Chapter 3 – Truth and Traditions

"Is this even?" Rachel asked.

"It's fine," Kurt replied, glancing over at her.

"I don't want it to be crooked," Rachel said, looking over her shoulder at Kurt. "Your parents entrusted us with decorating and I want to do a good job."

Kurt stopped what he was doing and turned around to look at the garland. "Move it up an inch."

"Better?" Rachel asked after doing what he said.

Kurt nodded. "It's even."

"Thank you," Rachel said, taping it up so it wouldn't fall.

"And it doesn't have to be perfect," Kurt remarked. "If they were that worried about it, they would have decorated a month ago." Kurt set a snow globe on the age of the mantle. "They do this every year. They spend so much time decorating the outside of the house and the tree that they put off the rest of it until it's time to have the Christmas party and then they make me, Finn, and Quinn do it because they're too busy with everything else."

"So—Quinn was here last year, too?" Rachel asked, looking back at him.

"Finn never told you about her, did he?" Kurt asked.

"No," Rachel said, stepping off the stool.

"I guess I'm not surprised," Kurt remarked.

"Why do you say that?" Rachel wondered.

"He's probably still embarrassed by what he did," Kurt said with a shrug.

"What he did?" Rachel replied questioningly.

Kurt tossed the garland he was holding onto the couch and walked toward Rachel. "I figured he must have told you by now, but I guess not, so I'll tell you. Quinn moved in here our senior year of high school."

Rachel frowned. "Why did she do that? Did something happen to her parents."

"They kicked her out," Kurt said, shaking his head. "Okay, you know Finn and Quinn dated in high school, right?"

"Yes, he said she was his ex-girlfriend," Rachel replied.

"Well, they were the king and queen of the school for nearly two years," Kurt explained. "Finn was the quarterback and she was the head Cheerio. Then, one day, they just broke up. No one knew why; Finn wouldn't even tell me."

"What does that have to do with her moving in here?" Rachel wondered.

"I'm getting there," Kurt replied, waving her off. "It happened during one of our Glee Club meetings. We were all there and Finn was arguing with Santana about something. I don't even know remember what they were going on about, but she was goading, as usual."

"Santana?" Rachel asked.

"She was one of the other Cheerios," Kurt explained. "She, Quinn, and this other girl, Brittany, were the three most popular girls. Quinn wasn't always nice, but Santana was the biggest bitch in the school. Really, you'd have to meet her to understand. Santana Lopez cannot be properly explained."

"Okay, this girl Santana was goading Finn," Rachel said.

"Yes, well, Finn said something he wasn't supposed to," Kurt said, pausing for what Rachel assumed was dramatic effect. "He outed Quinn."

"Outed as in—"

"As in she's a lesbian and that's why they broke up," Kurt said, nodding. "I'm only telling you this now because everyone knows; she isn't exactly in the closet now and would tell you if you asked her. At the time, however, only Finn knew. Everyone was shocked; at first, I thought he was wrong, but then I saw the look on Quinn's face. She was in complete shock and looked terrified. It didn't take long for the whole school to hear about it and word to get back to her parents."

"So they kicked her out just like that?" Rachel asked.

"From what I've heard, they were both very strict Christians, so their daughter being gay wasn't something they would tolerate," Kurt replied.

"She stayed at Brittany house for a few days, and then Finn confessed to Carole about what he did. She made him immediately call Quinn and tell her she could live here. At first, she declined, but he begged her to move in. I think he was hoping it would make him feel less guilty about it. She sort of became another family member, so she comes here for the holidays."

"That's—" Rachel shook her head. She couldn't imagine being kicked out by her family like that. She knew it happened, but she'd never actually met anyone that had experienced it. She just couldn't fathom what it would be like to not have unconditional love from her parents. To be afraid that they would disown you if they didn't like something you did or even who you were.

"Has she ever spoken to her family again?" Rachel wondered.

"Not that I know of," Kurt replied.

"I can't imagine how hard that must have been for her," Rachel said. "I wonder why Finn didn't tell me."

"Like I said, I think he still feels bad about it," Kurt replied. "His mom was really mad at him for it."

