AN: OKAY MAJOR FUDGE UP! I forgot to put something in the last chapter that's VITAL to this one! AHHHH! *I forgot to have Quinn mention to Rachel about the office Christmas party which takes place in this chapter* so when it's mentioned in this chapter it seems a little bit last minute, but I've actually been planning this chapter since the beginning!
AN2: To: anonymous; you've made a really good point. I was trying to put that point across with Quinn feeling comfortable enough around Rachel to talk to her in confidence, but I'll try and make it more obvious :)
AN3: To: Penny Lane: lol glad to know this story is stuck in your head :D
AN4: Thanks everyone who has reviewed, favorited or alerted this :)
Posted: 13/8/11
How did that happen?
Tuesday evening
"Hey Kurt"
He looked over his shoulder to see his old assistant approaching "Hey"
The studio was empty, except for Kurt and now Rachel. He was still working, still making adjustment to the many outfits he had designed and made for the 3 separate weddings that would be taking place on Christmas day.
"How's it going?" she asked as she took off her leather jacket and put it on an empty work surface with her helmet.
"I just need to finish this one, then I have the brides dress to work on and them I'm done for today" He said as he pinned the material on a pair of trousers "One of my many brilliant employees who I entrusted to measure the grooms party for the second wedding, managed to measure the best man's leg length wrong by 2 inches"
Rachel huffed a laugh "And did you fire them?"
"No, not this time"
"Aww what's wrong Kurt, getting soft" she chuckled
He rolled his eyes before turning away from his work to face her "So what brings you here?"
"Just wanted to say hi, see how things were" she fiddled with some swatches on the work area in front of her. "When's Blaine getting here?"
"Tomorrow afternoon" Kurt couldn't help the smile that grew on his face. He turned back to his work before continuing "Hopefully I will have this finished before I leave tonight, and then the last group will be in for their fitting and I'll try and get any adjustments done by the time he gets here and then I'll only have to come in Christmas eve for like 5 minutes for the last wedding suits and dresses to be picked up and then I will finally be free!"
"Kurt, you have a ton of employees, why don't you just get them to do this"
"Never, these are my works of art, they can oversee smaller projects. But you know how I'm a sucker for a wedding, I love designing the matching clothes while making sure they are individual in their own way"
"Of course" Rachel shook her head at Kurt's obsession and pride, over his work (It wasn't always a bad thing)
They were silent for a few minutes. He finally looked over at his friend. She was leaning on the large square work surface, looking aimlessly over some of kurts sketches and designs
"Are you okay, Rachel… you look lost?"
"It's nothing really… it's just today, at work…"
"Yeah" he encouraged her to continue
"We, me and Quinn we… well we almost… Kissed"
"What! How?"
"The last couple of days, little things, moments we've shared. Like yesterday I bought her flowers, I said they were to brighten her office, but it was to make her smile… I love seeing her smile" she said the last part dreamily, before she snapped herself back to reality "Oh my god, I sound like a stalker"
"No you don't Rach" Kurt laughed "You sound love sick, but you're not helping yourself by trying to kiss her"
"Hey! It wasn't just me, let me continue; today I had to go by bike"
"That explains the outfit I had forbid you from wearing to work"
"I had a change of clothes; anyway; I think I distracted her… she had to ask whoever was on the other end of the phone to repeat themselves when I gave her, her coffee. I'm sure she was staring at me, she dropped the phone"
He paused what he was doing and raised an eyebrow at his best friend "Really?" he asked intrigued
"Well she dropped it while I was walking away. I guess it didn't help that I added a bit more of a sway to my hips than usual, I couldn't help myself" she shrugged
"Rachel, you witch… sounds like you're going through with my plan after all"
"Oh crap, it does doesn't it" she sighed and face palmed
"So how did you nearly kiss?"
"About 10 minutes before work finished for the day anyway, I found a glitch in the contract she's been looking over, I told her and she was so happy she hugged me, then I really couldn't help myself, when I brushed her hair behind her ear…"
"Rach!"
