Because news of any kind - no matter how seemingly insignificant - spreads like wildfire in a small town high school, Quinn isn't the least bit surprised when she finds herself being bombarded by her friends the second she walks into the choir room Monday morning.
"Is it true?"
Sighing to herself, she nods, "Yes. Stefan and I are together now." She shrugs off her bag and takes a seat in the second row of risers. When she lifts her gaze, she's meet with a variety of expressions, mainly ranging from concern to disappointment.
"Quinn, are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into?" Mercedes asks as delicately as she can. "I mean Stefan, he's not exactly a nice guy."
"He can be a little rude to people," she concedes with a nod. "But no one is perfect. The important thing is that he cares about me and I trust him. I know you guys don't understand it but we have something special together. And I'd really appreciate it if you guys would try to be nice to him when I bring him over to our table today at lunch."
Though reluctant, the other girls (and Kurt) nod their heads compliantly. "Okay, Quinn. You have our word."
By the end of their morning glee meeting, many members of the club were a little miffed by Mr. Schuester's plans for sectionals. Mr. Schuester, having decided to change things up, gave Sam and Quinn the leads that were usually reserved for Finn and Rachel. This, of course, led to a double temper tantrum from two co-captains, which somehow ended with Santana telling Rachel about her little tryst with Finn last year. Needless to say Quinn had the sinking feeling that these next few weeks weren't exactly going to be smooth.
"So we're going to be featured in sectionals." Sam brings up, walking alongside her to a class they had with one another. "That's pretty cool, right?"
"Really cool." she confirms. "And also incredibly terrifying." Singing wasn't her strong suit and for a three minute number she was going to have to be front and center. Part of her wishes Mr. Schuester would have just stuck to his standard formula of a Finn - Rachel ballad followed by a classic rock group number.
Sam nods understandingly. "Yeah, I've never performed in front of an entire audience before. I'm super nervous. I really don't want to blow this."
"Neither do I." she sighs, shaking her head. "But if we do I'm pretty sure everyone is going to conspire to murder us."
"Yeah, I have no doubt about that happening." Sam says, laughing nervously. "I mean, this is a really amazing opportunity for me, for us, but I can't help but feel like-"
"Like we should just step back and let Finn and Rachel do their thing?" she finishes for him.
He nods sheepishly. "I just really want to win this thing and I dunno, I feel like we'll have a better chance at doing so with them leading the charge."
"Well we may not have their powerhouse voices but we do sing well together." she says, looking over at him. "And Mr. Schuester wouldn't have given us this opportunity if he didn't think we could do it."
"Yeah, I guess." Sam nods. "So what are we going to do?"
"Rehearse like crazy and pray to God that we don't screw this up for the club."
—
Stefan walks down the hallway restlessly, failing miserably with his attempts to distract himself from thoughts of Quinn. He's just grateful he was going to stop by her locker before class because if he had to go another hour without seeing her, he was pretty sure he might just snap and kill someone for the hell of it. Exhaling deeply, he quickens his pace and tries to shake off that thought. If he wanted to keep Quinn a permanent fixture in his life he was going to have to get a better handle on his 'ripper' tendencies.
Taking a shortcut down one of the lesser used corridors, he's surprised to find a distraught looking Rachel sitting by herself a few feet away. Though he honestly doesn't care what it is that has the small brunette so glum, he knows that Quinn cares about her friends liking him and reaching out would definitely get him brownie points with them. Keeping this in mind, he reluctantly makes his way over to Rachel. "Hey. Are you okay?"
Startled, Rachel lifts her gaze and quickly tries to recompose herself. "Stefan, hello."
He cocks his head, brow furrowed as he looks down at her. "What's wrong?"
"I, well, I just found out that Finn slept with Santana." she says quietly, sniffling slightly.
"I'm sorry." he offers simply. "It sucks to be cheated on."
"Well technically he didn't cheat on me." she corrects. "This happened last year when we weren't together. I was with another boy at the time, Jesse St. James. He was on Vocal Adrenaline, that's a rival glee club, but he transferred schools so he could be with me. Of course I later found out he was just using me to get dirt on us. I also found out that Vocal Adrenaline's coach is really my birth mother, by that's a story for another time." she says, waving it off.
