CHAPTER 4
"Rachel?"
"Quinn!" she yelled as she ran toward her former best friend.
"Hey." the blonde smiled. "How are you?"
Rachel was too shocked and excited to see Quinn that she just stared back at the other girl, grinning from ear to ear. Quinn stammered a little. "I-I'm sorry about the other night…"
"I-It's okay." she managed to say. "How's your face?"
"My face is fine." Quinn chuckled.
"What are you doing here?" Rachel asked.
Quinn was about to answer just as she felt a hand appear on the small of her back.
Rachel furrowed her eyebrows at the other woman that just joined them.
"Rachel, you remember Santana?"
"No, I don't think-"
"Of course she does." Santana insisted, nudging Quinn. "I'm not that easily forgotten."
"Caboosey?" Kurt squinted as he came out of the club. "Is that you?"
Before Quinn could respond, Santana sneered. "Leave her alone, Lady Hummel."
"Oh Satan," Kurt shook his head at the woman. "I see that getting out of Lima Heights didn't give you any more class."
"I've got plenty of class." Santana returned, brushing a few strands of hair out of her eyes and facing Kurt. "More than enough that I can shove some up your-"
"Don't." Quinn intervened, pulling Santana back by the waist. Rachel's eyes followed the women's movements.
"So, what are you doing here?" Rachel asked again, triying to lighten the conversation.
"We're actually, uh, doing some shopping for-"
"Last minute things for the big day." Santana finished. Quinn folded her lips and looked down as Rachel searched for Quinn's eyes.
"Big day?" Rachel repeated.
"Yup." Santana smiled widely. "We're getting married."
Laughing unintentionally, Rachel realized they were serious. "Wait, you're gay?"
At this point, both Quinn and Santana were looking oddly at Rachel. To them, it was a well known fact that they both have been into girls since high school.
"Well, this has been fun." Santana finally said, looping her arm in Quinn's. "But we still have a lot to do."
"Okay." Rachel smiled softly.
"It was good seeing you again." Quinn said, locking eyes with Rachel before walking away with Santana.
Rachel watched the pair as they continued down the street. Suddenly, her stomach felt in knots. "I-I'm gonna go." she said to Kurt as she turned the opposite direction and out of sight.
x
"Alright people, get around." Cassandra spoke, gesturing the cast toward her. "I have some bad, but expected, news for all of you."
Rachel panted heavily as she tried to catch her breath. She still wasn't used to the vigorous work outs that Cassandra had them do before every rehearsal.
"I have word that your little cast reunion of Les Miserables will have a short and underwhelming run. Which means, for a lot of you…" the older woman paused and stared directly at Rachel. "This will be the last show of your career."
"This is the revival, people!" Cassandra waved her hands in the air. "It's supposed to be better than the first time you all did it… Ten years ago. Let's go." She finished as she ordered half of the cast to stay and work while letting the others leave.
Walking back to her dressing room, Rachel overheard Kurt talking to someone. "I'm so tired of having her around."
"What is up with her lately?" said the other voice.
"I have no idea, but she needs to go." Kurt insisted. "If we don't do something soon, she's going to be the reason this whole show burns to the ground."
Rachel wiped away the tears rolling down her cheeks as she ran down the hall and out of the building.
She didn't understand why everyone in her life was so mean. How could she have surrounded herself with people like this?
Before she knew it, she was outside Quinn's apartment building and looking up. She needed to know what had actually happened to them to make them not be friends anymore.
Knocking quietly, Rachel tugged at her shirt hem and worried her lips waiting for Quinn to answer. When she did, she smiled softly and joked. "You're not Indian."
"Wanna go for a walk?" Rachel blurted.
Her smile fading, Quinn nodded. "Sure."
They didn't talk much until they reached the park. Quinn kept looking over at Rachel and noticed she was fidgeting. Before she could say anything, Rachel spoke up.
"I can't believe you're getting married."
"Yeah… Two months."
"Is she your soulmate?"
Quinn paused and sighed. "I don't know if I believe in those."
