Chapter 6
The Berrys and Fabrays were up early the next morning for a quick breakfast of bagels and orange juice before they set out to explore the camping area. When Judy inquired as to why it sounded like a hungry bear was in the tent Quinn choked on her bagel and Rachel just looked at the pair, completely confused. She had no recollection of any sound of anything that sounded like a hungry bear. When Quinn quietly whispered to her mother that Rachel snored, the diva let out an offended squeak and was prepared to launch into a full-on rant about how she most definitely did not snore…until her fathers intervened and said they both needed earplugs at night before they sound-proofed Rachel's room.
Even though the pair wasn't really speaking beyond polite "thank you"s and "you're welcome"s, Rachel made sure to pack extra ace-wraps, ice packs, and painkillers in her backpack just in case. The five headed out of the campsite after reassurance from Quinn that she would be fine for the hike and made their way to one of the various trails. Rachel followed behind the three adults and Quinn followed behind her through the winding trail they'd chosen.
Rachel had fallen asleep as Quinn was texting away to Santana, knowing there was no way it was about her. It couldn't have been since the Latina had no idea that Quinn and Rachel were even in the same state. She could hear Quinn behind her as the blonde's footsteps sped up and she was suddenly next to Rachel, watching the ground as she walked.
"Hey," the blonde mumbled.
"Good morning, Quinn."
"Look," Quinn glanced up ahead to the three adults, "can we try the friends thing again?"
Rachel nodded. "I'd like that very much. About yesterday…"
"You're with Finn," Quinn cut her off. "He's an ass and an idiot but you're with him and that's it."
Rachel nodded. She knew Quinn was right. They walked together for the rest of the day, stopping for lunch and to ice Quinn's knee for a while. Rachel checked her phone during lunch to see a few texts from Finn and she hesitantly opened them, expecting plenty of "dirty" messages.
Love u. (Sent 11:53pm)
Thinkin about u. (Sent 8:03am)
Rly wish u were here. (Sent 8:45am)
Rachel arched an eyebrow at the uncharacteristically sweet messages from her boyfriend. She should've been happy about it but something tingled her spine and said she should probably be a little disturbed. It didn't bother her like it should have that she didn't really want to respond. She tossed her phone back in her bag and sat down next to Quinn, shivering a bit when their bare arms brushed together.
"Finn?"
Rachel nodded. "Uncharacteristically sweet messages."
"Huh."
"It disturbs me a little. Don't feel as though you need to answer but when he was suddenly and especially nice to you was there…anything going on?"
Quinn's answer almost made Rachel's heart stop; partially in guilt and partially in confirmation.
"Only when he cheated on me."
There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Quinn wrapped her arm around Rachel's shoulders and gave a light squeeze. Rachel sighed and rested her head on the blonde's shoulder. Even though she almost didn't care about the entire situation, she couldn't help but wonder who it was. Who Finn would cheat on her with. She felt a bit like she deserved it; after all, she had been the one Finn had kissed (more than once) when he was dating Quinn and supposedly the father of her child. In all fairness, though, Quinn had also cheated. There was so much drama, so much infidelity, so much chaos.
"This is giving me a headache," Rachel mumbled.
"You want some Tylenol?"
"I want," Rachel paused and glanced up at Quinn, "the drama to stop."
She'd almost said it. She'd almost said out loud, "I want you" but the filter between her brain and mouth had taken that moment to kick in (probably for the first time in her life, she thought).
"Me, too."
Rachel wished that Quinn's response came because the blonde could read minds.
The rest of the day was a blur. Rachel's mind was running about a million miles a minute. It was no longer a question of if she broke up with Finn, but when. Her mind wandered back to the question he'd asked at the beginning of the summer and she could only speculate until it was confirmed, innocent until proven guilty, but she should've seen it. And beyond that, she was going to be spending the rest of the summer with Quinn. Quinn. The very thought of the blonde made her cheeks turn rosy and the smallest of a smile appear on her lips.
