A/N: Ok so this chapter has been split kinda in half, I've spent so long writing it I needed a break but I wanted to update so you've got all the drama type things and then the next chapter will probably be reasonably fluffy, or that's the plan at least. Anyway, enjoy!
The key clicked slowly in the ignition, silencing the dull rumble of the engine and bathing the car in a sudden hush that begged to be filled with more than just breathing and fading light. The air had suddenly become heavy; an apparent weight on both the girl's shoulders but it was a pleasant weight, like that of a thick blanket. Quinn smiled into the silence as she let her hands slide of the wheel into her waiting lap.
"Do you want to come in?" Rachel asked in a breath, lacking the usual confidence that interlaced her voice. She looked nervously at the blonde cheerleader sat mere inches away from her, smiling warmly.
"I'm sorry, I should probably get back." She said pulling her gaze away from the shorter girl's fierce eyes. Rachel's face fell in disappointment and a slight twinge of embarrassment causing Quinn to instinctively reach out and touch her exposed arm before she had time to think. The movement became awkward and ended up as more of a tap than a comforting gesture. She gave a small cough to clear the air before explaining, "I mean, it's late, I don't need to give my parents another reason to ignore me."
"Ignore you?" Rachel asked in surprise, her relationship with her father's was clearly better than she'd thought, she assumed everyone's family worked in a similar way, unconditional love and all that but clearly not. Quinn gave a short, humourless laugh.
"Yeah, they really are that small." Rachel looked almost confused, her eyebrows were narrowed in thought but Quinn really didn't want to talk about her parents to anyone let alone Rachel. They didn't deserve any of her thoughts. "I'll see you tomorrow then?" Quinn asked hopefully, Rachel looked up and smiled at her.
"Yeah thanks for the lift, next time you should stay for dinner." She said warmly. The idea of meeting her parents after she'd bullied their daughter for the past year and a bit was daunting to say the least and Quinn's face must have betrayed her reluctance. "You don't have to if you don't want to, sorry, we don't really even know each other I don't know what I was thinking, of course you don't want to come to my house for dinner-"
"Rach, of course I want to, I just don't think your dads would want me at their house after; you know... everything I've done to you." Quinn said guiltily, looking down at her lap. She truly did regret everything heartless and stupid thing she'd done to the diva.
"Quinn, I forgave you and so will they. I want you to come over." She said and this time making successful contact, placing her hand over Quinn's in her lap. Their eyes met in another warming smile.
"Ok, so when shall I come over?" Quinn asked quietly after a few moments undisturbed gazing.
"Tomorrow?" Quinn's smile increased.
"Ok, tomorrow, I'll come over after cheerio's practice." Rachel beamed back.
"Perfect." Their smiles increased until they broke out into quiet giggles to try and dissipate some of the happy tension that now hung like a warm fog around them. Things had changed so much over the past weeks that it seemed only right to laugh, the change was slightly ridiculous really. "See you tomorrow then."
"Tomorrow" Rachel pulled open her door and got out. "Bye" Quinn said just as she closed the door, Rachel waved at her through the cold glass and almost skipped to her door. She couldn't believe she finally had a friend to invite over and the fact that this friend was no other than Quinn Fabray was crazy. She happily opened her front door and waved Quinn of as her car backed out of the driveway.
Quinn smiled to herself as she drove the 6 blocks back to her house, today had been a good day despite everything that had happened in Glee. Puck was an ass but he'd somehow managed to bring her closer to Rachel so all in all the day was worth it and tomorrow would hopefully be even better. She pulled up onto her drive and unbuckled her seat belt, placing her hand over where Rachel had rested hers just minutes ago; it still tingled with that exciting warmth. She allowed herself one more smile before exiting the car and entering the deserted house.
Her parents hadn't got home until 8 that night and greeted her with the same cold shoulder she'd been facing for over a week. Quinn stayed in her room that night finishing homework and reading before turning the light out at 10 and trying to quell the excitement she felt for the next day.
Quinn was thankful that today was Friday it meant she wouldn't have to face the rest of Glee club, she could just hide amongst the Cheerio's and try and avoid Finn and Puck who she was sure to hit if she got the chance. His arrogance was infuriating and she wished she hadn't have frozen up the previous night and was able to cause him some serious pain. She was sure Santana would have joined in.
