Tuesday afternoon, instead of staying for cheer practice Quinn went off to Rachel's apartment. Santana and Puck were going to be out and Rachel was free, so why not. Once she got there, she was greeted with a warm hug and an apple.
"I figured you were hungry, plus you have to eat healthy," Rachel closed the door behind Quinn "Don't you have practice today?"
"Do you not realize how cold it is? Glee club took over the gym and Sue didn't oppose to cheering outside. I was not about to freeze my ass off."
"You wouldn't be freezing if you didn't wear these short skirts," Rachel, once again, admired the creamy smooth legs then went off to her room then came out with a pair of grey sweats "Maybe these will help."
"But I'm taller than you."
"Only by two inches! Now go try them on." Rachel threw the pants to Quinn for she could decide if she wants to freeze to death or not.
She was surprised that it fit her, she's even more sure they don't fit Rachel, but if she uses them to sleep then she gets it because everyone loves to sleep in baggy and comfortable clothes.
"They fit and they're so soft."
"They look great on you. Come on, let's watch some TV."
Quinn sat at the end of the sofa while Rachel sat on the other side. Rachel thought that they were too far apart, so whenever Quinn looked engrossed into the television, Rachel would scoot an inch closer to the blonde.
It got to the point where she was at least three inches from her. Quinn shifted her eyes to the dork next to her and smiled "If you wanted to cuddle up you could've just said so."
Rachel scoffed "I couldn't see from that side, the middle is where you have a better view."
"Of the TV or me?" Quinn turned to face the brunette.
"I- Quinn, I swear- just watch the TV!"
Quinn giggle at Rachel's flustered cheeks and continued to watch her show. After a while, Rachel started to doze off to sleep and laid her head on Quinn's shoulder "Sleepy?" Rachel nodded "Let's sleep."
"But you have to..go home." Rachel yawned out that Quinn has to be home, but her body was already cuddling up to her and getting comfortable.
Quinn ignored her, instead she draped an arm around the petite body and kissed her head. She lowered the volume of the TV so it wouldn't disturb Rachel's slumber. This is something she can get used to, just relaxation and cuddling up with Rachel.
The more she kept staring at the TV screen, the heavier her lids got then she drifted off into her own slumber. Puck and Santana arrived an hour after Quinn had fallen asleep. The pair caught the sleeping girls in a snuggle position; Quinn laid flat on her back while Rachel somehow ended up on top of Quinn.
"My favorite gays," Santana whispered "This wouldn't be happening if I didn't invite blondie to dinner."
"And here I thought you were gonna scare her off, but you did the right thing, San." Puck confessed.
"I always know what's right for everyone," Santana grinned at her accomplishment, but that quickly faded "Have you talked to Eric recently?"
"I think two days ago, he gave me more pot to sell. Thanks for telling me to fight for twenty percent." He patted Santana on the back. Without her advice they would still be living off Ramen soup and canned food.
Santana squinted her eyes, ready to catch him red handed "Just pot?"
Puck had no idea where she was leading this conversation, but he has a gut feeling he'll know right now "Why?"
"I was cleaning the other day and I found two packets of coke under the sofa," Santana stepped a little closer to the boy "Are you doing coke in this house?"
Santana knew about Puck's history with drug abuse in his family. It started when he was around ten years old, his father had just lost his job and couldn't afford to provide with his family, so he left. His mother had to pick up where his deadbeat father left off. She applied to jobs that didn't require a high school diploma, but it was harder than she thought.
She then took up an opportunity to sell drugs, recommended by her friend for quick cash. At first it was to support her son and daughter to help them get by on whatever they needed, but after a few years she was tempted. Knowing she has drugs just a few inches away always ate her up inside and when she doesn't give into the cravings she hates herself more and more.
When the kids were at school, she rolled a joint. One joint became two then three then four. She only did it when the kids weren't home, didn't want them to get sucked into drugs like she did. Puck was about to turn 16 when he caught his mother injecting herself with god knows what in her veins. He knew he didn't want to be a part of this life and grow up a junkie or something, so just like his father; he left for his own good.
At this point in his life he wasn't pressured or tempted to follow in his mom's footsteps, but Santana always worried that someday it will lead to that.
Puck knew why she asked such a dumb question "No. End of story."
"Just be careful with that crap. It'll get you addicted quicker than candy."
He waved her off as he shut the door to his room. He felt offended that Santana didn't think he had any inner strength to turn his back away from drugs. Has he smoked before? Only on a rough day. Has he done coke? Never.
