AN: Someone suggested a longer chapter, and I seriously hope this is longer. lol. I had writers block for a while, hence the late update. But more is on the way and I hope you like this. Any suggestions is awesome. I don't have a beta reader so any mistakes are on me and I apologize. English is not my native english, and I always try to improve my writing.
With that said here ya go.
"Hey honey. You're home early" He frowns and takes a curious glance at his watch strapped around his wrist. Either she's had a good day or a bad day he concludes. There's only one way to find out.
"How was your day?"
The trick was always to listen to the tone of her voice… Most of the time it is very bright and you can hear when each word flows with ease. Others you can sense the time it takes for her to gather the energy she needs to say anything sensible and Rachel-y.
His clock ticks on and by each second that passes by he has his answer.
"Great" She replies before she's running up the stairs to her room.
"Great…guess it's just you and me then." He sighs to the empty living room.
The night was without a doubt the worst one in a while for Rachel. The normal 7,5 hours of sleep she usually has, feels more like a 2 hours sleep. Minus 1 hours of shuffling and groaning in irritation by her covers slipping off as in result of the all the turning and twisting. Despite exhaustion, due to the lack of sleep, she can't skip her elliptical exercise routine. That would just ruin her already ruined day even more. 45 minutes later she heads to the shower to wash off her sweaty skin and comes out feeling a lot more refreshed.
Maybe a cool shower was all it took for her to make her day a little less crappy.
As soon as her skin was all dried up and moisturized with her daily skin care cream, she stands in front of her closer with one finger pressed to her chin, pondering on what to wear. Usually she would go for her typical attire, a decent flannel pattered or plain skirt and a sophisticated blouse to go with it. However today was a rough day, and somewhat unusual, unlike her other days. She needed a good change. Much had changed ever since the day her fathers split ways, but never for the good. Never had she imagined working for the Fabray's, it was definitely a surreal point she had come across. Not to mention the "friendship" she had gained with the family's youngest daughter and her former…err reinstated enem-
Well the term wasn't as accurate as she wanted it to be…Quinn had never been an enemy to her. Not that the blonde had treated her with any kind of respect in the past but enemy just didn't seem to fit her description of the girl. She sighs and shakes of the thoughts of the cheerio and focuses on finding her new, ecological and of course PETA approved leather jacket which doesn't take long for her to find since it's practically the only very dark colored jacket she has. She smiles triumphantly at the sight of it and grabs the dress hanger carefully.
She hears a low whistle as what she thinks is of appreciation when she opens her locker.
Karofsky halts as he realizes who it is and lowers the slushy he has in his left hand.
He would never make the exception of torturing Rachel Berry, the daughter of two disgusting faggots, as he sees it. But this time, he is willing to make one, but for a whole different reason.
"Is that a Kelly P jacket from the deluxe limited nattura edition? " He asks with eyes wider than before and constantly biting anxiously on his lips. The reaction was definitely something out of the blue. She thought he would've at least had some sort of appreciative reaction by the new look she was presenting today, not recognition of a designer jacket. No "ordinary" person would have knowledge about the jacket she was sporting…unless they were Kurt Hummel or had real good sense of the fashion business these days. But how would he…?
"I'm surprised by your sudden knowledge about…well about anything at this point." She says the last part mostly to herself, but the broad boy, dressed in a jacket representing the school colors, hears it anyway. His shoulders tense immediately at his misstep by making such unnatural comment and Rachel thinks she sees panic flare in his eyes for a second. He dubiously looks down at the melting cup of slushy in his hand. What if she told anyone about this? People would make fab5 jokes for the rest of his school year. He couldn't have that. People were starting to stare at the two, some slowed down to see what he would do. He had never finished what he had been set out to do to the singer. He bit his bottom lip in thought of what he should do, he could feel sweat gathering on his forehead. Pressure, always pressure.
"Take it off," He mumbles and shifts on one foot to the other nervously while keeping his eyes to the ground. Half of the cup containing the slushy has melted now, and he knows that the effect of it has decreased somewhat.
