Old Dog New Tricks
Rachel asks him to drive her to the dog pound because she has some cause event she has planned or something to keep her buzz up or Angelina Jolie or something, He never really keeps up.
All he knows is that there are hundreds of dogs here that don't have homes and he is seriously thinking of getting one. He brought Artie with him to the pound and he's cooing over the dogs just as much as Sam is, plus Blaine loves puppies.
He's taken care of his siblings over the years, so taking care of a dog can't be that much different.
xxx
She's just about to finish up her shift at the cafe when Kurt walks in with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Kurt!" She says, surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?" She asks as she finishes cleaning the rest of her tables.
"Rachel won't let me sing a song at her stupid event because I haven't made enough of a name for himself. And so I got myself casted as Peter in the musical Peter Pan and they won't even go see opening night, which is also closing night, but that's not the point. The point is, I always support Rachel and she never supports me." Kurt rants as she stocks the display case.
"If it makes you feel any better, Rachel didn't ask me to sing either." She says and Kurt scoffs.
"Exactly, have you made yourself a name in New York?" He asks and she gasps.
"Kurt!" She gasps and he covers his mouth with his hands.
"Ohmygod Quinn, I did not mean-" He says and she just bursts out laughing.
"It's okay! I get it, Broadway was never my thing or my dream." She says, taking a seat in front of him at the table. "When's your show? I want to go, and I'll bring Sam." She tells him, placing her hands over his.
"Quinn seriously, you don't have to." Kurt says and she rolls her eyes.
"You think I want to be at Rachel's dog event the entire day? Plus I can chat about How To Get Away With Murder with Adam, he finally caught up to me." She says and he nods.
"Thank you Quinn."
xxx
She's a little tired. She woke up early to get to New Hempstead early because Rachel had asked her and Sam to help her set up the event. Then she has to get back to Sam's apartment to change for Kurt's musical, and then head back for Rachel's charity event so you could definitely say she's having a jam packed day.
So she thinks she's hallucinating when she has a dog barking from inside Sam's apartment.
But she's not. When she opens the door with the spare key Sam gave her, a small terrier comes running up to her and sits on her foot.
"Sam, what the hell is this?" She asks, not having enough patience for whatever is going on because she hasn't had a cup of coffee yet.
She tries to lightly shoo the dog off her foot, but he won't move so she sighs and picks him up, making her way to the kitchen.
"Artie got a dog." Sam says, but Artie just shakes his head from beside Sam.
"Okay, I got a dog. But we just trained him! And look at him Quinn doesn't he look like the cutest thing in the world?" He asks and on that cue the dog begins to pout at her.
She sets the dog on his counter as she starts to make herself a cup of coffee, and true to his word, the dog seems trained enough to know to sit on the counter and not destroy anything it is surrounded by.
"Sam, do you know anything about taking care of a dog?" She asks as she finishes making herself coffee and picks up the dog again.
"I mean I took care of my siblings when we were homeless." He offers and she laughs as she sits next to him, setting the dog down on her lap so she can pet him while she drinks from her mug.
"Are you seriously comparing your siblings to a dog?" She asks as he throws an arm over her shoulders.
"Look at him, isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen?" He asks, and she has to admit, the dog is pretty cute. "I named him McConaughy." He adds and she snorts.
"Of course you did. What are you going to do when you're at school or doing photoshoots and no one else is at the apartment?" She asks him. She has faith in Sam, she knows sometimes he makes impulsive decisions, but she knows he can pull this off, she just wants to make sure he's prepared first.
"There's this cute little girl living a few apartments down who offered to watch him when she gets home from school for like five bucks an hour if I ever need him too." He says and she nods.
"Okay." She shrugs. It's not her dog, so she's not totally worried about it. Plus she knows Blaine will be here fifty percent of the time which makes her feel a lot better.
"We have Kurt's musical at the retirement home at four, you can't bring McConaughy there." She points out while leaning back onto his chest, his hands moving to play with pieces of her hair.
"I know, I'm gonna leave him at Rachel's charity event with Artie." He says, nodding to Artie who is watching some movie she's never seen before a few feet away from him.