Puck sat on his bed and stared at the wall, wondering how his mom and little sister are doing or if they're still living together.
The buzzing in her pocket woke Quinn from her slumber. The sun was barely peeking from the horizon, so she estimated the time to be five or six in the morning. Oh shit.
Quinn quickly grabbed her phone and saw that she had thirteen missed calls from her parents and Brittany. She decided to call Brittany first.
"Quinn! Thank god you're not dead! Where are you! I had to lie to your dad about you staying over my house."
Brittany was too good to her, the least she could give in return was the truth "I stayed over a friend's house."
"Which friend? I texted the team and they said you weren't with them."
Quinn's truth choked at her throat, if she even said the first letter of the name Brittany would freak out "Someone from, uh, Glee club!"
"Glee club? You're not even in Glee-"
"I'll tell you later, gotta go!" Quinn ended the line and took a deep sigh.
"Quinn Fabray, you dirty liar." Rachel muttered out.
Quinn looked down and saw Rachel on top of her, hugging her body like a child would hug their teddy bear when they sleep. She wrapped her arms around the petite body and reciprocated the hug, enjoying the heat radiating off Rachel and the fluffy feel of her body. She never noticed how huggable Rachel was till this very moment.
"You don't want my dad charging in here and throwing all of us in jail now would you?"
"You got a point there," Rachel lifted her head to make eye contact "You look beautiful in the mornings."
"Messy hair and drool turn you on?" Quinn teased.
Rachel giggled "I like your messy hair it makes you look very cute," She laid her head back down onto Quinn's chest "Let's continue sleeping. You have at least one more hour till it turns seven."
Except Quinn didn't sleep, she watched Rachel doze off and massaged her scalp. The green apple scent invading her nostrils smelling like a summers day to Quinn. If she compared this cuddly Rachel with the one she first met at the subway entrance it's like a totally different person, took her a while to make her way through Rachel's guarded walls, but she's glad she did it.
After an hour of watching Rachel sleep, Quinn had to go to school and face Brittany's third degree conversation. Then after that she has to face a possible yelling and lecture when she gets home to her parents. Quinn straighten out her story on the way to school, all she has to do is find some Glee loser to back her up.
Roaming the halls near the choir room and sniffing out her prey to be her scapegoat wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. She didn't know anyone who is in Glee, the only person is Sam, but she hasn't seen him today.
"Quinn!" Brittany yelled from down the hall, Quinn cursed to herself knowing she has no evidence to back up her plan "I hope you know that when you get home your dad will be furious, should I start planning your funeral?"
Quinn rolled her eyes "I don't why he should be, I was just sleeping over a friend's house."
"And who is that friend who's apparently in Glee?"
Every time Brittany gets mad she turns into an aggressive person, Quinn noticed it when she first met Rachel. Brittany loses her innocence and patients then suddenly turns into this hardcore investigator.
"I was with Sam and some other gleeks at a party. He wanted to introduce me to his friends since we're going out now." Quinn was on autopilot, lies were just spilling from her mouth like it was her second nature.
Brittany wanted to laugh at Quinn's lie, but she had to play it clueless, so she raised both her brows "Going out..with someone who's in Glee?" The more she says it the weirder it sounds.
"Would you rather have me date someone who cared about popularity or my personality?"
"Personality. I'm sorry Quinn, I just assumed you hated them since you always talk bad about them." Brittany pouted.
"Perspective changes."
Brittany nodded, had nothing else to say, but she did wanted to ask when the date was. The bell rang and they walked to their first class, maybe later in the day she can ask her.
Thank god Quinn got out of that mess and it went a lot better than she expected it. Her friend didn't ask that many questions and was pretty understandable about the whole Sam thing, she was even surprised that Brittany bought her lies. She must be a greater liar than she thought.
"How about Breadstix? Everyone goes there." Sam suggested.
"Exactly, I don't want to go to no mainstream place. Come on, think harder!"
Sam ditched school to help Rachel plan out their date. So far they picked the day which is next Friday night, but there are no good restaurants nearby that both satisfy Quinn and Rachel. As they threw out ideas back and forth they also threw popcorn at each other.
"I am! How am I supposed to know what's around here? I don't go out much and when I do it's school."
Rachel sighed "Why is this so difficult? Is this how you guys feel when thinking about the perfect date?"
"Sort of, us guys always think of movies and dinner as the perfect date. One time I took this girl to dinner and she was mad because she wanted to do this pottery thing at the local art classes."