Rachel furrows her brows confused and mildly concerned about the wellbeing of her ears. Was she going deaf? Did he tell her to take off her…?
When Dave Karofsky sees that he has yet to receive some kind of acknowledgeable reaction from the girl he lifts up the cup so the she can clearly get a nice view of the bluish half melted slushy. Her eyes wide and she takes a step backwards to where she feels her back press against her locker. 'That seemed to do it'
"Take it off" He repeats his earlier comment much more properly so that Rachel can't miss the undeniable threatening tone of it. She pushes herself off from her locker so that she can easily slip out of her jacket. The next thing she feels is the almost liquid slushy trickling down her face and arms and chest. It's not as unpleasant as an icy slushy, but the temperature is very much the same, as is the reaction she usually has by the surprise attack that she never seems to get used to. Fortunately most of it runs down her shoulders, but the front of her beloved and only plain black turtleneck sweater was now wet and stained; at least she has the jacket to cover the damage. This is why she never dared to wear anything "considerably" nice to school. And even if she successfully accomplished to avoid a slushy attack, there would be multiple reactions directed at her, and mainly negative ones. Even from her glee club members, which in her opinion is completely unacceptable and inappropriate. Difficulties aside, they were a team. And teammates are there for another, and they usually were, except when it came to her. Like the time she forgot to do her laundry and didn't have a choice but to borrow an old green Dartmouth zip less hoodie that she had found in her dads drawer. Ugly or not, she refused to wear dirty clothing. The response she received from Mercedes and Artie that day was enough for her to never attempt such a stunt again. Rachel finally opened her eyes once the shock worn off and watched as the jock gave her a taunting snicker before thrusting the jacket into her hand.
'It's just another day'.
"Kids, this weeks assignment is about strength. When you're in a team, you need to be strong for yourself and for the team. There can't be a weak link anywhere if we are to win Sectionals. What I want you to do is to find the source of it. Who do you turn to when yours isn't enough? It could be anyone and anything. Maybe even a person who you don't particularly like. Or maybe you just haven't found it yet. But I want you to find it" Mr. Schue says and points at the "you" part to a perplexed looking Brittany.
"I go to the gym" He frowns at the girl and nods slowly politely before walking over to Brad, the school's pianist to discuss some of his ideas.
Meanwhile, the teens turn to each other and continue their earlier conversation before their coach had entered the room.
Kurt turns to Mercedes with eyes wide open in shock at the girl who lingers a second at the entrance before entering the room cautiously.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing or did my letters to "Make a wish" foundation actually work!" He whispers not so subtly into Mercedes ear.
"That or my Prayers have finally been answered." Mercedes mutters dumbfounded at the almost stranger looking girl. Their "star" singer was fairly known for wearing designer jeans or anything that resembled to a teenage girl so for apparent reasons many of them have trouble coping with the girl who seems a lot more confident in her "new" clothes. Her jacket is zipped up all the way which was the only thing that bothered Kurt.
"Wow." Quinn hears Finn say beside her. She tracks the object of his sudden interest and feels her breath hitch. Rachel. She can't blame Finn for speaking his mind because really neither could she.
"Yeah…wow." She jerks away, feeling remorse at her own words and thoughts. It's wrong. She's not like Santana or Brittany. She refuses to be like them.
Rachel smiles genuinely as she walks closer to Puck and takes the empty seat next to him, unaware of Puck's true reasons when he turns to her to get a better view of the hotness his friend was displaying. He always had a thing for girls in leather jackets. Minutes pass by and the boy is still enjoying his view while Rachel feels her cheeks flare up under his intense gaze.
"Say Rachel, would you care to help me with my Spanish essay…lets say five o'clock our place?" He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively with a boyish smile. Rachel leans closer until there's hardly any space left between them.
