Rachel led Quinn over to her bed, sitting on the edge with her arm around the blonde's shoulders as she murmured comforting word in her ear and rubbed her back in a soothing manner. Quinn had been sobbing for the past ten minutes and Rachel had been unable to get out of her what mistake she had made and why she was so upset about it.
Rachel had never seen Quinn like this before. Normally, her roommate was a ray of fucking sunshine. The only other times she remembered seeing her crying were when Finn had acted like a total douche to her and broke her heart.
"Is this a Finn thing?" she asked, looking down as she cradled Quinn's head against her shoulder. "Want me to call Joe so he can kick the idiot's ass?"
That just seemed to make Quinn cry harder, though she managed to get out that she most definitely did not want Joe to come over or kick Finn's ass or anything. In fact, she wanted Joe to stay far far away right now.
Eventually, Rachel got her to stop crying long enough to tell her what was wrong. She explained the message from Finn and the phone call she made to him early that morning.
"We went to lunch at the dining hall while you and Kurt were out with your dads," Quinn explained, lying back on Rachel's bed as she stared at the wall, her back to Rachel. Rachel continued rubbing her roommate's back as she listened to Quinn tell the story. "I mean, I really didn't think he'd even bother to show up since he's such a flake and is totally unreliable. But he did and we went to lunch. No big deal."
Rachel nodded her head, her hand moving in circles as she kept trying to keep Quinn calm and prevent her from breaking down into the sobs again. "Right, so what happened next?"
"I mean, it was like old times. Finn and I used to get something to eat after every football game while my brother was busy with his flavor of the week. We'd usually go to In-N-Out because Finn knew I loved going there, and we'd spend the whole time joking and teasing one another. And then he'd drive me home and let me pick the radio station while we played Who'd You Rather? I know it sounds stupid, but I felt like we were back in high school and none of the recent bullshit even happened.
"We ended up walking back here because Finn said he hadn't seen my room in ages and wanted to make sure it didn't look like the disaster area my room is at home. He's always making fun of me but in that nice way. I think that's why I always liked him so much," she said, sighing slightly.
"I don't see how any of this equates to you making a huge mistake," Rachel said softly.
"Stop interrupting," Quinn ordered. "I'm getting there. So we come back here and I'm putting my shoes in the closet while Finn's snooping around the room looking for one stray candy wrapper or something so I tell him to stop because he's not going to find anything, but he's fallen super quiet so I walk back out and I'm about to make fun of him for it, but he's standing by my desk holding this small purple box, and I almost died of humiliation."
"What was he holding?" Rachel asked curiously.
"Look, I'm still a virgin, I promise. But I've seen Teen Mom and Sixteen and Pregnant. And I know I'm that one girl who would end up pregnant my first time having sex, even if I was on the pill. I just wanted to be prepared if something happened," Quinn said, and even though Rachel couldn't see her face, she knew her face was bright red.
Rachel covered her mouth as she started to laugh out loud. "Your big mistake is that Finn saw you bought a box of condoms?" she asked, unable to stop the giggles erupting from her lips.
Quinn sat up, glaring at her roommate. "Do you want to hear my story or not?" she snapped.
Rachel shrank back slightly. "Sorry," she apologized. "Please, continue. I promise I won't interrupt again."
"Right, sure you won't," she said sarcastically, but continued anyways. "First he gives me this judgy look, like the slut has any right to judge me for wanting to keep a baby out of my womb if I decide to have sex in the near future. Then he starts lecturing me. 'Quinn, this is a big decision. You can't just decide to have sex with the first guy who shows the slightest bit of interest in you. Do you want to regret this for the rest of your life?'" she said in a perfect imitation of Finn's voice. "What a hypocrite, right? The skank parades his sex partners in front of me for years, but the moment I think of popping my cherry, he has to go all guardian of Quinn's virtue on my ass.
"Well, obviously I wasn't going to take that. So I told him where he could shove his lecture and that if I wanted to have sex, it was my business not his since he wasn't my boyfriend because he refused to grow a pair and ask me out for fear of Puck. That shut him up for about two seconds before he starts apologizing and making excuses." Quinn let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. "It was the same shit he's been saying to himself for years and the same stuff he's told me before. So I told him to either man up or get the hell out since I had no patience for his bipolar act.
"I thought he was going to leave and let that be the end of it, but instead he kissed me, and not like that lame kiss from a few weeks ago either. This was was with tongue and everything. So obviously I kissed him back and we ended up making out for like, two hours. And now I feel like a slut and I don't know what to do. Finn is everything I've ever wanted, but Joe is one of the sweetest guys I've ever met and I really do care for him. I don't know what I should do because either way, I'm going to hurt someone."
