Standard disclaimer, I don't own Glee or any of its characters.
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It was three-thirty in the morning before Quinn gave up and finally decided that she just wasn't going to be sleeping tonight. She was tired, exhausted really, and the bed was comfortable and she hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours, but sleep would just not come to her.
She sat up in the strange bed in her new room at the Berry's, her face was starting to throb so Quinn reached over and grabbed one of her pain meds and quickly downed it. The doctor had told her not to wait until it got bad, but to take one whenever her injury started to hurt. After downing the pill she got out of bed and made her way quietly down into the kitchen.
After Santana and Rachel had come back, both of them sniping back and forth about the other's choice in clothing, Santana had gotten around to asking where Quinn was staying. She had been shocked and even a little angry that Quinn wasn't staying with her, but once Quinn had explained her reasons for doing so, mostly not wanting to do anything that may adversely affect her parents trial, but also that it just felt like the right move for her, Santana had dropped it.
Quinn flipped on the light in the kitchen and began to rummage around the kitchen for some tea, 'Do the Berry's even drink tea?' Quinn wonders. Drinking tea was a habit that she had picked up from Santana and Maribel, and was one that she found was very calming for her. After looking around in each cupboard she was disappointed that she was unable to find any tea or even a tea pot, so she settled on making herself some hot chocolate, which they did have the material for, albeit it with soy milk rather than real milk.
She pours the ingredients into a pot over the stove and turns it on low and then slowly stirs, absentmindedly letting her mind wander to wherever it wanted to go. LeRoy and Hiram had set up the guest room for her, and while it was still a little sparse, lacking any personal touches, it was nice. And they had told her that she could pretty much do what she wanted with it. Quinn doubted she would change much; even at home she kept her room fairly Spartan. She hadn't wanted anything to tie her down when she left home, no knickknacks to retrieve, no items of sentimental value that she couldn't just pack up and take with her. She had a couple of photos of her and Santana and Brittany but otherwise all she was missing was most of her clothing, her phone, and her laptop.
Maribel had dropped by her parent's house yesterday and picked her up a change of clothes for today and told her that later, either herself or Ben would take her by there and help her pack up her things. Both Maribel and the Berry's had told her that she was more than welcome to stay home from school for the next few days, in fact they recommended it, as she healed a bit and acclimated to her new situation. However, Quinn wasn't so sure if she wanted to. While she certainly didn't want people staring at her, school is where Santana and Brittany would be and she wanted to be near them as often as possible right now. Plus if she focused on school she didn't have to think too much about her life and if she was being honest, she wasn't all that comfortable being in the Berry's home by herself right now. Well not completely alone, Hiram worked from home, but she didn't want to get in his way or be a bother. She sincerely doubted that he would hit her or anything but growing up in the Fabray house she had learned it was better to be away when the adults were home.
Her eyes start to droop and she nods off slightly for a second there as she stares blankly at the clock on the stove, it figures that now that she has decided to get up she would feel tired, you know rather than when she was actually in bed ready to sleep. Quinn pours some of the chocolate milk into a cup and then turns off the stove, but leaves the rest there in case she wants some more, she then takes a seat at the kitchen table.
"I thought I heard somebody up." A voice says behind her.
Quinn turns around, startled, and sees Hiram standing there in dark blue pajamas, a kind smile on his face, making it obvious to Quinn who Rachel had inherited her own smile from. "Oh, sorry… I didn't mean to disturb you." Quinn apologizes softly.
"Nah, don't worry about it, I'm a light sleeper, besides LeRoy snores so I happened to be awake right now anyway. What'cha got there?" He asks taking the seat across from her.
"Oh… um… you didn't have any tea, so I made some hot chocolate, I hope that's okay?"
"Only as long as you made enough for me too." Hiram says jokingly.
"Of course, I mean… it is yours… so please help yourself… I'm sorry, I just,… I don't want to overstep any boundaries."
Hiram gets up and grabs himself a mug and pours the rest of the drink into it before retaking his seat. "It's really tough moving into a stranger's home, isn't it?" Hiram asks, his gentle smile never leaving his face.
"What? No, I'm really grateful to you and your husband for opening up your home to me, you didn't have to and I really appreciate it." Quinn says, alarmed that she may have offended her host in some way.
"It's okay to feel uncomfortable, to feel unsure of how you fit in. I had to leave my home around your age too."
Quinn looks up in surprise. "Really, why?... Oh my God, I'm really sorry, that was way personal…"
"Its fine Quinn, I brought it up, and as for why…" Hiram gives her a wry look. "My father didn't want some "fag" living under his roof."
