Simple Parts
Chapter Nine- Excavating
They don't dig the holes quite deep enough
for everything you got to take to your grave
...
Your complexion, it speaks volumes of
The ghosts you've born
and the walls that you've built up
it keeps them in
There's one for every sin.
QFRB
Quinn thought her mother looked a bit like a dinosaur. She was clearly an older woman, even if she hadn't known the woman was somewhere in her eighties, she would have been able to tell. The older woman had gone through more work, face lifts, Botox, the whole shebang. There was no other way her skin could be that tight. Her hair was still blonde and her eyes looked like they were being pulled back.
The older woman (She felt weird thinking her mother could be considered elderly, especially since she seemed to be very spry)marched boldly in to the kitchen and planted her feet in a wide stance in front to the bar, opening her arms wide to signify that she expected a hug. "What's left to do?" she demanded.
Older Quinn sighed and wiped off her hands with a kitchen towel before throwing it onto the counter and rounding the bar to meet her mother. "Mom," she greeted with a wry smile, "you look fantastic."
"Stop lying," she admonished in a half-flattered tone. "You need to get to the salon, young lady."
"Mom," the artist complained even as she wrapped her arms around her mother, "I'm nearly fifty."
Judy Fabray tutted. "That's not possible dear, I'm only forty." The old woman winked playfully at Carmen and Alice over her daughter's shoulder. "And don't think I didn't notice you avoided talking about your hair. Really, dear, what are you waiting for?"
"Time," Older Quinn replied testily, pulling away and going back to her station. "If you must know, I have an appointment next week."
Judy sighed unhappily at that news. "Well, if that's the best you can do…" Rachel noticed the way Older Quinn's shoulder's bunched at the tone, but luckily Judy dropped the subject and moved to greet her granddaughters instead.
The elderly woman spent several minutes getting reacquainted with Alice, pinching cheeks and telling her how much she had grown.
Alice broke away eventually and rubbed at her sore cheeks. "Nanna, I saw you two weeks ago."
"Amazing how fast you children change nowadays, isn't it?" Alice glanced over her grandmother's shoulder with a pleading expression.
"Mom, we have some guests staying with us this year," Quinn interrupted for her daughter, drawing the older woman's attention to the time travelers. "This is Rachel's third cousin, Barbie. And this is her friend Charlie. They're staying with us for the holiday."
"Oh how lovely!" She gave her daughter a conspiratorial wink. "They look a little like you and Rachel did when you were young. Very cute. Are they together?" She asked this in a normal speaking volume, completely unconcerned with the fact that the two subjects could hear her.
Young Quinn felt like her face might literally overfill with blood. She felt a little dizzy at the rush to her brain and she swayed on her feet. Young Rachel was better off in that her face was darker and less likely to show a blush and also because her propensity to do so was already lower than Quinn's. They both stammered their denials under Judy's knowing and Older Quinn's exasperated gazes.
"Don't harass them Mom," Quinn reprimanded. "Why don't you go back to Rachel's office and drag her out. She'll love to see you." She ushered the woman out with only a few protests about helping with the last of the cooking. When she finally got the woman to leave in search of Older Rachel she turned back to the occupants of the kitchen with an exasperated eye roll. "This is going to be the longest day in history."
QFRB
There really wasn't much left for the teenagers to do except stand around and stare at things. The table had been set hours ago and none of them were really interested in the stories Carmen was retelling for the third time in the other room.
Before Quinn had an opportunity to try and get Rachel to sneak away with her the phone rang. It was Morgan and he had just pulled up and needed someone to hold the door for him so he could help Mr. Berry up the walk.
Quinn was volunteered when a wide eyed Rachel flat out refused to go.
She was a little worried about what she would find on the other side of the door. She knew that Rachel had been nervous about meeting her mother, and had thought it a little silly at the time, but now that she was about to meet her father-in-law, the brunette's worries didn't seem so farfetched.
Morgan had left an hour ago and was just returning with his grandfather. This made Quinn realize she didn't even know where the man lived. And if she didn't know, she wondered if Rachel did. Her fellow time traveler hadn't mentioned her parents at all during their stay. While they kept their conversations with each other relatively innocent and light hearted, her interactions with Older Rachel and her older self had been much more emotionally taxing. Rachel hadn't mentioned it, but she was sure the girl must have had her own difficult discussions with one of their older selves.
She opened the main wooden door and stood by the storm door watching the two approaching men. Rachel's father, the one she called Dad, was approaching up the walkway, with Morgan hovering beside him, and leaning heavily on a cane. The kids (she had taken to thinking of them as kids even if two were older than her and one was the same age) called him Big Dad, and she could clearly see why. He was huge. Even with his back bent a little from age, he reached six feet. Quinn could easily imagine that he was six and a half feet tall when he was standing straight.
He was black, which she hadn't been expecting at all. She had never seen Rachel with her fathers before, and though she had probably seen the Berry men around town in her own time, she knew that she wouldn't have realized it.
He shuffled in with Morgan behind him, barely giving her a passing glance before he headed right into the living room to join his daughter, Carmen and Judy. Morgan followed after giving her hair a quick playful tussle.
