Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Glee.
Spoilers: Spoilers for season 1, episode 2.
Rating: T to be safe.
Reply to reviews (chapter 2):
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks for the review! Glad you liked it. And we will find out if Quinn is keeping Beth real soon. :)
bproofmgmt: No problem. :)
Anon (guest): Thank you for the review! I'm excited myself to get this story going, and I hope you enjoy the rest of it! :)
Thank you to anyone else that reviewed on the last chapter. Also, I want to give a welcome to my new followers: darryl0101, Tishamay, SuperFosterLover, Boris Yeltsin tazfan52, Arrow19, and Anneta93.
Note: This will take place during the episode of Showmance. Each of these times will take place during lunch and over the course of 3 days. It'll end with Santana, Brittany, and Quinn with Rachel on Friday after joining Glee club.
Note 2: In my Glee-verse, Rachel is already friends with Mercedes and Kurt (this will make sense at the end).
Note 3: I know many stories have Quinn or Santana calling off the Slushies on Rachel. However, this cannot be done here. There is an actual reason as to why Rachel is getting Slushied. It will make sense as the story progresses.
Note about Santana's family: Her Mamí and Papí are Carmen and Carlos Lopez, and her brother is Gabriel Lopez. His girlfriend is named Leilah (Lay-uh).
Enjoy! :)
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
Showmance Season 1, episode 2
*Santana's house*
The girls are in Santana' room. They usually only have time to talk about "Operation Get Our Star Back" in the mornings before school and during their lunch period. Quinn's father picks them up each day after Cheerios practice and brings them to the Fabray's house for about an hour before dropping Brittany and Santana off at their houses.
"All right, I think yesterday went well." Santana says as the three girls eat their breakfast and discuss the week ahead. "I mean, yeah I didn't enjoy laughing at her when she was slushied. But other than that, I say we can continue watching her, and if your dad asks, Q, we'll just say we are keeping an eye on her."
Quinn nods in agreement. "I agree with, S. We can watch her during the day. It won't be any different than usual, and we'll keep discussing how we are going to do this in the mornings and during Cheerios practice."
The two girls turn to Britt, who takes a bite of her cereal and spins around in Santana's desk chair before swallowing and tipping her head back. "Can we talk to her this week, too?"
Santana sighs. "B…"
"No," Brittany shakes her head. "I mean, not like, in the hallway or in class or anything. But, we can at lunch, can't we? She doesn't eat in the cafeteria, so no one will catch us and then Q's dad will never know. We can do it then, can't we?"
Quinn and San share a look, Santana tilting her head to the side and shrugging to let Q know this is her choice. Finally, she nods. "All right. We'll do it. But not today, okay, B? How about we start tomorrow? Today needs to be just a day where we watch her. Okay?" Brittany nods.
"We have to figure out where she eats lunch," Santana says. "We need to be sure we know, too. We can't stay the entire lunch, and only one of us can go at a time."
"She eats in the Choir room," Quinn answers immediately, and Santana rolls her eyes.
"Of course you'd know. I swear you still have your Berry Radar intact." Quinn just smiles in response.
"I'll go first." Quinn decides. "We'll start off with ten minutes at a time. Keep it there for a week or so. Then go up to 15 minutes, then 20, until eventually, we'll be able to stay the entire lunch period. Hopefully, by then we will have figured out what exactly we are doing, and will be able to actually do something about this."
She waits for any disagreement and then continues. "I'll go tomorrow. Britt, you can go Thursday, and Santana, do you want to Friday?"
Santana shrugs. "Sure, why not."
"All right, it's settled then. Let's get to Cheerios practice, and we will continue this tonight. San, I'm staying here, remember? Did you let Mamí Carmen know?"
"Yep. You're all set." Santana tells her, standing up and grabbing her bag. "All right, chicas. Let's get gone. Coach will have our asses if we're late for practice."
*Wednesday – Lunchtime – Choir room*
"All right, I have your phone set for 10 minutes, Q." Santana hands her said phone. "Make this short and fast. Remember; don't give too many details away, all right?"
She pushes Q towards the door of the choir room. "Now go work that Fabray magic of yours. B and I will see you in 10 minutes; we'll be in the lunchroom."
And with that, the Latina links a pinky with Britt and the two are off. Quinn takes a deep breath, peering into the room from the window. She opens the door slowly and steps into the room undetected.
She watches as Rachel digs around in her bag, pulling out some sheets of music and going to the piano. The Diva doesn't seem to notice Quinn watching her.
