Hope you all enjoy.
Both girls had a newfound respect for football players. With each hit, running in full pads, being drenched in sweat at all times, Quinn now understood why Finn was a bit slow at some points. It was Thursday night now, the last practice before the big game on Friday. Both her and Rachel had improved greatly but both could tell that their Coach was still doubtful.
Just one more play and then she could go lay down in Rachel's arms. Lining up, she licked her fingers as she clapped three times before saying hike. The snapper, as she found out that was the name of the position, hiked the ball a little too high over Quinn's head. The ball slipped out of her hands as she tried to catch it, it fumbling into the back field.
Quinn gave out a growl of anger as she dropped back, scooping up the ball and took off down the field. She ended up sliding for a 10 yard pick up, before bouncing up onto her feet and tearing off her helmet, "What was that?"
The Team almost took a collective sigh, they had swiftly found out that no matter what Quinn was, she was always the Captain, "What if that was the game? Are you going to do that when it matters?"
The snapper was a big and tall senior boy just just looked over at the yelling girl and just flipped her off, "Fuck off, Fabray. You're not even the Captain."
Rachel came up to stop Quinn in the path, whispering, "Just stop, Quinn, we're all tired."
"What the hell do you think y'all doing? The game is tomorrow!" And there came Coach Beiste blowing her whistle and yelling at the team.
"How about you control your quarterback, Coach." The snapper, whose name was Johnson, fired back.
Beiste, might be a female, but was a big girl and had been a football coach for a very long time. She was not afraid to get up into the personal space of her players when they were talking back to her, "Fabray, Johnson, because you two can't seem to get along, you just earned the team another round around the bleachers. Go!"
The team took a collective groan as they tried their best to keep up with Beiste's pace she always kept.
Finally, the practice finally ended, Quinn and Rachel had already showered and changed out their pads and uniform. The blonde was waiting on Rachel to finish meeting with Sue over something, leaving Quinn alone to toss a football up and down in her hands.
"You know, you're pretty good at that." A male voice cut through the silence.
Looking over her shoulder, she saw Finn standing there, hands in his pockets as he gave her a soft smile. He took his hands out of his pocket and motioned for her to throw the ball at him.
Quinn raised a brow, but tossed the ball over. The two, former boyfriend and girlfriend, entering into a quiet game of catch as the two seemed to be lost in their thoughts.
Until Finn finally spoke up, "You know, for the longest time I thought I was in love with Rachel."
"Is this when you tell me you're going to try and steal my girlfriend?" Quinn threw the ball a little harder than usual, it slamming into Finn's chest.
The boy chuckled, "No, Quinn. But I feel like we can be honest with each other. After all the shit we have gone through and threw at each other."
Quinn took extra time to place her hand correctly on the ball, giving her a few moments to think before she answered, "If that's true then you need to talk to Lauren."
Finn raised a brow, "I wouldn't think to hear that from you."
"Well opening the conversation with 'I was in love with your girlfriend' is not what I want to hear either." Quinn gave a small grin in return.
"Fair enough. It's just…- kinda came out. I don't know about Lauren, Quinn. She's leaving at the end of this year, is it even worth it?" Finn catched the ball and threw it back over towards the blonde.
"Why wouldn't it be? It's not like you're going to marry her right?" Quinn reasoned as she tossed the ball back over, wondering why Rachel was taking so long, "What's the harm in trying?"
"What about you and Rachel? Aren't you two basically together forever?"
Quinn gave a small sigh, but was not surprised when she heard Rachel's voice reaching their ears, "I hope it is."
The blonde turned to see her small girlfriend standing with her hands shoved into her pockets, giving Quinn a soft smile as her eyes were on her.
"How much of that did you hear, Rachel?" Finn asked as he kept the ball in his hand, walking closer to the Cheerio turned football player.
"I think, Finn, that you could at least talk to her." Quinn and Rachel seemed to be drawn to each other, meeting the other half way. Rachel leaned up and pressed a kiss to Quinn's cheek as the other girl drew Rachel's side into hers.
"How do you even know that's why I am here?"
"Because we're girls." They said near perfectly together at the same time. The two sharing a look with each other for a few seconds before falling into a fit of giggles against to each other.
Finn just looked on with that same lost look on his face that he carried half of the time before nodding slightly, "You two scare me sometimes."
The boy licked his lips for a moment before speaking again, "Do you two honestly think I should?"
It was Quinn that spoke, "You forgave me, didn't you?"
The two girls opted for a quiet night instead of going out to Quinn's ranch to spend time with the animals. Both were still sore from the other days, and was going to be surprised if they even walked onto the field.
The house was silent and quiet when they got home, Hiram absent like always. Rachel just gave a small sigh but smiled when she felt Quinn pressing a kiss to her sweaty forehead, "Go and shower, I'll find something to cook."
Rache only smiled as she stumbled up the stairs and into the shower. Out of habit, like she's done every day since LeRoy left. She paused next to his open office expecting to see him bent over the desk.
She smiled a sad smile as she only saw a black and empty room. She didn't even tell Quinn this, it was some childish act that she would forever hold on to. Rachel reached over to shut the door of the dark office before turning to limp down the rest of the hallway.
The girl was not surprised to find the house empty. Ever since LeRoy left Hiram had taken a step back from her it seemed. He just didn't seem to be there when he was around and when he wasn't around Rachel didn't know which one was worse.
It was not unlike Judy and Quinn's relationship, but Rachel refused to think that Hiram was doing this on purpose. He couldn't of been doing it on purpose, right? First Shelby leaving, her Shrink told her to stop blaming herself for what happened with Shelby, but Rachel couldn't let go of it.
It was a part of the reason she always had to be the best in everything she did. She need the attention. Because deep down, she blamed herself for Shelby not wanting to stay. Rachel could remember how happy she felt when she finally found her birth mother.
She wanted to impress Shelby so badly, to finally have that one connection she was always looking for. Rachel pulled out all the stops to try and impress her mother, and when Shelby finally gave her some attention, the girl couldn't be happier.
Rachel still blamed herself for not being good enough. Not matter how many shrink sessions she had, who she spoke to, she couldn't just let go. To just accept that she would never have that mother and daugther connection with anyone.
Instead, she entered her room and forced a smile onto her face. But as she passed her dresser where she still had pictures of her being hugged by both Hiram and LeRoy, she stopped in her tracks.
It was taken last Christmas, the three Berries in their matching sweaters, even Quinn being pressed next to Rachel tightly by Hiram's form. Her eyes started to water at the sight of all the people she loved the most gathered together.
What did she do wrong? She had loved and still love both her Fathers, even with LeRoy abandoning them and Hiram being absent all the time. So instead she grabbed the snowglobe she kept on her nightstand and shaked it.
Laying down onto her bed, she grasped the globe to her chest and started to cry. Perhaps it was all the physical wear down from this past week at football, perhaps it was Rachel finally realizing she will never have a normal family life again, but whatever it was, the girl just broke.
Judy, after hearing about her daughter's new found sport, just told Quinn to be careful. Neither mother nor daughter knew on how to act. The hole that Judy left when she was gone for a month was obvious when Quinn was home. But if she wasn't there, the two blondes could just limp on in awkward silence.
That is why she didn't comment about Quinn basically living at the Berry household ever since Judy had come back home. it was easier that way, so the two didn't have to speak about Judy just up and leaving, ignoring her daughter.
Quinn banished the thoughts from her head and tried to focus on something very much better. Her fingers playing with the heart on her bracelet, yes that. Think of Rachel. She couldn't but to allow a small smile to play over her lips.
The blonde realized that she had been standing in the middle of the kitchen for who knows how long. She still hadn't heard the water start running, worrying Rachel had fallen and couldn't get up, Quinn took the stairs two at time reaching Rachel's bedroom.
When she heard quiet sobbing coming from Rachel's room, Quinn rushed the last few stairs and almost ran into the room.
The sight of Rachel holding what looked like the snowglobe she gave her for Christmas, clutched to her chest. Head down as she cried hard into the pillows. Almost broke Quinn's heart. The crying girl must of not heard Quinn coming up the stairs, but gave a small cry when she felt a familiar pair of arms wrapping around her.
Quinn's presence always had an effect on Rachel. As soon as she was brought into Quinn's chest, she pressed harder into the girl, wanting to be surrounded by Quinn's strawberry scent. The blonde was too tired to whisper into Rachel's ear, so instead she stayed silent, hugging Rachel until it hurt to her. They always said actions spoke louder than words.
Neither girl knew how long they laid there hanging onto each other for dear life. At some point Rachel had stop crying, but then it was Quinn's turn to break down and start sobbing into Rachel's neck. They didn't speak, they both knew that in this relationship that they didn't need to speak when the other broke.
They didn't want to someone to just tell them everything was going to be okay. It was a sign of trust for the two of them to break down like this in front of someone. In the end, at the root of everything, Quinn and Rachel just wanted someone to love them and hold them. So they did just that, with no conditions, with no grand gestures, it was simply just them.
Two broken girls who had found something they always wanted in the other, love.
It was sometime later, the two just laying there on Rachel's bed. The snowglobe had been placed back onto the nightstand, as Rachel had Quinn gathered up in her lap. The smaller girl rubbing sore muscles on Quinn's shoulders, dipping her hands up and down over the back.
They shifted, so Quinn was on her stomach, shirt off with Rachel straddling the back of Quinn's legs. Rachel wasn't really sure on how to give a sensual massage, but over the course of Quinn's pregnancy, Rachel had learned really fast how to release from of the stress in Quinn's joints. From her legs and feet, to the knots in her back and shoulders, Quinn was always eating out of Rachel's hand at that point.
Quinn burrowed her head into the bedding as Rachel's fingers worked into an extra tight knot on her right shoulder, from all the throwing. It was Rachel's voice that finally broke the silence, "We haven't done this since Beth."
The blonde gave a small shaky breath and nodded, "Yeah."
Neither girl were in the right place to preach to the other about talking about what was bothering them. But Rachel leaned over to press a kiss to the back of Quinn's neck, "We don't say 'I love you' a lot."
Quinn turned her head slightly, Rachel's head moving up to replace her lips with her fingers, "What?"
"It's something I have noticed. Compared to other couples that is. Like Tina and Mike who say it everytime they see each other."
Quinn twisted and turned over onto her back staring up at Rachel, "Are you saying that I don't say love you enough?"
Rachel shook her head, "No, no. Don't take it like that." The girl gave a loud sigh before leaning down to burrow her head in the valley in between Quinn's breasts, "Was just trying to make small talk."
The blonde felt slightly bad, she didn't mean it to sound attacking. She wrapped her arms around Rachel and pressed the girl to her naked chest. Trying to ignore the slight shots of pleasure from Rachel's sweater rubbing against her skin, "I like to think, we don't have to say it in every other conversation because you know that I love you."
"That actions speak louder than words?" Rachel commented back, smiling up at Quinn as she pressed a kiss to the valley in between her breasts.
Quinn just gave a 'Mhmm' sound, but moved to slip on a loose fitting t-shirt. Rachel refused to move fully off her lap as she did so and right as the shirt was back on, the girl was back to pressing herself against Quinn.
The blonde curled her right arm around Rachel's shoulders and ran her fingers across the skin of Rachel's arm, "Do you ever think about her?"
Quinn was not surprised by Rachel's voice breaking through the silence. In fact, she was sure Rachel might have a sneaking idea about what has been causing her sudden depression flare up. Just like how Quinn was sure with LeRoy leaving and Hiram being gone her girlfriend was being reminded of Shelby memories.
"Almost everyday." Came Quinn's soft and low reply. Her fingers gliding through Rachel's long brown locks.
"I am sorry, Quinn. I have always been so caught up…" Rachel stopped though when Quinn gently gripped Rachel's chin and angled her face up to look at the blonde's.
"Don't you ever say that, Rachel You don't know how much you help by just smiling at me. Holding my hand, telling me I am pretty. Or when you just stare at me when you think I am not looking." The last one made Rachel blush a dark red as she nestled herself deeper into Quinn's embrace.
"Talk to me, whenever you're ready." Came Rachel's soft reply, as her breath started to even out.
"I have been holding it for a little too long I think. If I have to go one more day crying into my pillow I might snap and start screaming." Quinn started up, the carefully made calmness slipping away as the girl started to sound like a more normal teenage girl.
Rachel didn't say anything, but tried her best to twist Quinn around, so Rachel was on her back. Quinn gave a small giggle, and assisted her sore girlfriend. With Quinn now in Rachel's arms, the blonde gave a small sigh and started up again, "It started after we had our fight. I started thinking about Beth's first Christmas. Her little hands trying to play with one of the tree ornaments."
Rachel could hear the tears threatening to spill from Quinn's eyes. The smaller girl just hugged the girl closer to her. pressing small kisses to the top of the blonde head. She didn't speak though, allowing Quinn all the time in the world to just talk and let loose.
"All I have to remember her by are those short few moments I had to hold her. That little bundle of blankets that I was sure I was going to hate, but one look. God, Rachel, I don't know how any parent could not love their child."
Those words spoke truer than ever before. With, at the end of the day, Hiram and Judy being quiet absent parents, perhaps it was out of that Quinn found the reasoning behind her words.
"You will be a great, mother, Quinn. Nothing like our own parents." It was the first time Rachel had said outloud that Hiram and LeRoy had failed her at some point.
Quinn gave a sharp breath as she spoke again, "I want to see Beth so badly, Rachel. But I am so afraid, what if I get to be a part of her life and I fail her somehow? I become like my parents and Beth never holds that connection with her birth mother. And I know how much you hate talking to Shelby, I just don't know what to do anymore." Quinn was letting everything out in a rare moment of allowing herself to be fully unguarded. She gave a frustrated cry at the end and burrowed her head into Rachel's chest.
"Oh Quinn." Was all Rachel could say but held onto her tighter. Hoping that her girlfriend would simply understand that sometimes she didn't have the right thing to say to make it all better.
"It's not fair to ask you to help me in this. When you have your own pain with Shelby and I know quite well there are somethings you have to do on your own."
"Quinn." Rachel said softly pressing small kisses to the top of her girlfriend's blonde head. Her heart tearing slightly in her own chest at the girl's words, "You don't have to do this alone, I hope I can say the same about me."
Quinn peeked up from Rachel's arms, eyes meeting as they shared one of their special moments of silent conversation. Before Rachel dipped her head down to press a sweet kiss to Quinn's lips, "You'll always have me, Rachel."
Quinn didn't know what else to say, the blonde knew on some level what Rachel must be feeling behind everything, so instead she only moved up in Rachel's arms and pressed the diva's head into her chest.
It was such simple words, but for Rachel it meant the world to her.
Quinn always got nervous before a Cheerleading match, so it was no surprise that she was sitting in the locker room pacing back and forth.
This wasn't her sport at all, and before this all really could care less about football. Sure, she would go to the games to watch them. Plus she watched weekend night football now and again if there was nothing else on tv, but she was starting to feel the pressure.
Not for her, but for Finn, for Puck, for all the guys in Glee Club. This was their life, they were depending on her and Rachel to basically carry the team into the next playoff round where hopefully they could get off their suspension.
She rested her head against the cool metal of the lockers, dressed fully in her pads and jersey already. Beiste somehow got her and Rachel's jerseys in a record time. 2 and 1 respectfully, Rachel couldn't be anything but number 1.
"Baby, if you keep on hitting your head against the locker you're going to hurt yourself." She heard Rachel's voice right behind her before her small girlfriend tried to reach up to place her chin onto Quinn's shoulder from behind. A bit hard due to the massive shoulder pads.
"See, I have this little annoying voice that seems to always be talking that does that for me." Quinn gave a grin as she turned around, pressing their fronts together.
"I am adorable, don't even lie." The blonde had to agree, Rachel even had the dark marking on her cheeks. She seemed to be her same little bundle of energy, but the smile this time was real.
"Maybe a little." Quinn smiled and wrapped an arm around Rachel's waist. She wondered if Rachel did this on purpose, knowing Quinn had a tendency to get nervous before big events. Like last time before the Cheerio Sectionals when Rachel really made sure Quinn was feel loose. Or at the Glee Sectionals.
Rachel gave a small little crooked smile as she moved up to press a kiss to Quinn's lips, but the sound of someone clearing their throat made them pause.
"Before you Queerios start sucking face I wanted to talk to you." The girls jumped apart seeing the looming figure of Sue standing in front of them.
Rachel had to give Mr. Schu a hand, Sue looked more normal wearing something that wasn't a tracksuit. But even if she was wearing a bright pink morph suit, Sue would always scare Rachel slightly, "Coach, I..- we..-"
"Save it, Rachel, from the amount of times I have walked in on teenagers in different positions I have an immunity to seat you two." The Cheerleading coach pointed to the bench running in the middle of the aisle.
The two girls were swift to do so. Looking up at their Coach, expecting some kind of speech about not getting hurt to mess up Sue's chances on going to World Championship for cheerleading.
The older woman tuck her hands into the pockets of her coat and started up, "The other team already heard about the Titan's Replacement quarter and running back. Do not be surprised if they try to..mess with you out there. The idea of women playing into a male sport upsets people. But above all else, Girls, go out there and play like it will be the only game you ever will play. Let them all remember that it was two Cheerleaders that became Replacements that won the game."
Both girls gave a nod. Beiste was a bit more blunt when she gave them this conversation. As she put it, Quinn and Rachel were pretty pretty girls, those boys might say somethings to 'fuck with you', as the football Coach put it.
"We know, Coach. Not to rub it into their faces when we win." Rachel spoke up, smiling up at the teacher.
Sue gave a smirk as she nodded her head, "Go out there, girls. And beat them at their own game. If anyone could do it, it'd be you two." The Coach leaned over to give them a pat on their shoulder pads before turning to go.
Stopping near the door, Sue looked back over towards them, "I know I don't say it much, but if you two need anything, any help, my door is always open."
With that she left without another word, with the door shutting Rachel spoke up, "What do you think that was all about?"
Quinn just shrugged her shoulders, "She's been weird this year. She went from dragging me into her office to plot on how to bring down the Glee Club to now being best friends with Mr. Schu." The blonde moved to the open locker to take out the football helmet before locking it again.
"Ready, Baby?" Rachel smiled up at Quinn slipping her own helm onto her head and slamming it against Quinn's chest.
Quinn fell back in a fit of giggles before slipping her own helmet on and slapping Rachel's ass as she jogged out, "Come on, I don't want to do extra laps for being late, again."
"Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen to the first game of the Ohio State Football Championship Playoffs. Our own McKinley Titans appearing in their first show in a Championship game since 1985. Matched against the Elida Sentinels who are coming off their surprising defeat at the State Championship game last year. I am Marcus Well and with me is Lauren Allison." One of the ATV kids spoke over the loudspeaker, Rachel was really glad it wasn't Jacob. She did give a small smile at the sound of Lauren's name being called.
"Thank you, Marcus. It is clear skies at a chilly 30 degrees out. Let us hope that our new quarterback and running back don't freeze out there." Lauren sat up in the main both, blonde hair tied back into a ponytail, sporting a red McKinley cap on her head.
They had yet to go out onto the field, but the speakers echoed from outside and into the main football locker room. The team was silent, as most stared off into space. Rachel and Quinn were busy being pressed against each other and enjoying a quiet moment. The mood of the room was slipping lower and lower with every moment. Sure, Quinn and Rachel were good, but Finn and the others had been playing ball since 5th grade. It was Finn that had the team to this point, not Quinn.
Quinn could feel eyes on her, the pressure was starting to slip in fully now. This was not about her, this was not about her hopes and dreams. This was for the hopes and dreams for this team and for this entire school. Hell, even this entire Town.
Beiste strolled into the locker room, "Gather around, gather around. I'll keep this short."
The team took a knee around the coach in the middle of the locker room as the woman cleared her throat, "This is the first time this team has gone this far into a championship game. The team we're facing is good. But a Team with character, who has soul, will always find a way to overcome any odds. Break on three."
The team came together and gave a half hearted battle cry before putting on their helmets and jogging out together onto the field, where the stands were packed to the rim with students and Lima parents.
Quinn could even see posters with her last name painted onto them, the group cheering 'Faberry' over and over again. That must of been the boys doing, letting the Glee couple name slip to the school.
Beiste crossed her arms and stood on the sideline. Eyes scanning over towards the Elida's sideline before finally resting on the large male head coach. The man only gave Beiste a smirk and she could assume a wink from across the field.
The woman clenched tighter on her clipboard and almost growled.
Finn himself stood on the sideline, hands tucked into his Letterman as he looked out over towards the approaching team. Quinn moved up to the quarterback, Finn slammed his hand down on Quinn's helmet as she came up, "You ready, Quinn?"
"Do you always feel like everything is depending on you at every game? Because I can't stop my hands from shaking." Quinn commented, looking up at the boy whose heart she broke.
"Quinn, you're going to do fine. Just go out there and play with your all." Finn gave one last grin before slamming his hand into her shoulder pad before going off to stand next to Beiste.
She blonde gave out a loud sigh as Rachel came up next to her. The smaller girl taking Quinn's hands into her and pressed them to her, trying to warm them up.
Both girls were sure a whole lot of people staring at them in their small moment, but Quinn's hands really were cold, "Shock and awe, Baby."
Quinn whispered the words back before Rachel slammed her helmet into Quinn's chest again, giggling as she went to go off to do the coin toss.
Sue watched on with large eyes as the Titans started to line up to kickoff the ball. The Cheerios doing their cheers and such to rile up the crowd. She was pulled from her thoughts when Will appeared up next to her, handing her a cup of coffee, "You know, you don't have to threaten me with chopping my hair off to give you coffee."
"I know no other way of living. And caffeine is the only thing that keeps me from killing all these children." Sue gave him a smirk in thanks as she took the coffee and taking a long sip.
They watched on as the kicker lined up and then went running forward, the boy launch the ball down field to the Elida kick receiver. And the boy was off, sprinting down the field, spinning and dodging left and right.
"Number 17 going to the 40, to the 50, dodging pass the kicker, to the 30, to the 20, touchdown Elida High!"
Beiste's eyes snapped to the Elida's Coach who only fist pumped the air as he gave another smirk towards Beiste. The coach broke her clipboard across her knee before yelling for the special team to get ready.
Quinn sighed really loudly, it was going to be a long night.
"And that's the end of the second quarter, Elida High 31, the McKinley Titans 0." Lauren's voice rang out over the field as the team jogged over towards the locker room. Well for Quinn it was limping to the locker room with her arm thrown around the shoulders of Rachel and Johnson, the snapper.
The offense had a hell of a time, the right guard not being able to hold back the rushing defenders, whom were in the back field way too often enough. For a record of 4 sacks in the first quarter alone.
The blonde groaned as the two sat her down onto the bench in the locker room, moving off her helmet as the rest of the team gathered around. Some punching their lockers, other yelling in anger, pointing fingers left right and center. Some coming towards Quinn's way.
"How can I throw the ball IF YOU LOT CAN'T FUCKING PROTECT ME?" Quinn was not one for yelling or cursing but she had enough when the fingers started to get pointed her way. Crying out in pain as she tried to stand, the larger snapper pressing her back down into her seat, standing next to the two girls.
There was some mumbling of agreement, but the blonde wasn't done yet. Ignoring Rachel and Johnson telling her to stay seated the blonde threw her helmet into the ground, "I get it, alright. I understand that no one wants me here, I wasn't the one that lead this team to the playoffs. It was Finn, but Finn isn't here. It's only me, I have lead the Cheerios to National and World championships but it's because we work as a team. We're not a team out there, we're a bunch of individuals trying to play a game."
The room became silent, heads going down, the mumbling stopping. Quinn ran a hand over her tired features, "Look, I don't know near to anything about football. But do you honestly just want to throw this all away. This is our last chance to do something, this is our chance to go out there and show everyone that Lima is more than just a bunch of half ass backwards losers." Quinn made it a point to use the world 'our' to drive home the point that no matter the reasoning for her being here, she was a member of this team as much as they were.
When the Titans walked onto the field after the half, they all held each other hands, with Quinn at the front. The crowd could feel the change in the team as they came up onto the field, there was still sometime on the clock before it was the start of the second half.
Beiste grabbed Rachel by her facemask looking down at the girl, "You're going to get the ball Berry and you're going to get at least to our 40 or don't come off the field."
Surprisingly enough the smaller girl just screamed and started to pound her hands against her football helmet as she went onto the field. Quinn, whom was standing not that far off watch with wide eyes as her girlfriend snapped slightly. She didn't know if she should giggle or be worried for the other team.
"And with the Teams taking their positions on the field we start our second half. Trailing by 31 points, the Titans are going to need a miracle to have a come back from this." Marcus spoke over the field.
The Elida kicker lined up, holding up his arm, looking left and then right, before sprinting forward launching the ball down the field to where Rachel stood, hands on her knees. The small girl caught the ball and took down the field in a dead spirit. The blockers seemed to have a new spirit in them, matching Rachel's screaming as they rammed into the Elida's players.
"I can hear the growling from up here, Marcus. It seems Coach Beiste has been able to knock into her players animals. And there goes number 1, Berry, to the 30, to the 40, to the 50!"
Rachel had a trail of players behind her, before finally being slowed down by the kicker near the 45 Elida yardline. The small girl was forced to jumped out onto the slide line to avoid being really badly tackle
She tossed the ball over to the rerf as she jogged back to Beiste, "I always go above and beyond." The girl smiled from under her facemask.
The Coach only snorted before calling the offense onto the field.
"I am still betting on my Cheerio's to take away the victory." Sue commented from her spot next to Will as they watched the offense go onto the field.
"You just want the payout." Will clapped as he said over back to Sue, "Notice if either of their parents are here?"
Sue had made it her point to know her Cheerio's parents, she had only met Hiram Berry once a number of weeks ago when he held a rally there in Lima. The woman couldn't remember how many times she met Russel and Judy, from both Quinn and her sister years ago. Sue wasn't friends with them, but Judy went to most of the Cheerio National championships quite often. The Coach had yet to see either of their faces in the crowd, and Sue was making it a point to find them. Who she did find, was Shelby standing alone near the right side of bleachers, "I have seen Shelby a number of times though."
Will looked over at the woman, before looking over his shoulder scanning a few times before finally landing on the woman before looking back at Sue, "Should we do something?"
"Do you see Hiram or Judy in the stands?"
Silence was the woman's answer.
Quinn and the offense came jogging onto the field, not even bothering to huddle up, they had agreed during halftime that for the rest of the game they would no a huddle offense, pushing and pushing Elida until their breaking point.
Elida could sense the shift in attitude by the Titans, more so when the offensive line started growling before Quinn snapped the ball. There was a few passing moments of confusion, more than enough for Quinn to throw a bullet to one of the receivers for a first down.
Another 3 throws later, the Titans were inside of Elida's red zone for the first time in the entire game. Quinn damn sure was going to make sure they scored to prove a point. The quarterback moved into shotgun formation, Rachel on her left and the fullback on her right.
Licking her fingers she clapped twice before hiking the ball. This was the moment of truth, Beiste had made sure to have a few wild call plays in the book for shock and awe factor. Quinn looked like she was going to throw the ball, doing a pump fake. Then bringing the ball down and around her back right as Rachel ran behind her. A statue of liberty.
Or not, the masterful play by Beiste meant for Quinn to fake twice, keep the ball. And as Rachel ran off towards the left, so did the defense, leaving a wide hole open for Quinn to run into the endzone.
"Pump fake by Fabray and then hand..A double sneak by Fabray! Touchdown McKinley with a fake play!" Lauren's voice almost screamed through the loudspeaker as the crowd went crazy.
The crowd went even more crazy when the offense stayed on the field and picked up the two point conversion with a short run by Rachel into the endzone. The Cheerio's edging the crowd to go louder and louder as the cinderella story was kept alive.
"And the Titans pick up the extra point. They're still alive, Titans 8, Sentials 31."
Quinn smirked to herself as she jogged back onto the sideline, she still found football stupid, but she couldn't help but to feel her combative edge coming out. They were going to win this game, one way or another.
When the Titans kicker surprised the crowd once more with an onside kick that the Titans picked up, it became very obvious that the game wasn't over yet.
Quinn took a knee in the huddle, eyes glancing up at the scoreboard. 38 to 31 with 10 seconds left to go at the bottom of the fourth. The players around her were tired, all of them were tired. Their uniforms covered in mud and dirt, all breathing hard as Beiste used their last timeout on their own 40 yard line. 4th and 10, the crowd was almost silent as the cinderella story has almost ran it's course for the Titans.
Sanity said to go for one last hail mary, one last chance that is what Beiste told them to do, but Quinn was never one to follow the orders of authority, "Anyone got any ideas?"
The team was silent as they each tried to find the last bit of strength inside of them. Before finally Rachel gave a small nod, "Let's fuck with them."
Quinn snorted at her girlfriend, if one thing they learned over the course of this week of being football players, language didn't matter, "I am going to hand if off to Berry, keep the ball alive as long as you can going downfield. Let's win this on our terms. Titans on three."
The replacement quarterback brought in her hand with the rest of the offense as they gave one more battle cry of "TITANS" before lining up for the play.
Rachel couldn't even hear herself think by how loud the crowd was. As the huddle was broken, she shared one small smile with Quinn who winked in return before lining up. Her legs were sore and she was sure she was going to have to stay in bed all day tomorrow, but she knew they needed to win this.
She was sure she could hear Beiste's screaming from the sideline because it was obvious that they were not going for a hail mary as she told them so. Rachel took a breath, it was the final moment of silence in her mind. She heard the screaming from all around her fade out as she focused on what was ahead of her, much like how she did when she started singing. She only heard Quinn's voice hiking the ball and then her own feet moving of their own accord as she breadbasket the ball.
"And it's Berry with the ball with 9 on the clock this looks like to be the final play of the game. Berry to the 50, to the 40. AND A LATERAL PASS TO NUMBER 60!"
Rachel could see the defenders rushing towards her, looking over her shoulder she saw the right guard a few feet behind her. Making sure she made eye contact, she turned and threw the ball to him. The backwards lateral pass was going to become their best friend. The bigger boy catching it and slamming into a defender with his shoulder but not dropping to his feet.
The crowd were on their feet, as the ball was passed back and forth, "To the 30, to the 20. Back to Berry. She's going to go all the way!"
There was one final defender behind her, a tall skinny boy that was gaining on her too fast for her to run she was too tired. Quinn knew what she had to do, praying to God she didn't hurt herself too badly, the replacement quarterback rammed herself into the defender side, knocking him off course and allowed Rachel to score.
The field went fucking crazy as Rachel entered the endzone, "And the Titans score! They only need the extra point to tie up the game to send us into overtime. What a comeback." Marcus's voice spoke over the loudspeaker.
Quinn came up to give a low high five to Rachel as they jogged back to the sideline. The quarterback going right to the Coach, "What the hell was that, Fabray?"
"Fake the kick, Coach." As all Quinn said before she turned to slam her helmet into Rachel's. Seeing as she couldn't kiss her, she really hoped her girlfriend understood before Quinn turned to jog back onto the field with the special teams.
Beiste called the fake play as the kicking team went onto the field, Quinn smirking to herself as she took a knee a few feet away from the snapper, "And it looks like the Titans are going to go with the safe route and kick the extra point."
It was all on the blonde's shoulders now, cracking her fingers she watched as the kicker got into position, the boy nodding at her before she called the ball to be snapped. As soon as the ball touched her fingers, she was on her feet running into the endzone.
The screaming of the fans were the furthest thing from her mind. All she heard was the beating of her heart, the hard sound of her breath as she saw the rushing defenders out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't going to make it.
Clenching her body, she dived forward in a spur of dumb luck, just as the defender went for her legs. The blond launching herself into the endzone for the two point conversion, winning the game.
There was a moment of silence before everything went crazy. The fans in the stands screaming as loud as they could as they stormed the field. The Cheerios doing the same, the Titan football team dunking the water cooler over Besite's head.
Sue threw her coffee behind her shoulder as she cheered, knocking into the form of Figgins, "I knew it!"
The hearing came back to Quinn as she laid there on her back in the endzone. She was going to keep this ball she decided in that moment, standing on shaky legs, she didn't even have time to breath before Rachel tackled her back to the ground.
Quinn just laid her head back onto the ground and groaned, "I don't think I am going to be able to get up."
That was entire the rest of the team gathered around her, and actually picked the blonde up onto her feet.
Everything else was kinda a blur for Rachel after that. It was not until she was under the warm spray of the shower in the Cheerio locker room that she finally came around fully. Her body was sore, but now without the pads on and the warm water flowing over her, it was a good kind of sore.
She would be lying if she didn't feel...excited. There was something about sports that just made her really well horny she supposed. Perhaps horny was not the right word, it just made her feel alive. It was the same reason why she liked singing so much, just it didn't have her body flushed red like how football did.
The smaller girl was pulled from her thoughts when she felt a familiar pair of arms wrapping around her waist. Leaning into Quinn's chest, she looked at the girl, "We both know we shouldn't be showering together."
"The door's locked, no one is going to bother us. And I want you." Quinn's voice sounded extra deep and silky.
The smaller girl didn't even have time to breath out a response before she was pressed against the wall and her blonde lover going to her knees in front of the girl. Shoving Rachel's legs to the side and moving her face to Rachel's already dropping center.
Oh yes, football was really good.
By the time Quinn was done ravishing her and they were dressed into fresh clothes, Quinn carried both of their bags and headed out of the locker room.
There was still a massive crowd in the parking lot and field. It was a rather big deal of course for Lima. They only had their foot team that had been a laughing stock for the past 3 decades to finally be going somewhere. And their chance at going to State was saved by two raging lesbian cheerleaders.
The humor was not lost on Rachel.
"Puck is throwing a party." Rachel commented as they tried their best to slip to Quinn's jeep.
But before the blonde could respond they were ambushed by the Cheerios, Glee Club and the most of the football team. There was a moment of silence before the girls were pulled into perhaps the biggest group hug they had ever seen.
Everyone was talking at once, but both girls got the basic of it; they got really lucky.
Santana actually was not the biggest fan of parties, which came to a surprise to a lot of people that got to knew her. Sure, she did like free booze as much as the next person but she did like some quiet nights to herself.
But this party was different, coming off a hell of a win this party was even crazier than usual. The best comeback in the school's history, hell she was sure it was the best in the State's history. Of course, the two stars were too busy enjoying each other than to soak up all the attention being thrown their way.
Okay, she'll level, Quinn was too busy being almost half asleep with Rachel in her lap. While Rachel lapped all the attention she could because honestly, she was Rachel Berry.
Santana knew quite well that tired look in their eyes, she was surprised the girls were able to take all the hits that they did. But she had enough of thinking about Rachel and Quinn, she had her own mission to get to.
Oh yes, Miranda. The goal of her affection over the course of the last few weeks. It felt nice really, being able to feel normal and try to win over the girl. Ever since Rachel and Quinn became the It couple Santana felt she could be open about her sexuality and have people to protect her.
The first and main issue really was seeing if Miranda actually liked girls. Granted the Cheerios was like the Lesbian Coven of highschool, one had to make sure before trying to shove your tongue down their throat.
Thus started the 'Operation See if Miranda is Gay', Santana really needed to work on her codenames. Though the entire plan lasted about a day before Santana noticed that Miranda was as bad as her when it came to checking out every Cheerio and decent looking woman.
It was a match made in Gay Heaven.
The only issue now was finding the girl at the rager. Which was actually harder than Santana first thought it was going to be. Lucky with all the parties she's been dragged to over the years at this place, she knew Puck's house quite well.
She squeezed through the kitchen, walking into Puck's living room, where she stopped to stare. She blinded once and then twice at the sight before her. One Sam Evans and Blaine Anderson locked in a heated embrace.
Granted no one really paid them any mind. But Santana mumbled to herself, "Is everyone gay in Glee? Next thing you know it's going to be Finn and Puck have actually been dating since Freshman year."
That thought made her pause, turn and dry heave into the nearby potted plant. She stopped though when she heard a giggle and a familiar voice, "You're kinda totally adorable when you talk to yourself."
Santana whipped around to the sight of Miranda standing before her. Wearing a pairs of jean and a leather jacket, the black haired girl gave a wink with her light grey eyes. Something that Santana found really sexy. God she shouldn't be this easy.
No time like the present as they said and Santana wasn't Santana Lopez for being a pussy. The smaller latina girl gave a smirk as she stepped up into the personal space of the girl. Perhaps it was the four drinks she downed a short time ago, or the that Miranda smelled like strawberries but she had to resist almost grinding against the girl.
Santana played with the hem of Miranda's cotton shirt, crooking her head and looking up at Miranda, "Do you want to dance?"
Santana saw the fire she lit in Miranda's eyes, the way her lips twitched, the sharp breath she took. Hell, the attraction was damn near rolling off of them at this point.
Miranda didn't even say anything, downing the rest of her drink and placing it on a nearby shelf she grabbed Santana's hand and pulled her to the main living room where a dance floor had been made.
The smaller of the two girls didn't even mind when Miranda placed her hands onto her hips and shoved Satana into her form. Now she was usually one to always have the control when it comes to such like these, but there was something about the look in Miranda's eyes that told her Santana that she wanted Miranda to do all sort of things to her.
By the time the fourth song had ended, both girls were flushed with pure need and want. Santana grabbed Miranda's hand pulling her outside to where her car was parked down the street. The other girl was busy trying to keep up.
Miranda was not surprised to feel herself being pressed against the cool metal of Santana's Dodge Charger and Santana's lips attacking hers. One of them gave a whimper of pleasure or perhaps it was both, but the next thing Santana knew was Miranda's hot breath near her ear, "No one is home at my house."
Santana only moaned in response before going into the driver seat. She would call this a very successful night.
Quinn and Rachel had tucked out early, namely because Hiram had sent a text to Rachel saying that Puck's party was going to be broken up in an hour seeing as it was nearing 3am and still going strong.
Rachel winced as she laid down in bed, dressed in her pj's now, she just laid there at the ceiling, "I really hope the boys get back on the team because I might actually die if I have to do that again."
Quinn was in no better shape as she dimmed the lights in Rachel's room, crawling into bed, she rested herself in between Rachel's legs. Moving the smaller girl's shirt up, Quinn made sure to press a few lingering kisses to the large purple spots that were starting to form on Rachel's body.
"Did I make it better?" Quinn said with a lazy smile as she moved up from her spot.
"I thought I was meant to be the adorable one." Rachel returned the smile as Quinn pressed a kiss to her nose and gathered her into her arms.
"I like taking care of you, shush."
"And what do you call fucking me in the locker room shower?"
"Checking fantasy number 2 off of my list." Quinn said honestly staring at the girl before Rachel broke into a mess of giggles and playfully slapped her girlfriend's shoulder.
"Did you see Santana and Miranda? I thought they were going to start having sex on the dance floor." Rachel snuggled into Quinn's arms as she shut her eyes.
"Have I ever mentioned that I am thankful that you don't almost physically assault me at every moment in public?"
"Not like I haven't thought about it." Rachel said with her eyes still shut but a smile playing on her lips.
Quinn only gave a soft 'Mmm' as she settled into the bed.
"I love you, Quinn." Rachel's voice was soft in the dark.
"I love you, too, Rachel. Even if you're half way crazy."
That earned another slap on the chest.
AN: I rather enjoyed writing the football game. Tell me if you wish to see me keep the possible football story arc going. Though if I do have one or two stay on the Team, they would give up their spots on the Cheerios. Though at the same time, the reasoning might be weird and odd for them to stay on. Also I don't know about you, but when I was in highschool, I couldn't balance all of that and still be sane.
Realized that I do a lot of serious and rather depressing themes, hopefully I can slowly make it bit more fun but still balance that seriousness. Because at the end of the day the reason Rachel and Quinn are so serious is because both have basically had shitty home lives. They 'fell into each other', see what I did there. That type of damage just doesn't go away in a short few months. Now that they have admitted what is wrong, the plan is to see them slowly mature to accept what happened to them and move on.
I do hope my characters come off human. The idea was not to make someone so perfectly normal or happy. Everyone deals with depression at some point in their lives and it's highschool.
Next chapter will be Hiram and Shelby speaking with Rachel. The truth comes out on what Shelby have been up to. Then it turns into a fluffy mess with Valentines day.