Morning Cheerio practice was easy enough, she'd managed to do everything perfectly as usual and even got some cryptic and heavily disguised praise from Ms. Sylvester for the final run through. She was beginning to gain some more respect but doubted very much that it would remain high when news of her 'affair' came out. Santana had told her she'd back her up though, their friendship was also looking up, the Latina's show of defensive behaviour in Glee had shown her that her second in command was still on her side despite all her 'weird' and unexpected behaviour. In fact Quinn was even happy as she entered first period History at smiled at Rachel who was already sat in her new seat beside the blond. The move was still not accepted by the Cheerio's but she had enough power still to stop them from speaking out or hurting the brunette.
"Hey Rach" Quinn grinned as she took her seat and began pulling out her books.
"Hi Quinn, did you have a pleasant practice this morning?" Rachel greeted in her usual cheerful manner making Quinn smile even more to herself.
"Yeah thanks, a good... whatever it is you do on a Friday morning?" she smirked.
"It was fantastic thank you." She replied causing Quinn's smile to grow. The head cheerleader caught sight of Santana making a sick face behind Rachel's head and shot her a warning glance causing the Latina to crack a small and discrete smile before turning back to Brittany. Quinn shook her head, although she would never admit it Santana didn't actually hate Rachel at all, she was a bitch to everyone really. "What was that all about?" Rachel asked in confusion glancing backwards in the direction Quinn's glare had just been aimed at.
"Oh nothing, just Santana being a bitch" Quinn said the last few words a little loudly so the other girl could hear. Santana turned around and gave her the finger causing Quinn to crack a smile and shake her head. Rachel looked even more bemused after their latest interaction, she thought they were friends. Quinn found her confusion quite endearing and gave any warm smile, she was becoming far to soft around the short brunette. "Don't worry about it Rachel, It's just how me and S work." She said with a note of amusement in her voice.
Rachel still looked slightly confused as the teacher came in and began the lesson setting them to work in silence on some essay after a brief lecture. The class was over quickly and everyone began to file out the door.
"I'll see you later then?" Quinn asked as she and Rachel made their way out the door to part and go their separate ways until the evening when their lives would once again brush.
"Of course, what time should I be expecting you?" Rachel asked brightly.
"Um, well I'll have to go home and shower first so maybe around half five if that's ok?"
"It's perfect. I'll see you tonight at about half five then."
"Half five it is." Quinn said, reluctant to part for nearly 9 hours. She gave a warm smile which Rachel returned with twice as much enthusiasm, the smile filling her whole face and causing Quinn's insides to heat up comfortably. They parted at the other side of the corridor, Quinn turning left to go to Spanish and Rachel right to Maths, their lonely universes once again pulling apart after a burst of unity.
Spanish was the class Quinn was dreading after all that had happened with Puck and Finn being in a classroom with the two boys was not what she wanted. She contemplated skipping but decided that she'd have to face them both at some point anyway so took the hundred or so steps from her History to her Spanish room and took an empty desk.
Finn entered and gave her an unsuccessful blast of ice, he came off as more of a moody toddler than an angry ex-boyfriend, pouting at her as he took his seat. Puck entered and gave her a self-indulgent smirk before waggling his eyebrows at her, the sight actually made her feel a little sick, he was so ridiculously arrogant and seemed to show no remorse for his actions. She didn't think anyone was actually capable of being that much of an ass.
The mow hawked kid took a seat in front of her beside some other brainless jock before turning to her and saying in his usual, cool and confident voice, "Hey babe" Quinn's eye widened in awe of his idiocy.
"Don't talk to me pig." Puck didn't deflate at all and instead was encouraged by the mocking laughter of the jocks that surrounded him. Quinn really didn't want to get involved with the immature adolescent.
"I'm not a pig, I'm a shark babe." He said coyly, "You wanna know why?" he asked, leaning in and raising an eyebrow. Quinn didn't respond but sat back in her chair, crossed her arms and looked away from the boy currently leaning over her desk. "'If I stop moving; I die" Quinn couldn't suppress the bark of mocking laughter that left her mouth.
"Wow that was lame" Quinn said coldly, Puck appeared to momentarily deflate before what looked worryingly like an actual thought showed in his eyes.
