Apologies, I was away for the weekend and unable to post. I'm so happy you guys liked the texting because that is one of my favorite parts of this story. As always, I hope you enjoy.
I ignore all the stares that tower over me as they pass by, I'm determined to stand my ground, and if that means pitching a tent in the literal sense then so be it. I've been perched in front of Quinn's locker since she ran away from me 30 minutes ago, I'm camped out on the floor and I'm not moving until she comes to retrieve her personal belongings. I'm forcing her to talk to me, and I'm prepared to wait as long as I need to.
The bell sounded two minutes ago and since then I've nearly been trampled over a hundred times, I guess it's appropriate since people don't tend to look down while they walk. I'm sitting Indian style now, I tried apologizing to the senior that I just tripped but she gave me one look and scurried off. I wonder just how big of a stopping order the blonde put out there, I mean if a senior is afraid to interact with me then it must have been pretty big. The halls have thinned out now; people just want to get out of this prison as soon as possible.
"What are you doing Berry?"
I glance up, Quinn is looking down at me, I have to bite my lip, the fluorescent light is outlining her face and she looks like biblical. Now is not the time to admire her beauty. And I don't miss the obvious use of my last name. Her walls are rebuilding themselves.
I scramble to my feet.
"I wish to speak with you" I tell her
She rolls her eyes in a playful manner, "Stalking is illegal" she tells me as she opens her locker.
"Be that as it may, I knew I wouldn't get another chance, you are very strong willed and determined Quinn" I notice her cheeks turn a light crimson before she recovers.
"What does that have to do with anything?" she asks, abandoning her locker search to look at me.
"Well when you put your mind to something, you accomplish it. In this particular case it's avoiding me" I pause a beat to give her ample time to refute my statement, when she doesn't I press on, "Luckily, I'm just as strong willed and determined and I won't allow it"
"Is there a point to all of this?" she asks with some irritation in her voice, though I think that it's more tiredness.
"I have a guest room, it's pretty spacious and it comes with its own bathroom"
"That's nice" she says and looks towards her locker.
"As resolute as you are, you're quite thick headed" I chuckle, she doesn't understand my joke, "I'm asking you to move in with me, well err, you'll have a place to sleep until everything settles at your home"
"Thanks for the offer but I'm good" she continues to study her text books but I know she's stalling so she doesn't have to look at me.
"I can see that you are most certainly not"
"It's none of your concern" she tells me
I know what she's trying to do, I cross my arms over my chest "I'm making it my concern"
She turns to look at me finally, her eyes piercing mine, "Berry back off, I mean it. I don't need to be pitied, I'm fine"
She goes back to her locker, the dance she's doing is angering me.
"Liar" I'm tempted to stick my tongue out at her, I can feel a hissy fit coming on.
She half laughs but is half taken aback "Excuse me?"
"You're lying, you're not fine, you're lost and broken" I point out
"It's not your responsibility to fix me"
"Why can't it be?"
She slams her locker hard, I jump back at the sound and sudden movement, "Look, just drop it okay? I'm not going to be some dumb side project that you can occupy your time with, bedazzling and glittering me to your liking"
I study her face, I don't know if she means those words or if it's the defense mechanisms talking, I'm hurt none the less. My voice drops to nearly a whisper. "Is that what you think of me? What you think of yourself?"
She runs a hand through her hair, shaking her head a centimeter, her eyes open and they're clouded, "I think a whole lot worse"
I take a step towards her, "Quinn, I care about you", I tell her softly, my hand itching to cup her cheek.
I've seemed to have gotten to her, her voice lowers and her eyes droop, "Yeah well, so has everyone else in my life and look where they are now"
My eyes scan her exhausted face, "I'm not the same"
"You will be" she's starting to build back up into the intimidating cheerleader, her voice is getting stronger.
"I'm offended Quinn, I just want to help you" my arms are at my hips now, defiant.
There's a flash of regret in her eyes before fire covers it, "I don't need your help, get it through your head" she all but shouts. And she's back.
She stalks off before I can stop her and just like that she slips back into the persona that I know she hates. I collect myself and my thoughts. I'm not finished with her yet.
I walk to the auditorium where Glee rehearsal is being held today in order to start running through the new number for Invitationals. I'm not myself and I think just about everyone can tell.