When they got back to the campsite, they collectively decided to play a few rounds of poker to pass the time until dinner. Rachel insisted on icing Quinn's knee yet again because the blonde had whimpered as soon as she sat down and started rubbing her knee. For dinner they each constructed their own out of fresh vegetables and meat (for everyone except Rachel, of course) they had kept in the cooler. They made their own foil packets and tossed them in the coals of the fire and played a few more rounds of poker.
Rachel again forwent her vegan diet to indulge in S'mores. For a while, at least, she forgot about the drama and instead she sat with Quinn next to the fire and giggled and talked with her dads and Judy.
"The berry patch opens next week, I think," Michael said, staring down at his toasting marshmallow. "It looks fun."
Rachel nodded. "I'd like that."
"Sounds like fun," Quinn said with a smile. "I love a good berry." She nudged the brunette next to her and Rachel broke out into a fit of giggles that suddenly turned into shrieks of terror when her marshmallow caught fire. Quinn grabbed the stick out of her hand and started blowing out the fire, leaving behind a gooey mess.
"I'm not eating that," Rachel said, eyebrow arched at the charred marshmallow.
"Oh come on, it's better this way."
"I might as well just eat burned wood, Quinn."
Rachel watched as Quinn rolled her eyes and scooped half of the charred marshmallow off the stick and licked it off of her fingers. She shifted a little when Quinn continued sucking the goo off of her fingers.
"Just try it," Quinn said, nudging the brunette.
Rachel nodded absentmindedly and scooped up the rest of the burned marshmallow and licked it from her fingers. The ash taste was a little weird but she had to admit, it wasn't bad. It would take some getting used to but it could work.
After a fit of giggles following one of her daddy's lame jokes, Rachel's laughter was cut short by the familiar sound of "Defying Gravity" blaring from her phone. She knew who was calling her and she also knew it was time to face whatever was going to come. She quietly excused herself from the campfire, Quinn patted her shoulder as she got up, and she zipped herself up in the tent before answering her phone.
"Hi, Finn."
"Hey baby, I haven't heard from you. I miss you."
"I'm sure you do."
"So I was totally on like level fifty last night, right? And then Puck…"
Rachel sighed. It was now or never. "I think it would be best if we discontinued seeing each other."
There was silence before Finn growled.
"What, did you meet some guy up there? You cheat on me or something?"
"I have not cheated on you. What about you? What was it you asked me? The one about separate area codes?"
"That…that was just a…a question!"
"Did you or did you not cheat on me?"
"I can explain, okay? I…there was this party…"
Rachel shook her head. "It's over. Have a nice summer with whomever you've found more attractive than the idea of monogamy and fidelity, Finn."
"Rach-"
"Goodnight."
Rachel shut her phone and dried the rogue tears out of her eyes that had managed to escape during the exchange. She kept thinking that she was ready for this, she didn't care, she didn't want Finn anymore…but the heartbreak, no matter what Rachel had previously thought, hurt. She took a few minutes to compose herself before exiting the tent and returning to the campfire. She roasted another marshmallow and shared a s'more with Quinn and the pair sang a few songs together at Judy's request. Rachel knew her performance was sub-par because of the lack of warm-ups and the fact that her heart wasn't in it but being the star she was, she never missed an opportunity for performance.
When the campfire started to die down the five turned into bed. Rachel took her time getting dressed on purpose and waited until she was certain that Quinn and Judy were asleep before heading back outside with her blanket and sitting in front of the campfire. She drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them and stared at the flames until another body joined her and wrapped a sleeping bag around her shoulders then sat and pulled the brunette in close.
"Hey," Rachel whispered softly.
"Hey."
XXXXXXXXXX
Quinn wasn't intentionally trying to get Rachel to break up with Finn. She just knew that the diva would be better off without him. Hell, he'd cheated on Rachel twice. She ignored the screaming hypocrite side of herself that said she'd cheated on Finn and didn't deserve Rachel, either. She did know, though, that whether or not Rachel chose her over Finn that she was going to be there to pick up the pieces and she was going to be Rachel's friend.
When Rachel started talking about the unexpected messages from Finn, Quinn would've known why even if Santana hadn't told her about it. They were seen by a drama-loving Cheerio freshman going into the auditorium together and Finn was seen leaving alone with that look on his face. An hour after Quinn got a few texts from Finn telling her that he loved her.