"It worked on you" he said triumphantly before turning to high five the guy sat beside him wow was now laughing along with all the other boneheaded jocks and much of the rest of the class that was in hearing distance, barring Finn who just looked angry. Quinn could actually feel her respect levels plunging, sleeping with Puck was one of the stupidest things she'd ever allowed herself to do and she couldn't even remember doing it. She rolled her eyes and scoffed turning her head sharply to stare out of the window. This lesson was going to be tortuous.
In fact the lesson wasn't actually as bad as she'd thought it was going to be. Puck hadn't really bothered her much after his initial comment, probably because of the condemning presence of Mr Schuester although he wouldn't admit that. The rest of the day wasn't really that bad either. Sure news of Quinn's 'experience' had circulated the entire student body by lunchtime but Santana had been sending out some many murderous glares that no one dared even speak when the unholy trinity passed through the corridor.
The rest of the day went on in much the same fashion, in lessons without the protection of Santana then Quinn was surrounded by whispers and cautious glances although really it wasn't really breaking news, most of the Cheerios had slept with Puck or at least one of the jocks and this was public knowledge however it didn't stop Quinn from feeling cheap and pathetic for succumbing to the resident man-whore.
The end of practice couldn't come quickly enough as Ms. Sylvester had them running suicides and as head cheerleader Quinn was expected to excel; a mean feat with Santana beside her in the team. By the end of she was in certain need of a shower and probably a quick nap before going to the Berry's however she didn't want to give a bad impression by turning up late so the nap would have to be exchanged for a quick coffee. Quinn went into the lockers and quickly packed her duffle bag before shouldering it and heading to her locker to collect her books. Once out in the lot she saw Santana and Brittany making their way to the Latina's car, pinkies interlinked. She smiled at her friends before getting into her BMW 5 series and dumping her bag on the passenger seat. Having parents that cared about all aspects of their outward appearance did have its upsides, ok, just the one, the car was great.
She pulled out of the lot and drove home, nervous anticipation bubbling up in her stomach. She was anxious about meeting the Berry's but excited to be spending time outside of school with Rachel for the first time. Well for the first proper, pre-arranged time. She rolled up onto the driveway and clicked the hand break, grabbing her bag as she stepped out of the car and locked it. She was upstairs and in the shower within 5 minutes of being home and out again at ten past five. She chose a simple red dress and a long sleeved white cardigan and dried her hair into waves, this would be the first time Rachel had seen her in anything but her Cheerio's uniform other than when they were in costume for Glee and she was determined to make a good impression.
She gave herself one more look over in the mirror before smoothing out her dress and heading downstairs and into the kitchen where she grabbed a notepad and a pen from the worktop and scrawled a message:
Going out to a friend's house for dinner, don't know when I'll be back, Quinn.
She tore the message off the pad and grabbed her car keys, leaving the note on the worktop for her mum to find later, before leaving the house and driving the 6 blocks to Rachel's house and pulling up onto her driveway. She checked herself over in the rear-view, fixing her hair and taking a deep breath. She pocketed her keys in one of her flowing pockets and opened the car door in one clean move. The door shut with a loud thud before and the now very nervous Cheerio made her way slowly across the shallowly sloped drive to the dark wood door of the Berry residence. She raised an anxious arm and pressed the cool metal of the bell with the tip of her slim index finger.
Rachel heard the long awaited chime of the door bell just as she put the lid back on her ratatouille. "I'll get it." She shouted up to her daddy who was in the study upstairs. She removed her apron and hung it on the back of the door before going to the front door to greet Quinn. He took a deep breath and straightened out her skirt before putting a hand to the latch and guiding the door open. Quinn was stood nervously on the threshold, giving her a weak yet friendly smile.
The blond was hit by a rush of warm air as the door opened into the crisp late October evening. She was greeted by a bright yet nervous smile; this was probably a first for her too. Despite being popular Quinn had never really been over to someone's house on her own, it was always with a group of other cheerleaders or with Brittany or Santana and she'd never been invited over just for dinner before, only for sleepovers or 'study sessions' so she wasn't quite sure what to expect.
"Hi" Quinn said to break the nervous silence, her voice cracked slightly from a mixture of misuse and nerves. Rachel's smile seemed to ease and melt more into her face at the sound of her voice as if she need it's confirmation that Quinn actually was stood on her doorstep.
