"Hello?" Quinn heard Santana's familiar voice come down the line on the third ring. It had been much more than the promised week or so Quinn had outlined when she'd dumped her stuff at Santana's place. In fact, it had been nearly a month since she dropped out of Yale - kicked out, technically, but Quinn had made the choice to leave. Santana attended the same school as her, though Brittany had transferred into NYADA last semester, and so the pair made do with a rented apartment between both schools.
"Santana, hey." Quinn said, gripping the cheap prepaid mobile in her hand. Time had flown since she had moved in with Rachel - kinda. Finn still didn't visit when Quinn was around, and Quinn never left the apartment without Rachel, so it was safe to say she'd moved in in a way. She still didn't have any of her own possessions, and had only just gotten around to getting a phone. Santana deserved to know where the woman who had dumped her stuff in her spare room had gone.
The time difference between leaving and reconnecting couldn't be helped. Time with Rachel was easy, and uncomplicated by old problems. Finn said nothing more about her - or Rachel didn't bring those things up to keep their relationship comfortable. They went out often, mostly to just window shop, still starved college students as they were. Quinn made her way slowly through Rachel's library whilst the girl went to work or school, and continued to help her with her upcoming performance - which was now only a week away. Rachel was on edge, and Quinn assumed it to be her role to help keep her happy.
Since moving in, Quinn had discovered a great number of vegetarian comfort foods that were easy enough to make. Nothing made Rachel smile, she noticed, like peanut butter cookies when she got in from a hard day of study. Final years did that to you - Quinn had put off semesters and failed units so many times she wasn't sure how many credits she had truly earned at this point. Santana was doing a part time degree, as was Brittany, both willing to put off their graduation time in favour of spending time together. Quinn wouldn't lie - she was envious.
"Quinn?" Santana asked, as if confirming the identity of the caller to herself. When Quinn hummed in approval, she heard Santana turn away from the phone to address Brittany. The pair were never more than a few metres from each other at any given time. When they had to go in to school, it made things harder, but both were willing to face peak hour public transport most days to be with each other at night. Any remotely romantic person would be jealous. "Shit, way to disappear off the face of the Earth."
Quinn smiled at how close Santana was to her true plan. "Sorry, things happened." Quinn stated vaguely, and she knew Santana longed to press her for details, but that could wait until they were talking in person. "I was thinking I could come get my stuff sometime this week." It would mark the first time she was away from Rachel since meeting her, and part of Quinn was saddened by that prospect. She had just met one of the truest friends she'd ever had. Santana was lovely, but prone to gossip, and anything shared with her was shared with Brittany. Brittany, on the other hand, was the sweetest girl around - it was just that her advice often missed the mark. Quinn couldn't tell whether she really was that naive, or just wanted to believe the best in everyone.
"Hocked it all to pay tuition." Santana answered dryly, and Quinn heard Brittany chastise her in the background. Quinn laughed lightly, and Santana snorted. "Nah, you know you can visit whenever you want." She said, stopping again to assure Brittany Quinn knew she was just kidding around.
"Tomorrow, then?" Quinn suggested. Rachel had a full rehearsal tomorrow for her play - she got access to the students studying costuming, set design, and hair and make-up. The actors Rachel had been given to cast in her piece were first year undergrads doing the same degree she was. It was an entirely student production, and Rachel had been anxiously flitting around the apartment all afternoon planning what she needed to get done. At the current moment she paced before Quinn, discussing her to-do list with lines from the play interspersed.
On the other end of the line, Santana hummed thoughtfully. "Afternoon? Britts and I are doing lunch."
"Sure." Quinn said. "I'll see you both then. You've got my number now." She did feel particularly guilty about leaving Santana in the dark, and she was sure the girl had tried many times to hunt her down - Verizon must have received some nasty calls regarding her phone number, which had suddenly gone offline.
Within seconds of closing the cheap phone, the plastic hinge on it already starting to give way, Quinn was being assaulted by Rachel. "Do you think this line works? Really? Go through it with me." She insisted, tossing Quinn's copy of the script on her lap, despite the fact that the blonde already knew her lines by heart.
So she picked it up and began reciting.
