.
A/N: Apologies about the long wait between this chapter and chapter 2. Quinn will continue to be hot and cold for a while now but she will inevitably change her behaviour for the better. I apologise to any reviewers from previous chapters I haven't responded to but if you leave a review from now on, you will always receive a reply. That's a promise :D I hope you enjoy :) Let me know whether you like it or not and as always, all mistakes are mine :)
Words (minus responses to reviews) - 4607
Chapter 3:
It's raining.
She doesn't actually mind the rain, in fact, she finds it incredibly relaxing. Although nobody will ever ask her to choose, she would say that rain is probably her favourite form of precipitation, far surpassing sunshine and snow. One of her favourite things to do is just sit and listen to the pouring rain as it batters against the windows. It's silly but she's always imagined having the perfect kiss with somebody in the rain, an idea which has firmly implemented itself in her mind since watching the Notebook. However, when it starts raining just as she's about to leave for school, she is partial to wishing for a little bit of sunshine. The mornings it rains always seem to coincide with the mornings her dads are either in work early or away, meaning she is unable to have a lift to school.
That is just one of the many clear and concise arguments she's put forward to her dads during her power point presentations detailing, in neat bullet points, why she should become a proud owner of a motor vehicle. Her dads are in no way against the idea, in fact, they agree with everything she says and think she's right, it would be incredibly useful for her to have a car of her own. That way they wouldn't have to chauffeur her around everywhere she wanted to go. However, her fathers are traditional in the sense that they believe you should work for the things you want. That way you'll appreciate it more when you have it. At the sight of their only daughter becoming crestfallen at the rejection, they bargained with her.
If she could earn the money needed for a second-hand car on her own, they would pay for the insurance.
It was a deal she accepted the minute it was offered. She knew better than to try and negotiate further.
Her passion in life is singing, everybody who meets her knows that, even if they don't care to know. She doesn't try to hide her passion and this, along with the constant complaints from her next door neighbour, Mr Philips; a grumpy, elderly man who isn't satisfied unless he's moaning about something, has resulted in her parents soundproofing her bedroom. Until she sings professional, which she aspires wholeheartedly to do in the future, preferably on Broadway, it doesn't provide her with any money.
A dream is all well and good but it doesn't pay the bills, or in her case, it doesn't pay for a car until it becomes a reality.
Another downside is that in a town like Lima, Ohio, there aren't many part-time jobs available for teenagers. Most jobs that arise are quickly occupied, usually before Rachel has had time to finish reading the advertisement.
Breadsticks, one of Lima's only reasonable restaurants, has been advertising for a waitress for a couple of weeks now but she hasn't been able to bring herself to apply for the job.
She already has to deal with obnoxious, hateful and rowdy students during school hours; she doesn't really want to have to deal with them outside of school as well. Besides, she doesn't need another reason for her tormentors to tease her. If the football players or cheerleaders saw her working in Breadsticks, they'd make sure it wasn't a pleasant experience for her.
Her reluctance to accept that job has resulted in her settling for doing odd jobs for her neighbours and babysitting whenever possible. She has been helping one of her neighbours, Mrs. Winters, for years, doing odd jobs like mowing the lawn once a week during the summer, but a couple of months ago, the elderly woman broke her hip and hasn't been around to move around as much. Since then, Rachel has been helping even more, fetching her shopping for her and doing anything else Mrs. Winters needed. The elderly woman tells her repeatedly she shouldn't be cooped up inside helping an old woman or mowing lawns; she should be enjoying her teenage years with her friends.
Rachel doesn't have the heart to tell her she doesn't really have any friends to spend her teenage years with. Besides, she's quite content to mow lawns; she used to help her dad growing up so she's become quite an expert at it.
At the end of the day, a job is a job.
Although strictly speaking, she doesn't technically earn any money from Mrs. Winters. When she first started helping her, Mrs. Winters paid her, even though Rachel felt uncomfortable taking money from somebody who clearly needed it more than her. Unfortunately, the older woman is impossibly insistent. When she fell in the bathroom and broke her hip, Rachel refused to take any money from her but promised she would still help her.
As a result, they compromised a payment method; Rachel would receive baked goods instead of money. It's better than money in Rachel's eyes because Mrs. Winters can certainly bake, her food is always delectable and mouth-watering, especially her apple pies. Rachel's also touched that Mrs. Winters takes the time to bake a special vegan apple pie for her rather than a normal pie.
Most of the money she has saved towards her car comes from babysitting. She only has two families who constantly request her services but they're both more than generous with their payments. The Patterson's children are ten and twelve so don't pose too many problems while the Mayhew's six year old son often behaves as long as Rachel talks to him about dinosaurs.
