**Hello, Lovelies! I hope you all had a beautiful weekend :) Anyone watch any football? The NFC Championship was pretty awesome, but being that I'm from the Bay Area, I hated seeing the Niners lose, especially over a fumble! A fumble! Ugh, sorry for venting lol. Anyway, moving on…I did respond to most of you reviewers on Friday, but I missed the late ones. I will, however, get those I missed on the next go-a-round :) Till then, here's the next chapter…
RECAP:
"Just tell her you want her to slow down; if she gets mad then it's your decision if you want to go against your own morals." I force out, hoping I can keep myself from throwing in a subliminal "dump-her-for-me" message.
"But I kind of already feel like I can't get that moment back."
"What moment?"
She bites her bottom lip and fidgets nervously. "I should just talk to Harmony, first." She blurts out, and gets up to leave, finally letting go of my hand. "Thanks, for your help, Rachel" she turns to leave, but quickly spins back around, "and you look beautiful." She gives me that trademark smirk. I nearly melt in my seat, even though I know she's leaving to find Harmony, so they can talk. Oh to be a fly on the wall, during that conversation.
CHAPTER 6: I Didn't Want To Do You Harm
The rest of the day was uneventful. I was hoping to get some kind of read from Quinn or Harmony, giving me an indication on how things went between them, after Quinn left to find her, but they seemed fine. Following another four hours, we all called it a night and drove off our separate ways. I was disappointed that Quinn didn't pay me much mind; I wanted to talk to her, learn things about her…like what other superheroes and nerdy stuff does she obsess over? Does she still draw as much as she did in elementary school? Does she still have her old Superman cape? Will she wear it and perhaps build a time machine so we can go back to the past and I can make her mine when I had the chance? I frown at my desperate thoughts…But more importantly, I wanted to ask her about her parents because I couldn't help but get the feeling that she's lonely at home. It makes me feel terrible to know that not only is Quinn rejected by her schoolmates, and ME, but she's also not accepted by her own family.
I stare out the backseat window, feeling horribly guilty, as Brittany tries to get Santana to do a Donald Duck impression. I tune out Santana's squawking, geez she sounds nothing like Donald Duck, and I close my eyes. I let the guilt, regret, and remorse swallow me…I deserve to feel this awful, after turning her down so many times. I mean, I never was cruel about it, but I didn't give her the chance she is rightfully owed. She is the only one who ever attempted to actually woo me; she's charming and has always been the sweetest to me…and if I'm being honest with myself, she won me over a long time ago.
I wipe the tears that have fallen from my closed eyes and force out a laugh when Brittana tries to include me in their impressions game. Thankfully, it's too dark for them to see me silently crying in the backseat, as realization hits me…What if I'm too late?
When they pull up to my house, I thank my two best friends for their grand gesture, and I quickly make my way to my room, ignoring the hellos of my fathers. I immediately crawl under my covers, hugging the comic I bought for Quinn, as I let a deep sleep take over me. It seems as if I stayed in this exact position for the whole night…and all of Sunday.
Before I know it, it's Monday and I feel a whole lot better, knowing that I'll actually be able to see Quinn, in person…and not just in my dreams.
As soon as I reach the school, I park next to a car I haven't seen before; it's a beautiful shade of blue and it looks expensive. I turn to look at the interior when I see something that makes me sick to my stomach. The passenger seat is reclined all the way and is occupied by Quinn, who is flat on her back, and Harmony, who is on top of her. It doesn't take me a second to realize that they are making out…heavily. I feel completely shattered; and before I can make a run for it, the passenger door flies open, and I see Harmony being rolled off into the driver's seat, revealing Quinn's aroused lower half. I gasp at the sight and size of the bulge in her pants, but instantly duck when Quinn's upper half pops up and the blonde hurriedly stumbles out of the car. She stands up and goes to look at her reflection in the driver's side window of what she assumes to be an empty car. We both drop our jaws when we make eye-contact, and we instantly blush. Quinn quickly covers the bulge, aimed in my direction, with her Superman backpack and awkwardly speed-walks away. When she is out of my eye's reach, I look back at the open passenger door and see Harmony glaring at me from the driver's seat. I make an effort to look as if I didn't just see her and her girlfriend making out and then witnessing Quinn push her off and run away…but, as great of an actress I am, I can't pull it off, so I quickly exit my vehicle and jog inside the school.