The only thing Quinn could think of to do (that would be appropriate, that is) to comfort her friends was to wrap an arm around Rachel's shoulders and silently let her know she was going to be there. When Rachel paused after, "I want" and caught Quinn's gaze momentarily she momentarily thought she knew what Rachel would finish the sentence with. She was wrong…but her response wasn't to what Rachel said, it was to what Quinn wanted her to say.
The remainder of the hike was a little painful, Quinn's knee would throb if she'd step or twist wrong. Rachel was a little off in her own little world, Quinn understood. They both needed a little time to think for different reasons. Rachel kept playing caretaker when they got back to camp and during the poker game. Quinn just smiled and rolled her eyes playfully and let Rachel do what she wanted. It was pretty adorable, the blonde had to admit.
Rachel's laugh…they were sitting by the fire and Rachel was genuinely laughing and it was one of the greatest sounds Quinn had ever heard. Almost better than Rachel singing, which also happened thanks to Quinn's mother. There were s'mores and laughing and Bruce's lame jokes and then…then Rachel's phone rang. When Rachel emerged from the tent she was a little quieter and sat a little closer to Quinn than before and the blonde had to seriously fight off the urge to gather up her friend in her arms and tell her everything would be okay. She and her mother had just reconciled all of their previous problems, adding on top of that Quinn's crush on her friend and it would be insane. Quinn could almost hear the conversation that Judy would strike up with Bruce and Michael about that.
Quinn was exhausted, her knee hurt, and she could've really used a good night's rest. However, when Rachel snuck out of the tent, all of Quinn's needs went away. She slipped her shoes on and grabbed her sleeping bag, following Rachel close behind. She watched for a few minutes as Rachel stared at the flames; the flickering light was illuminating Rachel in a way that made the girl look like she was glowing. The bright orange bounced off of her shimmering hair and Quinn smiled a little as she quietly made her way to the campfire. She draped the open sleeping bag around Rachel's shoulders and moved to sit next to her.
"Hey," Rachel whispered.
"Hey."
Quinn wrapped an arm around Rachel's shoulders and pulled her in close to her side. Rachel immediately settled her head on Quinn's shoulder and scooted herself as close to the blonde as she could quite possibly get without being on top of her. Quinn stared at the flames for a while, the crackles and sparks mesmerizing her.
"I'm not an easy person to love, I suppose," Rachel said with a sigh. "I will admit I'm high maintenance and sometimes I do things in my best interest without thinking of others…but why do they always have to hurt me?"
"I'm so sorry, Rachel."
"My dads are the only ones that haven't hurt me…and I've hurt them. It's like…everything I touch falls apart."
"I understand," Quinn said with a slight nod. She felt Rachel's head shift and she could feel the girl's eyes on her. Quinn took a shallow breath and turned to face the brunette; Rachel's eyes were glossed over with fresh tears, one of which spilled over. Quinn didn't even know what she was doing until she saw her own hand come up to wipe away the escaped droplet of water.
"I guess the best I can hope for is someone to pick up the pieces."
"Or someone that won't break," Quinn tucked a loose strand of hair back from Rachel's face, "someone who won't break you."
Much to Quinn's dismay, Rachel turned her head back to the fire and resumed her original position with her head on the blonde's shoulder. They sat until the fire dwindled down to almost nothing and Rachel started nodding off a little. Quinn tugged her up and pulled her back to the tent, going in as quietly as possible, and settling into bed. Rachel immediately turned with her back to Quinn and the blonde cautiously reached out and placed a hand on Rachel's waist. When there was no response Quinn moved a little closer leaving barely any space. The response then was slightly unexpected; Rachel scooted back to close the gap, grabbed Quinn's hand, and wrapped it snuggly around her ending up with the blonde's hand pressed against her chest. In no time the loud buzzing of Rachel's snores was disturbing the peaceful nature of the outdoors and Quinn fell asleep with a small smile on her face, the feeling of Rachel's heart beating steadily against the palm of her hand.