A/N: This chapter contains flashbacks. Happier flashbacks to give a little bit of a break to all the drama.
Don't really have much else to say here, but to enjoy the happy/sappy romance. Just some random flashbacks about happy little moments together. There's one where you get an idea of how Quinn and Rachel got together. Wanted something nicer and more friendly, since it is Christmas in the story.
The First 24
Chapter 5
She groaned when a bright light hit her eyes. It was obvious that someone forgot to pull the blinds shut the night before. The light beating on the freshly fallen snow was almost blinding. "Quinn." She whined. Her head turned to face her wife and buried itself against her chest. When the woman didn't move she sat up some. "Quinn!"
"W – what?" Quinn's voice was dry, full of fatigue.
"Close the blinds baby."
The blonde just groaned. Instead of getting up though, she just rolled to face away from the window. "You go close the blinds. Light's not bothering me."
"Quinn! Please."
"Nope." The blonde's eyes never once opened. She was rather content with staying just where she was. A smirk came to her lips when she heard her wife huff and felt her shuffle out of bed.
Rachel made her way out from under the blankets and hurried to the window. She paused to look at the city streets below. Life was perfect. Her and Quinn had been married just over six months. They'd been in the same apartment since moving to New York right out of high school. That was almost five years ago.
"Baby…" Quinn rolled onto her back with a huff. "Hurry up, I'm cold"
The brunette laughed softly. Once she closed the blinds she stalked back toward the bed. She waited until Quinn's eyes were closed again before she flopped down on top of the unsuspecting woman. "Good morning."
Quinn lazily wrapped her arms around the smaller woman. "Morning." She forced her eyes to open again, this time with a smile on her face. "We're not going back to sleep are we?" Her wife shook her head. "Fine." The blonde leaned forward to place her lips to Rachel's.
"Merry Christmas Mrs. Berry-Fabray." Just saying those words together for the first time made her smile.
"And Merry Christmas to you Mrs. Berry-Fabray." Quinn started to kiss along Rachel's neck. "Even though you don't celebrate it."
"I do too!"
"Only for me though."
Rachel climbed out of the bed and grabbed both hers and Quinn's robes. "Of course it's only for you. Come on, I'll make you a traditional vegan Jewish breakfast for Christmas."
Quinn burst into laughter. That had to have been the most absurd statement she'd ever heard her wife say to her. "Oh I love you Rachel."
Rachel ran after Quinn. The hallways of McKinley were vacant. She couldn't believe what she'd just seen. "Quinn wait!"
"Go away Berry!" Quinn was mortified. It was bad enough that Santana and Brittany knew of her habits, but now Rachel knew. Rachel of all people knew her secret.
"Quinn, can we talk about it?"
"Go away Berry!" Quinn repeated louder than before. She barricaded herself in a stall in the bathroom.
Rachel didn't give up though. After what she'd seen she couldn't just let it go. "Are you gay Quinn?" The only response she got was more tears. "Quinn?"
"What?" She snapped.
"Are you?"
Quinn sat on the toilet seat. Her head fell to her hands as she cried. "I don't know what you're talking about Yentl."
"There's nothing to be ashamed of Quinn. It doesn't matter that you're gay." Rachel was still attempting to get the images out of her head. She'd forgotten one of her books inside her gym locker. She walked into the locker room just in time to see Quinn's back arch off the bench as she had an orgasm. Compliments of Santana's mouth on her most sensitive areas. What she couldn't shake though, was hearing her own name on the blonde's lips.
"I can't be gay Rachel. I just can't." Quinn's sobs had subsided, but she still refused to exit the stall. The object of her affection had just found out her secret and was confronting her about it.
"There's nothing wrong with it Quinn."
"Yes there is!" She finally flung open the door and came in eye contact with the tiny diva. "If I'm gay, then I'll have no place to live. My parents will kick me out. I'll lose everything."
"It hasn't affected Brittany and Santana."
Quinn stepped closer to the brunette. "You don't get it Rachel. Not everybody can have loving, caring parents like you guys do. I know I won't lose my status here. I'll lose everything at home." She started pacing in the bathroom.
"Why were you doing what you were doing with Brittany and Santana?" Rachel just leaned against the wall. Getting the blonde to open up was going to take baby steps.
"That's none of your concern Berry!" Quinn glared at the girl before making her way toward the door.
"I heard you say my name Quinn…"
That stopped the Cheerio dead in her tracks. "Whatever you heard was wrong."
"Do you like me Quinn?"