"Noah, I don't know if it slipped your mind, but I'm in your Spanish class. And I don't recall Mr. Schue ever assigning us an essay." Rachel replies and jokingly pushes at Noah's forehead with her hand.
The sound of Mr. Schue clearing his throat draws everyone's attention from each other to see what their coach has to say.
"Rachel, glad to see you here. Finn can fill you in after class, just try to keep up for now."
"Duly noted Mr. Schue" she replies seriously with her hands folded in her lap.
Most teachers at Mckinley knew that when their students were late for class it had in most cases to do with the incidents of slushy attacks. And certainly in Rachel's case there was no other reason to be late.
nods once before continuing. "Brad here had an idea" he lifts his hand and motions it at the pianist who gives the teens a little nervous smile. "To make this whole thing a lot more interesting and beneficial, I've decided to assign you a partner. I want you to meet up and decide on a song that describes both of the origins of your strength."
Tina's hand shoots up in the air and quickly lowers it when her teacher smiles for her to speak her mind.
"Can we make it to a mash-up?" She stutters while looking around nervously before sighing out relieved by the approving nods of her teammates, apart from a few who look mildly confused. Including a very dazed looking Finn who leans in to Quinn's ear to whisper what a mash-up is. This doesn't go unnoticed by Kurt who then turns around to pound his forehead at the wall behind him while Finn looks at him as if he's lost his mind.
Rachel jumps up to stand next to a very confused Mr. Schue.
"I think what Kurt is trying to say is…How on earth can you be in a Glee club and not know what a mash-up is? It's completely unethical! Mr. Schuester if I may?"
"Uh…"
"Great!" She doesn't wait for his answer and starts excitedly. "A mash-up, also known as bastard pop, is when you blend two songs into one. They could be the complete opposite of each other, it could even be two horrendous songs, but with the right technique it can be transformed into this new and…mind-blowing experience. Although there was that time whe-"
"So we could like do a mix of Kiss and Pandora?" Finn cuts in still mildly confused but excited at what he was hearing.
"Precisely!" The singer grins, pleased that someone was catching up before returning to her seat next to Noah.
"…Right so, Tina! Good idea, mash-ups are allowed as well, but they are to be sung as a duet as well. Brad has picked out your partners randomly; remember that changing partners is not optional and that this might be a great way to get to know each other better." Mr. Schue continues.
He ignores the protests of his teens and walks back to where Brad is gulping nervously at the threatening glare he receives from one Santana Lopez. He grabs the list shakily and hands it to the teacher.
"Alright, Artie you got Puck. Mercedes you're with Finn. Brittany and Tina…"
As the list went on Rachel could feel herself growing more anxious about the possibility of being paired up with Quinn. Surely Brad must've known the state of the blonde's behavior towards her. She started silently pray to be paired up with someone other than the Head bitch.
"Santana and Rachel!"
Oh thank god...No wait wh-
"WHAT?" Santana verbalizes her thoughts instead.
"Santana I specifically told you from the beginning, parings are not negotiable, sit down!"
He orders the feisty cheerio who had knocked her chair over from standing up so violently. She was absolutely repelled at spending a minute with the midget in a same room, unless of course it was Glee. But how the hell was she going to manage a full week with the girl and to, seven days from now, sing a song with her? Why the hell did anyone have to know where their strength erupted from?
"Coach Sylvester is right, you use too many products in that hair, god knows what sick infection is causing you to do this." She spits at him not moving from her standing position.
Unconsciously, Mr. Schue touches his hair before shaking his head. This was getting out of hand.
"I wont have any of that behavior in here Santana. Now sit down before I take you to the principals office!" The tension is undoubtedly evident in the room. Brad who has been sitting quietly in his invisible bubble, tries to swallow his fear. The privilege of being a silent person is that you learn to observe people from a far away distance.
It's like an invisibility cloak that allows people to look pass you. You become nothing but a prop that is simply there in the background. And what he had heard and learned is that you never put yourself in front of the Latino's way…unless you were suicidal. And he most certainly knew about the disdain the cheerio felt for the diva…so why did he do it?
