Not quite a filler, mostly an ode to their friendship.
There was no doubt in Rachel's mind that Quinn was avoiding her. She could reason with Quinn sitting next to Santana earlier in Glee as the two were co-captains of the Cheerios and likely had business to discuss. She could even have ignored the fact that the blonde had pointedly refused to acknowledge her presence throughout the entire practice session.
However, her best friend brushing past her on her way to the room's exit was something the brunette could not make an excuse for. She sighed because she was not new to this side of Quinn.
"Quinn Fabray!" she shouted, practically stomping after the other girl. The note that rested in her sweater pocket was completely forgotten as Rachel followed Quinn to her locker.
By the time she caught up, the taller girl was swirling the combination into her lock as Rachel approached. A frustrated tug on the lock was all Rachel needed to see to know that Quinn was definitely upset about something, and she watched as the blonde repeated the code. The second time seemed to do the trick, and books were being shoved into a black bookbag almost instantly. Rachel opened the locker wider so that it wasn't in her face and kept her gaze focused on the hazel eyes she'd grown to know.
When Quinn made no effort to acknowledge her yet again, Rachel crossed her arms and cleared her throat. "I know you are aware of the fact that I am standing right next to you."
Watching the blonde roll her eyes, Rachel felt her back straighten instinctively. The day had started so well and yet Quinn had still somehow found herself in a bad mood. She wondered what had possibly given Quinn a reason to pull back today because, while the blonde's emotions were never predictable, Rachel usually at least had a day before they changed so drastically.
"What's going on? And don't block me out again, Quinn," she demanded—being timid at a time like this never worked.
The locker slammed shut in response and Rachel jumped at the sound but held her place as Quinn turned to look at her. Sometimes…her friend could be rather intimidating. It wasn't often—in fact, it was outright rare—that Rachel found herself on the receiving end of Quinn's piercing gaze. At that moment, though, that was exactly where Rachel was.
Usually, the blonde's eyes were a splatter of gold and green. The dominant color would change with her mood or the season, but it was autumn and she knew that Quinn's eyes tended to showcase the gold more often than not. Hence why the near brown of the taller girl's eyes was almost frightening to her.
She watched as Quinn scrutinized her, her oddly dark eyes scanning her for something. Rachel noted her friend seemed resigned as she let out a breath of air and leaned into the lockers.
"Why didn't you tell me there was something going on between you and Jesse?"
Rachel's brow furrowed in confusion, and she almost frowned at the hurt look on the blonde's face. She could tell Quinn was trying to cover it up but her eyes couldn't lie.
"What are you talking about?"
Where Quinn had gotten the notion that there was anything more than friendship between the two was a mystery seeing as Rachel wasn't even sure what was going on with Jesse. Their brief encounter in gym class earlier had been her only form of contact with the boy outside of Glee.
Sure, she'd spent a good portion of practice fantasizing that he had been the one leaving notes, but that didn't mean anything. She basically did that every time someone did something notable for her! And it wasn't like Quinn could read her thoughts anyway. It wasn't her fault that she had an overactive imagination and the hormones of a teenager; she was a teenager, after all, and she really wanted to believe that someone out there could love her with an incomparable, unconditional love. A love that would make all those movies seem ridiculous and life seem inconsequential.
If only for a fleeting moment.
Rachel couldn't believe her eyes when Quinn's lips flattened to a thin line and her features turned angry.
"I'm in your gym class, Rachel. I have eyes, you know." Rachel felt stung as the blonde shoved past her for the second time that day. Her left shoulder would take a beating if this kept up.
"So that's what this is about? Jesse helps me in gym and you think we're suddenly dating?" If it didn't have the slightest bit of possibility for her personality, Rachel would be incredulous. She would be the first to admit she could be dramatic at times, but the span of time between gym and Glee did not a relationship make. "Quinn, that is legitimately the most preposterous thing you have ever said, and that's including the time you accused me and Noah of having sex. On your birthday no less."
It was actually funny in retrospect. The way Quinn's nostrils had flared as her finger waved accusingly at her and Noah. At the moment, Rachel hadn't thought it funny at all. All she had wanted to do was surprise the blonde with a weekend trip to a lake large enough to drive a boat around for a bit and clean enough to swim in. Of course, the man renting her the boat thought he could get away with overcharging her, as if her being a woman made her less sure of her boating details.
Granted, she had accepted the price until Noah pitched a fit and drove over to tell the guy just where he could stick his overpriced wallet.
Either way, falling off the radar for two hours on her best friend's birthday had not left Quinn in a good place and Rachel didn't think she'd ever forget the tear-streaked face she'd been met with upon showing up at the girl's house. Quinn had seemed so…so devastated.
And people thought she was the dramatic one.
Then Rachel had explained the situation and waved her arms emphatically at the boat, gesturing to it with all the excitement she could muster. That wonderfully rare smile that held back nothing hadn't left Quinn's face that entire weekend.
As she thought more about it, Rachel realized that this was the second time Quinn had assumed she was seeing someone without telling her. She stood in place and watched as the taller girl stopped and turned around.
