INTOXICATION
"I honestly did not see this coming. Not once since I've begun exploring Quinn's infatuation did I ever consider this as a possibility. I mean of course I'm aware that overall New Directions is rather gay. There's no way Sam's Marlboro-straight, and I would not be shocked if Tina had some years of college experimentation ahead of her. Not to mention her other Asian half. Seriously. When was the last time you've seen a straight male dancer outside of the swing era? He's obviously flexible in ways that have nothing to do with being on a dance floor." Jesse shook his head. "I'm sure I could go on and mention others, like the Finn Effect when coming to repressed lesbians, but I just never thought Rachel would be one of them. Not the Finn Effect thing, the general gayness that is New Directions." He quickly corrected. "She's one of the straighter ones. Like Mercedes or Karofsky when he was here. It's just, we dated. And yes, in context, Quinn and Santana have both been linked to men. Once again, see the Finn Effect." He stopped pacing and frowned. "Of course, they've also both been linked to Penis and Sam. Honestly, this club. I'm truly surprised that New Directions hasn't suffered an outbreak of herpes yet." He began pacing again. "Just…Have I been so blinded by my own feelings for Rachel that I neglected her own possible desires? No, of course not." He chuckled heartedly. "I'm an expert on reading other people's emotions. It's why I have a possible future in psychology. Besides, it was clear that Rachel was flattered by the general idea of someone having feelings for her. I doubt it mattered from whom. What do you think?" Jesse stopped walking again and looked over toward the piano at Brad. Brad just kept his patented stoic expression on his face.
The older gentleman had joined Jesse about five minutes after Rachel had left him in the choir room which overall was around twenty minutes ago now. Jesse had never particularly liked how their piano man or band members sporadically showed up throughout the day. Mainly because he usually forgot that they existed, but at least they didn't ever speak which was more than he could say about New Directions.
"Either way, I have no idea how to drop this bomb onto Quinn." Jesse continued. "I suppose I should find her before Rachel does. I wouldn't put it past her to be waiting outside of Quinn's classroom so she could selfishly destroy everything." He sighed. "I love her talents."
Jesse left Brad to himself as he knew what needed to be done. He just wasn't looking forward to it. At least he got to abuse his faculty power. That was the only thing that kept him moving towards whatever class it was Quinn was sitting in at the moment. He knew the room but had no idea what the subject was. It was probably massively important to her future life as all of high school is because it's not like these four years turn out to be pointless or anything.
"Excuse me." Jesse interrupted the class, instantly gaining everyone's attention. He looked over at Quinn's teacher. "Hello, I don't believe we've ever officially met. I'm Jesse St. James, the show choir instructor here at McKinley. I have your salary but no degree. I need to speak to Quinn Fabray."
"I'm sorry, but we're in the middle of class." The teacher replied.
"Yes, it will only take a moment." He smiled politely before losing his smile and looking over to Quinn. "Grab your things. This will take a while." Quinn gave it a moment's thought before grabbing her books and heading to the door. "Don't worry. I'll have Quinn back in no time. Then she can continue studying what I am sure is very interesting material that will no doubt play a great role in her future after high school. What is this class anyway?"
"Economics." Quinn told him as she walked out ahead of him.
"Dear God." Jesse rolled his eyes and followed her out.
Once out of the room, he walked in front of her and led her to a smaller, secluded hallway. He then stopped them before grabbing her books and neatly placing them on the floor.
She frowned. "What are you doing?"
Jesse stood back up. "Well, I have news. News that might cause you to lose the ability to hold books which would lead to unwanted noise and attention."
"Good news I hope." She said almost as a warning.
"When do people ever make it a point to share good news?"
"Jesse."
"Right. Now before I share this, I want it to be made clear that technically, technically I didn't do anything wrong."
She frowned. "Oh God, Jesse, what did you do?"
"Nothing other than play witness to a realization. A realization pertaining to you. About a half an hour ago Rachel came to the choir room..." He waited for Quinn to catch up and then continued once it was clear that she did. "Yeah. I tried talking her out of it and telling her otherwise, but she wasn't really listening. And while I didn't –again– technically confirm anything, I think it's safe to say Rachel knows. So before you attack me, try and keep in mind of what I just explained to you."
"How did she react?"
Jesse paused in surprise but then let relief wash over him as Quinn didn't seem angry with him yet. But it's not like he was going to hold his breath or anything. "Pleasantly. But not for reasons that someone in your position would probably like. She seemed very pleased that someone, you, had feelings for her. I think she enjoys and is flattered by the attention." He paused, realizing something. "Of course she also knows that I still have feelings for her, but has not once seemed all that excited about the prospect. Well this is just insulting on several levels." He shook this off and looked back over at Quinn. "Are you okay?"
