A/N: Hello my lovely readers!
Firstly: I LOVE YOU ALL AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR AWESOME FEEDBACK AND I'M SENDING YOU ALL A BUNCH OF LOVE AND HUGS AND CUDDLES.
*ahem*
Secondly: I hope you like the story so far! This chapter was originally meant to be much much longer, but then I realized I pulled over 13,000 words into it and I probably had another 13K in the next one so I thought 'hey let's use our brains for once shall we?'
so yeah...really long chapter, enjoy :)
Also: Prepare for a bunch of fluff and laughter.
Puck and Quinn were outside. Puck was dribbling the ball around and showing off.
"Try not to get too intimidated, I'm pretty good at this." Puck said, giving a playful wink to the blonde. She smirked at him.
"I'll try." She said sarcastically. Puck dribbled the ball around some more, from one hand to the other, then ran up to the hoop and attempted a shot, but missed.
"My turn." The blonde said, she sauntered over to Puck, grabbed the ball from his hands and started dribbling, on the spot at first, then she began to move, switching hands, dribbling the ball around her and under her legs five times in a row without fail, then she dribbled with her right, running up to the hoop, jumped and dunked it. Puck stared in awe.
"Woah!" he exclaimed. "Where'd you learn to play like that?"
"My brother and I always used to play before he moved off to college." Quinn said with a smile.
"Wait! What's your last name again?" Puck asked.
"Fabray." Quinn reminded him. He looked at her like she just told him she could read minds or fly or something.
"No way!" He exclaimed.
"What?" Quinn asked him.
"Your brother is Charlie Fabray? THE Charlie Fabray?" He asked.
"Well, his name is Charlie, why?" Quinn asked.
"Dude your brother's a legend here! He used to be captain of the basketball team, he was the best player ever!" Puck told her. "Come on!"
"What the!" Quinn said as Puck grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him. He lead her back into the school and they jogged through the hallway to a trophy case and Puck pointed to a couple of framed pictures. It was the McKinley high basketball team in a group photo, and next to it a picture of a blonde haired boy. Charlie.
"Is that him?" Puck asked.
"Yeah." Quinn answered with a smile and a nod.
"Dude, that is so cool!" Puck said.
"I knew he used to be on the team, but I had no clue he was this popular." Quinn said.
"He is a legend at this school, everyone on the team aspires to be him." Puck said. "Only difference is, we suck! We haven't won a game since your brother graduated."
"That sucks man." She said, her shoulders slumped and her hands in her pockets.
"We practice all the time, but there just isn't that Fabray touch." Puck said, Quinn shrugged and then Puck snapped his finger. "I got it!"
"Got what?" Quinn asked.
"You should try out for the team!" Puck said excitedly.
"What? Me? Hell no." Quinn dismissed.
"Come on dude, you said your brother thought you everything you know right? Well you're amazing! That move you pulled out there was better than anything I've seen from my team mates all of last season!" Puck said.
"I'm not as good as Charlie, besides, a girl on the team?" Quinn asked rhetorically.
"That doesn't matter man!" Puck said. "Coach Beiste will be thrilled to have a girl try out, besides it's not your gender it's what you can do!"
"I don't know Puck I mean-" Quinn began.
"I mean nothing! You're good, that's all that matters!" Puck cut her off. "Come on, just try out, worst case scenario, you don't get picked, best case scenario, you get picked and let the Fabray legacy live on!"
"I guess it would be pretty cool to keep up the namesake huh?" Quinn said, considering it.
"Hell yeah! Plus, you'd be a jock! No one would mess with you or Kurt ever again! The minute you put on that letterman jacket you'll be revered in this school!" Puck encouraged. "And you'll totally have a shot with Rachel!"
"What?!" Quinn snapped, shocked.
"Oh come on, don't pretend you don't have the hots for her!" Puck said. "I could see it in your eyes, you nearly flooded the freakin' cafeteria when she was licking that pudding lid!"
Quinn blushed and looked down. "Is it that obvious?"
"To me it is, not so much to her, though she does seem pretty comfortable around you, I mean I totally saw the way she kissed you on the cheek." Puck said.
"You saw that?!" Quinn gaped.
"I did, and I also saw the way she looked into your eyes when she hugged you outside the cafeteria after lunch." The Mo hawked boy continued. Quinn took in a deep breath.
"Okay. I'll try out for the team, but I doubt coach Beiste is going to pick me." Quinn said.
"Dude, you're good, even if you weren't a Fabray you'd have a shot!" Puck encouraged her again. "Besides, the team's current captain is going to graduate soon, and so are three other guys, we need as many people as we can get."
"Okay. So when are try outs?" Quinn asked, taking a deep breath.
"Monday after school." Puck said. Quinn nodded. "Come on, let's get back out there, we've got forty five minutes left and you need to practice."
"Let's do it!" Quinn smiled up at him. Puck held out his hand and Quinn clapped it. They jogged out back to the hoop and practiced until the rest of the hour passed and they had to go to class.
Thursday rolled by smoothly. Rachel was surprised to see that Santana still came to Glee club and everyone was surprised to see that Rachel, Puck, Kurt and Quinn were all sitting together and laughing as if they had been best friends all their lives; but they thought nothing of it, of course people would be surprised to see them hanging out until they got used to it. Santana shot Puck a few dirty looks when she saw that he was hanging out with Rachel and the dweebs instead of with her. But she shrugged after a bit and let it go, she didn't really like him anyway, she just wanted the rumor that they're dating so that she would be revered more than she already was.
The weekend came by sooner than expected, but Quinn probably saw it that way because she had just about the best week ever. Pretty soon it was 1PM on Saturday and she was knocking on Rachel's door. She waited a few seconds and the door swung open, revealing Rachel standing there with a smile.
"Hey." Quinn said with a smile.
"Hey." Rachel said. "Right on time, why am I not surprised?"
"It's rude to be late." Quinn shrugged as Rachel waved her into the house. The blonde followed the brunette into the kitchen. She saw a pot on the stove and figure Rachel was still making lunch. She smelt the scent of pasta sauce being cooked and took a whiff. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she let out a soft moan.
"That smells amazing." She breathed out.
"Thanks." Rachel said with a giggle.
"Do you need help with anything?" Quinn asked.
"No, it's fine, you just sit there, do you want anything to drink?" Rachel asked, walking over to the fridge.
"Uhm, just some water would be fine." Quinn said. Rachel pulled out a small bottle of water from the fridge and handed it over to the blonde. "Thanks."
"So." Rachel began with a deep breath. "Crazy week huh?"
"Pretty much." Quinn said with a giggle. "But hey, we formed awesome friendships."
"Yeah that's true." Rachel smiled at the blonde before turning back to stirring the sauce. "What was the deal with Kurt and Puck anyway?"
"Oh, well, after Kurt and I helped you clean up on Wednesday, I snuck into my chemistry class. Puck slid up next to me and asked me out. I said no, he asked why and though it was because he slushied Kurt really badly three weeks before."
"Oh yeah." Rachel said softly, then with a sad sigh added. "Santana was laughing about it all day."
"Well, Puck wanted to apologize for it, so I agreed to help him meet up with Kurt during lunch, and the rest is history." Quinn said, shrugging at the last part.
"And the rest ends with me shoving a pudding filled spoon in your mouth." Rachel giggled. Quinn giggled too, smiling up at the girl.
"That was hilarious." Quinn mumbled, opening up the water bottle and taking a sip.
"No, what was hilarious was Puck's face full of pasta sauce the next day." Rachel giggled. "How did that happen again?"
"He flicked a pea at me, I flicked a spoon full of sauce at him." Quinn explained, laughing out.
"No one messes with you Fabray." Rachel poked.
"Damn skippy." Quinn said, still laughing.
"Gosh, Wednesday did turn out to be an amazing day huh?" Rachel said with a sigh. "The minute that slushy hit my face I thought it was the beginning of the end, turns out it was only the start of something awesome!"
"Why did she slushy you anyway? I mean I know you two had an argument but, what happened?" Quinn asked. Rachel took a deep breath and hesitated for a minute. "If you don't want to talk about it that's okay."
"No, it's okay, umm, we actually argued because she saw me looking back at you in English that day and she asked me why and I told her about the test and everything, and she called you a dweeb and I just, I got so angry at her for calling you that, she doesn't even know you, I said she was closed-minded and well, I told her I wanted to be friends with you and that I hated how everyone in this school judged you if you weren't a jock or if you were just a little bit different." Rachel took a deep breath and went on. "She said that if I wanted to defend the losers that I could join them, then she grabbed the cup out of someone's hand and slushied me."