Quinn looked over Rachel's features again and the brunette didn't hesitate in stepping forward and wrapping her arms around her friend. Quinn didn't return the hug at first, instead asking, "So you haven't been secretly dating him and not telling me about it?"
Rachel shook her head against her shoulder.
"Of course not." She looked up into her friend's eyes. "Why on Earth wouldn't I tell you if I was?" Finally, Rachel felt the blonde's shoulders relax, and she let her bookbag fall to the ground as she wrapped her arms around Rachel in return.
"I don't know," Quinn mumbled. "Sometimes I get paranoid."
"Well." Rachel stepped back and reached down to throw the blonde's bag over her own shoulder. The wobble in her step seemed to amuse Quinn as the bag was a little heavier than Rachel had originally anticipated. "You have absolutely no reason to be paranoid, I don't keep secrets from you."
As they walked to Quinn's car to head home, the note remained forgotten in Rachel's pocket. She hadn't even realized that she'd lied.
"I'm sorry I did that thing again." Quinn looked down at her plate and swirled the pasta around with her fork. Rachel didn't respond at first, opting to watch the blonde instead.
There were few things Rachel loved more than a Quinn that was willing to actually talk to her. When the blonde got like this, it was almost as if she was a completely different person. Even something like admitting she had been hiding her thoughts was huge for Quinn. Rather monumental.
Quinn sighed when Rachel still hadn't responded and she looked up to meet the brunette's gaze.
"Hi." Rachel smiled at her and the blonde immediately looked back down at her plate, her hair falling to hide her face. She felt it was necessary to greet her friend like that every time she opened up because she really was different. A new Quinn meant a new conversation.
"Why do you do that?" she asked when she finally looked back up. "How do you do that?"
"Do what?" It was almost as if Rachel had said the wrong thing, and she felt the need to chase after the smile that had slowly fallen from Quinn's face. She hated feeling like no matter what she did was wrong, even if she knew it that wasn't exactly the truth. The blonde would always compliment her whenever Rachel would do something that made her smile—which was more often than not—and so it wasn't that she was doing something wrong. It seemed more like she wasn't doing something right.
"Nothing." She saw the swallow in Quinn's throat and let the conversation die as the blonde turned back to her food with a slight shake of her head. By the time they were finishing up, Rachel was more than ready to go up to her room—Quinn had already promised to stay the night and it was getting late.
"So," she started, taking her plate up to the sink to rinse it off. "What movie would you like to watch tonight?" Even though she wanted to sleep more than anything, movies were a ritual.
Quinn followed her to the sink, scooting Rachel over to rinse her own plate. Rachel tried to offer to do it for her but the blonde waved her hand and would have none of it. Placing the plate on top of Rachel's, Quinn turned to face her.
"I was thinking…" Rachel watched as her friend put on a false thinking face and tapped her finger to her chin. The brunette knew from experience that that expression never amounted to good. Just as Quinn opened her mouth to finish her sentence, Rachel's heart felt like a truck ran into it without managing to squash it; that smile on Quinn's face was more than telling. "A horror movie."
"You know I'm terrified of those!" she squealed. Last time they'd watched a horror movie together it had been The Strangers and Rachel hadn't been able to answer the door for a month. Well, by the forth week she could manage as long as she had already dialed 911 into her phone—so she'd only need to press send—and her daddy's trusty baseball bat.
She remembered Quinn's laughter as the blonde had stared in shock the one time Rachel had answered for her. She'd asked how on Earth Rachel had planned on using the bat when she wasn't even holding it properly.
Rachel sniffed at the memory—it had been more for appearances anyway.
"Well, then, I guess you'll just have to cuddle with me all night." The blonde winked before turning on her heel and heading to the stairs, the sound of her footsteps sentencing their fate that night.
Grumbling to herself about stupid eyes and how Quinn was lucky she really liked the smell of vanilla, Rachel trudged upstairs and prepared herself for a terrible night of horror.
#5 Her lips.
Rachel stared down at the paper in her hands in disbelief. It had been a few days since she'd received one, seeing as it was finally Friday, and the brunette had almost convinced herself that she wouldn't be receiving any more. She wondered now if there was a system to the notes, seeing as this note seemed particular.
Of all of the other notes she'd received, this one was by far found in the trickiest of places.
Right in front of her, on her desk, sat her tiny—and empty—tube of chapstick. The cold whip to the outside air was more than enough to have her drinking extra water and an added cup of tea every night. Then, for some odd reason, the cheerios had decided to sell chapstick to the school population—Rachel wasn't sure she wanted to know why Coach Sue needed more money than the school supplied—and it had seemed as if it was perfect timing.
At least, Rachel thought that until she was sitting in her math class with an empty plastic tube and yet another note.
Whoever the culprit was…he was good. Good enough to roll up the note, plant it in the chapstick, and figure out a way to make sure that would be the one she received.
And he also sucked because now she was down a dollar and a tube of chapstick.