The song in this chapter is Love Will Always from Moby Dick: The Musical! You can find it on youtube(dot)com(slash)watch?v=RT77a7pQqj0
Both girls jumped back almost immediately. Almost.
Rachel wasted no time and immediately started rambling about hormones and confusion and Finn.
Quinn let her talk for a little while before she placed her index finger to Rachel's lips and the small brunette silenced herself instantaneously. Quinn's tone was soft, reassuring.
"Rachel. There is a lot we need to talk about. First, I need to talk to Finn. Second, we need to get through Glee. Am I still coming over to your house after rehearsal?" Quinn looks to Rachel for an answer, and sees that Rachel seems to be zoning out. "Rachel?"
Rachel's head snaps up and she nods, still not meeting Quinn's eyes.
Quinn hugs Rachel quickly, ignoring the fact that the smaller girl doesn't hug her back, and walks slowly from the room.
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Finn is faintly surprised when Quinn walks into his classroom. She used to come in and make up excuses to his teacher all the time, and they'd ditch whatever class it was to hang out. But he hadn't really seen her outside of Glee in a week or so.
She whispers something to his teacher, who mutters "Sue Sylvester, of course…" and gestures for Finn to leave the room with Quinn.
He starts talking as soon as they're out of the room, asking where they're going, what they're doing, how she's been. He gets monotone, one word answers. He quickly stops talking and just follows Quinn. They end up in the auditorium. Quinn takes a seat on the edge of the stage, and Finn moves to kiss her.
It's not until she pushes him away that he begins to realize that something is wrong. This isn't their usual "skip class and make out" session.
"Finn…you're really nice." Quinn stares down into her lap and doesn't meet the tall boy's gaze. He just smiles and nods, not hearing the sorrow in her voice.
"And we've had some really good times. I've had a lot of fun with you. But…" It's not until he hears the 'but' that Finn starts to wonder what Quinn is getting at.
"But I just don't think we're going to work out. I'm breaking up with you, Finn. I'm sorry."
And Quinn hops off the stage, wipes a tear from her cheek, and runs from the auditorium. Finn stares after her, dumbfounded.
"Quinn….What'd I do?"
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Throughout Glee rehearsal, Quinn was staring at Rachel, and Finn was staring at Quinn. The time seemed to drag on longer than it ever had before. When Mr. Schuester finally dismissed them, Quinn hurried out the door to avoid Finn, and ended up sitting in her car for a few minutes before Rachel got there.
Quinn looked over to Rachel, who immediately turned her gaze outside the window. Quinn sighed, and started driving. They were halfway to Rachel's house before Quinn was startled out of her brooding by Rachel's voice.
"Why was Finn staring at you during Glee? More so than usual, I mean." Rachel's voice is timid, curiousity shining through.
"I broke up with him. I guess he's upset." Quinn's eyes never leave the road, even when she feels Rachel staring at her.
"You did what?" Rachel is stunned. She had expected Quinn to go running back to Finn right away, not break up with him!
"I broke up with him. I…like someone else." Both girls ignore the blush creeping across their faces, and face straight ahead. Quinn pulls up in front of Rachel's house, but neither one of them move to get out of the car.
"Quinn…I don't know what this is. And this goes past the party. I don't know what we are…I don't know how I feel….I'm not sure of anything. And I'm scared." Rachel's voice trembles slightly as she speaks.
Quinn lays her head back on the headrest and sighs. "I know what you mean. Really. I've got all of that too. I'm not just scared…I'm terrified. I'm a Cheerio! I'm president of the Celibacy club! Not to mention my parents, my religion…it's all so….ugh." Quinn grips the steering wheel tightly, simply to give her something to do with her hands.
Rachel opens her door, the sound shocking Quinn out of her thoughts. Rachel says nothing, just gestures for Quinn to follow her inside. As she makes the way up Rachel's front steps, Quinn realizes that things are about to change.
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They sit in the living room, not saying a word. Quinn thinks back to just a few days ago, and the movie they watched. She realizes that she doesn't remember much of the film at all, but she can perfectly recall the feeling of being that close to Rachel. She remembers how comfortable it was, and before she can stop herself words are tumbling out of her mouth. "We like each other."
Rachel stares at Quinn with wide eyes, the bluntness of the taller girls' statement shocking her. "I…you…I mean…do you….uh…."
Quinn can't help but laugh. She moves to a seat closer to Rachel, and places her hand on Rachel's knee. "Do you like me?" Quinn asks with a certainty in her voice, that tells Rachel she already knows the answer.
Rachel has to clear her throat a few times before she can answer. "Yes."
"I know. And I like you. And there is a host of issues that go along with that. But for now, instead of worrying about everything that we have to worry about…let's work on our song. Okay? I'm not ignoring these issues; I'm just putting them on hold for now. We skipped out on one work day; we can't afford to lose another. "Quinn smiles softly, and Rachel can't help but grin back at her.
