Hey guys, I'm sorry for the lateness of this chapter, I've been writing it for the entirety of my Xmas holidays but my computer kept on crashing and word hadn't been saving my work and blah blah but I got it done finally!
Hope you guys had a good Christmas! Or if you don't celebrate it I hope you had a good break from Work/School/College/University.
Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter. Many of you did not like what happened between them, which is great! I didn't want you to like it. Hopefully this makes you all happy again.
(and depending on what time you are reading this) HAPPY NEW YEAR, have a great 2013!
A few weeks ago
Ramona and Puck stand in the middle of the room, both staring at Judy and Hiram. The parents of their closest friends invited them round to ask them to do something for them. But they don't know what yet. Rachel isn't here with Hiram and Quinn is nowhere in the home. Ramona pieces the clues together. They want Puck and her to do something to do with Rachel and Quinn.
"You two are probably wondering why we asked you to come here" Judy says, though she's speaking to Puck more than Ramona.
Hiram steps forward, his arms crossed across his chest and a serious expression on his face "As you two are aware, our children never got along. They claimed to hate each other"
Puck and Ramona only nod, not knowing if it's okay to speak.
"But as we know, it's not true. It was the whole elementary school thing; a boy likes a girl and is too afraid to admit it so he pulls her hair, steals her crayons, etcetera" Judy says with a wave of her hand "I'm hoping that this little trip they have together will resolve it and they'll finally admit the way they feel about each other"
Hiram nods and steps forward "Unfortunately, our daughters are both very stubborn and sometimes, a little dense-"
"You got that right" Puck mumbles to Ramona. Hiram hears him and glares at him; Puck cowers back a little, finding the smaller man intimidating "Sorry"
Ramona figures out what they're about to ask. Not wanting to get a glare from Hiram, she sticks her hand up, waiting for Hiram to nod at her. She clears her throat and fiddles with the button on her jacket "You two want us to get them to realise how the other feels and go after them?"
Judy nods, smiling happily "Yes. Now, Noah you will obviously be handling Rachel."
"I've been trying for sometime but she just keeps on throwing excuses at me" Puck says, scratching his head.
"Try harder" Judy replies, she turns to Ramona and smiles sadly at her "I know this will break your heart Ramona, but I need you to convince Quinn to pursue Rachel. Don't let your feelings cloud this okay? Also-" Ramona flushes in embarrassment; she thought she covered her crush up better than that. "Even though when Quinn wants something, she stops at nothing to get it, there are sometimes certain things or people that stop her from doing so"
"Finn"
"Yes, so you'll have to give her that little push"
Hiram clears his throat "Puck, you'll need to convince Rachel to leave Finn. As nice as that boy is, he is not good enough for my little girl-neither is Quinn, no one ever will-but Quinn is better for her. She's smarter, has a brighter future and although she hides it" Hiram looks to Judy "She has a heart of gold that I know my Rachel needs in someone"
"It's the same with Quinn. The three girls Quinn's brought home are no good for her. But Rachel is. Quinn is happier with Rachel around, even when the snide insults are being thrown around."
Ramona looks over at Puck, silently asking him a question. He shrugs as if to say 'What the hell' and nods. She turns back to Judy and Hiram and nods "We'll try"
"No, don't try, do" Judy says. "One more thing: Don't let this slip to Leroy, Russell, Santana, Brittany or Kurt and Mercedes. They will defiantly end up telling the girl's"
"I've never spoken to Kurt or Mercedes" Puck says "So you don't need to worry about those two"
Judy and Hiram both nod "So it's settled. Operation Get-Faberry-Together is a go" Hiram says with a smile.
Ramona raises an eyebrow "Uh...what's 'Faberry'?"
"Fabray and Berry merged together! I thought of it, clever right?" Hiram says, buzzing with joy.
"It's different"
"Great" Hiram smiles "Go on then, get on with your planning" He says, moving the two teens out of the home.
"We want frequent reports!" Hiram shouts before shutting the door.
Ramona looks over at Puck and frowns "How are we going to do this Puck?"
The mohawked boy shrugs "Think like Cupid"
Like Cupid. Right.
Present day
Quinn stares down at her feet, her head in her hands. She rocks back and forth slightly, her fingers gripping onto her hair. She tugs, hissing at the slight pain she feels. She tugs once again, needing to feel the pain again, to punish herself. She feels a hand rub her back through her t-shirt but shakes her head, silently telling them not to do so.