Quinn shrugged lightly. "It's not like I expected anything. I never once considered telling her."
"Which is the logical reasoning to have, but dealings of the heart also generally come with some illogical responses, and as someone who is more than familiar with Rachel not showing any reciprocation, I know it's not the joyous of emotions. So again, are you alright?"
Quinn ignored his concern. "Maybe this is a good thing."
"Oh this I have to hear."
"I can see how Rachel feels about all of this."
"Quinn, I don't really think she returns your-"
"That's not what I mean. I'm not delusional enough to think anything would ever happen between me and Rachel. Besides, so not ready for that even hypothetically. But I can at least see how this might affect our friendship."
"Yeaaaah, about that. More news. Now I know that this is going to contradict everything I've just told you, but I'm pretty sure Rachel's going to pursue you. With heavy determination." He tried to explain. "She was very excited about this, but again, it's not genuine. She's just excited about the fact that someone has romantic inclinations toward her."
"So then we don't tell her about this conversation, and I still see how she responds to everything on her terms."
He frowned. "Okay now I'm confused. Wouldn't that be a bad thing?"
"It's not bad, it's deceitful. If Rachel doesn't know that I know that she knows, then I get all of my questions and concerns answered with honesty."
"Wait a minute." He held up a hand. "This sounds like a bad '90s sitcom. Quinn, the '90s was a terrible time for pop culture."
Quinn ignored Jesse and continued to think aloud. "I hope she doesn't come up with some elaborate scheme again."
"The '80s were much more proficient."
"It better not involve Finn. Or anyone. Oh God, what if she tells someone else?"
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Yeah, you hate the '80s. So what? That's not unique. Besides, that was like thirty years ago when we weren't even alive yet. We're focusing on the present."
"Yes, and in the present, you're making absolutely no sense and are setting yourself up for heartbreak."
"I'm setting myself up to see exactly what Rachel's going to do to our friendship. I think that this should be left in her control for the moment."
"I don't think you've heard a word I've said, and also, I am completely done with conversations that have unanticipated outcomes."
Honestly, the insanity seemed to be heightened today. It was beginning to give him a headache.
Quinn had feelings for her. This was all still so song-worthy. And Rachel would definitely be singing if Jesse wasn't such a big jerk; taking away their free days. She had certainly been basking since her revelation of a conversation earlier. She had been disappointed that Quinn hadn't been in lunch, but she was pleased to currently have her in the choir room. A part of Rachel wanted to simply drag Quinn away so they could talk about everything. They needed to talk. Mainly because Rachel wanted more information. Plus, to hear all of this from Quinn herself rather than just Jesse would be nothing short of amazing. However, the other part of Rachel (the more rational one because, yes, she did have a rational one) knew that it would not be that easy. Not with Quinn. Quinn would dodge her attempts to converse about this. Quinn didn't even want Rachel to know any of this. But she did know. And she was going to take advantage of this knowledge. As soon as she figured out how that is.
As of now, Rachel was still working through the setbacks. Like Jesse. Jesse and his big, stupid head of gelled hair. (And wow, she now understood Miss Sylvester's campaign for hair-discrimination. Yes, that was actually a part of her run for Congress. Until now, Rachel found it to be quite the Nazism.) Jesse's earlier warning didn't exactly fall on deaf ears. She just happened to find it unnecessary. She was not trying to lionize Quinn. Yes, she could understand his concerns. And yes, admittedly, she's taken even the slightest sense of someone's crush on her in the past and latched on. Mostly blindly. And maybe she was sort of doing that now, but it's not like she'd react this way for just anyone. For instance, if it had been Santana who had apparently developed feeling for her, she would hardly be excited. (She'd probably run from the other girl.) Likewise, not once had she ever been flattered by Jacob's (unfortunately) never waning interest in her. Therefore, Jesse had no right to get in the way.
Sure, it's not like she knew what she was going to do yet, but Jesse was obviously going to stand in her way whenever she figured it out. And she was definitely going to figure something out because one doesn't just ignore the possibility of pursuing Quinn Fabray when they're given a reason to. It was just going to be more difficult of a pursuit than her previous ones. Quinn wasn't…simple-minded like Finn was. She wasn't theatrical and grand like Jesse. And she certainly didn't have radar for vulnerable thus willing girls like Noah did. This was Quinn. Quinn could shift between being defensive and offensive in a matter of seconds. She was usually unforthcoming, and like Rachel, could effortlessly choose to be selfish enough to continually put her own desires first. But as she was by now more than aware of, Quinn was also easily spooked. It didn't take much for Quinn to scare and either run and hide or lash out. Personally, Rachel would rather avoid those scenarios.