Mr. Berry's silent arrival marked the beginning of dinner set up. Older Quinn had Alice Rachel and Young Quinn running food into the dining room. When the table was ready and everyone had been called in, the prayer went to Morgan. "Yo Pops, it's the Fabrays checking in. You pretty much already know everything we could ever express so just…thanks. Keep it real. Love, everybody."
"Really, Mo?" Older Quinn demanded, a little put out with her eldest child. He grinned and she reached into the salad and grabbed a crouton that she then tossed at his face. It missed and landed in his hair.
"Ew gross!"
"Quinn!"
"Quinnie!"
"No food fights Momma!"
"You've got crumbs in your hair."
"Can someone pass the potatoes?"
"Who's going to cut the turkey?"
Quinn and Rachel cast worried looks at each other. They had ended up next to each other out of sheer luck and they were now taking comfort from that as all hell broke loose over the table. It calmed when Older Quinn picked up the carving knife and serving fork and started doling out the real turkey to those who wanted it. Older Rachel did the same with the tofurkey. The rest of the food made its way around the table too and the sounds of clanking dinner ware and requests to pass certain items dominated the air waves for several long minutes.
"Alright," Older Rachel announced once everyone had finished serving themselves, "it's super corny tradition time!"
All of the children, even Morgan, groaned unhappily.
"None of that," the oldest diva reprimanded. "Who wants to go first?" No one offered and Rachel huffed. "Well fine, I'll start us off, as usual." It was clearly designed to be a guilt trip, but it didn't work out that way. In fact, it just made everyone at the table laugh.
"Like you said, Mom, it's tradition," Alex jibed playfully.
"I'm thankful for my family and our love, naturally. And I'm thankful for the chance to share that love with friends." She directed the last to the two time travelers. "Quinn?"
Younger Quinn started briefly, startled to hear her name called when she had been in the process of sneaking a green bean across her plate. She looked up in time to see her older self wink at her. She flushed and slumped down in her seat a little. Beside her, Rachel shook with held back giggles. Quinn reached across her lap and pinched the other time traveler right on the thigh. The brunette squeaked and smacked the offending hand.
"I'm thankful for the opportunity to clearly see how far I've come in life, and for the ability to see how far I still need to go," Older Quinn replied over the sound of their play fighting. Young Quinn tried to remove her hand from Rachel's lap so that she could continue to work that single bean closer to the edge of her plate, but the brunette's smaller hand wrapped around hers and kept it trapped there. Her cheeks pinked only the slightest bit. She wondered if Rachel was just trying to keep her from sneak food, but when fingers twined with her own she had her answer. She could barely hear what was being said at the table over the sound of blood rushing in her ears.
"I'm thankful that I'm finally going to get a paycheck!" Morgan crowed next, his problem with the tradition was clearly for show, or he had just been mocking his younger siblings, because he required no prompting.
Carmen sighed and executed an exquisite head toss. "I'm thankful I don't have to live in this town anymore."
"I'm thankful I don't have to live with Carmen anymore," Alice offered snidely. Young Rachel thought she almost caught a flash of hurt in Carmen's eyes, but it was gone and replaced with haughty irritation before she could really tell.
Older Rachel hissed a reprimand to the middle child and Older Quinn just frowned at her disapprovingly.
Alex was next. He took his time, twirling his fork around in his mashed potatoes for a minute before he thought of something. "I'm thankful that this is my last year of middle school."
"I'm thankful for puppies and purple belts," Shannon told them with a sage nod.
Alex looked at his little sister oddly. "Why puppies?"
"Cause puppies are awesome," she replied as if her reasons should be obvious.
"I'm just thankful that I got to see all my grandbabies one more time before I died."
"Way to be dramatic, Mom." Older Quinn raised her glass in a mock toast.
"I'm not getting any younger, Quinnie."
"I thought you were only forty."
The unamused glare that Judy gave Quinn sent the children at the table into a giggle fit that couldn't be quelled.
"Dad," Older Rachel called down the table to the silent slumped figure beside Morgan. He looked up, eyes blank, and focused on her. "Did you have anything to say?" she asked gently.
Young Rachel had avoiding interacting with her father for several reasons so far. One, a relatively unimportant reason, was because she didn't want him to recognize her. More profoundly, she didn't want to have to acknowledge the fact that part of her largest support system in the present was missing in the future.
Her Dad loved her. He was strong and brave. If he knew half of the things that were done to her as school the ER would probably be full of young teen athletes that had been beaten into unrecognizable lumps of bone. Some, like Kurofsky, might just disappear entirely. He was the one that met Finn at the door, not with a shotgun, but with a firm handshake and a bass growl that had shaken the large boy in his sneakers. Finn hadn't been comfortable going to her house since then. That same bass growl could gentle to the smoothest singing voice she had ever heard and it was perfect for the bedtime stories she had claimed to outgrow at the age of ten.
Her Daddy though, he was the one to tuck her in. He was the one that taught her the importance of Barbra and having a perfect pitch. He was the 'soccer mom' that never missed a recital or a show. He was the one she could complain about Finn to without fear that her boyfriend would be injured in some way. He was the tender heart. What was it Brittany had told Kurt? That heart attacks are from loving too much? Yeah, that made a lot of sense then.
Brittany got it right pretty frequently.