"I have the perfect idea!" Rachel sprinted out from her chair into her room to look for a brochure she found a while ago "It's this new place called Paint and Sip, you sit down and paint while you drink."
Sam took a look at the pamphlet and raised a brow "Drink?"
"I'm pretty sure they have a kid's area."
The blonde took out his phone and dialed the number on the pamphlet, wanted to make sure Rachel's hopes weren't so high for this place. A friendly voice greeted Sam, he asked if people under 18 can enjoy this place, he got his answer and ended the call.
"What they say?" Rachel asked, fingers crossed.
"They have a non-alcohol area, looks like you'll have your fun date after all."
Rachel clapped and smiled widely as she continued to figure out what the date needed. Sam felt like a proud brother when he saw Rachel lit up like a Christmas tree, he's never seen her this excited about a date since… actually, this is her first real date.
A knock at the door disrupted their planning, Rachel went to answer the door and when she did, Quinn came in at full speed walking past Rachel.
"I know this is sudden, but we have to plan out our date and ask Sam-" Quinn trailed off when said boy was sitting at the table "What's he doing here?" Quinn came at him throwing soft punches to his arm "Where were you when I needed you!"
Sam projected his face while she still kept swinging "I was here!"
Rachel came from behind and pulled her away before she created a bruise on his arm "He was helping me plan everything out."
"I thought we were gonna do that together?" Quinn said with slight disappointment.
"It was supposed to be a surprise, but if you insist on knowing then join us at the table."
Quinn bit her lip, thinking whether or not she wanted to know or be surprised "It's not Breadstix, is it?"
"Oh God no."
"Okay, I'll still join you, but I don't want to know where we're going."
That afternoon, the trio talked step-by-step on what will happen next Friday. Sam will pick up Quinn at her house, Mr. Fabray won't suspect a thing, bring her to Rachel's apartment and from there they'll take a cab to and from Paint and Sip. Rachel didn't want to make Sam drive across town then drive back, it was pointless and wasting gas.
An hour or so they were done with their planning and Quinn took a ride home with Sam, not before planting a goodbye kiss to Rachel's cheek. The blonde could already hear her parents yelling at her when she was dropped off and they were standing there waiting for her.
Putting on a brave face, head held high and walked to her house with no sign of fear. Then Russell opened his mouth and that's when Quinn shrunk back down to her vulnerable self.
"What the hell is going on with you," He said calmly, but with a deadly vibe "First you disobey my orders of not seeing that troublemaker, then you don't come home when expected, and now you disappear without telling us! What's going on?"
Quinn knew that from this day till next Friday she can't afford to get on their bad side, so instead of fighting with them like she usually did she said what they wanted to hear "I'm sorry."
"Don't raise your voice with me- What?" Russell caught off guard, he had this whole lecture planned out about how irresponsible she is, but she's saying sorry? Where does he go from there?
"I'm sorry I worried you both, I was staying with Brittany and time got caught up. It won't happen again."
Judy and Russell never witnessed their daughter lose a fight, Quinn was very stubborn when it came to them, but she's calm and not lashing out.
"I guess you could go to your room?" Judy questioned rather than demanded, still trying to figure out what to do with Quinn.
Quinn smiled politely and ran up the stairs, when she shut her door she started to laugh at how they reacted to her apology. Then she laid on her bed and called Rachel to tell her what just happened.
"Do you think she's tricking us?" Judy asked.
Russell rubbed his chin "She's never done this before, it's hard to tell."
"She wants something," Judy smirked "It's a teenager thing, I remember I would do it to my parents all the time whenever I wanted to go out with the girls."
"You think so?" Russell never done that to his parents, he always followed the rules and obeyed their orders. However, his parents did have a lot of trust in their little boy and that's the only thing that mattered to him.
Judy nodded "Watch her ask us something in a couple days or so."
The days before their date night, Quinn has been nothing but a perfect angle to her parents. She did her chores when the sun rose, came home from school on time and watched her smart mouth. Who knew that following the rules were so tiring?
And when Quinn asked if she could go out with her "boyfriend" that's when Judy laughed in her husband's face saying I told you so. Even though this was to let her go out, Russell appreciated Quinn's behavior, but he has to meet the boy first before letting him take out his daughter.
Thursday afternoon, Sam went over Quinn's house to meet her parents for lunch. All was going well when Russell asked him questions about himself and what he did, however, the answers he told her father weren't about him. It was about Rachel.
"I grew up in Los Angeles till my parents got a divorce then I moved here with my mom." Sam said cheerfully while eating his salad.