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Quinn knew the public transport system well enough that finding her way to Santana and Brittany's place was a straightforward process. She caught the appropriate train and then bus, walking the route she had come to know quite well. When she arrived at the front door, she barely had a chance to knock when the door was flung open. "Quinn!" Brittany greeted, pulling her into a tight embrace, nearly lifting Quinn clear off the ground.
She returned the enthusiastic hug, hearing Santana laugh quietly from in the hall. "You've got a lot of explaining to do." Was all the Latina said in greeting, whilst Brittany busied herself looking over every inch of Quinn and ensuring she was okay.
"I know." Quinn said, slowly being shepherded indoors by Brittany. She always had been concerned about everyone she knew - even those who weren't close friends to her. If someone at school had needed a hand, Brittany would be there. Santana did not share her girlfriend's sense of good will, and was more likely to try and drag the blonde away from those who would damage their social status. Over time, though, they had evened one another out - Santana was nicer, though still retained her bitchy streak, and Brittany less inclined to give her wages to every homeless man they passed.
After passing Brittany's test, Quinn was permitted to sit in the kitchen. Santana sat opposite her, and the box of Quinn's possessions rested between them. "So, where have you been?" She asked, locking her fingers together as Brittany prepared drinks.
"Just staying with a friend." Quinn answered, waving one hand. Being vague was not intentional - it was a defense mechanism. Even after being caught in her lie by Rachel, Quinn couldn't help it. She was defensive about who she was and who she knew. It was at the point now where Quinn didn't know exactly what Rachel thought she was. Most of the basic stuff she'd said to her was true - cheerleading teenage mother from Ohio - but the finer details had a tendency to be... altered.
Santana raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Who is it?" She continued as Brittany set down three glasses of juice on the table and some baked goods. Quinn didn't know if they were homemade or bought, but she picked delicately at a croissant. "Come on, Q, you don't expect me to believe you found a place to stay in New York and forgot all about your stuff?"
"And your friends." Brittany included with a solemn nod. Santana leaned over to rub one hand up and down her thigh.
Quinn sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. She's a friend I met before." Santana didn't believe that such a thing could happen, but it had. Quinn really had just met someone who had completely changed her life and made her forget about all her things. It was true. And sometimes, Quinn had to pinch herself because it all felt like a dream. "I just had to get myself sorted out after Yale and all that."
It was a truly flimsy excuse, and Santana was poised to shoot her down and demand the truth when Brittany held a finger up over her girlfriend's lips. "Just don't do it again." She scolded in a friendly way only Brittany could manage. "We were worried about you."
"Sorry." Quinn said again, with an apologetic smile, and then their conversation turned to catching up. It was well into the evening when Quinn finally left, lugging her bag of things back onto public transport for the ride home.
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Unpacking Quinn's things and assembling in the not-so-spare room was a good distraction for Rachel. She finally calmed down about altering a jacket that was perfect for the production, and settled in to go through Quinn's meager supplies.
It was all that remained of her life. She'd given all the clothes she didn't really wear to Goodwill, and so there were a few outfits folded up in the bottom of the box. On top of that were some notebooks, photos, and other items of memorabilia. In an A4 envelope was all of Quinn's ID and important documents, which she placed on the bedside table.
"Do you mind if I look?" Rachel asked, already moving to pick up the top photo frame.
Quinn shrugged her shoulders, and the brunette went nuts. She picked up each photo in turn, asking Quinn about who was involved and where it was taken. The first picture was of Quinn, Santana, and Brittany in their Cheerio's jackets. Between them they held the National Cheerleading Championship trophy. First place. Rachel gave Quinn her undivided attention - she asked when it had been, what they had done to win, and what life had been like as a cheerleader. Quinn even got into the spirit of things and performed for Rachel the splits - the only trick she could manage in the small apartment. Even if it was basic gymnastics, Rachel sat upright on the carpet, legs crossed and applauding Quinn.
"How do you even do that?" Rachel asked, standing up in her sweats and getting as low to the ground as she could. She made a triangle between her legs and the floor, of a decent size for someone who was not trained to perform the act.
"Try this way." Quinn instructed, pulling Rachel's leg forward so that she slid into a forward lunge. They were easier to do for beginners than just sticking your legs out and sliding down. Rachel still didn't make it all the way into a split, but Quinn held her torso steady and she got most of the way there.