"It's okay Quinn" Ramona says.
The blonde removes her head from her hands and looks over at the still fully clothed Ramona. Upon returning to the room, neither of them got very far before Quinn messed it up. They've been sat like this for the past twenty minutes. Ramona sat beside her quietly whilst Quinn rocked back and forth, berating herself for what she's doing.
"No, it's not" Quinn mumbles, rubbing the palm of her hands against her eyes "It's not okay"
"It is. I don't care that you said her name, Quinn. I don't care that you don't want to continue because of her"
Quinn stands up from the bed and stands in front of Ramona. Su he runs a hand through her hair in frustration "But you should care! You should care that I sad Rachel's name whilst you where kissing me"
Ramona also stands from the bed "I don't care. I know how you feel about her Quinn, heck, most of us do. We got drunk and didn't know what was going on. We weren't in control of our actions."
"I was! I knew what was going on yet I still continued it. I knew how badly this must hurt Rachel, I could see how it was affecting her and yet I still continued. I just wanted her to feel the hurt and jealousy I feel every time I see her on Finn's arm."
Quinn begins to pace, her hands tugging on her hair once again. Ramona watches her with worried eyes.
"I'm sure she's fine Quinn, all you'll need to do is explain it to-"
"Explaining won't do anything Ramona!" Quinn shouts "What I said to her out there, what we were doing out there is going to make her condition even worse! I promised I would help her get better but I've only gone and done the opposite! Instead of getting her away from Finn, I've just shoved her right back into his arms! He's looking like a knight in fuckign shining armour compared to me! How is she meant to believe I love her after this?"
Ramona swallows the lump in her throat and walks forward. She places her hand on Quinn's arm, stopping her pacing "I'll tell you" She removes her hand from Quinn's arm "You are going to march out there, apologise for everything you said to her, everything you did and then you are going to tell her how much you love her! After that you will spend every single day proving to Rachel how much you really love her and how much better you are than Finn"
"How am I going to do that?"
"Compliment her every time you see her. Carry her books for her; walk her to and from class. Join her at lunch. Take her on little dates disguised as friends hanging out. Leave roses and little messages in her locker and bag. Serenade her outside her frickin window or heck, even pull a John Cusack and hold a boom box outside her window playing a romantic song! Just anything that will show her your love. Fight for the one you love Quinn, don't hide behind your walls and act like you don't care she goes back to Finn. Don't use other girl's to hide your pain."
"Okay"
They both just stare at each other, Quinn's wide eyes staring at Ramona's calm and relaxed ones. Ramona rolls her eyes at her friend.
"Go!" she says, pointing to the door.
"Right now?"
"Yes!"
Quinn scurries across the room and flies out the door. Ramona shakes her head and sits down on the edge of the bed. She takes a deep breath and lets her emotions out. She looks at the open door as a single tear trickles down her cheek.
...
"Rachel!" Quinn shouts as she runs into the lobby "Rachel!"
"Quinn"
Quinn spins on her heel, her eyes landing on Rachel sitting down on the stairs watching her with red, teary eyes. Quinn frowns and slowly makes her way over to her.
"What do you want?" Rachel says gruffly, shuffling a little to give Quinn room to sit down "Rub the fact that you can screw any girl you like in my face again?"
"No. I've come to apologize to you" Quinn says softly. Rachel glances at Quinn for a moment, her eyes scrutinizing her before looking away "I shouldn't have said what I did, I shouldn't have done what I did. I am so sorry for hurting you"
"I don't need your apology. Go back to fucking Ramona"
"I don't want Ramona"
"Was she that bad? Didn't fulfil your needs?" Rachel sneers. She sniffs and looks down at her lap, not wanting to look at Quinn. Her fingers begin to pick at her hands.
"I didn't go through with it. I couldn't" Quinn grabs Rachel's hands, stopping her from picking at them "Not when all I could think about was you and how poorly I treated you."
"So you came out here to tell me this and then go back to her. Well, you've done that so if you'll excuse me" Rachel gets up and begins to walk away.
Quinn is quick to follow her, her footsteps pound against the flooring as she starts to jog after Rachel who seems to be walking faster than normal. Quinn reaches for Rachel's hand and turns her around. They both just stare at each other, Quinn looks at Rachel with wide, pleading eyes, her mouth opening and closing. Rachel looks at Quinn with withdrawn, cold, sad eyes refusing to allow Quinn to worm her way back to her.