She nods, too focused on the dog to respond. Somehow she finds herself falling more in love with the dog by the second.
xxx
They leave a few hours later with Artie to help Rachel set up for her charity event. Rachel has her doing the important paperwork stuff while Sam and the other guys set up the cages and help the pound workers put the dogs inside.
Sam coos at all of the dogs and she has to give him a stern look to tell him not to get any more dogs. She knows he can handle one, but she also knows two dogs are definitely going to be too much for him.
She and Sam stay until one and then she tells Rachel she and Sam need to go.
"What? Why?" Rachel pouts, causing her to giggle.
"Kurt's musical! Remember? Don't worry though, I'll be back." She promises as she and Sam leave.
They have to rush as soon as they get back to Sam's apartment. Sam quickly hopes in the shower as she changes into a dark grey plaid skirt and black turtleneck. Sam walks out five minutes later in a pair of black jeans and a denim button up.
She's surprised at how packed it is when she gets there, but they quickly find Adam and sit in seats next to him. She and him talk about How To Get Away With Murder and Sam shows Adam pictures of McConaughy until the show starts.
"Are these seats taken?" Rachel asks and her eyes widen.
"Rachel? What about your event?" She asks as she and Santana take the seats next to them.
"Rachel had a total diva moment and it gave us all a reality check. We're going to head back later with you guys, Artie and Mercedes are managing everything right now with Blaine." Santana says and Rachel rolls her eyes.
She pulls out her phone and begins recording Kurt once Lucky Star begins. She's had some coworkers of hers ask her if she's ever envious of her friends, pursuing these Broadway or singing careers and she's just working at a cafe while studying at Yale. Maybe the high school version of her would have said yes, but she loves moments like these. She feels like a proud mom (okay, she can see why her friends call her the mom of the group now) at all their shows and concerts.
She's a sentimental person, so she keeps a box full of her friends' things to keep them grounded just in case stardom ever gets to their heads, or to cheer them up if they're ever feeling down.
She has Mercedes' first album (autographed of course), the ticket from Rachel's opening night, a ticket from one of Kurt's One Three Hill gigs and she's planning to put the program from tonight's musical in as well. She even printed a picture of Artie's movie poster from the short film he was recently in.
Envious? Maybe sometimes, but she always does get to tag along for the ride. Proud? There's never a moment she isn't.
The Untitled Rachel Berry Project
Sam's been a little cautious about his weight because his first gig is coming up, so she's been trying her hardest to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't go too far. She knows Blaine is there and is aware of the body issues he's had in the past and the lengths that he's gone to maintain that perfect image.
She's already booked off the week because Sam has his shoot and Mercedes opens her mall tour with Brittany as one of her backup dancers. Sam keeps trying to convince her to transfer to a New York university so she doesn't have to keep driving two hours every week from New Haven to New York City, but she loves Yale. Alex helps her keep up with all of her classes and she does most of her assignments and writes most of her papers in either New Hempstead or Bushwick anyway so it's not like she's behind on anything.
Santana got a call from someone in Las Vegas asking her inquires about her publicisting agency or whatever so Mercedes and Brittany are meeting up with her there. It makes her a little sad that she won't see the three of them for a while, but she knows they'll all be back and she'll be there for random shows whenever she misses them too much. These are the things she saves her tip money for, but she knows if she asked Mercedes would fly her out too.
So it's just Brittany and Mercedes for the mall tour, but she's still just as excited. She wears jeans and a cream sweater and begs Sam for them to go an hour before the actual show starts because she wants millions of pictures of Mercedes and Brittany, and Mercedes and Brittany performing, and Mercedes and Brittany signing autographs. Has she mentioned how proud she is of her friends lately?
She doesn't need to worry about recording this performance on her small little iPhone because Artie brought one of his cameras. He squeals and cheers with Kurt as Sam stands off to the side with Artie who is filming the whole thing.
She beams at Mercedes as she signs autographs and takes pictures of fans after her show.
"Can I get one too?" She asks, sliding over a flyer that was handed out to spread awareness about Mercedes' show earlier this month.
