IMPORTANT: When I first posted this chapter, a few of you guys were angry with me because of some bad plot writing, so I've rewritten it so that it makes more sense this time around (hopefully). The flow and tone-change of this and the next chapter might be weird since I originally wrote it to be fluffy and humorous, but I felt like this was a better trade-off, so bear with me please. I apologize, and I hope to do better next time so this won't happen again. It's changed quite a lot, so I would recommend rereading it or you probably won't really understand the next chapter.
IV.
They spend the next few days in an almost non-stop conversation, with Rachel trying her best to be patient, and Quinn trying her best to open up.
It's hard keeping her prying questions to herself, and sometimes Quinn gets snappy, but they're both trying, which is all that matters, and Rachel loves the fact that they get to do this, as if they've been best friends for forever.
After she had brought Quinn home that day during Glee, she had held the girl until she wanted to talk, softly singing in an attempt to make her feel better, and soon enough, Quinn had explained things to her with her voice still cracked, looking weary and afraid the entire way through.
In the few days that follow, Quinn talks about growing up under Russell's thumb, of how his word was law and expected to be followed to the letter, and how she tried her hardest to become 'straight' by dating boys to no avail. She talks about how coming out to her mom was one of the hardest things she had ever done, and how she had packed her bags beforehand in case she was kicked out again. She talks about a lot of things, actually, and Rachel does her damn best to listen and support her.
She picks up on a few things during this time, like how the blonde would utterly refuse to say the word lesbian to refer to herself, and on a certain level, she kind of understands, because saying it makes it feel real, and even with all the therapy in the world, that's still a hurdle that someone has to confront themselves.
She can tell that Quinn's not telling her everything though, leaving bits and pieces out, but that's okay.
It just means that she gets to find out those things by herself, getting to prove herself and earn the head Cheerio's trust piece by piece, and she can't wait for that day to arrive.
So when her doorbell rings on Monday morning, she grins, full and wide, as she bounces to open the door, and she loops her arm with Quinn's the second she sees her, the warm weight just feeling right against her.
The taller girl looks significantly brighter, like the sky has been lifted off her shoulders, and while Rachel likes to think that she had a part in taking off a little of it, at the end of the day, she knows that it's really just all Quinn's strength that brought them here.
("Therapy's awesome," the blonde had said in reply to that though, and Rachel's quite inclined to agree. "Everyone should go to therapy and just bitch about their lives.")
When they walk through the halls and pass by the other Glee kids, they look at Quinn with a mix of newfound respect and care, and it's clear that while the Cheerio appreciates it, she's not entirely comfortable with it, and Rachel tries her best to distract her.
Mr. Schue and the Gleeks all give their own touching speeches over the next few days – Kurt, in a Rachel Berry-worthy move, even sheds a proud tear or two – and it seems like things are settling down, Rachel very much happy in her blissful friendship with Quinn.
She really should've known not to jinx it, because everything just kinda goes downhill on Wednesday.
X-X-X-X-X
It starts after Glee, when Quinn's waiting outside for Rachel so they can walk to class together, and the brunette's wearing some of her new clothes.
"Lookin' hot, Jew Babe," Puck calls as he abruptly appears out of nowhere, getting way too close into Rachel's personal space for her comfort. "So now that these few days you've been dressing better, I just realized something."
Slowly stepping away, she tries to remain unfazed as she tucks her Cheerio jacket – yes, it's hers now – closer against her frame, already hoping that Quinn will come save her from Puck's leering gaze and lewd smirk. "And what would that be, Noah?"
At this, the boy starts to smirk even more, and Rachel resists the urge to point out that he's got nothing on the Fabray sexy smirk & brow™, simply letting him continue wriggling his eyebrows like he's having a muscle spasm or something. "You're a Jew, and I'm a Jew, so naturally we're going to make beautiful Jew babies," he states as if it's completely sound logic, and he throws her a crooked grin. "What'dya say, wanna take the Puckasaurus out for a ride?"
Rachel's nose wrinkles at the taller boy now flexing his biceps at her with a self-assured demeanor, and she steps away even farther, making sure to keep a good distance away.
