Chapter 22:

The Talk

The talk with Miss Pillsbury involves some pamphlets about anger control and some about how rivalry between girls is so antiquated and counter-productive. Quinn actually got interested in this one, as it is low key a feminist pamphlet.

"Understood?" Emma asks as she finishes her lecture.

Both girls nod. Quinn is remorseful and Santana is just bored.

"Good. Now let's get back. Artie needs you girls there. Especially you Santana."

She stands up, leaving her desk and walking toward the door.

"Come on." She calls out.

They follow her through the hallway in silence, that is, until Quinn stops Santana.

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever."

"S…"

Santana stops in her tracks.

"Look, I don't get it… You didn't want to hurt her. I know that, you are more fond of her than you are of me." She shrugs. "I don't mind cause everybody loves Brittany, I mean, what's not to like?"

Quinn nods, hiding a smile as she thinks it is so obvious that Santana is so in love with Brittany. She will not say anything; of course, she doesn't want to push Santana more than she already did.

"Which means, you wanted to provoke me." Santana continues. "Why? Why did you want to push my buttons like that?"

"I…"

"Wait…" Santana frowns thoughtful. "You wanted me to make a scene. To open up."

"No-"

"And Rachel is in it too. That's why she said those things and called me a coward. You two were planning this. That's what you wanted to talk to her this morning."

"Santana, please. Stop. Rachel has nothing to do with it."

Well, she actually does, but Quinn is not willing to admit that yet, she is not sure she can trust Santana completely.

"Yes, I wanted to provoke you. But I wasn't thinking straight."

She doesn't even notice the double meaning.

"And yes, I want you to make things right between you and Brittany."

"That's none of your business."

"It is, you are my frien-"

"I thought you were but then you called Brittany dumb." Santana cuts her off.

"And I am sorry I did that… it was a stupid task anyway." She huffs.

"You crossed the line and you know it."

"You said Rachel has no talent." She bursts out without thinking.

"So what? It's Berry." Santana frowns. "Since when do you care? You used to hate her, now you're protecting her? Wait, did your attraction grow into something more? Damn! Britts was right."

"What are you talking about? What attraction?"

"Blondie, I know you have the hots for her since those drawings. I get it. Believe me, I've been there. However, I figured you were going to be stuck in the antagonizing her phase forever. Never crossed my mind you were going to move on from that phase…" Santana gets thoughtful. "Guess I was wrong." She shrugs, turns on her heels and follows Miss Pillsbury.

"What?" Quinn opens her mouth in shock. "S! What are you talking about? I'm not attracted to Rachel." She follows the other girl.

"I don't care. But just so you know, cross the line one more time and I won't hesitate to drag you down by telling the world about your dirty little secret."

With assertiveness, Quinn holds Santana's arm and turns her around so the brunette can face her.

"It's not dirty." She says meaningfully.

"Fine, but I'll expose you. I mean it."

Quinn nods.

"Brittany is off limit. And Rachel is off limit."

"I knew it!" Santana smirks in a cocky way.

"Promise?" Quinn ignores Santana's cockiness.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Santana ponders her options.

"S…"

"What? I need to think it through. Does it mean I have to be nice to her?"

"I didn't say that. It would be weird and suspicious."

"To say the least."

"The things you said are things I used to say and now I know the outcome. I see how she-" She stops before she says too much. "Not that I… We don't…"

"Don't." Santana interrupts. "Spare me of your bullshit. Whatever backup story you have as a disguise for your randy for Berry's pussy."

Quinn rolls her eyes at that. Not that it is not true, it surely is. Even though she technically has not tasted it yet.

Yet…

She thinks.

"I don't care. Save it for the losers in this school." Santana finishes talking.

"Anyway, as I was saying. I know I've done that too but It's really not cool and not necessary, you're better than that."

"You never said she had no talent…" Santana says a little remorseful. "You always bragged about how talented she was even though you loathed her."

That put a smile on Quinn's lips. That type of smile that people can read from miles away. Santana notices.

"Oh God… look at this smile. You screwed."

"Whatever." Quinn recomposes herself. "Do we have a deal?"

She holds her pink up.

"Ok." Santana complies.

Quinn locks their eyes onto each other.

"Brittany and Rachel are off limits and I promise that I won't step into your relationship. It's none of my business. That is, until we're ready to open up to each other."

Santana gulps nervously.

"Fine." She shakes their joined pinks and walks away as fast as she can.

The ex-cheerio shakes her head amused.