At last, Rachel started to laugh. "This won't work, just let me go." When Quinn did, the brunette fell over onto her side, crossing her legs and righting herself once more. "I don't think I'm cut out to be a cheerleader. I can't even do a cartwheel or anything."
"I can show you sometime." Quinn offered with a quiet smile, and Rachel nodded enthusiastically.
All talk of cheerleading was put to the side when Rachel picked up the next image. It was of Quinn ready for the prom, with a tiara nestled in the blonde curls on her head. "You look gorgeous." Rachel said, stroking her fingers across the glass in a state of awe.
Quinn had the decency to blush, though her heart leaped at the praise. "Thank you." Quinn said, eyes dropped down to focus on the carpet, biting her bottom lip to restrain her grin.
"Did you win Prom Queen?" Rachel asked, running her thumb across the ornate frame as she waited for Quinn to answer.
"No." She breathed, toying with the hem of her shirt. It had been a terrible night - there'd been a fiasco with the votes being rigged, and in the end all the jocks had gotten together to vote up a horribly unpopular girl and humiliate her. Quinn would have approved if it hadn't been the thing to take the crown from her. "The boys were horrible and picked some girl to be mean." That loss still haunted her. Quinn had wanted to come back from the Beth drama, and being Prom Queen her senior year would've been the thing to do it. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out.
Rachel made a sympathetic noise. "Some of the guys voted Kurt - you know, from work? - to get Prom Queen. It was horrible, but he got through." She then leaned forward to place one hand on Quinn's knee, who did her best not to flinch away. Rachel had proven herself to be quite touchy-feely, and Quinn typically didn't buy into that sort of thing. "You looked like a Queen in that photo anyway."
Again the smile arose, and again Quinn had to avoid Rachel's eyes. "Thank you, Rachel." The photo was pressed lightly into her hands, and Quinn drew a finger across the lines of her dress. She had looked beautiful that night, Quinn knew it. And she had deserved that crown. Rachel's praise helped lessen the lingering hurt from that incident because she was an honest girl. Rachel told Quinn when she'd done something wrong, and had - on occasion - been quite brutal about it. She wasn't someone sucking up to her at school, trying to leech off her popularity, Rachel was saying it because she meant it. And that was what touched Quinn.
"Quinn?" A hand invaded her line of sight. Quinn looked up. "You were zoning out there." Rachel said with a smile, holding up a framed picture of Beth. She was only a few months old in the image, something Shelby had given her before Quinn went off to College. The young girl was in a fluffy pink tutu and wearing elasticated wings, a wand clutched in her chubby, baby-fat hands. "I was just... is this her?"
That image was Quinn's favourite of the three. Beth had a cheeky grin on her face, like she was laughing at something behind the camera person. "Yeah. Beth." Quinn couldn't help dwelling on what made her laugh, though - she knew that it wasn't her, and that was saddening. It would never be her, making funny faces to amuse her daughter, or calming her from tears when they got photos with Santa at Christmas.
"She's got your eyes." Rachel observed, able to see finer detail on that picture as it was the biggest of the three. Quinn was silent as Rachel continued to look over the picture, giving it a much more serious assessment than the former two had received. "You would've made a great mother." Rachel said at last, setting the picture gently on the carpet between them. "You did what most people would be too selfish to do - give her up. That alone proves you loved her enough to give her the best."
Rachel crawled forward across the carpet to pull Quinn into a hug, looser than Brittany's from earlier that day. Quinn didn't know how she looked - was her expression asking for comfort, or did Rachel just desire to give it? "I knew before I met you you were a great person, if not misguided. I'm just glad I have the opportunity now to show you." Rachel mumbled into her shoulder, and Quinn looped her arms gently back around Rachel's waist. "You'll be coming to the show, right?" She asked, drawing back to meet Quinn's eyes.
"Of course." Quinn said, without a moments hesitation. "I wouldn't miss it for anything." And no matter the lies she had told Rachel about her past, that was the complete truth.
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author's notes: a bit of a brittana chapter here for you guys! just some background and bonding with quinn and rachel. sorry there wasn't much action here! ):