Rachel paced nervously as she waited for Quinn to arrive, it's going to be strange having her two best friends and her… whatever Quinn is to her in the same room. She kept thinking that Santana might bring up their past just to scare her away and if she does then Rachel's going to try her best and rip off that cheap talking mouth off her face.
"You wanted to see me?" Quinn appeared holding her gym bag and wearing her cheerios uniform.
Oh god, those sinfully short skirts, those are probably the only thing she misses about school. Rachel cleared her throat and tried to think of something other than Quinn's legs "Yeah, I have something to ask you, but first I want to clear the air here. Are we friends?"
"Yeah… I guess so," It was an odd question, Quinn sort of thought of her as a friend since they seem to care for one another "Why you ask?"
Rachel smiled "That's great. Now, you know that one time I lead you to a fake house when you wanted to see my real one?" Quinn nodded at the memory "How would you like to finally see it?"
"This isn't another prank is it?"
"I'm not sure yet. My friend Santana suggested inviting you over for dinner, and knowing her anything can happen."
"Oh… Oh!" Quinn just processed that Rachel's friends, the people that hate her father, want to finally meet properly "I'm not sure I'm ready to die yet."
The adorable poker face made Rachel's stomach flutter, it's weird because she hasn't had that feeling in a long time and she's not sure if it's a good thing or bad one "I promise you won't die if you follow the rules."
"And the rules are?"
"Follow me, it's gonna take a while."
Quinn followed the small brunette to a nearby park. They picked a spot under the shade and Rachel explained very vividly about what to expect when she comes face-to-face with Satan Lopez.
Rule one: Don't fear her.
"If you fear her then the game is over, she will control you if you don't stand up for yourself. She once made me steal the church money and she kept most of it."
Quinn slapped Rachel's arm "How dare you steal from the house of God!"
"That's what happens when she smells the fear!"
Rule two: Have courage.
"Like I said before, don't fear her and if you stand up for yourself against her then she will see you have balls. Having courage is something Santana looks for in people."
Rule three: Acceptance.
"To be on Santana's good side you have to be open minded. She's had her fair share of judgment throughout her life and she doesn't want another one topping the list."
And rule four: Be truthful.
"Nothing and I mean nothing aggravates Santana more than a two-timer. Just be truthful with her and she'll do the same and once you break that rule there's no going back."
Rachel felt like a huge hypocrite saying that, thinking back to the time when she lied to Santana about seeing her mother just so she wouldn't hear Santana talk so poorly about how she doesn't care about the group.
"Are those rules necessary?"
"Do you want my friends to like you or not?"
Quinn zipped her mouth from saying anything else. Meeting friends isn't supposed to be this hard, there are no rules to making friends. Then again she doesn't know who these people are and Rachel only mentions Santana, isn't there another one? "What about the other one?"
"Hm? Oh Puck? He's cool, he's not as assertive as Santana, so I wouldn't worry about him."
Quinn gave her a weak smile and laid her head on Rachel's lap "Meeting your friends is hard work."
"They're not your normal friends," Rachel didn't know how to react to Quinn's position. Does she stroke her hair? Play with the blonde strands? "They just have issues."
"Do you have problems? We're kinda friends now, so it's safe to tell me anything."
Appreciating the support, but Rachel's not ready to tell anyone her problems just yet. Nimble fingers started to unconsciously play with Quinn's hair, her hair is soft and healthy and it's impossible stop touching it "Once my friends approve of you then I'll tell you."
Rachel stayed playing with Quinn's hair for a few minutes till she notices that Quinn's breathing evened out "Quinn?" She looked forward and saw that her eyes were closed, Rachel carefully took off her sweater and covered Quinn's body as much as she can.
"Isn't this nice?" Rachel spoke as if Quinn was awake "So peaceful and calm, it's never like this when I'm with them. Usually it's loud and very stupid depending on what we're doing, but I'd prefer this any day."
Quinn was given till Friday to prepare herself for the dinner and no matter how many hours she spent going over what she was going to say, she's still nervous as hell. First thing before she leaves is to call a cab and make sure she doesn't get caught by her father.