She didn't want to think about the fact that her Daddy just didn't exist anymore. And Quinn must have understood that because she was looking right at her and stroking the back of her hand with her thumb. Rachel glanced at her and smiled as best she could.
Leroy Berry said something in his deep rolling grumble, but it was mostly incomprehensible.
Quinn held Rachel's hand tighter.
"Charlie, Barbie, you don't have to, but you can say something too, if you want," Older Quinn offered after giving her wife a sympathetic smile.
Rachel and Quinn's eyes met.
Rachel spoke first, her eyes still connected with Quinn's. "I'm thankful that I met so many wonderful people that have affected me more than they can know."
Then everyone's eyes were on Quinn, waiting, and the pressure was almost too much. She nearly shook her head. Nearly denied herself the opportunity to be honest. "I'm thankful that I have the chance to see what's always been right in front of me," she said finally, fighting back tears when Rachel copied her and stroked the back of her hand.
After Quinn's confession everyone fell into relatively tame conversation while they ate. Judy didn't allow Carmen to dominate the conversation and made sure to speak to all of her grandchildren. Leroy Berry didn't speak unless directly addressed by one of the kids or Rachel. Older Quinn didn't attempt to speak to him at all and he seemed fine with ignoring her.
The lack of drama must have been slowly starving Carmen's brain, because it wasn't too long before she tried to stir up trouble.
"Barbie looks a lot like Mom, doesn't she Nanna?" Carmen began innocently; she saw the looks on her mothers' faces and quickly switched her plan. "Puppy has a crush on her."
"Carmen!" Alex raged, slamming his fists down on the table and shaking the glasses with the force. His face was an unhealthy shade of red. "That's not true! And don't call me Puppy!"
Carmen's grin was evil and familiar, Rachel had one very similar. "Your oedipal complex is really amusing," she tormented. She was far enough away that she didn't have to worry about him kicking her under the table.
Alex scowled in retribution, about to open his mouth for a biting retort.
Morgan added before he could start, "At least you don't have a father to kill. Now you just have to get rid of Momma."
The younger boy grinned at his brother, the joke suddenly funny since the older boy was in on it. He sent his blonde mother a mock glare across the table, twirling his steak knife a few times. "Yeah Momma, you're going down."
Older Quinn smirked at her youngest son. "Oh, I'll be going down all right."
It took two seconds for the comment to sink in to everyone's brain. The four older Fabray children all had similar reactions of disgust, Morgan's being the least dramatic and Carmen's the most. Young Rachel and Quinn were both mortified and looked pointedly away from everything except their very interesting meal.
"Quinnie!" Judy Fabray gasped in shock. "That was entirely inappropriate."
There was a playful smack from Older Rachel.
Leroy Berry looked like he hadn't heard anything that had happened.
Only Shannon was left out of the loop. "I don't get it," she told them in a whine.
"Don't worry baby, all it means is that Alex is going to marry a nice Jewish girl when he grows up," Rachel informed her youngest daughter gently.
"Do I have to do that too?" Shannon asked.
"Not if you don't want to," Older Quinn supplied.
QFRB
Lunch had started to turn into early super by the time everyone filled up. Quinn felt like she had been stuffed instead of the turkey, and Rachel was feeling warm and sleepy. It helped that the blonde's hand that she had taken before they began eating had stayed comfortably nestled with her own under the table for the whole meal.
It was nearly three by the time they all started shuffling away from the table with half empty serving bowls. Only when Rachel took the bowl that used to hold the green beans she had snapped herself did their hands separate.
Quinn felt cold settle over her palm. Holding Rachel's hand was probably her new favorite thing, she decided.
QFRB
Rachel and Quinn had both come to the conclusion, independently of each other, that they had spent too much time in the kitchen that week. It was starting to get ridiculous.
Rachel's pruned hands agreed. They hadn't even made it through half of the dishes that had to be hand washed yet. On the plus side, it kept her from being part of the crew that went back and forth from the dining room where her father was still sitting in silence.
"That's the last of it," Older Rachel declared when she brought in the butter dish. "I'm going to set Dad up in the living room. The game should still be on. That ought to bore him to sleep."
"Hey would you go find our mom?" the older blonde requested of the younger after her wife's retreat. Quinn acquiesced easily, flicking sudsy water off the tips of her fingers in Rachel's direction as she left.
She found her in the downstairs bathroom with the door open, adjusting her make up. Quinn almost wanted to roll her eyes, but with the woman looking directly in the mirror it would be only too easy to be caught.
"Sent to look for me, Quinn?"
Bingo.
Quinn panicked at the greeting and rushed to correct the elderly woman. "Oh, I'm not Quinn. I'm Ch-"
"You're Quinn," her mother interrupted with a scoff. "As if I wouldn't recognize my own daughter."
Quinn flushed in embarrassment and confusion. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
"You like to think you're protecting me, and I'm fine with letting you believe it most of the time. I may be an old woman but I'm not an idiot. And as much as I love Carmen, I wouldn't consider her as someone gifted with the art of subtlety." Quinn couldn't help but agree. "I don't think Leroy has noticed anything, and I do believe you and Rachel were right in deluding him. Ever since Hiram passed he's been so…withdrawn."
"He was really…silent."
Judy didn't reply other than to nod in agreement. They both stood in silence for a moment, the elder finishing up on touching up her lipstick before she turned to face the younger. "Quinnie, I just want you to know that I'm so proud of you."