Quinn stared at the girl's back in awe. She could feel the faint stinging of tears on the brim of her eyes. Rachel turned to her and saw her staring back at her.
"You okay?" she asked. Quinn swallowed at the lump that formed in her throat and nodded, smiling at her. "You sure?"
"I'm sure." Quinn said faintly, pushing back a sob. She got up off her seat and walked around the island counter to Rachel and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl.
"Okay what's this hug for?" Rachel said, Quinn could hear the smile in her voice.
"No one's ever defended me or Kurt like that before." Quinn said, a sob escaping her lips. Rachel giggled softly and wrapped her arms around Quinn's neck.
"Shh, it's gonna be okay." She whispered into the taller girl's ear. "From now on you two will have me and Puck to defend and support you whenever you need it. Okay?"
Rachel pulled back to look at the taller girl. Tears were streaming down her face as she nodded. Rachel smiled up at her and lifted her hands, cupping the blonde's cheeks and wiping her tears away with her thumbs.
"Thank you." Quinn breathed out. Rachel nodded at her gently, still smiling at her.
"There's nothing to thank me for Quinn, I'm your friend now." The brunette said, taking Quinn's hands in hers and squeezing them comfortingly. "If anyone talks badly about you they will be getting the full Berry rant. And a million slushies won't get me to stop defending you."
"D-d-do you really mean that?" Quinn stammered, forcing the words out. What she heard was incredible and she just couldn't believe it.
"Hell yeah I do." Rachel said with a smile, stating it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're my friend Quinn, and I'm going to do everything I can to redeem myself after treating you like I did. You may say it's all in the past but I still feel guilty, I know Puck does too."
"Did he tell you that?" Quinn asked.
"He did, actually, on Thursday." Rachel said with a nod. "We were the first ones outside the cafeteria that day during lunch remember?"
"Yeah Mr. Schue always lets our Spanish class run a little late cause it never starts on time." Quinn said softly, looking down at the ground.
"I swear, we need to buy that man a watch for Christmas." Rachel said rolling her eyes, then smiling at the blonde. She put a hand on her shoulder. "So from now on, you're never going to feel like a loser, got it? I simply won't let you."
Quinn giggled at the smaller girl's assertiveness.
"Okay, deal." Quinn said with a nod. Rachel's smile grew wider, into a full on grin, and she hugged the taller girl again. They stood in each other's arms for a second until they heard the pot bubbling. Rachel turned over to it and quickly lowered the heat, removing the lid and stirring the pasta with a wooden spoon.
"So, what did you make anyway? That sauce smells delicious." Quinn asked.
"Pasta and the sauce is one of my dad's homemade recipes." Rachel said. She lifted the lid off of the saucer and picked some of its contents up with a small spoon. She put her hand underneath the spoon to stop any from dripping on the floor and lifted the spoon up to Quinn's mouth. Quinn smiled and opened her mouth, letting Rachel feed her some of the sauce. She closed her mouth around the spoon and let the sauce settle on her tongue, savoring the flavor before swallowing it.
"Wow, that is amazing." Quinn said with a smile. "What's in it?"
"Well it's tomato sauce, there's garlic in it, umm, oregano, black olives and spring onion." Rachel said, mentally checking off each ingredient. "It's nothing special, just one of my dad's famous concoctions."
"It tastes really good." Quinn said. "I mean, my mom isn't a bad cook, it's just she's so used to using ready-made sauces."
"We try to avoid those actually, my dad and I are both vegans and we're always worried there's some hidden ingredient. Plus those preservatives are just down right unhealthy." Rachel muttered, focusing on her cooking. She picked up one of the pieces of pasta from the pot, blew on it and bit a piece off. Chewing it to see if it was fully cooked. She nodded to herself and at the rest of the piece, then turned off the flame completely and opened a cabinet, pulling out a strainer and putting it in the sink. She grabbed the oven mitts off of a hook on the wall next to the stove and grabbed the pots handles, taking it over to the sink and tilting the pasta into the strainer, draining all the water away. Quinn watched at how smoothly the girl moved, like she'd been doing this all her life and it was just second nature to her, like walking, or breathing even.
"Do you cook often?" Quinn found herself asking.
"Yeah actually, my dad loves to bake, and I've been helping him ever since I can remember. Plus they're both doctors, and it's not the first time they've got some conference or seminar over the weekend. It's very common to find me home alone on a Saturday, and my dad wouldn't let me stay here without a baby sitter until he knew I could cook with my one hand tied behind my back, blindfolded and balancing a fish bowl on my head." Rachel explained, giggling at herself at the last part.
"He didn't actually make you do all that stuff while trying to strain spaghetti did he?" Quinn asked her face stone cold serious.
"I'm kidding Quinn!" Rachel laughed out. Quinn's serious demeanor broke and she started laughing.
"Good, because I suddenly started getting visions of your dad being some army sergeant or something." Quinn said.
"No, my dad's a big softie actually, my daddy Leroy, he can be tough sometimes, but only when he needs to be." Rachel explained.
"So what's it like having two dads?" Quinn asked.
"Pretty normal, only you do have some moments when you wish you had a mom around. God knows how awkward it was when I got my first period, you know?" Rachel said looking at Quinn, who was looking down at the ground. She nodded out of instinct, but of course she had no clue, she was born with a penis. She never had periods and had no idea what it felt like to have cramps. She knew it sucked and it made girls angry all the time but she was as well versed in them as any other boy. But Rachel couldn't know that now could she?
"But other than that it's pretty much the same as having a mom and a dad." Rachel shrugged.
"Do you know who your mom is though?" Quinn asked, not sure why she was suddenly so curious.
"I know her name, and I've seen her picture, but I've never met her. I hope I do some day, but it's not that important in my life right now." Rachel shrugged once more. "It's funny, having to gay dads in a town like this, I didn't think I would be the popular one, I was always afraid of what people might say about them, but it's never really been an issue."
"People will surprise you sometimes, I mean hey, look at you and Puck." Quinn said, flashing a smile to the brunette.
"That's true." Rachel smiled back, nodding in agreement.
"So do you look like her?" Quinn asked.
"Like who?" Rachel raised an eye brow.
"Like your mom." Quinn said. Rachel took a deep breath and furrowed her eyebrows in though. Though this went misinterpreted by Quinn. "Sorry I'm asking, I should probably shut up."
"No, Quinn it's okay, we're getting to know each other, its fine, I really don't mind." Rachel reassured the blonde. "To be honest, I can't tell, she's really pretty though; do you want to see her picture?"
"Umm, sure." Quinn said, surprised that Rachel would actually let her see it.
"Come on." Rachel said, grabbing Quinn's hand gently and leading her up to her room. Quinn stood still on one spot just a few steps into the door and looked around Rachel's room. Somehow the pink wasn't a surprise, but it was mixed with a soft yellow. It looked like a really cheerful place and Quinn could picture herself sitting on the yellow blanket with Rachel talking about stuff all night as their friendship progressed. Rachel had walked over to her desk and opened the top drawer. She pulled out a picture of a brunette woman holding a baby while in a hospital bed.
"That's her." Rachel said softly as she handed Quinn the picture. The blonde took the polaroid gently into her hand and looked at it for a moment, a small smile creeping across her face.
"Is that you she's holding?" was the first thing Quinn said.
"Yeah." Rachel barely whispered. She was smiling as well.
"You were so cute as a baby." Quinn said with a soft giggle. She glanced up at Rachel and then back down at the picture. "And yeah, you're a spitting image."
"You really think so?" Rachel smiled.
"I do." Quinn nodded and looked up at her again, handing her back the picture. "This is a really sweet picture, you should frame it."
"I want to, but I can never find a frame small enough for a Polaroid." Rachel said with a sad shrug. She took the picture back and put it back in her drawer where it was safe. She looked back up at Quinn. "So, let's go eat, before the pasta gets cold."
"I'm dying to have some more of that sauce." Quinn said as she turned to walk out of Rachel's bedroom, the small brunette following her as they went down into the kitchen. They set up the table together while they chatted.
"So, you know about my family, tell me about yours." Rachel said. Quinn shrugged.
"There's not that much tell really, just your average rich family, I have an older brother who's off at college, a mom who doesn't work and a dad that owns his own company and made a fortune." Quinn said.
"What kind of company is it?" Rachel asked.
"Construction, he's an architect, owns the whole firm." Quinn said.