"Quinn," Mercedes starts, chuckling and rolling her eyes playfully. "How many times are you going to do this?" She asks, referring to the many times she has asked Mercedes for an autograph.
"Forever." She teases, folding up the flyer and placing it in her purse so she doesn't lose it.
xxx
There's an accident, of course there's an accident on the day of Sam's first modeling gig. It isn't even for Bubble, his agent had called him saying Treasure Trailz needs a new coverboy or because their old one was sent to prison or something so he's at a shoot with a bunch of other guys to see if he can get the role.
Because it wasn't scheduled, she was still in New Haven. She would have made it on time, had it not been for the accident. She doesn't even think she's moved in at least twenty minutes.
She gets a call five minutes from him and curses. "I didn't miss it, did I?" She asks as soon as the call connects. "Tell me I didn't miss it!" She cries and he just laughs.
"You just missed all of the boring stuff, she asked me to come back tonight for another shoot, you can come then." He says and she lets out a sigh of relief.
"If this traffic doesn't start moving soon I'm going to walk there, I swear." She yells, hoping it will somehow get all the cars to start moving again.
"Well listen, I got to go, but I'll see you later okay?" He says and she nods even though he can't see her, exchanging I love you's before hanging up.
She curses as she watches the clock strike past the time Sam's shoot starts. She's about twenty minutes away and she knows these shoots can sometimes take hours, but she hopes she isn't missing anything important.
She speeds a little bit to get there in seventeen minutes instead of fifteen and barely turns off the car before she sprints inside, only to find Sam sitting inside of the studio alone, crying.
"Sam?" She asks, approaching him carefully so she doesn't startle him. "What's going on?" She asks, sitting next to him on the floor.
"Q, I cheated on you." He says and she freezes, but then wraps her arms around him as he cries into her chest, realizing she needs to give him an opportunity to explain himself first.
"Sam, what happened?" She asks, wiping his tears when he finally looks up at her.
"The photographer, Charlie, she just like came onto me and told me I didn't have to feel guilty about anything and then kissed me." He says, beginning to cry again and she feels anger begin to bubble in her chest for this Charlie chick who took advantage of him like that.
"What happened after that?" She asks, but she has a feeling of what his answer will be.
"I pushed her off and started crying and she took pictures of me crying in my underwear." He says and her heart breaks for him.
"Sam, you didn't cheat on me. It was her fault, she practically took advantage of you." She says, knowing all about that.
"Maybe this modelling thing isn't for me." He says and she shakes her head.
"Hey, you can't let that crazy photographer ruin this for you. You still have that Bubble shoot right?" she asks and he nods. "Let's just see how that one goes and if you still hate modelling, then you can quit." She says and he nods.
She stays in New Hempstead for the night. She doesn't have class tomorrow and tomorrow night is their weekly Monday night dinners anyway. They decide to do more of a late lunch thing because Kurt has a thing at Vogue later on in the evening and Rachel has to head down to the theatre for something.
She makes him hot chocolate and watches a Star Wars movie with him, no complaints. She can tell he's still down about the shoot, but there's nothing she won't do to make him feel better.
xxx
He feels better in the morning. McConaughy cheers him up and she buys them ice cream to share when they take McConaughy on a walk to the park. By the time they have to leave for Bushwick he seems back to normal, but she can tell the shoot is still weighing on his mind a little.
He's quiet on the ride, and no one really notices but her because Artie and Blaine are playing with McConaughy in the backseat. He kind of keeps to himself for the first half an hour once they arrive, but then he runs past everyone and out of the apartment without saying anything.
Everyone sort of looks at each other weirdly before following him out of the apartment and into the street, gasping when they see him. He's standing in front of a bus with a blown up picture of him from the shoot.
"Ohmygod Sam!" She squeals, pulling out her phone so she can take a bunch of photos of him next to himself. The others continue to praise him, but she is just focused on taking as many pictures as she can so he can remember this moment forever.
Between end of S5 and beginning of S6
The year flies by quickly. They keep the same routine, except without Mercedes and Santana this time. But she's not worried, she knows they will all find each other again.