She needed to be careful with her actions. Like she agreed with Jesse, she would leave this in Quinn's control. It'd be safer if Rachel didn't interfere. Not to say that she wouldn't give a little push here or there when needed. If she played her cards right, this could end up being one of those great stories future generations tell. Given her and Quinn's history, it had all the makings. They could turn out to be like Rachel's second cousin. Her second cousin went to grammar school with a boy a few years older and fearing his class-clown reputation, she would take an extra-long route just so she wouldn't have to walk past his house every morning. Then, after years apart at different high schools and colleges, they met again in their late twenties, and now they were married. Granted, it was about as happy as every other marriage meaning not very past the first three years, but it was still a memorable story. And she and Quinn could make one of their own.
Of course, this could also just blow up in her face in apocalyptic proportions. It was going to be one or the other. That much she knew for sure.
Kurt leaned over in his seat in order to interrupt Rachel's thoughts before Jesse began rehearsals and continued to ruin all of their lives. "So I didn't want to tell you at lunch given that we weren't alone, but the Fashion Institute of Technology would love to welcome me and wishes me all the best for my future career. New York here we come. Seventh Avenue, Rachel. FIT." He clapped silently.
She frowned at his excitement. "I thought you wanted to pursue a career in the performing arts."
"Ideally yes, but this is the only school I've heard back from that doesn't want to make me roll around in glass. Therefore, this is currently and officially my first choice."
Jesse interrupted the pair's conversation as he finally decided to ruin their day and ask for everyone's attention. "As of yesterday, I was supposed to have all three of our sets for Nationals worked out. Unfortunately because of some distractions," he briefly glared at Rachel, "I have none." He told the club.
As Jesse had lectured them all on earlier in the week, Nationals had three rounds. (Something they all already knew as they were there last year, but he didn't seem to care.) The first round in which they had to make it into the top ten. The second round in which they had to make it into the top five. And they final round in which they had to win.
Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Nationals aren't for weeks."
"They'll be here sooner than you think." He returned before taking a deep breath. "I can't believe I've fallen so drastically, but I actually want your opinion." Jesse paused to swallow the bile that came with doing something Schuester would have done. "Now we're still going to contrast our numbers with solos or duets followed by a group number, but I want your help on deciding what and who should sing. If you want something to be performed, leave me a sheet of paper, and I'll consider it. Of course, I'm also more than likely to ignore it completely. I'd appreciate your suggestions by the weekend."
"So can we pick what we'd like to hear other people sing?" Finn asked him.
"Sure. I don't see anyone doing so, but that's fine."
Brittany grinned. "Awesome. I'm writing one for Mike. My future king. Better watch out." She warned the room.
"Okay Cho Chang can't even sing." Santana scowled. "He opens his mouth, and Helen Keller comes out."
"Jealous?" Brittany challenged her girlfriend.
"What'd I do?" Mike quietly asked Tina who gently rubbed his back in comfort. She'd rather they stay out of Brittany and Santana's current drama. Whatever it was seemed to keep coming up in spurts before dying back down like nothing was going on between the girls.
Kurt just ignored all of this and looked over to Jesse. "You can't expect us to come up with our ideal songs for Nationals in a day's time. We've waited three years for this. There's too much to choose from."
"Tell me about it." Mercedes agreed. "I have, like, eight numbers I want to do." She chuckled. "So not enough time."
"We should have a party." Rachel surprised everyone including herself. Her eyes then widened as she smiled at her ingenious thought process. This was the perfect opportunity.
"What?" Kurt asked her. He didn't see how this would help them in choosing songs for Nationals.
Her smile only widened more. "A party at my house."
Puck smirked. "And now I know who my second favorite girl is."
"It can be a slumber party."
"Annnnd never mind."
"Hear me out." She told the group. "We spend tomorrow night in my basement discussing possible songs. It can be the equivalent to an all-nighter one has for a test. A final New Directions hurrah if you will."
"And what about the parentals?" Santana questioned.
"They won't be there." Rachel reasoned.
Sure, her fathers didn't know this yet, but she could get them out of the house. She still had Bat Mitzvah money left for situations that may arise such as this. Maybe she'll give them a small weekend trip to a local resort. Lima had those. Everywhere had those. And if they questioned her generosity, she'll tell them it was an early Father's Day gift. She had two. Obviously her gift had to be bigger. Father's Day wasn't too far away, right? Just a few months.