She's about to turn him down – venomously – when Quinn barges in, and she almost breathes a sigh of relief. Finally.
The blonde's protective little gestures have kinda become a thing between them two, and if it was somebody else Rachel probably wouldn't like it as much as she does, but Quinn somehow makes it seem sweet and genuine, and the diva would be lying if she says that she doesn't like the flattering attention.
She likes feeling like she matters, like she belongs, and she feels just that when Quinn smoothly slides in, standing in front of Rachel with her hip cocked in her signature HBIC pose.
"What are you doing?" she glares.
"I was just asking my Jew Princess here if she'd like to take Puck junior for a spin," Pucks leers in response, relatively unafraid of the head Cheerio's wrath. "You'd be more than welcome to join in Baby Mama, it'd be so hot watching you two smash."
"Don't call me or her that," Quinn snaps, eyes narrowed, and Rachel bundles even closer to the blonde's back, enjoying the way that her muscles are flexing with each move.
As Quinn and Puck argue back and forth, Rachel's pretty much loses where they're even at in the conversation within ten seconds, too entranced by Quinn's jawline shifting as it clenches and unclenches.
It's during this time that Rachel realizes that Quinn always positions her body just so that she blocks the sight of the brunette from whoever she's defending her from, as if she's shielding her, and it's with this epiphany that she feels a wave of adoration crash against her heart, swelling with affection.
"Look, the bottom line here is that she's not interested, and I'm definitely not interested, so leave us the fuck alone," Quinn's voice rings out finally, "Or the only spin Puck junior is going to take is in the blender instead."
It's spoken with a final and resolute tone, and with a roll of his eyes, Puck gives up. "Fine, but lemme just ask Rachel one more thing," he says as he tries to get a better look at her (and ultimately fails). "Wanna go to the party on Friday I'm holding as my date?"
It comes as a surprise to her, and she tries to figure out his angle, because really, who in their right mind would invite Rachel Berry to a party, and as their date no less?
Even though she hasn't been called demeaning names or been Slushied in forever, Quinn's influence very far-reaching, the little girl inside of her that craves popularity and acceptance is still very much there, so and when she comes up blank, a familiar shift in her heart takes a hold of her, and her mind starts whirling.
Quinn wouldn't mind just one Calc Friday being skipped, right?
The blonde knows how much she needs acceptance, how much she wants to feel like she's not at the bottom of the barrel, so she would understand if Rachel wanted to have that, if only for a little while, wouldn't she?
Plus, it's not like Quinn had offered to take her anyway, so even if it meant being Puck's date, getting to go to a 'cool kid' party definitely outweighed having to keep the boy at bay.
But even with that settled in her mind, she can't shake the bottoming feeling building up in her chest, telling her that she's in over her head again. Still…the prospect of it is too alluring not to ignore, because she got invited to a party!
She starts thinking about what clothes she'll wear, and what cool slang she'll say when she gets there and officially have an in with the popular kids, and her heart speeds up, taking over what the voice in her head is saying.
"Sure," she replies in a light tone, and she tries her best to ignore the way Quinn tenses, a quiet hitch of her breath.
This is going to make her popular, and Quinn can't possibly begrudge her for that, can she?
But when after Puck leaves with a satisfied smirk and the Cheerio turns to her with a tight smile, she can't help the feeling of dread building up in her stomach. Quinn's face is set in a hard line, and she hisses, "Why, exactly are you going to his party as his date?"
The accusative tone sets Rachel on guard immediately, the need to always be right pushing everything else away from her mindset, and she straightens. "We can just go to his party tomorrow instead of hanging out like we usually do, it's not a big deal," she defends.
"Except, we can't, because you're going with Puck." Quinn's eyes flash dangerously, and Rachel puffs up in indignation, getting worked up too.
"Yeah well, I didn't see you offer to take me," she retorts, not willing to back down.
"Because you didn't ask, dammit!"
"And whose fault is it that I have these insecurities in the first place?"
If she was expecting Quinn to duck her head in remorse, that doesn't happen at all, and instead the fire in the blonde's eyes burns brighter as she clenches her jaw. "I've told you repeatedly that I'm sorry, and I can't earn your trust if you don't let me, Rachel!"