Quinn flushed again at the sudden praise and looked down at her feet. "Mom," she muttered disapprovingly.
"No, you need to listen. I know I wasn't the best role model. Even when I was trying my hardest I was still so stuck in my ways that you were afraid to come to me when you most needed me and that just wasn't fair to you. But you've impressed me so much. The way you deal with your children, I know I didn't teach you that, but I'm glad you learned it from somewhere. I know that if they ever come to you with any problem or worry that you won't ever turn them away. They can relish their differences and not have to be afraid of them."
Quinn didn't know what to say so she remained silent, eyes still focused on her feet. She didn't move for several minutes after Judy left the restroom and it was only with the sound of a door slamming somewhere in the house did she look up.
Her brain felt a little foggy from all the information she was trying to digest. Her mother was ok with it.
Her mother knew she was gay and she was ok with it.
She wandered back towards the sounds of activity and found herself in the kitchen with Alice, Rachel and Older Quinn. They were all wrapping up food or doing dishes already so Quinn wasn't sure what to help with.
"Where did Mom go?"
"Her cab arrived."
"Cab?"
"Yeah, she refuses to get glasses so the state took her license. I've told her she can get contacts or even that laser surgery but she thinks it's the work of the devil. I don't really understand that one. I mean, she lets doctors insert collagen under her skin all the time but she won't let them fix her eyes." The older blonde shrugged.
Older Rachel reappeared in the kitchen, after a few moments of silence. "Dad's asleep," she informed them all. "Hopefully he'll stay that way for a while too. He's always been a heavy sleeper."
Older Quinn laughed without much humor. "We'll let's pray they don't get too loud anyway. Do you want to lock them all in the basement?"
"What are you talking about?" Carmen demanded.
"We're just expecting a few more guests, is all."
Alice jumped into the conversation. "Who?"
Older Rachel looked around for Shannon briefly, and when she saw that the little girl had snuck away from cleanup duty she relaxed. "Some more time travelers are coming over. Not everyone can just show up at their parents houses for Thanksgiving with a doppelganger."
"They're all coming here?" Younger Quinn demanded. She shared a worried glance with Rachel.
"Not all of them. Only the ones in town. We offered to babysit."
"The basement would probably be a good idea," Young Rachel muttered. "Who's coming?"
"Uh…" Older Quinn shared a hesitant look with her wife. Older Rachel winced.
"Finn's coming, isn't he?" Young Rachel asked when she saw the look pass between them.
"Among others."
Younger Quinn and Rachel shared another worried glance, neither noticing that they were nearly mirroring their older counterparts. They couldn't help but feel a little swell of dread.
Quinn had a sinking suspicion that the day was going to end a lot worse than it began.
When she and Rachel escaped from the kitchen they made their way to the staircase without any conversation on the subject. Upon sitting down the brunette looped her arm with Quinn's immediately.
"I wonder how they'll react."
Quinn sighed and leaned her head on the one of the stair railing's posts. "I can't imagine it going well."
"You really shouldn't be so negative."
"You really shouldn't be so bossy."
Rachel giggled. "You're kind of funny when you aren't being a complete…"
"What?"
"Never mind."
"No, go on, say it."
"…Bitch."
Quinn gasped in false shock and pulled a comical face. "I can't believe you would say such a thing." She couldn't hold back her own giggles as she said, "I've been nothing but kind to you."
"Recently."
"I resemble that," Quinn said indignantly.
Rachel bit her bottom lip and noticed when Quinn's eyes followed the action. The blonde was just so…cute.
She told her so and watched in delight as Quinn's face took on a hue resembling a tomato. She giggled and without thinking, leaned forward and laid a gentle kiss on the burning cheek.
Quinn's breath hitched at the contact and Rachel froze in shock at what she'd just done. They didn't move from their positions, Rachel's lips ghosting against Quinn's skin with every exhale.
The doorbell rang and they sprang apart. Rachel bit her lip again turning her entire body away from Quinn's so she wouldn't just leap on her and kiss her senseless.
The blonde had to put more room between them before she did the same so she got up to answer the door.
Quinn sighed heavily at the sight the greeted her though the peep hole. "It's Brittany and Santana," she told Rachel. The small brunette had impatiently tried to push Quinn out of the way so she could see through the peep hole only to find that she was just a little too short to use it.
On the other side of the door Brittany rang the doorbell three times in quick succession.
"Ok, ok, hold on a second," Quinn yelled through the door, pulling Rachel out of the way.
The second the door was opened Brittany pounced on Quinn.
"I love the future! It's so much fun. There's holograms and cars that talk and the music is so cool. Me and San stayed up all night the first night watching YouTube videos of hover boards. Those are like boards that fly and stuff." The blonde finally took a breath and stopped trying to squeeze Quinn's ribcage until it caved. She bounced over to Rachel and hugged her instead. The small diva's eyes widened comically and she flailed a little when Brittany pulled her head tightly to her chest. "I'm so happy that my time machine worked! Oh! Did you know me and San are married?" Quinn shook her head, biting her lower lip hard when she noticed the way Rachel was desperately trying to pull away from the awkward embrace. Brittany didn't notice. "Yeah, we totally are and we have kids and stuff and they act just like San! Isn't this just the best vacation ever?" She released Rachel and bounced a step back, almost colliding with the older Brittany who looked just as excited as her younger counterpart. "Me and Myself are trying to talk Santanas into having a foursome," the blonde informed them with enough enthusiasm to choke something large and generally unenthusiastic. Her beaming grin was infectious enough that Rachel mimicked it for a moment before what had been said registered.