"Did Quinn ever forgive him?" Rachel asked.

"I think so," Kurt said. "They're not that close, but they're not exactly unfriendly. I know he's apologized multiple times. He even performed songs during Glee saying how sorry he was." Kurt paused for a moment. "He likes you, you know? He probably didn't want you thinking less of him if you knew."

"Well, I can't say I'm happy to hear what he did, but people do make mistakes," Rachel replied.

"Sometimes Finn doesn't think before he speaks," Kurt stated.

"I've noticed," Rachel said, smiling slightly. "I wish he'd told me, though. I've been wondering for the past few days why she was here, but I was afraid to ask anymore."

"Well, now you know," Kurt said, picking up the garland he'd previously discarded.

"Now I know," Rachel whispered, thinking about Quinn, and how horrible it must have been to go through such an ordeal.

Rachel was looking out of the living room window when she heard someone walk into the room. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that it was Quinn, who she gave a smile to. With a soft sigh, she looked back toward the window, enjoying the calm outside. It had begun snowing again, so there were very few people driving on the streets, which were now blanketed.

Living in New York City, she was no stranger to the snow, but she very rarely got to stand by her window and enjoy it there. Here, however, everything looked so pristine and quiet. There weren't hundreds of people walking along the sidewalks and cars bumper to bumper on the streets. As much as she loved the energy of the city, sometimes it was nice to just get away. To go somewhere that wasn't so hectic and crowded.

"See anything interesting out there?" Quinn asked.

"No," Rachel said, smiling to herself, and then looking over her shoulder at the blonde. "That's why I'm enjoying it."

"I imagine it's different than your usual view," Quinn commented.

"Quite," Rachel replied, turning around so she could properly talk to Quinn. "Have you ever been to New York?"

"Once," Quinn answered. "Just for a day, though."

"It's nice here," Rachel said. "Don't get me wrong, I love New York City and can't imagine living anywhere else in the world, but every now and then it's kind of nice to get away. Especially around this time of the year. My fathers once rented a cabin for the holidays and it's still once of my favorite memories. I think it was the first time I really got to play in the snow. We built a snowman that was bigger than me, which I guess is saying a lot considering my short stature, but it's something I'll never forget."

"I had a Christmas like that," Quinn replied. "Usually my grandmother came to Lima, but one year we went to her house in Illinois. I think it was the last year my sister was still living at home. She went to college the next fall, and then she would only visit Christmas Day and spend the rest of the time with her boyfriend's, now her husband's, family. But it was the one Christmas I remember having fun. At least while I was growing up."

Even if Rachel didn't know Quinn that well, she could still detect the sadness in her eyes as she spoke about her family. She wished there was something she could do to make it better, but she knew it was one of those things that could never be made better. Maybe the hurt of it would ease a bit over time, but she knew that feeling of rejection would probably never go away for Quinn, and Rachel hated that. She hated that anyone would ever be made to feel that way.

"Are you parents enjoying their cruise?" Quinn asked after a few moments of silence.

"Oh, yes," Rachel said. "I received a very enthusiastic email last night from them. I'm actually a little jealous of them after seeing the pictures."

"What made them go during the holidays?" Quinn wondered.

"Their thirtieth anniversary is on Sunday," Rachel replied.

"Wow," Quinn said. "That's a long time."

Rachel smiled and said, "Yes, it is. They met their final year of college and have been in love ever since. They were finally able to make it official four years ago. It was nothing extravagant, but all of their loved ones were there. I was the best man for both of them, or the best woman as I liked to call it."

"You're lucky you have them," Quinn stated.

"I know," Rachel replied. "I've always known how lucky I am, and as I've gotten older, I've only grown to appreciate them even more. Most of the people I know aren't very close with their parents, which always seemed strange to me while I was growing up, but I've come to realize that not all parents are like mine."

"No, they're definitely not," Quinn remarked.

"Kurt," Rachel paused, unsure of whether or not she should say anything, "he told me about what happened to you in high school. What your parents did." She shook her head. "I'm sorry you had to go through it. I really can't imagine experiencing something like that, especially when you weren't even out of high school."