"I stopped it before it could go any further" Quinn says in a whisper "Because I couldn't-I can't get you out of my head Rachel. Every day I wake up and I immediately think of you. I think 'What adorable outfit is Rachel going to wear today?' or 'Will she smile at me?' and 'What will I hear her sing today? And will it be for me?' You are forever on my mind Rachel, everything I do; I link it back to you. When I'm skating, I'm wondering if you're going to be there watching me, when I'm writing a new song about you, I'm wondering if you'll like it."
Rachel purses her lips together, stopping a sob from escaping her throat at Quinn's words. She crosses her arms over her chest and looks down at her feet, she shakes her head "It-that doesn't matter. It's like you said, I had no reason to be angry with you. You're single and I'm in a relationship with a boy who loves me and treats me right"
"You have every right to be angry" Quinn steps closer to Rachel "I was being inconsiderate of your feelings. I just-I wanted you to feel the pain and jealousy I feel every time you run back to Finn. I realize now that not only has it hurt you emotionally, but it's not helping you physically either"
"Why would I be jealous? I'm with Finn and you're-you're just the girl next door" Rachel says coldly, still refusing to look at Quinn.
A sob gets stuck in Quinn's throat at Rachel's words. She knows they're not true, but they still hurt. "Don't lie, Rachel. I know I mean much more than that to you"
"How would you know?"
"Otherwise you wouldn't be so upset with me right now"
"I'm not upset over you. I'm upset for Ramona because I know you're just using her"
Quinn steps forward once more, coming toe to toe with Rachel "Rachel, look me in the eye and tell me I mean nothing more to you than the girl next door. Because I don't believe that, you feel something for me I know it but you're too afraid to admit it"
"What about you? Do you feel something for me?" Rachel asks, still avoiding Quinn's eyes.
"I love you Rachel" Quinn says "I love you a hell of a lot. I've loved you since I first saw you, when you ran out of your house whining at Leroy about the removal men." Quinn tips Rachel's head up with her finger, her thumb wiping away the tears running down Rachel's cheek.
"You remember that?" Rachel asks her voice cracking.
"I remember everything. The song I sang in the cabin? That was about you. Every song I write is about you. You're my muse because I love you. That's why I get so jealous and angry when I see you with Finn" Quinn clears her throat "Now, look me in the eye and tell me you don't feel the same and you see me as the girl next door"
Rachel looks down at Quinn's perfect chin and licks her lips. Her mouth opens and closes a few times "I-I can't" She says, shaking her head and stepping away "I can't be with you Quinn"
The hand on Rachel's cheek drops to Quinn's side limply. It feels like the air in her lungs as been punched out of her. Quinn takes a deep breath, trying to keep her heart calm and looks at Rachel with as much strength she can muster. She feels her knees shake but she ignores it.
"I need to be with Finn. He treats me how I need to be treated"
Quinn shakes her head "I can treat you right Rachel" she feels a tear make its way down her cheek, but she doesn't bother wiping it off, she's more focused on what Rachel is telling her.
"Can you? Because in all honesty Quinn, you've made it really hard for me to believe that you love me. Especially with what you were doing earlier"
"I was drunk. I promise you Rachel, I will treat you right, I promised you I would help you with your condition and I will! I'll treat you the way you deserve to be treated; I will prove to you how much I love you!" Quinn cups Rachel's face once again, her thumb brushing along the skin of her cheek "If you give me the chance"
Rachel shakes her head "There's no way you can love me Quinn. I haven't exactly been nice to you. I've called you names, harmed you, and annoyed you. To you, I must just be the big nosed annoying Jewish girl who can't keep her mouth shut" A sob escapes Rachel's throat as she says the last words, her true fears coming out.
Quinn realises why Rachel is so reluctant to believe her. She feels that because of how Rachel treated Quinn in the past, Quinn dislikes her. She doesn't believe her because Rachel believes that she is annoying and big nosed. She thinks that's why Quinn can't love her.