"Rachel, you're sharp" Kurt reprimands.
"Whatever" I mumbled, walking off the stage to get a sip of water from the water fountain.
I don't miss the curious eyes on me. I take a few minutes to console myself once I get out into the hallway. I knew that Quinn wouldn't show up to practice, but it doesn't mean I miss her any less. I look down the hallway towards her locker; I want to cry at the exchange that happened between us nearly an hour ago. Throughout the entire conversation I couldn't shake the feeling that I just wanted to hold her again, like I had in our previous alone times. It's incredibly inappropriate to have these feelings for her but they're not going anywhere, they're just getting stronger and stronger with every glance at her. My body aches when she's not around and it aches even more when she's too close to me. I couldn't possibly like her, as more than a friend that is. It's plausible, I mean she is attractive, she can be sensitive when she wants to be, she's a heck of a flirt, and part of me relishes in the feeling that she cares about me. Her behavior towards me has certainly changed over the past couple of days and I can practically see her walls crumbling, she's letting me in. She's as stubborn as me and I love that about her, I love the challenge and she drives me absolutely mad with her 'come here, go away' tact. But she's a monster. I'm ashamed of myself for even attempting to entertain that idea of her, it's exactly what she thinks of herself and I refuse to succumb to her own beliefs of herself. Santana has made it very clear that she cares about me. However, I mustn't base my own feelings off of what she feels for me, I'm positive that they are strictly friendship because she feels desperate, and besides I have to base them off of what I feel for her. And she makes me feel everything, all at the same time. I can't turn my back on her, not without a fight, and I plan on winning it.
"Hi"
I'm brought out of my interior monologue of self discovery. I turn on my heel to greet my intruder.
"Santana, hello…were you forced out here to check on me"
She crosses her arms, and rolls her eyes, "No, I wasn't forced. I wanted to see if you talked to Q, and if you were okay" for a second she sounds genuine and I realize that she is.
I sigh, sitting on the randomly placed bench in the hallway. The same bench that I once shared with Quinn when she was pregnant, if only I knew then what I know now, I wonder if things would have been different.
Santana comes to a stop in front of me. Both of our attention is turned towards the chipper blonde that is coming at us.
"I missed you" Brittany tells Santana and they both smile.
I envy them.
"You guys, I don't know what to do" I whine.
"What happened" Santana asks carefully.
I go into an excruciating detailed account and a play by play of what transpired between the two of us. Luckily I've been trained in dialogue memorization via my many acting classes, and I was even able to properly use the tones that she used with me.
"Bad move Berry" Santana frowns.
I think my frown is bigger than hers.
"Why?"
"Yeah why?" Brittany asks
"Q is a bigger bitch than I am" she starts, okay now my frown is even bigger, "she has enough pride for the three of us" she gestures to Brittany beside her, " and the fact that she told you half the things she already did is mind blowing. She's not just going to surrender and let you 'fix' her, she'll never let it happen. Like I said she has far too much pride, and she's stubborn as shit"
I take in the information, all things I pretty much knew.
"Besides, this is a typical Quinn response. She is just really embarrassed and this is how she acts when she feels this way"
"Why is she embarrassed?" I ask not understanding how someone like Quinn could be embarrassed.
"Um hello…you overhead everything that we were talking about earlier" she reminds me like I didn't know.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, it was just me." I reason, I'm the last person to judge anyone.
"Yeah exactly, just you."
"What does that mean?" I ask
She scoffs, "What does that mean?" she's mocking me, I can tell how she's bobbing her head and rolling her eyes. And I don't sound that whiney in real life.
"Yeah" I shrug, "so I overheard, big deal" I look back and forth between them.
"Big deal?" Santana looks like her eyes are about to pop out of her head, she calms herself and looks to Brittany, I think she just realized what I've been trying to tell her, that I don't know what she's talking about, "Do you seriously not know?" she asks a little more slowly, studying me.
"Know what?" I'm a little more than alarmed now.
Is Quinn sick? Is she dying? She has a disease, oh my god she's pregnant again, that's it.
I stop once I see that Santana's eyes are literally popping out of her head now, Brittany is looking at me with a knowing smile.
"Berry you have to be the biggest moron I've ever met." Her thumb and pointer cradle the bridge of her nose in irritation, or maybe I'm giving her a headache.
