Author's Notes: To appease my broken Faberry heart, here's some cute fluffy Faberry.
Part 9
They were in the kitchen enjoying Rachel's birthday cake and just having some light chats when Leroy pulled out a box from one of the drawers.
"Happy Birthday Honey."
Rachel eagerly ripped off the wrapping papers and opened the box. She took out her present, a custom Swarovski microphone that was adorned with gold crystals and her name in pink crystals.
Rachel's jaw dropped, she was so ecstatic with her gift that she jumped off the chair and hugged her dads.
"Thank you so much. I love you dad, daddy."
Quinn just watched the whole exchange. She loved seeing Rachel interacting with her dads. Rachel proudly showed the microphone to Quinn who was too smitten with Rachel to actually pay attention to what she was saying.
Quinn helped Leroy cleaned up afterwards and Hiram took that time to pull Rachel aside, "Should I put you two in separate rooms?"
Rachel panicked, "Dad, no! I mean, we're not going to do anything. We'll probably just talk."
"Rachel, you might be an adult now, but you're still living in my house, so you still need to abide by the house rules."
"Dad, really, I swear, we're just going to talk. Trust me; we're not even sure what's happening here."
Hiram might not be totally convinced, but he trust Rachel enough to keep her words. "Okay. Well, I'm going to bed. Don't stay up too late. Leroy! Come on, let's go to bed! Quinn, I'll see you tomorrow morning. Good night girls."
"I guess we better get ready for bed too," Rachel said to Quinn, so they made their way to Rachel's room. Rachel pointed out to Quinn that she can use the guest bathroom to change and freshen up. Rachel was already in her pink heart PJ when Quinn walked back into her room. Quinn was just wearing a t-shirt and short. She was about to say something about Rachel's PJ but Rachel asked, "What time's the meteor shower?"
"Around 1 a.m."
"So what do you want to do in the mean time? Do you want to play board games or something?"
"Do you have UNO?"
"Yes, I do. Okay, let's play that."
They sat on Rachel's bed and Quinn dealt the cards, but they were only a few minutes into the game when the argument started.
"No, if I put 'Draw Two', you have to take 2 cards."
"Yes, but if I put another 'Draw Two' card, then you have to take 4 cards, or I can put any number of 'Draw Two' cards and you have to take the total of those cards."
"I've never heard of this rule before. It's not in the rule book." Rachel skimmed through the UNO rule book, "See, it's not in here."
"Because that's the boring rule book."
"Well, I'm following the rules."
"Oh God! Can't you live it up a bit? Come on, just give these new rules a try, it's so much more fun."
Rachel pouted and fumed, but she relented in the end and decided to give it a chance.
"So can I put 'Draw Four' if you put 'Draw Two'?"
"No, you can only put 'Draw Four' if I put a 'Draw Four'."
"Which means you have to take 8 cards then?"
"Yes."
They managed to play peacefully for a while, that was until Rachel put down two 'Draw Two' cards after Quinn had put hers down and she was smiling smugly at Quinn, "Hehe, you have to take 6 cards."
Quinn arrogantly smiled back and put another 'Draw Two' card, "No, you have to take 8 cards."
"You can't do that!" Rachel was fuming again.
"I have another card, so I can use it now."
"Then why didn't you use it just now?"
"Strategy," Quinn smiled evilly.
Rachel pouted, "I don't like playing with you."
"Aww, come on," Quinn made a face, "Did I see a smile there?" Rachel tried to hide her smile but failed miserably, "Oh, I think that is a smile," Quinn said playfully. Rachel pushed her shoulder away.
"Go sit on your side. I know you're just trying to look at my cards."
After a while, Rachel finally had only two cards left while Quinn had 10.
Suddenly Quinn asked so casually, "Why did you break up with Finn?"
Rachel was caught off guard, "Erm … I – I just don't think we're right for each other. We're both going on different paths and I don't think the paths will ever cross."
"Were you hoping that, when you made that wish, that he is your 'true love'?"
"No! I was worried that it would be him though because I really don't know how that's going to work out in the future. So I was really glad that it's not."
"And you can see 'us' in the future?" Quinn was curious.
Rachel thought long and hard before she answered it, "Honestly, even before the wish, I do see you in my future. Well, I hope that you will be in my future. I see us as good friends or maybe best friends even. I thought we had become closer in our junior year, but then I was heartbroken when I found out about you and Finn and I felt betrayed by both of you. But then he chose me again, and … some parts of me were angry at him for treating you so lightly. I knew he broke up with you at the funeral. That boy has no tact," they both laughed. "Anyway, regardless of all that, I thought we, you and me, were … okay. But then when the senior year started and you joined the Cheerios and kind of treating me like how you use to treat me in sophomore year, I was disheartened and … I just don't know what I need to do to be your friend."
"Were you angry at me?"
"No, I figure you have your reasons. Why did you re-join the Cheerios though? You always look like you hated it."
