Faberry Week 2013 – Part Two
Day Two: Sleepover
* I'm using Celsius temperature since it's the one I know.
They've been texting each other daily after the reunion party… well, daily after Quinn mustered the courage to hit the "send" button two days after it.
It's amazing to them how easily it all flows, how naturally everything seems. They can talk about their daily life, they complain about work, tell each other jokes and anecdotes, rant about whatever random thing comes to their mind, everything. They can talk to each other for hours at once, they talk about everything except what they both want to say, they ask every question they can think of except the one ever present: "Would you like to go out sometime?". There just always seems to be something else happening, or they would convince themselves that it wasn't the right time to ask the question, but when it comes to pretexts, they're both running short.
Almost two weeks after the reunion, on a Thursday, Kurt tells Rachel he's having a date on Friday and he asked her, in a not really subtle manner, to get out of the apartment for the night.
"What? But why? This is my apartment too you know."
"I told you sweetie, I have a date and I'm cooking dinner so, you know. I need the privacy."
There was a big emphasis on the word, which Rachel completely ignored.
"Come on Kurt, you've had other dates and you've cooked them dinner too and you've never needed me to leave before. I can just stay in my room for the night."
"And hide away on a Friday night? I think not, I'm done assisting you in becoming an old lady at your age. Besides, it's been a while Rach, if you know what I mean. I need the privacy."
Finally, Rachel caught on what Kurt was trying to say.
"Oooooh. But, what am I supposed to do Kurt?"
Kurt's pleading pout turned into a mischievous grin, a flicker of something in his eyes that Rachel didn't find particularly amusing. He saw his opportunity and took full advantage of it.
"Oh, I don't know… maybe you could stop putting it off and get your pretty little butt to call Quinn up and have your own little party?"
That earned him a smack in the arm, but his expression just grew in amusement.
"I don't know what you're talking about Kurt… besides, she's been terribly sick lately and I don't want to get it too."
"Oh please Rachel, like I don't know you? Just call her up, or even better! If she's sick you could appear unannounced and surprise her with your miraculous soup. Be daring honey, live a little."
"Well, maybe I could drop in for a little while… just to check up on her."
She wondered if she really should, she really craved some alone time with Quinn even if she had never explicitly said so, and it was the perfect opportunity to share time with her. Besides, she hadn't gotten sick since highschool and she was sure a little flu bug wouldn't get to her.
"Excellent! It's settled then! We both have dates on Friday!"
"It's not a date Kurt."
"Yeah, right…. Oh, I need you out by 6:30 so I can have enough time to set everything up."
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/
Rachel was set and ready to go by 6:15, special anti-flu homemade soup and get well cookies in hand. A small mouth hygiene pack in her bag and just a change of shirt, she didn't want to presume she would be sleeping over at Quinn's like Kurt had planned, but she didn't want to go unprepared either. She left at 6:20, wishing Kurt good luck and took a cab to take her to Quinn's, just a 15 minutes drive from her apartment, she only hoped that Quinn would actually be there because, for once, she didn't have a plan B.
Once there, she took the elevator up to the third floor and knocked on apartment 304, waited about 5 seconds and knocked again, repeating the action at least 5 more times before she began to get anxious.
Why wasn't Quinn answering? Maybe she was in the bathroom? Maybe she was listening to music? She was sick, so perhaps she was asleep? But she was sick so, what if it had gotten serious? It wouldn't be the first time Quinn's colds would complicate and evolve into more serious infections, ever since the accident she had become a little more prone to get infections in her respiratory system. And just like that, her mild anxiety turned to panic.
"Oh for goodness' sake! Just get it together! She's just probably asleep, just knock a couple of times more and if she doesn't answer then call her."
She shook all the nonsense off and knocked two more times, a little bit harder than before, on the dark wooden door and upon receiving no answer she pulled out her phone and dialed Quinn's phone number, it rang once, twice, three times and nothing.
"Please be okay."
"Uhm… Who are you talking to Rachel?"
But the girl was so immersed in her worry that she didn't hear the apartment door being open, which caused her to jump in surprise upon hearing her speak.
"Geez, Quinn! You scared me! You can't sneak on people like that! I almost dropped these!"
Rachel raised the food containers and sighed in a very Rachel Berry Broadway Actress way, which made Quinn laugh at the dramatics, laughter than soon turned into a nasty cough attack. A real bad one, she was soon wheezing for air, her face red and a couple of veins in her neck popping out.
"Quinn, God. Let's go inside and get you some water before you... faint or something."