It's in that moment, when Rachel is greeted with HBIC Quinn for the first time in months, that something just snaps, and whispers start to fill her brain. The worst part of her starts telling her that finally Quinn's showing her true colors, that the catch to their friendship is finally revealing itself, and that she should press harder, so that all of this can be done with once and for all.
"Did saying sorry magically fix things with your dad when you told him you were pregnant?"
The words come out of her like sharp, piercing blades, and she doesn't even register that she's said them until she sees Quinn physically flinch. "You didn't."
A sudden surge of power rushes to her, and it feels as if she's drunk on it. Utterly convinced that everything will be back to normal when she pushes Quinn far enough, she resolves herself to dig in the final nail in the coffin. "I did. Just like Russell threw you out afterwards, because sorry. Doesn't. Fix. A. Damn. Thing."
A look flickers over Quinn's face, hurt and pained, and Rachel thinks she imagines seeing the blonde's eyes wet slightly, but then without a beat, it passes, and all that is left is a perfectly blank mask, the mask of Mckinley's Ice Queen.
That bottoming feeling in Rachel's stomach might be guilt, but she pushes that away in favor of the relief that she's sure will come soon enough. Quinn will blow up at her, and everything will go back to normal, saving Rachel a ton of heartache and pain in the process.
Well, Quinn never was one to take things lying down. "Oh, you mean like how Shelby didn't want you?"
Rachel staggers for a second, the words' impact showing clearly on her face, and Quinn bites her lip.
"You're right, I'm not your keeper and you can go to whatever parties you like," the Cheerio finally says, shaking her head with her face showing nothing, and it just sends another pang at Rachel's heart. "But you can just go alone, I just realized that I have something to do anyway." Taking in a breath and turning to leave, she adds, "And I got a text from Santana that said Sylvester wanted something from me, so you're going to have to walk yourself to class."
Both are blatant lies, and Rachel's stomach sinks lower, a nauseous feeling starting to consume her.
What the fuck did she just do?
X-X-X-X-X
Quinn is well-mannered the rest of the day, driving her home as per usual, but she never directly talks to her, and all of Rachel's attempts to speak or apologize to her merely result in monosyllabic answers.
It's driving her fucking crazy.
She shouldn't be feeling this guilty. She shouldn't, since Quinn had snapped back too.
But she can't help but replay the hurt look that had momentarily flashed acrossed the blonde's face over and over again during the awkwardly silent car ride back home. Quinn had looked so sad, so betrayed, that Rachel squirms in her seat at the thought of it.
She had wanted to protect her heart, but she's pretty sure that all she ended up doing was hurting both of them.
It had just started out with her need to be popular, but then she had gotten defensive towards Quinn's questioning, and she had ended up unleashing the worst part of herself, the part that obsessed and overthought everything way too much, and it resulted in both of them saying hurtful things that struck cords in their heartstrings.
She winces every time she recalls the words she had said to the blonde, especially when she had used Russell against her, but it's like her body is refusing to cooperate, and she can't bring herself to think of an apology, because how do you apologize for that?
It also doesn't help that she thinks of Shelby for the rest of the day as well, because fuck, she doesn't need this shit in her life but now she's thinking about it nonstop and it fucking hurts.
When the Cheerio doesn't even acknowledge her or walk her to her door, she feels her heart clench, chest squeezing and expanding at the same time, and she seems to forget how to breathe. It's not at all like the airy feeling she gets when Quinn smiles at her, it's dark and weighty instead, and her lungs burn with a need.
She contemplates just continuing her way up the path to her house like nothing's happened, but she can't, a boiling urge in her everything needing her to fix this, somehow, because it feels like they're fighting, and Rachel quickly decides that she doesn't like it.
It sends a strange ache to her heart, using the term fighting like they're somehow dating, but they're not, and the thought makes Rachel's throat close up for some reason, as if she actually wishes it was true. She shuts that down immediately, knowing that she would not be able to handle opening that can of worms at the moment, and she tries her best to keep calm.
Nibbling the inside of her lip, she turns around to face Quinn, who's obstinately refusing to look at her. "Will- Will you come pick me up tomorrow?" she asks.