She and Sam continue with work and school and each other. Sam continues with the odd modelling job for an easy way to get cash and she continues with her cafe job. They have their weekly Monday night potlucks. She likes how everything remains the same, except sadly Kurt's band has now disbanded because Elliot had landed himself a spot as a lead singer in an actual somewhat successful band and Dani had realized that being around Kurt reminded her of Santana too much.
But Kurt participates in the odd musical at local theatres and takes part in more clubs at NYADA. Rachel continues doing shows on Broadway, but there's something about it now that makes her think Rachel doesn't enjoy it as much anymore. She doesn't comment on it, deciding that if she's right Rachel will come to her herself.
She's not exactly sure what Blaine does, but knows he is involved in NYADA somehow. Sam tells her that he's made his own friends, still trying to get used to being around Kurt so much and not being together.
Artie is thriving at his film school. He submits one to the odd film festival and she drags Sam, Kurt, and Rachel to as many as she can, when their schedules fit. She tries to drill into their minds that regardless of how individually successful they are, they always need to be there for their friends to cheer them on.
She takes a three hour flight to Michigan when she has a week off to see one of Mercedes' shows. She feels like a celebrity when they give her backstage access and one of Mercedes' intoxicated fans mistake her for Blake Lively and asks for an autograph. She doesn't tell Mercedes, but that was definitely the best part of her night.
xxx
They all spend Christmas at Burt and Carole's. It's a nonverbal agreement they all make two weeks before the holidays. Kurt tells all of them that Carole has been sad lately due to it being her first Christmas without Finn. Rachel tells her that Puck had been planning on visiting Burt and Carole anyway during the holidays so they agree to spend Christmas there together.
Burt and Carole have always had a big house, but she doesn't think she's ever seen it so packed. They spend Christmas Eve with their families and open presents then. Carole always buys all of them matching pyjamas so they all appear the next morning with a bunch of food and presents wearing the pyjamas.
Some of the parents come just as they had for Finn's funeral and take cooking off of Carole's hands.
Tina and Mike's parents arrive together and it always surprises her how they are able to remain so close even after Mike and Tina had broken up. Mercedes' mom, Mary and her mom focus on the turkey and Artie's mom, Santana's mom, and Brittany's mom help with side dishes. Tina and Mike's mom deal with setting the table. All of the dads just hang out on the couch and watch basketball while drinking beers.
Puck's mom decides to sit this one out because they don't exactly celebrate Chritstmas, opting to take Puck's sister to spend time with Jake and his mother instead. Rachel's dads come anyway because they love to party.
Adam had celebrated the holidays last week with his family in London so he would be able to be here for Kurt and his family knowing it would be hard for them.
She had already dealt with dessert because for some reason everyone loves her baking. She doesn't think it's anything special, but Carole pretty much begged her to bring something over. Kurt mostly helps the moms in the kitchen because he's practically the only one out of all of them who actually knows how to cook, so the girls play with Stacey outside and watch the boys throw around a football with Stevie.
She can tell it makes Carole feel better. Her and Burt sit around the fireplace after dinner and open all of the gifts they had bought for them. She and Sam had decided to do joint gifts, her taking care of Carole and him dealing with Burt's gift. She buys Carole a sweater she thinks she would like and Sam buys Burt some sports thing she doesn't quite understand. Some memorabilia piece he gets excited over, so she guesses they did a good job.
Carole cries anyway, but she likes to think that this time it isn't for the loss of her son, but for the amount of love she still has to lift her up.
The bathroom downstairs is constantly being used so she decides to try the one upstairs. After she's finished she finds herself lingering by Finn's room. She's been to Burt and Carole's a handful of times after Finn's passing, but she hasn't had the heart to make her way past his room.
Before she realizes it, she finds her hand on the doorknob. She knows no one would mind if she stopped to take a quick peak. She wonders if it still smells like him, a mixture of pine air freshener from his car and Axe body spray. She would always complain that his scent was so overpowering, but now she would give anything to have it back.