"Hi, come in, you must be freezing out there." She said, turning to allow the blond into the house. Quinn took a nervous step in and scanned the room she was now stood in, a reasonably sized sitting room, the walls were painted a warming cream colour, pictures of Rachel and her dad's hung from most of the walls, a large book case took up most of the far wall with a stand up piano taking up the remainder of the space. A large, clearly well used sofa was in the centre of the room facing a small television set that was pushed up against the wall closest to Quinn and on the wall opposite was an open archway into what appeared to be a kitchen/dining room. The space looked comfortable and lived in, so much a contrast to Quinn's elegant yet impractical, fake house. That was the difference; she lived in a house whereas Rachel lived in a home, she beamed widely at the room.
"Yeah it is pretty cold out there now." Quinn said as the brunette entered the room just behind her. "Your house is beautiful Rachel." The shorter girl scoffed.
"I wouldn't go as far as to call it beautiful, it's nice, not really beautiful."
"Exactly" the blonde stated contently. Rachel looked slightly baffled but returned the warm smile Quinn was now giving her. She really couldn't think of what to say or do now, the thought of what to actually do to entertain the blond hadn't actually occurred to her, she was too concerned with what to cook that Quinn would like.
"Sorry, now that you're here I don't really know what we can do; my dad won't get home from work until about 6 so dinner will have to wait until then and my daddy is currently working upstairs, not that there's much that he could do but I-"
"Rachel," Quinn could feel a long winded speech coming on and she thought she'd save the diva the awkwardness "I don't mind what we do, we can do anything, I'm just happy I can spend some time away from my parents, especially with you." She added the last part without really thinking it through and so blushed a little however Rachel's smile only increased and she was glad for the slip up.
"Ok, well why don't we watch TV for a little while then?"
"That sounds good to me."
"Ok then." The short brunette nodded her head before leading the way to the sofa and turning on the small set, FOX News came on, the news reader talking about some new government legislation as global share prices scrolled across the bottom of the screen. "Oh sorry, daddy's always watching this channel, me and dad can't stand it, it's so depressing." Rachel commented as she began flicking through the channels.
"Yeah, my dad's the same, I swear it's the only thing him and mum watch. Well my mum watches the occasional show on ABC when dad's out but apart from that it's all just news." Quinn took a seat on the opposite side of the sofa to Rachel, she instantly sank back into the cushions and a very comfortable position. "Wow your couch is comfy." She said with a grin to which Rachel gave a musical laugh.
"It really is" Rachel agreed. They settled on watching some old rerun of friends, settling in to a comfortable chat about favourite programmes and ones they just couldn't stand. It was 6 before they even knew it and Rachel's dad entered the room with a jacket draped over his arm and briefcase in hand.
"Hey Rach" he greeted his daughter "and you must be Quinn" he said with a smile before putting down his things and walking over to greet the girl. The girls stood up, Rachel gave her dad a hug before turning off the TV.
"It's nice to meet you Mr. Berry" Quinn said, holding out her hand and trying not to let her nerves show as the man examined her with a smile.
"Please, call me Daniel, Mr. Berry reminds me too much of work." he said warmly before taking her hand and shaking it firmly. "I've heard all about you from Rachel" he said good naturedly however Quinn went noticeably paler and slightly guilty prompting Daniel to back track a little. "All good things mind, I hear you're quite the piano player." He said, another grin overriding his face, it was easy to see where Rachel's got her smile from.
"Well, I used to play, not really anymore." Quinn said, still trying to avoid the man's eyes.
"That's not what Rachel said, she told us you played wonderfully, you'll have to let us hear later, that piano over there barely gets a look-in these days, she'll be glad of the attention." He joked pointing over to the piano that stood lonely beside the bookshelf. Rachel shook her head in embarrassment.
"Ok dad, why don't you go up stairs and get daddy and we'll get dinner ready." She urged.
"Ok, ok, I know when I'm not wanted." He said dramatically, collecting his things once more he rolled his eyes at Quinn, in mock exasperation, before going back up the stairs.
"I saw that!" Rachel warned genially before turning back to Quinn, "Well, that's my dad, the embarrassing one." She joked before walking into the kitchen and checking on the ratatouille.
"He's nice" Quinn remarked, leaning against the counter as Rachel began boiling the kettle and pulling out a large saucepan from a draw.
"He's embarrassing" Rachel assured while pulling out a bag of fresh vegan pasta and pouring the now boiled water in the saucepan on the stove.