"Gee, I don't know, why don't you go ask Puck?" the blonde snipes sharply, a venom to her voice that the singer hasn't heard in a while, and she flinches, huddling closer against herself.
Quinn notices – because no matter what, the taller girl is always watching and listening, Rachel knows – and she visibly softens, though her posture is still tensed, defenses raised as high as the Empire State Building.
"Yeah," she sighs, "I'll be there."
When Rachel watches Quinn's car drive away, she really shouldn't feel like crying as much as she does.
X-X-X-X-X
If she thinks that the next day will be better, she's dead wrong, because it's somehow worse, and it feels like there's a perpetual sting in her eyes throughout the entire day.
After driving her to school, Quinn tells her that she can't eat lunch with her that day, before practically fleeing as far away as she can, and the blonde doesn't even show up to Glee, all trace of her erased and gone.
Now that they're not attached to the hip everywhere they go, the whispers in the hallways about how Quinn Fabray finally dumped Rachel Berry's pathetic behind resonate loudly in her ears, adding to her already stormy mood, but thankfully, beyond a few sneers and smug smirks at her directions, the jocks don't do anything else, perhaps still afraid of Quinn's mortarium.
Kurt tries his best to get something out of her, but she stays silent the entire day, too wrapped up in her miserable gloom to even sing a solo during Glee, and when Puck walks her way afterwards, she stomps off without a word, because as far as she's concerned, this is all his fault.
If he hadn't come over to invite her to his party, she wouldn't have been tempted and reverted back to 'obsessive-Rachel' mode, and now Quinn wouldn't be mad at her, and the brunette wouldn't have to feel so damn guilty!
Actually, scratch that, it's Quinn's fault too – if she hadn't helped make the environment that had made Rachel insecure and weary about Quinn's friendship in the first place, this wouldn't have happened at all!
Deep down, Rachel knows that it's really her own fault for not talking it out with Quinn and instead trying to make a point by pushing the blonde. What makes it even worse is that Quinn hadn't even blown up at her, which just confirms that Rachel's insecurities were all for nothing, and she had just ruined everything instead.
She doesn't know how she reverted to her 'chasing after Finn' phase, and more importantly, she doesn't have a clue as to how to properly apologize and convey how truly sorry she is for using Russell against Quinn.
But what she does know, is that she misses her arm being looped with Quinn's, snuggly fitting together, and she misses talking with the girl, moments feeling empty without a well-timed quip or quirked brow.
She misses Quinn.
It's at that moment, during her heartfelt rendition of Hopelessly Devoted to You in the auditorium after school, that the realization truly sinks into her, and without a thought, she marches to the field, the only thing in her mind being that she needs to fix this, her friendship with the head Cheerio too precious to her for her to throw away like this.
When she gets there, the Cheerios look as if they've just finished practice, and she spots Brittany and Santana limping their way to the showers, with no Quinn in sight.
Frowning as she jogs to catch up with them, she asks, "Where's Quinn?"
She expects a lot of things, but after all this time, Santana snarling at her with irritation isn't one of them, and taken aback, she flinches as a memory surfaces. You hurt Quinn, I hurt you.
She winces. Oh. It must show on her face, because the Latina scowls with a ferocity that Rachel hasn't seen aimed at her in a long time. "Yeah, oh," she deadpans, "Because of you, Quinn had us running suicides for hours, and she got unfocused enough to fall off the pyramid, I swear, the second I can feel my legs again you are going down like-"
"Wait, she fell off the pyramid?" Rachel astonishes, all the self-preservation in her body transforming into mother-hen like concern.
At this, Santana seems to reel in her anger, if only a little, and she grunts her confirmation, looking awfully like she's trying not to care.
"Is she okay?" Rachel practically screeches, glancing around futilely as if Quinn would suddenly pop up out of nowhere. "Where is she, why aren't you with her, I can't believe-"
"Hold up, I'm the one supposed to be fuming right now, her mom came to pick her up already," Santana cuts her off, face back to annoyed, and she mutters, "It's your fault she fell off anyways."