Once I round the corner of the hall, where my locker is, I see my best friends standing in front of it. Brittany is the first to spot me and runs toward me.
"Hey, Rach! I just saw Quinn; she must of had to use the bathroom because she ran inside," she said pointing to the blonde's escape.
I smile at her, as a thanks, and quickly slip into the bathroom. It's empty except for the person, with the blue Superman Converse shoes, hiding in the last stall.
"Quinn? Are you in here?" I ask, knowing full well that those dorky feet belong to her.
"Rachel?" A click is heard and she pops her head out. "Is Harmony looking for me?" She inquires, with an innocent voice.
"I don't think so," I answer, stepping toward the stall. She sees me approaching and sticks her head back inside, locking the door.
"I'll be out in just a sec," she squeaks out, embarrassed.
"You don't have to; I just wanted to ask if you…You know; if you talked to Harmony, yet? I mean, it's none of my business, so you don't have to answer me or-"
"No." She deadpans, from inside the stall.
"Oh…Well, I guess I don't blame you. It looks like you're enjoying the intimacy," I mumble, wincing at how wounded I sound.
I hear the click of the lock, and Quinn walks out, her aroused state no longer evident. "After much contemplation, I decided to address her with my concerns today, during lunch…that way, if she gets upset with me, my chances of successfully avoiding her are significantly higher, what with classes and bathroom hide-outs." She explains, staring at her shoes. "I mean, I'm aware it's shamefully coward-like of me, but-"
"Quinn?"
The blonde's head shoots up and mine turns to see Harmony standing a few feet away from us.
"Can I talk to you, please?" Harmony asks, with no real anger in her tone.
I glance at Quinn, who nods her answer. "So, I guess I'll just be leaving now," I announce, awkwardly, as I back away from the couple, who stares at me until I slip back out into the empty hall; classes must've started already. I know I should go to my first period, but I don't want to leave Quinn alone with Harmony. What if their conversation takes a bad turn and Quinn needs help? I wouldn't leave her to fend for herself, not this time. Plus, I think they would appreciate it if no one barged in on them, while they discussed their sex life, or lack thereof. I quietly press my ear to the bathroom door and listen in on the duo.
"Why'd you leave?" Harmony asks, genuinely curious.
There's a few seconds of silence before Quinn speaks, "I uh, I needed to use the restroom?" I cringe at the uncertainty in her answer. It came out sounding more like a question, which is code for I'M LYING.
"Why are you lying to me?" her girlfriend responds, sounding hurt and suspicious. "Why was Rachel in here?" And there it is…I almost feel guilty, but I didn't follow Quinn to seduce her, like Harmony is probably thinking; I followed her because I'm worried about her getting taken advantage of because she's too embarrassed to enforce the fact that she wants to wait to have sex; and that all the make-out sessions and teasing is making it difficult for her to hold onto her morals. I just wanted to be there for her, as a friend.
"Harm, I left because I don't want to do something we're not ready for…that I'm not ready for." Quinn answers, honestly. A sense of pride swells in my chest, as a smile finds its way to my face. I'm glad she finally spoke up about how she feels.
"What do you mean?" I frown at the other girl's question…you know exactly what she means, don't make her spell it out for you.
"When I said I wanted to wait until I was in love, I meant it; and being that we just met three days ago, I don't think I can say that I am ready. I don't want to regret anything else." I wince at her wording; "regret" is such a strong word.
"You didn't put up much of a fight when I was touching you, in Biology," Harmony counters, with a bit of a bite.
"I…that…it…you caught me off guard." Quinn responds, weakly.
"So you regretted it?"
"I just-"
"You just said you don't want to regret anything else, meaning you regretted something already. So you regret it, right?" Harmony snaps.