She has to pull out her book of lies and tell a chapter about how she's going to sleepover Brittany's house today. Her mother agreed since she's really fond of Brittany, but her dad was on the fence. He knows her schemes ever since she risked her life to catch them and he's afraid she's doing it again. He also agreed, but that he will make sure to take her and to ask Brittany for hourly updates.
Once her father left the house, Brittany locked the doors and turned towards Quinn "Are you staying for real this time or you're sneaking off?"
"You owe me for ratting me out to my dad."
"But she's-"
"Don't even say she's dangerous," Quinn snarled, she knows Rachel well enough to know that she's a harmless puppy "We've been seeing each other and now she's my friend, so don't judge my friend."
Brittany crossed her arms, making herself visibly strong without giving off any signs that she's hurt in the inside. Quinn's supposed to be on her side, take her word over anyone else's. If she can't reason with Quinn about how wrong it is to befriend Rachel then she'll just have to join them "I'm coming, too."
"No you're not! This is my night to prove to her friends that I'm good for them."
"If I come then I can make you look good."
They spent twenty minutes arguing back and forth, throwing out good points about Brittany going, but Quinn wanted it to be just her and Rachel. It's not the right time for Brittany to meet them all when she hasn't formally met Rachel, she knows nothing about her… and Quinn found a way to shake her off.
"Give me one detail about her."
Brittany furrowed her eyebrows in confusion "What does that have to do with anything?"
"If you want to meet all three of them then you have to know something about Rachel. Now tell me something you know about her."
"I don't really know her that well.." Brittany voice began to fade, beginning to know why Quinn asked for a detail.
"Exactly, you don't know her, so it would be highly inappropriate if you came to the dinner. Sorry, Britt."
Before Brittany can fight for her stance, a car horned outside the house, Quinn took a peek and saw that it was the cab she called earlier. She grabbed her things and kept apologizing to Brittany, hoping this won't affect her cover.
She gave the driver the address when she entered the car. He gave her a confused look, he knows that part of the city is run-down and hardly anyone goes there, but he didn't judge. It took them ten minutes to arrive and when she was in front of the building, Rachel was already on the steps waiting for her. She tipped the cab driver and wished him a good night.
"Sorry I'm late, Brittany was trying to talk me into bringing her."
"She doesn't trust me, right?"
Quinn nodded "She's afraid you might try to hurt me."
Rachel grabbed her hand and gave a gentle squeeze to reassure her that she isn't abusive "I would never hurt you, but I'll hurt anyone who harms you." Well, not abusive to her friends and loved ones.
"I know," Looking at their joined hands, she smiles wide "This just confirmed it."
That fuzzy feeling in the pit of Rachel's stomach is back and it's fuzzier than before and her heart rate just increased. Rachel hasn't felt this feeling in a long time and honestly she doesn't hate it, however, she will hate it if she finds out Quinn doesn't feel the same way. For now, all she is focusing on is Quinn and her friends, she can deal with her feelings later.
Rachel escorted Quinn up the building and made it to her apartment "I must warn you," Rachel whispered "They will ask questions about your personal life, so just keep it short and simple."
"Got it."
Opening the door, Quinn can see that there's not much in the tiny space. Of course, they can't afford beautiful decorations, but at least a clean couch would be nice. Rachel led her to the dinner table and right off the bat Santana has many insults and questions lined up.
"Fabray, we meet again," Santana signaled both to sit down "Have a seat."
Rachel eyed her suspiciously, she hasn't lashed out or said a sarcastic comment. She pulled out the chair for Quinn then sat right next to her. Puck came in with the food, spaghetti with a small salad and some bacon on the side. Rachel saw how Quinn's eyes sparkled when she saw bacon and made a mental note that if she ever pissed off Quinn again then she would know how to make her happy.
"So, Quinn," Santana gained the blonde's attention "I invited you over because Rachel has been non-stop talking about you and I wanted to see what was so damn special about you."
Rachel's cheeks, as well as Quinn's, flared up with pink heat. There's the Santana she's been waiting for; the one that embarrasses her and for the record she does not talk about Quinn all the time… maybe sometimes, but not all the time.
"Has she now." Quinn couldn't let this opportunity of teasing Rachel slip by.