Quinn shakes her head and lifts her free hand to cup the other side of Rachel's face "No honey" she whispers "You aren't annoying, your nose is beautiful and I find the Jewish faith so interesting. You are kind, selfless, amusing, beautiful and amazing. Behind these walls you put up you are the girl I knew in elementary school, the girl I fell in love with" Quinn licks her lips "I'm going to prove to you how much I love you and make you believe me"
"How are you going to do that?" Rachel asks sniffling.
Quinn smiles at her "You're going to have to wait and see. Now, how about I walk you to your room and you get a good night sleep, we do have a tournament to play tomorrow" She holds her arm out to Rachel and waits for her to take it. Happiness fills her chest when Rachel does so, looking down at the ground shyly.
"Listen up! There will be a series of matches today leading to the Championship game that will take place in January! Today there will be the qualifiers, than the quarter finals leading to the semi finals and whoever wins the semi finals will go onto the Championship game. Now..."
Quinn zones out, rolling her eyes as she listens to the same guy from last year go over all the same rules. Everyone knows who are going onto the championship game already; it's the same every year. But yet other schools still compete in hopes of finally beating McKinley or Carmel. It never happens though. It hasn't happened for as long as Quinn has been on the team.
Santana nudges her side, gaining her attention "Ten bucks says that the fatties over there will quit after an hour and eat a donut" Quinn looks over to where Santana is pointing and chuckles. Mary Anne's weight watchers team all stand in a circle, their stomachs poking out from their team shirts.
"I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt, two hours" Quinn whispers.
Santana laughs and holds her hand out, waiting for Quinn to shake it "You're on"
Roz hits them both over the head with her clipboard upon hearing what the two girls were chatting about. She bites back a chuckle and quickly whispers to the girls "Half hour" causing them to burst out laughing, earning a glare from the runner of the tournament.
"First match: McKinley and John Adams!"
"Time to get our game on!" Santana says.
Quinn hunches over, wheezing desperately as she tries to get the air back into her lungs. Santana groans next to her as the first aid man puts antiseptic onto her cut. Brittany rubs Santana's back sympathetically, her eyes darting around at the other members on her team with a small frown.
Quinn stands back up, breathing heavily. Her hair sticks to the nape of her neck with sweat, her t-shirt clinging to her back. She looks around, frowning at seeing most of her teammates all being attended to. The John Adams teamed fouled on nearly every occasion. Whilst Santana was running with the ball towards the goal, one of their defenders stuck their leg out tripping Santana up.
Ramona got shoved to the ground as she jumped to header the ball over to Quinn when they had a throw in. Quinn got punched right into her stomach just as she was about to score a goal. Luckily she kicked the ball before the punch hit and still got the goal, but it still hurt.
She spots Rachel rubbing her hands together on the bench further down, picking at the bandage wrapped round her hand. She had cut it open when a halfback on the other team shoved her to the ground. That did not sit well with Quinn as she started to threaten the half backs life. The ref decided that it was time to call a time out at that point. Crappy ref didn't call out all the fouls.
"You okay?" Quinn asks as she walks up to Rachel.
Rachel looks up at her and nods slowly "I've done worse" She says softly, her voice low enough for only Quinn to hear.
Quinn crouches down and places her hand on Rachel's knee "I'm going to make sure that the bitch that pushed you doesn't get away with it okay? We'll get her back"
"No need to worry blondie" Roz says, walking up to the pair. Quinn's hand drops from Rachel's knee and she stands up, turning to their coach with confusion "I filed a complaint. We've won by default due to the amount of fouls they committed."
"What!" Santana shouts, standing up and pushing the medic away from her. She limps over to Quinn and Roz "They forfeited!"
"Yes"
"So we didn't win by being the best! Like we always do! We won because the other team are fuck heads!"
"Mind your language Lopez otherwise you'll be benched" Roz warns.
"We still won by being the best" Rachel says, standing up. She licks her lips nervously and glances at Quinn "We played fair. They had to resort to violence and unfair play to try and win. We were beating them by two points anyway so it doesn't really matter"
"Listen Berry, you've only just joined this team so you don't know how we work. We win by playing and beating them. I don't care if we were still the best by being fair, we didn't destroy those assholes by smashing ball after ball into the net"
Quinn chuckles at how sexual that whole sentence sounded, earning a punch on the shoulder from Santana.
"I do know how you work, Lopez" Rachel says with scorn."In case you've forgotten I've been your opponent for quite some time, meaning I have watched your plays closely. We still won; we put more balls into the net than they did so I don't see the problem!"
