AN: Another one down.
Read and Review. And above all else, enjoy.
The rest of the Christmas break was rather quiet. They woke up in the late morning of Christmas Day to find that they were almost snowed in, and the streets not cleaned nor salted, meaning Rachel had to stay longer.
Not that either girl cared about that, they simply went back into the house and stayed wrapped up on the couch with each other. Hiram called to say that he would be staying over in Columbus until the snow was cleared and Judy wouldn't be home until a flight was opened up.
Which lead to Quinn finally realize, why the hell did Rachel come over on Christmas Eve when she should of been spending it with her Father.
Stepping up behind Rachel, whom was busy staring into the cabinet for food, Quinn wrapped her arms around her waist, Quinn rested her chin onto her shoulder, "Why is your Father in Columbus and not with you right now for Christmas?"
She felt Rachel shudder slightly, most likely from Quinn's breath near her ear, but Rachel shook her head, "I could ask the same about your Mom not being home. How long has it been now?"
Quinn took a slight sharp breath and pressed her face into Rachel's shoulder, "About a month, give or take a few days."
Rachel turned in Quinn's arm and stared up at her, "I thought you and your Mom were doing good."
"We were, she was just supposed to ahead up to New York City for a week at the most to oversee some sale for the Company, and come back. Then, the school called about…" Quinn trailed off, trying to find the proper word.
"What is done is done, Quinn. I am just glad that both of you are okay."
"Both of us?" Quinn seemed confused.
Rachel just gave a small smile, "Although I smacked her that one time, it doesn't mean I want to see people, or anyone, get hurt like that."
Quinn arched a brow and gave a small nod, "I don't know what happened. Dave took a swig at Azimio, it just happened. I haven't even spoke to her since all of it." She gave a small sigh and rolled her shoulders, "I..I just lost control. I snapped, I let my anger get the better of me. Everything just came crushing down and I..I"
As Quinn trailed off trying to find her words, Rachel stepped up onto Quinn's feet and laid a kiss to Quinn's cheek, "It's okay, Quinn. It's all okay."
The snow was cleared from the streets the following day after Christmas. Hiram was surprised to see Rachel and Quinn in his kitchen when he finally got home after a long business meeting and then party.
He hadn't spoken to Rachel about whatever happened between them. He saw the reports from the School Resource Officer about the fights but left it there. It was not his business to get drawn into his daughter's business with her girlfriend.
But he couldn't help but to smile as he took off his scarf and place down his briefcase on the counter of the kitchen. He missed moments like these. LeRoy behind a stove, Quinn and Rachel at the table smiling and laughing. In the moments where LeRoy was trying, and that they could pretend to be a normal family.
He saw Rachel's head peek up and give him a smile, Hiram could see it was forced around the edges. The man returned the smile too, the one he wore when he working a crowd or business meeting.
Quinn, on the other hand, was quite happy to see Hiram again and moved around the stove, throwing her arms around him, "Ah, my favorite number 2 daughter."
"You only have one second daughter." Quinn commented from inside the hug.
"Exactly." Hiram said with a smile as Quinn moved out of the hug. Reaching up and messing up her ponytailed hair
Hiram moved behind the stove and pressed a kiss to Rachel's cheek who smiled up at her Dad, "Good trip, Dad?"
"Yes, by the way, we were both invited to the Mayor's Ball on New Year's down in Columbus, I was hoping you and Quinn could come along with me. Keep me sane really." Hiram explained as he took a water bottle from the fridge and hopped onto the counter.
Rachel shoot a look over the steaming pan at Quinn. Again, it was one of the moments of silent conversation as Hiram got distracted by something on his phone.
'Should we?' Rachel's eyes danced as she added a little sprinkle of spice into the vegetable stir fry..
'It would be nice.' Quinn answered back, watching as Hiram hopped off the counter as he talked hastily into the phone heading to his office.
Rachel placed the top over the pan and was drawn into Quinn's arms, "Ignore him, Rachel. We're going to go, and it's going to be for us. You'll be the bella of the ball."
Rachel smiled and leaned up to press a kiss to her nose while she went off to set up the table.
The night of the ball found Hiram and Quinn waiting downstairs waiting for Rachel. The driver outside waiting to drive them down to the Capital for the event. There was still a cold nip in the air still, though the snow had become less intense in the past few days.
Dressed in a sharp looking black tux, Hiram was chatting on his phone and smiling as he spoke to someone important Quinn was sure. He was going off about the Ball and his next speech, or something like that, Quinn couldn't keep up with him anymore.
She kept her hands clasped in front of her, fingers on her left hand playing with the small heart on the bracelet, it was fast becoming her worry token. Her fingers rubbing over the curve of the metal and the small engraved letters. It was something she did now out of habit during the past few days, she supposed it was a reminder.
She had quietly told Rachel about her depression issues that seemed be rising back up. Quinn had yet to tell her that it was mainly due in part with Beth. It was easy to just laugh and smile at everyone, get lost into the day to day of life, forgetting about that little bundle she held for only a few passing moments before Beth was taken from her.
Quinn knew Rachel had her own demons with Shelby, she was unsure on how to ask Rachel, but with Beth's first Christmas coming and going, she couldn't of helped to think of a scene in her mind. Rachel cuddled into her side, Beth resting on top of her stomach and chest being the center of their entire worlds.
The blonde took a sharp breath and clinched the small heart, one day at a time.
Her and Rachel had decided to go with a black and white color scheme for the Ball. Quinn herself was dressed in an elegant white and black ballroom gown and hair down up in an bun styled hairstyle.
