Rachel had reached that spectacular level of awkwardness where she wanted nothing more than to simply slink into the floorboards and disappear forever. She was quite sure her uneasiness and anxiety had reached an almost tangible level where she could practically feel herself wrapped up and smothered by the thick blanket of tension.
Presently seated at the Berry Dinner Table, Rachel quietly ate her noodles as respectively next to and across from her, Quinn Fabray and her fathers laughed joyously at some amusing anecdote Quinn was charming them with.
"I never knew spandex had so many uses!" her father chortled as the laughter died down.
"Ohh I think you know a few uses—"
"Dad!" Rachel shrieked.
"Haha, relax, sweetheart. Quinn here doesn't mind, do you Quinn?"
"Not at all, sir," she smiled, winking.
"Oh my God..." Rachel mumbled, starring down at her tofu, envious of its status as an inanimate object.
"I like her," her father declared, pointing towards Quinn with his fork. "Why haven't we met her before, sweetie?"
"That Flipper boy—"
"Finn!" Rachel interjected as her dad joined the conversation.
"—he was white as a ghost the whole time he came over for dinner and just didn't understand the merits of good conversation and humour."
"Finn was over?" Quinn inquired nonchalantly.
"Oh yes," Rachel's dad answered eagerly. "I must say he was rather underwhelming."
"Daddy, I don't think Quinn wants to hear—"
"I don't mind. After all Rachel, your fathers' opinions on whom you date are valuable judgments of their character and potential suitability."
"That's what I said," her father muttered.
"Anyway," her dad continued, "after hearing Rachel go on and on and on about this boy for God knows how many months we finally met him...and nothing. It was like talking to a stuttering brick wall!"
"He was nervous," Rachel defended, slightly defensive on her boyfriend's behalf.
"He replied 'quarterback' when I asked him his preferred position, despite the fact that we were talking about politics."
Quinn giggled appropriately.
"I naturally assumed he was joking and made one back—"
"You said yours was missionary!"
"I was joking, sweetheart!"
By this point Quinn was nearly in tears. Although she had gone in with every intention of winning the Berry men over she found herself quite surprised at just how easy it was to get along with and like both men.
"Seriously though, he seems like he's no match for our Rachel. He doesn't challenge her and has no ambition, not even a five year plan!"
Rachel groaned quietly to herself at the turn in conversation, hoping her dad would soon desist in his expose of the 'Berry-Hudson' dinner.
" What struck me was how little he knew about Rachel..." Rachel's father piped up.
"Really?" Quinn asked curiously, seeing an opportunity, "what do you mean?"
"Well," her father considered, rubbing his jaw. "What Rachel's favourite song—"
"Defying Gravity, the Wicked version."
"How old Rachel was when she won her first—"
"Three months old."
"Her favourite dress—"
"Blue with white polka dots."
"Foods she dislikes—"
"—pears, sour lollies, tea—"
"—and likes—"
"—Oreos."
A silence fell over the table as both men stared at Quinn curiously. Quinn met each man's gaze evenly.
Meanwhile, Rachel had gone a special shade of red. Flushed, she averted her eyes and stared at her plate of black bean tofu and noodles. Somewhere between surprise and embarrassment the diva felt a pleasant swell in her chest at the blonde's perceptiveness and memory.
"You know Rachel a lot better than we thought, Quinn..."
Rachel's dad nodded, "we were under the impression you weren't close, just paired together for Glee?"
"We've been at school together and in some of the same classes for years," Quinn began, hand currently hidden from view inching closer to Rachel's leg..."I know Rachel quite well."
Just then Rachel yelped.
"Rach? Are you alright?"
"Yes! Uh, yeah, yes; some food just went down the wrong way," she spluttered, reaching for the water and drinking heavily.
Beside her Quinn grinned inwardly. She also noted with a good degree of deserved smugness that her hand currently resting on Rachel's thigh had yet to be removed.
"So Mr. Berry," Quinn began, smiling winsomely, "tell me more about your work at..."
Rachel for the life of her could barely remember the rest of dinner. She sat rigidly upright in her seat, hyperaware of the hand resting on her thigh, seemingly sending waves of heat straight through her pants to the skin beneath. And when Quinn started tracing random patterns, each time inching up a little higher, Rachel had to use every ounce of her self control to keep from panting.
To her credit, she had tried to dislodge said hand but after discreetly attempting to brush Quinn's hand away the HBIC simply responded by flexing her fingers over the diva's toned thigh and gripping it a little tighter.
Short of wrestling with the girl and having to answer some very awkward questions, Rachel resided herself to the fact that Quinn's hand would happily remain where it was until Quinn decided to move it.
After dinner Rachel walked Quinn to the front door with hurried, large strides.
"Come again any time, Quinn!"
"That's right! Don't be a stranger, honey!"
Rachel groaned as Quinn said her final farewells to her fathers before following the brunette towards the front door.
"So," Quinn began, standing beside Rachel as she opened the door.
Rachel turned to the blonde with a mixture of an irritated and exhausted expression on her face. "So?" she echoed incredulously.
"...thanks for dinner? Your dads are really great by the way."
Rachel sighed, "they are. And you're welcome, Quinn. It's actually the least I can do considering I never formally thanked you for cleaning up after the party Santana threw here...your behaviour during the course of the meal however was wholly inappropriate! Not to mention—"
"It's the quietest I've ever seen you though," Quinn chirped.
"I was trying to behave and breathe normally!"
"I leave you breathless then?" Quinn questioned, grinning teasingly.
Rachel felt her indignation get lodged in her throat at the HBIC's impish smirk.
"Well as much fun as this has been, I've really got to get going," Quinn said when it was obvious the diva wasn't about to reply. She leant forward and gently brushed her lips across the brunette's cheekbone, lingering a moment too long before pulling away again with a full blown smile.
"See you at school, Berry."
"Bye," Rachel replied, dazed as she closed the front door and forgot what she had been trying to argue against in the first place.
The tiny diva let her head drop against the heavy wooden door and exhaled, keen to go to sleep and forget this entire evening and its consequences until morning.
AN: now we're on our Faberry way! It's only going to get worse for poor Rachel from here on. Also I should mention that with Uni restarting, work, volunteer work, life etc updates will be a little more infrequent but I truly think that's better than giving you rushed crap so please bear with me. I'm sure during bouts of procrastination you'll get many updates ;) Anywho, you know the drill, reviews are good for my health and wrack up karma for you so if you have the time... :o)
AN2: Happy Mardi Gras! I had to give you all a chapter for 'Gay Christmas' before I headed off to the parade, enjoy!