Rachel sat quietly for a few minutes after Quinn finished speaking, mulling over the whole story in her head. Quinn certainly had gotten herself into a mess, but she doubted Quinn wanted to hear Rachel say that aloud. "Well," she finally said, looking her roommate in the eyes. "I guess it comes down to your heart. What does it want?"
"That's just it. I don't know what it wants. Some days it seems like it wants Joe, but other days it seems to want Finn. I wish it would just make up its mind so I can make a decision and stopped being pulled in two different directions."
Rachel gave her a sad smile. "I know it's not easy, but your heart does know what it wants. Maybe you just don't know yet who that is, but you'll figure it out. Until then, maybe you should cool things down with both of them. Or at least keep them away from one another," she giggled.
Quinn nodded her head in agreement. "That's probably a good idea. We don't need a fight between the two of them, no matter how hot that would be to watch," she giggled.
Rachel spent all day Saturday with her dads. She took them to the football game and then out around LA. After, they went to dinner-just the three of them-before she headed to the hotel with them, spending their last night in California sleeping on the pullout in their room instead of back in her dorm.
She drove them to the airport Sunday morning and tearfully bid them goodbye, promising that she and Kurt would be home at Thanksgiving for the traditional Berry-Hummel Thanksgiving feast followed by a day of shopping on Black Friday. It was something Rachel looked forward to every year.
She hugged them both before they headed inside the airport and Rachel drove back to school. She considered heading up to her dorm, but, worrying that Quinn might have one of her two boys up there, decided against it. Instead, after parking her car, she walked over to the music and theater school, figuring she'd lock herself in the music lab for a few hours. Puck was spending the day doing homework and now that her fathers were gone, she could use the alone time.
As expected, the room was dark and empty when Rachel swiped her key to gain access. She figured most people would still be sleeping on a Sunday morning instead of playing the piano.
Rachel settled in front of her favorite grand piano, letting her fingers run over the ivory keys. She played a few scales and arpeggios to warm up, humming the notes as she played them. Singing as she played the piano was one of Rachel's favorite things to do, but it was also one of the things she never did in front of other people.
She placed her fingers on the keys once more and began playing a slow and soft melody, trying to decide what song to play. For her one music class, their final was performing a song in front of the entire class. They didn't have to write the song, but they had to come up with their own arrangement. for example, they could choose to perform "Tik Tok", but it wouldn't be identical to the electronic version that was on the radio.
Rachel had decided to do an electronic dance song, yet perform it as a ballad on the piano, yet she was having trouble deciding what song to sing. It couldn't be just any song. They lyrics had to be just right because it would sound rather silly if she sang a song about getting laid as a slow and lovely piano ballad. No, that wouldn't work at all.
Rachel began humming again as she played absentmindedly, her mind running through a list of songs, none of them fitting what she wanted to do. She was starting to think her idea was silly when there was a cough behind her. She turned, spotting Wes Anderson, her male lead, watching her with curious eyes.
"Jesus, you scared me," she laughed, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "What are you doing here?"
Wes smiled, walking over and taking a seat beside her. "I could be asking you the same thing," he joked. "I figured you'd be sleeping in. I heard your boyfriend threw another victory party last night."
Rachel smiled and nodded her head as she and Wes began playing both parts of "Heart and Soul" together. "He did. I didn't go. My fathers were in town this weekend, so I spent their last night here showing them LA while Noah spent the night getting drunk. I figured I'd come here and play for a bit to give Quinn a few hours of rest to sleep off her hangover," she joked.
"Oh? And what are you playing, my Belle?" he asked.
"Not sure yet. I'm starting to work on my final for Professor July's class, but I've hit a mental block. I know what I want to do, I just can't think of the right song to use. I can play anything on the piano, so I figured a ballady version of a dance song on the piano would be lovely. I just can't pick a song. Nothing seems to work," she sighed.
Wes pushed her hands away from the keys. "May I?" he asked, and Rachel nodded her head. "I had the same problem you did when I had that class.I knew what I wanted to do, I just couldn't think of the song. I ended up doing a mash-up of two songs. Got an A, too," he added with a laugh as his fingers danced over the keys, changing Rachel's melody.
Rachel's ears perked up as she slowly recognized the music Wes was playing, singing the words inside her head.
"It took me over a month to do the arrangement and then get a few other people in my class to perform it with me. You see, mine was more of a rock and roll performance and I figured doing more of a band performance instead of a solo act would work better. Though, for you, I'd definitely go solo. Your voice is strong enough on its own, and the piano is a great choice to compliment the natural instrument you have," he laughed.
"Meaning my voice, of course," she clarified. Wes nodded his head, causing Rachel to beam-and blush. "You all seem so in awe of me, I don't understand it. I mean, I've always known I was talented, but I always thought I overestimated my abilities because no one from my town had a talent for anything besides throwing kids into dumpsters or hitting me in the face with a slushie from 7-11," she commented, her fingers starting to play the harmony to the song.