She heard footsteps on the stairs and felt her eyes being drawn to Rachel's form as she descended down from the upper stories. And just like in classic love story fashion, Quinn's mouth opened slightly before she swiftly closed it. She was a lady after all and not some drooling boy, but Quinn could feel her body going flushed red at all those curves.
Dressed in an almost matching grown, but in pure black. She wore the lightest bit of makeup to enhance her eyes. Quinn gave one of those special smiles, a full teethed one. Rachel's eyes met hers. coming to light as she leaned up to press a kiss to Quinn's cheek, "You look wonderful, Baby."
"So do you." Quinn leaned down to press a kiss to the tip of Rachel's nose, "Ready to woo everyone?
Quinn had been to a number of high level social events throughout the years. She knew how to act, that large fake smile on her face, nod at all her Father's friends and be the perfect little daughter.
At least this time around, she had Rachel wrapped on her arm. And another good thing was the little to none magazine or press coverage. At all the charity balls she went to put on by the Fabray Industries were always for media coverage to boast their public relations. Quinn really hated all the bright flashes of the cameras and how it stung her eyes. She was sure though Rachel would love the attention.
She had spoken to Congressmen, Senators, Mayors, Governors, Military officers, the list went on. Quinn just kept that well acted smile on her face as Hiram took them around the ballroom. It seemed Hiram and all the big wigs had already agreed Hiram had clinched his Congressional seat.
"Ah, Hiram, just the man I wanted to see." The Governor of Ohio gave a large charming smile as he shook Hiram's hand.
"Mr. Governor, a pleasure as always. Might I introduce you to my daughter, Rachel, and Miss Quinn Fabray." Hiram moved to the side and motioned for the two girls to come forward.
Quinn probably met the Governor at some point, she usually just blacked out these events and thought about other things; usually it was how all these Senator's daughters were really hot.
"Ah, I heard about the successful buy of Haird Oil, congratulates." The slight greying man gave a polite smile and leaned over to shake Quinn's hand.
"Oh, thank you, Governor, I must say that I read in the paper about your pledge to investigate reports of abuse among female and male Police Officers." Quinn said with a masterful smile as she sipped from her drink, "I will love to help any way possible."
Quinn could feel the eyes of the small group of people all on her as she finished speaking. It seemed that they were not expecting such a well versed response.
The Governor kept the smile on his face as he gave a small nod, "Well thank you, have you been thinking about a life in the Justice System or perhaps politics?"
Quinn didn't know what to say, so she nodded her head and sipped her drink, thankfully Rachel came to her save, "Quinn just as an interest in politics, being aware of public happenings."
The Governor's eyes quickly snapped to Rachel's, smile still on his face, "Ah, Rachel, your Father goes on and on about your singing and acting ability."
"My Dad likes to talk a lot it seems." Rachel gave an award winning smile and shoved the side of her body into her Father playfully.
"It was because of Rachel's leadership our Glee Club crushed our Sectionals." Quinn added in as she shot a small smile towards her girlfriend.
Though swiftly afterwards, the 'grown up's' were lost into a conversation about the use of the Arts in public schooling leaving the girls to their own devices. They had agreed to not worry about hiding their relationship but neither wanted to make a scene in front of all these important people.
They opted to stand near one of the darker corners of the room, having some alone time away from all the crowds and peering eyes. Rachel laid her head onto Quinn's shoulder as she spoke, "You're really good at that."
"At what?"
"Sweet talking, charming. You should of saw them all, like they never seen an intelligent woman, let alone teenager." Rachel pressed a kiss to Quinn's cheek, "I am proud of you."
Quinn turned around to press their fronts together, "I was too busy looking at you. Like always.' She said with a small smile and leaned her forehead against Rachel's.
Rachel gave a small giggle and moved away to drag Quinn back onto the floor, "Come on, not every night you get to dance alongside the Elite of Ohio."
"That's not saying much, Rachel." Quinn commented dryly.
At the stroke of midnight, Quinn brought Rachel into her arms, whispering, "I hope to spend a lot more New Years with you." Before gently claiming her lips as the ball dropped. Unknown to them, Hiram had that moment taken frozen in time with a photo.
Things were slow to get back to a sense of normality between Rachel and Quinn. It was Rachel that first noticed the change in Quinn, the latter girl had taken sometime to reflect and think about how Rachel bluntly put, having her head stuck up her ass half of the time,
The first day back from Christmas break, she walked less..- bitchy if Rachel was to put it into words. Still her confident self, but instead of the smirk or analyzing stare she wore, there was only a gentle smile on her lips. It was a nice change to see in her girlfriend. The warm and fuzzy side that Quinn kept secret to mostly everyone. But now was slowly showing to more people. Small steps.
It helped on the plus side with her depression, taking Rachel's advice on forcing a smile. Though it gave a painful ping in her heart remembering freshmen year it was because of her that Rachel had to learn that. Quinn would just take a breath though, if she kept on hating herself for what she did, she would never learn on how to let go and move forward.
Needless to say, the school was shocked to see the Head Bitch in Charge turned pregeant turned back into Head Bitch now turned into a smiling and blushing girl every time her girlfriend looked at her.
Everyone in the school had heard and read Jacob's blog weeks ago, but it was something else seeing the two holding each other hands. Quinn gently pressing Rachel to a row of lockers and kissing her.
There was name calling, whispers of hate that floated around them both. It was too be expected when something like homosexuality was finally being shown in such a strict small society. She could see the eyes of distaste on her, all the old friends she went to Church with were quick to simply stop speaking to her.
It seemed that with Quinn and Rachel coming out, David finally started to loosen up. Ever since he attacked Azimio David was drifting further and further away from the other football players and more into the regular Glee Club kids.