"I beg your pardon!" I stand quickly, "Can I contest that statement?" I ask offended.
"Quinn likes you." She blurts out, she grabs my shoulders and gives me a small shake, "Quinn. Likes. You. And I think you're the only one who can't see it. She's embarrassed you heard everything because she likes you, like a lot"
"Me?" I point to myself, she lets go of my shoulder, "Quinn likes me…me…Quinn…she likes me?" I'm stuttering.
"Um yeah that's what I just said" Santana replies
"Me?" I ask one more time.
"Oh for Christ's sake" she sits me down on the bench again, good thing because my knees are wobbling, "Get a hold of yourself"
"Aw San, this is exciting!" Brittany claps
Santana gives her a small smile, maybe agreeing, I can't be sure I'm hyperventilating.
"You're sure?" I ask
She rolls her eyes again, "Let's see, she told you like a lot of deep personal things that she won't even tell me, she practically foams at the mouth at the thought of someone hurting you, she doesn't shut up about you and I'm pretty sure she hangs on every word you say. She has you so high up on a pedestal that my neck will snap if I try to look up at you, I'd say she likes you a pretty damn lot" Santana breathes out.
"Wow"
"What are you going to do about it?" she asks once I've calmed down.
I close my mouth, "I don't know, I haven't thought about it. I suppose I should go find her" I begin to stand.
"Where is she?" Brittany asks
I sit back down, "I have no idea" I reply feeling dejected.
"Well find out" Santana snaps
I sigh, running a hand through my hair, "She'll never answer my phone call" I tell them.
"Hmm, that's funny"
I look up, "What?"
"The Rachel Berry I know wouldn't give up that easily, and I sure as hell know that Quinn's Rachel Berry wouldn't give up that easily either." She gives me a pointed look, effectively getting under my skin.
My heart pounds when I hear her refer to me as one of Quinn's possessions. I jump up, game face on.
"Well played Lopez"
The doorbell is generic, and cold. It makes me miss the musical chime at my own house, so welcoming and friendly. I wait a few seconds until I hear small clicks on the hardwood floor. The wooden door opens half way to reveal a woman that resembles the girl I'm after.
"Hello, may I help you?" she asks
I look away from her firm wrinkles, the botox didn't work, and focus on her cold grey eyes, they make me shiver. They're nothing like her daughters.
"Hi, my name is Rachel Berry, I'm a friend of your daughters" I tell her, pleasantly holding out my hand.
She looks surprised, I wonder how many friends Quinn has had to her home.
"Of course, it's nice to meet you. Please come in" she gestures into the foyer. I nod my thanks and step inside.
It's a bit chilly, there's a blatant absence of life. This is a house, it's by no means a home.
"Quinn has told me so much about you" she tells me with a tight smile.
I somehow doubt that. While it's clear that Quinn will talk about me to whoever will listen, I don't believe that she's spoken anything but cordial greetings to her mother for some time now. She's programmed to say this I'm sure.
"She's too kind. Is she here?" I ask
She gives me a sad smile, "I'm afraid you just missed her"
I'm slightly shocked.
"So she was here?" I ask for clarification.
"Yup, she left about 10 minutes ago, she's been working so hard to get her grades back up, she went to the library to meet with her study group"
I doubt her grades were ever down to begin with. I want to scowl at this woman for knowing nothing about her daughter.
"Do you know what time she'll be back?" I ask
Mrs. Fabray studies me, I try to look harmless.
"I only ask because we were supposed to work on an assignment together, I must have gotten the times mixed up"
Way to think on your feet Berry.
She puts the end of her glasses in her mouth in contemplation, her other hand rests on her hip.
"Well, she said she'd be late again. She comes in after I go to sleep, and she's up and out before I wake in the morning. I tell you, she's done a complete one-eighty now that she's back home, I'm so proud of her" she gushes.
I try to fight the urge to roll my eyes. This woman knows nothing. I'm sadder than I thought I would be.
A breeze enters the house and it sends a shiver up my spine, I tense at the sound.
"Hello, Hello"
I don't turn around right away because his voice alone scares me. How could Quinn live in a house such as this.
"Who do we have here?" the man asks.
"Oh forgive my manners" Mrs. Fabray speaks up gesturing to me, "This is Rachel, she's a friend of Quinn's"
"Well it's nice to meet you" he holds his hand out to me.