"Your father kicked you out too?"
"Yep, although we have reconciled since then, but I don't think I can say that I've ever fully forgiven him. I moved in with my boyfriend and stayed with him and his family all the way through until, oh it must have been halfway through my senior year."
"What happened, did your father change his mind, did he let you come back home?" Quinn asks, unable to keep the slight bit of hope from creeping into her voice that maybe someday she and her parents could reconcile.
Hiram's smile turns slightly melancholy. "Nope, my boyfriend and I broke up. I'll tell you right now, there is nothing quite like breaking up with your boyfriend while you're living under his roof… with his family." Hiram finishes dryly before laughing at the memory.
"Yeah… I can't imagine that was too comfortable a situation, what did you do then?" Quinn agrees with a smile of her own.
"Luckily, I had a few other friends that had families that were more than happy to let me stay with them. But my point in bringing this up is this, I had to move in with someone who I knew and at the time I was in love with, and it was still hard and at times awkward for me and I know that even though you and Rachel are friends now, you've still had some issues in the past, and you've only just met LeRoy and myself, so it's okay to feel unsure and awkward about being here. I mean other than Rachel, you've pretty much moved in with complete strangers."
Quinn can't look at him right now and she doesn't quite trust herself to speak to the man sitting in front of her, so she just nods her head.
"I guess what I want you to know is that it's okay that you feel unsure about being here, you won't offend me or Leroy or Rachel and we know that it will take time for you to acclimate to living with us and us with you. For example, you like to drink tea and we aren't really tea people here, Rachel will occasionally make some kind of hot-water, lemon concoction for her voice, but otherwise we like chocolate milk or water or even juice, but it won't be any big deal for us to pick up a teapot and some teas for you."
"Oh, you don't… you don't have to." Quinn says awkwardly, touched by Hiram's understanding of her situation.
"We want you to be comfortable here Quinn. It'll be no trouble."
"I… I just, I don't want you guys to think that I'm ungrateful for what you are doing for me. I mean it felt like the right choice moving in here, like it was my best option but… it's not…"
"It's not home." Hiram finishes for her, and Quinn nods along her agreement. "Believe me, I understand, but I can also promise you this, that it will get better and hey, at least you're not dating Rachel so you don't have to worry about breaking up with her and making it awkward." Hiram teases.
"Yes, there is that," Quinn giggles. "Although if she has her way and if things continue to progress like they have been she'll probably be dating Finn Hudson pretty soon."
"Who?" Hiram enquires politely.
"Oh… he's… he's my ex-boyfriend."
"Is he the father?" Hiram asks with some concern in his voice.
Quinn flinches slightly. "No… that would be his best friend Puck, but that's a completely different mess that I really, really don't want to talk about."
Quinn watches Hiram warily, waiting for the judgment to show on his face, but his demeanor never changes, he continues to look at her just as he had before she admitted to having sex with her ex-boyfriend's best friend and Quinn can feel herself start to relax a little.
"So how are you feeling, physically I mean, are you in any pain right now?" Hiram asks as a change of topic for Quinn who obviously didn't want to continue the pervious line of discussion.
"No, I just took a pill so I should be good for a while… and Mr. Berry?"
"Yes Quinn?" Hiram holds back a slight frown at the use of Mr. Berry. Both LeRoy and himself had told her that she could call them by their first names, but he understood that she needed that little bit of formality to guard herself, to help her feel a little more at ease, and so he didn't try to remind her. He figured that given time she would grow more comfortable here, until then he and Leroy would let her set up whatever boundaries she needed to, to feel safe here.
"Thank you for… well… for letting me live here obviously, but also for sharing your experiences with me, and for being so understanding... I… it means a lot."
"It was my pleasure Quinn."
They sit in a comfortable silence, drinking their hot chocolates, and enjoying the quiet. As Hiram finishes his he sets the mug down on the table and speaks up again.
"That was pretty good, how'd you get it so smooth? Normally when we make it we have the little clumps of the mix floating around, it's quite vexing."
"I learned how from Phoebe, Brittany's mom, you probably pour it all into a mug and stir and then you warm it up in the microwave right?"
Hiram nods in the affirmative.
"Yeah, that's part of the problem, they're kind of "hot chocolate aficionados" at the Pierce house and were appalled when they heard that I used the microwave. So they showed me how to do it on the stove, which actually makes all of the difference. It takes longer, but tastes better." Quinn laughs fondly at the memory. She had been twelve at the time and it was her first sleepover at the Pierce's house. She had made the same comment about the smoothness to Phoebe that Hiram had just made to her and the older woman had been appalled to learn that Quinn usually warmed it up in the microwave. So they spent the rest of the sleepover going over various recipes for hot chocolate and how to make them. It was, to this day, one of Quinn's favorite memories.