He had yet to come out, or even speak about it, but at least as the days went by he stopped being so angry all the time. Though it was an awkward situation, Rachel could see how much it upset Kurt, who most likely did not know the truth about David. It was made worse when David decided to join Glee Club full time. He had some pretty decent dancing skills, but they learned pretty swiftly he was lacking in the singing area.
But, things were slow to change, but they were changing for the better this time. Rachel, though on one level, couldn't help to feel she was missing something.
Will honestly hated the teacher's lounge. It smelled like coffee, sweat, and the lingering smell of liquor. Probably one of those Math teachers try to get through their after lunch classes. Opening his lunch he was swiftly joined by Sue who kicked up her feet and started reading from the paper.
Usually, Beiste was right behind, and then Emma might make an appearance if she was not spending yet another lunch with her amazing husband.
"Where's Beiste?" Will finally commented as he shoved his fork into his salad.
"Saw her with Figgins before lunch, first time the Titans have gone to any type of playoff game, he's probably trying to give her a pep talk." Sue crumbled the paper and sipped from her protein drink, "Don't worry, your girlfriend will be here."
Will rolled his eyes and stabbed a piece of chicken in his salad, "Do you think they're going to win?"
Sue smiled then and took out a piece of folded paper from her pocket, "Currently, the Math and Science Department are betting a 21 - 14 lost for the Titans, while the English and History is currently betting against them in the pool for a 500 to 1 payout."
"500 to 1? Sue, did you make another gambling pool? It's highschool football."
"I had my bookie in Vegas make the odds. See, the school they're playing in the first round is 8 time State champion. Beiste shocked everyone by getting her team to overthrow them and win her first State ring. Now, that other Coach is out for blood." Sue kicked back the shake and finished it.
"But if she won once already, why are the odds so stacked to the other way." Will asked puzzled.
But before Sue could answer, the door to the Teacher's lounge slammed open as the Football Coach marched in, "He can't do this!"
"There she is." Sue said with a smirk as Beiste slammed down onto the last free chair at the table.
"This is your fault, Sue. If it was not for your fucking Cheerios." Beiste jabbed a finger in the woman's general direction.
"Calm down, Beiste. What happened?" Will dropped his fork and brought a hand over to rest on the Coach's forearm.
"Figgins, all of sudden, decided that he was too nice on my players back in December, and that it's well within his rights to stop them from playing on our game. That's my star offense, hell, it's almost all of them." Beiste threw her hands up, "And it's because of your all star Quinn Fabray when she snapped."
"Don't you dare blame my Cheerios. I'll talk to the spineless leader of ours and get him to see reason." Sue got out of her seat and stalked off towards the Principal's office, leaving Will and Beiste still at the table.
Opening the box of chicken Beiste stabbed her fork into it, but Will wasn't done yet, "Who got suspended from the team?"
"Finn, Sam, Puck, Mike, and Dave. Said that they were the ones that caused the fight. My team depended all those guys. Our Defense already sucks, the only thing we had going was that we could outscore everyone else."
Will sighed, he really hoped Sue could use her blackmailing talent to take care of this. He just leaned over and patted the woman on her shoulder, "I am sure Sue will be able to fix this."
"You two are close." Beiste commented from in between mouthfuls of chicken.
"Is that a question or a statement?"
"Just, weird. I heard that before this year you two were at each other's throats every other day. Then all of sudden you're guys playing nice."
Will just held his head into his hand, "You too? Everyone here thinks me and Sue are doing something. I am going to tell you, like I have told everyone else; Sue and I are friends. That's it. Trust me." With that he closed the lid on his salad and got up, leaving the football coach alone to finish her lunch.
At least Glee Club was still forever the same. With Quinn and Rachel sitting in the back, Rachel's head resting on Quinn's shoulder as they waited for the meeting to start. If anything good came out of this drama was the ability to touch Quinn and stay close to her. Something she was very proud of doing.
Quinn might not be aware of it, but Rachel could see the looks sent her way from other girls that were most likely just as repressed as Quinn was. Rachel would just move a little bit closer to her girlfriend to make sure everyone knew that no matter what, Q and R was endgame.
It was one of their first days back and both girls had already noticed the change between Santana and Brittany. They went from being all over to each other, to somewhat cold, to now, Santana refused to look at the girl, and Brittany just stared on with lonely eyes. But at least Santana was less bitchy towards everyone, she even looked relaxed as she stared at the ceiling of the room.
Quinn moved her head slightly so she could whisper down into Rachel's ear, "I don't want to get caught up with Santana and Brittany games." Quinn had noticed the change, and if she knew Rachel, it was going to be Round 2 of matchmaking.
Rachel shut her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the closeness of Quinn next to her, "Still they're our friends, Quinn."
"And sometimes being the best friend means letting them find out on their own. I know you have a big heart in your own little way, Rachel, but let's not meddle for once." Quinn spoke no higher than a whisper, but was soft as she pressed a peck to the side of Rachel head.
The little moment was swiftly ended when Puck, Finn, Sam, Mike and behind them Dave walked in.
"I can't fucking believe this. A week before our game, he cuts us all. Bullshit, it's been a month since the fight." Puck threw his backpack onto his chair and ran his hands through his hair.
"Can he even do this? It's like double jeopardy or something." Finn sat down at one of the chairs and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Look, I already said I am sorry guys, but I just snapped when he got up in my face." Dave avoided eye contact with Rachel and Quinn as he took a seat next to Finn.
Before the rest of the Glee Club could wonder and ask what they football players were talking about, Mr. Schu and Sue walked into the room, not so surprising to see Beiste following up behind them.
