Author's note: YOU READY FOR THIS? LAST CHAPTER. which is kind of actually sad. so i'm thinking of writing more...yes? no? suggestions on prompts you guys would like? I'm pretty much open to anything. that sounds vaguely sexual. ah well. i hope you guys enjoyed the ride and this chapter does the story justice. i know i haven't gotten back to everyone who's reviewed, but every single one of you who's reviewed has been pretty damn awesome, so thank you so much :D
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I got something for you.
Rachel had retreated to her closet again after dinner and almost screamed the next morning when she awoke to her phone buzzing suddenly, lighting up the dark room and echoing against the walls.
She couldn't help squeaking aloud in surprise when she saw that it was from Quinn, however.
She got me something? What? Like a present? A present, right, more like a THANKS BUT NO SEE YOU LATER...
...Ahem. Yeah…so a present…But there was no occasion for…
Rachel ceased her mental babble and shook her head to clear it as she debated the pros and cons of texting Quinn back. To acknowledge her, or not to acknowledge her, that was the ques –
Screw it.
Why? she responded.
A few seconds later Rachel's phone buzzed again.
Because it's something I should've gotten you a long time ago.
Well. Rachel had to admit that her curiosity was peaked. Significantly. That didn't mean that years of Quinn ignoring her hadn't made her suspicious of her motives.
This is all awfully suspicious considering last night, Quinn.
I know. Can I come visit? Or would you rather come here?
I don't know Quinn.
If you don't let me, I might have to do something drastic.
Such as?
Why was she encouraging this nonsense? And why didn't people just pick up the telephone anymore…
Such as proclaiming my love for you for outside your window with song and dance, complete with rainbows and unicorns.
Rachel actually giggled at that. And then physically hit herself before pulling a poker face when she looked up to find what seemed to be several of her stuffed animals judging her for being so easily swayed.
Well, I'm waiting.
…Okay. Well, on second thought, I may have spent all of last night doing nothing but panicking and pacing in my room, so I didn't have time to choreograph a song and dance number. I can attempt to provide the unicorns though…and I can definitely promise you rainbows.
Rachel didn't respond right away and a few seconds later a second text came through.
I was serious about the rainbows. Please?
After a pause that seemed to drag on forever but was in reality only a minute, Rachel glared once more at a particular bunny who seemed take personal offense at her compliance before she hit a few keys and sent Quinn a text back.
Okay. Half an hour. My room.
PRESUMPTUOUS MUCH BERRY? Rachel berated herself and then audibly screamed when she realized she'd given herself less than half an hour to shower, change and attempt to make her room look presentable all before calmly awaiting Quinn's arrival.
For once in her life, Rachel regretted being an overachiever.
...
My room.
Quinn didn't think she could possibly be more nervous than she already was, but when had she ever been right about these things, really.
Hello. Repressed lesbian. Yeah. Okay.
She had prepared herself to be ready to do whatever Rachel asked the second she asked it and was therefore already dressed, hair done to the best of her crazed ability, car keys in hand and wallet in her lap.
Along with a small box she was also bringing with her.
At the thought of what she was about to do Quinn suddenly stood up, unceremoniously dropping everything on the floor before beginning to hyperventilate all over again. A picture that still sat on her bookshelf caught her eye for the umpteenth time and Quinn had the same flashback to the one and only trip to the beach she had ever taken with Rachel.
"Quinn?" a seven-year-old Rachel asked from underneath the huge floppy hat she was wearing. The two of them were lying on their towels in the sun, a little ways away from Rachel and her fathers.
"Yeah?" Quinn asked lazily from where she had been studying a seagull stealing one particularly annoying family's snacks over and over again.
"Where did you get your ring?"
Quinn looked down, not expecting the question. On her ring finger on her right hand was a small gold ring with a tiny heart surrounded by two smaller hearts, and in the center of the biggest heart was an even tinier diamond.
"My mom gave it to me," she answered, watching the way the diamond glinted in the sun. She knew it was a big deal she had such a fancy ring. Not every seven year old could wear something so special, her father had said. "She said that it was to remind me that she loved me, no matter what."
Rachel lay in silence, staring at her best friend as Quinn's face fell slightly.
What she hadn't told Rachel yet was how her parents fought, constantly. How scary her daddy could be. How her mother didn't always stand up for Quinn anymore, now that she was getting older.
How hard she squeezed the ring at night when she cried in the dark because it was the only thing that really did sometimes remind her that her mommy loved her, no matter what.
But Rachel seemed to understand anyway. That was how Rachel was. And part of why Quinn knew she loved her best friend.
Rachel reached out and gently trailed her finger across the ring before bringing it back to rest under her chin.
"Someday, when we're grown up, I'm going to get you a ring to remind you that I will always love you, no matter what," she had sighed, closing her eyes as she put her head down again, leaving Quinn to turn back to the seagull.
But she wasn't really watching it anymore. She kept thinking over and over again in her head that Rachel didn't need to buy her anything to remind her of that.
Instead, the thought that kept repeating itself following the previous one was – no, I have to get one for you.
...
Rachel had alerted her dads to the fact that a blond cheerleader was going to be making her appearance at the Berry household within the next few minutes before immediately rushing up the stairs to appear when Quinn arrived as if she were entirely unconcerned about the whole matter. Her fathers waited with solemn faces until she had rounded the corner to her room before high fiving each other and secretly hoping that Quinn had finally, after all these years, come to her senses and decided to stop being such a…well, for lack of a better word, bitch.