"S, you can't afford any more warnings from Figgins. And I like you being here with me, come on. I'll make it up to you, tonight" He sees Brittany murmur something to the girl.
He never knew what the deal was between them. He had seen the longing glances the blonde sometimes shot in the other girl's direction, but Santana always seemed dismiss them by turning away from the girl. What she probably never realized was how empty Brittany's eyes looked afterwards.
Santana eventually sits down and locks one of her pinkies with the other girl, something that Brad still finds interesting.
After some time he sees the kids grab their belongings to leave, but something catches his interest. Why was neither Quinn nor Rachel moving to leave?
He's not certain that the star of the New directions knows about the remaining people left in the room. Rachel usually does stand behind, but this time she feels like taking a break to sit down, if only for a minute. She bends over and covers herself with her hands, shielding her away from the rest. The color of the floor has for some reason caught her attention, orange and bright yellow, somehow swirling into one pattern. Hmm… maybe she should redecorate her room. She starts to think that her mind is playing tricks with her when she starts to see different kinds of dots and swirls of the nuance appear in front of her. A few seconds go by and she shuts her eyelids and leans up back to her seat. Just what she needed in a time like this, now she had Santana's future schemes against her to worry about. She exhales heavily and shrinks further into her seat. She just needed a break, that's all she wanted.
"Well don't you look sad and pathetic? Get it together, Finn doesn't want you, nobody does." Really? She totally jinxed herself there.
Quinn tugs at the leather jacket's collar. "No matter how much you try changing, midget."
"Except for daddy's baby girl, she wants me right?" She coos before she feels rather than sees Quinn in front of her with arms trapping her on each side of her chair.
"What did you say?" Rachel turns away before Quinn grasps at her chin, forcing her to eye contact. "What did you say?" she draws out each word. Quinn's eyes had always frightened people and scared them off, sometimes with only a glance. But the effect was definitely something else on Rachel. Not once does Rachel turn away, she only consider herself fortunate of having the chance to really study her eyes. They have always been a mystery to her. They would sometimes shift from bright green to dark, and if you looked carefully you could find tiny gold specks in them. Quinn seems to be doing the exact thing. Rachel raises her hand slowly and gently trails the fingers that are slightly holding her chin as hostage, but never breaking away from Quinn's gaze. The blonde's eyes soften at the gesture. Rachel curls her fingers around the cheerio's fingers and slowly detaches them from her chin.
"I'm going to be late for class" Is the only thing she says and Quinn tenses up.
"Whatever. I'm only here to warn you. Stay out of my way if you value your life." Rachel doesn't flinch once.
"What are you going to do? Kill me? I doubt it." She scoffs.
"No you're right. But there are so many ways to ruin someone's life. I guess you'll have to see." Quinn speaks in such a sweet tone that it stirs up something in the brunette, something unfamiliar.
And then Rachel eyes are following Quinn's retreating back until the blonde is out of sight.
Brad quickly lowers his gaze down to the sheets of music notes in his lap and pretends to look concentrated when the diva stands up seconds later to exit the room. His mind completely blank at what he had seen and heard.
"Rachel, I just had to see what you were cooking, the scent is absolutely captivating." Judy comes to stand behind Rachel and leans over the girl's shoulder to get a better view of the frying vegetables.
"Thank you Mrs. Fabray. I just thought you might want to be a little adventurous and try something else. It's all vegetarian but I took out some stakes from the fridge in case you didn't like it." She grimaces at the mention of stakes before she recovers and plasters on a smile.
Mrs. Fabray chuckles to herself lightly.
"I'm sure it will be wonderful, perhaps you'd like to join us for dinner? Quinn is out with that boy…Finn I think it was, and I'd like to get to know you better" She smiles warmly at the girl. So that's why Quinn wasn't home. She can't help but to feel gratitude towards the woman. It would be the first time for her to eat in the dining and a first time for her to eat with Quinn's parents.
