AN: Re-uploaded when I realized that it had cut off the last of the convo between the girls. Stay tuned for the second half of Quinn & Rachel's shopping trip!
Quinn woke early Saturday morning. She had not set any alarm but her body was apparently rested by just after 9:00AM since she woke up and could not fall back to sleep. She lay in the bed thinking and feeling lazy. This would be her first weekend with Rachel and her dads. She wondered what going shopping with Rachel would be like. Perhaps she could convince Rachel to buy herself a few new items of clothing that had more style to them then Rachel's usual attire, she thought to herself. She missed having her own credit card to use anytime she wanted and the freedom of having the access to her own money. Again she worried about how she would be able to pay back Daniel and Jeremy after she had her baby. She vowed to herself that she would make sure to help out with as much as she could in cleaning around the house. The sound of running water in the bathroom cut through her thoughts. "Rachel must be up," she thought to herself. Sure enough, a few moments later she heard a light rapping on her door.
"Come in Rachel. I'm awake already."
The door opened and Rachel bounced into the room excitedly. "Morning Quinn! Did you sleep alright?"
"Honestly I think I sleep better here then I did at my parent's house. I've just been laying here thinking and wondering about what we were going to be doing today," she replied.
"I was thinking that we would eat breakfast with my dads then we could get ready after that and go to the mall. I know that you don't have the money to buy anything but I have more then enough for us to grab lunch while we are out if you want to have lunch together," Rachel said hopefully.
"I really hate having no money. I feel like I am just becoming more and more of a burden on you and your family," Quinn replied seriously.
"Quinn you are not a burden. Your parents threw you out of your house and abandoned you and your child. You need help right now and it would be wrong of us to not help you. I have plenty of money since I have never really had any friends to go out with so for now, just think of it as being our money. If you need something, just let me know. I know once you start showing more, you are going to need to get some new clothing too so don't worry about that either. My dads are taking care of things with the doctors and we will be right there for you through the pregnancy too."
Quinn once again felt tears welling up. "I really don't know what to say or how to repay the three of you for all that you are doing to help me."
Rachel sat down on the side of the bed and leaned in to give Quinn an awkward hug. "Just be healthy and make sure that the baby is healthy. That is all that matters now Quinn."
Quinn reached up to return Rachel's hug, realizing that she had already gotten quite used to the frequent easy signs of affection and caring that Rachel was quick to display. She felt comforted by them and felt like she belonged.
Rachel sat back up saying, "Now let's go see if Daddy needs any help with breakfast."
The two girls helped with the remaining breakfast preparations and then the group of four sat down to enjoy their meal with one another. It was another pleasant meal full of gentle teasing by Jeremy and lots of giggles from Quinn. After the meal ended, the girls cleaned up then hurried upstairs to get dressed and ready to head to the mall. Quinn finished before Rachel and went down to the living room to wait for the other girl.
"So are you prepared for a day out shopping with Rachel?" Jeremy joked as he came in the room.
Quinn laughed. "A few weeks ago, I would have been spending the day shopping myself and believe me, I am a shopping force to be reckoned with!"
Jeremy chuckled. "Well then perhaps I should be asking Rachel if she knows what she has gotten herself into."
Quinn giggled, "I used to come home with bags of new clothes every weekend actually."
"You have Rachel easily beaten then! She mostly returns with new CD's, DVD's or sheet music."
"I am hoping to convince Rachel to get a couple new outfits," Quinn confessed.
Jeremy reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He counted out three $20 bills then handed them to Quinn saying, "I noticed when Rae brought your things in from Finn's house, that you didn't have a great deal of clothes or much else to call your own for that matter. Why don't you get yourself a few things that you might need while you are out today."
Quinn blushed. "I can't take your money. I don't know when I will be able to pay you and Daniel back for all that you are doing to help me already."
Jeremy stopped her by interjecting, "We are not looking for any kind of payment for helping you Quinn. You need help and we are able to provide you with it. Just remember it when you are able to help someone else in need someday. You need some things and I am certain you will need some more as time goes along so just stop worrying about paying us back and just take the help."
Quinn felt overwhelmed by her emotions again and sure enough, tears began to spill down her cheeks.
"Quinn! Oh my gosh! What did you do to her Daddy?" Rachel asked accusingly as she entered the room. She rushed over to Quinn and enveloped her in a tight hug once again.
"No Rachel, your dad didn't do anything other then be incredibly nice to me again." Quinn wiped her eyes as she reassured Rachel that everything was okay.
"Sheesh Rae! You would think I was some horrible person the way you are acting. You have wounded my soul," Jeremy clasped his hands over his heart and pretended to swoon.
Rachel rolled her eyes at him then looked up at Quinn, "Can you tell where I got my flair for dramatics?" she asked sarcastically. "Sorry Daddy, I just saw Quinn crying in front of you and jumped to the wrong conclusions. You can stop your melodramatic dying act now."
Quinn giggled as Jeremy sat down on the couch. "Your dad gave me some money to pick things up that I need," she explained to Rachel.
Rachel threw a grin in Jeremy's direction. "Yay! Now we can do more then just window shopping! Thanks Daddy!"
"If I knew you were going to be shopping for windows, I would have given her the money sooner. I don't want to be the one who has to help carry in all the windows," Jeremy quipped as he picked up the newspaper from the coffee table.
"Ugh, let's go Quinn before he comes out with anymore terrible one liners," Rachel said.