"Rachel is so going to kill me…" She says to the now empty hallway.

The rehearsal proceeded without any other commotion. They got some last instructions from Artie and then he dismissed them all. After going home to shower and touch up, Quinn finally finds herself in front of the Berry's front door. She told her mother she was going to do some sort of table read with Santana and Brittany and that she was not going to have dinner at home.

Lying to her mother was easy. She doesn't even consider it to be lying as Rachel will probably make them practice some songs. She just told her mother part of the truth, Santana is a safer name than Rachel Berry, what if her mother starts putting two and two together? Quinn has been obsessed with Rachel for a long time now; her mother is not that naïve.

Therefore, she lied.

It is better this way and she is getting good at it. However, the prospect of talking to Leroy and Hiram are making her very nervous. So much she is standing in front of the door for nearly a minute now and she has yet to ring the doorbell.

She takes a deep breath, but before she can do anything, the door opens to reveal an all fresh and clean (and in very comfortable clothes) Rachel Berry.

"Are you planning to spend the night at my porch or…" Rachel teases with a smirk on her face. "Are you going to come…?" She pauses. "in?"

Quinn gulps, suddenly feeling her throat very dry. Who would think grey sweatpants could be that appealing? And the cropped t-shirt is doing wonders exposing part of Rachel's cute belly, the perfect matchup.

"I probably deserve this." Quinn looks up at the sky, ignoring the very appealing girl in front of her. "So I'll be a good girl and ignore you and what you're doing right now."

"Ignore me?" Rachel stomps her barefoot.

"You're teasing me."

"You said yourself. You deserve it."

"Rachel, don't make me more nervous than I already am."

"You're nervous? Aww… that's cute."

"Are you going to let me in?"

"Do you want to? It doesn't look like you do…" Rachel smiles mischievously.

In a very skillful and smooth way, Quinn grabs Rachel by the waist and pulls the other girl closer. She slides the other hand on Rachel's neck and kisses her demandingly; completely in control of the situation, slipping a little bit of her tongue inside, but pulling away before things get too steamy.

"Not fair…" Rachel whispers, her back pressed against the door and her eyes seeing colored stars.

"Come on silly." Quinn gets in the house, holding Rachel's hand to guide her inside along with her.

They reach the living room, Quinn starts observing her surroundings and how she loves the Berry's décor. It's fancy and modern, sure, but it still has a cozy vibe in it. It's definitively not intimidating like her own house. And yes, she is aware that she knew that already, but she needs the distraction right now, otherwise she will be nervous again.

"Dad, daddy! Quinn is here." Rachel announces animatedly.

The blonde girl smooths her dress in a polite way and sits on the sofa. Rachel observes her and smiles fondly.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just that…" She blushes a little. "It feels like we… That you're here to…"

To ask for permission to date her. It is what Rachel is trying to say, and even though she didn't say it in a more elaborated way, Quinn gets it.

"Oh great, more pressure on me."

Rachel giggles.

"Can you relax? It's just my dads. They love you."

"Leroy definitively doesn't love me."

"Not that again."

"Yes that again Rachel and we can't blame him. They don't know everything-" She says a little edgy when once again Leroy shows how he has such terrible timing.

"What we don't know?" He asks out of curiosity.

"Nothing. Quinn is just nervous dad. She thinks you hate her."

"Well, that is not that far from the truth." He states.

"Dad!"

"Alright." Leroy raises his hands in the air and sits on his armchair. "We're here. We're listening."

"Yep." Hiram says playfully as he sits on the arm of the chair.

"Okay… uh." Quinn rubs her thighs. "I wanted to talk to you both because I wanted to apologize for hurting Rachel."

"Which time?" Leroy questions, crusty.

"Dad…" Rachel complains as she sits beside Quinn, leaving a safe distance between them.

"What?" He questions his daughter and then looks over at Quinn. "I need you to be more specific because as far as I'm concerned you've been hurting Rachel a lot in the last two years."

Rachel huffs, impatient, but Quinn looks at her with serenity in her eyes as if saying, "It's okay.".

"I probably should've said something the moment I stepped my feet in this house. You opened the door of your home to me and I took it for granted." She sighs. "The fact that Rachel was-is so forgiving doesn't give me the right to act like it wasn't a big deal."

"Yes I know Quinn." Rachel interrupts. "But it's past. We need to move on. We are teenagers and we make mistakes. I made mistakes too. Some of them affected your life sorely." She looks at her dads. "And you both know what I'm talking about. Because I don't hide anything from you."