"Whatever." Lauren shrugged. "I'm down. Last year's was a disaster, and I could always use some humor in my life."
"It wasn't a disaster." Rachel defended unconvincingly, particularly after her eyes drifted over to Blaine. "At least by our standards."
"A party?" Jesse's voice broke through as he focused in on Rachel.
The gleeks looked back and forth between the two as something was obviously going on. More drama outside of the choir room coming into the choir room. The usual.
Rachel sat up straighter. "Yes."
"With everyone there I'm guessing." By everyone he meant Quinn. This was clear to her.
"Well not everyone. I don't think it'd be wise for you to join us, Jesse. It wouldn't look right for a teacher to be partying with his underage students. We wouldn't want to give you a mistaken identity of a sex offender which is a definite possibility. We all know how incompetent the Lima Police Department is. I mean Puckerman looks like he's in his mid-twenties, and when he knocked over an ATM, he was only sent to juvie."
"How convenient." Jesse spoke dryly.
"That's the world we live in." Rachel told him apologetically before facing a frowning Kurt. "This would never happen in Europe."
"Fine." Jesse snapped, drawing everyone's attention back over to him.
He ignored them all as he walked over to Artie. Jesse reached behind the boy's chair and pulled Artie's backpack off of it. He emptied the few books that were inside onto Artie's lap and turned around, heading over to the room's bookshelves. He rapidly began to pull folders off the shelves and place them into the bag. Once he was satisfied, he walked back over to where Rachel was seated.
"Sheet music." He dropped the bag at Rachel's feet. "Knock yourself out."
Rachel wasn't fazed. "Thank you. I'm sure this acquisition will come in handy."
Jesse continued his stare-down with Rachel but his voice addressed everyone in the room. "Auditorium. Now. We've got workouts." He was quickly out of the door with everyone slowly following out behind him. There were some glares sent Rachel's way, but she wasn't bothered by them. She had more pressing concerns than the glee club's unhappiness at the moment.
"Quinn." She stopped the other girl. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
Quinn watched somewhat uneasy as the rest of the members filed out of the room. "Sure. What's up?"
"Have you spoken to Jesse today?"
Quinn almost wanted to laugh at Rachel's directness. And so it begins. But Quinn stabilized herself and answered as she planned against this possibility. "Not since earlier when Finn was still following me around. Thanks getting him to stop that by the way."
"Yes, well, he wouldn't have even started if it wasn't for me."
"Should have I? Talked to Jesse?" She tried to get Rachel back on track, curious of what the answer will be.
"Oh no." She shook her head faintly.
"So then…" Quinn trailed off, hoping Rachel would fill in the blank.
"Well, I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to help me set up for the party tomorrow afternoon. It might be fun, and I'd rather have a companion than doing it alone."
"Um…"
"Not that you have to." Rachel said quickly. "I don't want to pressure you."
"No. That'd be…fine." She answered slowly. This would most likely turn into one of those dumb ideas she had every so often.
"Great."
"Yep."
The two stood in one of those familiar, awkward silences before they were thankfully interrupted. They looked over to the doorway to a ruffled Sam.
"Um, Jesse's like having an aneurysm so could you maybe hurry up so he doesn't kill us further?"
"Sorry." Rachel told Sam sheepishly but then turned back to Quinn. "But tomorrow?"
Quinn nodded. "Tomorrow."
As promised, Quinn came over to Rachel's house directly after school on Friday. They thought it'd be best to get started right away since the rest of the club was scheduled to make their appearance at around 5:00. (Not to mention Jesse held them after longer than usual because he was still trying to prevent this party from happening.) Rachel had planned out how she wanted everything to go in her basement, and Quinn had tried not to ruin her happy mood by reminding her that these things never go as planned. Rachel wanted this to be a carefree night with all of her friends in which they sifted through music, complimenting each other's talents. She wanted it to be that ACT study session no one wanted to take her up on last year. And because she was so excited, Quinn continued to keep her opinions to herself.