She opens the door, but it looks like she wasn't the only one who had the idea to make a stop in Finn's room. Rachel looks back at her form where she's sitting on the bed. Her eyes are rimmed red and she has a few streaks of mascara on her cheeks, but she mostly just looks empty.
She doesn't say anything, just steps inside and closes the door behind her. She inhales and smiles as tears begin to fill her eyes, there it is, pine and Axe. She takes a seat next to Rachel on the bed who sniffles and wipes the remaining tears that are slowly trailing down her cheeks.
"I haven't been here since we were still together." Rachel begins and she stares at both of their feet allowing Rachel to vent. "Even when we were broken up, I just couldn't bring myself to come back here even though this has become like my second home. And then Finn died and as much as I love Burt and Carole I don't think I would have ever been able to come back here again."
She nods, remembering that feeling as well.
"Everything reminds me of him, but is it selfish of me to think that this is too much?" Rachel asks and she shakes her head.
"He was my soulmate Quinn." Rachel says as she leans her head onto her shoulder and softly cries. She brings her hand up to soothingly stroke Rachel's hair, something she's noticed makes her feel better in times like this.
She hums to Rachel so she can get her to calm down, and as soon as her sobs turn into whimpers she asks, "do you know what I think?" Rachel doesn't say anything so she continues.
"I think you can have more than one soulmate. I do believe Finn was your soulmate, and even though you were his forever soulmate, he wasn't yours." She tells Rachel. She knows it's going to hurt to hear, Rachel's wound has not healed as well as everyone else's yet, but she knows one day Rachel will appreciate her honestly.
She holds Rachel as she cries, the sound of Christmas carols and laughter keeping them company.
xxx
She stars in a musical. Sometimes when she's bored and has nothing better to do she sits in the theatre Kurt is doing a musical in and works on her schoolwork. They were doing Hairspray and a week and a half before opening night the girl playing Amber broke her foot so Kurt convinced her to fill in. By sitting in the theatre and watching in her free time she had been able to pick up some of the choreography and lines, and of course she knows all the songs (she is friends with Rachel and Kurt after all).
Everyone makes a big deal out of it which she thinks is ridiculous, but Rachel tells her it's because it's the first musical she's done since high school and it's nice to see her in the arts again. She doesn't get what the big deal is, they've been to all of her Winter and Spring showcases at Yale, but Rachel tells her that isn't the same thing.
Tina comes from Brown and Mercedes and Brittana (Kurt calls them that, claiming it's their ship name, whatever that means, and has gotten her in the habit of calling them that as well) have a break between shows so they fly in as well. She's a little embarrassed everyone is making such a big fuss about this, it's not even like she's playing the lead and neither is Kurt, he's playing Corny Collins.
Sam brings his entire family which is even more embarrassing. He tries to tell her it's because they've never been to New York and randomly picked this week to visit him, but she knows he brought them here to also see her, bringing her mother and her mother's boyfriend with them. Sometimes when Carole and Burt feel like their house is too quiet they come for a weekend, especially if Rachel or Kurt have a show but she knows they came this time for her. Despite everything that happened between her and Finn when she was pregnant, both Burt and Carole treat her like one of their own.
Mike and Puck both send her flowers, and adding those to the other bouquets she received she has about eleven. She barely finds enough space for them in her dorm room, and she keeps about three at the boys' apartment. She tells Sam they provide oxygen when he begins to complain he's made their apartment too girly and he scoffs and tells her he breathes fine.
She knows Artie and Blaine don't mind. Sure she's added the odd decorative pillow to the couch and curtains to their windows, but she thinks it makes the place look nice and homey, not girly.
xxx
Kurt moves up farther up the ladder at Vogue to the point where he's started to get invited to Fashion shows. She thinks she and Rachel are more excited than Kurt is, and Santana is pissed when they tell her over FaceTime.
He's really allowed to bring one person, but Isabelle allows it because she already knows Rachel.
She nearly faints when she sees Gigi Hadid and a few other models that she follows on Instagram. Kurt rolls his eyes at her and Rachel's squeals and fangirl moments and she just reminds him of the times where he was just an intern and would do this all the time when he met designers he adored.