"Ah, makes sense, I'm surprised I never thought of that before."
"I know right, it seems so obvious once you hear it." Quinn laughs. "But that's pretty much the secret, slow continuous stirring and cooking it on a stove. But what about you guys, are there any foods that you guys go all "Iron Chef" over?"
Hiram laughs, "No, not really. LeRoy is a pretty good cook, so we don't starve, and Rachel likes to bake on occasion, cookies, cupcakes, breads, that sort of thing. But they're both vegan so it doesn't always taste… right, at least not to me any way."
"And what about you, do you cook?" Quinn asks.
"Oh me, I make a mean bowl of cereal, how about you?"
"I once burnt soup." Quinn says wryly, before laughing with Hiram joining in. "You want to know who is an amazing cook though, Santana's abuela, now that woman can cook." Quinn says.
"Yeah, LeRoy's mother is the same way. You haven't lived until you've had her home cooking."
"So what do you do for a living Mr. Berry?" Quinn asks as a change of subject, "If you don't mind my asking that is."
"Oh not at all, I'm a writer. Poems, articles, food reviews, and short stories mostly. And I do the occasional play for the local theatre; they've used two of my scripts so far." Hiram says with a little pride in his voice. "And I'm currently working on a novel."
"Really?" Quinn asked intrigued, "what's it about?"
He then goes on to explain the story and the concept of it to her in detail, and Quinn listens with rapt attention, fascinated by what he's come up with. "Yeah, it's almost finished and I'll be ready to send it to my editor in a couple of weeks."
"Wow, that's really cool, you'll have to let me read it when it's finished, and what about your husband, what does he do?"
"You know he explained it to me once, but for the life of me I couldn't tell you, I know it has to do with moving numbers around… I think… and when he described it to me it sounded like some sort of corporate accountant, but when I said that to him he said that that I was completely wrong. So I honestly have no idea," Hiram laughs. "But he seems to like it well enough and I guess that's what's important, although how anyone could enjoy doing math for a living is beyond me."
Quinn nods her head in complete agreement.
Quinn and Hiram spend the next couple of hours chatting. Keeping it very light, it was mostly Quinn asking fairly easy questions and Hiram answering, and then him asking her similar ones. Quinn really enjoyed it and it helped to put her at ease while she was around him. They both look up when they hear rather loud music start to play and they check the clock and see that it is now six-thirty.
"Looks like Rachel's up." Hiram comments. "She gets up at around this time every weekday to do her elliptical work out. So you might want to invest in some sound proof ear muffs, because she likes to blast her music while she does." The affection in his voice as he talks about his daughter is obvious and a flash of jealousy courses through Quinn as she wonders if her own father ever talked about her in that kind of way.
"It should be fine, I'm usually halfway through my own work out by now anyway." Quinn shrugs.
"Oh God, there's three of you now!" Hiram says, gasping in mock horror.
"What?" Quinn asks, amused by Hiram's antics.
"LeRoy, Rachel, and now you, you're all tofu eating, bacon hating… health nuts!" Hiram says in an obviously fake, horrified tone.
"I wouldn't say nut…" Quinn trails off, thinking about all of the times she and her friends had pigged out. "But generally yes, I like to work out, I find it enjoyable to push myself physically like that, and I eat healthy mostly because I need to eat healthy. I'm on the cheerios, captain actually, so I have to maintain a certain level of physical fitness, but I don't ban good tasting food from my diet though. If I ever over eat I just extend my work out to compensate, that's all."
Quinn pauses for a moment and schools a serious look onto her face and stares Hiram right in the eyes in an almost challenging manner. "And for the record, I will cut anyone who gets between me and bacon."
Hiram chuckles at Quinn's declaration, before returning her challenging glare. "Fair enough, but just be aware that I've easily got twenty odd years on you when it comes to fighting people over food and bacon is a specialty. So we'll see who comes out on top."
Quinn smirks. "You may have the experience, I'll grant you that, but I'm backed by the power of pregnancy hormones, so don't think that your "experience" will count for much."
"Damn." Hiram says, snapping his finger.
"So, um… Mr. Berry, if Rachel and your husband are vegans why aren't you?"
"Because I like my food to not taste like rubber." Hiram says with a smirk.
Quinn tilts her head in confusion until she hears a voice speak up behind her.