"You know what I mean." Rachel pushed. "Do you get goosebumps around her? And butterflies?"
"Ah, no…" Quinn chuckled. "I haven't gotten crazy about anyone like that since… Since I was younger, than goodness."
"Quinn." Rachel stopped the other woman with her hand. "What happened to us? I mean, how come we never stayed friends?"
Taken back by how Rachel phrased the question the first time, Quinn furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't know. I forget." she replied, continuing to walk.
Rachel followed Quinn's movements, but pressed the subject more. "No. What happened?"
"I don't know, I guess I can pin point it to your 13th birthday party. You were in the closet and-"
"Everyone ditched!" Rachel interrupted. "That's the last thing I remember."
"Look…" Quinn glanced over to Rachel and shook her head. "We don't have to get into this now. It doesn't matter anymore."
"It matters to me!" Rachel yelled desperately and a little louder than she intended. "Just tell me."
Swallowing hard, Quinn recalled the worst night of her life.
x
"Actually, she's waiting for you in the closet." Kurt told Lucy before walking away.
Wedging the box through the doorway, Lucy managed to get to the basement without causing too much damage. Setting the box on the table, she walked slowly toward the closet where she was told Rachel was waiting. Grabbing the handle and breathing in deeply, she twisted and pulled the door open.
"What took you so long?" Rachel asked, holding out her hands. Lucy interlaced her fingers with the other girls, slowly closed her eyes and leaned forward.
x
"I-I'm sorry… I can't." Quinn interrupted herself. "I don't know why I'm doing this."
"Quinn, you have to tell me what happened!" Rachel pressed further.
"Why?"
"Because I want to know." Rachel looked at Quinn, pleading with her eyes. "What happened next?"
Glancing down at the ground for a moment, Quinn moistened her lips and brought her gaze back to Rachel. "We kissed."
x
Lucy pulled away from Rachel and slowly opened her eyes. She let her lips turn up into a smile until Rachel spoke. "Oh, Jesse…"
"Jesse?" Lucy repeated, startling Rachel and causing her to rip off the blindfold.
"Lucy! What did you do that for?!" she yelled, standing up and looking past the blonde, wiping her mouth. "Where is everyone? What did you do?"
"They left, Rachel." Lucy said, trying to steady her best friend. "They were leaving when I got back and-"
Before Lucy could finish explaining what Kurt told her, Rachel continued to yell. "Is this some sort of sick joke? Jesse was supposed to kiss me, not you! What do you think I am? You're a girl!"
Lucy took a step back, trying to find the words to explain herself, but her mind came up empty. "I-I…"
"Get out!" Rachel screamed.
Lucy held her hand out to her best friend, almost pleading for her to calm down. Growing even more agitated, Rachel stormed over to where Lucy's present for her sat and picked it up. "Get out and take this stupid thing with you!" She roared, throwing the box at Lucy. Lucy flinched as soon as it hit her and watched helplessly as it fell to the ground and broke.
Looking back up to Rachel, Lucy had tears streaming down her face, but Rachel didn't seem to care. Trembling, Lucy picked up the destroyed gift and began walking up the stairs.
x
"And after that day, I guess you told Kurt what happened and he spread it around school." Quinn sighed. "For a while my mom thought I was depressed because of my weight, so I joined gymnastics and eventually got picked to be a Cheerio. Although, none of the pounds I lost came from my butt, so Caboosey stuck for a while."
"It looks great now!" Rachel blurted, almost frantic to say something nice. Quinn furrowed her eyebrows at the other woman, but started laughing.
Pausing, Rachel's tone turned serious. "I'm so sorry…"
"No, no…" Quinn sighed, wiping away one of Rachel's tears. "It's fine, forget it. It was a long time ago."
"Stop being so nice, I don't deserve it. Do you know what kind of person I am now? I don't have any real friends, I don't go home for the holidays anymore, and I'm not a good person." Rachel sobbed as she covered her face and ran away.
"Rachel!" Quinn called after her, but Rachel disappeared into the night, leaving Quinn standing alone.
x