"Oh yeah," Puck chimed in "She told us about the fire alarm at school. Thanks by the way, who knows what would've happened if Hanson caught us."
Rachel's eyes bulged at the nickname they gave Russell because of his hand, it was hilarious at first, but now it's not since she has a crush on his daughter; who by the way might still be furious about that. Santana choked on her water due to the laughing she did.
"Who's Hanson?" Quinn asked.
The pair started to laugh again, they find it funnier when Quinn says it. Santana wiped an invisible tear "Just someone on the force, we have nicknames for everyone. Hanson is- fuck!" The Latina hissed in pain and rubbed her knee that was brutally kicked.
"Santana, a word," Rachel excused herself from the table and dragged Santana to her room "Are you trying to make her hate us? Why were you about to tell her who Hanson was?"
"What's the big deal? I thought we have no bad blood between us."
"N-not necessarily bad blood, she's still angry abo-"
Santana knitted her brows and crossed her arms over her chest "She's still pissed? Why let me invite her if.." Her eyes widen in realization "You must really like her to bring her to us."
"Just be civil okay? I want you guys to like her as well."
Santana hasn't seen Rachel like this since her last relationship, they didn't end on bad terms or anything, but it did change Rachel's views on love and happiness. The taller brunette decided not to torture both girls tonight, some other night would be fine, but she can see that this means a lot to her.
"She's still Russell's daughter, Rachel. I want to make sure she's good for us and you."
Rachel smiled wide at her friend's maturity, usually she would do the opposite of what she tells her to do. The pair joined the others to continue on with the dinner, but once they got there Puck was looking so guilty that he made Jack the Ripper look like a saint, and Quinn staring at Rachel with fiery eyes.
"My dad," Quinn said with venom in her tone "You named my dad Hanson after you attacked him? You all think it's funny knowing my father got injured then compare him to a character from a parody movie!"
"That was before we got to know each other, but-but now it's different."
"But that's not the only time you purposely hurt him!" Quinn stood up and came face-to-face with Rachel "Puck told me that you set a trap that made him walk with a limp. Oh, and let's talk about the time you dislocated his shoulder!"
"It was self defense because he was going to attack Santana!" Rachel yelled, she was on the verge of tears because of two things: one, she might lose Quinn and two, the memory of that post-traumatic night.
"He's my father!"
"She's my family! I didn't wanna go through that again!"
That sentence broke something inside of Santana that made her want to hug Rachel with everything she's got. Puck saw that Santana wanted to lunge forward to hug the day lights out of her, so he took her to a different room and left Quinn and Rachel to talk things through.
"Just go Quinn, I don't want you to see me like this."
"Rachel… you can tell me anything."
"I don't hurt people just because I feel like it. I do it to protect them because I love them," Rachel took a deep breath "My dad abused my mom and me. He would hit us whenever we didn't obey or follow the rules, you know the typical morals. One day I brought home a friend.."
"Rachel?" Her father, David, popped his head into his daughter's room "Your mom's gonna be home late, want to order in some take out?"
"That be great," Rachel turned to her friend "What do you want?"
"I'm good with whatever your dad picks."
"Thai food it is! That's why Rosa is my favorite one out of your friends, Rach." Her dad closed the door and went to the kitchen to order from the takeout menus they have stored in the cabinets.
"Apparently I'm everyone's favorite in this family." Rosa put aside her books and pens and straddled Rachel's hips.
Rachel whimpered as her hands flew to the brunette's waist "We shouldn't be doing this- at least not here. My dad will kill me if he found us like this." The anxiety of a possible beating settled in which caused Rachel's body to tremble.
Rosa's lips latched onto her neck, sucking and nibbling on her pulse point until a searing mark was left "He won't catch us, now please let me make you feel good."
Rosa brushed her nose against Rachel's cheek, a spark of a thrill and fear coursed through Rachel's spine. She licked her lips and leaned forward, kissing Rachel slowly. Rosa parted her lips and eased her tongue out to trace her bottom lip, granting access to her tongue. They were so caught up with each other that they didn't hear the knock at the door.
"Get off my daughter this instant!" David stormed into the room and pushed the girl off his daughter "You have six seconds to leave this house before I drag you out myself."