Pulling back the drapes a little to check on the weather, just in case the rain has miraculously stopped in the last minute, a shiver suddenly runs through her body at the thought of walking in this horrendous weather.
She looks over her shoulder at her alarm clock and sighs heavily, there's no way she's going to catch the school bus. Even if she ran, she'd miss it. Besides, Arnie, the bus driver is not particularly fond of children. The reason why he drives a school bus even though he despises children has always eluded her. He's known for driving away from children who run for the bus rather than stopping to let them on.
He finds it amusing.
Rachel has no idea how he still has a job.
She grabs her coat and rushes downstairs; slipping the coat on once she reaches the front door. She fumbles for the hood before sighing heavily in frustration. Trust her to grab the one coat which doesn't possess a hood. Deciding against going back upstairs, she opens the front door and prepares herself for an onslaught of rain to viciously attack her but nothing happens.
She furrows her brow when no rain lands on her. Closing the door, she glances up; expecting to see the rain has stopped, only to find herself standing underneath the protection of an umbrella.
"I saw your dads leave this morning and I know you hate taking the school bus. Not that I can blame you, Arnie isn't exactly the happy-go-lucky bus driver people want." Rachel furrows her brow even more as she waits for her friend to finish. "I thought you might appreciate a lift. I was actually just about to knock. Are you psychic?"
Rachel chooses to ignore her attempt at humour. "You're offering me a lift?"
Quinn frowns at her. "Of course I am, do you not want one?"
She should say no because she shouldn't give into Quinn. She should say no because Quinn's only being nice to her because they're alone. She should say no but she doesn't.
"I'd love one, thank you."
She tells herself she only accepted because she doesn't want to walk in the rain but that's a lie. She accepted because it's Quinn.
Quinn sends a smile in Rachel's direction, a smile which is specifically for Rachel. Quinn's not sure whether her friend knows she's the only person who can make her smile a smile which touches her eyes but she is. She wraps her free arm around one of Rachel's and covers them both with the umbrella before walking towards her red beetle which is now parked outside Rachel's house.
"Were you planning on walking?"
"Unfortunately, not all of us are fortunate enough to have our own car, especially not one which has kindly been paid for in full by their parents," Rachel answers. "Some of us don't have a myriad of choices when it comes to travelling to and from school. Since I am not in possession of a car, I cannot drive myself. My dads, as you've already pointed out; have left for work so I cannot ask them to drive me. As you have also noted, I hate taking the school bus, plus, I wouldn't have been able to catch it anyway. Therefore, with all other possible methods of travelling removed, I'm left with only one choice, walking."
Quinn scuffs her feet ever so slightly as they walk. "You could have always asked me."
"The thought didn't once cross my mind Quinn," Rachel tells her truthfully. "If I'm correct, you've never offered me a lift to school before; your car is usually occupied with Santana and Brittany."
"Not today."
"Evidently," Rachel says quietly. "Where are they?" She questions, knowing full well Quinn wouldn't dream of driving her to school if Santana and Brittany were around. In fact, they would probably drive past her as she walked; ensuring they purposely drove through a puddle as they passed her.
Quinn looks deflated momentarily at the question before regrouping. "Cheerio practice. Coach Sue wants the cheerleaders to meet before school every day this week in preparation for the game this weekend."
She opens the passenger door and covers Rachel with the umbrella until she's safely in the car before dashing around to the driver's seat, climbing in as quickly as possible in an attempt to stay dry.
Rachel buckles her seatbelt hastily. "If Coach Sylvester wants the cheerleaders to meet before school, why aren't you there? Surely she'll notice your absence; you are the captain after all."
"I'm running late," Quinn tells her quietly as she starts driving. "I had an errand to run first."
The brunette frowns a little; she can't help but wonder whether Quinn is purposely making herself late for Cheerio practice by giving her a lift or whether Quinn offering Rachel a lift is just a result of her errand. Coach Sylvester's punishments for absent cheerleaders or sloppy work are horrific if you're to believe what the cheerleaders say so Rachel can't believe Quinn would willingly subject herself to multiple laps or whatever fiendish punishment Coach Sylvester finds suitable.
Still, she has to ask.
"Am I the errand?"
Quinn doesn't answer; instead she keeps her gaze fixated on the road ahead of her as she drives towards McKinley.
"You know, driving without a seatbelt isn't a very sensible idea. If you were to crash, you could possibly be thrown through the windshield," Rachel admonishes briefly.
The corners of Quinn's mouth curl upwards as she buckles her seatbelt. "Better?"