"I didn't-"
"Why?" she demands, cutting Quinn off. "It wasn't sex; it was just a hand-job?"
"Exactly!" Quinn shouts, "It's just a hand-job…to you! You say it like it's no big deal, like you've done it a million times!" I press my forehead against the door and close my eyes; Quinn, for being so smart, you are horrible with words.
"What's that supposed to mean? !" Harmony yells, clearly catching Quinn's hidden accusation. "You think I'm some kind of slut? !"
"I didn't say-"
"You might as well have! For your information, Quinn, I'm not a slut! Before you, I only had two relationships, one was with a girl, but all we did was make-out. The other was a boy, and yes, we had sex. Lots of sex! But because we loved each other; we had a year of history to back that up!"
"Then, why-"
"I don't know, Quinn! I just did it, okay? ! I'm sorry if it was such a horrible experience for you!"
Well then…that was unexpected.
"It wasn't horrible, Harm! I just-"
"Okay, fine! I get it; it was too fast. I won't touch you anymore."
"I didn't say that I wanted you to stop touching me." Quinn responds. What if I say I want her to stop touching you? Does that matter? Probably not…
"Just don't act like you're not in love with someone…it's just not me that you're in love with! Right? Right? !"
Oh shit, this is bad. Shut up, Quinn; don't answer that!
"What? I'm not in love with-"
"Rachel! There you are; I've been in class, waiting for you!" Yells Finn, even though he's only inches from me. I back up against the bathroom door, with my hand on the handle. "Let's go, I'm tired of pretending to pay attention," he says, pulled me, roughly.
"Finn, I don't-"
"What the hell is your problem, Rachel? First you ditch me at the party and then you ignore me all weekend. Now you're not even going to class? !" He shouts, angry.
"You ditched me, Finn! And you didn't even call or text me this weekend, either. The phone works both ways," I say, with a hushed whisper.
Suddenly the bathroom door is pushed open, as Harmony walks out, looking beyond pissed. "What do you think you're doing, Rachel? Eavesdropping? !" She questions, while Quinn steps out and stands between her girlfriend and I, but faces Harmony.
"Relax, Harm; you're not mad at her, you're mad at me," she says, calmly, throwing herself in the line of fire, as she tries to call off Harmony's verbal attack.
"Shut up, geek! Nobody's talking to you! C'mon Rachel, I need you to take notes for me." Finn says, tugging on my arm.
Quinn spins around on her heel, "Do you hear yourself, you imbecile ? ! Why don't you take your own damn notes!"
"Screw you, Fabray!" He spits. "C'mon Rachel!" I ignore him and stand my ground, but he easily pulls me toward him, causing me to whimper at the hard tug.
"Let her go!" Quinn protests, as she scowls at Finn.
"Quinn," Harmony calls, trying to pull her away from the much bigger Finn, but Quinn shrugs her off and steps closer.
I should say something. I should tell Finn to leave me alone. I should explain to Harmony how I only stayed to make sure everything was okay…to make sure no one walked in on them.
"Back up, freak!" Finn orders Quinn.
"Not until you let go of Rachel!"
"You let go of her first! You've been holding on to her for years! She doesn't like you! Don't you get it? !" the boy yells into the blonde's face.
Quinn visibly shrinks a little, causing Finn to chuckle and tighten his hold on me.
"No," I finally manage to say, "No! Let me go, Finn!" I demand, squirming to get my arm free.
"She said to let her go!" Quinn repeats and shockingly throws a pointy elbow to Finn's face.
"What the fu-" He stumbles back, releasing me in the process, as he covers one of his eyes.
"I'm sorry, but you gave me no choice, Fi-" She's cut-off by Finn punching and kicking the wall of lockers.
"You're gonna regret that," Finn promises, before giving Quinn a mean glare and stalking off.
I'm about to thank Quinn for her heroics, when…
"What were you doing, Rachel? Listening to us?" Harmony asks, still angry.
"Harm, she just got-"
"No, Quinn! Don't even try and defend her, right now." She deadpans, not even looking at her; she's too busy staring me down.