"Dumpsters and daily slushie facials? Sounds like a very progressive place," Wes joked. "Can't imagine why you'd leave a place like that." Rachel smiled and laughed a little, bumping her shoulder into his momentarily as she continued playing. "I'm really glad you're Belle, though. Some of those senior girls don't even care about the show anymore. They just do it because their bff is doing it too or whatever. They don't show up half the time and we end up sucking as a result of it."
"Mercedes isn't like that," Rachel said defensively.
Wes shook his head. "No, she's one of the few who actually gives a shit anymore. I love Mercy more than life itself. She's the only one who can keep her bimbo friends in order. You know, the ones always staring after your boyfriend when he walks in to pick you up after every rehearsal," Wes teased. "But every year, it seems less and less people care about the sow. But you do, Rachel. You really care, which is why I'm so glad you're the Beauty to my Beast," he laughed.
Rachel smiled, scooting a little closer to him on the bench, their fingers moving rapidly across the keys as they continued the song. "Well, I suppose I could do worse with my leading man. I mean, you're not the worst person I've had to kiss on stage," she joked, grinning at him.
"Wow, thanks. You're so kind," Wes said sarcastically as they finished the song. He turned to look at her. "So what do you think? Will that work?"
Rachel thought it over before nodding. "Yes, I think it will. In fact, I think it's perfect, actually. Thank you, Wes," she said sincerely. "You're a really great friend, you know. You're helping me survive this school, actually," she laughed.
Wes grinned as he looked over at her. "Glad to be of service, ma'am," he joked, pretending to tip his hat towards her. His fingers started moving again and he began playing "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from The Phantom of the Opera. "Of course I know Phantom," Wes said as a look of recognition dawned on Rachel's face. "What kind of music theater major would I be if I didn't?"
Rachel laughed as she hummed along to the song. "Fair point," she agreed as she walked her slender fingers along the polished wood of the piano.
"You know, I'm glad I found you here this morning," Wes said after a few minutes of playing, looking over at her once again. "I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Oh?" she asked with an arched eyebrow. "What about?"
"That guy who's always hanging around you. You know, the one who isn't your boyfriend. His name's B-something. Brad maybe?"
Rachel shook her head. "Brody," she corrected.
"Right, him. I see him walk you over here during the week sometimes and he's always at O'Hara's when you're performing. I mean, I am too, but that's only to support my leading lady. Plus, your band is actually pretty good. Not like the usual crap they get to perform there. But I'm getting off topic," he said, shaking his head. "I was talking about Brody.
"I'm not trying to tell you not to have friends who are guys. I know your best friendis gay but his roommate isn't, and you're perfectly normal friends with them. What I'm trying to say is be careful around that Brody dude. He's not the type of guy who has girls who are just friends, especially not ones who look like you."
Rachel rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You're being ridiculous," she scoffed. "Brody knows I love Noah. He respects me and would never try anything. I mean he can be a perverted pig when he's drunk and around his friends, but that's different."
"You do realize you're making excuses for him?" Wes asked. "He's not some innocent little choir boy. He's a guy who has thought about more than once what you look like naked. Don't forget that."
Rachel seemed to ignore everything he said. "I know what he is and what he isn't, Wes. I'm not stupid. Just because I'm a virgin doesn't mean I'm completely naive. I understand that you don't trust Brody, but do you trust me? If, like you think, he tries to seduce me, do you trust that I would say no?"
Wes looked flustered. "Rachel, I didn't mean that," he murmured.
Rachel set a hand on his shoulder. "I know you didn't. You're a good friend and I know you're looking out for me and for Noah, but you just have to trust me about this. Brody's just a friend. That''s all he'll ever be, I swear."
Wes sighed and saw that the topic was closed. He stood up, looking down at Rachel. "Well, you've thoroughly distracted me now," he said, smiling at her. "Though I have a set I have to finish for tomorrow. I'll see you in rehearsal, Belle," he promised, waving at her before disappearing.
Rachel began playing absentmindedly at the piano, thinking over what Wes had said. She understood where he was coming from, but he just didn't understand, just like Kurt didn't really get it. Kurt's mom had died when he was eight. He'd gone part of his life having a mother. Brody's mom ran off when he was two months. He didn't remember her at all, so he was the one person who knew what Rachel was feeling right now. He understood that burning desire to finally have the one thing you'd been denied your whole life.
She was just hoping she wasn't going to look like a fool if it all ended up being a giant ruse to trick her into bed.
Figuring it was late enough that Quinn would be up and out of bed, Rachel grabbed her things, flicking off the light in the room before heading back to her dorm.
Okay, the next 5-10 chapters are going to be VERY VERY heavy on the Puckleberry, I promise. I know the past few haven't been, but maaaaajor stuff is coming up, I promise :)