"Much better, thank you." Rachel taps her own seatbelt nervously as silence falls between both girls. "You must have been up early this morning."
Quinn brakes slowly as they approach traffic lights. "Why is that?"
"My dads left for work at about five am," Rachel explains, as Quinn starts driving once more. "You told me at the house you saw them leave; ergo you must have woken up pretty early."
"I had some homework I hadn't finished yet," Quinn tells her simply. "It's strange but I seem to work best late at night or very early in the morning."
"That sounds rather detrimental to your sleep pattern."
"It works for me."
"You shouldn't neglect sleep," Rachel chastises. "It's a chance to recharge your batteries and prepare yourself for the following day. A lack of sleep may work for you but it is certainly not beneficial to your health. You're supposed to receive at least eight hours of sleep a night, are you sleeping for less time than that?"
"Rachel, I'm fine."
Rachel bobs her head slowly, sensing Quinn doesn't want to discuss her sleeping habits for a moment longer. She clears her throat. "Thank you again for doing this."
"You've already thanked me."
"I know I have. The use of the word 'again' indicated that I was thanking you for a second time."
Rachel watches as Quinn's mouth curls upwards ever so slightly in a delicate smile for the second time that morning. After that, the car is flooded in silence as neither girl really knows what to say to each other. Rachel has a list of things she could talk about extending from Broadway to what her father, Leroy, did last night which had both her and Hiram in hysterics, but she can't bring herself to talk to Quinn about them.
She's not sure Quinn would care anymore.
When you're friends with somebody, you listen intently to whatever they say. You tell them everything, even things which don't matter and they act like its fascinating news because that's what friends do.
When she thinks back to when they were children, she can't remember a single awkward moment between the two of them.
They once talked for hours about a dog they had seen wandering around on its own, they talked about the possibility that if it didn't have an owner, they could adopt it and look after it together.
Now, awkward moments are all they ever seem to have.
After their slight confrontation in the bathroom the other day, Rachel has actively avoided Quinn. Any lessons they shared together, she would avoid the blonde's gaze, not that the blonde tried to look at her. During lunch and any free periods, Rachel would head to the auditorium to practice her singing.
Nobody ever came to the auditorium except her during the day. The Glee club sometimes came after school if they needed to practice a song but during the school day, it was always empty.
That's how she prefers it. Nobody ever interrupts her while she's singing.
Last night, she neglected to work at her desk and instead chose to sit in her window seat with her Spanish homework. The change wasn't beneficial for her work ethic, she much prefers to work on a desk rather than her knees, but she had changed so she could overlook Quinn's house. Last night, the Fabray's house was still, no lights on in any of the rooms.
Almost like the calm before the storm.
She sat there for the remainder of the evening until she went to bed but not a single light was switched on and even though she was mad at Quinn, she couldn't help but wonder where she was.
Why wasn't she sitting in her bedroom pretending not to watch Rachel's house like Rachel was doing?
It used to keep them entertained when they were children. They would spend hours just watching each other.
She wonders when they stopped doing that.
Maybe that was when things started to change.
Rachel turns her attention to Quinn whose eyes are still fixated on the road. For the briefest of seconds, she doesn't see Quinn.
She sees Lucy.
She doesn't see the gleaming white smile; she sees the braces Lucy received when she was thirteen. She doesn't see the crisp Cheerio uniform which signals Quinn's dominance in school, she sees the dungarees Lucy always wore because they were comfortable.
Everything about Lucy, everything about Rachel's former best friend has been well and truly eradicated.
She wonders whether Quinn is happy now when she looks in the mirror and sees the person staring back at her.
Whether that's the person she's always dreamed of becoming.
She probably does but Rachel would much rather look at her and see the wide-eyed blonde girl whose glimmering hazel eyes lay hidden behind those glasses that were always just a little bit too big for her face.
"Rachel?"
The sound of Quinn's voice brings her out of her reverie. The girl is staring at her with a lop-sided grin on her face.
"You were in your own little world."
"Sorry."
"You never need to apologise to me."
She starts to smile but it quickly disappears when she realises that Quinn's parked her car. "Why have you parked?"
"The rain's stopped."
"I can see that," Rachel replies, her brow furrowing. "That obvious statement doesn't really answer my question though. We're not at school yet."
"It's only round the corner."
"Yes I know, why don't you just continue dri-" Rachel cuts herself off, suddenly realising exactly why Quinn has chosen to park round the corner rather than drive to school. "You won't drop me off at school because you don't want to be seen with a loser like me."
"That's not true."