"Is there anything I can do?" Quinn asked feeling slightly useless.
"Um, you could lay the table if you want? The cutlery's in the draw just there." Rachel pointed to a draw next to the fridge.
"Sure" the blond said moving towards the draw, happy to help out. She began setting the table as Rachel pulled out 4 large pasta bowls and checked on her pasta. "What's cooking?" Quinn asked before realising how lame that sounded, happy that she had her back to the diva to lay the table.
"What's cooking?" Rachel repeated in gentle mocking.
"Yeah ok, you know what I mean. What have you prepared for dinner? Better?"
"Slightly, it's ratatouille and pasta, not very interesting but it's one of my favourites and I thought you might like it."
"I'm sure it'll be great." Quinn said with enthusiasm, no one had really ever thought about her enjoyment of a meal for some time, her mum hadn't knowingly made her favourite meal since she was a kid and so it was nice that Rachel had put some thought in; that and the fact that it really did smell good.
Quinn finished laying the table and came to lean against the counter beside Rachel again who was draining off the pasta and beginning to plate it up as her dad's entered the room. Daniel smiled at her before going into one of the cupboards and pulling out 4 glasses to place on the table however the shorter, sandy haired man behind him gave her a cautious glance before coming forward.
"Quinn right?" He asked although it was clear he knew who she was and he didn't like it. Quinn attempted to calm her anxiety and reply.
"Yes sir" she said, offering her hand which he took after a brief, dubious look. The handshake was short and sharp and seemed to convey his less than happy attitude to Quinn's appearance in his kitchen.
"Mark" he said simply, neither coldly nor cordially "we've heard a lot about you Quinn." He stated, giving the phrase a menacing sort of magnitude.
"Daddy, please don't make a scene." Rachel warned.
"I'm not making a scene, I'm allowed to talk to the friend you've invited over." He seemed to say this with scepticism, it was clear he doubted Quinn's intention with this new friendship and Quinn recognised that he had a right to.
"Mark..." Daniel warned his husband.
"What? You can't blame me for being slightly sceptical, the girl has bullied Rachel for over a year and now she's suddenly her friend, over for dinner with us. It's a little strange don't you think?" Mark commented brashly. Daniel looked embarrassed and Rachel just looked affronted, she didn't want Quinn to be put off by her father, she was the first person to actually want to spend time with her, for her in 16 years and now her daddy was about mess that all up and send Quinn running for the hills. She opened her mouth in order to rebuke her father however was cut off by a nervous yet self-assured voice.
"Mr. Berry, may I talk to you?" Quinn asked the shorter man who looked almost surprised by her question.
"Of course, follow me." He said after a few seconds deliberation. He looked over to his husband who was giving him a questioning look before leading the girl from the room and into the living room. It wasn't exactly private but it would have to do Quinn thought as finished sketching out a brief speech and beginning.
"Mr. Berry I understand that my friendship with Rachel may seem very unexpected and even unwelcome to yourself and I would like to apologise for my past behaviour, it really was completely unacceptable and undeserved and I truly regret it. I have already apologised to Rachel and I will continue to do so because I can never make up for all the stupid things I've done to her but I would like you to know that I will never, ever do anything to intentionally hurt her ever again. I don't expect any sort of forgiveness from you or your husband however I hope that you can accept that I do regret it all and that I intend to be a good friend to your daughter for the foreseeable future." She said with conviction, offering out her hand to the bespectacled man who was looking at her with an intrigued smile. He was very surprised with her intelligent speech, it was clear she was being genuine and while he was still angry with the girl for everything she'd done to his daughter and probably always would be, he could see that she would make her a good friend even though it was clear that the blonds' feelings towards his daughter were a bit deeper than friendship from the earnest look in her eyes.
"Thank you Quinn" he said taking the girls hand and offering her a firm handshake in acceptance of her words. Quinn gave a small yet genuine smile, "Shall we go back and eat?" he asked before walking back into the kitchen closely followed by Quinn.
A/N 2: Ok, so here's the question: Do you want Quinn to tell Rachel about her feelings or do you want it to continue on as it is for a while, maybe get outed somehow? Ok so I haven't really thought it all out but I have a few ideas so tell me how you want to read because that's why I'm writing it, I want you guys to enjoy it. So review! =]