Quinn nodded and opened the door wider so that Rachel could step inside and closed the door behind them, by then the cough had yet to stop and her eyes were beginning to get a little red. Making herself at home, Rachel reached the fridge and took a bottle of water out of it she opened it and passed it onto Quinn, who was still struggling for air.
"Drink it slowly, we can't have you choking on water too."
While Quinn drank the water, slowly as she told her to, Rachel visually inspected the apartment and realized she didn't expect anything else from Quinn. The one bedroom loft apartment oozed of Quinn, there were different cameras across the different furniture, the living room was the biggest space, with 4 brown sofas with blue details (two singles, a double and a huge triple one), a big flat screen T.V., DVD player, BlueRay player, even an old VCR. On a corner she spotted the infamous music collection, it had everything from vinyl to old cassettes (with their respective devices). Not enough to make it look cluttered but not too little so that it looked empty, it was just enough. She could even picture what the bedroom looked like, but she quickly turned her mind away from that.
"It's quite nice Quinn, your apartment that is. I like it, it really fits you."
Before she could answer, Quinn (who was still recovering from the cough) took a deep breath to try to steady her voice.
"It's nothing compared to yours, Rachel. But, I am quite fond of it. Thank you."
Quinn's voice was hoarse and rough from all the coughing, her eyes had an odd glow to them (one that usually came with fevers) and she looked really pale. Rachel bit her lip in a cute worrisome way, trying not to voice her concerns, she remembered how Quinn would always brush away any sickness and she didn't know if she still did it, so she decided it was better to just put herself in motion and heat up the soup she had brought, but not before she made Quinn sit down, she wasn't looking too steady on her feet.
"Come on, let's go to that cozy living room of yours and get you settled in. Here, take my arm."
The girl nodded and wobbled a little on her feet before catching Rachel's arm and they moved carefully to the living room, it was evident that Quinn had in fact been there for a while, a couple of pillows and a couple of blankets carelessly thrown on top of the couch, a few empty Kleenex packages and a cup with tea in it. They sat down and immediately, Quinn pulled a blanket up and curled a little bit.
"I'll be right back ok? Just going to get your soup heated and I'll be right back."
"M'kay. Hurry up."
Instinctively, Rachel leaned down and placed a small kiss on Quinn's hair and didn't realize she did it until she was waiting for the timer in the microwave to end, but she didn't dwell on it, that was not the point. While the soup finished its time in the microwave, she rummaged through the kitchen drawers to find a spoon so when the timer went off she was ready to go back to the living room.
Not even 30 seconds after the timer went off, Rachel was already sat besides Quinn, waiting for the girl to finish blowing her nose so she could pass on the soup.
"Here, careful it's hot. It's homemade soup, Berry recipe against colds."
"I do remember your Magic soup Rach. Thank you."
After two spoonfuls of soup, Quinn realized all that Rachel was doing was just staring at her eating so she proposed they watched a movie, any movie, Rachel's choice, while they both sat on the couch. While Rachel decided on what movie to watch, Quinn started coughing again, it wasn't as terrible as the fit earlier, but it still was a very nasty cough that made her hands tremble a little bit.
"Maybe I should take you to see a doctor, that's a really nasty cough you have and I'd rather take you now than wait for it to get worse… like that last time."
That last time Rachel was referring to happened a year before they broke up, it had been a really cold winter and Quinn had gotten sick since the beginning of it but refused to go to the doctor. Until one day Rachel got back from the theatre and found Quinn sitting on the bathroom floor, wheezing for air, face and eyes red and with her hands pressed against her ribcage. They had to call an ambulance to get her because she couldn't stand and Rachel was too scared to do anything else. And seeing Quinn like that brought back those sad memories and she reached out to put a strand of golden messy hair behind Quinn's ear, caressing the hot cheek lightly with the back of her hand.
Quinn could see the worry in those brown eyes and knew exactly what the girl was thinking, she wanted that look to go away so she did her best to stop the cough and steady her breathing, before forcing out an answer.
"No, no, no. I'm fine, promise. That hasn't happened since then. I promise I'd tell you if it was nearly as bad as then ok? It's just a cold, ok?"
Rachel was still unsure about it, Quinn could talk all she wanted but Rachel knew what she was seeing.
"I… I don't know Quinn, you don't look so good."
"I'm fine, honest. All I need is this magical soup and for you to pick a movie and sit here with me."