Behind them, both Santanas shot each other matching looks of irritation.
Older Rachel, having wandered in at the tail end of Brittany's excited ramble, winced. "And she just said that in front of the kids."
A look of shock settled over Young Brittany's face. "We wouldn't do it in front of the kids Old Rachel. That would be like…mega creepy."
"Anyway," Older Santana said pointedly, "can we please get inside? It's cold out here."
There was a flurry of movement as everyone tried to shift out of the way so the new arrivals could enter, but no one wanted to leave the scene, mostly out of a morbid sense of curiosity. Santana's daughter silently elbowed her way through the crowd and grabbed Alice around the wrist, turning and dragging her up the stairs without protest. The intense look of irritation on her face that closely mimicked the younger version of her mother warned them off of trying to impede her progress.
"Don't stay up there long, Nicole," Santana ordered after her. "We have to leave in ten minutes."
Nicole didn't acknowledge her mother's order verbally.
"Mommy?" Shannon asked, tugging at Rachel's sleeve, "I'm really confused. What's a foursome?"
"Okay," Older Rachel replied, drawing out the word. "Charlie, Barbie, why don't you show your friends down to the basement." She took Shannon by the hand and led her up the stairs, quietly starting a sentence with "A foursome is when…"
"Mind if I go drag Nic away from your spawn?" Older Santana asked. She didn't wait for Quinn to reply before she marched toward the stairs.
QFRB
"You look old."
The door had barely closed behind them before Santana started in. Quinn was honestly surprised that she had lasted that long in the first place.
"Yeah? You're one to talk. Nice mom hair, Santana."
The darker girl scowled.
"I like her hair," Brittany commented absently, eyes focused somewhere over their heads. "It's cute."
Santana flushed noticeably and avoided eye contact with all of them. Rachel almost felt bad for her. It wasn't exactly a secret that Brittany and Santana had been involved in the past, but they had entered senior year with Santana stuck in friend zone. Brittany had since been dating some new kid that Rachel didn't know and the Latina had been more volatile in general. She had taken to avoiding the girl completely when she had the option.
Quinn huffed. "Whatever, I'm going to go get some of the leftovers and bring them down for later. You know those boys are going to be hungry."
She didn't really think anything about leaving Rachel down there with Santana. Brittany was there too, and she had always liked Rachel a little. She also thought Rachel was a mystical creature, so that was probably part of it.
The ground floor was chaos. Alice and Alex were closer down the hall with Nicole and Brittany and Santana's son. He introduced himself as Eddie and then turned right back to his conversation with Alex about some television show that was popular in their time.
Older Santana, with her very professional mom haircut was trying to corral her two children and Brittany and get them out of the house.
Older Quinn was trying to help and so the younger told Alex and Alice to help her get food to take downstairs. Alex was especially eager to help.
"Fridays are usually takeout days, but since we have so many left overs we'll have to eat that tomorrow. But if we can get rid of all of them, Mom might order Thai."
"I don't want Thai," Alice argued. "We should get Chinese."
"Like there's a huge difference."
"There is."
"It's all Asian."
"That's racist."
They continued to biker even as Quinn left the room.
When the doorbell rang again she doubled back to see who had arrived. Older Quinn got to the door first, Shannon trailing behind her.
Young Quinn would not have recognized Puck if it weren't for the fact that he was escorting his younger self. He was completely bald on top of his head, but he had a large righteous beard to go with his large muscular arms and barrel chest. He had a neck tattoo of a shark and 'Beth' on his knuckles in fancy calligraphy style letters.
He, unlike Brittany and Santana, had not dragged his children and wife out of the minivan type car that stood rumbling at the curb.
"Just so you know," Older Puck opened with the air of a responsible adult, "I've told Seth that if he gets your daughter pregnant, I'll send him back to the orphanage."
Older Quinn stared levelly at him for a long moment until he shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "Go away."
"Right, bye." He was out the door before Young Puck could open his mouth to call out for him. He realized he had been left in a lion's den and turned reluctantly to face both of the Quinns standing in front of him.
Unfortunately for him, the youngest Fabray child had spotted him and had stolen his attention before the blonde women could drag him away to be murdered in some dark corner of this psudo-mansion. "Hi," Shannon greeted shyly, waving at the mohawked boy with her fingers.
"Uh…hi," Puck offered, a little freaked by the girl's tone and actions.
"You're cute," she told him and he chuckled as little as possible. He wasn't afraid of the adult Quinn that stood behind the girl, arms crossed and glaring, but he didn't want to give her a reason to murder him either.
"Ok," Older Quinn said firmly, taking Shannon's hand and dragging her towards the stairs, "we're keeping you far away from him. In fact, I think I might just have to lock you in a cupboard or something. How do you keep ending up down here? Charlie, take your friend down to the basement."
The teenagers heard a very whiney "but Momma!" as the young girl was dragged up the stairs and then a tense hush fell over them.
