I mentioned on my tumblr (ficklefic) that I update on Thursdays. Except today, I guess. I had some free time so I thought I might as well. Thank you for your comments thus far!
Rachel froze and both of her dads looked at each other.
"Shall we answer the door, or would you like to?"
Rachel sprang to her feet and hurried to the front door, but rather than open it immediately, she stared at the doorknob, took three deep breaths, and yanked the door open. On her stoop, Quinn Fabray carried a big smile and a white box.
"Hi," Quinn entered the house when Rachel stepped aside to allow her in. "Sorry I'm late, I had to go downtown to buy you these," she opened up the box and inside were pastries and cupcakes and cinnamon rolls. "Have you had them? They're from the vegan bakery on West Market."
"Not yet, but thank you. I look forward to tasting them," Rachel took the box from Quinn and placed it on the countertop along with the snacks she provided. "Would you like to meet my dads?"
As if on cue, Hiram and Leroy stood behind Rachel as if they were about to have their photo taken. They introduced themselves, and as did Quinn, shook their hands. Rachel watched them with a weird, queasy feeling in her gut. Her dads knew, after all, how Quinn treated her in the early years of high school. But judging from the easy laugh they shared from a joke Quinn told, they seemed… at ease.
That made two of the Berry family members to be comfortable, then.
While Quinn chatted and charmed her dads, confusion settled in Rachel's brain like the fall of leaves in autumn. It was true that she was the one to suggest to Quinn that they should at least try to persuade the school population that they were friendly with each other now, but that was precisely the problem — there was no one from McKinley around, and yet Quinn seemed to act as if she was in the middle of the school hallway. And to go out of her way to purchase vegan treats for Rachel?
Why then, was Quinn still playing up the charm?
"Excuse us," Rachel interrupted the threesome that was her dads and Quinn. "Quinn did come here to tutor me, not to entertain you two."
"Oh, alright," Hiram conceded.
"We'll be in my room," Rachel told them. She grasped Quinn's wrist and took her up the stairs. "If we studied downstairs, we wouldn't be able to get anything done. My dads tend to hover, as you can imagine."
"Your dads are lovely," Quinn entered Rachel's room and took in the vision of the yellow walls, the pink floral print of her sheets, the stuffed animals on the bedspread. "Cute."
Rachel sat on her desk chair and looked at Quinn. "Why did you feel the need to buy vegan pastries?"
Quinn sat on the edge of Rachel's bed, and faced her. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Rachel took a deep breath. She loathed to be confused — it threatened a lot of things, made her question nearly everything about her life. And her standing in Quinn's affections was one thing she perpetually doubted and questioned. "I know we agreed to show that we are starting to become friends — but that was supposed to be for school! No one here can see you being nice — "
"Except your dads."
Quinn's demeanour shifted from warm and relaxed, to tense. Rachel felt the palpable shift in her posture, in the way Quinn looked at her, all steel gazes and set jaw. "Do you not want me to be nice to you?"
"I - I do, I do!" Rachel's knuckles went white where she grasped the hem of her skirt.
"Then why are you suddenly being weird about it? You said we're friends, and isn't this what friends do?"
Rachel took a deep breath as if she was about to launch into a tirade that would take her to outer space, but resolved to exhale slowly and calmly. "You're right. I'm so sorry, Quinn. I just have a lot of nerves," she offered Quinn a shaky smile. "I don't even know why."
"It's okay," Quinn chuckled. "I think you're still having some latent issues when I used to be so mean to you. And I'm sorry — I'll keep apologizing until you truly believe me. Our being friends is not just because of this prom thing — I won't stop being nice to you after we won. Okay?"
"Okay." Rachel softened and she grew tired all of a sudden. She flopped face down on the bed. Only the sound of Quinn's giggles made her look up.
They settled into homework mode — with Rachel sitting on her desk chair while Quinn stood beside her and offered instructions that were so concise and clear that Rachel actually understood the concepts after a few attempts.
"Good job. See, you're not as hopeless as you thought," Quinn teased.
"It's all thanks to you."
"You can thank me in your Oscars speech when you win for the role of calculus expert."