"I know I shouldn't have but I really wanted to." She sighed "We lent in… and then her cell phone went off" she said sadly
He started soothingly rubbing her back "I'm sorry Rae"
"No, no it's for the best, things would be 10 times worse and more awkward… or she might have even fired me, if it had actually happened"
"I guess bu-"
"Can I help you, then you can get out of here sooner" she interrupted him
"Yeah… thanks, can you get me some more of this material" he gestured to the netting material underneath the skirt of the dress "The bride decided she wanted her dress a bit more 'puffy' her word not mine, so I need to add some more layers underneath" Rachel went over to the store cupboard to get what he requested "And get the bottle of wine I hid in their!"
"Which one; the red or white?" She yelled back from inside the cupboard
"White! I don't trust you with red wine around my work!"
"Oh thanks" she faked hurt as she passed him the material and put the bottle on the table before getting wine glasses "So, these people are cutting it a bit close aren't they. Christmas day is in 3 days"
"Ugh I know, I'd have my entire wedding ready weeks in advanced"
"Would you have a Christmas wedding"
"I think I'd prefer it in the winter, not on Christmas day. Sometimes it's too hot in the summer, to wear suits"
"Kurt?" she asked curiously as she poured the wine
"Hmmm?" he answered whilst measuring out the material
"Have you designed you're entire perfect wedding already?" she teased
"… No" he said quietly
"Oh my god, you so have" she laughed
"Well sorry for dreaming… haven't you ever thought about it"
She scoffed "Hello? Never been in a serious relationship" she pointed to herself
"Well my relationships have always been with the same person and its hardly anything healthy"
"Don't worry about it Kurt, a guy like you, is sure to find happiness"
"Sure, pass me the scissors will you"
The two finished the dress within an hour and soberly went to their separate homes, with a similar feeling of loneliness.
…
Wednesday morning
Rachel was already at her desk the next day, she had been confirming everything for Quinn's schedule that day, which wasn't a lot as it was so close to Christmas. The brunette checked the time and realised Quinn would arrive in a minute, she was about to get up and go when Quinn came through the glass door holding two cups of coffee. Rachel looked at her curiously.
She was further confused when Quinn put one of the cups in front of Rachel, the same way Rachel would place the coffee in front of Quinn.
"Sorry, I'm not sure how you take it so I just got you the same as me; I can get you some sug-"
"No, this is fine thank you" Rachel pulled the cup closer, unsure of what was happening.
She was even more unsure when Quinn got the chair from the spare desk and wheeled so she sat opposite Rachel
"May I ask as to what you are doing?"
"I'm sitting" she sat and removed her scarf and coat, tucking it behind her onto the seat "and we're going to chat, we always talk at my desk, and I talk about myself. I want to let you talk"
"Why?" Rachel raised her shoulders and shook her head ever so slightly
"Because, even though I hardly know you but I feel comfortable around you; I find it easy to talk to you. Plus I thought I'd break the awkward tension between us after what happened yesterday"
"I want to say sorry agai-"
"Don't apologise, you didn't do anything wrong…"
"Okay" Rachel replied, she took a sip from the coffee cup "This is great thanks"
Quinn sipped her coffee too and nodded her head "Oh, before I forget again; I meant to tell you Friday but things with my mother arriving and Daniel leaving had me distracted then again on Monday and Tuesday, same sort of things distracting me. So before I forget and it's too late: there's a Christmas office party tonight, and I have to go, but I was hoping you'd go to, what do you say?"
"Umm…" Rachel didn't want to spend more time with Quinn, not with how she was feeling about the blonde who was sitting across from her right now with hopeful puppy dog eyes that said 'please don't leave me to go to this thing alone'. Quinn might be acting like whatever almost happened last night didn't affect her, but Rachel couldn't pretend, sure she could put on a fake front but she couldn't get over the disappointment she felt from it.
"Please Rachel, you can't make me go on my own" She smiled hopefully
Rachel rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile too "Fine I'll go. Where is it?"
"Quinn huffed a laugh "It's only downstairs on the fourth floor"
"Oh, fancy" Rachel joked
"Yeah well it's always been that way. We don't need to dress up and all the funding saved for it can just be spent on food and alcohol… it keeps them happy downstairs" she shrugged "We're not the biggest of firms"
You could easily say that Rachel's difference in appearance made her unrecognisable. But Quinn's drastic change in personality over the years could make her unrecognisable.