"Some people have a lot worse," Quinn said, shrugging. "At least I had some place to go."

"I know, but it still must have been scary," Rachel replied before shaking her head. "I'm sorry; this is probably the last thing you want to be reminded of and talk about right now. Sometimes I don't know when to stop talking. Really, it's been a problem since the day I learned to form full sentences. You can even ask my fathers."

Quinn laughed, causing Rachel to smile. Rachel's eyes followed the blonde as she walked up, standing next to her as she looked outside.

"It's beautiful," Quinn said, glancing at her as Rachel turned to look out the window once again. "I've always liked the snow."

"Me too," Rachel replied. "Though, sometimes not as much when I have to walk in it. I have many embarrassing stories, most of which end with me sitting in the snow. In my more spectacular falls, I've even been known to take out those around me."

Quinn laughed again and Rachel breathed a slight sigh of relief. She was afraid she'd made Quinn sad with talk of her parents, and she would gladly regale her with embarrassing stories if it helped. When Quinn looked over at her, though, the sadness seemed to be gone from her eyes.

"People will start arriving soon," Quinn said.

"Okay," Rachel replied. "Does Carole need any more assistance with anything?"

Quinn shook her head. "Everything's ready. You should enjoy the quiet while it lasts."

"I can do that," Rachel said, nodding, and then smiling at Quinn.

After excusing herself from a conversation with an incredibly boring guy, Rachel made her way toward the refreshments. Her mouth was a little dry from talking with so many people, and she needed some water. And possibly to get away from the party for a bit, so she could have a break from talking.

Rachel normally loved taking, especially about herself, but since no one there knew her, she was having the same conversation over and over. Everyone wanted to know where she went to school, which usually led to them asking about her relationship with Finn, and then they would always ask how she liked it in Ohio. Some would ask about living in New York City and she was occasionally asked what she was studying, but for the most part, she'd been answering the same few questions all evening.

"So, I've heard you're Finnept's girlfriend," Rachel heard as she reached for a bottle of water.

"Excuse me?" Rachel asked the dark haired girl.

The girl rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over chest. "Do I need to ask in Spanish?"

"Let me guess, you're Santana," Rachel said, setting the bottle of water on the table.

She hadn't met her yet, but she knew from Kurt that she was at the party. She thought he had exaggerated when talking about her, but she could already tell that he hadn't. And when the other girl narrowed her eyes and began looking her up and down, Rachel had the sudden feeling that she was being judged.

"What's Finnept been telling you about me?" Santana asked.

"Actually I heard about you from both Kurt and Quinn," Rachel replied. "Finn hasn't said anything about you."

"He best not be or I will go all Lima Heights on his ass," Santana said.

Rachel frowned slightly and said, "I have no idea what that means."

"It means he'll get his ass kicked," Santana said, taking a step closer toward her.

"I can assure you that Finn has never said anything negative about you," Rachel assured her. "He's never had anything but good things to say about his former Glee Club friends."

"I thought you were getting me some punch."

"Sorry, Britt," Santana said, and Rachel could see her entire demeanor change.

"Hi," the blonde said. "I'm Brittany. Who're you?"

"Rachel," she replied. "It's nice to meet you, Brittany."

"Oh, you're Finn's girlfriend," Brittany said, smiling at her.

"Actually, Finn and I are just friends," Rachel replied. "Well, we went on a few dates, but we're keeping things simple."

"Me and San did that for a while," Brittany remarked. "She was afraid people would make fun of her if they found out we were having sex. Is that how you feel? Are you afraid people are going to make fun of you for having sex with Finn?"

Despite her darker complexion, Rachel was fairly certain she could see Santana blushing. Rachel was pretty sure she was also blushing, and she was too shocked to answer the other girl, who was just looking at her, obviously waiting for her to say something.

"I—Finn and I have not—we haven't," Rachel shook her head. "I'm not afraid; I simply don't think Finn and I are a good match romantically."

"Why are you here, then?" Brittany asked.

"My fathers were going away for the holidays and Finn didn't want me being alone," Rachel answered.

"Fathers?" Brittany asked.