Rachel begins going over the notes on the piano, playing one at a time. Then she moves on to a piano piece that Quinn recognizes immediately.
It's the first piece that Quinn had ever taught Rachel how to play all by herself. It is also the first one, out of three, that Quinn and Rachel could ever play together.
Quinn continues to watch her, trying to get up enough courage to get the Diva's attention so she can talk to her. Before she knows it, her phone is beeping, signaling her 10 minutes being up.
Before she can silence the phone and sneak out, Rachel freezes at the piano, looking up and catching sight of Quinn at the door. "Quinn? What -." The Cheerio doesn't let Rachel finish as she is bolting out the door and down the hallway.
She makes it to the cafeteria doors and tries to calm down a bit, attempting to make it seem like she didn't just sprint here from the choir room. Santana and Britt glance up as she approaches and immediately she is bombarded with questions.
"Well? Did you talk to her?"
"What did Rachie say, Q?"
Quinn sinks into a chair and sighs, covering her face. Santana leans forward, lowering her voice. "Hey, Q, she wasn't mad at you, was she?" Quinn stays quiet, prompting Britt to ask the next question.
"Quinnie, did Rachie yell at you?"
"No," finally she speaks. "She didn't yell at me, B. She didn't say anything at all." That gets a raised eyebrow from the Latina.
"Seriously? You mean to tell me that Rachel Berry didn't say anything to you?" She throws her hands up. "How is that possible?"
"She didn't say anything because she didn't know I was there."
Britt scrunches her nose up. "Why didn't she see you? Oh, did you turn invisible, Quinn?" The question gets at least a smile from the other blonde as she shakes her head.
"No, B, I wasn't invisible." But she doesn't give any more than that. Santana sighs, throwing her hands up again.
"Hey, Q, you gotta help us out here. When we left, you were walking into the choir room, about to go talk to her. If you did so, how did she not know you were there?"
Quinn sighs, ranking her fingers through her ponytail. "She didn't say anything because I didn't say anything." Then she shrugs. "I got caught up watching her play the piano."
She gives a small smile, "You know I used to spend hours with her in her basement, just watching her play. I thought it was amazing how young she was, yet she could play any song I requested."
Quinn smiles sadly, and the girls look on, sad and sympathetic. "It was memorizing." She's not even aware of the tears until Santana is pulling her and Britt out the cafeteria and to the bathroom.
"We'll try again tomorrow, okay?" Santana tells her after a few minutes of silence. She helps Quinn touch up her makeup and then the three Cheerios go on about their day.
*Thursday – Lunchtime – Choir room*
Thursday during lunch, the girls decide to try again to talk to Rachel. Santana and Britt walk Quinn to the choir room, reminding her to actually talk this time, instead of just creepily watching the Diva.
She goes in quietly, finding Rachel at the piano again.
"Hello, Quinn," the Diva doesn't even look up this time. "Are you here to watch me again, or will you actually be telling me what it is you need?" Quinn sighs as she moves further into the room.
"I'm here to actually talk this time." She drops her bag in one of the seats, sitting next to it. And then, silence except for Rachel playing the scales.
The Cheerio tries to find a way to begin the conversation. She catches a glance at her phone; 7 minutes left. Maybe they should have started with 15 minutes instead of just 10. She sighs and looks up to catch Rachel watching her.
Another sigh. "I figured you would have questions about what I left in your locker Friday." That's a good a place to start as any, right?
Rachel nods. "Yes, I have to admit I was surprised. We haven't exactly celebrated out anniversary in quite some time, so I wasn't sure as to what it meant. The note, however, was interesting. You 'hate what you have had to do to me'? What exactly was it that you meant by that, Quinn?"
The blonde sighs for the umpteenth time as she looks at Rachel and just what her friend - ex-friend? - has become these last few years. "I can't explain that just yet. I-we will soon, I promise. I just -" What exactly was it she wanted to accomplish with this visit again?
Another glance at her phone. 4 and a half minutes left. "We don't have long to talk," this confuses the Diva she sees, so she continues before Rachel has a chance to question her.
"We will explain everything soon, Rachel." She throws out the Diva's first name to shock her into silence. "We can't do it now, or in the next few weeks, but we will soon, okay? I promise."
"But, I meant what I said in the note. I…am so sorry for what we have done. Santana and Britt, they…none of us wanted to do it."
Rachel shakes her head and comes over to Quinn. "If none of you wanted to do it, Quinn, then why did you?"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Quinn jumps at the sound of her phone, not expecting the four minutes to be up so soon. She grabs her bag and stands, Rachel following.
"What's that? Quinn, why did you have a timer set on your phone?"
