Rachel followed Quinn silently out of the school. She couldn't believe that Quinn had just told off everyone in the Glee club for her! She wasn't sure if she should say thank you or if she should pretend it was not a complete miracle that Quinn had done something nice for her in order to not break the spell and turn Quinn back into the girl who hated her. Being Rachel of course, she could not keep her silence for too long. As they got closer to her car, Rachel finally had to speak.
"Quinn? Thank you for standing up for me in there. I know you promised to stop your tormenting but you didn't promise to pretend to be my friend or pretend to like me."
Quinn continued her angry march towards the car. She snorted, "You don't need to thank me Rachel. What I said was the truth. You are the only one who seems to care at all about me and my child. You have no reason to care and yet you are the one who does. My parents are too concerned about their status and how things will look to their friends to care if I am safe or not. My so called friends seem to think I am somehow contagious and if they spend too much time with me, they will lose their status. I am not pretending to like you or be your friend Rachel, I think that as unbelievable as it seems, I am trying to become your friend." Quinn came to a sudden stop a few feet away from Rachel's car. Rachel tripped and stumbled into her. Quinn turned and looked right at her, blushing, "Well I guess I am trying to become your friend if you really want to give me that chance."
Rachel surprised her by grabbing her in a tight hug and squealing. She let go saying, "Yes I want! I mean, yes, I want to give us a chance to become friends. Honestly, I have wanted us to become friends for a long time but you did not seem to want that so I did not try to forcibly pursue a relationship as that would have been rather pointless but now that you are interested…"
"Rachel! Breathe!" Quinn laughed interrupting her. "I get it; you really do want to be friends. I didn't ask for a speech."
Rachel blushed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to give a speech. I just got excited."
Quinn giggled, "Really? You are excited? I couldn't tell."
Rachel grinned. "It isn't everyday that I get asked to be the former Head Cheerio's friend you know," she teased as they got in the car and headed home.
When they returned to the house, Quinn headed upstairs to begin her homework expecting that Rachel would do the same. She was working on her Spanish exercises when she heard a light tapping on her bedroom door.
"Can I come in for a minute Quinn," Rachel called through the closed door.
"Sure," Quinn replied, putting her pen down and turning in her chair.
Rachel came in carrying a plate and a bottle of water. "I wanted to make sure you weren't hungry so I cut up an apple and put some peanut butter on the slices. You need to get your protein." She brought the snack over to Quinn and placed it on the desk with a smile.
"You made me lunch and now an afternoon snack? Wow Rachel, I could totally get used to being spoiled like this!" Quinn joked though she was actually touched by Rachel's continued concern for her health. She picked up one of the apple slices and began chewing on it realizing that she actually was a little hungry.
Rachel looked pleased that Quinn so readily accepted the snack she had made. She hadn't been certain what kind of foods Quinn liked so she had decided on something simple and healthy. "Doing homework for Mr. Shue?" she asked, noticing the Spanish book open on the desk.
Quinn nodded. "I am turning into quite the scholar lately. I've had nothing else to do without the Cheerios and losing all my friends." Realizing what she had said, she amended her comment, "Now though I am gaining a new friend so maybe we could watch a movie or something together later?" She didn't want Rachel to feel like she had forgotten their earlier conversation about how Rachel felt that she would no longer want to be friends once she had the baby and her life went back to normal. She really did not want to hurt Rachel and wanted to make up for some of the pain she had brought on the younger girl over the years.
Rachel bounced on her toes excitedly. "That would be great Quinn! Maybe after dinner? I'll let you pick it out!"
Quinn smiled, glad that she had made Rachel happy. "Okay, let's get our homework done then so that we don't have anything holding us up once dinner is over, and remember I'm helping with the clean up tonight! Nobody will ever be able to say that Quinn Fabray doesn't know how to earn her keep!"