"Coach I am…" Dave stood up but was quick to shut up when Beiste just pointed at him.
"Think you done enough, Karofsky. But, this is none of your fault. What happened is in the past, right now we have to look to how we're going to make sure we win." Beiste too a seat down at the front of the room, hands resting in her lap. She would sometimes drop into Glee Club, seeing as her favorite players were there, she felt like she needed to check in now and again.
"Coach, I don't get why he didn't cut the whole team, only us Glee kids and Dave." Finn asked from his seat.
Besite just threw her hand up in annoyance, "Apparently, he thinks that it was you lot that made the fight. It wouldn't be fair to cut everyone."
Rachel finally found her voice and spoke up from the back, "That's good right? You still have most of the team."
"Not when they take my star offense. This doesn't leave this room, but without you kids," The Coach pointed at the football players at the front, "I don't think the rest of the team is going to do good. Our defense can't hit for shit, and the backups are terrible."
The boys all shared a grin with each other, most of them were depending on a football scholarship to get to college. If Puck could stop getting arrested.
It was Kurt that spoke up, "Uh, pardon Coaches, but this is Glee club. We still need to select our setlist for Regionals in March."
"Simmer down there Sparkle Thunder." Sue said from in between sipping her drink and pointing at the lumbering football players, "Because y'all had WWM Smackdown night a few weeks ago, Figgins finally found his balls and decided to suspend those involved."
"She means, only my Team that is about to go to State!" Beiste shot up jabbing a finger into Sue's direction, "You want your funding back, don't you."
"I am going to stop you there Ms. Muscles, the Cheerios private donors give more than enough money to make up for the lost in funding from the School. Why would I try to get your team pulled?" Sue shot up out of her seat, matching the Football Coach's stance.
Will simply sat in between them sighing as he raised his hands, "The point is that, no matter why it happened, we need to find a way to fix it, because we're on all the same team, right?"
The Glee teacher spoke to the room at a whole, but Quinn could feel his eyes lingering on her.
"Anyways, we're here for Glee," Will started up again, making sure that both the Football and Cheerio Coach were back into their seats, "We just wanted to keep you kids updated."
That night at the dinner table Quinn was extra quiet as she and Rachel ate a mostly silent dinner. It was not until they were cuddled on the couch that Rachel angled her head up slightly so she could look up at her girlfriend, "What."
"What?" Quinn looked down raising a brow.
"You have been stuck in your own little world since Glee today. And no matter how adorable I find you thinking, what's on your mind?" Rachel shifted slightly so she could rest her
Quinn rolled her eyes slightly but shifted on the couch, "It's about the football team and all that."
"Baby, it's not your fault. None of it is your fault." Rachel shifted so she was sitting right in Quinn's lap, "There is nothing we can do."
"I can try to make it right at least. Talk to Lauren." Quinn gave a small sigh and laid back into the couch.
"I think she would like that. As you can picture, she doesn't have many friends anymore." Rachel reached down to gently take one of Quinn's hands, running her thumb over the pale skin, "Remember the time I sent Sunshine to a Crack Den?"
Quinn gave a half smile, "How could I forgot? I didn't know if I should be angry at you or impressed by your ambition."
Rachel didn't smile though and kept her eyes on Quinn, "My situation with Sunshine is not at all different than what Lauren did to us, is it?"
The blonde kept her eyes on Rachel for a few passing moments, before giving a small sigh and shutting her eyes, "How did I know it was going to lead to that?"
"Because you're my smart, wonderful, intelligent, beautiful girlfriend?" Rachel leaned forward to press a kiss to the tip of Quinn's nose.
"I can't tell if you're trying to get laid or guilt trip me into being a good person." Quinn just looked down at Rachel from under her nose.
"Like I have to try to get laid." Rachel just gave a cheeky grin as Quinn placed her hands on Rachel's hips and turned. Forcing Rachel under her as Quinn started to lay kisses down the edge of Rachel's neck.
"I'll talk to her, but right now, I have something much better in mind."
It was not until the next day, before Cheerio Practice she finally got Lauren alone in the locker room. Quinn, on one level, found it somewhat odd that she kept on trapping this girl in the locker room, but at least this time she didn't have Santana or Miranda next to her.
She had already told Santana to get everyone out in a fast manner, leaving only her and Lauren alone in the room. Quinn stood in front of the door, arms crossed over her chest as Lauren made her way towards it, head down.
When it was made obvious that Quinn was not going to move, Lauren finally sighed and held up her hands, "Come on, not like you can do worse than you did last time."
"What?"
Lauren just gave a loud sigh and looked at the girl, "That's why we're here right? Round 3 of Quinn beating Lauren's face in for one thing she did."
Quinn brought her hands forward and gently rested them onto Lauren's shoulders, "No, Lauren. I came to apologize, and maybe, give some advice."
The other girl seemed quite surprised to say the least. Opening and shutting her mouth a few times before nodding, "I was glad to hear that you and Rachel got back together." She added back into a small voice, head dipping to stare at her feet.
Quinn, couldn't help but to think of Rachel when she looked at Lauren. Small and afraid, it brought back memories of what she did before, all the years of schoolyard bullying that swiftly got worse and worse as the years went by.
"You know, about this time last year, give or take a few months, I had no one." Quinn started, moving her hands off of Lauren's shoulders and going to sit on one of the benches, motioning for Lauren to follow after.
Lauren was silent as she sat down next to Quinn, still on edge being this close to Quinn without the Cheerio Captain trying to attack her, "I saw."