Rachel hugged Jeremy quickly then led Quinn out to her car. They drove the short distance to the mall listening to Rachel's CD from Wicked which apparently she knew all the words to the soundtrack and sang along to. Rachel pulled into a parking spot labeled "For Expectant Mothers" in the front of the entrance.
"Rachel, why are you parking here!" Quinn squealed with embarrassment.
"You are an expectant mother Quinn so it is perfectly legal for me to park here. It just so happens to be the nearest empty parking spot there is and I am certain that it will be helpful when we are finished with our shopping," Rachel answered defensively.
Quinn laughed dryly. "Sure Rachel," she answered as she followed Rachel into the already busy shopping plaza.
"What store do you want to start at?" Rachel asked.
"I don't know. Where do you usually shop at?" Quinn asked curiously.
"I mostly shop for movies and music. When I buy clothes, I usually just run into Sears or Wal-Mart," Rachel answered matter-of-factly.
"Eww well how about you try shopping somewhere a little more hip, a little more exciting?"
"There is nothing wrong with my attire Quinn. I thought we agreed that you would not be teasing me anymore," Rachel said sounding hurt.
"I'm not teasing Rachel, I just thought that maybe you would let me give you a few fashion tips. Nothing drastic I promise, just a few new things to add to your wardrobe," Quinn answered reassuringly.
"Nothing strange or freakish?"
"Rachel I swear that I am just going to show you some different ideas. I'm not going to force you to buy them or wear them at all. I just thought that maybe you would like some suggestions. You don't have a strong female figure in your life to show you how to put things together and you've never had any close girl friends either."
Rachel blushed. "Well I guess suggestions won't hurt. Where do you want to start?"
Quinn grinned and bounced on her toes excitedly. "I love shopping for other people! It's almost as much fun as shopping for me! Why don't we try Sweet 16 first? They usually have things that are cute but not excessively expensive."
Rachel thought about the store. She had never been in it before. She really wasn't confident about going in a store for girls her age when she knew that her size made her look several years younger then she really was. If she went in with Quinn, maybe then the people who worked there would not seem so intimidating. "Okay Quinn, I guess I will give them a chance." She threw her shoulders back, lifted her chin and proceeded towards the store Quinn had suggested as if she was preparing to battle.
Quinn giggled, "Relax Rachel. We're going shopping not shipping out to Afghanistan!"
Rachel tried to relax her figure as they entered the brightly lit store. She followed Quinn around as Quinn passed her skirts and tops. When Quinn was satisfied, she led Rachel to the dressing rooms and plopped herself down on a chair in front of the dressing area. Rachel sighed but took the clothing in to try them on.
Quinn waited excitedly to see how Rachel would look in her choices. Rachel stepped out in the first outfit she had chosen for her: a grey herringbone matelot mini skirt with a white button down men's style shirt.
Rachel smiled shyly at Quinn, turned around in a circle then asked, "Do I look silly?"
"No Rachel. You look really ha- good in that outfit! It fits you perfectly!" Quinn blushed. What was she doing thinking that Rachel Berry looked hot? God her hormones sure were making her think a lot of different things lately.
"Do you really mean that? You really think that this looks good on me?" Rachel asked self-consciously.
"I definitely mean it. You really should get that outfit," Quinn replied, nodding her head to show how much she meant that the outfit was perfect for Rachel.
Rachel smiled then returned to the dressing room to try the next outfit on. She stepped out wearing the floral lace overlay black and silver dress. Again she looked shyly at Quinn while asking, "How does this look on me."
"Wow Rachel you look really pretty in that dress! See, you are a really pretty girl but you don't let anyone get to see that under your teddy bear sweaters!" Quinn jumped up and gave Rachel a quick hug. "I love seeing you in these things. You look so much prettier and so much older! If you wear this dress, nobody will think that you are a 12 year old!"
Rachel laughed. "I may just take you up on your fashion tips Quinn. So far they have made my day!" She bounced back to try on the third outfit.
Quinn waited excitedly while Rachel tried on the final outfit. When Rachel came out, Quinn felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. This outfit was the most similar to what Rachel typically wore but in the right combination, what looked usually like a poor girls school uniform now looked like the sexy schoolgirl that was chased by all the teenage boys. Wearing a red and navy blue wide striped pleated wool skirt and a merino wool navy blue v-neck sweater, Rachel stepped over towards Quinn.
"We joked that your outfits would have looked like a sexy school girl costume but that outfit just screams sexy school girl!" Quinn could not get over the difference in Rachel just by showing her how to put the clothing together so that the outfits fit well and looked good together.
Rachel blushed. "This is the outfit I like the best. It doesn't look that much different from what I normally wear."
"It looks most like your normal attire but without looking like you went shopping at the little girls department instead of buying clothes that fit you right," Quinn clarified. "Why don't you take the tags off of the clothes and bag yours and wear this outfit out?"
"You really think it looks good on me? You are not just joking?" Rachel asked self-consciously.
"I really think it does," Quinn replied. Thinking to herself, "Do I think she looks good? I think she looks gorgeous! Why do I think she looks gorgeous? What is going on with me? Since when did I start thinking any girl was attractive?"
"Okay then I will just get the rest of the clothes, pay and we can go shopping for some things for you!" Rachel turned and hurried back to the dressing room, grabbed her own clothes, picked up the other outfits and headed to the register.