"Is it about pregnancy drama?" Hiram asks carefully.

"Sorry." Rachel sighs as she looks at Quinn with affection in her eyes.

"It's okay. It was a drama. But anyway, my point is that, yes, I was a bitch to her and the fact that I was a scared and insecure teenager doesn't excuse my behavior."

"You're still a teenager honey. You're only seventeen." Hiram says tenderly.

He knows what Quinn's behavior was all about. Of course, it is not an excuse, more like an explanation. Dealing with the awakening of your sexuality, that is, when you are not straight, it's a mess by itself. Doing it while having Quinn's background must have been hell on earth. And if he thinks about it now, pregnancy makes more sense. He always had trouble to assimilate the fact that she got pregnant being so young. A girl like her seemed to have everything under her control. However, he read a study that explained how pregnancies are more common among lesbian, gay, bisexual youths than among their heterosexual counterparts.

"Don't forget that. Don't put unnecessary pressure on yourself." He adds.

She nods, sighing heavily.

"I just want to make it clear that I know I was a bitch, but that's not who I am anymore. Yes, sometimes we do have our moments of bickering. I am very stubborn and Rachel is a force to be reckoned with."

"Oh! That's for sure." Hiram says playfully as Leroy tries to hide his smile.

"But I promise it's just us being young and foolish. Two friends navigating the troubled waters of a friendship."

Rachel nods animatedly, her characteristic smile on her face.

"So? All settled down?" She asks hopeful. "Quinn can come here, right?"

"You have to know I needed to protect my baby." Leroy says honestly. "And this world is too cruel sometimes. I was a teenager too. I know high school. I know the pranks, the shenanigans…"

"I wouldn't sir…" Quinn says with a barely there voice. It hurts to think that the thought of her wanting to mock Rachel crossed his mind.

"How can I be sure?"

"Well, I've never been this nervous in front of a parent before. I mean, not ever since I've started calling myself Quinn."

"And how this information can help your case?"

"I'm never nervous sir. Usually everything is so emotionless to me. But this…" She looks at Rachel. "This means a lot to me. Your approval means a lot to me."

Okay now, there is no way Leroy is not going to figure it out, Hiram thinks, as he is on the verge of tears.

"Alright!" Leroy complies. "I can't be the strict parent anyway."

"Yay!" Rachel claps her hands.

"But you kind of are the strict parent honey." Hiram states light hearted.

"I suppose you are the cool daddy then?"

"Of course baby!" He places one hand on his chest dramatically as Leroy rolls his eyes and Quinn watches everything with a light smile on her face.

"Now, if you excuse us, we're going to my room. I have songs to rehearse!"

"Before you go, what you ladies want for dinner? Sorry Quinn, we didn't have time to cook a special dinner, so we're ordering."

"It's fine sir, really."

He smiles.

"Leroy is fine dear. You don't have to call me sir."

"Okay…" She says a little unsure. What is he going to say when he finds out what she and his daughter have been doing in Rachel's room?

"Anything you chose is fine dad."

"Uh… Quinn honey, can I talk to you for a moment?" Hiram asks as both, Rachel and Quinn gets surprised. They were ready to go upstairs.

"Sure…"

"Relax pumpkin." He caresses his daughter's chin. "I need some tips about books. It'll be quick."

"Okay…" Rachel is not fully buying it. She is not worried though. Hiram is the family clown. He certainly will not mistreat or be rude to Quinn. "I'll be in my room." She leaves them.

"And I will order the food. Baby, after you finish talking about whatever you wanna talk to Quinnie, come help me set the table. Now, where's my phone?" Leroy says and goes to the kitchen.

"Kitchen, baby." Hiram answers.

"Okay." Leroy says on his way to the kitchen.

"So…" Hiram gestures to the sofa. Quinn sits and watches as he sits in front of her, waiting for him to start talking. "I'll be straightforward." He crosses his legs and leans toward her. "I know."

A pregnant pause.

Quinn frowns a little, waiting his next words. The look on Hiram's face and the way he is opening his eyes widely is seriously making her want to laugh so hard. Rachel's comic side is he through and through. She manages to control herself though; she is not going to risk their "under construction" relationship because of a misunderstanding.

"I don't think I got it…"

"Rachel and I… We don't have secrets." He sighs. "But for some reason, and I'm having a little trouble to elaborate what that reason could possibly be, she is hiding something major from us."

Her heart is in her mouth. Her hands are sweating. Is she having a heart attack?