The accusation is like a sucker punch to the gut, and Rachel feels the air leave her as she takes in a sharp breath, the words rushing through her like liquid ice. She ducks her head, suddenly feeling like crying with her stomach filled with bile, and she stumbles back a step, nibbling on her lip numbly as her eyes glaze over.
"She didn't do anything wrong," Brittany speaks up, shooting a hard glance at Santana that causes the Latina to look away stubbornly, and the tall blonde turns to Rachel, addressing, "It wasn't your fault, Rach, and Santi knows that."
After a sharp jab to her stomach from Brittany. Santana looks away with a scowl. "Fine, Q falling like Humpty Dumpty ain't the midget's fault, but my aching legs are, fucking puta."
It doesn't make Rachel feel any less gloomy, but it lessens the ache somewhat, and she asks again, "Is-Is she fine?"
Santana looks as if she's going to make another snarky remark, but then Brittany cuts in with a warning glance, stern in a way that she's never really seen on the blonde.
"San, how 'bout you go get the car so we can drive Rachie home?" she suggests, though it's clear that it really isn't a suggestion, and when Santana reluctantly trudges off, the tall cheerleader turns back to Rachel, pausing for a few seconds, as if she's contemplating what to do. She finally says, "You really hurt Quinn."
Rachel knows that it would come eventually, because she did, but she still recoils at the words, hunching into herself. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt the head cheerleader, but that was what exactly she had done, and the confirmation strikes painfully at her chest.
"But then again," Brittany says with a glint in her eye, "I think that Quinn hurt you too, but I can't speak for you, so I'm going to be Quinn's unibicorn instead."
Scrunching up her brow, Rachel doesn't even attempt to decode what the tall blonde had just said, letting her continue, "Because we used to bully you all the time, you thought that Quinn was just putting up an act, and you got crazy-Rachel. But then Quinn got mad-Quinn, and you two both ended up hurt, because now she thinks that you hate her."
"But why would I hate her, she's literally the best friend I've ever had, and really, it should be her that's hating me, I-"
"You said bad stuff to her, and she said bad stuff to you," the tall blonde answers. "And since you two are idiots that don't think, you both think that you're more in the wrong."
The words ring true in Rachel's ears, and she huddles into herself. "But I don't hate her at all," she whispers.
"Does she know that?" Brittany asks, and when the brunette is unable to reply, she tilts her head with a knowing look. "You both messed up," she says.
Rachel mournfully sighs. "I know."
"But that's okay though; people mess up all the time," the tall blonde shrugs, and a twinkle makes its way to her eyes. "You just have to ask yourself what you're going to do about it."
The words settle across Rachel's skin like the plain truth it is, and she swallows. "You're…You're really smart, Brittany."
"That's what San tells me," the ditzy cheerleader beams.
X-X-X-X-X
After she's been informed that Quinn's not severely injured and she's gotten her still worried-sick mind to calm, Rachel has the strong urge to head straight to Quinn's doorstep and belt out Hello by Adele or something equally as outrageously dramatic.
Somehow, she doesn't think the blonde would appreciate it, so she settles on baking her patented 'I'm Sorry' Cookies instead, throwing in an 'I'm Sorry' pie to go along with it too, putting extra bacon on top.
She had wanted to bake both of them the next morning so they'd be fresh, but there's simply not enough time, and she frowns regrettably as she prepares the pie beforehand, catching the attention of Hiram.
"Baby, come look at this," he calls out to Leroy, "Our lovely daughter is baking 'I'm Sorry' goodies, and it's with the pie this time!"
Coming out from the hallway and leaning against the doorframe, Leroy chuckles dryly. "The pie? Oh, she must've done something really bad. Who's the poor soul this time?"
"I'll have you know that Quinn should be honored to be witness to my baking skills," Rachel huffs and turns her head sharply, flipping her hair as she puts the pie in the oven. "And while I do believe that in regards to our little fall-out, I am not the only one in the wrong here, but I can admit that I am more at fault, so I've decided to reach out an olive branch by way of baked delicacies."
Leroy blinks a few times, and he shakes his head in amusement. "Wow, I haven't heard a ramble like that in a while."
"I know!" Hiram practically bounces on the soles of his feet, before frowning slightly. "I do hope that Quinn will prove to have better conversational skills than that Flint boy you dated."