Instead they talked about every day topics; each making sure to keep the discussion directly off of themselves. For the most part, Rachel didn't stick her foot in her mouth and force things into that awkward area. This probably didn't happen only because of their comfortable lapses in any conversation. This may have happened because Rachel kept spacing out to the most pleasant of places. She wasn't sure. But it wasn't her fault she had an over-working mind. It's not like she had any control over hypothesizing how and when Quinn made her recent discoveries. Jesse said it wasn't over a song, so her spotless performance at Regionals was out. He also said it's taken her months to get here. Rachel liked to imagine that it came as an epiphany when Finn crudely broke up with her on stage, causing Quinn to feel pain because the object of all of her desires was in pain. Or maybe it was Jesse's constant and private declarations of love for Rachel that forced Quinn to succumb against the jealousy and unrequited emotions of her heart. Either one would work for her.
When some of the other members began to arrive, these trains of thoughts were expelled from Rachel's mind. Finn and Kurt arrived first. Kurt seemed a little miffed that Rachel chose someone else to party-plan with but got over it once Blaine arrived. Shortly after were Sam and Mercedes, and then Puck and Lauren who came supplied with an array of alcoholic beverages. Rachel wasn't happy about this because it wasn't a part of her plan but allowed it as she wanted to be remembered as a positive hostess that kept her guests pleased. Besides, once Santana and Brittany made their fashionably late entrances, Rachel probably couldn't change that night's activities regardless of whether she tried or not. Santana was very adamant about not spending the entire night with everyone sober.
The drinks didn't come out right away, however. Thankfully, the (majority) of the club was actually taking their responsibility seriously for the moment. So far they had spent the early part of their night going through possible songs. They sat in a circle on Rachel's basement floor pitching around suggestions which as of now only resulted in vetoes but also no arguments so there was that to celebrate. Currently the girls were quietly singing an easy and impromptu rendition of Cyndi Lauper's infamous "Girls Just Want to Have Fun."
"Yeah, there's no way we're doing that." Puck spoke once the random singing stopped.
"So then we'll pick a different song." Rachel countered, tossing the excluded song into their growing pile of the songs they weren't singing. "A girls' number might be fun."
"No offense, but if we're going to have gender performances, then I do believe the guys should be the ones to do it." Artie argued. "We killed you the last two years in our mini competitions."
Mercedes chuckled dryly. "Yeah, you wish."
"He's just stating facts." Kurt agreed. "And now we've got Blaine. And you've got Lauren."
"Yeah, who could crush the both of you using only her hands." Tina reminded.
Lauren nodded. "This is true."
"Hey, wait. We got one." Santana pulled the song out of the pile in her lap as she sat cuddled with Brittany. "Remember this?" She passed it down to Quinn.
Quinn laughed absently as she read the lyrics. "Yeah."
When they were freshmen, Sue had her newest and favorite toys run one of her "errands." The three went because they were still trying to impress their coach. She vividly remembers the day because it was the same day she learned just how deep Sue's psychosis ran. It was around the time their coach gave Santana a fake driver's license that all hopes for normalcy left. The three, young cheerios were to drive over to the next district and spy on a possible rival. They drove, they spied for a while, but ended up sitting in the car for an hour so if Coach was timing them, she wouldn't suspect anything. They spent the time listening to music and actually talking. It was as close to a bonding experience as they ever came.
"These people round here." Santana began singing. "Wear beaten down eyes sunk in smoke dried faces so resigned to what their fate is." She nudged Quinn with her foot trying to get her to join in. "But not us."
"No never." Brittany sang behind her. Santana grinned at her junction.
"No not us."
"No never."
Quinn rolled her eyes lightheartedly before joining in with the other two. "We are far too young and clever."
"Damn straight." Santana affirmed.
"Well as…peculiar as this interlude was, ladies, we're not singing 'Come On Eileen' at Nationals." Kurt shuddered at the imagery. "I'm sorry, but that is a song that should die a cold and lonely death."
"Well then what are we singing?" Mercedes asked. "Because we don't have anything, and I really don't want to spend all night doing this."
"We need six." Blaine pointed out what was already known and obvious.
"I think we should have a song that defines us as a group." Brittany ventured. "Like, one that tells our story of the last three years."
Santana looked over her shoulder. "Smart idea." She kissed her very own genius on the temple.
"Hmph. If we do that, I think I have the perfect song." Puck waved the sheet he was currently looking at.
Tina reached over Mike to pull away the paper from Puck. She frowned after reading over it. "Why would Mr. Schue have sheet music for 'Scotty Doesn't Know'?" It was such a ridiculous song.
Puck yanked the paper back. "Who cares? I'll sing it. Scotty doesn't know that Fiona and me do it in my van every Sunday." He stopped to laugh. "It's perfect."
"Not really." Finn complained, looking over at his friend. "Considering you've made me a Scotty a few times. It kinda, actually sucks."