"I am sure you know all about the rumors. But I'll tell you the tale again just to make sure you understand my point. I, being a repressed lesbian at that point, was getting really really tired of hiding what I felt for one Rachel Berry. So one night, at one of Puck's parties, I let him get me drunk, I then had sex with him to prove that I wasn't gay, that I didn't want to kiss Rachel Berry, and that men were very much sexier than women."
Lauren finally took a seat next to Quinn, "Quinn, I am not gay, I like boys."
Quinn sighed and held her hand to her forehead, "I know, Lauren. You're missing the point, let me finish. I was dating Finn then, had sex with Puck, and was in love with Rachel. I lied through my teeth and told Finn it was because he came in a hot tub. I lied to Rachel, I lied to all of my friends. I lied to everyone. For what? To save some face, because I couldn't handle the truth on my own? That I did something like cheating on Finn, and I couldn't live up to my own deeds."
Lauren just gave a small little nod and patted Quinn on her shoulder, "You did what you had to."
"No Lauren. I did what I needed to keep my reputation because I thought that was more important. Did you know Rachel sent someone to a Crack Den because she was worried about the other girl taking her lead spot in Glee." Quinn asked Lauren, who in return couldn't help but to get a small grin.
"In the simple words of Santana, we all do stupid shit sometimes. I am sorry, Lauren. For attacking you like how I did, the crusade I placed against you because I blamed you for Rachel leaving. Lauren, highschool, this town, in the end means nothing. Everyone left me last year, if it was not for Rachel saving me, God knows where I would be. I don't want that to happen to you."
"But it was my fault, if I had not..-" Lauren started but was cut off by Quinn once more.
"If we sit here pointing blame, we're be here all day. Lauren, we both wronged each other at some point during all of this, but I don't want to see your entire highschool life ruined because of one mistake. Finn dumped you, right?"
Lauren gave a small nod as she ducked her head, "When I finally explained to him everything, said it was like dating OldQuinn all over again. I haven't spoken to him in over a month."
"Well, you can start with telling me what Jacob was planning or what he is planning." Quinn angled
Lauren shook her head, "It was just stupid highshool things. He wanted you out of the way because he thought he would be able to win her over if you were out of the picture. Jacob..," Lauren trailed off, looked up at Quinn for a moment, "You ever get that feeling from him? That cold shiver."
Quinn gave a small nod. It was unspoken around the school. They all laughed and smiled at Jacob, treated him like any other loser, but Quinn knew all well where Lauren was taking this to, "Yes, I do understand."
"I..I don't want to be remembered as connected to him. Just keep an eye on him, Quinn. There is something in him that's evil." Lauren just shook her head and picked herself up onto her feet.
"It's alright, Lauren. And if he tries anything with you again, tell me, alright? And I will talk to Finn, Rachel and I have a skill in knocking some sense into him." Quinn gave a small smile and did something that even surprised herself. She leaned over and hugged the fellow Cheerio.
Even more surprised that after a few passing moments, Lauren started crying into Quinn's shoulder. Mumbling about everything she did and how sorry she was for it all, the Captain just smoothed the girl and hoped no one walked in on this.
Quinn was still waiting on Rachel to be finished with Sue as they went over the final details for their Regionals performance. She was only half paying attention to the conversation as her girlfriend used her amazing tact of speaking in paragraphs. Though next to Quinn, Sue seemed to be one of the few people able to keep up with the million words her girlfriend sprew out.
Sitting at one of the bottom rows of the bleachers, her eyes were on the football practice happening in front of them. At least the backup quarterback was trying his best, but it seemed his line could not keep him protected or when he did have a free spot, he didn't have the arm.
She saw Coach Beiste breaking her clipboard across her knee as she screamed at the team to take another lap around the track. The ball somehow ended up flying over towards the bleachers right where Rachel and Sue were sitting.
Quick on her feet, Quinn was able to twist her body and extend her arms to catch the ball with ease. Rachel and Sue not even pausing in their conversation, now talking about who they were going up against. The blonde decided to leave the two be and walked over towards Coach Beiste who clapped her hands together, sign for Quinn to throw the ball.
Rolling her eyes slightly, she gripped the ball and threw it with all her worth. The ball sailed through the air with a near perfect spiral and landed into the hands of Besite who was staring at Quinn dumbly, "You, Fabrey, get over here."
Quinn glanced over her shoulder, but the other two women were still busy making some kind of evil plan knowing Rachel and Coach Sue. The blonde placed her hands into the pockets of her letterman and walked the rest of the distance to the football Coach.
"Can you do that again?" Beiste placed her hands onto Quinn's shoulders as the cheerleader came close.
"What?" Quinn blurted out, looking in between the Coach and now the arriving football team who were all breathing hard from the lap around the track.
"Throw the ball like that. You're already better than the quarterback I have." She could hear the mumbling of agreement along the other players.
"Ehh, Coach. I am a girl." Quinn could hear a comment about how she wouldn't be able to do it. Quinn twitched slightly at that, as she heard another player whisper in agreement. Her eyes snapped from the Coach and looked over the gathered mass of sweaty boys. The mumbling went quiet real fast under the burning eyes of Quinn who was daring them to say it to her face.
The Coach leaned over to whisper near Quinn's ear, "Prove them wrong."
It was the sure proof way to get Quinn to do something, tell her that she couldn't do it.
In the matter of Beiste barking out the orders, the offense and defense were lined up, Quinn still in her Cheerio uniform, ignored the looks coming to her from everyone in the area. She had watched enough football to get the basics of the game, and Beiste just said to say hike.
What's the worse that could happen? She just gets tackled by a 200 pound boy in full pads and she cracked open her head.