"Flynn," Leroy corrects with a shit-eating grin that isn't fooling anyone. "And I'm pretty sure Rachel mentioned that she was on the honor-roll or something."
"Shoo-in for valedictorian next year," Rachel brags with a proud smile, chest already contracting at how much she misses the blonde but still always happy to boast for Quinn's many achievements.
Coming to think of it, she had always been quite inclined to gush about the blonde, even way back during freshman year, and there's probably something to be learnt from that line of thought, but thankfully (or not, Bi-rry snorts), Leroy cuts in with a snap of his fingers. "Wait, is that who you've been hanging out with an awful lot these two weeks?"
Rachel's blush and bashful smile is answer enough, and Hiram's mouth tilts up excitedly. "Is there something you want to tell us, Rachel?"
It takes a moment for the question to sink in fully, but when it does, Rachel blushes like a tomato, spluttering, "I- I don't have romantic feelings for Quinn Fabray!"
"What, so you have other feelings for her?" Leroy catches her slip-up, an eyebrow quirked (and damn, that reminder of Quinn just sends another pang through her heart). "Other, more hormone-induced feelings, perhaps?"
If it's even possible, Rachel flushes an even deeper shade of red, and she mutters, "Well, she's just really pretty, okay?"
"Pictures, now!" Hiram demands in a squeal, "I find it highly unacceptable that we know so little about her, and we have to rectify that, so spill every detail about her!"
Bit disturbed that her fathers are so nosy – Quinn's just her friend, dammit – Rachel tries to make a grab for her phone, residing on the tabletop, but Hiram gets to it first, and he holds it high above his head to keep it out of her reach as he guesses the password.
Hah, Rachel smugly smirks, there's no way they'll guess her password, what with all the measures I've taken and-
"ShiningStarIngénue1218, really Rachel?" her daddy laughs, earning a snort from Leroy as he motions the shorter man to let him see.
"Oh, what's this, your text messages with Quinn?" the black man gasps theatrically. "Wonder what we'll find here."
Chortling, he reads the last few texts aloud while Rachel frantically tries to get back her phone, jumping up to no avail.
Rachel: Santana was mean again today :(
Quinn: lol what did she do this time?
Rachel: She called Streisand overrated!
Quinn: …You'll live
Rachel: I hope you're aware that I'm pouting like crazy right now.
Quinn: And I hope you're aware that I only adhere to that pout because you're so damn cute when you're doing it
Quinn: And since you're not here in person, its effect is rendered useless, so ha!
Rachel: *picture of her pouting on her bed*
Rachel: I wish I could be there :(
Quinn: Aww, I miss you too Rae
Rachel: Bet I miss you more *heart*
Quinn: As much as I'd love to start a never-ending thread of 'miss-you's
Quinn: It's midnight, and while I can function on two hours perfectly fine, you can't
Quinn: And I'd rather not deal with your puppy look for the entirety of tomorrow :p
Rachel: You can just say that you care, Quinn.
Rachel: Denial is a very serious issue, you know.
Quinn: Yeah, yeah, talk to the shrink instead
Quinn: But seriously, night Superstar
Quinn: The star lighting up my sky, your heavenly voice will sing me to sleep as always :)
Rachel: I swear, one day you'll kill me with all your sweetness, but I concur.
Rachel: Goodnight, Quinn.
"Oh my god that's so cute!" Hiram practically screeches, but Rachel just stares, suddenly overwhelmed with an intense longing for the head Cheerio.
She's made up her mind to make it up to Quinn, but what if the blonde had finally realized that she wasn't worth it?
The thought sends a tangible pain through her heart, and she feels heavier than before, a weight holding her chest down as her throat closes up, tightening.
Her friendship with Quinn has quickly progressed to become one of the most important things in Rachel's life, and the fact that she may never get to hear Quinn's beautifully-crafted words again makes her choke up, the mere prospect of it frightening her to a degree that she really shouldn't be, and she can only watch as her fathers skim through her photo gallery until they find a folder titled 'Quinn :)' and tap on a picture where Rachel and Quinn are in a selfie together, Quinn wearing glasses and dressed in a hoodie as she beams at the brunette rather than the camera.