Stefan just blinks, not knowing what he could possibly say to all that.
Rachel slumps back in her seat and sighs. "So you see my dilemma."
Brow knitting together, he shakes his head before speaking. "Actually I don't. You said it yourself Finn didn't cheat on you. You were with another guy when he was with Santana. You have no reason to be angry. It would be a different story if you two had been together at the time but you weren't."
"But he lied to me!" she exclaims. "When we got together, we told each other we'd be completely honest with one another, no secrets."
"He didn't want to hurt you." he reasons. "Besides what should it matter? It's all in the past anyways."
"You sound exactly like Finn." she scowls, huffing slightly. "You guys just don't get it."
Stefan knows well enough that he doesn't so he's not even going to try and argue with her.
"So Quinn tells us that you two are an item now." Rachel brings up casually, apparently too fed up to further discuss her relationship woes.
"Yeah. We are." he nods. His right eyebrow quirks. "Is that a problem?" He doesn't mean to go on the defensive, it's a natural habit of his.
"It is if you hurt her."
His expression hardens. "Which I won't." he tells her, even though he knows he can't guarantee that. He shakes his head, willing the thought away. "I better get going. I'm late to meet her. See you at lunch, Rachel." He gives her a final nod before continuing on his way.
He barely gets around the corner leading into Quinn's locker hallway before he's met with another obstruction. This one in the form of a skinny white kid with a ridiculous Jew fro. "Stefan Salvatore." he addresses him, his voice high and nasal. "Just the guy I was looking for. Word on the street is that you're dating one Miss Quinn Fabray. Care to comment?" The kid does the unwise and shoves a tape recorder under Stefan's nose, eager for a response.
"No." he says roughly, pushing the tape recorder out of his face. Stefan shoves past the guy but he doesn't seem to be able to take a hint and follows him.
"I have witnesses that attest to the rumor that you've successfully deflowered Quinn Fabray this morning on top of the piano in the choir room. Anything to say about that?"
"Yes." He whips around and slams the kid into the lockers, one hand wrapped securely around his throat. "If I hear one more lie that comes out of your mouth regarding Quinn Fabray I will end you." he seethes. His hand clamps down so hard on the kid's neck that he inadvertently drops his tape recorder.
"Stefan?"
Peering over his shoulder, Stefan finds a horrified Quinn hurrying over to him. Exhaling deeply, he reluctantly releases his grasp on the blue faced Jewfro-ed kid. In response he slides down the lockers, wheezing for air.
"What do you think you're doing?" Quinn demands of Stefan before immediately going to help the other boy get back onto his feet. "Jacob are you okay?" she asks delicately, one hand coming up to his back.
Jacob nods, still gasping like a fish out of water. With that, Quinn rounds on Stefan. "Would you like to explain yourself?"
Stefan's jaw tightens, not liking the tone she was taking with him. "This punk was making up rumors about you and asking me about them." he gestures to Jacob with a glare.
Quinn sighs heavily, then reverts her attention to the Jewfro. "Jacob you really need to cut it out with that stupid blog of yours. Nothing you say is ever even remotely close to the truth."
Stefan looks to Jacob, then snarls when he realizes the kid wasn't even paying attention to what Quinn was saying, his attention being a few inches south of her face. "Okay you need to leave." he says, his patience gone. He grabs Jacob by the collar and all but shoves his ass down the hall.
When the kid scurries down the hallway and disappears around the corner, he refocuses his attention on Quinn. "Did you really have to do that?" she asks, sighing.
"He was being disrespectful when he was talking about you." he retorts, starting them off toward her locker.
"You'll learn to ignore the things that come out of his mouth." she says, their hands gravitating toward one another until they were clasped. "But until then you can't let him get to you. What if Figgins had seen you harassing Jacob? Or Coach Sylvester? Then you would be suspended for sure."
Stefan snorts. "I try to defend your honor and I get suspended." he murmurs, shaking his head. "Yeah because that makes sense."