"That's amazing." Rachel said. "Wait, you have a brother?"
"Yeah I do." Quinn nodded with a smile, sensing where this is going.
"Fabray…" Rachel muttered. "Your brother wouldn't be Charlie Fabray would he?"
"Yep, that's him." Quinn nodded.
I so knew it would go this way.
Dude, she's so going to want a piece of that now.
Eww, if I have sex with her I want it to be because she finds me hot not because she likes my brother, that's just disturbing.
Beggars can't be choosers.
Screw you, I'm hot.
"Well, clearly the school doesn't know, because there's no way they would mess with you if they did." Rachel said.
"I really don't care, I'm glad I don't have to live in my brother's shadow all the time." Quinn shrugged.
"Can you play basketball as well as he can?" Rachel asked as she placed two plates full of sauce covered pasta on the table.
"I don't know, Puck says I'm good." Quinn shrugged. "Charlie thought me everything I know so maybe."
"Have you ever thought of trying out-" Rachel began.
"For the basketball team?" Quinn finished for her with a giggle. Rachel nodded with a smile. "Yes, actually, I'm going to the try outs tomorrow after school.
"When did you decide to do it?" Rachel asked.
"Last Wednesday actually, Puck convinced me after I totally kicked his ass while we were playing out by the dumpsters." Quinn said, giggling at the last part. "He kind of figured out that Charlie was my brother and then convinced me."
"And you didn't tell us because?" Rachel said, looking up at her with a smile.
"I knew you guys would be super supportive, I didn't want you guys to be disappointed when I didn't get picked." Quinn said looking down at her food and picking at it with her fork. Rachel grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly.
"Quinn. What in the world makes you think you're not going to get picked?" Rachel asked. Quinn shrugged.
"I'm a girl, everyone on that team is a guy." Quinn said.
"Quinn, the guys on that team suck. The only good one that was ever on that team was a Fabray." Rachel said.
"But a Fabray that was a guy." Quinn argued. Rachel rolled her eyes.
"The coach is a woman as well. If anyone should know not to judge by gender, it's her!" Rachel said. Quinn took in a deep breath, deep down she knew her brown eyed friend was right. "Promise me you'll still go to the try outs."
"I promise, I already promised Puck, so promising you will only solidify it just a bit more." Quinn smirked up at the girl.
"Good, now promise me you'll give it your all." Rachel said with a smile, somehow knowing that that was not part of her and Puck's deal. Quinn took another deep breath, only confirming Rachel's suspicions.
"Okay. I promise." Quinn nodded.
"Good." Rachel squeezed her hand again. "And I promise that I will be there to support you, just as I know Puck and Kurt will. We'll be your own personal cheerleaders."
"Okay now I'm getting mental images of Puck and Kurt in the cheerio's skirts." Quinn cringed and giggled.
"Oh God!" Rachel said, covering her eyes as if to avoid the image. She giggled. "Now that I think about it Kurt might actually pull it off better than I do."
"No one can pull off that cheerio's skirt better than you do." Quinn said before even realizing it.
"You really think so." Rachel asked.
"Hell yeah, you are damned hot in that uniform." Quinn said, again without even noticing it. Rachel looked down at her food and blushed.
See, this is why I don't let you out, now she thinks I'm a creep.
Dude, blushing is good, it means she's flattered.
I am not taking my dating tips from a voice inside my head.
Yeah, about that, don't you think it's just a little crazy that you have a voice inside your head.
You telling me that confirms that I'm not crazy, crazy people never doubt their sanity.
Whatever you say, dr. not-so-do-little.
That doesn't even make any sense.
Dude, she's talking again.
What?!
Her lips are moving and words are coming out!
Oh, right!
"…really think that Quinn?" she caught.
"Huh? Oh yeah, definitely." Quinn nodded, not sure what she was agreeing to, but feeling sure they were still on the same subject. She picked up four pieces of pasta at once and shoved them into her mouth before the thoughts that were swimming in her mind escaped again.
You'd look hot in anything.
You'd look even hotter in nothing at all.
Focus on your damned pasta Fabray, damn this sauce is good.
Might taste better licking it off of her.
That just sounds messy.
You like it dirty.
I am never letting you out of my head ever again.
Aww, why you gotta ruin the fun?
Maybe because you-
She's talking again.
FUCK!
"…being told that I look good, it's always coming from guys so I always assume their hitting on me." Rachel shrugged.
"So you just assume I'm not hitting on you then?" Quinn asked, then shoved her tongue between her teeth and bit down, hard.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!
Relax, she's giggling.
"Well, are you?" Rachel giggled out.
"Maybe." Quinn said and gave a playful wink.
You're dead to me.
I'm in your head, unless your brain dies I can't die.
Fine, I'm ignoring you from now on.
Quinn pushed herself out of her thoughts and watched as Rachel giggled. Her laugh was music to the blonde's ears. She smiled at the brunette and then went back to her food.
About half an hour later they were in Rachel's room working on their assignment.
"So what poems should we compare?" Rachel said, opening up Google and typing "Famous love poems" into the search bar.
"I was thinking something by Shakespeare and then compare it to another poem that's maybe more modern?" Quinn said, pulling out her note pad and flipping to the pages she marked. Her notes from English. "I took some notes in class, they might help."
"Good, because Santana never shut up during that lesson, and let's face it Kurt was just as bad these past two days." Rachel said, Quinn giggled and handed her the note pad.
"Feel free to copy whatever you need." The blonde said, patting Rachel on the shoulder.
"Thanks." Rachel giggled. Quinn looked over to the computer and saw a list of love poems by Shakespeare.
"How about this one?" Quinn pointed to the screen at the title 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day'
"Is that cliché I smell?" Rachel asked her sarcastically. Quinn rolled her eyes and giggled.
"Okay, fine, you diva." Quinn said. "What about this one?"
Rachel looked at the one Quinn was pointing to and nodded.
"Seems good, I actually never read it before though." Rachel said and clicked it open.
"It's actually really beautiful." Quinn said.
"Have you read it before?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah, my dad has a book full of Shakespeare poetry, I came across it on his bookshelf once and I read most of them." Quinn said. "I even have some other poetry books if you want to use those instead of the internet."
"That might actually make things easier." Rachel said. "So, next time at your place? I'm thinking we can alternate."
"That would be great." Quinn smiled at her. A beep was heard and Rachel picked up her phone, she smiled at it and put it down.
"What joke did Kurt send you this time?" Quinn asked with a smile, knowing that recently Kurt had gotten used to texting the brunette.
"It's not Kurt actually, it's Finn." Rachel said. "He, uh, he asked me out Thursday after Glee."
"That's great." Quinn said, forcing herself to maintain her smile, and maybe even force it wider. Did her breathing just get heavier?
"I know, our date is tonight actually." Rachel said, and then turned back to her laptop to finish reading the poem they were considering for their project. "This poem seems really good."
"Yeah, it's of Shakespeare's better works." Quinn said, trying to steady her breathing. Were her eyes stinging? Was she about to cry? She blinked rapidly and went back to flipping through her poetry book mindlessly.
"It's perfect, and it's not too difficult to understand." Rachel said. She turned back to Quinn who was now on her bed. "You okay?"
"Huh? Yeah I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" Quinn asked, maintaining her blank look.
"Your eyes are red." Rachel stated. Quinn sniffed instinctively and pressed the bridge of her nose, hoping the pressure will release some tension.
"It's, uh, just allergies." Quinn lied.
Allergies to what you moron?!
To that dough boy's name.
Shut up, Just shut up!
"Allergies to what?" Rachel asked, an eyebrow raised.
"I don't know, I just suddenly have a very blocked nose." Quinn lied again.
"You sure you're okay?" Rachel asked again.
"Umm, I think I'd better go home." Quinn said, closing her book and throwing it into her bag.
"I guess, I mean if you're not feeling well." Rachel said, getting up and stepping towards the blonde who had just gotten up from her bed.
"It's nothing, but I just want to be sure I'm okay for tomorrow, I promised Puck I'd go over to his place and practice for Monday, you know?" Quinn said, she felt relieved that that wasn't a lie.
"Yeah, of course." Rachel said. She wrapped her arms around the girl and held her tightly for a few seconds. "I hope you feel better soon."
"Thanks." Quinn said. She held the girl closely and took in the scent of her shampoo, which cause a lump to form in her throat. She really needed to get out of there. "I'll see you later."
Rachel unwrapped her arms from around the blonde's neck and let herself pull back.
