Author's Note: So I hope this chapter came out okay. It kind of felt rushed. I'm sorry if last chapter confused you. ;P
Dedicated to: Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones - otherwise known as Led Zeppelin. Some of my favorite music. Also, Adele.
Eleven
Chapter 10: Let Free, Run the Water
Quinn's eyes slowly opened. She still felt the beating of Rachel's heart. She slightly tilted her head to see Rachel asleep, her mouth slightly open. Her breathing was soothing. Quinn tried to remain calm – she didn't want to awaken Rachel. Quinn examined her situation. The Shawshank Redemption was still quietly playing in the background. Outside the sun was just starting to peek up from behind the horizon, hinting to Quinn it was probably around six am.
Quinn was still fully clothed. Rachel however only had her bra on. It was if Quinn was acting as a blanket for the brunette. She tried to forget her terrible dream; instead focusing on the fact Rachel's hand was tightly gripping Quinn's. That made Quinn smile.
"Hey." A small voice appeared. Quinn looked up at Rachel. The girl was still asleep. Then she heard it again. "Hey." Quinn recognized the voice as her own. She turned her head slowly as not to wake Rachel, and saw herself right behind her, spooning her.
"Is this another dream?" she asked Quinn.
"No. You're just still a little high." Quinn laughed sadly.
"Oh." The girl turned her head back, and Quinn ran her hands down her arm. She placed it on top of Rachel's and Quinn's intertwined fingers.
"She's one in a billion," Quinn nodded in agreement, "don't do anything stupid."
"I'm trying."
"Your dream…"
"You were in it."
Quinn nodded. "I was. It means something."
"What?"
"Figure it out for yourself. You're a smart girl."
And then as quickly as she came, Quinn disappeared, leaving Quinn alone with her thoughts.
"Hey." Quinn looked back up at Rachel. This time Rachel was staring back down at Quinn.
Quinn reached up and cupped the brunette's cheek. "Hey."
Rachel put her free hand over it. "I enjoyed last night."
Quinn sighed. Then she nodded. "Yeah." She said. Her eyes bounced around everything but Rachel's face. She couldn't quite find something to keep her attention.
"Quinn."
Then Quinn's eyes bounced back to Rachel's face and she was mesmerized. Her hazel eyes were locked.
"I don't want you to do this anymore."
Quinn smiled and then scoffed, rolling off Rachel and standing up. "Doing what?"
"Any of this."
"Any of what?"
"This…garbage."
"What garbage Rachel?"
"All this stuff that's ruining your life."
"What stuff?"
"All the coke and the whoring yourself around and mistreating your body!" Rachel finally snapped. In a fairy tale, Quinn would pull Rachel into a hug and say yes. But this was no fairy tale.
"You can't just come into my life and all of a sudden tell me to stop doing this shit." Quinn retorted. Rachel's mouth hung open.
"Come live with me – we have an extra bedroom in the house my fathers would have no problem taking you in."
"I have a life, Rachel," these words stung the brunette, "I have a house, and a job, and I have things I need to do."
"What do you need to do?" Rachel stood up, still almost entirely naked.
"I…It's not your fuckin' business what I need to do!"
Rachel stepped forward, and Quinn stepped back. "I'm making it my business."
"Stop forcing yourself into my life!" Quinn growled.
"You promised me. You said you would do something about all this."
"I promised you?" Quinn's mouth dropped open, before she proceeded to mock Rachel, "You promised me, Quinn, you promised me!" she even stomped her foot for extra effect. She paused for a moment. "Grow up!" she screamed, "You fucking child."
"Why?"
"Because I'm a whore."
"You're a human being."
"I'm a whore!" she screamed again.
"You're a human being and you're killing yourself. I can help you."
"Help me?" Rachel nodded, "What is there a sign on my back that says 'save me'?"
"I can't believe you just did that?"
"Did what?"
"Quoted Good Will Hunting."
Quinn blushed. "How'd you…?" her voice trailed off as Rachel suppressed a smile.
"We watched it in Psych."
Quinn crossed her arms, and looked down. She was quiet for a moment. Then she looked back up. "I had a nightmare."
Rachel's smile fell. She stepped forward. This time, Quinn didn't step back. She reached out her arms, and when Quinn didn't move, she enveloped Quinn in a warm hug.
"You killed me." Quinn said quietly.
"It's not real."
"You shot me eleven times. You hated me. You lied to me. I told you I loved you and then you shot me."
"It was only a dream. I'm not going to hurt you."
Quinn tried to push Rachel away but Rachel was too tightly wrapped around Quinn. "Get off."
"I'm not going to hurt you."
Quinn started to cry as she finally succumbed to her nightmare. Her legs shook before giving out and relied solely on Rachel to keep her up. Rachel slowly moved towards the ground, Quinn in her arms. Quinn gripped at Rachel's shoulders and cried into the crook of her neck. Rachel rubbed Quinn's back.
"You should take a shower?"
"Do I stink?" Quinn laughed between sobs.
"No, but a shower always makes me feel better."