"So," Puck began eventually, drawing Quinn's attention away from the stairs. "Are the others here already?"
"Just Santana and Brittany so far. And Rachel," the blonde replied. She was tense and Puck could see it. He knew her well and that alone made her more uncomfortable than she already was. "But she lives here so…"
"You and Rachel though," he said quietly and with affectionate amusement, "I was surprised, but it really makes a lot of sense when you think about it."
"What do you mean?" Quinn demanded.
"Well, you kind of act like a dude who likes a chick and can't really express it right. Instead of hitting on her and making references to how big your dick is, you treat her like shit and try to force your feelings on other people." He shrugged like it was no big deal.
"Are you high?" Quinn asked, honestly curious. She couldn't really understand how he could be so calm about her future relationship with Rachel when she could barely keep her heart rate down to normal just thinking about it.
"Not right now. I was a little earlier. Did you know pot got legalized six years ago? I own a smoke shop. I've pretty much been munted for the past two days."
"Sounds responsible."
Puck scoffed. "It's my adult self's job to be responsible. This is totally an awesome vacation."
Quinn rolled her eyes and turned to lead him down to the basement, ignoring his question about if she was planning to murder him when they reached the bottom.
Brittany was just as excited to see Puck as she was Rachel and Quinn. She leapt on him and gave him the same excited speech she had delivered earlier. When she revealed that she was married to Santana, the boy shot her a very smug smirk to which Santana replied with her middle finger.
Mike and Tina arrived just as they were starting to argue over what movie they should watch to pass the time. Every suggestion that the time travelers would come up with would be vetoed by Alex or Alice as being "freaking old."
The debate continued until the settled firmly on Easy A. It was Alice's favorite "old" movie, Alex thought Emma Stone was hot (so did Quinn but she didn't say anything) and some of the other time travelers hadn't had the opportunity to see it.
Finn and Kurt arrived ten minutes in to the movie and it was paused.
The tall boy had a strange fire in his eyes. He wasn't angry. It was more like a look of extreme protectiveness or perhaps ownership. He knew that Rachel, his current girlfriend, had married someone else, but he hadn't been told who by anyone. Anytime he had tried to bring it up with his adult self the conversation would be shut down. He could feel that his territory had been intruded on and he was looking for a way to rectify the situation.
"Rachel," he said in a gentle tone, laced with clear adoration.
Rachel looked up, smiled and stood, and across from her Quinn could already feel her heart breaking. The blonde had to look down when Finn took Rachel into his arms and spun her around. Rachel's happy laughter cut through her like a hot knife. She wanted Rachel to laugh for her like that. When Rachel's laughter was silenced suddenly Quinn had to close her eyes because she knew what was happening and she didn't want to be tempted to see it.
She felt a hand on her knee and she peeked to see that Morgan was the culprit. He was unhappy too but he gave her a comforting smile. It helped too, just seeing his face was helpful. It was a reminder that in the end she would get the girl. While she was still at odds with her beliefs and her raising, she was also beginning to accept that despite all of that she could and would be happy.
Rachel just felt guilty.
Under most circumstances Finn was an alright kisser. Puck had been better, honestly, but she had been willing to look beyond that when she thought that the boy was her soul mate. Now though, everything was different. Now he was too large and his face as too prickly and his hands were too big on her waist. He smelled like turkey, and she knew he hadn't brushed his teeth since he had eaten.
She wanted to be kissing Quinn.
And realistically she knew that Quinn had eaten turkey at lunch as well, and that she hadn't brushed her teeth since then either. The thought didn't gross her out like it did with Finn though.
When Finn managed to drag his mouth away from hers (with the encouragement of Santana for the two of them to get a room) he said, "It's super weird that Adult Quinn answered the door for your house. Are you like, friends with her now or something?"
"Really, Finnept? Are you that clueless?" Santana asked from her spot next to Brittany.
Finn looked more confused than insulted. "What do you mean?"
"Quinn and Rachel hooked up," she revealed plainly. An awkward silence descended briefly while Finn digested the startling news he had heard.
"Wait," Finn choked out, "you and Quinn are…like, married?"
"That's what I just said," Santana muttered in irritation. Everyone ignored her.
Rachel flinched even though his voice was just bordering on surprise and hurt and there was no anger present still. "Yes, Finn."
His brow collapsed. "Why didn't you tell me that when I called you the other day?"
"You didn't ask."
"Dammit Rachel!" The smaller girl flinched at the sudden change in tone along with the rest of the room's occupants. "I did ask. I was being all supportive and understanding. I was really trying hard to not be like…a jerk or whatever and the whole time you were hiding this from me! I bet you and Quinn were just having a grand old time, laughing it up about how out of the loop I was. I bet you were having crazy lesbian sex or whatever because everyone knows how Quinn likes to fuck up my life."
Rachel flinched again because Finn's voice had dissolved into anger. He was coiling up, looking for some way to discharge his anger. She didn't say anything though, in order to keep him from getting any angrier. She looked around the room to find that everyone just looked uncomfortable. Santana looked irritated and Quinn…Quinn was just blank. That was disappointing.