Rosa sprinted herself out the Berry home, Rachel didn't have a chance to get pass her dad without getting sucker punched in the stomach. David closed the door and slapped Rachel across the face while yelling; reminding her how homosexuality is an abomination and that she's a disgrace to society.
Outside the home, Shelby had got off work early and decided to surprise her family and grace them with her presence. While she was unlocking the door, she heard the agonizing screams and cries from Rachel. Pushing her way to Rachel's room and busting the door open, she charged at her husband to tackle him to the floor.
"Call the police NOW!"
Calling from the living room phone, Rachel turned back and saw that David has pinned her down. The fear and anger took control of her actions as she grabbed a vase and knocked him out long enough for them to leave the home.
".. After that night my mom and I moved from LA to Ohio. We were separated when I turned 14, someone called child protective services because my mom had a drinking problem and I was put into another home."
Quinn wiped away her tear-streak cheeks as she was comforting Rachel "And your adoptive parents?"
"They were two gay men, I only stayed with them for a while, but I never saw them as my family. They didn't love me like my mom did, I was just their hand-me-down kid then I found Santana and Puck."
"How did they end up like this?" Quinn asked.
"That's their story to tell when they're ready. Now you know why I fight for my friends, just know that I'm nothing like my dad," Rachel bowed down her head "Don't be afraid of me.."
"I'm always safest when I'm with you," she wrapped an arm around Rachel and pulled her in closer to her "I'm sorry."
Rachel rested her head in the crook of Quinn's neck and relished the sense of security and love "I'm sorry for the nickname. We won't be calling him that anymore."
Quinn kissed the top of Rachel's head which sent a shiver through her spine "Thank you for the dinner."
"But we really didn't eat anything."
"It's not about the food. I got to know you a little more, that's the whole point of a…date."
"D-date?" Rachel's heart fluttered with many emotions and smiled happily "No, um, wait you like me? You mean that?" She asked hopefully.
"Could I be more obvious? I never gave up on chasing you."
That damn Quinn always knew how to make Rachel's cheeks resembled a tomato "Then I'll have you know this wasn't a date. I want our first date to be special and not full of tears and yelling."
They intertwined their fingers and held each other's gaze "I look forward to it."
Over the weekend, Quinn and Rachel have been non-stop texting each other. Rachel had to beg Puck to let her borrow his phone for a while, so far everything is flirty and playful between them and they couldn't be happier.
When Quinn showed up for school, she couldn't wipe that cheeky grin off her face. Everyone stared at her differently since she usually scowls at the freshman just to terrify them for her pleasure, don't get them wrong; it's a nice picture to see, but it made them wonder what's making her float on cloud 9.
"Someone's full of life." Sam teased.
"Didn't Rachel tell you?"
His brows shot up to his hairline "Are you two, you know, together?"
"We're getting there," Quinn looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping "We're gonna have our first date soon, but I'm going to need you to cover for me."
"Why? You're not embarrassed to have dinner with a girl, are you?"
"Of course not, it's my dad. He hates Rachel and the others, now imagine if he knew I was going on a date with her," Sam nodded and understood the situation more clearly "All you need to do is pick me up and take me back home."
"Like a chauffeur?"
"Think of it as a favor you owe Rachel and I since we got Hudson off your back."
Sam smirked "I'd do anything for you two. Text me when the date is and I'll be ready."
The pair didn't even notice someone lurking in the background as they parted ways. The Afro teenager went looking for Brittany to tell her the dirt.
"Quinn confirms that she's seeing someone named Rachel. Does this mean she plays for the other team?"
Brittany rubbed her temples and felt disappointed in her friend "Who was she talking to?"
"Sam Evans. He's Quinn's beard for the date."
"Thanks JBI. Oh, this whole thing is off record." Brittany reminded Jacob knowing that he's the school's news reporter. She doesn't want the whole school to know about Quinn even though she's furious with her. There's no way in hell she's letting Quinn get herself into more trouble by "dating" that tagger and she's going to make sure that date doesn't happen.
Btw- Hanson is the guy with the disabled hand in Scary Movie 2…in case you didn't know.
Question- Should I write less or keep it the way it is (+3,000 words)?