Sam looked across the circle to Finn, perplexed. "Uh, I'm pretty sure you made me a Scotty too."
"Well, it looks like our Quinn's played Fiona twice." Puck smirked.
Quinn sent him a glare. "Bite me."
"Actually, I believe Finn and I have also put her in the Scotty role before." Rachel frowned.
"So then Finn's also been a Fiona." Artie pointed out.
"Dude, you've been all three." Mike told his former quarterback.
Brittany turned to Blaine next to her. "Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" Before Blaine went into an explanation, Santana was doubled over in cackles. Laughter, whatever.
"Whoa, whoa. Hold up." She caught herself, holding up her pointer finger. "Finnona. How has this not been brought to my attention before?" She laughed again.
"Yeah so, we're not doing that song." Finn shook his head, flustered. Puck just shrugged before tossing it to the floor.
Kurt watched the paper float to the center of the floor. "Well, one more down."
"Make that a couple of folders down." Rachel stood from her seated position. "Look, we don't need to be rummaging through country music." She ripped the country folder away from Lauren, tossing it to the floor. "That isn't something a show choir should perform." She moved over to Artie, and there another folder died. "Likewise, there's no excuse for any hip hop or rap to be involved."
"Um-" Mercedes tried to no avail as Rachel merely continued.
"Nor do we need to sort through piles of any rock genre." Down went another folder.
"Whoa, hold on." Finn stopped her as he stretched to the middle of their circle, pulling the last folder back. "I get country and maybe rap since Mr. Schue was the only one who could ever do it," this earned some frowns, "but rock is awesome and we've sung it since we started glee."
"Finn, this is Nationals." Rachel tried to make him see reason. "The judges will be looking for-"
"Really good music." He cut her off carefully. "It doesn't matter what we sing as long as we're good."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Finnona's right." Finn rolled his eyes at Santana already using her newest nickname. "I'm not saying we should pick any of his suggestions, but we're not gonna win this thing only using show tunes." She told Rachel before also stretching to reach back into the pile. "Any by the way, hip hop's also staying in. In case you forgot, me and Diff'rent Strokes killed it at Sectionals." Mercedes sent her a glare.
"Fine." Rachel huffed before going to retake her seat. "Then we'll all just continue wasting our time by going through songs Jesse will never allow us to sing anyway."
"We should impeach him." Lauren suggested.
"Or start a revolution." Artie counteroffered.
"Or we can just pick songs that make sense." Quinn interjected because really. Their Jesse hate, though reasonable, had been old for a while now. "It's not like we were ever going to be able to sing everything we wanted to anyway."
"Yeah," Mercedes began, "but since that we're probably not getting any more free days, now we're really never going to be able to sing them."
"Then sing them here. I'm sure Rachel's karaoke machine won't mind."
"That's true. It won't." Rachel sent Quinn a playful grin.
Brittany jumped from her seated position, knocking Santana forward. "I'm so going first."
The rest of the club watched Brittany skip over to Rachel's stage before sharing collective shrugs. Some stood and stretched and discussed what they possibly wanted to sing. Others just moved their seats over in front of the stage.
"Blaine and I our next." Kurt volunteered. "I'm thinking 'The Beat Goes On'."
"Sonny and Cher?" Blaine questioned.
"Yes, it's perfect for us. You know, one a high powered and glamorous vocalist, and the other a talented, short man."
Puck interrupted the room, carrying the gifts he came bearing with earlier. "Well, I don't about the rest of you, but there's no way I'm sitting through that sober. Time to start this party."
"Noah, it's still daylight out." Rachel scolded.
"Barely. Just chill, okay. No parents. No school. It's time to have some fun."
"But I don't even have cups set out yet." She complained before going to open up the package of cups. Puck didn't seem to care either way but diligently followed Rachel anyhow. The drinks were out for the taking by the time "Come On Eileen" was being sung by Brittany in full. Santana enjoyed the show as everyone else continued on amongst themselves.
"I see you're still mad at me." Kurt approached his boyfriend privately.
"Not really." Blaine clarified. "But I don't want to help you campaign because I still think this is a bad idea. I will support you, though."
Kurt sighed in relief. He and Blaine didn't fight, and these last couple of days had been terrible. "So then how about that duet?"
Blaine laughed lightly. "Fine, but you get Sonny's parts."
"Drink?" Rachel interrupted, handing over two red, plastic cups as she walked over.
Kurt eyed his warily. "I thought you weren't excited about Puck's party favor."
"No, I'm not but when in Rome…"
Blaine chuckled, amused. "Get drunk?"