I begrudgingly shake it, I have the strongest urge to wipe my palm on my skirt but I push it down. I study the man, his eyes are even colder, and I can tell he's pure evil. How they raised such a thoughtful and caring daughter is beyond me. I think to how Quinn used to be and not an ounce of resentment comes to me as I think about who the people she has to call family are.
I give him a smile and announce my exit. They both see me out with fake smiles of their own and I've never been happier to leave someplace. Once I get to my car, I pull out my cell phone. After two rings it picks up.
"Was she there?" Santana's voice comes through the phone.
"No, she's sneaky. She was here 10 minutes ago, she must come here for a little, gets what she needs and gets out" I tell her as I sanitize my hands.
"Damn her" Santana hisses
"Her father showed up, that must be why she leaves so quickly"
"You met Russell?" she gasps
I shiver thinking back to it. I put some more sanitizer in my palm.
"I do not want to talk about that man, eck. Or that mother of hers, she doesn't even know that Quinn isn't sleeping at home"
"It doesn't surprise me" Santana says sadly, "Here talk to Brit, I'm driving"
There's some ruffling until I'm met with the cheery voice of Brittany.
"How are things on your end?" I ask
She sighs, "We just drove by Puck's, her car isn't there either" she tells me.
I'm slightly relieved that it's not.
"Was that the last place?" I ask
"Yeah, we checked all the glee member's houses, she's not staying at any of them"
I close my eyes and look up, out of options.
"Are you heading back to Santana's?" I ask.
"Yup, meet us there. Oh wait, San wants you"
There's more ruffling. I feel like crying, I have not a thought as to where this girl could be. I've only went through our text messages a thousand times, if I don't think of something soon I'm just going to travel to one of the dream locations and camp out until she comes to find me.
"Don't worry, We're going to find her okay?" Santana's soft voice comes through the receiver.
It's exactly what I need.
I throw the car in drive and get to Santana's house just as the girls are getting out of their car. Brittany greets me with a hug as we walk up the pathway to the Latina's house. We get to her room and all crash on various chairs or the bed.
After learning that Quinn likes me, all I want to do is hold her. The fact that it's seemingly impossible to do right now is literally eating me alive.
The sun is nearly setting now and it makes me panic, the dark makes everything seem ten times worse. The thought of Quinn out there by herself makes my heart ache. I know exactly what I'm going to do once I find out where she is. I've already told my father's the situation, and I grabbed the necessary items that I'll need. I just hope that I can get to her. My eyes train over various decorations and items around the room, it's similar to Brittany's, the pictures deck her furniture and the trophies and pom-poms on the shelves are starting to feel familiar, I imagine Quinn's room looking the same. I bet it's the only place in her entire house that I would feel comfortable in. I would feel comfortable in any room if Quinn was beside me. I can't believe that I would ever feel this way.
I look at some of the pictures before moving on to the bookcase, books that I've never even heard of adorn the shelves. Some of the books I have read and I'm surprised that they are even in her home.
"I didn't realize you were an avid reader" I tease her
"Shut up" she replies, but all in fun for once.
I run my fingers across the books, stopping on one and pulling it out.
"Oh my god, I've got it" I announce, holding the book up.
"The Art of War Berry? What, are we going to attack her until she surrenders?"
Luckily I've read this book in preparation to take down any competition during auditions.
I shake my head, "Why do you have this book?" I ask
She shrugs, "Coach Sylvester gives it to you once you join the squad, we sometimes have pop quizzes on it"
"Do you know why she requires it?"
"I don't know, so we can understand strategy and can exploit people's weaknesses so we get what we want" she gestures, realization soon gracing her features.
"Exactly."
She points to me, "You're her weakness"
God, I love the sound of that.
"I don't get it" Brittany raises her hand.
"Think of Quinn being in a well hidden and well stocked fort, there's no way to get to her right?"
Brittany nods.
"So we need to draw her out" Santana tells her, "We use Berry to get to Quinn"
"How do we do that?" Brittany asks
"Oh I know exactly what will make her blood boil enough to pull her out of hiding" Santana says evilly.
Yes I understand that I'm also evil in leaving it here. You'll enjoy the next chapter, promise. :-)