"See you." Rachel said softly. And Quinn all but flew out of the room, out of the house and away from Rachel. She almost ran home and when she finally did she went straight to her room and flung herself on the bed, crying her eyes out for what felt like hours on end. When she finally had enough of wallowing in misery by herself she decided to send Kurt a text.
'Kurt, are you busy?' she typed in and hit send.
'No, why.' Kurt sent back.
'Emergency, code blue.' She typed in.
'Be there in five, do you have ice cream at home?' she read off the screen, her lips quirked into a smile, knowing that her best friend understood her completely.
'Chocolate and vanilla.' She wrote out.
'Perfect.' She read off the screen. She took a deep breath and changed quickly from her jeans and t-shirt to her sweatpants and a much baggier t-shirt. A few minutes later she heard the doorbell, went downstairs and opened the door to Kurt. Who immediately and wordlessly hugged her tightly.
"Hey Kurt." She mumbled with a smile.
"Shh, it's going to be okay, now tell me what happened." He said, stroking the back of her head gently.
"It's Rachel." She whispered, tears threatening to spring forth again.
"She didn't go back into bitch mode did she? Cause I swear I will cut her." Kurt stated.
"No, she was the best." Quinn half giggled and half whined. "She even told me the real reason why Santana slushied her on Wednesday."
"Yeah what was all that about?" Kurt asked pulling away and looking at Quinn.
"She defended us, Kurt, she told me she got pissed off at Santana because she judged us without even knowing us, and then she said she wanted to be our friend and Santana told her that if she was going to defend us she might as well join us and bam, blue slushy." Quinn explained. Kurt looked at her gob smacked.
"That girl is an angel." Kurt said softly, and then looked into Quinn's eyes. "So what happened then? Why are you going code blue on me?"
"Because she has a date with Finn tonight." Quinn said, breaking down into tears immediately, Kurt wrapped his arms around her once more and let her cry into his shoulder.
"Oh honey!" he said sympathetically. "Shh, it'll be okay."
He led her to the living room and let her curl up to him on the sofa, simply being there for her while she cried. He knew his best friend, he knew that she needed to cry it out before she talked about it, it was her healing process. Cry, talk and consume un-Godly amounts of ice cream, and then take her frustration out with basketball. So no doubt she would be in her back yard tomorrow bouncing that ball around and angrily dunking it into a hoop.
A few minutes passed, twenty to be exact, and she finally stopped crying. He lifted her head from his shoulder and wiped at her cheeks.
"You ready to talk now?" he asked softly.
"Yeah." Quinn nodded.
"Okay, wait here and let me get the ice cream okay? Which one do you want?" Kurt asked.
"Get both and two bowls, we'll mix, there's whipped cream in the fridge." She said.
"Where are the crushed nuts?" Kurt asked, knowing they're his best friend's favorite part of an ice cream sundae.
"In Hudson's pants if he doesn't treat Rachel right tonight." Quinn growled through gritted teeth. Kurt's eye brows raised up and he leaned back.
"Easy tiger. I mean the crushed peanuts you like on your sundae so much." Kurt said.
"Bottom cabinet closest to the fridge on the right, top shelf." Quinn explained, sighing out, he gave her a kiss on the forehead and walked out of the living room and into the kitchen she laid back on the sofa and dug the heels of her hands into her eyes, trying desperately to rub away the images of Finn and Rachel that were relentlessly swimming in her mind.
Hey, if it makes you feel better, that dude is way smaller than you are. Like, it might not even count as losing her virginity if they do anything.
It's times like these I realize why I keep you around.
She lay there, motionless, silent and thoughtless for a few minutes until Kurt came back into the living room with two bowls of ice cream and a spoon in each bowl. Quinn instantly went for the chocolate ice cream and then, as she was about to take a bite, she looked at the spoon filled with chocolate ice cream with sorrowful eyes. She dropped the spoon back into the bowl and began to bawl again. Kurt grabbed both their bowls and set them down on the coffee table. He wrapped his arms around Quinn tightly with a shocked expression on his face, it was not normal for her to bawl into her ice cream.
"Sweetheart, what happened?" Kurt asked.
"Th-the chocolate." Was all Quinn could manage to sob out.
"What do you mean?" Kurt asked, confused. Since when was his best friend sad about chocolate ice cream?
"Wednesday, when me and Rachel shared the pudding." Quinn gasped out before breaking down into a fit of sobs again.
"Oh." Kurt said, nodding in understanding, damn. "Oh honey, all those times I've teased you, you really do have it bad for that girl don't you?"
Quinn didn't say anything, but Kurt felt her nodding against his shoulder.
"Shh, come on, it'll be okay." Kurt said.
"Do you know what she told me today Kurt?" Quinn sobbed out. Kurt pulled back to look at her, wiping away the tears on her face.
"What sweetie? What did she tell you?" Kurt encouraged, the faster he got her talking the faster she could get over the initial pain of all of this.
"Sh-she said that she'd keep defending us, even if it cost her a million slushy facials. She wouldn't ever back away from our friendship." Quinn sobbed, dropping her head into her hands. Kurt took in a deep breath and let it out, then reached over for the box of tissues on the corner table and held it out for Quinn, who pulled out two tissues and blew her nose into them, balling them up together and carelessly throwing them onto the coffee table before grabbing another one to wipe her eyes.
"Quinn, sweetie, I see the way she is with you, she hugs you tighter than I do! She stares into your eyes!" Kurt began listing. "The way she kisses you on the cheek is heart melting, there's something there, I know there is."
"If there is then why is she going out with Finn?" Quinn sobbed.
"Think about it Quinn, she's a cheerleader, he's a jock." Kurt said. "Now that she's letting herself be seen with us she needs him for her rep, I love her to death and I know you do too, but you can't blame her."
"I know you're right, but it hurts!" Quinn broke down again.
"I know it does sweetheart, I do, just give it some time. Rachel is a smart girl, I promise you she'll see the light in time." Kurt said comforting as she wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Her eyes light up whenever you walk into the room, she just needs time to realize her feelings."
"You're not just saying all this to make me feel better are you?" Quinn said, her voice muffled by his shoulder.
"Of course not." Kurt said. "She'll realize it, I promise you. For now, all you can do is be a supportive friend while she dates that jock."
"Wait a minute." Quinn sprung up. "What did you say?"
"You need to be a supportive friend." Kurt repeated.
"No no, after that, that part about Finn being a jock." Quinn said, seemingly getting excited over something.
"Well yeah, I mean he's the quarterback and he's on the basketball team so-" Kurt said.
"And I will be too!" Quinn jumped up.
"What are you talking about?" Kurt asked.
"Wednesday you remember I went to play basketball with Puck during my free period?" Quinn asked.
"Yes." Kurt nodded. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well when I was playing Puck saw how good I was and he showed me pictures of Charlie and his team in a trophy case and told me that they hadn't won a game since he graduated and he told me that I was just as good as him." Quinn explained quickly.
"And?" Kurt said, willing her to go on.
"Well he asked if I would try out for the team and I said yes, then today I told Rachel and she made me promise to give it my all and she assured me that I would be on the team." Quinn said. She stopped for a minute to catch her breath, having worn her lungs out due to the fast pace at which she was talking.
"Okay. First off…" Kurt said, ever so gently picking up a pillow off the sofa. Then he began rapidly hitting her with it.
"Why." Whack "Didn't." Whack "You." Whack "Tell." Whack "Me." Whack "You." Whack "Were." Whack "Trying." Whack "Out." Whack "For." Whack "The." Whack "Team!"
"Ow ow! Kurt stop!" She said, laughing out. He stopped hitting her and began breathing heavily for dramatic effect. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I didn't want you to be super excited for me and then get disappointed because I didn't make the team."
"Are you kidding me?!" he exclaimed.
"Please don't hit me again." She giggled.
"Quinn, my father wants to adopt you simply because you are amazing at basketball." Kurt told her with a straight face.
"Aww, Burt said that?"
Whack.
"That's not the point Fabray!" he said.
"Stop hitting me." Quinn giggled out.
"The point is, you're amazing! Before I saw you play I didn't know there was anyway somebody could be bad at that game!" Kurt said. "You're going to get a place on that team! And when you do I am going to hit you with this pillow so hard you'll be in a coma for a week!"
"I don't think that's possible."
Whack.
"Try me!"
"Okay, okay!" she lifted her hands up. "Chill would you?"
"And when you get a spot on that team." He continued. "Rachel is going to fly into your arms!"