Quinn could just feel the tears coming back to her eyes. There it was. There was no turning back now. She had two options. Tell Rachel the truth and stop lying to herself, or lie to Rachel and keep living in misery. She lowered her eyes. Coming clean meant she couldn't look at her. "Yea…"
Rachel didn't know what possessed her in those six short steps to get her body pressed against Quinn's. She didn't think, she just acted on impulse. Her hands slid around Quinn's neck. Their eyes met for just a brief moment before their lips met in the middle.
"And what is wrong with red?" Quinn was beyond frustrated now. They'd been in the same spot for almost a half an hour.
"It reminds me too much of blood. Now put them back this instant Quinn." Rachel stooped down to pull a set of sheets from the bottom shelf. "What about these?"
The blonde's face fell. "They're yellow."
"You're point? Quinn Fabray I happen to like the color yellow, it's bright and cheerful. Unlike how you're acting right now."
"Rachel, it reminds me of your room back in Lima." Quinn's hands gripped the handle of the shopping cart. She really hated shopping for anything that wasn't clothing or food. They'd spent far too long in the department store and her stomach was starting to make its presence known to her.
Rachel's arms folded over her chest. "And please enlighten me as to what was so wrong with my room in Lima."
"It reminded me of Big Bird's room." Quinn smirked. It was so easy to get her girlfriend riled up.
"I resent that!" She threw the sheet set back onto the shelf. "What about the lavender ones? They'll match perfectly with our bedding ensemble."
The blonde rested her arms on the cart's handle and leaned against it, watching her love rifle through the different colors. "Whatever you want is fine. Rachel I'm really hungry."
"Quinn Fabray, this cannot be a decision left solely to me. You have to sleep on these sheets just as much as I do. I do not want you going to bed every night regretting the color that you allowed me to choose for us."
"What's so wrong with the ones on the bed now?"
"Nothing, but we need another set, we can't just continue to use the same sheets every day of our lives together."
Quinn's stomach was starting to eat itself by that time. Couldn't they just take a break, get some food, then continue this domestic shopping spree in another store? "Fine, I like the lavender ones."
"Now you're just saying that so we can get out of here." Rachel huffed before putting them back and picking up the yellow ones again. "I like these."
"I do too." Quinn spoke automatically. She didn't care of the sheets were pink with lime green polka dots. All she currently cared about was getting some food in her stomach. She sighed when she noticed the look on the shorter woman's face. "Fine, let's do this. You get your yellow ones, and I'll get my red ones." She couldn't stop her smile from taking over her face when she saw Rachel's eyes light up. Why hadn't she just offered that to begin with? "Now can we go get something to eat? I'm seriously starving here Rach."
"That is not my fault. You're the one who chose not to eat breakfast before we left this morning. Now…" She grabbed the front of the cart and led Quinn out of the aisle and into another one, "we need to find curtains for the living room."
All Quinn could do was groan. They were never going to get out of there.
December 25 – 11:00 AM
-5 days, 17 hours missing-
Rachel was pleasantly surprised when she woke up. It was the first time since Quinn vanished that her dream hadn't been ransacked by nightmares of her wife's death. She smiled softly as she ran her hand over the sheets. The red ones. The same red ones that Quinn wanted to buy all those years ago. The blonde had insisted they put them on the bed because of the Christmas holiday. But for once, instead of crying over the thought of Quinn, she smiled a little bit more. Quinn was always like a big kid on Christmas. Her and Brittany shared the same enthusiasm for the holiday.
Out of routine she reached for the wedding picture on her nightstand and clutched it to her chest as she stood up and made her way downstairs to see what Brittany and Santana were up to. When she turned the corner however, her heart broke some at the sight of the normally bubbly blonde just sitting silently on the floor in front of the tree.
The entire room was quiet as she just looked at the unlit Christmas tree. Christmas was supposed to be a happy time. But how could it be happy when there was someone they loved who was missing. Quinn's disappearance was putting a strain on all of them. Rachel barely talked to either of them. Her and Santana hardly talked unless it was about Rachel or Quinn.
Overall, it was a horrible situation.
"Britt… what are you doing?" Rachel finally spoke after a few moments of silence.
"Just looking at your tree."
The brunette forced a sad smile. "You can turn it on. It… It is Christmas…" A real smile threatened her lips when she saw Brittany's sudden excitement. While she was busy finding the switch to turn the tree's lights on, she noticed the absence of a certain Latina. "Where's Santana?"
Brittany sat back on the floor once she flipped the switch on. "She had to go home to get stuff. She should be back any minute though."