"Vegan food tastes just as good as your morally bankrupt animal carcasses and it's healthier too." LeRoy enters the kitchen and walks over and kisses Hiram good morning. "Morning love."
Hiram returns the kiss and then shakes his head fondly. "I don't know how you can say that with a straight face, I'll give you the morality bit, because frankly I don't care, but tastes better? Really? Because I've had both your mother's lasagna and yours and the two definitely don't compare."
"Now that's not fair, my mother is a kitchen goddess, you can't compare what I do with her, she'd make anyone's food taste bland by comparison." LeRoy then turns his attention away from his husbands and onto Quinn's as he starts up his morning coffee. "Good morning Quinn."
"Good morning Mr. Berry." Quinn returns politely.
"So you two are up rather early?" LeRoy questions as he takes a seat next to his husband.
"Yeah, Quinn was just reassuring me that she's not a crazy vegan health nut like you and Rachel." Hiram says with a grin.
"Quiet you." LeRoy replies, before leaning over and leaving a quick peck on Hiram's lips. "You enjoy my vegan cooking and you know it," He then turns his attention back to Quinn. "And you, have you ever had vegan cooking?"
"Oh um…. I might have… I mean I'm not sure… I'm willing to, I mean I don't expect you to change your diets around for me, I'm…" Quinn is a little worried, she figured that she was being teased but she was so unused to it coming from adults that it threw her off.
"Don't you listen to him Quinn, you and I will eat steak, and pork-chops, and bacon, and veal to our hearts contents." Hiram says firmly.
"You will not bring veal into this house!" LeRoy says glaring at Hiram. "I tolerate your perverse fondness for carrion only because I love you so much, but you will not bring dead baby animals into my home, no sir you will not."
"I'm thinking a veal and lamb chop sandwich?" Hiram says in a contemplating manner, completely ignoring his husband.
LeRoy shakes his head in disgust. "Quinn, help me out here, you wouldn't really eat poor, defenseless, innocent, adorable, baby cow or cute, fluffy,'widdle' baby lamb would you?"
"LeRoy! You will not corrupt the one other person in this house who enjoys real food with emotional extortion, I've finally evened the odds and they are going to stay that way!"
Both LeRoy and Hiram are glaring at each other and Quinn is starting to feel a little worried that this was turning into a real fight, her own parents had fought over less, until she sees the humorous gleam in both of their eyes and the slight pull of their lips as they try not to smile.
After a few seconds both men stop trying to hold back their grins and LeRoy takes Hiram's hand in his own and gently places kisses along it. "Are you feeling food deprived love? Do you want to go out to eat tonight?"
Hiram shakes his head with a loving smile. "No, you know I'm just teasing you, and you know that I love your cooking more than anyone's."
"Even my mamma's?" LeRoy asks, his face split into a huge smile.
Hiram lets out a long suffering sigh, "Even her's."
"Liar." LeRoy leans forward and kisses Hiram.
"Yep."
Quinn tries not to stare at the loving moment between the two Berry men, but Quinn can't help it. She is fascinated by the dynamic that the two share, it's obvious to anyone that these two absolutely adore and love one another, and she hopes that one day that she can find someone that she can be like that with too.
LeRoy and Hiram turn their attention back to Quinn. "In all seriousness Quinn, Rachel and I are vegan, but we certainly don't expect you to conform to our dietary choices. Hiram usually cooks up something simple if he doesn't like what Rachel and I are having and we would be more than happy to pick you up some food essentials." LeRoy tells her.
"Thank you, but I don't want to be a bother, I'm more than happy to eat whatever it is that is prepared for dinner. I'm a guest in your home so please don't think that you have to make any changes to accommodate me. I'm just grateful for a roof over my head."
"It's no trouble Quinn, and before you make any dietary plans you should probably see an obstetrician anyway to see what kinds of foods you need to keep you and the baby healthy. We'll worry about the actual recipes one we've done that." Hiram tells her. "And we'll pick up some tea for you today as well."
Quinn is tinged pink in slight embarrassment at how accommodating the Berrys are being for her and she feels incredibly grateful that they are working so hard to make her feel comfortable here.
"Thank you, I appreciate it…" Quinn pauses here and as she is feeling a little more comfortable around the two men she decides to go for it and do a little teasing of her own. "And Mr. Berry, to answer your question, can the adorable baby cow or the "widdle" lamb be served with barbecue sauce?"
Hiram laughs uproariously while LeRoy has a horror filled, gob-smacked look on his face.
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Author's Note. So I know it's a little short and on the fluffy side but I hope you all enjoyed it anyway. Next chapter will be up next Friday.