"Calm down. I'm not mad. I just figured it out. Rachel is not very subtle, right?"

"I-I… I…" She stutters.

"Leroy doesn't know and I'll leave it that way. I'm waiting for my daughter to open up to us. I trust her and I know she has a reason. And whenever she is ready, I'll be here for her."

She nods.

"But…"

She takes a deep breath, preparing herself for the worst.

"You and I need to have THE talk. We were alienated somehow and we kind of gave you full access to her bedroom. It wasn't a big deal, you are a girl, we thought you were friends. As far as we knew, Rachel was straight."

Now she could not stop herself, she chuckles.

"Sorry." She clears her throat.

"Well, she loves to be right all the time and she needs to have the final word in every argument, it really is shocking that she is attracted to girls." He deadpans.

"That's a really awful stereotype sir." She pretends to be outraged. "Besides, maybe the girl she is attracted to is a fool that seems to have trouble saying no to her."

They laugh.

"Oh! I heard some rumors…" He holds his chin, nodding his head. "Why did you go to Carmel with her?"

"Because I couldn't say no. I'm telling you. It's a curse."

"Lady you need to stand up for yourself! Otherwise that girl is going to ride your butt."

"Well…" She arches her eyebrow.

"Oh god… okay, I feel like I'm not prepared enough for this conversation…" He fans himself dramatically. "Where was I?" He concentrates on thinking. "Right. I'm going to give her space and I trust she will eventually come to us, but we need some rules."

"Right." She nods.

"I don't want you to tell me anything. Am I upset she is hiding this from us? Yes, but as I said, I will give her the benefit of the doubt. As for you, of course I know why you think you need to hide it. Your mother doesn't know, I presume?"

"No." She shakes her head, her eyes moisty with unshed tears.

"In this case. I'm here for you, whenever you need me."

"Thank you…" She wipes her eyes, emotional. "That's… I… thank you."

"With that being said. I do need you to tell me something."

"Okay…"

"Have you guys?" Then he does the eye thing again. "You know…"

She gets it right away this time.

"Oh no. We didn't do it."

Yet.

She thinks, as he gets relieved.

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid this is something that will happen anytime soon…"

She has the decency to look apologetic.

"I'm not delusional like my husband. Rachel is not a child anymore. The boiling hormones, the fact that you've done it before… you'll want to do it again and the prospect of no pregnancy risk is very attractive too, am I right?"

"I would never do something that she is not comfortable with doing."

"Good, but here is the thing, sure you're not a boy, and you can't get her pregnant. But pregnancy is a blessing compared to what other things you were at risk, you do know that, right?"

"I do now. I was an idiot to trust him the way I did."

"And he was an idiot to manipulate you the way he did, but society is always condescending with men."

"That's for sure."

"Point is; sex is a major step in our lives, regardless of our sexuality. Please, when you feel that you girls are moving toward that direction, come talk to me first. I need to know that she is ready for that step. But let's hope she comes to us before that."

"Okay."

"Now go or else she is-"

Before he finishes the sentence, Rachel appears in the living room.

"Daddy! You're still talking? You're going to scare her off."

"I take offense on that. I'm super cool, okay?"

"Come on Quinn, we need to rehearse "

"Yeah, right." He says suggestively, making Quinn blush as Rachel drags her upstairs.

The first thing she does when they get in Rachel's room is release the breath she didn't know she was holding. It has been a very busy day, full of drama and emotions.

She presses her back against the door and stays there for a moment.

"What?" Rachel asks when she turns around and notices Quinn's state of mind.

"A lit bit overwhelmed." She says, walking toward the bed.

"Because of the talk with my dads?"

"Not just that." Quinn throws herself on the bed, keeping her head pressed against the pillow.

"Quinn…" Rachel smiles. "Talk to me baby, we need to talk remember? That's the reason why you're here."

"I know. Just a second. I need a moment, can you give me that?"

"Of course I can. But… Quinn! Can you look at me? What are you doing?"

"I'm breathing."

"Lying like this?"

The blonde girl nods, making Rachel smile again.

"Baby!" She pinches Quinn's butt.

"I'm breathing your scent. It makes me breath better. And your pillow has your scent, so…" She hugs the pillow and inhales deeply.

"Yeah silly, but I'm right here. You can smell… well, me."

Quinn eyes light up immediately. She really forgot she had that option at hand.

"I thought I wasn't allowed…" She slides her hand on Rachel's waist and pulls her closer, getting on top of the brunette. She then leans her head, nestling her face on Rachel's neck. "Hmm." She breathes in, making Rachel shiver all over.