"I appreciate your intentions but next time try to avoid nearly suffocating a fellow student, okay?" Turning around to face him, she pushes herself up onto her toes and gives him a soft kiss. His hand automatically comes up to rest behind her neck to deepen the exchange. He's going to need it to hold himself over for the next hour he has to spend without her.
—
"I feel like I'm on my way to my execution." Stefan comments as he and Quinn make their across the cafeteria over to her glee club's table.
"I already told them you'd be joining us so they'll be on their best behavior." she promises, squeezing his hand reassuringly. "Don't worry."
"I'm not worried." he scoffs. He smirks a little when he looks back at her and finds her eyebrow raised disbelievingly.
"Hey guys." she greets her friends once they reach their designated table. "Some of you already know but this is Stefan." she says, gesturing to him.
Stefan gave a polite nod. "Hello." There was a low murmur of greetings from the group. Smiling, Quinn takes the vacant chair next to one of her friends while Stefan opts to take the one next to her on the edge. "So how's everyone's day going so far?" she asks conversationally, looking around expectantly at the table.
"I'm pretty sure I failed my math test." Mercedes responds glumly, stabbing her fruit salad with her fork. "I don't even see why I need to learn Trigonometry! I mean I'm going to be a singer, not a scientist! I don't need math! I betcha Beyonce didn't have to take Trig…"
"Well we all know how my day went..." Rachel brings up casually before throwing a glare Santana's way.
"Oh get over it, hobbit." Santana snaps, annoyed. "You were with that tool Jesse when Finn and I got our horizontal tango on."
Rachel opens her mouth to retort but Mercedes cuts her off. "Guys let's just drop it and move on, please? The last thing we need is all this drama. We need to focus on sectionals, remember?"
Rachel exhales deeply, her arms folding over her chest stubbornly. "Fine. But I am never speaking to you again, Santana."
Santana stands up in her seat and stares up at ceiling with her arms wide open. "Oh thank the Lord! Happy days are here again!"
Though she manages to get a few chuckles out of the others, Rachel is unamused. Santana reluctantly sits back down when Mercedes tugs on her cheerleading skirt.
"Okay. We'll talk about something else then. Something way more interesting." Santana smirks, her gaze falling on Stefan. "Alright, Salvatore." she says, leaning back in her seat. "Spill."
Stefan's brow furrows in confusion. "Excuse me?"
"Since you're now dating our home girl, it's required that we know every little thing before we deem you worthy or unworthy of dating Quinn." Santana informs. "You already know that I've deemed you unworthy but seeing as how I don't really know you and blah blah blah, I thought I'd give you a chance to redeem yourself. So answer the following questions correctly and I may or may not cross you off my hit list. Comprendes?"
"Santana." Quinn says in a warning manner, throwing the Latina a sharp look.
Santana ignores her, her gaze still fixated on Stefan. "Question one. Are you a virgin?"
"You don't have to answer any of her ludicrous questions." Quinn says to him quickly before throwing Santana another glare.
"It's okay, I can handle myself." he assures, unintimidated by Santana. He looks to the Latina and shakes his head in response to her question. "No." he answers.
"I didn't think so." Santana remarks, arms folded. "Next question, have you ever gotten a girl pregnant?"
Again, he shakes his head. "No."
"Now do you think that's because your swimmers weren't able to get the job done? Are your little swimmers defective? Do you have a problem down there? Do you have a problem getting it up? And if so -"
"Santana!" Quinn interrupts, mortified. "Enough with your ridiculous questions!"
Santana rolls her eyes. "You'll be thanking me later, Q." she says, briefly looking to her before glancing back at Stefan.
"The answer is no. To all those questions." he replies, his arm coming up to rest on the back of Quinn's chair.
"Have you ever killed anyone before?"
"No."
Santana tilts her head, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Why did you hesitate just now, Salvatore?"
"I didn't." he scoffs.