"You have to come in with me." Quinn requested.
"No sex."
"No sex."
Rachel nodded, and when Quinn finally started to move her legs, Rachel knew it was time. She helped Quinn stand up and the two walked into the bathroom. Once Quinn saw her cocaine and all the shit there she immediately scrambled to put it all away. She washed the face of the mirror off and turned back to Rachel, who was leaning against the door frame.
"I don't do it a lot."
"I know." Rachel said, quite softly.
Rachel waltzed past Quinn and prepared the shower. Hot water took about ten seconds to appear, and Rachel pulled out the tab and the water ceased flowing from the faucet and flowed through the shower head.
She turned back to Quinn. Quinn closed the bathroom door – despite the fact no one else lived in the place – and waited for Rachel to make the next move. Rachel moved down to her knees and slowly pulled Quinn's jeans down. Quinn stepped out of them and waited. Rachel stood back up and helped Quinn's shirt off. Rachel reached around, taking the opportunity to press her body against Quinn's, and undid the bra. It fell off and exposed Quinn's breasts for the first time to Rachel. She admired them shortly before kissing Quinn. Finally Rachel thumbed into Quinn's panties and started to inch them down. Quinn closed her eyes and she finally exposed herself to Rachel.
"You're so beautiful." Rachel whispered, running her nose and lips up the length of Quinn's body.
Finally Rachel removed her own bra and the two stepped into the shower. The warm water sprayed all over their bodies. The new warmth felt good to Rachel, and even better to Quinn.
Rachel reached for the shampoo and squirted some into her hand. She slowly reached into Quinn's hair and massaged it. Quinn let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Rachel's fingers slid Quinn's hair back and soon Quinn's hair was completely free of any loose strands of blond locks. Rachel turned the girl around to get a look at her. She was beautiful. Her skin, pale and smooth, shone in the dim light. Her eyes twitched every few moments, and her now clumped together eyelashes bat every time she blinked. Her soft limps didn't move, but they had the beauty of ballet dancer when they did.
"Better rinse." Quinn said, breaking Rachel from her trance.
"Sorry, I got distracted," Rachel said and she guided Quinn's hair under the stream of flying water. She helped Quinn remove all traces of shampoo from her hair. Then Rachel repeated the action with conditioner.
"I'm sorry I screamed at you." Quinn said when they were rinsing her hair out.
"It's okay. Just please come home with me today."
Everything stopped. This was the biggest moment of Quinn's life – she could go home with Rachel and completely change her life or she could kick Rachel out of her life. She was scared.
"Freedom lies in being bold." She said.
"What?"
"I could right now kick you out and forget you and continue this shithole of a life. That would be the easy path. This life may not be nice or fun or good but it is easy."
Rachel remained silent.
"But freedom lies in being bold. If I go with you, I'm risking everything. My heart could be broken all over again. It might not work out and then I'm fucked. But the only way I cane escape this hell I live in is to go with you."
"So, you're gonna come home with me."
Quinn nodded. "I will."
Rachel grinned widely. It was the first time Quinn had seen Rachel so happy. It made her cry…of course, the water made any tears she was shedding unnoticeable.
"I love you." Quinn whispered.
"I love you too!" Rachel squeaked, "You're going to come home and I'm going to set up the guest bed for you and we're gonna redecorate any way you want and I'm going to buy you new clothes and we're gonna leave all this hurt behind and we'll start you over. You can finally live a good life and then I can cook you breakfast and you can do whatever you want."
Quinn smiled. "I have clothes here."
"I know."
"So you don't need to buy new clothes."
"I want to. I want to buy you clothes that you can just comfortably wear. All your clothes here are basically to make you look sexy."
"That is true…"
"Not that you need them. You're naturally sexy."
"Oh really?"
Rachel nodded surely. "Def-in-et-lee."
Quinn laughed as the two girls rotated. Rachel stood under the stream of water and let Quinn shampoo her hair.
"Go brush your hair, I can do this." Rachel said.
Quinn nodded and reached out the shower and grasped a towel that sat on the toilet. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped it around her stomach. She grabbed a brush that was on the floor and pulled out a few stray hairs before running it through hers.
"Tell me about yourself." Quinn asked.
"What do you wanna know?"
"Everything. Why'd you go looking for a lesbian prostitute if you've never even kissed a girl?"
Rachel puckered her lips. "I've been struggling with myself recently," she let the water run over her face, spitting out any that entered through her lips, "and there aren't a lot of lesbians at our school…"
"Go on."
"I'm just afraid."
"That's normal."
"I know…"
Quinn dried her hair and slipped on a pair of panties before sitting back down on the toilet.
"I just wish things were easier."
"You and me both."
Rachel shut the water off and Quinn handed her another towel. She thanked the blonde and a moment later she stepped out of the shower. She looked beautiful. Quinn handed her the brushed. Rachel smiled. She bent over and took Quinn's lips in her own. She let them linger for a moment. When she finally pulled away she could see the elation on Quinn's face. She plopped down on Quinn's lap and started brushing, with Quinn smiling happily at her.