"Okay, maybe this was not a good idea." Rachel says, half moaning the words as she places one hand between her sex and Quinn, crossing her legs to help her cool down.

"Too late." Quinn tilts her head up to look at brown eyes before she leans down again and kisses Rachel passionately. They deepen the kiss right away. With one hand, she balances herself on top of Rachel, and with the other, she cups one of Rachel's legs and guides it up her waist. Rachel gets her command and does the same with the other leg, crossing her legs around Quinn's waist. Never stopping kissing the blonde with a mix of longing, passion, affection and desire. It is messy, but delicious.

However, Rachel knows they have to stop, even though it feels so good when Quinn starts moving her hips against Rachel's sex.

"Wait." She places her hands on Quinn's shoulder.

"I know…" Quinn huffs. "Having a déjà vu right now." She adds a little too edgy.

"Are you mad?"

"No." She pecks Rachel's lips and pulls away. She sits Indian style and waits.

"I mean, my dads are downstairs…" Rachel explains a little worried as she sits in front of the blonde girl, mirroring her position.

"I'm not mad baby." Quinn reaches out and takes the brunette's hand. "I was just too engaged on… you know…" She kisses the hand she is holding.

"Me too, but…"

"We need to talk, I know. I feel like I don't even know where we should start."

"I was thinking… to make it easier, I was wondering that perhaps we should talk about what happened today at school later."

"I agree and I already talked to Santana, just so you know, we're cool."

Rachel nods.

"Alright. First thing first. I broke up with Finn."

"Thank god." Quinn looks up playfully, but recomposes herself as she notices the disapproving look on Rachel's face. "I mean. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I should've never asked you to date him."

"You wanted to protect me. What hurt me the most is that you didn't trust me."

Quinn nods.

"You retreated yourself to your shell and left me out. You assumed things before asking and that lead you to make things that hurt me. I love you, but don't ever do that again."

"I'm so stupid…" She states in a defeated tone, tears falling down her cheeks. "I just wanted her back." She starts crying copiously.

"Hey… come here." Rachel guides and Quinn lays her head on her lap. She kisses the blonde's forehead tenderly. "You made a choice in the past. It was very brave of you. You did what was the best for her."

"I did what was best for me." She sobs.

"I don't believe that. You were sixteen years old. You had no support from your family. You knew you weren't prepared and you saw someone that not only was ready to be a mother but longed for it."

"I didn't even talk to you."

"You had no reason to. We were barely friends."

"But Shelby…"

"Shelby is my birth mother, but she is not my mom. I have amazing dads and it was stupid of me to reach out for her… but you… she is giving you the chance to be more than just Beth's birth mother and you were ruining that chance. I couldn't let you do that, even if by trying to stop you, I was going to risk losing you."

"What am I going to do Rachel? It hurts. It's like I have a hole here inside." She presses her finger on her chest, where her heart is.

"You're going to be the best version of yourself. You'll be ready for when she comes to you. She will have questions and you have to be prepared. But baby, she will understand."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just know."

"I gave up on that stupid plan by the way."

"I figured love." She chuckles, kissing Quinn's head. "And I knew you'd come to your senses eventually."

Quinn moves her body so she can look up at Rachel.

"I love you."

With a smile on her lips, Rachel leans down and kisses the blonde tenderly, softly capturing Quinn's upper lip with her own lips, never rushing her motions. Both relishing in this moment of quietude.

"I love you too." She says as she pulls away.

"I have something to tell you."

"Oh god. What now? Did you kiss anyone else?"

"First of all. I didn't kiss her."

Rachel huffs and Quinn pulls away, sitting on her side.

"She kissed me."

"I'm so relieved." Rachel says sarcastically.

"Are we gonna fight over this? I don't wanna fight with you, but I thought you and I were over that day. I know, I know. I was an idiot baby, but believe me I wouldn't cheat on you. I didn't want to kiss her."

"Okay." She takes a deep breath. "This really pisses me off, but I don't wanna fight over this anymore. Just do not assume things like this ever again. Please."

"Deal."

"So, what did you want to tell me?"

"Uh… Hiram knows."

"What? What daddy knows?"

"He knows about us…" Quinn grimaces.

"He what?"

And all of sudden, Rachel's expression darkens. Which leads Quinn to think, why is it so bad for Rachel to tell her dads about them?

Sorry for the long wait my notebook is stressing me out.