Kurt shrugged. "As long as the two of you don't engage in a game of spin the bottle, I'm perfectly fine with this."
"Yeah, yeah, funny. Excuse me." She walked through them.
The couple turned and watched as Rachel wandered across the room to where Quinn stood.
"Someone seems to have a new best friend." Kurt gibed.
"Feeling left out?"
"No." He exhaled. "Just still nonplussed by the idea of their ever growing friendship. I blame Jesse for this."
Rachel clapped quietly as Brittany's number livened up. "Since nothing's gone wrong yet, I'd say so far it's quite the success."
Quinn laughed. "Everyone hasn't even been here for a full hour yet. And we didn't come up with one song let alone six."
"Any ideas?" She only received a shake of the head. "You must have something. You've barely sung at all this year. Not even on our free days."
"I sing every Tuesday when I do my laundry."
She perked up. "Well what do you sing?"
Quinn waited a second before smirking. "That's for me to know."
Rachel glared. "No, that's torturous." Quinn only laughed softly again. Rachel decided to change the subject. "Noah has set up his version of a bar if you'd like a refreshment."
"Maybe later."
Quinn had spent the day and yesterday afternoon listening to Jesse rant. He had not been excited about this party and was only further wound up over Quinn agreeing to help Rachel set it up. He continued to both warn and prepare Quinn on where Rachel's mind was by going into full detail on the leak of a conversation that started all of this. Quinn then berated him on his general stupidity. Despite all of this, she still was going to listen to his advice to some extent. And one piece of advice was not to leave herself vulnerable for attack. This was worthy of a scoff since it wasn't like Rachel was even trying to attack her, but she understood the point behind it. So she was going to limit her alcohol intake because unlike Rachel had predicted, everyone else knew no high school party worth mentioning was done sober.
Plus, it would probably help to spend this night with somewhat of a clear head. She really did want to find out where exactly Rachel sat on all of this. She knew what Jesse's observations were, and she didn't doubt them. This was Rachel, and Rachel was compulsive. But Quinn still thought this warranted some observations of her own. So far Rachel hadn't given off any indication that she knew anything which truthfully made Quinn more than a little wary. If Rachel didn't want to talk about this and if Jesse was right and she wasn't trying to avoid everything, then that meant Rachel was probably still in scheme-mode from earlier in the week. Never once had that turned out to be a good thing.
Sometime after one in the morning, a portion of the club was either passed out or on the verge of it. Whether it was because they were just tired or simply drunk was to be debated. Mike was still up as he had found a super-ball not too long ago, and that was keeping him thoroughly entertained. Brittany and Santana and Puck and Lauren were still doing what couples did. Finn, Rachel, and Quinn resided in the basement's kitchen, spying on everyone else as they have been for the last hour or so.
So far the night was actually going swimmingly in the sense that there've been no fights, stolen kisses, or bodily harm. They'd even managed to pick a few songs for Nationals. Of course they'd probably rethink these decisions in the morning, but for right now, they were top-notch choices. And sure. McKinley probably wasn't going to get all of its sheet music back unless they wanted it returned in the form of paper-balls and airplanes and cootie catchers, but some of it was still fine in its folders.
Rachel, for her part, has kept most things in order. She spent the majority of her night with Quinn who, herself, began drinking (at a nice, non-Fabray pace unlike most here) once the sun set on account of the fact that drunken gleeks are to never be spent around sober. Quinn was pretty sure they could cause tumors to grow or something. Rachel had continued to hope as time wore on that something, anything remotely memorable would happen. Like maybe Quinn could make a small confession here or there. Was that really too much to ask for?
Instead, all Rachel received so far was Finn-knowledge, but she no longer needed extra Finn-knowledge. This was Quinn-knowledge time. Tonight she had finally seen what Finn was like while under the influence. Now she knew a lot of people felt that he was less than intelligent, but personally, she had never found him to be dumb. He just didn't know as much as other people. However, while he's intoxicated she wouldn't feel too bad about labeling him as stupid. Or maybe slow. Slow was probably better as he seemed to be thinking with a frown quite a lot tonight. Jesse would say something rude and call it Finn's constipation face, but Rachel knew better. That was not Finn's constipation face. (Not that she knew what that looked like. At least she hoped not.) That was Finn's thinking face. Completely different.
"I just don't understand why you're so hot." Santana wept as a pants-less Brittany danced near where she was sitting on the couch.
At the other end of the room, Lauren and Puck continued their mini spat. "I'm going to Oklahoma because I've actually got skills."