Rachel didn't know if Quinn's eyes were glowing because she really did only want that or because she had a fever, but how could she ever refuse her? Especially in that state, so she sat down and asked Quinn if she preferred a comedy or a drama, the girl did really have an odd taste in movies and Rachel remembered it was always an experience to watch something with her. Once Quinn decided on a genre, Rachel had to laugh a little bit because, while she did have a preference for dark weird movies, apparently there was still a soft spot for cliché romantic comedies. So they decided on "Bride Wars" and after Rachel had put the DVD inside the player, she went back to the couch to make sure Quinn was comfortable and well covered with a blanket and she pulled one up for herself.
20 minutes into the movie, Quinn handed Rachel the empty container and immediately curled up to her, resting her head on her shoulder mumbling something basically incoherent in her sleepiness. Rachel smiled to herself and leaned forward to leave the container in the coffee table, but she moved too far away for Quinn's taste.
" 'S cold. Don't go."
"I'm just putting the container in the coffee table."
"No. 'S cold."
Quinn curled closer to Rachel, effectively trapping her between the couch and herself, leaving her no choice but to leave the container next to her in the couch. Quinn's breath was so close to Rachel's neck that she could feel it move some of the hairs in the back of her neck, leaving goosebumps there. Rachel extended her arm to cover Quinn and pull her closer, so close that she could tell the exact moment she fell asleep, she could feel how her heartbeat set rhythm with her breathing and started getting sleepy herself.
Rachel must have fallen asleep too, if only for a couple of minutes, since she was jolted awake by a tremor next to her, it was Quinn who was shaking visibly while she tried to curl closer into Rachel who put her lips on top of Quinn's head to check if her temperature had risen, which it had… a lot.
"Quinn, Quinn come on wake up."
She shook her, gently, but the girl didn't wake up, she stirred a little bit and coughed a couple of times, before hiding herself in Rachel's personal space again.
"Quinn, please. You have to wake up now ok? You have a fever we have to control now."
"Don't wanna. 's cold Rach."
Seeing her, and hearing her, Rachel could cry. She always hated when Quinn got sick.
"I know it is sweetie but we have to cool you down, unless you wanna go to the doctor?"
Quinn shook her head and mumbled what seems to be a negative into Rachel's shoulder.
"Yeah, didn't think so. So, you have to move ok? And point me to where your thermometer is; I need to check your temperature."
Quinn moved away and pointed to one of the lamp tables besides the couch, where Rachel saw the thermometer sitting on top of the glass. Without wasting time, she pulled the cover away from Quinn, apologizing profusely when the girl complained about being cold, and put the thermometer under Quinn's arm, waiting until it beeped to take it away.
"Jesus, Quinn. 39.1! We're going to the hospital. I'm not even joking right now. Just… Just stay there and I'll gather some things and then we're going. And that's final."
Quinn's hand on her wrist kept her from getting up the couch.
"No, no. I'm ok, really. I'm fine, I'm just cold."
"You're not fine Quinn, you have a 39.1 fever, that's too high. We have to get you to the doctor."
"Hey, hey. Wait. Please don't go. I'm fine, I'll just take a shower ok? I'll take a shower and if it doesn't come down after that then I'll let you drag me into the hospital. I promise. Please?"
Rachel sighed, the girl was too stubborn and it was even worse when she was sick. She didn't know if Quinn disliked doctors since she was a little kid or if it was something that happened after the accident, but she wished she wasn't so reluctant to go. In any case, she couldn't force her so she could only agree to it; promising she would hold her to that deal.
Once they were inside the bedroom, Rachel made sure Quinn had everything inside the bathroom before she left the girl to shower, not before she was asked to "not go anywhere". She heard the water running and sat down on the bed, running her hands through her hair and pressing her palms against her eyes. She hadn't noticed her heart was beating so rapidly until that moment.
She took in a deep breath and looked around the room, noticing she did imagine a couple of things correctly, first example being that the wall on the opposite side to the bathroom, next to the bed had a bookcase only it wasn't a vintage dark wooden one, it was a white build into the wall one, at least 10 shelves across the wall, on the right corner were Quinn's desk and her computer next to the bedroom window, the walls were painted in a creamy white tone to better enjoy the light through the windows.