"I was raised by two men," Rachel explained.

"Oh!" Brittany said. "That's really cool! I hope San and I have kids someday. I know she'd be a really great mom even if she doesn't think so."

"Why don't you go back to the kitchen and I'll bring you that punch," Santana said, clearly trying to get the other girl to stop talking.

"Okay, but make sure you get the red punch, not the blue," Brittany replied before turning to Rachel. "The blue tastes gross and it made me throw up last year."

"I'll keep that in mind if I decide to get some punch," Rachel said.

"Someone spikes the blue punch every year," Santana stated as the blonde walked away. "It'll get you drunk off your ass. Although, Puck isn't here, so it's probably just punch this year."

"From everything I've heard about this Puck guy, I feel as if I should be thankful he isn't here," Rachel commented.

"Only if you don't want to be leered at all night," Santana said with a shrug.

"I could certainly do without that," Rachel replied.

"Hey, guys," Quinn said, coming up to them.

"Hello, Quinn," Rachel greeted, giving her a smile.

"What are you two talking about?" Quinn asked, looking at Santana.

"Relax, Q," Santana replied. "I was just getting Britt some punch."

Quinn hummed and watched Santana as she went about getting a cup and filling it with some of the red punch. Rachel wasn't exactly sure what was going on as she looked between the two girls. It seemed as if Santana was going as slow as possible and Rachel could tell it was probably to annoy Quinn. Eventually, Santana smirked at Quinn and shot Rachel a, "Later, Shorty."

Rachel frowned at the nickname. "I'm not that much shorter than her."

"If you knew what she called everyone else, you'd take it as a compliment," Quinn said, shaking her head. "I saw you two over here and I figured I should probably save you from her."

"She's definitely—" Rachel paused as she tried to think of the right word. "Unique?"

Quinn laughed lightly. "That's one word for her."

"May I ask what Lima Heights is?" Rachel wondered.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "It's the bad side of town. She likes to pretend she's tougher than she is. Not that she hasn't been known to slap people, but it's mostly just talk. She really only becomes violent if you say something bad about Brittany." Quinn glanced down and then looked back up at her. "I should go. I promised Tina I wouldn't leave her alone with Kurt's cousin for long."

Rachel nodded. "I guess we'll see each other later."

"Yeah," Quinn replied.

As she turned and began making her way to the other side of the room, she glanced over her shoulder at Rachel, who gave her a soft smile. When Quinn finally looked away, Rachel turned, grabbed the bottle of water, and then walked off to find somewhere quiet.

"Oh, I love it there!" Rachel said as she talked to Tina, who had finally escaped Kurt's cousin. "I couldn't imagine living anywhere else."

"It must be nice getting to live there," Tina replied. "I've always wanted to go. I've been through it, but I've never got to stop and actually see it."

"You should," Rachel said. "I don't think you've lived until you've seen New York City. There really is no other place like it."

"Maybe I will one day," Tina replied with a smile. "We were all really hoping we'd get to Nationals when it was in New York, but things didn't really work out for us. Our lead singer defected to another school right before Regionals."

Rachel frowned. "That's terrible."

"It definitely put a damper on our performance, and we ended up losing to the Warblers," Tina replied.

"I remember them," Rachel said. "They were okay, but they shouldn't have relied on one singer so much, especially when his voice wasn't that spectacular. In show choir, you're only as strong as your weakest member. If you're going to choose one person to be your star, they need to be able to sing better than everyone else in the competition and he simply wasn't."

Tina laughed and said, "Kurt would be happy to hear you say that."

"Why is that?" Rachel wondered.

"Blaine is Kurt's ex-boyfriend," Tina answered.

"The boyfriend who cheated on him?" Rachel asked.

Tina nodded. "That's him. He left Dalton to join the New Directions the next year, so he could be with Kurt more. He sort of tried to take over the club, which left a lot of people unhappy. We did manage to make it to Nationals with him, though."

"I remember," Rachel replied.

"You were there?" Tina asked.

"Yes, I was in—"

"Oh, wait!" Tina said, interrupting her. "I thought you looked familiar, and I just realized why. You guys won."