Quinn bites her lip, getting all hot and bothered at seeing Rachel angry. The way her eyes narrow, her eyebrows furrow together and her hips juts to the side is...hot.
"My problem is you and your-"
"Okay that's enough" Quinn growls, stepping between Rachel and Santana "We're on the same team, that means we have to be civil towards each other" She says, looking between Santana and Rachel "Rachel is right. We still won by being the best. End of discussion"
Santana grumbles under her breath and limps away, listening to Brittany chat away to her about Lord Tubbington. Roz pats Quinn on the back and goes to talk to the other coaches, well, shout at the John Adams coach.
"Come one" Quinn says, holding her hand out to Rachel "Let's watch the rest of these losers" She says, smiling when Rachel takes her outstretched hand.
"So I put my hands up, they're playin' my song. The butterflies fly away I'm noddin' my head like "Yeah!"Movin' my hips like "Yeah!"..."
Quinn laughs as her team dance up and down the coach, all singing the song together. They are all so happy and excited for the next match. They got into the Championship game with ease, of course against Carmel. But now Quinn's nerves are building up, this next game will determine whether Quinn has a future at OSU if she doesn't get into NYADA next fall.
She laughs when Brittany dances over to her, a cup filled with cola in her hand. She sways her hips, her hands up in the air dancing in front of Quinn. She tries to get Quinn to dance with her, but Quinn only laughs and shakes her head. Brittany shrugs and dances her way to Santana and Ramona.
Quinn smiles at her as she does. She's so glad they're all happy and having a good time. Despite the fact they do always do well at the Tournaments, it always comes to a shock to the girls, like they don't believe they were good enough. Which, is probably a better mind set than, thinking you are so good you don't have to lift a single finger.
"Are you not joining in?"
Quinn looks up, smiling when she sees Rachel standing in front of her. She's seemed to have forgiven Quinn for everything that has transpired the past few days and Quinn is grateful. But, that does not mean she's going to give up on Rachel. They maybe friends now, but Quinn hopes that soon, they'll be more.
"No, I tend to celebrate quietly" Quinn says, her hands fidgeting with her uniform.
Rachel notices the fidgeting hands and motions for Quinn to scotch up, slipping into the seat next to her "You're nervous for the next game" She states.
Quinn goes to lie, but upon looking at Rachel's face she decides against it "Yeah, just, my entire future rests on this last game. If I don't get that scholarship and don't get into NYADA then I'm going to end up a Lima loser"
Rachel sits down next to Quinn and frowns "Why are you worrying? You will get into NYADA and you will be travelling with me to the big apple this summer."
"Rachel, I'm not that good of a song writer. What I write is not what NYADA wants"
"You listen to me Quinn" Rachel says seriously, causing Quinn to smile slightly as she remembers that she used those same words on Rachel a few hours ago "You are amazing song writer. NYADA would be stupid not to accept you. They look for soul and heart in their students and what you write is..." Rachel sighs and smiles "One hundred times more than just your heart and soul"
"You think so?" Quinn asks, feeling extremely vulnerable now that she's told Rachel her worst fear on what could happen to her at the end of this year.
"I know so. If I didn't think you were great at it" Rachel takes out a folded up slip of paper and unfolds it. She hands it over to Quinn "I wouldn't have written this and then proceed to ask you to help with the music"
Quinn looks over the lyrics, flipping through the pages. "You wrote a song?" she asks in surprise.
Rachel nods shyly "I have been since I suggested writing original songs to the Glee club. I've already drawn up a chart for how much time we should use to get the perfect music to go with these. We could work on the music during Lunches and before Glee leading up to Sectionals next week?"
Quinn laughs and folds up the paper one again "You already wrote up a chart? How do you know I'll even agree to it?"
Rachel smirks at Quinn with a hint of smugness "You will" she says before taking back her lyrics and leaving Quinn in the seat, moving to dance with the rest of the team mates.
Quinn watches her and laughs to herself. She scratches the back of her head and looks out the window at the passing scenery.
Looks like she's going to be making music with Rachel Berry.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and aren't so angry at Quinn anymore :S
Thank you for reading and I'd love it if you could give me at least one little sentence telling me your thoughts on this chapter!
Thanks very much
Song: Party in the USA- Miley Cyrus (Don't judge I just finished watching Pitch Perfect okay?)
xx