Looking around once more, Rachel decided she liked it. She liked that new Quinn, she liked how she had matured and how she had taken elements of her old self into that new amazing person she had become; looking at the build in bookcase, she noticed there was a shelf that was set apart from the other ones, it was one of the largest, if not the largest one, she grew curious about what was there and stood up from the bed to walk over there. She didn't think anything special of those books, they looked relatively old but not too old to be put in a special section, Quinn had older books in her collection than those. Rachel tilted her head to the side a little bit to better read the titles and covered her mouth with both her hands when she realized why those books were so special: those were the books she had given Quinn, every single one since highschool, they were all there. Tears of happiness filled her eyes, she wouldn't have ever imagined that Quinn still kept them, not after everything… and yet, there they were, staring back at her. With shaky hands she took the first one (they were organized chronologically in the order she gave them) and opened it on the first page, reading the dedicatory she had written all those years ago repeating the action with every book, the biggest smile she had ever conjured was drawn in her face.
It wasn't until she finished reading them all that she realized she hadn't heard Quinn come out of the shower and stood up so quickly that she was dizzy for a moment, really dizzy, she felt her legs give in and then a pair of hands holding her up from her elbows, steadying her.
"Whoa there! Come here, sit down. You alright?"
They both sat down on the bed while Rachel rubbed the side of her head in circular motions.
"Yeah, sorry. I just stood up too quickly, it took you a long while to get out of the shower Quinn, I was worried."
"Well, honestly? I finished showering like, 10 minutes ago but you seemed to be really into what you were reading and I didn't want to disturb you. I suppose… you found something that interested you?"
Quinn wasn't looking at Rachel at the moment, she was looking at the special bookshelf, and Rachel glances backwards to look at it too, as if it was something magical, some sort of time machine or spell frozen in time that was beginning to come back to life.
"Yeah… I can't believe you kept those. I didn't expect you to… and I definitely didn't expect you to set them apart from the rest."
They were both blushing profusely, Quinn hadn't intended for Rachel to see them yet, they were her special little getaway places.
"Well, they hold a special meaning to me you know?"
They held each other's gaze, Rachel was still smiling broadly and Quinn soon matched that smile.
"You think you can stand up now? You know, I'm the sick one right? And yet here you are, stealing my spotlight. That's not nice Rach."
"Well, you know… I can't help it. I gotta have that spotlight!"
They both chuckled as they stood up from the bed, Rachel still stumbled a little bit and crashed against Quinn, her hands landing on the girl's shoulders and Quinn held her by the waist to keep her from falling, in their haste they didn't realize how close they were to each other until Rachel looked up to and saw how close her face was from Quinn's, so close she could see the little spots she had on her right eye, she could smell the fresh shampoo and soap off of her body and she could see the way her chest moved when she breathed. She then settled her sight on the lips and she calculated, 5 centimeters… just 5 centimeters away from kissing them, she could lean forward and beat the distance. She saw how Quinn ran her tongue through her lips and moved a little bit closer to her, a blissful instant of unawareness before she came back to reality and stepped away from the girl's embrace.
"Uhm… I… Uhm… It seems you're feeling better, and it has gotten a little bit late so, I guess I should… get going? I mean, you need to rest and … Uhm…"
"Come on Rachel, that was lame. You don't have to go, in fact I think you shouldn't go. First of all it is barely 10 pm on a Friday night. And second, you wouldn't really leave a defenseless sick girl alone in her apartment right?"
Quinn faked coughed to prove her point… only it turned into an actual cough that had her gasping for air again, but she managed to choke out her final argument.
"See? Sickness."
"You're a dork, you know that?"
Quinn smiled and nodded, she did know that… well, she knew Rachel always thought that about her.
Rachel was biting her bottom lip trying to make her decision, she had brought an overnight pack and she did want to stay but, now she didn't know if she should. She didn't know she'd be reacting to Quinn the way she was.
"Come one Rach, you wouldn't leave a sick and defenseless girl alone would you?"
Rachel snorted and shook her head, defeated… Well, it can't count as defeat when she wanted to stay all along, right?
"Yeah, sick and defenseless my ass."
That caught Quinn by surprise, that was new in Rachel, but she didn't show it. She had to step up too.
"Don't lie Rachel, I can assure that your ass is anything but that… It has always been a great one."
Rachel was taken aback by the comment, then blushed at the following wink Quinn threw her way before stepping out of the room. She was confused, what happened? Did they… was that flirting? A smile slowly drew itself in her face at the thought of them flirting, flirting was relatively safe, she could do that.
"Hey! Rachel, are you coming or what?"