It was as if the HBIC shell form high school had been cracked and fell away. Then what was left behind had been damaged a little bit more. Sure; at first she just seemed really nice, but sometimes Rachel saw her in a way that made her think Quinn was weak, she had lost some of her confidence.
She wasn't the worried Quinn that Rachel had caught glimpses of at McKinley, it was different. Rachel didn't know who was to blame but she sure as hell wanted to fix her.
"So let's talk about you"
"I already told you there's not much to say"
"Well you know about my family, what about yours" Quinn tried to get a conversation started
"I told you, it's me and Remi"
"Come on, what about parents?"
"Erm well, I don't speak to them anymore, I haven't in over ten years"
"Oh no, why?" Rachel looked away for a moment "I'm sorry, you don't have to share I was just trying to get to know you a bit better. I thought we decided yesterday we were friends but that doesn't mean I expect you to want to talk to me so easily" Quinn said sadly
Rachel smiled at Quinn's tactics "I'll keep it simple. They didn't think I could make a life for myself here, they wanted me to stay at home and marry the first man who would take me"
"But look at you now"
Rachel laughed "no they were right, the first 3 years here I worked in a bar and I was a waitress at the same time to cover everything, I had an apartment in Queens, and it was a hard life… I had a drink problem for some time"
"Oh"
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have shared, what must you think of me" Rachel looked away ashamed
"I think you are successful, okay so working for me isn't as glamorous as working for Mr Hummel but you're here aren't you, you're doing well for yourself"
"Yes, I guess, but I meant because I my past drink problem… I went to AA meetings but I don't anymore, I still enjoy a drink but only when I'm in the company of others"
"Rachel that's your life, I'm glad you shared with me and I'm not going to judge you"
You'd judge me if you knew everything Rachel thought to herself.
The phone rang interrupting them, to signal that it was time for work.
Quinn left Rachel to it, smiling to herself at the small amount of progress she'd made in getting to know her, the woman who made her feel things she hadn't felt in a reallylong time.
…
Wednesday evening: the Christmas office party
"Hey what are you doing in here?" Rachel said as she walked into one of the smaller conference rooms "You can't leave me out there on my own, Steve was driving me mad with stories about his kids" Quinn was leaning against the table, she looked deep in thought.
"You got something against children now?" Quinn raised an eyebrow.
"No, not all kids, some kids are cruel and some are amazing like yours"
Quinn looked at her surprised "You think my kids are amazing"
"Yeah, I only met them that one day but, you're very lucky, they seem smart for their ages and they're beautiful, like their mother so they have lots of potential in life"
"You think I'm beautiful?" she stood up straight and put her glass down. Determination in her eyes.
"Well, um…" she fumbled and looked to the floor "yes"
"Rachel?" Quinn asked as they moved closer to one another "Yesterday, how did you really feel, did you want to kiss me?" she bit her lip at the question waiting for the answer
"I didn't pull away did I?" she said softly as they moved into each-others personal space "What about you Quinn?"
"I didn't stop it either… my damn cell phone" she giggled
Rachel cupped one side of Quinn's face with a hand and bought the blonde closer with the other by wrapping it round her waist.
Rachel had made the first move; now it was Quinn's turn. She pressed a hand on Rachel's Back brining her even closer. She moved her other hand to the back to Rachel's neck and in one last movement; bought their lips together, for a slow, soft, warm kiss.
They pulled away after a minute or two, when lack of air became great, they slowly opened their eyes.
"Wow" Quinn whispered, keeping their fore heads resting against one another
"Yeah" Rachel agreed dreamily.
They simultaneously went back for another kiss, this one wasn't as slow, it was definitely more passionate. Again they pulled away
"Can we go back to your place?" Quinn asked breathing heavily close to Rachel's ear.
Rachel gulped "Yes"
Quinn hastily led Rachel from the building and into a taxi, to Rachel's apartment
Any thoughts?
I know, it was a bit sudden, but hey I wanted that to happen at this point, even if it seemed a bit out of the blue.
Reviews are encouraging ;D