"Yes it is." She unbuckles her seatbelt and opens the door. "I know you have a reputation which you think is in desperate need of protection. I know I don't fit into your life, at least, not anymore."
"Rachel –"
She climbs out of the car, interrupting whatever Quinn was about to say. Her hand hovers on the door handle once she's outside the car. "What I don't understand is why you even offered me a lift. I don't want half-measures Quinn. I don't want you to act like Lucy one minute and then resort back to Quinn whenever you feel like it."
Quinn opens her mouth but Rachel slams the door shut, silencing Quinn. She walks in the direction of the school, not looking over her shoulder once, determined to keep her gaze ahead and forget about Quinn. She hears Quinn start the engine again before driving past her slowly, probably hoping to draw Rachel's attention but the brunette purposely avoids the beetle.
Eventually Quinn concedes and speeds up. Rachel sighs through relief before grimacing as she feels a single raindrop land on her cheek. She reaches for the umbrella in her bag before sighing in frustration when she realises she's left her bag in Quinn's car. She really doesn't want to deal with the blonde again, not after that little stunt she's just pulled but now she's going to have to.
She closes her eyes and waits patiently for the rain to start.
She doesn't have to wait long.
It may sound incredibly shallow but she knows she's attractive. She made sure she became attractive. She worked harder than ever before to ensure she lost the unwanted rolls of fat around her stomach and her parents paid good money to provide the changes she desperately wanted.
She wanted to look at herself in the mirror and smile at her reflection and Quinn always gets what she wants.
As a result, people stare at her from the minute she walks into school to the minute she leaves. When she's walking down the street, people take a second look at her. She's well aware of people's eyes on her, some stare at her because of her beauty, some stare through jealousy and some stare through sheer distain.
She knows this because she used to stare at people the exact same way. She used to stare at the pretty girls and admire their beauty. She would stare at the pretty girls and feel jealous that people were giving them attention and finally, she would look at the pretty girls and hate them because she didn't look like them and people didn't give her any attention.
She used to look at Rachel the way people look at her now. She used to admire Rachel's beauty, she still does. In her eyes, Rachel is beautiful; even if the girl doesn't believe it herself and even if Quinn causes her to doubt it.
Rachel is and has always been beautiful.
Up until a couple of years ago, every year on her birthday, just before she blew out her candles, her father used to tell her to make a wish but to be very careful what she wished for. Her wish was always the same; she wanted to look in the mirror and love what she saw.
A vain, selfish wish but her wish nonetheless.
She didn't bother wishing for popularity because by her logic, being beautiful was her key to becoming popular.
She never understood why her father told her to be careful because wishes are just that. They are wishes and you don't expect them to come true.
Wishes belong with fairy tales, two things that aren't real.
She asked him about it once, he'd been drinking like normal, but he answered her. He said he wanted to make sure she knew what she really wanted because if by some miracle she got what she wished for, she needed to still want it.
Sometimes when you finally get that thing you really wanted; it doesn't satisfy you as much as you expected it to.
Sometimes getting what you've always hoped for isn't anywhere near as good as you've imagined.
"You missed practice this morning," Santana states as she rests against the locker beside Quinn, Brittany standing beside her. "Coach Sue isn't best pleased her captain missed practice."
"That isn't really news, Coach Sue is never happy," Quinn replies, grabbing her books from her locker. She glances at Rachel's bag hidden at the back of her locker. She had realised her friend had left it once she parked in the school car park and planned to return it to her as soon as she saw her, apologising for her behaviour this morning in the process. "Unless she's insulting somebody, then she might crack a smile." She thinks back to the other day when Sue argued with Mr Schuester, constantly pointing out his many flaws.
"What happened? Mummy didn't wake you in time for school?"
Quinn slams her locker. Her mother would have been hard pressed to wake her up for school considering she was passed out on the couch from her previous night's drinking session. It's become a regular routine for her every morning now, in between eating breakfast and brushing her teeth, she removes all evidence of her mother's drinking so that when she returns home from school, they can both pretend the previous night never happened.
Just one morning, she wants to wake up and not have to clear away empty wine bottles.
"I didn't feel like going to practice this morning, that's hardly a crime now is it?"
Santana opens her mouth to reply but her eyes suddenly train on something over Quinn's shoulder. Intrigued, Quinn follows her friend's gaze, her heart constricting as she watches Rachel walking down the corridor, shivering with wet hair.
Quinn and Santana aren't the only people who notice Rachel's appearance and Kurt quickly heads towards her. "You're soaked," he tells her matter-of-factly as she finally reaches her locker. "Did you walk in this weather?" He gasps at the mere thought."
"You know I hate the school bus, besides, I would have missed it anyway."
