Disclaimer: Though I pray at 11:11 every day and night, I still don't own Glee =(
Summer
They had both tried to get out of coming home but their dads had made it clear that it was a non-option. The Berry daughters would spend the summer at home with their family like they was had, end of story. The first two of weeks weren't so bad, Rachel tried not to think about the fact that it was mostly because Quinn spent all of her free time at the house and she at Finn`s. No one had said it out loud but she had received the less than subtle hints that she was no longer welcome at the house. A few of them were over what had happened and even spent time with her and Finn as a couple. The others seemed to barely be able to stand the sight of her. The others being the ones that lived with Noah and had seen truly how devastated and broken he had become in the wake of her betrayal.
The next two of weeks were spent fighting with Finn. He didn't like the fact that he wasn't welcome in her fathers home when her dads had no problem with Sean. She couldn't find a tactful way of breaking the truth to him, her dads had no problem with him being her boyfriend other than the fact that he wasn't Puck. She pretended not to notice her heart drop when he said that they would have to get over that because he would never be Puck. She knew that, and she didn't want him to be Puck, but what other reason did she have for the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She showed up at the house the very next day (after making sure that Noah wasn't home), she stayed until he was on his way and was gone before he got there. She did this everyday for a week. Every time Finn called she would act as if she hadn't heard it, she ignores the looks they`re giving her until one day Quinn picks up the phone and hands it to her (they`re still not speaking),"He knows where I am, I'll call him later", and she pretends that she doesn't see the smile on her sister's face or notice that she speaks to her for the first time in a year. Sure all she said was "Chinese or Thai?" but it was progress and Rachel would take anything she could get.
By July things in the house had become less awkward. She blames that sense of comfort when she hears Noah's voice as she bakes cookies with Santana. They'd been having so much fun that she hadn't realized that it was time to leave. He spent what felt like hours staring at her from the doorway. She unconsciously felt at her hair, a part of her knew it had bothered him short and hopes he notices she's letting it grow out. She smiles hoping it will help. "Welcome back" is all he says before disappear into his room. She doesn't see him again before she leaves but it's enough to put a bounce in her step.
Finn surprises her one day with breakfast in bed. They spend the afternoon together and he buys her flowers and gives her a bound book of sheet music from her favourite plays. That night at dinner he gave her a promise ring and said that he would never walk away from her (she ignored the dig) and placed the ring around a chain and wore it around her neck. It was sweet and kind and she loved that he would surprise her like this. It isn't until the next day that she realized he had really been distracting her. She had completely forgotten it was Noah's birthday. She showed up at the house next to tears that afternoon refusing to go inside. She had waited for him at the top of the driveway and threw herself into his arms the second he stepped out of the car. She doesn't know how many times she apologized and begged for forgiveness or how she ended up curled into him on the couch with his shirt soaked with her tears. He holds her through it all telling her that she didn't really miss much (total lies birthdays were always an event) and that she had a busy life, sometimes things got forgotten. She swore she had never meant to forget and promised never to forget again. It wasn't until she had calmed down enough to look up that she realized how much she had hurt him, was hurting him. In all the movement her necklace had fallen out of her shirt and he had been staring at the ring with Finn's name engraved in it while he held and her took care of her.
She left shortly after that and everyone noticed the missing impression underneath her shirt every day afterward. She knew there was nothing she could do about the past but she wouldn't continue to hurt Noah if she could help it. She took the necklace off before stepping into the house and dealt with the screaming match with Finn the night he had asked where it was and she had told him she must have forgotten it in the glove box.
It was a year to the day that Quinn had walked away from her. The August thunderstorm was raging stronger than ever and she almost hadn't heard the doorbell ring. She got up to open the door, Finn's mom was visiting friends and Finn stuck at work until the storm was over. She broke under the weight of her sister as she collapsed into her arms. She managed to get the door shut and them into the spare room with Quinn still clinging to her and crying. Her mind began to think the worst but if someone had been hurt she would have known by now. It was hours before Quinn had stopped hyperventilating and Rachel was able to ask questions. When Quinn said that her mom had died in a car accident it had taken her a while to understand, it was hard to remember a time where Quinn hadn't been a Berry. She didn't know what to say as her sister cursed and praised the woman how had given birth to her. Once she had fallen asleep Rachel had called her dads and Puck. They had all been looking for Quinn she'd been disappeared that since that morning. Rachel had no idea why Quinn had come to her first, over the last month they had been civil almost like friends but light years away from how close they had been. Puck had told her that Rachel had always been her sister and when she really needed someone Rachel would always been the one she went to. She focused on taking care of her sister and not getting caught up in the direction her heart was pulling her in.
Rachel spent the rest of the summer at in her own house. Quinn had refused to be more than a foot away from her for more than a few minutes and she hadn't wanted to stay at Finn's house (Rachel pretended not to be glad for the reason to leave). Russell Fabray and his daughter Lilly were taking care of the funeral arrangements (Quinn had stopped considering them her father and sister once they had disowned her) and she had only been invited because her mother's will had demanded she attend. There was a letter left for her as well as a trust fund and a percentage of the family business. She had given the stock back to the Fabrays and tried to give back the money to but Judy had made sure that wouldn't be possible.
Rachel and her dads had held her as she read the letter from the woman who had given birth to her. She explained to Quinn that she had never wanted things to happen the way they had and wished that she could have been stronger and stood up to her husband when her daughter had needed her to. She told Quinn she was proud of her and that she had been keep taps on her through Michal and Daniel. She had even stood in the back row of one of her plays. She said that she had never been so in love with her than she was in that moment, and ask that Quinn allow her to take some credit in the woman she had become. She told her that she had cried when she learned Quinn had changed her name but knew that being a Berry was something to be proud of. She told Quinn all the things a mother should and asked for forgiveness for her weakness. She hadn't spoken since she'd received the news but she felt that it was time to break her vow of silence.
She grabbed Rachel's hand and her keys and left for the cemetery. She poured her heart out to the tombstone in front of her and asked if Rachel thought her mother could hear her. Rachel said there was no way Judy wasn't listening. They spent two hours there and Rachel wasn't surprised when Sean and Puck showed up as the sun began to set. The four of them sat there, each of them touch Quinn in some way. By the nightfall everyone had shown up and just sat in silence lending Quinn their strength. She couldn't help but think back to when they had done the same thing for her in sophomore year. The day they had started to become a family. She grabbed Rachel's hand a little after midnight and stood up. "I'm ready to go now"
They left and walked the short distance back to the Berry house. No one said anything as they went to the linen closet and pulled out the extra blankets and pillows Michal left in case of spontaneous sleepovers. None of them slept, just sat listening to their heartbeats as they synchronized and began to beat as one. They focused on the sound and the feeling of being whole again. Mercedes turned to Dylan and kissed him with everything she had, glad that he had been right. It would be a long road but everything was going to be fine.