Quinn chuckled, "I don't hate it. Sure, sometimes … well, most of the times Sue got under my skin, but I think we have this mutual respect for each other, so we tend to push each other to be better … or worse. Besides, I do like having the power and control over people. My life can be so out of control that I like that there's something that I have control over."
"Well, if this relationship is going to work, I want you to know that I don't like to be under anyone's control," Rachel said jokingly.
"Rachel, based on today, who you think have all the control here?" Quinn retorted. "And it's your turn."
"Hmm, oh. UNO!"
Quinn pursed her lips, not liking that she's about to lose. "So do you have feelings for me?" She caught Rachel off-guard again.
Rachel felt that she should be honest with Quinn. She took a deep breath, "I don't know exactly what it is. I know that I always have a soft spot for you. I was constantly worrying about you. I care deeply for your well-being. You're the first person I looked for whenever I walked into the choir room. I missed you when you're not around and I craved your attention when you're around. I didn't know what all those mean. I always thought it's just an infatuation, and that I wanted Finn so much that I wanted to know all about the girl who dated him. But then even when I didn't want Finn, I still crave your attention. So what do you think that means?"
Quinn didn't know what to say to that. She did notice all those things that Rachel mentioned but she always dismissed it as just her imagination.
Rachel needed to know, "In your heart, do you really feel that what you're feeling for me is only because of the wish?"
Quinn mulled over the question, "No," she looked at Rachel. "This feels real. Before you told me about your wish, I didn't doubt my feelings at all. The only thing weird is that I have no control over it."
Rachel smiled, "But we still need to be sure."
"We still need to be sure," Quinn agreed.
"Hey, it's almost 1 and it's your turn."
Quinn put down her card but Rachel put down a 'Wild' card.
"I win!" Rachel did a little dance; mostly she just wiggled her body. Quinn laughed amusedly. "Okay, come on. Let's go to the back garden, we can see better from there."
"What if your dads saw us?"
"Their room has the road view, they won't see us."
"Okay then."
They grabbed some blankets and a quilt to put on the grass and they lay down. It was a very clear night but still pretty chilly, so they had to huddle closer even under the blankets.
"Do you know names of constellations?" Rachel asked.
"Just a few, like that is Ursa Major or the Big Dipper," Quinn pointed, "then you have Ursa Minor or the Little Dipper. In between them, there's Draco which should shape like a dragon."
"I don't see a dragon."
"You have to imagine it."
"If that's the case, then I can pretty much make up anything I want."
"Sure, you can create your own constellation that only the two of us will know."
"Ooh, I like that. Okay," Rachel concentrated on the stars, "see those stars," she pointed to Quinn and drew some imaginary lines, "that's pineapple."
They were laughing at the silliness of it when a shooting star passed by.
"It started."
"When should I make my wish?"
"Whenever you're ready."
"What should I wish for again?"
"Maybe you can wish … for everything to go back to the way it was."
"Okay. Is there any loophole in there?"
"I think that's pretty safe. Come on; hurry up, more shooting stars coming up."
"Okay, no pressure." Rachel closed her eyes and made a wish in her heart. 'I wish that everything will go back to the way it was'. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that Quinn was looking at her. "Did it work? How are you feeling?"
"I feel normal. Have you made the wish?"
"Yes. Let's test this. What should we do? Okay, do you still like me?"
"Rachel, that don't prove anything. If I do really like you even before the wish, then of course the answer will still be yes."
"But you can't admit it before."
"But now that I've admitted it, I don't see any reason for denying it. Ask me something that I should be able to lie, and if I can't, it means that I'm still under the spell."
"Okay, how about … do you love Finn?"
"No!"
"Erm … so are you lying or are you telling the truth?"
"I'm telling the truth."
"Okay, then try to say to me that you do love Finn."
"I …" Quinn looked like she's struggling to get the next words out, "do not love Finn. Urgh, it's not working! Okay, just try to unwish your wish then," Quinn thought they might as well try that.
"Okay." Rachel closed her eyes again and made that wish. She opened her eyes and said, "Let's try something … okay, lie to me."
"I love you."
"Okay," Rachel looked disappointed.
"No, I'm trying to lie to you but I can't."
"Oh."
"But I'm still under a spell."
"Yes, you're under a spell." They both looked so desponded. "I'm so sorry Quinn. Hey, maybe it will be broken tomorrow because –"
"Forget it Rachel. Don't worry about it; I'll just keep my mouth shut for the rest of my life so that I won't get into trouble. Whether I can keep it shut is another thing." Quinn looked worried and Rachel felt so guilty. "Hey, let's just sleep on it. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Come on, let's go inside. I'm so cold."
They went to bed straight away. Quinn turned her back on Rachel. Some parts of her were angry at Rachel for making her this way, and she focused on her anger to stop herself from wanting to cuddle her. Rachel looked at Quinn but kept her distance. She wished she knew how to make it better.