"So you walked?" Rachel catches Quinn's gaze before nodding her head at Kurt's question. "You should have called me; I would have had my dad pick you up on the way."
Rachel runs her fingers through her wet hair, hearing rain droplets land on the floor. "I didn't think."
"Once my car comes back from the shop, I'll pick you up every morning."
Rachel smiles lightly. Kurt's car has been in his dad's garage for two days and she can tell Kurt misses it. That being said, he should have never hit another car while parking.
Kurt lets her appearance and the fact she walked to school drop and Rachel is grateful. She's about to ask him about his chosen song for Glee club, Mr Schuester has asked them to choose a song which means something to them, when she sees Quinn, Santana and Brittany approaching them out of the corner of the eye.
"Hobbit, Lady Gay," Santana greets them in her usual fashion. Kurt merely rolls his eyes at the insult directed at him, normally Santana is more creative than that. It isn't often she recycles an insult.
Brittany waves emphatically at the pair of them and Rachel will never understand how such a sweet, good-natured girl like her ended up being friends with Santana, the bitchiest girl in school.
They are polar opposites.
"You look like a drowned rat," Santana states.
"Did you go in the sewers?" Brittany questions, with genuine curiosity. "I spent my summer there last year."
All four of them stare at Brittany in confusion but nobody dares question her on what she has just admitted. Comments like that are par for the course with Brittany. Plus, if either Rachel or Kurt decided to question Brittany, they would face the wrath of Santana and that is not something anybody wishes to endure.
"I was caught in the rain when I was walking, if you must know." Rachel watches Quinn's face fall and the blonde refuses to look at her. "If you'll excuse me, I need to head to the bathroom and dry off before class. I can't afford to catch a cold right now."
"I'll come with you," Kurt announces as the pair brush past the three cheerleaders.
Quinn finally brings her gaze away from the ground and watches Rachel walk away from them.
"What happened to you?" Santana asks. Quinn whips her head to face her friend. "You didn't make a single snide remark or give her a dirty look."
"I think she's always had enough to deal with this morning without our help."
Santana furrows her brow. "What is the matter with you? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" She cocks her head to the side. "Maybe you should start waking up in Hudson's bed; he might be able to put a smile on your face. Granted his skills in the bedroom do leave a lot to be desired but it's not like you have any experience in that department so I'm sure you'll love it."
"Congratulations Santana, you managed to crack a joke about my virginity within five minutes of the school day, keep going like that and today might just be day you break your record of eight jokes."
"I think it's cute you're a virgin," Brittany chimes in. "It makes it more special if you lose it to somebody you care about." She glances at Santana quickly. "I know I did."
"Sex is sex," Santana counters, failing to notice how Brittany's face falls. "Just give it up to Finn, he already acts like a love sick puppy dog around you, sex will just make him more devoted to you."
"As hard as this may be for you to believe, I am not going to have sex with somebody because you tell me to," Quinn states firmly. "I do have a mind of my own."
"Whatever," Santana links her pinkie finger around Brittany's. "Coach Sue wants to see you when you can spare a minute," Santana adds before walking down the corridor with Brittany.
Quinn watches them leave and just as she's about to turn around and head to class, she spots Rachel walking out of the girl's bathroom. Her hair is now reasonably dry and she is no longer shivering. Rachel doesn't even bothering glancing at her and merely walks past her towards their Spanish class.
Quinn might look in the mirror and like what she sees but that doesn't mean other people like what they see.
She didn't factor that in when she made her birthday wishes.
A/N 2:
Guest - Thanks for reading and reviewing :) Thank you, I'm glad to hear that!
A.A - Thanks for reading and reviewing :) Thank you very much, I'm glad you're enjoying this story. That means a lot to me. Yeah, I know, unfortunately I've dealt with such a close loss before so I kind of knew how to cope (even though I don't think you ever really know how to cope.) Thank you very much, I appreciate that!
17 - Thanks for reading and reviewing :) Thank you very much, your condolences are greatly appreciated! Haha, I'm glad you crave stories like this, hopefully that means you'll continue to enjoy this story. I'm sure you will get a grovelling Quinn in future chapters and a stronger Rachel. She will definitely make up for it. You're welcome!
Faberry17 - Thanks for reading and reviewing :) I can't personal message you so I'll reply here. Thank you very much, I appreciate that. I will do my very best to continue, I hate leaving stories unfinished. I think I might have hit some new inspiration for this story so that's good :)
T1 – Thanks for reading and reviewing :) Thank you very much, your condolences are greatly appreciated. I'm glad you find my story wonderful. It really does, it takes my mind off everything.