Her excitement narrows down once she realizes that Russel Fabray would be there.
"That's not necessary Mrs. Fabray. I don't mind eating in the kitchen. Besides I'm sure you'd want some privacy with Mr. Fabray." She smiles politely.
"Nonsense, the more the merrier. You will have dinner with us and that is final." The older woman smiles and pats Rachel on the back before retreating back to the living room.
Rachel lets out a heavy sigh and reaches forward to switch the stove off before walking back to the other side of the room to grab the cold stakes and to put them in the refrigerator. It was too late to set them back into the fridge, she'd have to use them tomorrow instead. She continues to move around the kitchen for a few moments to distract herself from the dread she feels of having dinner with the Fabrays.
Minutes later she finds herself seated in front Russel and Judy Fabray. She waits for them both to take a bite out of the vegetarian dish. She's alarmed by the silence and is about to mention the stake she has ready to go when Russel looks up.
"This is delicious, well done Miss Berry." He nods at her.
"As I knew it would be." Judy smiles and rubs her husbands back with affection.
The dinner goes surprisingly well, she even finds herself enjoying it when she sees the love between the couple. She discovers a different side of Russel. He's pleasant to be around with in the company of his wife. Perhaps she misjudged him.
Judy disappears late in the evening. She doesn't know where, but she thinks the woman retreated back to her bedroom to take a nap, judging by all the glasses of whine she had during dinner.
She wipes the final plate dry when Russel enters the kitchen. This time though, she feels at ease with the man.
"I'm heading out for a couple of hours, will you give me a call if Judy wakes up?" He smiles kindly. Rachel nods quickly, pleased with the trouble free interaction.
"Good girl. My number is on the living room table." He speaks and steps out.
Rachel grins proudly at herself. This was going surprisingly well! Maybe that's all she needed to do, stay away from Quinn.
She looks at her watch. 8 o'clock. There was no more cleaning to do so it was an excellent time for her to catch up on her homework while she waited for either Mrs. Fabray to wake up or for Russel to arrive home.
Halfway into her calculus homework she hears the squeaking noise of stairs. She rushes to the living room table and grabs the note of Russel's cell phone number on it, before she's rushing back to the kitchen, grabbing for her cell.
It goes directly to his voicemail. She tries several times before she gives up. What more can she do? It doesn't take long for Judy to enter the kitchen to question Rachel about her husband's whereabouts. She takes a risk by covering for him.
"I think he went to pick up Quinn." She answers lamely but hope for the woman to accept it. Which she does after some pondering. She waits for Judy to leave, but she doesn't. Instead she sees Judy approaching her.
"I know we haven't talked much, but I want you to know how much we appreciate everything you do. It's quite intriguing to see a young woman as you to take upon such a duty like this one. Anyway I'm here if you need anything." Judy surprises her with a hug not noticing Rachel tense up. It's not that she's uncomfortable with hugs, she just finds it overwhelming by the sudden change in both the adults. Had they been drinking before and during the time she arrived to the 'mansion'?
She concludes that the woman is under the influence of alcohol and that by tomorrow she will be back to bossy, religious Mrs. Fabray. Yet she does feels guilt for lying to the woman but instantly pushes it away. She reciprocates the hug hesitantly before she feels herself relax. It feels a lot more different than when she used to hug her dads. For one second she thinks this is how a mother hugs her daughter, but only for a second before she has to let go.
It's an hour later when she hers foot steps slide against the floor in a clearly exhausted manner. Judging by the loud sounds, she can tell that it's a heavy person.
He doesn't seem to notice her at first. He walks to the cabinet with glasses and pulls out one before slowly dragging himself to the sink. And she's yet to say anything. And the ease feeling she had with him at an earlier moment is no longer there; it's instead replaced with the same dread she felt a week ago.
TBC
Ahh! lol. I'll post the rest soon! Reviews make me high!And if you have any suggestions for the story, do tell!
gnight.