"Yeah you did." she says, pointing at him. "Totally just saw it in your eyes." She turns to Quinn. "You'll be happy to know that you are dating a murderer, Q. You really have great taste in guys, first Finn, now this one…"
"Stefan is not a murderer!" Quinn huffs, rolling her eyes at the very idea. "If any of us is likely to be a murderer, it's you!" she snaps.
Santana keeps her gaze locked on him. "Did you murder your parents? Is that it, Salvatore? Or maybe it was the family dog? Did you murder the family dog, Stefan? Poor Fido, or was it Lucky? Did you kill your dog Lucky? God, what kind of person kills their dog? Bet he was a cute dog too…he was wasn't he? He was probably freakin' adorable. Now what did Lucky ever do to you to make you want to bash poor his brains out? Were you jealous? Was that it? Did your parents love Lucky more than they did you? They did, didn't they? "God, I knew you were psycho…"
Amused more than anything, Stefan just shakes his head. He wouldn't even know how to begin a response to that.
—
"That Santana is something else." Stefan says to Quinn on the drive home, the subject of his Santanagation coming up again.
"Again I'm really sorry about her." Quinn says apologetically, looking over at him from the passenger seat. "There's really no controlling the things that come out of her mouth."
"It's okay. I've suffered through worse." he squeezes her hand reassuringly.
"You you really didn't have to wait for me to finish glee practice just so you can take me home." she brings up as they draw nearer to her house. "I could've gotten a ride from one of the girls or Kurt."
"It's no big deal." he shrugs. "I don't mind waiting. Besides the more time I spend with you the less crazy I get." Ain't that the honest truth, he thinks.
"I feel a lot better when I'm with you too." she admits softly, smiling over at him. He swears it's the cutest thing he's ever seen.
"So I know it's a school night but do you think your father would be okay with us having dinner at my place tonight?" he asks, looking at her expectantly.
"Probably not." she says honestly. "But I'm sure I can talk him into letting me dine at le bistro Salvatore tonight." she adds with a giggle.
"Great." he nods, pulling up to her house. "I'll come around and pick you up around seven?"
"Yeah, that sounds good." she smiles, nodding. "I'll give me enough time to do my homework and get ready."
"And after we're done with dinner, we can watch a movie or something." he suggests, wanting to spend as much time with her as he can.
"I'll see you in a few hours then." she says brightly, leaning across her seat to kiss his lips. "Love you."
He shakes his head, pulling her back to him when she starts to pull away. "Mmm. You're not getting away that easily." he murmurs, bringing her into his lap. Their lips brush tentatively at first before he leans in to better accommodate her. Her hands come up to his face to guide the pace. Their mouths move languidly, savoring one another's taste. After a few seconds she slowly pulls away, licking her lips.
"Are you trying to seduce me, Fabray?" he smirks, his gaze lifting up from those delectably pink lips he could spend hours kissing.
Her eyebrow quirks. "Why? Are you capable of being seduced?" she asks teasingly.
He smiles and shakes his head. "You wish."
Chuckling, Quinn leans forward and gives him one more tender kiss before sliding off his lap. "I'll see you in a few hours."
Stefan waits until she safely makes it inside her house before pulling away from the curb.
—
When Quinn gets home she's surprised to find her father waiting for her in living room. "Hi, daddy. How was your day?" she greets, shrugging off her bag and placing it on the couch where she planned to do her homework. Noticing the less than pleased expression on his face, she frowns. "What's wrong?"
Her father stands up wordlessly and inclines his chin toward the window. "When were you going to tell me that you were dating that boy?"
"I was actually going to tell you today, daddy." she tells him honestly. Her father glances back at her disapprovingly. "Quinn, your behavior is sinful. Your behavior in his car. Ywere acting with that boy like you were…"
"In love?" she finishes for him, brow raised.
Her father scoffs at the very idea. "Quinn, you are a child."
Shaking her head, she walks over to him. "Dad, look at me. I'm not a child anymore. "
"Then stop acting childish." he scolds.
Her brow furrows in confusion at this. "I love him, daddy." she says softly. "I've never felt like this with anyone before."
"Then be fair to him, Quinn." he says, exhaling deeply. He stares at her pointedly. "Before things get worse."