Quinn assigned a few more pages from the textbook for Rachel to solve while she looked through the books on Rachel's bookshelf. There were plenty of celebrity biographies and memoirs, and books about Broadway on the upper shelves. On the lower shelves were fiction books, mostly from Rachel's childhood. Quinn eventually settled on Little House on the Prairie and reclined on Rachel's bed to read. Rachel finished her exercises and she stretched her arms over her head while Quinn checked her answers.
"A few mistakes here and there, but not bad."
"I had a great teacher!"
Eventually, Rachel's dads called them down to have dinner. Together, all four of them made a quick meal of a vegetable stir-fry with spicy black pepper beef on the side for the omnivores at the table. It heartened Rachel that Quinn seemed to have a banter with her dads, and they seem to like her back.
When it came time for dessert, Rachel took a big bite out of the vegan cinnamon roll and whimpered from the sheer delight of it.
"You know how there's a Cinnabon at the mall? Every time I pass by, I am tempted to go vegetarian for just one moment. But this is amazing," Rachel licked the cream cheese frosting from her upper lip, and beamed at the blonde. "Thank you, Quinn."
They passed the time chatting with each other, with Hiram and Leroy. When Rachel used to date Finn, he would always be stiff and polite that Rachel wondered where all his personality went in the presence of her dads. But Quinn, with the easy smile, the constant stream of wit and charm that flew out of her mouth, her dads had no choice but to be beguiled.
But when Leroy offered to show Quinn Rachel's baby photos, however, that was when she cut her dads off to return to her bedroom.
We are actual friends, Rachel thought in awe while she climbed the stairs with Quinn trailing behind her. The only 'kind-of' about this was, Rachel considered, to be the aftermath of prom. Once prom was over, and, let's say she and Quinn won the title of prom couple, would that be it? Would they then return to passing each other in the hallways like before, with barely a smile to greet each other? Quinn said she would continue to be nice, but that does not guarantee the maintenance of this closeness that they presently shared. And Rachel's heart ached because of it.
Stop, Rachel chastised herself. Stop worrying about the future and focus on the present. Quinn's here with you now, isn't she?
"I think we should discuss our next plan of attack," Rachel told Quinn who was reclined on her bed, stroking her belly. "Quinn, are you awake?"
"I am, I'm just so full," she had a lazy smile on her face and she squirmed to sit up and lean against Rachel's headboard. "Okay, what do you have in mind?"
"With three weeks left until prom, we might have to shake a leg in the pacing of this… relationship, so to speak. Maybe it's time to act like we're closer next week. Be a bit more physical, more touchy with each other, perhaps?"
"And are you sure you won't freak out this time if I come out of the blue and hug you?" Quinn asked, her brow raised.
"I think it's best if we practice proximity."
"You want to practice hugging?"
"And holding hands too, maybe?"
Quinn stood up and as did Rachel. They met halfway across the bedroom and stood in front of each other. Their eyes met and after a beat, the two girls let out a snort and a laugh over the absurdity of what they were about to do. Rachel took that moment of distraction to catch Quinn's hand in hers. And it baffled her, how easy it was for Quinn's palm to open to allow their fingers to interlock.
"See, not so bad, right?" Quinn said with a small grin.
"No," Rachel replied after a hard swallow. "Not bad at all."
The blonde tugged Rachel closer and guided her arm to wrap around her waist. Quinn released Rachel's hand so she could embrace Rachel by the shoulders, her forearms loose around Rachel's neck. "How are you feeling? Not freaking out, I hope?"
Rachel had never been this close to Quinn, and it was both terrifying and relaxing. She smelled so sweet, her perfume radiated off her skin like it was her natural scent. The smaller girl tightened her arms around Quinn's waist and rested her cheek against her chest. "I'm not freaking out at all," she sighed.
Rachel could not tell how much time they spent standing in the middle of her bedroom and hugging. Quinn rested her cheek against the side of Rachel's face, drew soothing circles between her shoulderblades, while Rachel focused on the steady sound of Quinn's heartbeat and memorized the shape of her waist and the dip of her spine. The sound of Quinn's breath, so close to her ear, made her drowsy.
It was not until Quinn's phone rang that they dislodge from the embrace so Quinn could answer the call.
Rachel never really practiced hugging before — holding hands, either. But this was different, wasn't it? It was a performative relationship — for public consumption more than anything else. This was, after all, with the goal of the most public coupledom in high school.
How come, then, did it feel so… easy? And natural?