"I have to go." She ignores the question and heads for the door. "I'll…I'll see you later, okay?" Then she's gone, leaving Rachel to wonder what the hell just happened.
And back to the cafeteria it is for Quinn. The girls just look at her this time, wondering if she spent the last ten minutes just watching Rachel again.
"I need more time." It's the only thing she says as she sits down. "10 minutes isn't enough."
"What did you talk about this time?" Santana asks, and Quinn throws her hands up, frustrated.
"Nothing! Nothing at all." She lowers her voice so no one can hear the next part. "I told her I meant what I said in the note, but that was it. I'm telling you, San, we need more time. 10 minutes just isn't long enough."
Santana puffs out her cheeks as she breathes out deeply. "We can't do that yet, Q, you know that. Going two days in a row like this? That right there is already cutting it close."
She knows it's not what Quinn wants to hear. Hell, it isn't what she wants to say, but it's the truth. However, to appease the blonde, she continues.
"How about we sent Britt in tomorrow, and then see how that goes. If it's good, and we don't get caught or anything, we'll regroup this weekend at my house. Gabriel is supposed to be at his girlfriend's house, and Tía Andrea and Tío Wesley are leaving Saturday morning. And Mamí and Papí are going away for their anniversary this weekend."
"That means we'll have the whole house to ourselves. We can talk uninterrupted." She blows out a breath. "Just…Q, tell your father that you are going to go to church with Britt and me, we'll stay officially at Britt's house, but hang out at mine. That way, your father won't be suspicious of us being alone. All right?"
Quinn agrees. She knows it's their best course of action. The best way to continue this without her father finding out. As the three Cheerios start to eat their lunch, each of their minds lingers to different things.
Quinn's goes to Rachel and how good it felt to be in the presence of her once-best friend again.
*Friday, August 14th, – Choir Room*
Finally, it's Friday. After the pep assembly, Brittany, Santana, and Quinn approach Mr. Schue in the choir room. They inform him that they are going to try out for Glee Club.
"I have to say, I'm really surprised you guys are trying out." Mr. Schue tells them. Quinn just goes with what they've rehearsed when the girls were deciding the reason behind joining Glee Club.
"I'm sure you've read about this in the school paper. Finn and I have been an item for a while now." Honestly, she doesn't care as much about Finn and what he does as she does about getting close to Rachel again. "So what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't support him?"
"Well, let's see what you've got." He switches the music on and the girls sing.
And, well, they do a pretty good job of impressing Mr. Schue. So much so that he immediately congratulates them on their getting into Glee Club.
The girls are pulled into Sue Sylvester's office during lunch and made to practice, which means not only do they have to miss out on lunch, but Brittany will be unable to see Rachel.
When they get out, they are nothing but happy.
Brittany is the first to squeal as soon as they are out of the room. Quinn shushes them as they turn a corner, but immediately says moments later, "Oh, my god, you guys! This is great!" She's talking about their reason for being in Glee Club, however, Brittany pouts.
"I don't want to be Coach's spies. That means we have to be mean to Rachel, and I don't want to do that."
"No, B, don't you get it?" Quinn shuffles them down the hallway towards the choir room. "Now we have a real legit excuse for being around Rachel every day. If my dad asks, we'll just say we're being spies for Coach Sylvester. And when he calls to confirm that, she'll agree because, well it's the truth."
Brittany's eyes light up as she realizes what she's been told. "You mean, we can be around Rachel every day and not get in trouble for it?"
Quinn smiles at the happy girl, looking at Santana, whose eyes are sparkling (although she will totally deny it). "Yeah, Britt. That's exactly what I mean." She has an idea then, but she isn't sure Britt will like it. "Hey, what do you say we skip seeing Rachel today at lunch, and instead, surprise her during Glee today?"
Brittany pouts for just a moment. Then she sighs and nods her head. "Okay. But we can talk to her right? Please, Quinn?" Quinn couldn't say no even if she wanted to.
The girls decide to go ahead to the cafeteria. They eat lunch and go on with their day, all three excited for Glee Club to meet today (again, Santana would totally deny it).
*After school – Choir room*
Quinn had thought the idea was a pretty good one at the time. She's a little rusty, but giving a rose to Rachel, in her mind, is no big deal.
However, she obviously didn't think things through and take into account that everyone at this school, minus Brittany and Santana themselves, thinks the Unholy Trinity hates Rachel Berry's guts.
As the girls reach the choir room, Brittany skips into the room before she realizes neither Quinn nor Santana has followed and turns back.