"We still don't know if she's straight or not." Quinn said.
"Quinn, that girl very nearly dry humped you because you helped her pass math, and let's face it, you'd look damned hot in a letterman jacket." Kurt stated.
"Fine." Quinn gave in. "But she doesn't look like the gay type."
"Neither do you!" Kurt said.
"You have a point." Quinn said.
"Exactly, so you have a shot." Kurt said, then his eyes grew wider as realization hit him. "Oh my God."
"What?" Quinn asked.
"You're going to try out for the team." Kurt stated.
"Yes, multiple whacks with a pillow have established that." Quinn said, looking at her best friend, wondering where he was going with this.
"You have a shot at a place in the school hierarchy!" Kurt exclaimed happily. Quinn rolled her eyes. "Quinn badass jock Fabray! No one will ever mess with us again!"
"You're incorrigible." Quinn shook her head.
"Oh shut up and eat your ice cream." Kurt said giddily as he handed her the previously abandoned bowl. She ate happily as Kurt turned on the TV and grabbed his own bowl.
"Oh, hey when are try outs anyway?" he asked.
"Monday." She said non chalantly. He gaped at her and she looked at him. "What?"
Whack.
"Oww!" she giggled. "Knock it off!"
"You need to practice!" he exclaimed.
"It's okay. I already planned with Puck, I'm going over to his place and we're going to practice together all day." She explained.
"Good, blow some Rachel induced steam off before try outs so you'll have your head in the game." Kurt instructed.
"You get all your basketball terms from High School Musical don't you?" she giggled.
"Shut up." Kurt says quickly, scooping up some of his ice cream and taking a bite.
"I love you." Quinn says, giving him a one armed side hug.
"I love you too." Kurt says, hugging her back.
They spent the rest of that afternoon watching TV, playing a video game and chatting about random things. When it was around 6:30PM, Quinn's phone rang. It was Rachel.
"Hello?" Quinn said into the phone after picking up.
"Hey," Rachel said cheerfully. "Are you feeling any better?"
"Umm, yeah." Quinn said, almost forgetting that Rachel thought she was sick or had allergies. "Yeah I'm fine."
"Good, I was worried, for a minute I actually considered cancelling with Finn to come over and take care of you." Rachel said with a giggle
Dammit.
"That's sweet Rach, but you don't have to worry, I'm fine, Kurt actually came over to make sure I was okay." Quinn said with a smile. "Then he proceeded to pummel me with a pillow for not telling him about try outs."
"Tell him to give you one last one from me." Rachel giggled into the phone.
"Not happening." Quinn shook her head and smiled.
"Kill joy." Rachel teased. "Well I'm really glad you're okay, for a moment I was worried I accidentally poisoned you or something with my pasta."
"It would have been worth it." Quinn giggled.
"You really like that sauce huh?" Rachel said.
"I do." Quinn nodded. Kurt watched her intently as she spoke to the brunette she was bawling her eyes out about a few hours ago.
"So you're one hundred and fifty percent okay, right? Because I will cancel with Finn and rush right over otherwise." Rachel said.
"Rach, are you nervous about this date?" Quinn asked.
"Yes." Rachel whined out. I just, I'm freaking out! He's going to be here to pick me up in an hour and I don't know what I'm going to wear! And what if we have nothing in common? And-and-"
"Rachel! Breathe!" Quinn cut her off. "Giving yourself an aneurism is not what you want to happen on a first date."
"You're right. I just have no clue what to do." Rachel said.
"I do, I'll be over in five." Quinn said, hanging up the phone, she looked at Kurt. "Come on."
"What's happening?" Kurt asked, confused.
"We're going over to Rachel's so that we can help her get ready for her date, because she's freaking out and she's about to cancel on him and I can't let her do that on the count of I want to be a good friend." Quinn explained.
"Okay." Kurt said, then eyed Quinn up and down. "You may want to change first."
"Huh?" Quinn said, then looked down at herself, "Oh right."
She ran upstairs to put her jeans back on and threw on a t-shirt and put on her high tops again, grabbed her phone and house keys and they walked out of the house, all but running to Rachel's because Quinn desperately wanted to help her. Quinn jogged up her porch and rang the doorbell. The door flew open and Rachel came flying out into the blonde's arms.
"You have no idea how much this means to me." Rachel whispered into Quinn's ear.
"It's going to be okay sweetheart, we're going to help you get ready and this date is going to go off without a hitch, you got me?" Quinn said reassuringly, rubbing Rachel's back gently.
"Thank you so so much!" Rachel breathed out before pulling away. Kurt smiled at her and hugged her as soon as Quinn stepped away enough for him to be able to. She led them into her house and up to her room.
"Okay so first things first, where are you two going?" Quinn asked as she goes through Rachel's wardrobe, trying to help her pick out a dress.
"Dinner at Breadstix and then a movie." Rachel said as Kurt helped her pick out her make up.
"Reasonable for a first date, nothing too fancy, yet still somewhat romantic." Kurt mused as Rachel showed him her vast array of eye-shadow colors.
"Do you have an idea of what you want from your outfit?" Quinn asked, mulling over two dresses which seemed to be the best from the whole wardrobe.
"The only thing I know is that I will definitely be wearing heels, my highest pair." Rachel said, walking over to Quinn and bending down, picking up a pair of black pumps with huge heels, so much so that the shoes had platforms where the toes touch.
"Woah." Quinn eyes bulged at the shoes.
"What?" Rachel asked with a smirk.
"Nothing, it's just you might as well tattoo 'break here' on your ankles." Quinn said through a chuckle. Rachel rolled her eyes.
"Not much for heels is she?" the brunette asked, looking at Kurt.
"She only owns one pair which she barely ever wears." Kurt said with a smirk.
"And I'm stiller taller than both of you so you can suck my-" Quinn began.
"Language!" Rachel and Kurt both chastised before she could finish her sentence, Kurt giving her a wide eyed glare. She bit her lip and giggled at him, shrugging at both of them.
"And you're only and inch and a half taller than me so don't be too cocky, a growth spurt could be waiting around the corner." Kurt shrugged back. The blonde shook her head at him with a smirk.
"Guys can we get back to my date please? I'm about to freak out again." Rachel mumbled as the thoughts took over her mind again.
"Okay, so you have the shoes, by the way, nice." Kurt said giving her a thumbs up.
"Now maybe we could pick a dress." Quinn continued.
"I was thinking maybe this one?" Rachel asked, pointing at one of the dresses Quinn was looking at.
"Very nice." Kurt hummed. Quinn picked the dress up and held it up in front of Rachel, immediately imagining her in it.
The dress was a short black simple dress with a v-cut neck. Quinn calculated that it would maybe reach four inches above her knees.
"Should I try it on?" Rachel asked. She was nibbling at her lip nervously as she watched Quinn muse over the dress.
"Sure." Quinn said, handing it to her. Rachel ran into the bathroom quickly to put it on. Kurt stepped up to Quinn.
"You sure you can handle this?" he asked quietly.
"Helping Rachel for her date? Yes. Seeing Rachel in that dress? We'll have to see." Quinn whispered quietly. Kurt smiled at her warmly.
"You are an amazing friend, you know that right?" Kurt asked. "You're crazy about her yet you're helping her get all dolled up for Finn."
"She's a good friend too, look what happened because she defended us." Quinn mumbled quietly. "She even promised to come watch me during try outs."
"Oh hell yes, I'm going to be there to." Kurt nodded in agreement. Quinn smiled at him shyly and shoved him playfully in the shoulder. "And Puck, well, that goes without saying, he's your bro."
"He called us lesbros the other day." Quinn giggled.
"Wouldn't that make him a lesbian as well?" Kurt asked, looking up and pondering for a moment. Quinn just shrugged and giggled. They heard the bathroom door click open and looked back in time to see Rachel emerge in the dress. She was looking down at herself, straightening the dress out nervously. She looked up at them to catch them staring at her, jaws ajar.
"What?" Rachel asked self-consciously.
"You look amazing!" Kurt said taking a step towards her excitedly.
"You really think so?" Rachel asked nervously.
"Definitely, drop dead gorgeous! Right Quinn?" Kurt asked looking at his best friend to back up his claims.
"I…uh…I-I…wow." Quinn stammered, eyes still wide as she looked at Rachel in amazement. The brunette raised an eye brow and leaned towards Kurt.
"Is she okay?" she muttered to the boy.
"I think you broke her." Kurt whispered back. Rachel giggled and stepped towards Quinn, taking her hands into her own and squeezing them gently. She looked up into the blonde's stunning hazel eyes.