Licking her lips she waited a few seconds before clapping her hands and yelling 'hike'. The ball threw into her hands as she dropped back, eyes scanning up and down the field. She was really glad for her Father making her watch College and NFL football on most weekends.
The defenders brushed past the offensive line, forcing Quinn to run off towards the right. Pausing for a moment, she saw a receiver open downfield, Quinn threw the ball with all her might before being tackled to the ground by two defensive players.
The tackle knocked the wind out of Quinn, her head slamming against the ground. She saw stars as the two players offered a hand to Quinn and helped her up to her feet, still dizzy.
"Did I do it?" Quinn got out, leaning on the two players who were basically half carrying and half helping her walk.
She could hear Rachel's voice screaming across the field, but then finally Beiste appeared in front of her. Grabbing her by her shoulders, "Jesus christ, Kid. You're it!"
She now heard Sue joining in Rachel's yelling as the voices got closer, "What the hell do you think you're doing with my Cheerio Captain?"
Quinn felt the players drop her into Rachel's arms when pressed a dozen small pecks to her head, which if she wasn't surrounded by people, would've melted into the smaller girl. She must of been hit really hard, because everything around her was starting to spin before it all went black.
When she came through, she was laying down on one of the beds in the Sports Medicine room. The first thing she noticed was Rachel standing next to her, gently pressing a icepack to her head. As Quinn's opened her eyes, she automatically met Rachel's, Quinn's hand going out to grab Rachel's free one, "Ouch."
"Oh baby." Rachel threw the ice pack over her shoulder and leaned over to press a kiss to Quinn's forehead, "Are you alright?"
"I am fine, just a bit scattered brain." Quinn pushed herself up onto her back, the room was empty other than her and Rachel, "Where is everyone? What happened?"
"Coach Beiste wanted you to run a play as quarterback because apparently you can throw a ball or something."
Quinn nodded a few times, "Did he catch the ball?"
"What? Baby, you got tackled by two giant boys without pads on. You were out of it for 20 minutes."
"Yes, I understand that and I am fine. Did he catch the ball?" Quinn tried to get off of the bench but Rachel pressed her form into Quinn trying to get the blonde to stay sitting.
"Quinn, are you sure you're okay?" Rachel looked worried as she tried to force eye contact with Quinn, "LeRoy taught me some basic medical responder things. Are you feeling dizzy?"
The blonde knew that her girlfriend was as stubborn as her when it came to a lot of things, so Quinn just fell back and sighed, "Bunch of the boys were mumbling about how I couldn't do it because I was a girl, I wanted to prove them wrong."
The diva just shook her head but gave a small smile, "Well, he didn't catch the ball, not because of you though. Coach Sue was furious as soon as she saw you playing, I think she's still yelling at Besite."
Before Quinn say anything back the door flew open the football and Cheerio coach came bursting in, "See, look at what your lumberjacks did to my star Captain."
"She's breathing just fine. Your girl can take a hit that's for sure." Beiste gave a more hearty laugh as she came to Quinn's side and patted her on the shoulder, "Nice throw, Fabray."
"Quinn, don't speak to her, I'll call your Mother and get your lawyers to file a lawsuit against this crazy woman putting your life in danger." Sue almost yelled as she marched right up next to the football coach.
"She's fine, see."
"I will have your head forcefully taken off and placed into the bed of your next of kin."
"Coaches, I think you're a little too loud."
Three voices are all once, talking and yelling was a little too much for Quinn to take. So instead she brought her fingers up to her mouth and blew hard. A loud and sharp whistle ringing through the room, silencing everyone.
"Look, Quinn, I am begging you to play on friday. It's for only one game. And hopefully then we can get the rest of the team back." Besite actually got on her knees next to the girl, "Please, it's all on you."
Quinn looked up towards Sue, whom she held a stare with for a few passing moments before finally Sue gave out a loud puff of air and nodded, "Fine, I will allow it."
And then finally, and perhaps the most important, she looked at Rachel. The two holding their famous silent conversations for a few passing seconds before Rachel spoke up, "If she plays, so do I. You need a.. runner or whatever you call it."
"A running back?" Beiste asked.
"Yes, whatever it's called."
"How about you suit up and try to run a few plays." Beiste tried to level with the Diva but had a feeling she wasn't going to have a choice in the matter.
And much like Quinn, Rachel was never one to sit down from a challenge, she was Rachel Berry and everything she touched she became amazing at.
A short time later, with Quinn sitting on the bench next to Sue, the blonde watched with worried eyes as her very small girlfriend in full pads getting into position to run a play.
"So if either of you get injured I will smite your lesbian teen asses into a fine dust, Q." Sue commented next to her, who was busy either yelling at Quinn or drinking her protein drink.
"I think we both know you won't do that, Coach." Quinn commented off handedly, pressing a icepack to her head. She was slightly surprised she actually talked about to the Cheerio Coach. She supposed after Sophomore year and having Beth, Quinn lost some of that respect for authority features.
"You know the reason why I picked you, Quinn?" It was the first time Sue had ever used Quinn's real and full name.
Quinn attention was on the field, watching as the quarterback hiked the ball and dropped back. Pitching the ball off to his right and into Rachel's arms as she ran down the field. Quinn watched on with a stunned silence about how fast her girlfriend was. The blonde knew that her girlfriend ran every morning but seeing her take down the field, even spinning out of the way of a defensive player,
And there Rachel was, entering the endzone with the rest of the defense trailing behind her. Screaming loudly as she tore off her helmet, she slammed the ball into the ground, "Eat that!"
Quinn couldn't help but to giggle slightly as her eyes were locked on Rachel's form across the field, "It's because of that."