Rachel laughed as she headed towards the doorway. "Be careful not to say that too loudly when my dads are here! You might get more then you bargained for!" She closed the door but Quinn could hear her giggling as she headed down the hallway to her own bedroom.
The two girls worked diligently at their homework. Rachel's dads came home and checked on them and were pleased to see them both peacefully at work. After spending a couple minutes talking with each girl, they headed downstairs to get dinner ready.
"Rachel seems to be in quite a happy mood today," Daniel mentioned as he got the vegan lasagna from the freezer.
"You noticed that too," Jeremy said. "Both the girls seem to be in much better frames of mind this afternoon. Wonder what we missed?"
When dinner was ready, Jeremy called up to the girls to let them know. Quinn quickly finished the few geometry problems she had left. She knew Rachel was done already as she had heard music come on and assumed that meant Rachel was on her Elliptical machine. She ran in the bathroom, washed her hands and straightened her hair then hurried downstairs to the dining room where everyone was already seated.
Jeremy smiled at Quinn as she entered and took her seat. "How's the homework coming Quinn?"
"Just finished the last of it before coming down to eat," she replied looking over at Rachel with a quick smile. Rachel grinned back excitedly.
"Am I missing something here? Why are you so happy Quinn is done with her homework?" Daniel asked.
"After dinner and chores, Quinn and I are going to watch a movie together since we're both done with our homework already," Rachel explained.
Jeremy and Daniel exchanged glances. "That explains why you were both so hard at work when we got home. Should have known that it wasn't that that you were both so excited about your schoolwork," Jeremy teased.
"Dad! You know I always work hard on my schoolwork!" Rachel argued.
"Relax Rae, dad's just teasing you. We know you are very serious about your grades," Daniel said calmly. Turning to Quinn he asked, "How are your grades Quinn? Are you having trouble with anything either of us can help you with?"
Quinn swallowed her bite of salad before answering. "I have all A's and B's in my classes. I was on the Cheerios so we were not allowed to drop below a 3.5 GPA." She was not used to anyone but Ms. Sylvester being concerned about her grades. Her parents never asked her what was going on in her classes.
"Quinn is smart and talented Daddy. She has a very nice soprano voice," Rachel piped in.
Quinn blushed. "Thanks Rachel but everyone in Glee knows that you have the most talent of all of us."
"Gee Dan; it seems we've stumbled upon the mutual appreciation society right in our own dining room!" Jeremy teased.
"Daddy tell him to stop!" Rachel pleaded, her face turning a bright red in embarrassment.
Quinn giggled. She really was enjoying living with Rachel and her dads. They felt so much more like a real family then any other family she had seen. They actually seemed to care about each other and to listen to one another unlike her own family who never even managed to have a meal together unless it was a holiday or to impress one of her father's clients. She looked over at Rachel and realized with a start that she was quite pretty with her face flushed. Startled at her own thoughts, Quinn quickly looked away. She never thought another girl was attractive!
They ate dinner with a pleasant continuing banter going on amongst the four of them. When the meal was over, Quinn cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher while Rachel washed the table and swept the dining room floor.
"Do you want to shower before we watch the movie so we're all set for the night?" Rachel asked Quinn as they headed back up the stairs.
Quinn nodded. "You can go first in the shower. I'll recheck my geometry to make sure I didn't rush through them."
Quinn headed into her room and checked her math homework while Rachel took her shower and got herself ready for the night. She had just finished putting her books back in her backpack and was getting her pajamas out when Rachel tapped on the bathroom door then opened it into Quinn's room.
"It's all yours Quinn," Rachel called from inside the bathroom before heading into her own room, shutting that door behind her.
Quinn grabbed her clothes then headed into the bathroom to get her shower done. She showered quickly, dried off, got dressed then brushed her teeth and combed her hair. She threw her laundry in the basket then opened the door on Rachel's side.
Rachel was sitting at her desk on her computer. She turned and grinned as Quinn walked in. "I'm just finishing my MySpace video. Go ahead and look through my DVDs and pick out which one you want to watch."