"How do I look, Q?" Rachel asked the girl again.
Hotter than molten lava.
I…I…
Oh shit, she did break you!
Sweet baby Jesus.
Yo-you're really really pretty Rach." Quinn stammered out quickly with a goofy smile on her face. Kurt hid his face with his palm.
Fucking subtle, Fabray.
"You mean it?" Rachel asked.
"Uh huh." Quinn nodded enthusiastically.
"Thank you." Rachel said, smiling up at her, biting her lip gently. There was the faint sound of a phone ringing from the hallway. "Oh, I'll be right back."
The brunette dropped Quinn's hands and hurried out of the room and down the stairs to answer the call. Kurt stepped up to Quinn.
"Fucking subtle, Fabray." He muttered.
"You and the voice in my head are agreeing, that's not good." Quinn pouted.
"We need to find a name for that thing." Kurt shook his head with a chuckle.
"Find a name for what?" Rachel's voice was heard as she walked back into the room.
"Just this silly voice in my head." Quinn said. Rachel giggled.
"We get to name it?" Rachel said with fake excitement.
"Well, admitting you have a problem is the first step towards the cure, even crippling insanity." Kurt said, smirking at Quinn, who rolled her eyes.
"I think I'm going to name it Kurt." Quinn piped up.
"Why?" Rachel said with a raised eyebrow.
"Because that's the name of the only other little shit that I know." Quinn said, smirking back at Kurt. Rachel threw her head back in laughter.
"You guys are hilarious." She said through giggles.
"Nah, we're just a little kooky." Kurt said, scrunching up his nose and smiling, then patted Rachel's shoulder lightly. "Come on hun, let's see about your make up."
"Maybe I should go." Quinn shuffled, suddenly nervous.
"What? Why?" Rachel asked.
"Make ups not my thing, I think I'd just be in the way." Quinn shrugged.
"Oh don't be silly, we can talk while Kurt does my make up!" Rachel said. "Please stay?"
"I don't know." Quinn shook her head lightly, why was she nervous all of a sudden.
"Please Quinn, I might freak out again and I'll need you here to cheer me up." Rachel said, grabbing the blonde's hands again. She looked up at her with hopeful, pleading eyes. "Please."
"Okay, fine." Quinn surrendered with a small smile. Rachel's face broke out into a huge grin as she hugged the blonde.
Quinn was sitting on Rachel's bed as Rachel sat at the vanity unit and Kurt did her make up.
"So when did Finn ask you out?" Kurt asked. Quinn cringed slightly at the sound of the jock's name.
"Last Thursday." Rachel answered, eyes closed as Kurt did her eye shadow. "After glee practice."
Quinn didn't want to say anything; she just looked around for something to distract herself. She noticed there was a magazine lying on the bed. She grabbed it, turned over so that she was resting on her stomach on the bed and began flipping through it, reading things that caught her eye randomly, not really taking any of it in. she looked at pictures of celebrities wearing extremely expensive outfits and then the magazine's suggestions to make cheaper imitations. She looked back at her two friends and saw that Kurt was putting lip gloss on Rachel's lips.
"How are the nerves?" Kurt asked quietly.
"Ready to burst at any moment." Rachel answered shakily.
"I did good work on your eyes, if you cry now you're a dead woman." Kurt threatened lightly, giggling at her and causing her to giggle softly along.
"You're going to be fine." Quinn stated, closing the magazine and shoving it away from her in frustration. She sat up on the edge of the bed and looked directly at Rachel, who was looking at her now. "If Finn doesn't like what he sees tonight, then he's a bigger moron than I pegged him for."
"What makes you think he's a moron?" Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The guy was going to taste something from a bottle in Chemistry class last year Rachel. Clearly the lights aren't all on up there." Quinn said with a straight face. Rachel couldn't help but release a short burst of laughter.
"What was it? Was it some weird chemical? Maybe he was trying to get super powers." Rachel giggled.
"Oh I'm sure." Kurt continued along, nodding at Quinn.
"It was iodine, it was heavily diluted so it was light in color, and he thought it was apple juice. I pulled the vial out of his hands just in time. I may have saved your date's life." Quinn nodded with a chuckle.
"Well, if it goes well tonight, I'll be sure to thank you." Rachel said with a giggle. "And thanks, I'm a bit more calm now."
"And you know what his favorite juice is." Kurt said cheerfully, causing her to release another burst of laughter. A soft buzzing was heard before a ringing began. Quinn pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID.
"It's Puck." She said softly before answering. "'sup bro?"
Rachel looked at Kurt with a raised eyebrow and mouthed 'bro?' to which he just shrugged and continued to put on the final touches of her make up.
"Yo Q!" Puck exclaimed through the phone. "What's up?"
"Not much, just chillin' at Rachel's, we're helping her get ready for a date." Quinn explained. "Hang on let me put you on speaker!"
"Cool."
Quinn placed her phone on the bed and hit the speaker button. "Okay."
"So our princess has a date tonight huh?" Puck asked. Rachel looked down for a second a tried to hide her blushing.
"Yes Puck!" she answered.
"Who's the royal suitor?" Puck asked.
"Finn." The three of them answered in unison.
"Ah, a fine choice." Puck said in a very bad british accent.
"You're such a dork Puckerman!" Quinn exclaimed into the phone.
"Fuck you Fabray!" Puck exclaimed back with a chuckle.
"Only if you wear a pretty dress." Quinn teased. Kurt and Rachel both clapped hands over their mouths to suppress their relentless laughter.
"Eww, don't give me bad images." Puck teased back. "Anyway, I was going to ask you guys if you wanted to hang and watch a movie or something."
"Well, Rachel's going out with Finn so she's automatically out." Quinn answered. "But I'm in, what about you Kurt?"
"Sure, why not?" Kurt responded rhetorically.
"Sweet, who's house is hosting?" Puck asked.
"My parents are going to a party." Quinn answered. "So we could do it at my place."
"Sweet!" Puck exclaimed excitedly.
"What movie?" Kurt asked.
"I'll bring a few DVDs over, we can pick later." Puck said.
"You better have good ones!" Quinn said.
"I got the Pirate's of the Carribean trilogy!" Puck said.
"Yes! Yes! A hundred times yes!" Kurt called. "Shirtless Orlando Bloom!"
"Screw you man! Kiera Knightly in a pirates outfit. That is h o t, HOT!" Quinn cheered.
"I have to agree with her on that." Rachel nodded. They both looked at her. On the other side of the line Puck raised his eyebrow.
"What?" Rachel asked.
"You just called a girl hot." Kurt reminded her with a raised eyebrow.
"Well yeah, she is." Rachel shrugged.
"Kurt, stop." Quinn said, giving him a light slap on his arm.
"Is it cause you guys think I'm straight?" Rachel said. Quinn looked at her with wide eyes.
Think?
"Rach, what are you saying?" Quinn asked.
"Well, what with my dads being gay, I was always raised to believe sexuality is more fluid than that." Rachel said with a shrug. "I prefer to identify as bisexual."
Oh sweet baby Jesus.
Holy shit that's hot.
"I've never done anything with a girl, but I do find certain girls attractive." Rachel said, looking directly at Quinn.
Dude. She is looking at you.
Kurt was right?
"So what you're saying is that I'm the only straight person in this group?" Puck finally said through the phone. Kurt smirked mischievously, grabbing the phone and placing it close to his mouth.
"I can change that if you want." He said seductively before clapping a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter.
"Eww, dude, you're like my little brother!" Puck exclaimed.
"So it's not that I'm a guy?" Kurt hinted, still giggling furiously.
"Knock it off." Puck demanded, chuckling. "So what Rachel is saying is that you're all a bunch of rainbow hoppers?"
"That sounds like a video game for five year olds." Quinn said with a quirked eye brow.
"You guys know what I mean." Puck said.
"Yes, Puck." Rachel said with a giggle.
"That is so cool." Puck said.
"Why are you so happy that all of us are gay or bi?" Quinn asked.
"Cause man, I'm sick of how closed minded this town is, I love the fact that my three closest friends aren't like that." Puck said.
"Aww, that's so sweet." Rachel said.
"Yeah it really is Puck." Kurt said with a wide smile, his heart swelling and tears brimming at his eyes.
"Q, Kurt, I'll see you two in about an hour. Rachel, good luck tonight, and if Finn doesn't treat you like a princess I expect you to let me know so that I can make him swallow his teeth." Puck said.