/*/*/*/*/*/*/
After a small argument on what to order for dinner (featuring Rachel lecturing Quinn about how she needed something healthier than pizza or Chinese to get her defenses up again), they decided on a vegan friendly place Rachel found online which met her requirements and moved onto the couch to find themselves wrapped up in another argument trying to decide who would pick the movie this time (featuring Quinn arguing that Rachel being the guest should pick the movie).
Once Rachel caved and picked a movie (The Time Traveler's Wife, which she was surprised to find that Quinn owned it) and their dinner arrived, they settled on the couch next to each other, a little too close perhaps for their hands kept brushing each other and their bodies kept making contact making them restless. Around half an hour into the movie, Quinn settled against the arm rest, facing mostly Rachel, she slid her feet under Rachel's thigh under the argument that her "feet were cold" and stayed there, thus satisfying both of their newly discovered needs of physical contact.
A little past midnight the movie was over and they were both anxious, neither wanted the night to be over but they were both feeling sleepier by the minute, neither wanted to move away so they just stared at each other, stealing small smiles from one another and one or two giggles from Rachel when Quinn would wiggle her toes from underneath her thighs.
Suddenly Quinn had an idea.
"Hey! The couch turns into a bed you know?"
Rachel's giggled stopped dry and she just stared at Quinn.
"Uhm… I'm sorry, what?"
"What wha-? Oh…OH! No, no… Rachel, I didn't-No. I meant that- No… I just…"
"You just… what?"
"Ok, let me start over ok? That came out wrong, what I mean was that the couch turns into a bed, so we could pick another movie and have a proper sleepover here on the living room. If you want, I mean… if you feel like you want to go I'll understand, I didn't mean to offend you or anything… it just came out wrong but… ok… yeah, just… whatever you want."
To say Quinn was mortified was putting it mildly, she was internally cursing herself for not thinking before she spoke… she only hoped Rachel would realize it was an honest mistake and stay. She wanted to bad to hide her embarrassment behind her hands and hide away, but she couldn't look away from the girl in front of her, she saw as her expression changed and softened and felt some relief; then she saw as Rachel smiled brightly and her eyes shone.
"Ooooh! I would love that actually."
"Really?"
Rachel ran her hand one more time in between Quinn's hair, messing it up a little bit.
"Yes, really."
Quinn smiled, a huge smile like she hadn't in a long time and her heart started beating a little faster.
"Good thing I always carry a travel toothbrush and toothpaste… I think I even have some dental floss. Mouth hygiene is a very important issue you know?"
"Why am I not surprised? Let me go to the bedroom and get you something warm you can sleep in ok? I'll see you back here. You can go to the bedroom bathroom or there's a guest bathroom to the left."
/*/*/*/*/*/*/
15 minutes later, both girls were ready to go to sleep (Quinn lend Rachel an old long sleeved Yale t-shirt and some pajama pant), but still refused to say goodnight. They set up the couch (now bed) and decided on a musical this time, Mamma Mia! being the lucky winner, knowing that they probably wouldn't stay awake for even 15 minutes.
And that's how they found themselves together under the blankets, so close to each other that they could feel each other breathing, and well, Quinn occasionally coughing. Rachel got cozy next to Quinn, her head on the other girl's shoulder and Quinn put her arm around her.
Rachel was the first to fall asleep, between her tiredness and Quinn's warmth, she fell asleep in no longer than 5 minutes.
Quinn followed her 10 minutes later, she had felt the girl fall asleep in her arms and synchronized their breathings, falling into rhythm and then falling asleep.
/*/*/*/*/*/
Sunlight was coming in through the blinds they didn't close the night before, and was slowly stirring them awake. Quinn was the first one to open her eyes and realize that at some point during the night they had shifted and she was holding Rachel from behind, pressed against the back of the still sleeping girl. She sighed contently, she still remembered how it was to awaken like this and she kissed the space of the shoulder that she could see. And laid back down in the pillow, basking in the moment as much as she could, until she felt Rachel start to move.
"Hey sleepy head."
She could see Rachel smiling out of the corner of her eye and smiled too.
"Hey yourself! Are you feeling better?"
"I am, much better. Guess your soup really has magical powers."
"It does, I've told you that many times."
They stayed like that until Rachel turned around to face Quinn, both becoming shy the moment their eyes met.
"Hi."
"Hey."
"We should do this again sometime Quinn, preferably when you're not sick."
"I agree. We should… but for now. What do you want to do?"
Rachel leaned dangerously close to Quinn, basically brushing their lips together before deviating to the girl's ear.
"Breakfast sounds good."
And with that she hoped out of the couch (bed), leaving a breathless Quinn behind.