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An hour later, they're in the same boat they were in last time they worked together. Rachel was sprawled across her bed, face down. Quinn was staring at the computer screen, talking to herself about how stupid duets were and how she'd never do one again.
Quinn was looking through Rachel's iTunes out of boredom rather than for inspiration, when she came across something that seemed a little unusual.
"Please tell me that Moby Dick: The Musical! is not a real thing." Quinn asked.
Rachel pouts slightly. "Of course it's a real thing! I was in a community theater production last year. I played Esta, Captain Ahab's wife. It was a lot of fun! Though I can't say the audience enjoyed it as much as we did…I still stand by the fact that they just didn't understand it."
It took Quinn a minute or two to realize that Rachel was completely serious. "HOW can there be a musical about a whale?"
Rachel laughed. "It's about an all girl's school that is getting shut down, so they try to have a fundraiser to keep the school afloat. So one of the students writes a musical based on Moby Dick. It's so bad it's good!"
Quinn just shook her head and clicked on a random song from the show. She listened to it all the way through, not saying a word. Rachel got up and walked over to her, leaning down to rest her chin on top of Quinn's head. "What is it, Cheerio?"
Quinn tipped her head back and tried to meet Rachel's eyes. "We should do this song."
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Rachel and Quinn spent their entire lunch period the next day running through the song. They had to change things up a little bit, making the song work outside the context of the show. They had to change some lyrics, and adjust some notes to give it a real wow factor.
When the time for Glee rolled around, Quinn was more nervous than she'd ever been. She wanted to impress her fellow club members, she wanted to impress Mr. Schue, but mainly she wanted to impress Rachel. She wanted Rachel to be proud of working with her.
When the opening notes sounded, and the girls sang the harmonic "ooh's" that they had created in place of dialogue, Quinn began to relax. They could do this. She turned her eyes skyward and sang the first few lines of the song tentatively, growing more confident as she felt Rachel's gaze on her.
Father I stretch my hand to thee
No other help I know
Show me a world as it should be
Not one that hurts us so
Quinn remembers their choreography and all the lyrics. She's quite proud of herself as Rachel sings "ah's" and "ooh's" in the background in place of some of the original lyrics. They sound good, and they both know it.
Quinn looks over to Rachel as they sing the chorus of the song together, and the whole world disappears. They sing beautifully, but Quinn doesn't care about that. It's her and Rachel. In this moment. That is all that matters.
Rachel sings the lyrics they had to make up themselves. Quinn has to stifle a giggle at the thought of Rachel singing as Captain Ahab, but the song works and they know it.
Past loves you seem to fill my dreams
Although I broke your heart
A thrown away jewel
Love made a fool
And all hope fell apart
As they sang through the chorus again, this time adding some silly nineties boy band dance moves, Quinn couldn't help but see the irony in the situation. Here they were, a budding romance, singing about broken hearts and love making fools of us all.
Quinn blushed. A budding romance, how silly a thought was that. They admitted they liked each other, that didn't mean they were getting married for goodness sake. She was jumping the gun on these feelings. She glanced over at Kurt, and was surprised to see that he looked so happy he could burst. He winked at her. She blushed again.
She sang the final line of the song, the number ending with a flourish.
Both girls were beyond surprised when everyone jumped up and started applauding enthusiastically. Shouts of how great it was coming from all directions, Mr. Schuester practically charged them.
"Girls! That was fantastic! I'd say we should take that with us. But…"
The entire Glee club was shocked. That was a brilliant performance, how could there be a 'but'?
"But I've just had a stroke of brilliance. What is the one thing that the other female duets won't be doing?"
Everyone glanced around, hoping for someone else to answer.
Mr. Schuester looked at them expectantly for a few moments before shouting his answer. "They won't be doing…a love song! We should blow the other teams out of the water with heart, passion, tenderness. If you two can perform a love song with the same chemistry I just saw, we're taking Regionals this year."
Quinn glanced around, everyone was nodding. This was a good idea. She wasn't entirely sold on the idea until she saw Rachel's grin. The smile was practically from ear to ear. And with that, Quinn was in.
"We can do that, Mr. Schue."
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Okay so, my school actually performed Moby Dick: The Musical! and I TOTALLY stand by the fact that the audience just didn't get it. It was good. I swear. I was an Assistant Director/sound tech. (not that you care. Haha) ANYHOW.
My updates have been a little wild lately, or so I feel, so I hope this satisfies your need for my brilliant writing. (my ego is out of line, someone stop it before it goes too far!)
I know, I teased you, made you think you finally had the duet song, but noooo. That shall remain a secret until…I decide to tell you. Because it is one of my favorite songs.
Anyway, review please! I do adore those reviews.
Thanks so much for reading, everyone.
=D