"Puck, no violence, you know I hate that." Rachel reprimanded, before taking the phone from Kurt and smiling. "But thank you, it means a lot."
"No problem, have fun." Puck said gently.
"Thanks." She said softly before handing the phone back to Quinn.
"I'll see you soon Puck." The blonde said gently into the phone.
"See you Q." Puck said before disconnecting the call. Quinn pressed the button on top of her phone to lock it before putting it back in her pocket.
"You know," Rachel began. "Puck acts tough, but he's really a huge softy."
"Yeah, behind that Mo hawk is a heart of gold." Kurt mused before going back to finish up Rachel's make up. They helped her calm down the last few nerves which stirred up when she realized she was deathly afraid of horror movies and that Finn would probably not want to see a rom com; but Kurt said she could easily shut her eyes at the scary parts and maybe use it as an excuse to grab Finn hand. This comforted her, knowing that something she saw as a setback, she could utilize to make this date a success.
"Oh, and if he doesn't drop his jaw the minute he sees you, I'm assuming that he's gay." Quinn says with a giggle. Rachel rolled her eyes at the blonde. "What? You know I'm right!"
"He'd have to be gayer than me because even I'm shocked at how stunning you look." Kurt said, giving the brunette a hug from behind.
"Aww, thanks guys." Rachel said, her heart and ego swelling with the love and compliments her friends were showering her with. Quinn looked at the time on her phone.
"Okay he'll be here in fifteen minutes, do you want us to leave or should we wait till he gets here?" Quinn said, looking up from her phone to Rachel.
"I don't want to be alone, something inside me is still nagging at me to cancel. I need a push." Rachel said with a sigh.
"Why are you so determined to cancel Rach? You like the guy don't you?" Quinn asked, genuinely concerned.
"Of course I like him! I'm just horribly nervous, and I'm starting to question my outfit choice." Rachel looks down at herself self consciously. Quinn stands up and takes the shorter girl's hands into her own, squeezing them reassuringly.
"Rach, you look stunning, his mouth is going to dry up the minute he sees you! He'll be speechless!" Quinn said with a determined look on her face.
"How can you be so sure?" Rachel pushed.
"Because no straight woman or gay man can look at you right now and not question their sexuality." Quinn said with a chuckle.
"That's not an answer Quinn." Rachel said.
"Okay, the truth is that I can't be sure because obviously I don't know what's going on in the guy's head." Quinn admitted. "But I know in my gut that this date is going to work out."
"Oh great, your gut talks to you now too?" Rachel said with a giggle.
"Only when I'm hungry." Quinn shrugs and chuckles again. "What I mean is that I have a good feeling about this date, and my gut feelings are never wrong."
"Is that so?" Rachel said with a raised eye brow.
"It is." Quinn nodded.
"So what does your gut tell you about you making the team then?" Rachel asked with a smug smirk on her face.
"What does that have to do with your date with Finn?" Quinn asked with a hitches eyebrow.
"Just answer the question, what does your gut say about the try outs?" Rachel asked again. Kurt smiled at Rachel and then looked at Quinn, waiting for her answer. Knowing fully what the brunette was thinking.
"Okay, so I may be able to get on the team." Quinn surrendered with a sigh.
"May be?" Kurt and Rachel said in unison, not accepting the statement from the blonde. A hand reached up to her shoulder and the hands which she held in hers tightened their grip gently.
"Quinn." Rachel said, getting the blonde to look up into her eyes. "You are getting on that team."
"Exactly, and everyone that has ever judged us, or slushied us for being losers, they're going to be speechless when they see you walking through the halls with that letterman jacket." Kurt said warmly with a smile. Rachel's eyes lowered themselves to the floor when Kurt mentioned everything that she used to do to the two. Then she began imagining what would happen if she never joined Glee or had gotten partnered with Quinn for their English assignment. She wondered what her reaction would be if she saw Quinn walking through the halls of McKinley high school suddenly with a brand new letterman jacket. The rumors would be that she's dating a guy that's on the team, and everyone would try to figure out who it is, and they would ignore the fact that it fits her perfectly. And if she were to be totally honest with herself, she would ignore that fact as well, because she wouldn't have the privilege of knowing Quinn, or knowing how good she at basketball, or the fact that she's gay. She would go along with the rumors and probably believe them one hundred percent until one fine day, she's at a pep rally for the start of basketball season in the gymnasium with the entire school, cheering on the team, and Figgins would speak into the microphone, announce the William McKinley high Titans basketball team. The crowd would roar and cheer loudly, as would she and the rest of the cheerios. They would cheer even though the current team sucks and have no chance of winning. And then the team would come out, dribbling basketballs and cheering at the crowd, and among all the boys, there would be Quinn, jumping around, shooting basketballs into the hoops and high fiving her team mates. And she would see her there and stare in awe. Then the first game of the season would come around, and everyone would be confident that they would win because now they have a Fabray on the team again, but others would express their doubt, stating how she's a loser, and how she's a girl and so automatically cannot be better than a guy at a sport. And then they would win thanks to her, and everyone would be shocked and her popularity would peak, no one would mess with Quinn Fabray anymore, because she's the next Charlie Fabray and she's a force to be reckoned with. But even then, she wouldn't give Rachel the time of day, because she's always been the girl that ordered slushies on her and tormented her and put her through hell. And that thought made Rachel's stomach flip flop and her heart go heavy like it suddenly turned to lead. She took in a deep breath, pushing back the negative thoughts. And she found doing that really easy, because she did join Glee, she was paired with Quinn on the English project, and because she was blessed with those events she could proudly state that she knew Quinn, and she knew how good she was at basketball, and that she was gay. She knew all of that and so much more, because Quinn did give her the time of day, she did far more than that. She helped her even after all that torment and all those slushies. She helped her pass her math test, and when she had a panic attack because she thought she failed, she was there to reassure her, to wipe her tears away and tell her that she would pass and that she would still be head cheerio and that she would keep that position on the squad for the next two years she has left in high school. And when she had a falling out with the person she thought was her best friend and she got slushied, she saw her and rushed her to the bathroom. And because of that she befriended Kurt. That day it was made clear to her, she lost a friend but she gained two, three even, because then Puck showed up at lunch. And they became inseparable, like four siblings. They teased each other and joked with each other and loved each other so much they would do anything for each other, even punch someone because they didn't treat one of them right on a date. And at that thought, her heart lightened and swelled, and a smile appeared on her face from out of nowhere. And suddenly she registered that someone had been talking to her while she was trapped inside her thought.
"Rach? Rachel? Earth to Rachel, do you read?" Quinn said, giving the brunette a gentle shake to wake her out of her daze.
"Huh?" Rachel said, snapping out of her thoughts. "Sorry did you say something?"
"Are you okay? You totally just spaced out on us?" Quinn asked. The shorter girl couldn't help but widen her smile, allowing it to reach megawatt levels.
"Yeah Quinn, I'm fine, I'm great actually! Because I have both of you and I have Puck and I have so many good things right now and I am so blessed it is amazing!" Rachel went on, barely stopping between words. She didn't give Quinn a chance to answer, she released the blonde's hands and wrapped her arms around her neck in a tight and extremely content hug.
"Oh…Kay?" Quinn said, hugging the brunette back and looking at Kurt with a confused look, complete with quirked eyebrow. He mirrored her expression and shrugged, as if to say 'Don't look at me, my guess is as good as yours.'
They hang out and talked about different things, the latest gossip from McKinley, favorite music, favorite movies. Just about anything to get Rachel's mind off of the impending arrival of Finn. But those fifteen minutes passed all too quickly and soon the doorbell was heard and Rachel's pulse rate increased rapidly.
"Oh God, he's here." She muttered.
"Relax. You'll be fine." Quinn said, instinctively wrapping her arms around the smaller girl.
"Yeah, you'll knock his socks off!" Kurt said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder when she pulled back from the blonde. He handed her her shoes and she slipped them on. Kurt grabbed the purse that was sitting on the vanity unit waiting to be picked up and handed it to her.
"Okay, sound off, phone?" Quinn asked.
"Check." Rachel said with a nod.
"Emergency money even though he's paying?" Kurt asked in the same way Quinn did.
"Done, and let's not be sexist about this." Rachel said with a smirk. They both responded with an eye roll.
"Tissues in case of emergency?" Quinn asked.
"Check, and thanks for the tip." Rachel answered.
"Lip gloss in case the date really works out?" Kurt said with a smile, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Check." Rachel responded with a playful whack to his shoulder. He giggled and smiled at her warmly.