"Yes," Rachel confirmed.

"You were amazing," Tina stated. "As soon as you started singing that song, I think most of us knew we were going to lose."

"That's very nice of you to say," Rachel replied.

"Hey, Tina," a guy with blond hair said, throwing his hand up in greeting.

"Hey, Sam," Tina said, receiving a quick hug from him.

"Hey," the guy said, nodding toward Rachel.

"Rachel, Sam," she said, pointing to each of them.

"You're the girl that came with Finn," Sam said.

"Yes, we attend NYADA together," Rachel replied.

"Cool," Sam said, nodding in approval. "You two aren't dating, though, right? He said you're, like, wanting to keep things casual or whatever."

"We are not, no," Rachel said.

"You'll have to excuse Sam's lack of tact," Tina stated.

"What?" Sam asked, shrugging.

"Everyone in the Glee Club always seemed to know each other's business, and nothing has really changed," Tina said. "Sometimes it felt like we were going to high school in one of those teen shows. Everyone dated everyone else, and it was a very strange place sometimes."

"I didn't date everyone," Sam said.

Tina rolled her eyes. "You dated Santana."

"Yeah, but, like, she was just trying to help me get back at Quinn," Sam replied.

"You dated Quinn," Tina continued. "Mercedes, Brittany—"

"Okay, fine, I dated a lot of girls in Glee," Sam said.

"You dated Quinn?" Rachel asked in surprise.

"I didn't turn her gay if that's what you're thinking," Sam said.

"I can assure you I was not thinking that," Rachel replied.

"Oh, well, her and Finn broke up for a little while and I dated her, but then she cheated on me and got back with him," Sam said.

"See what I mean?" Tina asked.

"Hey, where's the rest of the gang?" Sam asked.

"I'm not sure," Tina replied, looking around.

"Help me find them," Sam said.

"It was very nice to meet you both," Rachel said.

"You too," Tina replied before being pulled away by Sam.

Rachel wondered how much longer the party was going to last; everyone had been there for hours and she was starting to get a little exhausted. She couldn't remember the last time she'd met so many new people in one day, and as she walked toward the kitchen, she hoped she wouldn't be stopped by anyone else.

"Hey, Rach," Finn said, coming up behind her as she walked into the short hallway that connected the living room and kitchen.

"Hi, Finn," Rachel replied as she turned around to face him.

"Hey, I was wondering if—"

"Burt's looking for you," Quinn said, walking into the hallway from the kitchen. "Some of the lights are out and he wants you to help him. He's in the garage."

Finn sighed and then looked at Rachel. "I guess I'll talk to you later."

Rachel nodded and then looked at Quinn and said, "Hello again. I wondered where everyone I knew had gone off to."

"Unfortunately, Brittany and Santana trapped me," Quinn said, shaking her head. "I don't know why they think I need to know everything about their sex life."

Rachel laughed. "I have a friend from class who is the exact same way. I know more about her and her boyfriend than I ever wanted to. Of course, maybe I'm just a little envious that they seem so happy and in love."

"Yeah, maybe," Quinn replied.

Rachel started to open her mouth to say something else, but decided against it. Quinn was staring at her intently, and Rachel couldn't help thinking how pretty Quinn's eyes were. She'd noticed that they seemed to vary in color, depending on the lighting, and at the moment they were a beautiful honey color.

"Will you two just make out already?" Santana asked as she passed by, jolting Rachel a bit.

"You guys have to kiss!" Brittany said, pointing above their heads.

Rachel looked up to see what the other girl was talking about and realized they were standing under some mistletoe. She laughed lightly and shook her head as she looked back down, locking eyes with Quinn.

"Well, it is tradition, but you certainly don't have to kiss me," Rachel said.

For a moment, she thought Quinn was going to say something. Instead, Quinn leaned forward, bringing their lips together. Rachel's eyes closed the moment their lips connected, and she put her hands on Quinn's waist to steady herself. But a moment later, Quinn was already pulling away, and Rachel slowly opened her eyes.

"I should see if Finn found Burt," Quinn stated, and Rachel just nodded, unable to really speak.