"That was my mom — she was looking for me," Quinn shook her head. "I guess I did just say I'd be home late and not when I'd be home."
The clock on Rachel's nightstand read 8:18 pm.
Quinn gathered her things and Rachel followed her out of her bedroom so she could say goodbye to Rachel's dads.
"Bye, Quinn! You're welcome here anytime!"
Quinn thanked them both for having her and she turned to Rachel. "Are you free tomorrow?"
"Sadly no. I have dance classes at ten in the morning. And in the afternoon I have to go to Sam's."
"Why would you go to Sam's?" Quinn asked, her head tilted in confusion.
"Oh, well," Rachel bit her lip and fidgeted with the hem of her sweater. "I play Dungeons and Dragons with him, Mike, and others. It's — don't worry about it. I'll be busy for most of Saturday, but I'm free on Sunday!"
"I can't do Sundays – I have church. Also, what's Dungeons and Dragons...?"
"Oh, no, Quinn," Leroy shook his head in warning, his lips clamped shut. "Don't ask Rachel that question if you don't have four hours to spare."
Rachel huffed and glared at her dads. "I do not appreciate being made fun of for my hobby." To Quinn, she said. "I can tell you all about it next time, if you like."
Quinn laughed. "Okay. I'll see you on Monday then." She squeezed Rachel's hand and that was when Rachel realized they have been holding hands all along. She saw her dads glance at each other, and was grateful they did not say anything.
"Bye Quinn," Rachel released Quinn's hand to open the front door for her. Quinn flashed her the sweetest, most heart-wrenching smile that it took all of Rachel's willpower to not simply lean against the doorway and sigh.
Of course, she could not because her dads were watching her. Rachel shouted a final 'bye Quinn!' before she slammed the front door shut.
"Rachel, honey, our dear, sweet darling – our favourite baby girl…" Leroy began.
"I'm your only baby girl."
"I'm glad to see you and Quinn are getting along," Hiram commented. "With the way she acts around you, I would never have thought she was the one who made your life miserable last year."
There was a fierce glint in her dad's eyes, and it unnerved Rachel, and made Leroy look at her husband in surprise. "Do you not like Quinn?" Rachel asked her dad.
"No, no. It's not that at all. Well," Hiram opened his arms and Rachel nestled into the spicy aroma of his perfume, the faint scent of aftershave on his chin. "It's a little bit of that, I suppose. I like Quinn as a person, but that does not erase the fact that she was the reason you used to come home from school crying."
Behind Rachel, Leroy wrapped his arms around his husband and her so that Rachel was cocooned in their strong arms, their masculine scent. "She's apologized about that."
Hiram sniffed. "I know we teach you to forgive but sometimes you give your forgiveness away far too easily. But," he sighed deeply and kissed Rachel's forehead. "I trust your judgement. Because goodness knows – you got it from me."
Rachel giggled and looked up at him. "Thanks, dad."
The following day, Rachel woke up early to exercise and avoid thinking about Quinn altogether. She spent the night before with her arms splayed out in the middle of her bed and reimagined, or attempted to reimagine, anyway – the sensation of Quinn's arms around her. Rachel had always been physically affectionate – her dads were physically affectionate people too, after all – and so it felt more authentic, this display of her affection towards Quinn now that she was, effectively, sanctioned to express her feelings for Quinn.
The next step, as they progressed this relationship, was to sing a song for Quinn during glee.
But that seemed getting too ahead of herself, really.
And what happened to not thinking about Quinn?
Rachel stepped off the elliptical and headed to the kitchen for a breakfast smoothie. She took the puzzle page from the Lima News and solved the sudoku while her dad read the news to her. After that, she showered and her daddy drove her to the dance studio where she had been taking dance classes since she could walk.
It wasn't really a class – it was more of an opportunity to have studio time since Rachel had long since surpassed the dance instructor. She found Mike and Brittany practicing a complicated-looking waltz that involved elements of swing dance and the tango. While Rachel did her ballet stretches, she watched them in clear and abundant awe. Then she did a few of her dance routines. It felt a little unfair that Brittany only needed to watch her for a minute or two before she could replicate the stances and the moves that Rachel did before she could do them herself, with such precision.
It was eleven-thirty when Rachel emerged from the changing rooms dressed in a burgundy sweater and a grey skirt. She walked into the lobby of the dance studio where Brittany and Mike waited for her.