"Yo, Q!" Santana calls. "What's up?"
Quinn looks up at her, and Santana's shocked to see the uncertainty on Quinn's face. She walks closer and speaks softly, "Quinn, talk to me. What are you thinking?"
"I can't do this, San. I can't give these to her. They're going to think I'm insane, walking up to the girl we call 'Man Hands' and 'Ru-Paul' on a daily basis, and handing her roses."
Santana sighs, finally understanding. "Quinn, since when do you care what other people think?"
Quinn shakes her head at her friend. "San…" but Brittany is the one to interrupt.
"No, Q, San's right. Why do you care what they will think?" The blonde walks closer. "I mean, you walk in there and hand these to Rachel, and she'll understand what it means. I know what it means. Santana knows, you know, and if Puck were here, too, he would know and understand. It's only to look insane to outsiders who don't know why you and Rachel did this with each other."
Quinn nods slowly. "You're right. Okay, let's do this." She composes herself and the three finally walk into the room. Mr. Schue sees them and ushers them over.
"There you guys are. Kids, please welcome our three new members, Quinn Fabray, Santana Lopez, and Brittany Pierce." Quinn notices Rachel is the only one that does not look shocked. That's not to say she looks thrilled about having her frenemies here either.
She walks over to the girl, leaving Santana and Britt at the piano. She knows Britt will want to hug (see: tackle) Rachel, so she has to at least get her standing.
Rachel is sitting alone, so she takes the seat beside her. "Hi."
Rachel looks skeptically at her. Really though, she doesn't blame her. "Hello, Quinn." Quinn glances at the two girls waiting with the roses at the piano, and then at everyone else seeming to be watching their exchange with wide eyes as Mr. Schue goes on about the lesson.
"Um," Quinn clears her throat. "I need you to do me a favor and stand up, and then take a few steps forward." She knows it's confusing, so before Rachel can question it, she adds, "Britt wants to give you a hug, and well, you know how those go."
Rachel nods, standing up. No sooner than three steps forward is she tackled by the blue-eyed girl. "Hi, Rachie!"
Rachel gives a small smile as she wraps her arms around Britt. "Hey, B." Brittany pulls away as Santana approaches. She hands the roses to Quinn and then pulling Britt to the back row to their seats.
When Rachel looks questioningly at the roses in her hand, she says, "I'll um…I'll explain after." Rachel nods to that and the two turn to listen to whatever speech Mr. Schue is giving.
*After Glee*
As rehearsal is finished, the Glee clubbers file out of the room in groups. Mercedes and Kurt stop in the doorway after noticing that Rachel didn't follow them.
"Rachel, you coming?" Mercedes asks.
"Uh," Rachel pauses as she's halfway to the piano, and in between them and Santana, Britt and Quinn. "No." She shakes her head. "No, you guys go ahead. The girls and I have something we need to discuss."
"Rachel, we're not leaving you in here alone with them," Kurt tells her.
"Yeah," Mercedes agrees. "Whatever they have to say, they can say it with us in here." Before she can reply, Rachel hears Santana scoff. She groans, letting her head fall back, knowing whatever the fiery girl is going to say won't be good.
"Yeah, that ain't gonna happen."
"Why?" Mercedes argues. "You too afraid to bully Rachel in front of us? Never stopped you before." The smart-mouthed comment causes Santana to jump up and get in Mercedes' face.
"And who says bullying her is why we are asking her to stay behind? Huh?"
This time it's Kurt that scoffs, "And you really expect us to believe you want her to stay for something other than to call her names or degrade her?"
"Maybe." Santana snaps back. "But you won't ever find out unless you leave us alone, now will you?"
"Okay!" Rachel cuts in before any actual blood is shed. "Everybody needs to shut up and listen very carefully because I am only going to say this once." She pauses to make sure she has everyone's attention.
"Good. Now, first off, Santana, go sit down now." When the other girl goes to protest, she holds up a hand. "No, you listen. You and Quinn and Brittany, you three rule this entire school. Every room, every floor, every inch of it. But this room, this room right here is the only place that I feel safe in, and I am not going to let you try to break me and take away this safety. You got that?"
As she lets Santana digest this, waiting on her next move, she can practically feel Mercedes getting ready to speak again and knows it will not be good.
"See?" Mercedes snarks. "She doesn't want to speak with you." Santana steps closer, getting further in the girl's face
"I don't think that's what she said. Maybe you should be the one to leave. The longer you're here, the less time we have to say what we need to say."
Again, Rachel cuts in and gets between the fuming girls. She turns so she is facing Santana, placing a hand on her arm, and then looking behind Santana to where the two blondes are still sitting.