That didn't mean they weren't going to attempt to scare the beegeezes out of her when she showed up at their front door.
And this was why they would end up disappointed and Rachel absolutely petrified when Quinn Fabray scaled the large, rather conveniently located tree outside of Rachel's bedroom window before turning what was meant to be a polite tap on the window into a severe pounding when a crow had a near collision with the side of her face.
"Are you okay?" Rachel asked frantically, trying to inspect every aspect of Quinn's face that she could reach as Quinn clambered through the window, wiping at her head as she went as if to brush off any lingering crow.
"I had no idea they were so…easily offended," Quinn muttered as she finally managed to pull her entire body into the room. "All I did was make some crack about "quoth the raven" when he cawed in my face."
"Quinn, that was obviously a crow, I would be offended too!" Rachel responded indignantly. Quinn turned to look at her incredulously.
"His dignity almost cost me my life!" she yelped. Rachel huffed and then went to sit down on her bed.
"Well it seems you've both managed to survive such a traumatizing ordeal," she remarked as she folded her legs and set her hands down primly on them.
This seemed to remind Quinn of where she was which, much to her dismay, signaled to her hands to immediately start to sweat and her feet to refuse to move any farther into the room.
"Umm…right," she mumbled before wiping her palms on her jeans. "So…hi."
"Hello," Rachel responded, more quietly and less assertively this time. She opened her mouth as if to say more but closed it abruptly before Quinn had time to gather together much more of her courage.
"So." Quinn repeated and then realized it was now or never. If she waited any longer she was going to run sprinting out of Rachel's house and never hold her head up again. Just do it Fabray. Do it for the fucking love of your life.
A lot less eloquently than planned out in her head, Quinn chucked her bag on the floor before following it down and after rummaging momentarily produced the tiny red box she had gone back to the store for.
She stood again only to take two steps closer and then, deciding falling to her knees was too dramatic, grabbed Rachel's hand and sat down next to her on the bed.
"Okay. I had an awesome speech planned out that I'm pretty sure I've reworked at least twelve times in the last six hours but now I've completely forgotten it all because I'm so nervous and I love you so much and I'm so scared you're not going to believe me and so before I keep word vomiting I want to give you this," Quinn pushed the box into Rachel's hands, her face flushed. "Open it."
Rachel tore her eyes away from Quinn's face to look down at the tiny box now in her possession. She suddenly couldn't remember how you open a box.
So Quinn did it for her.
Sitting on top of the a white cushion sat a silver ring of tiny stars, each with a different color of the rainbow filling in the middle.
"It…I mean…if you don't like it…they had more, but this one was just so you…and I have one too, but mine's different…see?" Quinn stumbled over her words but managed to pull the ring on the chain out from underneath her t-shirt and held it up for Rachel to see.
And Rachel was still speechless. And Quinn's nerves were going into overdrive.
"Because…Rachel, because I love you. I've known since we were six years old that I cared about you just as much as I still do now. Back then it was scary but suddenly we grew up and it was terrifying. And confusing and stupid because it shouldn't be terrifying, it should be amazing and special and not hurt so goddamn much all the time. Every night should feel like that night under the stars in my room where I knew that I'd fallen for you. It was exhilarating and just a little bit overwhelming but so safe. You make me feel so safe and all I've ever wanted is to make you feel safe, and loved, all the time. I tried so hard, dumping that stupid kid in trashcans for a year and fighting off anyone who got in your way but I can't do enough when I have to pretend I don't care. I can't. And I don't want to anymore. I never wanted to, but I'm going to be brave enough to quit hiding now. It's probably going to get me kicked off the Cheerios. My parents are probably going to hate me. And I don't give a shit. None of those people know me. None of those people are going to care past high school, when our lives really begin and we leave this place. You deserve so much more than the person I've given you for all these years. You deserve someone who makes you feel like you're loved every second of every single day of your life because there is no one who is as amazing as you are."
She was out of breath and on the edge of her seat, literally, when Rachel finally looked up.
"The beach?" she replied, and there were tears in her eyes.
"The beach," Quinn breathed, unconsciously squeezing her own ring against her chest.
"Quinn…" Rachel reached up slowly and pulled the blonde's hand gently until it was no longer grasping the ring, her tone cautious.
Quinn's heart fell so fast she barely registered that only moments before she had been on a cloud.
"You don't need to do that anymore," Rachel said quietly. All Quinn could do was stare.
"What?" she gasped, finally remembering how to use words.
Rachel studied the ring she held in her hand for another second before slipping it onto her own ring finger. She then took Quinn's hands in hers to hold them tightly before a smile started to creep across her face.
"I've always loved you, and I will always love you," Rachel whispered. "But just to make sure, I'm telling you now. You have someone who will always love you too, Quinn Fabray, no matter what…and that person is me."
With the words barely off the tip of her tongue Rachel gently brought her lips to Quinn's and kissed her softly and more passionately than she had ever had the guts to do before.
And Quinn remembered the beach.
She remembered the stars.
She remembered the stupid bushes that didn't hide normal sized people next to her house.
And she remembered the blacktop.
The blacktop where she fell for the love of her life.
...
:D