"911 on speed dial for when you ankles give out in those death traps?" Quinn teased.
"Shut it Fabray." Rachel rolled her eyes at the blonde and then smiled at her through the mirror which she was looking at for a final check of her make up.
"You look amazing sweetheart." Kurt said, looking at her through the mirror and placing both hands on her shoulders.
"Yeah Rach, you're beautiful." Quinn said softly from behind Kurt.
"Thank you." Rachel said with a smile. "Both of you, for everything."
"No need to thank us, what are friends for." Kurt said. Quinn just smiled at the brunette through the mirror. Rachel took a deep breath and turned to Kurt, giving him a tight hug. She turned to Quinn and hugged her again.
"Now go." Quinn said softly into her ear, then pulled back. "Have fun, and call me when you get home and let me know how it went, deal?"
"Deal." Rachel smiled with a firm nod. Kurt held open her jacket for her. She slipped it on and grabbed her purse. She took a final deep breath, let it go and walked out of her bedroom, Quinn and Kurt following her out of the house. Rachel opened the door to find Finn standing there wearing a suit and holding a bouquet of blue roses.
Oh God. Seriously?
"Hey Rach…Wow…you look…woah…" Finn said, looking Rachel up and down, taking her in.
This guy's vocab is just amazing.
"Thank you Finn." Rachel said with a megawatt smile, her heart fluttering. She looked at the flowers with a confused looks. "Are…are those for me?"
"Yeah, I picked them up on my way over here from the flower store; you know that one that's right next to where I live? Only you wouldn't know that 'cause you don't know where I live." Finn rambled, catching his mistake. "Anyway and I saw he had blue flowers, which was weird case I've never seen blue flowers in my whole life and they just looked so cool, and I remember you saying blue was your favorite color so I thought 'hey maybe she'd like those.' So here they are."
"That's very sweet of you Finn, but my favorite color is yellow." Rachel reminded him.
"Oh, right…Crap." Finn muttered to himself.
"But that's okay, because yellow roses mean infidelity and regret so…" Rachel said.
"Oh, well that's good then." Finn said, smiling again. "Wait so what do blue roses mean?"
That you're a twat. Quinn thought to herself, keeping her smile steady and polite, clenching her teeth to stop herself from bursting out in laughter.
"Uhm, that's not important," Rachel dismissed. "It's the thought that counts, they're lovely, thank you."
Rachel took the flowers in her hands. "Let me go put them in some water real quick okay?"
"Sure." Finn said with a smile and a nod. Rachel walked back into the house quickly and Kurt and Quinn hovered at the door. He kept his smile at them to be polite.
"So…Finn…how's the football team?" Kurt asked feigning interest to avoid awkward silences.
"Oh, it's okay, we're hoping we'll do well this year, but I'm also focusing on the basketball team this year." He answered.
"You're on the basketball team?" Kurt asked, now interested, Quinn shot him a look that begged him not to go on, but he didn't notice. "What a coincidence, Quinn is trying out next Monday."
"Y-You play basketball?" Finn asked the blonde, genuinely surprised.
"Yeah it's uh…it's kind of in my blood." Quinn said with a shrug and a shy smile. Finn furrowed his eyebrows at her.
"Her brother is Charlie Fabray." Kurt answered his unspoken question.
"Ch-Charlie Fabray? The Charlie Fabray?" Finn asked, turning from Kurt to Quinn, utterly surprised at the news.
"Yeah." Quinn nodded, scratching the back of her neck nervously.
"That's amazing, are you as good as he is?" Finn asked.
"Well he thought me all I know, so maybe." Quinn shrugged. "I guess we'll have to wait for Monday to see."
"Oh definitely!" Finn said. "Wow that's amazing, we've never had a girl on the team, but once the guys hear you're a Fabray, they're going to fall in love with you!"
"You sure they're not just in love with Charlie?" Quinn asked with a small smile. Finn let out a burst of laughter.
"That's funny." He said with a nod, Rachel came back to find them all smiling.
"What's funny?" she asked.
"Nothing we're just talking about Quinn trying out on Monday." Finn answered.
"Oh yeah!" Rachel said, flashing a smile at the blonde.
"Anyway, you ready to go?" Finn asked.
"Yep, all set." Rachel said. Finn held out his elbow and she linked her arm to his.
"Have fun guys!" Kurt said as they began walking.
"Thanks, bye guys, hey see you on Monday Quinn!" Finn said waving back at them.
"See you." She said. Rachel turned slightly and waved to the both of them. They both waved back and each gave her a thumbs up as they walked away, watching them leave.
"Okay Q, they're out of ear shot." Kurt said, and Quinn automatically burst out in wild laughter. "You know you're horrible right?"
"h-he got her blue fucking roses!" Quinn squeeled as she laughed wildly. "Oh my god!"
"You're going to hell." Kurt rolled his eyes and the blonde fell to her knees in laughter. Quinn didn't say anything, she just clutched at her abdomen and let the relentless laughter out. after a full five minutes of laughing she finally calmed down and tried to catch her breath.
"Are you finally done?" Kurt asked, looking down at the blonde. She nodded, but then started chuckling again and shook her head. Kurt let out a deep sigh and grabbed her from the back of her shirt. "Come on, get up, we have to go meet Puck."
"God he is such a moron!" Quinn chuckled.
"Puck?" Kurt asked with a raised eye brow.
"Finn!" She corrected. "He got her blue roses, Kurt. Blue. Freakin'. Roses. You do know what they mean right?"
"Yes, of course I do." Kurt answered, walking back into Rachel's house and turning off the lights.
"That was just freaking hilarious!" Quinn said, taking the spare key out from under the welcome mat. "And he thought it was her favorite color! Everyone knows it's yellow! Plus, roses don't work that way!"
"Yes, yes, we get it, he messed up." Kurt chastised, taking the spare key from her hand, closing the front door and locking it. "Let's not forget Rachel in all of this, she must have been devastated when she saw them, it's a good thing he explained."
"Yeah you're right." Quinn nodded, her laughing dying down to a small smile. "But you have to admit it was pretty funny!"
"Yeah it was kind of funny." Kurt admitted, finally letting out a soft chuckle. "Now come on, let's go! We have to order pizza and make popcorn before Puck gets here and we can enjoy the sexiness that is Orlando Bloom."
"Kiera Knightly." Quinn says, trying badly to hide it behind a cough. Kurt rolled his eyes at her as they started walking to the Fabray household.
"Oh shut up, ya flamin' homo!" Kurt said with a giggle. They walked down the way to her house with their arms linked as they laughed. When they got to Quinn's house they ordered two large pepperoni pizzas and made a big bowl of popcorn. A while later, Puck arrived and they watched two of the three movies before it got late and the two boys left before Quinn's parents arrived home. The night had been spontaneous but definitely memorable. They laughed as Kurt and Quinn retold the story of the blue flower mishap. They ate, chatted, teased. It was perfect. And halfway through the second movie Quinn's phone buzzed. A new text message from Rachel.
'Hey Q. just got back home, thanks for locking up, date went great! But I'm exhausted, can we talk tomorrow, my feet are killing me and I just want to go to bed.'
Quinn quickly typed in a reply.
'Sure Rach, no problem, I'll call you before I meet up with Puck for practice.'
She hit send and a few minutes later a new reply came through.
'Thanks, goodnight :) xx'
'Goodnight Rach, glad your date went well. Xx' Quinn typed out with a sigh. Kurt knew why, Puck was slightly confused, but if it made his friend this sad out of now where, he didn't want to ruin the night, he just wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in for a side-hug. She may not know why he's hugging her out of nowhere, but at least she'll know he's here for her when she feels ready to talk.
And in the meantime he can make her smile by reminding her how hot Kiera Knightly is.
And Quinn laughed at every joke he made and she forgot all about her troubles.
Because now she was with her best friend and her bro. And this was a time to be happy.
And damn, it was perfect.
A/N: Okay, just a quick note:
For those who don't know, when you give someone a blue rose, it's a polite way of saying 'I like you, but this isn't going to work.'
So yeah, that idea came out of nowhere when I remembered it.
I hope you likes this chapter! Please don't forget to review, because they make me happy and make me want to write more.
And for those who thought the last few sentences were weird and it made the ending of this chapter awkward, I just pulled them out of my ass to close this chapter up and work on the next one, because they were supposed to be one whole thing. So yeah...
Thanks for reading and again, reviews make me feel fluffy inside :)