"Sorry to hear that son," Russell gave his condolences "What do you and your mother do now?"
"She's out doing her thing while I'm out here doing some art and getting myself known, that's actually where I'm taking your daughter— to do some painting at Paint and Sip."
Russell patted him on the back "Great idea for a first date. One of her former boyfriends, actually all of them, has taken her to Breadstix. You score a point with me for originality."
Sam and Quinn exchanged a look knowing Rachel already has one foot through the door, the only problem is that the other was still stuck in the abandoned subway with her two sidekicks.
Russell approved of their date after they all finished lunch. Smart and creative young man taking his little princess somewhere new and exciting, that's all he wanted for Quinn— some excitement.
The clock struck seven at night, Quinn was ready at the front door dressing in a white sundress that fitted every curve and topped it off with a dark blue knitted cardigan. Quinn's palms were sweating bullets when Sam came up the driveway, she's now minutes away to seeing her beautiful date. God, this is so overwhelming.
Russell joined both blondes at the front to wish them a fun time, but not too much fun. He opened the passenger door for Quinn and closed it and before he could sit on the driver's side Russell stopped him and slipped him a twenty dollar bill "Make sure my daughter has a good time."
"Yes sir." Even though he wasn't the one going on the date, he still felt scared that he will hurt him if she doesn't have fun.
Once Sam got into his car and drove off, he commented saying that he scares him. Quinn laughed it off by saying that he does that with all her dates. Ten minutes later, they arrived at Rachel's apartment and there she was…wearing normal clothing. Rachel had done her hair with loose curls and is dressed in a white floral dress with red polka dots. Quinn was so used to the baggy clothes and sweaters that she forgot that Rachel owned more clothes. Nevertheless, Rachel looked absolutely stunning.
"Beautiful isn't she?" Sam commented on Rachel's look "Make sure to tell her that. She doesn't believe me."
Quinn got off the car and wasted no time intruding Rachel's personal space by giving her a soft hug "Rachel, you look.." She trailed off, there are simply no words to describe her date's appearance.
The brunette blushed "So do you," Her eyes taking in Quinn's beauty, feeling so lucky that she never stopped meeting Quinn at the underground subway "You're beautiful, Quinn."
"Okay, okay enough of this sappy crap," Santana interrupted their moment "The cab will be here to pick you up. By any chance have you seen Puck? He was supposed to be here a while ago."
Rachel and Sam shrugged their shoulders and looked around if they happen to catch a glimpse of him. Santana smacked her lips and told them she'll walk around the block and by that she means check the ends of their street. She heard footsteps from a distance and saw a shadow, she assumed it must've been Puck selling some drugs...or doing drugs. Her fears got the best of her and ran toward the figure and saw them trip. It wasn't Puck.
"Who the hell are you?" Santana said angrily. She stared at the blonde and notice she had black clothing and binoculars and had a great view of their home "Are you spying on us?"
"You know Rachel?"
Santana smiled as soon as she saw the cab leaving with Quinn and Rachel in the back seat then she turned to the blonde and knocked her out long enough to drag her body, with the help of Sam, into their building. Santana and Rachel are much alike, they protect the people they care about, but will hurt anyone who's a threat. And this blonde was a threat.
"God she's heavier than she looks," Santana heaved as they walked up the stairs "Who is this girl anyway?"
"Her name is Brittany, Quinn's friend," Sam grunted "She doesn't like Rachel at all."
They made it to their apartment and set Brittany on the couch. Santana tied up her hands and feet to make sure she doesn't try and run away. Brittany started to wake up and pull on the restrains.
"Good luck getting outta those, I've been told I make mean knots." Santana polished her nails on her shoulder.
"Should we call them? Quinn would want to know-"
"That's her whole plan, Einstein. She wanted the date to be ruined."
Sam looked at Brittany with much disappointment, he's always seen her as the sweet and gentle girl, but now he's seen her true colors.
"I was protecting Quinn." Brittany mumbled.
Santana smirked and made eye contact by kneeling down to her level "The only thing you're doing is ruining her happiness. Thought as a friend you would support her."
"Rachel's-"
Santana grasped at Brittany's neck "You say anything bad about her I swear that'll be the last thing you say."
Brittany clenched her jaw and kept her mouth shut, Santana was satisfied that she made the right choice.
"So, what now?" Sam asked.
"Now we wait till blondie and Berry come and see their surprise," Santana turns to the tie up blonde "And trust me Brittany you're in for one hell of a treat."