Isabelle allows them to take some of the outfits retail buyers did not make orders for and she forces Sam to cancel any plans he has that night so she can show him all of the designer pieces she was able to snag.
xxx
Rachel visits her in New Haven a year and two months after her first opening night. She's picked up some fame which Quinn finds super exciting, but Rachel has become a more humbled version of the girl she was in high school and doesn't let it get to her head.
They all know her cafe schedule because she keeps the same days every week so they know when to schedule a performance or show. Her hours are still flexible, Susan loves hearing about Artie's films and Blaine's showcases, and she loves bragging about her friends. They worked hard to get where they are, why shouldn't she tell the world about it?
Rachel stumbles in looking exhausted and she begins to make Rachel some tea. She's not as stingy on only having things that are good for her throat or figure, giving that up four months after her first show. It's quiet when Rachel comes in so she decides she can chat with Rachel until it picks up again as she places the tea in front of her friend and slides into the chair across from her.
"Hey." Is all she says, knowing Rachel will start venting to her about her problems whenever she's ready. She's kind of become the therapist of the group. Whenever she says it everyone corrects her and says mom, but she likes therapist more. She's picked up a few pointers from having her own for so many years.
"I think I'm tired now, Quinn." Is all Rachel says. She could have told Rachel that herself, she looks like she could fall asleep right here. But she also knows Rachel, and she's not sure if the tired she's thinking of is the tired Rachel means.
"Tired of?" She asks, urging Rachel to elaborate.
"All of it. I thought I would want to do this forever, and I do, but I just feel like something's missing." Rachel says and by the looks of it, she knows exactly what is. Quinn knows it too and she's ninety-nine percent sure Rachel is aware she does, both of them thinking the same thing: Finn.
Sam is her best friend. He's her biggest fan and her shoulder to cry on. There for every break down, every happy moment, every time she's too tired to do something for herself. When she imagines her future, he's right there with her. She's unsure of what she wants to do or where she'll be, but the one thing she is sure of is that he'll be there.
She can't imagine her life without him, he's her soulmate. And she once felt the same way about Finn. So she can somewhat relate to how Rachel feels, and she thinks that's why Rachel always goes to her about this stuff. Because she just wants someone who can understand.
"He would be so proud of you Rachel." She says, peeling one of Rachel's hands off of the mug and holding it in hers.
"I think I want to go back home, continue what he started." Rachel says, sitting up a little straighter, the look of determination on her face that they all know too well.
She nods, having somewhat of an idea as to what Rachel's talking about. Rachel has been the lead of the show for over a year and she thinks that's about the time actors begin to change if they want to. She's pretty sure that's how Broadway works.
She knows Finn wouldn't have given up so easily on the glee club. He would have stayed in Lima and fought harder. He would have found a way to make it all work.
"You can always return to it right?" She asks, referring to Broadway and Rachel nods.
"It won't be a forever thing, but sometimes I can hear his voice in my head being so disappointed that we all gave up so easily. I want to do this." Rachel decides and she giggles and nods.
"What's the plan?" She asks.
"Well first I have to talk to Sidney about quitting the show. I'm thinking about staying until the end of July because the school year doesn't start until September anyway. Kurt and Adam will stay in the loft. I doubt Kurt will want to go back since he's doing so well at Vogue and NYADA. And then I go back." Rachel says and she smiles at how well Rachel has this all planned out.
"You'll all come back and help me recruit members in September?" Rachel asks her, hopeful. She nods.
"I promise."
So lot's of changes. Don't even get me started on how it makes no sense to me that Rachel quit Broadway to star in a TV show that ends up failing anyway, so we're all going to pretend it just doesn't happen. I love Vogue for Kurt, Kurt Vogue is my favourite he's so adorable so I kept him. I don't even remember if they mention why Kurt quits Vogue, it just sort of happens behind the scenes so also something that doesn't happen.
We love supportive friends. And Quinn is obviously the mom of the group no one can change my mind about that. But I've always felt like Carole and Burt were the type of parents to treat everyone like their own so of course I had to make everything super cheesy and create a giant Glee Christmas.
Thanks for reading and leave a comment! They make my day (: