A/N: So many story alerts and views O.O it's kind of daunting posting this new chapter. I'm feeling the pressure. Anyway, enjoy, and review!
Quinn was lacing up her shoes the next morning when she heard it; an unmistakeable rumble of thunder. Quinn's first thought was that it would be best to stay home today. It would be dangerous to be running in a thunderstorm. She quickly vetoed that idea; she'd said she'd go see Rachel today, and she couldn't bail on her. Although they were friends now, Quinn still felt like she needed to earn Rachel's trust. One way of doing that was going to see her every day. She could show her that she'd be there for her in the long term that way. So Quinn hurried out of the door, hoping that she could get to Rachel's house before the rain started to get too heavy...
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Quinn's clothes were plastered to her body. They were now so heavy with water that she was struggling to run. Her hair hung limply around her face in clumps and she could feel the mascara she had put on that morning dripping down her face.
This is just freaking great. Rachel's going to take one look at me and make me stand outside the house like a wet dog. There's no way she'll hug me now.
Quinn frowned up at the sky. Why, God? Why?
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Rachel decided to stay in bed. What was the point in getting up, really? There would clearly be no Quinn today. No sunshine. She buried her head in her pillow and covered herself in her duvet completely.
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Quinn stared at the Berry's front door. The pink curtains of the room she assumed was Rachel's were shut, she must still be asleep. Quinn felt saddened. Just as she was about to leave, thoroughly dejected, the door swung open.
Quinn was met by a tiny bespectacled man. He was clearly Rachel's biological father. She was at a loss of what to say. After a lot of opening and closing her mouth, she settled on "Uhhhhhm. Hi." Clearly, the tongue tied thing applied to the whole Berry family.
"Hello there! You must be Quinn! It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Come in, come in, you're soaked, poor thing. I'm Hiram Berry, Rachel's father. She'll be so pleased that you came to see her especially considering the weather."
Yep, this was definitely Rachel's dad, judging by the way he was talking at a hundred miles per hour.
Quinn was lead through the photograph covered hallway and into the cosy living room. The house had a comfortable, lived in feel to it. It was the polar opposite of her house, where there were barely any photos of Quinn or her sister and there were no trophies or certificates to show that their parents were proud of them. Her mom had really been trying to make everything better since Quinn moved back in, but the house still felt like a show home to her, not a real home.
Rachel's father gave Quinn a clean, fluffy towel out of the bathroom and sat her down on the sofa. Quinn cleared her throat nervously and asked "So, how did you know who I was?"
Hiram smiled wanly. "Rachel's always talking about you. Even when you were... not on the best of terms, shall I say, she wouldn't shut up about you. She never blames you for the hard time she has at school, in fact she seems to think that you're just as much as a victim as she is."
Quinn swallowed. "I guess she's right. I was kind of peer pressured into treating her that way. I was the head Cheerio; picking on the... freaks... was practically a duty of mine. I'm so, so sorry about the way I treated your daughter, Mr Berry. I'm really trying to make it up to her. She deserves to have friends, though I'm not sure if I'm worthy of her."
Quinn noticed Hiram's wince at the word "freaks". However, he seemed comforted by Quinn's sincere apology. "It's okay, honey. I get it. Though of course the way my little girl was treated was despicable, I forgive you. I used to be quite popular back in the day, would you believe, and I remember having to pick on Leroy, Rachel's other father, because he was gay. One thing lead to another and, well, here we are!"
Quinn suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. She was sure Rachel's father had picked up on the fact that her feelings for Rachel were not entirely friendly. Why else would he have used that example?
"So, is Rachel still in bed? I thought she'd be up doing her scales by now or something!" Quinn said, trying to change the subject.
"Yep. She is usually up by now; she lives by the phrase "the early bird catches the worm!" Fancy surprising her?" Mr Berry said, with a twinkle in his brown eyes. Quinn noticed that they were the same lovely shade as Rachel's.
"That sounds like a good plan!"
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After they tip-toed upstairs, Hiram and Quinn put together a master plan; burst into Rachel's room yelling and jump on her bed. It was a classic.
Quinn counted down from three on her fingers, mouthing the numbers. On "one!" they ran into Rachel's very pink room screaming at the top of their voices, and Quinn jumped on Rachel's blanket covered body while Mr Berry jumped up and down on the bed next to them. Rachel squealed "Daddy! What on earth are you doing? And who's that on top of me?"
Quinn pulled down the duvet that was still covering Rachel's face. "Hey, Rach!"
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Rachel was not expecting wake up with Quinn on top of her.
In fact, when she was greeted by her perfect face framed with a halo of wet blonde hair she was so surprised that she shot up out of bed and headbutted her straight in the forehead.
Quinn squeaked in surprise and pain, while Rachel began to gush with apologies.
"Oh my lord, Quinn, are you okay? Daddy, call 911! She could be concussed! Are you seeing double? How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Rach. Rachel! Calm it! I'm fine, don't worry that pretty little head of yours."
Hiram chose that moment to leave the room. "I'll leave you ladies to it." He said, with a knowing smile to Quinn.
"Did you run here in the rain just to come see me?"
Quinn blushed. "Mmhm. I said I'd be here tomorrow yesterday, and I keep my promises."
Rachel was acutely aware of the fact that Quinn was still on top of her. She was feeling extremely hot and bothered.
"That's a quality I appreciate. Oh, I didn't realise you were still in wet clothes! Let me find you something dry."
Quinn reluctantly rolled off of her, and Rachel got up to rifle through her closet. She eventually resurfaced with a hoodie that was the same colour blue as the vest Quinn wore the previous day and a pair of leggings. She handed them to Quinn with the intention of leaving the room to give her some privacy to change, but before she knew it Quinn had stripped off to her pale yellow underwear.
Rachel couldn't stop staring. Her mind wasn't able to string a coherent thought together. It just kept coming up with random phrases like so much skin, her abs are perfect, her legs look so smooth and strong... She was close to drooling.
Since when did I turn into Puck?
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Quinn knew that Rachel was staring at her. She smirked as she saw her biting her lip out of the corner of her eye. As she pulled on the hoodie she made sure to stretch out her torso in a way that she knew would show it off. She was sure she heard Rachel stifle a groan.
"Looks like the rain's not letting up, huh?" Quinn said conversationally as she slowly pulled on the leggings.
"Mmmmmmmmm." Replied Rachel vacantly.
"Looks like I might have to wait it out here. If that's okay with you, I mean."
"Oh yeah, that's okay. Good, I mean. Great. I have plenty of activities we could do."
Activities! Quinn thought. I know I was being a bit of a tease, but wow. You still got it, Fabray!
"I can't wait!"
A/N 2: Woo cliffhanger! Kinda. Next chapter will be Quinn and Rachel's day in together, and all the fluffiness that it entails. I probably won't be able to update daily, because I have loads of extremely important exams coming up, but I'll try my best. Thanks for all of your responses, I'm extremely grateful. ^.^