Sue's voice broke through the silence as Quinn looked back over towards the Cheerio head, "What?"
"Everyone else that joins the Cheerio, it's always out of some kind of hatred of themselves or for other people. When I saw you, it reminded me of a young Sue." And without a number word, she stood and patted Quinn on the shoulder, "Don't get knocked around too much."
It seemed alongside being good Cheerleaders the two girls knew how play on the field too. With Quinn and Rachel suited up, the overall feeling of the team seemed to raise with each successful pass and first down.
Not to say that the two girls were all stars in the sport, but everyone seemed surprised at their talent. Quinn didn't have the arm to do long bombs down field with the same accuracy of her other throws, and Rachel had a tendency to drop the ball when she did get tackled, things were looking up enough that the Coach finally called the practice over after hours of drilling them all.
Both girls had to half drag themselves to Quinn's Jeep. Quinn wasn't sure how she drove them back to Rachel's house let alone stumbled into the house to collapse onto the couch. Hiram was doing a shift down at the station for the night, leaving the two alone, again.
Rachel was cuddling into a small ball on the top of Quinn, shoving her face into her girlfriend's shoulder, "I am really sore."
Quinn couldn't help but to give a small smile, Rachel had the tendency when tired to get a very adorably sweet voice that made her melt, "I don't think we were built to play football."
Rachel snorted and looked up at Quinn from the spot on her chest, "Oh, what gave that away?"
"Well see, you're tiny and adorable. I am tall and strong." Quinn said with a smile as she moved her feet to kick off her shoes, cracking her toes as she settled into the couch.
Rachel sat up from Quinn's chest, still straddling her girlfriend's hips, "I will have you know, that I am not tiny nor adorable."
"Baby, you're like what, 4'11"?" Quinn said with a teasing smile as she sat up onto her elbows.
Rachel narrowed her eyes and placed her hands onto her hips, "I will have you know, Miss Quinn Fabray, I am the perfect height of 5'3"."
"I have seen your medical records, it says 5'2" and half."
"Shut up and carry me upstairs." Rachel fell back onto Quinn and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, "I want to have a bath."
"Do I get to join you?"
"Only if you hurry up."
A short time later, Quinn was relaxing against the wall of the tub, Rachel pressed against her front and in between her legs. There was soft jazz music playing, as the two of them enjoyed a quiet moment with each other.
With Rachel half asleep in her arms, Quinn just smiled a special smile leaning over to press a kiss to Rachel's forehead. That girl will never know how much she meant to Quinn. Quinn just whispered out into the room, "I love you."
And not at all surprised to hear, Rachel mumble it back, and then, "Help me finish washing, I am really tired, Baby."
No matter how sore Quinn was, she helped Rachel finished washing themselves before helping her out of the tub. Awhile later they were both tucked against each other on top of Rachel's bed, too tired to even go under the covers.
It was just simply perfect.
Sue always made it a point to spend at least half of her nights with her baby sister at the home. She was worrying, she always worried about Jean. But that night was different, the Doctor made sure to pull her to the side to tell her about Jean's cold that seemed to keep on lingering.
Sue had to resist slamming the man to the ground, Jean was told she wouldn't live past 20, she was told she wouldn't live to 40, Jean was a survivor just like Sue. But Sue knew, Sue knew that look in people's eyes, the look in Jean's eyes. It was the same look when Linda took her final turn for the worse.
Jean was long asleep, the tv on playing a rerun of an old show that the two sisters had watched as children. Sue didn't move though, watching her sister. After the death of Linda, Jean was there for her, just wrapping her arms around her sister and hugging her for all her worth.
But before Sue could drive deeper into it, there was a soft knock on the door, Will standing in the shadow of the doorframe. He wore a soft smile, "I thought I might find you here."
"Doesn't take a genius to figure that out, Will." Sue shot back, getting out of her seat and pressing a kiss to Jean's forehead before turning off the lights and shutting the door behind her.
"I am sorry I was so late, Sue. But, I ran into someone." Will tried to explain as Sue started down the hall, putting her arms through her jacket.
"Oh, I am sure it must of been very important. Did Ginger Wonder finally admit her unwavering love for you?"
"It was Shelby. She wants to talk to Rachel."
That stopped Sue cold in her spot. Ever since Halloween she hadn't even bothered to contact Shelby, sure the woman left a few voicemails, tried to get her to go out with her again, but she was having none of it.
Sue turned to face Will, "Why the hell is she talking to you? Why not Rachel's Fathers?"
"I don't know, Sue. I think it's some kind of game. I read online that sometimes the birth parent and the adoptive parents make the birth parent sign a contract to keep them away from their child. It makes sense." Will explained as Sue marched out out of the Home and into the night, Will hot on her heels.
"Why should it even matter? We're not her parents, it's not our business if a mother wants to reconnect with her daughter." Sue tried to reach for her car keys and open the door, but was stopped when Will placed himself between her and the door.
"What has gotten into you, Sue? Because I remember you singing a very different tale just last week when your mother sent you an email and you were reminded of everything. Whatever Shelby is going, it's bad." Will placed his hands onto Sue's shoulders, trying to stop her from moving.
There was silence for a few moments, before Sue did something that surprised both of them; she just started crying. Will wrapped his arms around the woman and brought Sue to his chest. He made out mumbles about Jean still being ill and fearing what will happen to her. About her mother coming to visit next week and unsure on how to act towards her.
Will just sighed and hugged Sue to him as the woman allowed herself to sob harder into his chest, "Come on, we can go get takeout and you can tell me for the millionth time why you hate Annie so much."