Quinn didn't comment. Finn had always had a short fuse and a propensity for taking his temper out on inanimate objects, luckily there were no small chairs for him to kick over. It hurt though, not saying anything. Not standing up for the girl she was in love with. Not standing up for herself. It was hurting Rachel too. She could see those dark eyes flicking to her and then away a few times.
"Hey!" Morgan stood up and moved himself between Finn and Rachel, fire in his eyes and hands on his hips. "You don't have any right to treat Rachel that way, especially since this is her house. If you don't start acting like a decent human being I'll escort you from the premises myself." He paused and looked around at all of them. "That goes for everyone here." He returned his gaze to Finn and moved his hands from his hips to crossing his arms over his chest. "And I think you owe someone an apology."
Finn did not appreciate being lectured at by a guy that was the child of his ex and current girlfriend. It rubbed him the wrong way to see someone that looked like Rachel (only more like a boy Rachel) but talked to him like Quinn used to.
Rachel noticed this and rushed to head off an explosion. She jumped up and took Morgan's arm, stroking it gently. "That's really not necessary."
"No it is," he argued. "If you won't take up for yourself, and no one else," here he glanced at Quinn, "is willing to help you then I will. Always. You're going to be my mom. I've always stood up for you. You couldn't stop me when I was a child and you can't stop me now. And there's no way I'm going to let some scared little boy, who is only worried about his own feelings, put you down." He looked pointedly back at the tall boy. "So apologize or get the fuck out."
Finn shuffled his big feet and looked ashamed. "Sorry I yelled. I just don't like that everyone was hiding this from me."
"Honestly, Finn! What was I supposed to do? I didn't want to tell you something like that over the phone. I knew you would react badly."
"So everyone just decided to bombard me with it all at once and like, rub my face in it?"
"We aren't rubbing your face in anything, Finn. Quinn and I haven't had any interaction at all since you arrived." Finn opened his mouth to make another argument but Rachel cut him off quickly. "Come over here Finn," she pleaded, pulling him away from the others and to a far corner of the room and began to speak to him quietly so the others couldn't hear what she was saying.
"Finn, I really need you to stay calm."
"I just, how can I when I see my ex with my girlfriend and you aren't tearing each other's throats out like usual? I don't even know how I'm supposed to think of you right now? When did you turn gay?"
"I'm not gay Finn, and I've always been bisexual, I've just never had the opportunity nor the desire to explore that other side of myself. Clearly, something will change in the furture. I just want you to know that it hasn't changed yet."
"So…"
She felt the pain of lying settle firmly in her heart. She usually prided herself on brutal honesty, especially in her relationships, but there were other things to consider in this situation. She now had two relationships to safeguard. If lying to Finn kept him from attacking Quinn then she would do it unflinchingly. "So I'm still very much attracted and in love with you."
"You are?"
"Of course I am, Finn."
"I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"I accept your apology."
"Things can change, right? I mean, adult me said that the future changes with every decision we make so…maybe you and I can be together in the real future."
Rachel tried very hard not to wince. "There are millions of possibilities."
"You would rather be with me, right?"
It hurt to look him right in his pleading eyes and confirm that she would, but she did it.
QFRB
Quinn watched them like hawks, along with everyone else in the room. Rachel had her back to the rest of them, so they couldn't see how she looked, but Finn's face went from anger to jealousy to worry to contentment. And then he kissed Rachel again and Quinn just had to get out.
By the time she made it to the top of the stairs the tears had already started running down her cheeks. She ran to the downstairs bathroom and shut herself in, still not allowing the sobs that wanted to escape her free. She didn't want anyone to hear. So she cried through her teeth, choked down some water, and then cried some more.
It felt like only a few minutes had passed when someone came knocking at the door. She didn't answer and hoped that whoever was there would just leave. Her hope was dashed when the door opened and closed quickly, quiet footsteps on the tile as the only indication that someone had entered the small room.
Quinn curtailed her tears quickly, wiping her eyes and stifling her shuddering gasps with a clinched jaw. When she turned around she found Rachel leaning back against the bathroom door, sad brown eyes were focused on her.
A false smile worked its way on to her face, but it resembled more of a grimace. "I need to use the restroom, Rach-el."
"Do you really? Or are you just trying to escape?"
"Does it matter?" She squared her shoulders against the emotional hurricane that was raging in her chest.
Rachel didn't answer the question. She chose instead to cut right to the heart of the problem instead of pointing out that the blonde had been M.I.A. for the past half hour. "He's my boyfriend, Quinn."
Quinn's smile was tight already, but it just got thinner at the other girl's defeated tone. She knew she didn't really have a right to be upset. She wasn't dating Rachel. Sure, they were going to be married one day, but that was years away. It hurt though, seeing the brutish boy with his hands on the tiny girl and his slobbery tongue trying to work its way into her mouth, had always done, but she had only just admitted why it hurt so much. Honesty felt a thousand times worse than lies. She knew now that she just wanted to pin the brunette under her and erase every trace of Finn's touch and kiss from her mind and replace it with something new and altogether wonderful.
She wouldn't do that though. She wasn't brave enough to try. "I know," she whispered finally, closing the gap between them with words that did nothing to comfort either of them. The blonde sniffled and choked down a sob. Before she could even hope that Rachel wouldn't notice, the brunette was already in motion, intending to cross the small area and embrace the blonde. The blonde in question turned her back on the smaller girl. "Please don't touch me," she begged. The footfalls silenced. Quinn took a trembling breath.