They quickly swipe through more, and Rachel's heart drops more and more with each one. No matter what, the blonde's smile is always beaming bright, and no matter how irrational it may be, Rachel can't bear the thought of never seeing it aimed at her again, chest already clenching with the desire to hear Quinn's adorable little laugh lighting the air once more.
She doesn't notice that she's crying – dramatic being that she is – until Hiram notices, and he worriedly asks, "Honey, are you okay? Did we go too far, I'm sorry, we were just curious-"
"No- No, I'm fine," Rachel hurriedly wipes away her tears. "I just- Well, what if Quinn's finally realized that I'm not worth it?"
She curls into herself instinctively as she says it, feeling like the annoying and loud-mouthed argyle-clad little girl that took daily Slushy baths, and it takes Leroy placing his hands on her shoulders firmly for her to snap out of it.
"You're perfect, okay sweetie? Absolutely perfect." He resolutely looks into her eyes, a hard gleam there that she knows isn't aimed at her. "You're amazing and talented and kind, and this girl adores you, Rachel! I mean, in every single one of these pictures, she's smiling at you, not the camera, and even if you messed up, there's no way she wouldn't see past that, because you're worth it, and if she doesn't think so, then maybe she's not the person you think she is."
The words hit Rachel like whiplash, and she sucks in a sharp breath, before slowly exhaling. "Okay," she breathes out. "I'm- I'm worth it, and I'm going to show Quinn that. I'm worth it."
"Good," Hiram smiles, and as his look turns into something else that the diva is all too familiar with, she tries to keep the unsettle in her stomach at bay, knowing that she's definitely about to get embarrassed. "So now that that's settled, can we just talk about the bone structure that this girl has on her, like, just look at her!" he grins as his eyes shine with mirth. "I'm as gay as Kurt, but I can still totally understand why you'd like her, her porcelain skin is impeccable, she's like every Goddess of beauty ever rolled up into one, no wonder you have the hots for her!"
At this point, Rachel's tear-streaked face is replaced with a deep red hue, and it only gets worse when Leroy nods his head solemnly. "Now, while you know that our household is a very open one and you two don't have the necessary appendage, we still expect you to practice safe-"
"Fathers, I must stress again that our relationship is straightly platonic, okay?" Rachel stammers, coloring like she always does at the mention of Quinn (and the thought of them doing…stuff), "I- I simply just admire her very much, and- and I-"
"Want her to bang your brains out?" Leroy guesses.
Rachel groans.
X-X-X-X-X
Yeah, the transition to the Berrymen is way weird lol, I'M SORRY, I HAVE TO WAKE UP IN FOUR HOURS AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO CHANGE IT *pouts
Some people have accused me of being completely blind towards Quinn's asshole-ish actions in the original, but please don't think that I'm changing this just to make Quinn seem like more of the good guy, it's just that this was the best way I could think of to 'save' the chapter since Rachel's actions in this is exactly something canon Rachel would do, so now they're both in the wrong in a way that makes sense plot-wise. Again, the tone is going to change to incredibly fluffy next chapter, and it'll probably feel weird that everything will return to fine and dandy in like five minutes, but I seriously can't rewrite 25k lol.
To the guest that left a review on the original chapter: You've brought up a lot of good points in your review, and now that I've spent most of the day thinking on how to address them in a plausible manner, I hope that this rewrite satisfied you and cleared some things up as to why Rachel is in the wrong now. Yeah, it's Quinn's (and the other jocks') fault that Rachel is insecure and will do anything possible to be 'popular' sometimes, but at the same time, Rachel's obsessiveness is all her, and Quinn's guilt complex that she'll definitely have for quite a long while will be punishment enough.
Puck's blame lessens in this rewrite so that's that, and yes, Quinn jumped to an insecure reaction – I'm pretty sure that would be what most people would do – and is also to blame; I thought that I had conveyed that in the Brittany conversation in the original, but evidently I failed, so I apologize for that, and if it makes you feel better, Quinn is going to show up to Rachel's doorstep with flowers and an apology next chapter. (That was the original plan too, btw.)