Sue gave a laugh through her tears as she moved away from her fellow teacher, "I hate you, Will."
"I hate you too, Sue. Come on."
It was thankfully a quiet night at the Station. Hiram preferred to do the night shifts for some reason. Even when he was a rookie on the force he always wanted to do the graveyard shifts. Living in such a small town meant that those shifts were usually just driving around, sleeping in your car, or being stuck at your desk doing paperwork.
It also met some peace and quiet, which after months in this Congressional Bid, was very needed. Only another two months of this and then he will be finished with this all. He was lucky that he kept his Family life out of the spotlight for most of this, never making Rachel appear to any of this campaign events and keeping the piece about LeRoy out of the rumor mill.
He had the election in the bag it seems. He had to respect his Republican rival who kept up his side of the race even now where the local polls was putting him ahead by 8 points. It was a victory yet and he refused to allow himself to rest easy until he was in DC. Not to mention the dent this at put in his bank account. He was a very well off man with all his money made on Wall Street, but a self funded bid would still cost into the millions of dollars.
He was pulled from his thoughts by a knocking on his office door before it opened. The watch's commander peeking his head in, "Hey Chief, we got a woman here wanting to speak to you and only you."
"Is it about an issue? This place isn't for politics." Hiram looked up from the papers he was readying to look at the man.
"I don't know, Chief. Says her name is Shelby though."
Hiram's eyes narrowed as he nodded, "Let her in, and leave us alone. Thank you, Steve."
The door shut and Hiram had to hold back from slamming his fist into his desk. This was the last thing he needed to deal with. She had tried a number of times over the years to contact Rachel, breaking the legal contract she broke, not even mentioning the events of last year where she gave up on Rachel.
It was Hiram that held her as she cried, it was Hiram that told her it was going to be alright. Not Shelby. Hiram might hate LeRoy, but he was more of a parent to Rachel than Shelby could ever dream.
He was pulled from his thoughts as Steve opened the door again as Shelby walked in. She smiled at the man, something Hiram didn't return. He had spent enough time this past week smiling fakely at people, at least in the privacy of his office he didn't have to act happy to see someone.
As soon as the door was shut and Shelby was sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk, Hiram spoke, "What the actual fuck are you doing here?"
Shelby frowned slightly, "Well, hello to you too, Hiram."
"My question still stands. It was out of the kindness of my heart that I haven't arrested you myself for breaking the contract of not contacting Rachel." Hiram took off his reading glasses to stare at the woman, he was not in the mood for this.
"The contract states that if she contacted me, I could speak to her.."
Hiram just gave a dark chuckle, "Shelby, we both know that you and your student pulled the strings necessary to get her to find out about you. In a court, all I would have to do is show proof of you planning. Again, why are you here."
Shelby just sighed before leaning into her chair, "I noticed that you're doing well in your race."
"You can stop with the small talk and tell me why you're here. I am getting really annoyed."
"Fine, Hiram. I will be blunt, I want to talk to Rachel."
Hiram just stared at her before bursting out into laughter for a short few moments, "No, Shelby. I could of saved you the drive and just called me."
"Hiram, I will tell everyone the truth about her birth." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the room fell silent. Hiram's eyes were bearing into hers as he twitched slightly.
"And what do you mean by that, Miss Corcoran? LeRoy and myself mixed our sperms, that is how that works. It doesn't matter who actually is her father between LeRoy and myself."
Shelby leaned forward slightly, speaking in a low voice, "Hiram, dear. You can lie to the public, lie to your daughter, and lie to yourself, but both of us know how it really happened."
Hiram didn't say anything, only balling his hands into fists. Shelby wasn't done though, "All this will be is the first in the snowball effect. I can see it now, Lying cheating Congressmen. Then people start to ask questions about LeRoy, why did the marriage end. And we both know how..- colorful LeRoy is."
The room was still silent as Hiram leaned over his desk, the leather of his seat cracking as he did so, "Are you blackmailing me? A public official? You're bluffing. You had your chance last year to get to know Rachel, why the change?"
"That's my business, not yours. I wish to speak to her. And trust me, Hiram, I am not bluffing. You have a week to contact me before I goto the newspapers. Have a great evening, Honey." Shelby leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to Hiram's red cheek as she walked out of his office.
Once she was gone, Hiram slammed in fists into the desk. The one thing that made him as bad as LeRoy, a moment of weakness that in the end got him the thing he always wanted, a daughter. If Shelby had gone to just extreme lengths last time to get in contact with Rachel, he had a feeling she was telling the truth about slandering his name to the papers.
And the truth could lower him enough in the polls for his opponent to sail over him by only a handful of votes.
Somewhere inside of him, a very small voice was saying, 'What about Rachel?' But that was yet again, overshadowed by the results of the upcoming election day.
AN: I am sure a few can guess what's going on with Shelby. I'll say now, it's not some evil masterplan. It's more bittersweet. That's all on Jacob's head, whom will slowly see a return back to the story as the months go on.
I also realized that Congressional Elections happen in late November. So let's just totally ignore that and pretend they happen in the middle of March.
The plan for Quinn is to finish growing up a bit, by Season 3, she seemed to be the most steady of the characters when it came to life. I hope to explore some of the complex emotions around Beth and the mixed feelings she holds for the entire situation.
I felt weird making them good at football also, but I really did like the story arc with the girls playing ball in Season 2. Feels like it makes them Lesbian Mary Sue's. I will be sure to throw in a few things that doesn't make them good at everything they touch.
Next Chapter will mainly be around the game, afterparty, and some more conversations. One in mind is between Santana and Miranda. Quinn also explains to Rachel the real reason for her depression.