"Quinn," Rachel started but then trailed off.
The blonde shook her head and breathed deeply, a few wayward tears eking out the corners of her tightly closed eyes. "I'm fine."
Rachel began to approach again and when the blonde didn't stop her, she wrapped her arms tightly around Quinn's waist, laying her head gently between the taller girl's shoulder blades. Quinn stiffened under the touch but didn't pull away. "You're not."
"I've just finally figured out why it always bothered me so much and it just…sucks," the blonde revealed when Rachel didn't continue. Under her cheek Rachel could feel the blonde's shoulder blades rise and fall in an unconscious shrug. She felt her own heart squeeze tightly in her chest at Quinn admission. She didn't have to ask what Quinn was talking about.
Finn.
He was a problem, but not one she was willing to do anything about while stuck in the future. She had talked him down, but she knew that she was going to have to spend the rest of the evening glued to his side so he wouldn't get insecure and jealous again. He was really very needy.
"The older you told me something the first day we got here. She said…" Rachel hesitated for a second; nervous about how the blonde in her arms would react, "that you had always liked me. And the way she said it sounded like she didn't mean it platonically." Quinn froze under her for several long seconds during which neither of them managed to breathe. Only when the blonde drew in a shuddering breath did Rachel start to breathe again too. "I want you to know," she continued when she realized that Quinn was not going to respond verbally, "that I've always had this strange fascination with you. I've desperately sought for your approval and every time you would shut me down I would just try harder. And you know I think you're breathtaking," she felt Quinn lean into her embrace a little. "I guess you could call it a crush. I have a crush on you." Quinn laid her arms over Rachel's, twining their fingers and holding the smaller girl's hands closer to her. It emboldened Rachel to say what she wanted to next. She lifted her head and leveled her mouth with Quinn's ear. "And someday I'm going to marry you."
Rachel's speech had calmed and comforted Quinn. She was embarrassed, and almost wanted to deny, that Rachel knew she had always liked her. More than anything though, the brunette's last claim sent a wave of love crashing over her and she felt so full and wonderful that she thought she could pass out from it.
She turned in Rachel's embrace, wrapping one arm around the girl's shoulder to more effectively crush their bodies together, and burying her other hand in dark locks, twining the strands around her fingers. She pressed her forehead to the shorter girl's temple and just breathed with her. Rachel held her tighter, she could feel Quinn's fingers flexing on her back.
Quinn was sure she was flying.
Rachel was sure she was falling.
The brunette was the first to move, she turned her head until their foreheads were meeting.
Their mouths were so close that they were breathing the same air. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. They nearly touched and Quinn could imagine that they were touching. She could nearly feel the electricity that she knew was just waiting to pass from Rachel's kissable lips to hers. God, she wanted that mouth on her own so badly. They were frozen there, eyes locked. When Quinn's thumb trembled over the arch of Rachel's cheekbone the spell was broken. She pulled back just enough that their foreheads were no longer in contact.
"Quinn," she reluctantly reprimanded, looking down and away from the bright hazel eyes that were so focused on her.
Quinn's fingers curled against the softness of the brunette's cheek and she looked away too. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," she insisted. "It's just not right, right now. He's in the other room and for right now I'm his."
Quinn nodded, accepting the perceived rejection like a heavy yoke.
Rachel saw the melancholy sinking in further and moved further into Quinn's personal space, bringing a hand up to mirror the one on her own cheek. She stoked away a few tears and cupped the blonde's chin, forcing hesitant eyes to meet her own. "Hey, I want to kiss you," she confessed, running a gentle thumb under the other girl's bottom lip. She lost her train of thought for a second when the inviting mouth dropped open a little. "But I want to do it right," she continued when air returned to her lungs. "Not in some bathroom with my boyfriend waiting for me outside. That's not right. It's not fair to him and it's definitely not fair to you." She swallowed and struggled to hold back tears at the look on Quinn's face. "You deserve so much more than the knowledge that after I kiss you I'll have to walk right back into his arms."
Quinn nodded and stepped away completely. It was for the best. She didn't want to get too attached anyway.
Too late.
"How is it that we always have emotional moments in bathrooms?"
Rachel smiled sadly. "Apparently it's a habit we will never break."
QFRB
And you're still saying
my excuses and my reasons
they are tearing yours to pieces
But you can rest assured
That I, I'll use them when I need them.
But you need them now
to come and dig you out.
A/N: Sorry it took so long, but it didn't want to end and neither did my homework. Upper level classes suck balls and it's not going to get any easier for me. One of my classes has a one page single spaced essay due every time the class meets for the next twelve meetings. I also have five group presentations and four huge essays for this semester. Plus all my club responsibilities on top of that.
Basically, I'm going to have a busy semester.
I'm still super into writing this though, so no worries, I'll be cranking out these chapters as fast as possible.
This is twenty pages long and I read through it super fast, so if I missed anything major you need to tell me about it so I can fix it soonish.
This chapter song: Excavating by Vanity Theft
Next chapter: What have all the Glee kids been up to? Quinn wants to puke. Faberry snuggles. Faberry more than snuggles?
REVIEW NOW YOU GUYS!