"How was the tutoring session?" Mike offered to carry Rachel's gym bag for her while they walked to the parking lot to his car.
The memory of being held in Quinn's arms filled Rachel with a sudden warmth, and she blushed. "It was good. Quinn's an awesome teacher."
"Did you mention playing D&D to her?" Brittany asked.
"I did, in passing. She doesn't even know what it is."
"We'll work on her," Mike grinned.
He drove them to Sam's house where Artie was already being lowered from the ramp of his dad's van. Brittany wheeled Artie inside where the dining table had already been set up. The DM screen with Tiamat printed across the back was propped open to shield Sam's notes. The binders that held their character sheets which Sam kept for them were already in place – Mike, Brittany, and Artie on one side of the dining table, with Rachel and Tina across from them.
They pooled their money to pay Sam for the pizza and they stood in the middle of the cramped kitchen, since the dining table was out of commission. Rachel and Tina played with Sam's younger siblings after they finished eating.
"Brittany thinks we're going to face a beholder at the end of the dungeon," Tina whispered. It had to be kept on the downlow, given that Sam was patently against out-game research and knowledge.
"What!" Rachel shrieked, and Tina clamped a hand over her mouth.
Tina nodded solemnly and uncovered Rachel's mouth. "Don't make it too obvious that you know. But also… remember to Countercharm whenever you can."
They settled around the table and Rachel retrieved her pink dice set from her bag. She took a pencil from the cup and swept her hair to the side. Sam took a drink of water, stretched the muscles of his jaw and lips, and began his narration.
Sam announced for a break after a particularly grueling stealth mission to enter the mansion of a potential vampire. Rachel and her party members released a gasp of relief that no one died or fainted or got caught. Rachel touched her cheeks, warm from the laughter of roleplaying. She enjoyed D&D because it was, pretty much, just like acting.
She rose to her feet to stretch and check her phone. To her surprise, a few texts from Quinn.
I looked up what D&D is
I didn't think you were into that geeky stuff
Looks fun though
At this, Rachel grinned. She came up to Mike and flashed him the text.
"Awesome!" He pumped his fist. "Ask her if she wants to sit in during a session next week! Sam! Come on – we need a sixth person to complete the Steam Rollers!"
Mike went off to talk to Sam while Rachel responded to Quinn.
It's not that geeky
It is, a little
You roll dice and play pretend
And there are dragons
What the heck is a halfling?
It makes for good acting exercise!
Mike wanted me to ask you if you wanted to sit in during
a session next week
To see if you would, at some point,
want to join us
Rachel closed her phone. She was nervous that Quinn would say no, though that was likelier, wasn't it? She used to be the head cheerleader, cared about popularity – why would she want to play D&D?
And a halfling is like a hobbit
Her phone buzzed and she took a quick peek.
I have no idea what a hobbit is
And sure! I'd love to see you guys play
Rachel squeaked. "Mike!" She only had to yell, and immediately, the tall boy grinned and shot Rachel a thumbs up. The sheer excitement of having Quinn at their table was too much to bear that Rachel's conscious mind only skimmed over the fact that Quinn did not have marginal knowledge over what a hobbit was.
They resumed the rest of the game where they crawled further and further into the dungeon until Sam abruptly announced that they stopped in the middle of an open cavern that they found in the mansion's basement. The game had been running for more than four hours, and the late spring sun was on its way to sinking in the horizon.
"Dude, come on!" Artie groaned. "It was just getting to the good part!" The rest of the party nodded in agreement.
Sam grinned and shrugged. "See you guys on Monday."
Rachel helped put away the figurines, the maps, and the binders in Sam's kit. As the five of them headed out, they thanked Sam's parents for letting them use their dining room for the day. After they said goodbye to Artie whose dad picked him up, Brittany, Tina, and Rachel piled into Mike's car.
He dropped them off at each of their houses. Rachel shoved a ten dollar bill into Mike's shirt pocket for her part of the gas money pool and ran off while he shouted after her in an attempt to refuse the money she gave.
In her living room, Rachel relaxed with her dads. Told them about her day. In that moment, with her dads on either side of her, after having spent the day adventuring with friends, and with Quinn Fabray potentially joining the Steam Rollers, she couldn't believe how content she felt.
The icing on the cake would be to win prom queen. And possibly Nationals.