Quinn walked over and began looking through Rachel's extensive collection. "Oh you have 'Jennifer's Body' already!" She grabbed that DVD and brought it over to the TV.
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Figures you pick out the scariest movie I own!"
Quinn laughed. "It isn't that scary and if you think it is so scary, then why did you buy it to begin with?"
Rachel blushed. "I like the movie even though it scares me a little." She crossed her arms over her chest defensively.
"If it makes you feel any better, I hid my face whenever the Wicked Witch came on the screen in 'Wizard of Oz' until I was 10," Quinn confided.
"Oh me too!" Rachel said as she logged off her computer and went to put the DVD in. "Have you read 'Wicked' though? That story makes me feel sorry for her and feel bad that I hated her in the movie."
"I haven't read it but I heard that it was a sad story. Do you have the book? Maybe I could borrow it while I'm living with you." Quinn went to settle on the floor in front of the bed.
"Quinn don't sit on the floor! We can watch it from my bed. You shouldn't be sitting on the floor in your condition!" Rachel reprimanded.
Quinn laughed, "I'm only a couple months pregnant Rachel. I think it is still safe for me to sit on the floor."
"I don't care! I will not let you take any chances with your health so get on my bed!" Rachel ordered.
Quinn fell over laughing at what Rachel had just said. "Get on you bed?"
Rachel blushed vividly. "That isn't how I meant that to come out. Well I did mean to tell you to get on my bed but not because of anything inappropriate. I was just considering your back and the baby," she stammered in embarrassment.
Quinn laughed even harder as Rachel attempted to talk herself out of the embarrassing comment she had made. "Really Rachel, I'm sorry. I know what you meant but it just sounded so funny. You were ordering me to get in your bed!" Quinn exploded into another fit of laughter.
"Oh my gosh! I did!" Rachel realized how it must have sounded and she too was quickly overcome with laughter. After a few minutes she was able to calm down and held her hand out to Quinn. "Come on; let me help you up off the floor so you can sit on my bed."
Quinn took her hand and pushed off of the floor. She climbed up onto Rachel's bed and sat with her back against the wall. "Thanks Rachel."
Rachel climbed up and sat next to her. She grabbed the DVD remote control and started the video. Glancing at Quinn out of the corner of her eye, "You know this is the first time I've had someone in my room since I was about 9," she admitted softly.
Quinn felt her heart go out to the younger girl. She put her arm around her, "Well you went from not having friends over to having a live in friend so I guess we're making up for lost time," she said trying to cheer up her new friend.
Rachel smiled up at Quinn, "Making up for lost time really fast I guess," she said with a laugh.
The two girls sat back and settled in for the movie. Rachel hid her face in Quinn's shoulder at the scarier parts and Quinn realized that Rachel probably had watched the film alone before. No wonder she thought it was scary! After the film ended, Quinn stretched and her top rose up a bit, revealing the slight baby bump. Rachel couldn't help staring at the small, rounded belly. Quinn looked down then placed her hand on the bump.
"Have you felt it move at all yet?" Rachel asked curiously.
Quinn shook her head. "It's still too soon for that I think. I guess I should go see an obstetrician but I don't know if I am still covered under my dad's insurance and I don't have the money anyway."
"Quinn you need to see a doctor. I will talk to my dads in the morning and I am sure they will be able to work something out. They would not want you or the baby to get sick." Rachel said with a concerned tone.
"I don't want them to be put out anymore then they already are by taking me in," Quinn protested.
"I am talking to them in the morning. That is settled. Now we should head into bed. You need your rest and we have school again tomorrow." Rachel said with determination and resolve.
Quinn slid off the bed, "Sleep well Rachel. I'll see you in the morning." She went back through the bathroom into her room and settled into bed. She couldn't believe how much better she was feeling in just twenty-four hours time! She felt safe, wanted and accepted in this little family. She was soon fast asleep.