As if on cue Santana walked through the front door carrying a few bags. Each of them was full of gifts. "Hey guys." The Latina frowned some when she saw the look on Rachel's face. She felt bad for going home to get their own presents. Brittany loved Christmas and Santana found herself torn. She wanted to keep her wife happy but she didn't want to upset her friend any more than she already was.
"You two enjoy your Christmas." Rachel was close to tears. Her voice was barely above a whisper. Before she was able to get out of the living room, Brittany grabbed her hand to stop her.
"Rach, we got you something." Brittany hurried to the bags that her wife had brought in. After digging through them she pulled out a small box.
The tiny diva tried to let herself smile when Brittany handed her the gift wrapped in a paper covered in little ducks. "Thanks guys." She was genuine with her words. "But I'm not opening anything until Quinn comes home." She placed the gift under the tree before going back to her bedroom to give her friends time to celebrate the holiday alone.
December 25 – 7:00 PM
-6 days, 1 hour missing-
She bit her bottom lip to the point that it bled. Her body hurt in ways it had never hurt before. She knew her left eye was swollen shut, she hadn't been able to see anything out of it for three days. Or what she thought was three days. Honestly, she'd lost all track of time in her dark prison cell. She felt it hard to breath. The warm sensation she felt on her ribs told her she may have some broken bones.
"Sleep tight Quinnie dear."
His sickeningly sweet voice made her want to hurl. She just closed her eyes and waited until she heard the door close behind him. The entire time praying that he hadn't noticed the loose chain around her wrists. After she was sure he wasn't coming back she tugged on the chains, effectively freeing her wrists, but not without a cry of pain as her shoulder popped from the sudden movements. The sound of the chains rattling was almost deafening to her ears but she knew she had to keep going, this could be her only chance. Carefully, yet quickly she worked at unhooking the chains from around her ankles, wincing every time the chains clanged together.
With tears streaming down her face she forced herself to stand up. Hands grasping at the wall as she did so on shaking legs. It had been a week since she last used her legs for anything but kicking at Jim. She felt the bruises that covered the insides of her thighs. The bruises that covered her arms as well as her face, neck and chest. She felt them all. Once she was sure she could walk without falling she limped toward the door which she found to not be locked.
She knew she had to hurry. Jim had never left her alone for longer than an hour or two, especially so early in the evening. She made her way through the first floor of the cabin, not really caring that she was still naked. What dignity could she possibly have had left after the things he'd done to her, the ways he violated her. He touched her in ways that even Rachel hadn't touched her.
A quick search around the room marked her escape route. She spotted a coat rack near the door, as well as two pairs of boots below it. Quinn looked down the hallway before hurrying to the rack, grabbing one of the long black overcoats, she struggled to get her arms inside the sleeves. Her bruised and broken body screamed at the new movement and the weight of the coat. Quinn fought through the pain knowing that the coat would be her only protection against the cold. The workman's boots by the door were tattered and far too big for her, the roughness of the insoles scratched at her cut feet but they were easy to slip into and taking one last glance around the room, Quinn fled out the front door. The first thing she was hit with was a blast of ice cold air, the wind bit at her face and bare legs as she willed her tired body to walk into the cold. Off in the distance she could see the sun setting, it would be dark soon and she wouldn't be able to see anything. She had no idea where she was going but she knew she would rather die in the middle of a New York snow storm then by his hand.
She'd soon lost track of how long or how far she'd actually been walking. All she knew was the sun was gone and the moon was rising up. She took a moment to glance up to the sky, snow was starting to fall.
Freezing. She was freezing. The sun had long gone and the only thing she feared now were bears. She wouldn't be able to react if one were to pounce on her. She hurt too much. Her feet could barely carry her anymore. Her legs gave out from under her when she reached a clearing. Quinn desperately tried to get up but she had no strength left. She let out a frustrated and pained scream that echoed around the clearing, she was giving up hope. Instead of trying to get back up and continue walking she curled up into a ball, trying her hardest to regain any body temperature she had left even as she felt the ice cold snow wetting her coat and sinking into to her.
And when her eyes started to close, she didn't fight it. It was her time to go. "I love you Rachel." She whispered in some vain attempt at her wife hearing her.
:) And that's it for chapter...uh...5..yes 5. lol Sorry I'm starting to get jumbled up. Because I'm almost finished with Chapter 9, but I'm posting chapter 5... And yes, I seriously just scrolled up to make sure it was 5.
Anyway, I'm babbling. Don't mind me. I'm a little off today. I had to work this morning from 7a-3p. Which is weird because I usually don't work weekends.
Alright, leave me a review, let me know what you think. And I shall see you in 7 days :D