Mike, meanwhile, continued to bounce the super-ball he found in the middle of the room.
"I love Oklahoma." Rachel said as soon as the three spies sat back down behind the counter. "I've never been there, but it's the only state that has a musical named after it."
Finn frowned. "What about Grease?"
"Greece isn't a state. It's a country. Besides, it's the other type of grease." She told him before her eyes widened in thought. "Maybe the boys should do 'Greased Lightning' at Regionals."
"Nationals." Quinn corrected.
"That too."
"No, I really think we should all do 'Under Pressure.' And we could all like sing it together." Finn mapped out with his hands.
"We could do both."
"Wouldn't that be a little hard. How do you sing two songs at once?"
"Oh my god. I've got to try that." Rachel quickly turned to tell Quinn this very important information. "If anyone could do that, it'd be me." She paused. "Or maybe Jesse, but Jesse's a jerk who shouldn't be allowed to sing anymore even with his beautifully sculpted voice."
The latter statement caught her companions' ears. Quinn because it sounded like Rachel was mad with Jesse which was news. And Finn because…well Finn had a different issue.
"You figure this out now? After we already broke up?" He whined and looked around the kitchen floor for a moment. "That sucks." He shook his head and pulled himself up using the counter. He then lumbered out of their spy zone and out into the rest of the basement. It was fairly stupid of him to just go into enemy territory like that.
Rachel sighed and scooter closer to Quinn and, more importantly, farther away from the exit to enemy lines. "I think I've upset him."
"He'll get over it." Quinn assured.
Rachel lost her pout at this. "Are you enjoying my party, Quinn? You know I threw it for you."
Quinn snapped to her right to stare at the girl next to her. That didn't make sense. "Really?"
"Mmm-hmm. Well, and because we needed songs."
"And why would you do that?"
She watched as Rachel seemed to think about it. "I don't know really." Rachel finally answered. "I guess I thought it'd be a good opportunity. Like Jesse wouldn't be here, and I thought that maybe you'd confide in me." She laughed humorlessly. It was more to help her feel less pathetic than she actually did. "It seems pretty stupid now."
Quinn sighed. She didn't want Rachel to feel like the idea of Quinn confiding in her was improbable. It wasn't. It's just this happened to be a little different. What was she supposed to do? Go up to Rachel and say, hey so I like you-like you? No, things didn't work that way.
"Rachel, I know about the conversation you had with Jesse yesterday." Quinn offered as penance. Cheap penance like always, but at least this seemed to make things easier. Of course, it could just as likely make things more difficult, but that didn't seem especially important right now.
"Oh," was all Rachel had to say. Because yeah. Oh. What else was there to say right now? Except maybe, "That's good." And it was because maybe now she didn't have to wait on nothing to happen. And maybe they could talk. Like humans. As opposed to…did anything else talk? But wait, see she could talk to Quinn about her thoughts now. So yes, this was good. "Look, I know I've never crossed the street to get away from your home," Quinn frowned at this, "but this is still pretty amazing when you think about it."
"Why?"
Rachel let the smallest and shyest of smiles grace her face. "You're Quinn." She answered simply.
Quinn, however, was smile free. "And what does that mean?" Because really. It's not like she didn't believe Jesse, but it was completely different hearing this first hand.
"Have…have I upset you to?"
"No." Quinn told her quickly. Mainly because Rachel seemed far more upset by that prospect than Quinn happened to be at the moment. "No, Rachel, you haven't upset me."
Rachel continued like Quinn hadn't spoken. "I didn't mean to."
"We're fine." Quinn told her convincingly. It just didn't really do the job. This wasn't right. Quinn could deal with having feelings for Rachel or a girl in general with Jesse's help. But she was never supposed to have to deal with this. Because Rachel's reciprocation –genuine, misplaced, or otherwise– was fine this morning when she tried to think of it as being as meaningless as possible, but now it was starting to feel an awful lot like hurt. And that was not something she signed up for. "But I'm going to bed." She pulled herself up much like Finn had but frowned when Rachel moved to follow. "Alone." She amended and swiftly left the area.
Rachel dejectedly sat back down in her kitchen. Well, technically second kitchen. Whatever. Her enlarged home was not the issue right now. (Not that it was ever an issue. Her fathers had it safeguarded.) Quinn lied. Rachel had clearly upset her, and she didn't even know how. Great. It was now a pattern. She was going to spend the rest of her days upsetting Quinn Fabray and not even knowing how she did it. Terrible skill to have. What a useless talent. She didn't even feel like spying on a now solo mission.