"Santana, back it up." She tells her through gritted teeth and a low voice. Then, with a slight undertone of sarcasm, she directs the next statement at the girls still seated. "Quinn, Brittany, some help here would be greatly appreciated."
Finally, they stand and come over to the center of the room. And while they are speaking with Santana, Rachel turns her anger towards her friends.
"Rachel-" Kurt starts but Rachel holds up a hand to him too.
"No, listen to me. I appreciate your concern, really I do. But I am a big girl and I can make my own decisions. And right now, I am deciding to stay, alone, and listen to what they have to say to me. If they call me names and upset me, then you will have every right to say 'I told you so'. If they don't, then I would have had just proven to you that I can make my own decisions and it won't always end with a negative consequence."
"Now, please go. My dad is coming to pick me up in less than twenty minutes, and I still have a lot of things I need to do before I go home."
Finally, Mercedes and Kurt relent and turn to leave. As the door shuts, Rachel lets out a breath and turns back to the three remaining girls in the room.
"Alright, let's get to it. What is it you three needed to tell me?" Rachel walks over to the girls, sitting next to Quinn. The younger girl hands Rachel the roses.
"Okay, so you know that I have been coming in here this week. And um…well, first, the roses." Quinn gestures to the two roses in Rachel's hand. One red, one white.
"'The start of something new', and 'I'm sorry'." Rachel supplies.
"Yes," Quinn agrees. She looks to Brittany and Santana who are in the floor. Santana is sitting against a chair with Brittany lying with her head in her lap.
"We meant what I said in the letter, Rachel," Quinn tells her. "We're really sorry. I'm sorry. And I know that doesn't even begin to make up for what we have put you through, but if you let us, we'd like to explain."
Rachel takes a moment to think it over. She, too, glances down at Santana and Britt and finds them watching her.
"Ok," She nods slowly. "You can come over if you'd like and-"
"No!" Santana cuts in, quite loudly making Rachel and the others jump. "No, we-we can't do that. Not…" Santana sighs and Rachel cannot remember a time that the Latina seemed so unsure of what she needed or…wanted to say.
"I'm sorry, Rachel," Santana says instead, and for once, Rachel just stays quiet, not sure herself of what should be said. "The only time we can talk is going to be after Glee meets, okay?"
Rachel just nods, because God, Santana hasn't been this gentle or soft with her in so long. She almost forgot how soft her once-best-friend could be when it was just the four of them.
"We," She looks away and doesn't continue.
And Rachel is just so fucking confused because up until a week ago, these three girls only spoke to her to call her Manhands or Ru-Paul, and now, well now she is getting a glimpse of the girls she knew long ago, when they were little and the only thing they needed to worry about was stupid things, like studying for a spelling test or getting a good grade on their multiplications worksheets.
Surprisingly, it's Brittany that speaks up for Santana. "We can't tell you, not yet, ok? We can…we can speak to you during Glee and after, and…and during lunch, right?"
The dancer looks to Quinn and Santana, and Rachel wonders, not for the first time, what the hell has happened in the last four years, to make them so apprehensive and unsure of themselves when they are doing something as simple as trying to tell Rachel when they can or cannot speak to her.
Santana doesn't reply. Instead, she just jumps up and storms out of the room. Brittany stands and looks torn, her gaze shifting between the door of Choir room and the two girls still in here.
Quinn's phone beeps and it's such a unexpected sound that all three girls jump. The blonde glances at it, and then stands, saying,
"That's San. My…my dad is here. We have to go." Rachel catches a look a pure panic flash across Brittany's face, but it's gone so quick that she is sure she just imagined it.
Quinn turns to her, saying, "We'll come back on Monday." And then, they leave, and Rachel is left wondering what the fuck just happened.
And there it is! Nearly 4,500 words and 7 pages long. There was lot going on in this chapter, and I know that it is probably confusing but, everything will be explained soon!
Now, a few notes before I end this... the vibe I am going for between Quinn and Rachel is a super close friendship type one. If you guys have read any of my Criminal Minds story, than you know that I have JJ/Emily in a super-close friendship/family vibe throughout the stories. That is what I am going for going for here. Also, there is a reason that Quinn acts the way the way she does with Rachel, (why she feels more...at ease) and that will be explained soon.
Once last thing! You guys, this is only chapter 3, but I have 17 followers and 9 reviews already. And I want to say thank you so much for that! The response I have received for this is amazing. Thank you to all of you. :) Please review and let me know what you thought! :)