"I wanted to make sure no one walked in on you guys," I half lie.
Harmony studies my face, looking for the truth, but I don't falter.
"I don't think she's lying," Quinn says, giving her input, though I can tell she knows there's more to my lingering.
"Whatever; I'm going to class," Harmony says, finally giving Quinn the "I'm-mad-at-you-so-leave-me-alone-until-I-decide-to-forgive-you" look.
Quinn isn't stupid; she knows she may have won the fight with Finn, but she lost the one with she had with her girlfriend. She knows that she hurt her, "I didn't want to do you harm!" She shouts out to her girlfriend, who is halfway down the hall.
"Obviously!" she yells back, without turning around.
Quinn looks confused for a few seconds, but then slaps her forehead, once she realizes that "I didn't mean to do you harm" can also sound like "I didn't want to do you, Harm(ony)." Wonderful choice of words, Quinn; way to rub it in…
"I'm horrible with words," Quinn says, more to herself, than to me.
"I agree," I tease, hoping to lighten the mood.
She smiles and sighs, "Sorry about hitting your boyfriend," she apologizes, looking away with a slightly pained expression on her face.
"He's not my boyfriend…not anymore. He's a stupid jerk." I say, moving closer to her and catching her eyes with mine. "Thank you for saving me, Super Geek." I smile and gently rub the elbow she used to hit Finn.
I can see her throat tighten as she gulps; she's so nervous…it's adorable. I laugh when she starts playing with her suspender clips, before I rest her fidgety fingers by stroking them with my calm ones.
"I mean it, Quinn. You've always been there for me…always. And I never gave you the proper thanks; but I plan on being there for you, from now on…as a friend, of course. I don't want Harmony to murder me," I say jokingly, but we both have small frowns on our faces. I wonder if she's as disappointed, at hearing the "as a friend" part that came out of my mouth, as I am. I look up into her eyes for some kind of sign, clue, anything, but Quinn just looks away and tries not to tremble when I caress her fingers. I should stop…
"Anyway," I say, interrupting our moment, "I also wanted to give this to you…" I sort through my binder, as I look for the book, "I saw you looking at it at the convention and I wanted to get it for you." I finally pull out the comic and hand it to her.
She immediately pulls her hands up to her mouth to cover the dorky squeak of joy. "Are you-…This is-" She fumbles over her words, as she holds the comic, and doesn't bother trying to hide her trembles. "Rachel…" she looks at me and I can see the excitement and disbelief and… "you're amazing!" She pulls me into a hug and laughs when I smile against her neck. "Thank you! Thank you! This is beyond…I mean, you didn't have to; this is really expensive. I'll pay you back, I prom-"
"No! No, Quinn. It's a gift…a small thank you, actually." I explain. "It's the least I can do, after everything you've done for me over the years."
"But I'm not nice to you just so I can get really cool comics, in return," Quinn jokes, but means every word, as she carefully puts the book in her backpack.
"I know, Quinn. That's why you really deserve it…and so much more. I hope you let me prove it to you." I respond, swooning at the sight of her intense eyes on me. I feel myself melting when she gives me one of her cute half-smiles; I decide to leave before I pool at her feet. "So, I should go…" I say, breaking Quinn's adorable face.
"Oh yeah…classes." She responds, trying to refocus.
I giggle at her slight mental disarray, "See you later, Super Geek!" I tease, looking over my shoulder, and smirking at her.
She smirks back, "Later, Kryptonite!"
I turn around to tease her some more, but I'm left smiling to myself, because she's already running down the hall, victorious hands in the air and the cape on her Superman backpack fluttering behind her.
/END CHAPTER\
**Whew, finally finished…and look at that; I made my Monday, at the latest, deadline :) Hope it was worth the wait, Lovelies. As always, feel free to ask any questions or you know…declare your love for Fabmony or Faberry lol. Anyway, I actually think this is one of my favorite chapters, so far, so I'm curious to know if you feel the same? Let me know what you think and I'll answer questions and spill some spoilers for my wonderful reviewers :) Seriously, I love you all! See you soon, and thanks a million!
