"Damn it Santana! Quit running into me," I seethe, catching myself on a tree before I could fall.
"It ain'ts like I can see you or anything," San snarls, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Aw Sanny, this is a stealth mission. We had to wear all black remember," Brittany comments coming between us, a smile appearing underneath the eye black as we start jogging up the sidewalk again.
"Yeah, I know," San softly says to her, before asking, "How much longer Q?"
"We're here, now shut up," I tersely whisper. We make our way up Rachel's driveway until we're in the middle. "Hand me the chalk."
As San gives me the plastic container, Brittany quietly asks, "Do you know what you're gonna write?"
"Yep," I answer simply, taking off my right glove and the plastic lid. After a few seconds, I stand and brush the yellow and pink chalk dust from my hand onto my pant leg, satisfied.
"'Are you ready to Catch Me?' Really Q? We ran all the way here for that? I could be getting my sweet lady kisses on, but no you had to drag us out to write that? This is your master plan to get into Berry's pants? Some stupid ass question that makes no freaking sense written in chalk? What if it rains? Huh? And I don't know if you've ever ran with a plastic tub in your mouth but lets me tell you it ain't comfortable," San rants until I interrupt.
"One, it'll make sense tomorrow, well," I pause to look up at the moon and seeing it in the middle of the night sky I continue, "today. Two, it isn't going to rain, I tripled checked. Three, you know its more than me wanting in her pants. Show some respect S. Four, I needed look outs. Plus, I figured Britt would want to draw a few things for Rachel." Finishing with a smile, I look at an excited Brittany.
"Hell yeah," Brittany exclaims before looking around to make sure she didn't wake anyone, and swiftly grabs some chalk to get to work. San watches her with such a look of undiluted love that I can't help but to feel slightly jealous of Brittany.
"Don't worry Q, GayBerry looks at you much the same," Santana says, her eyes never leaving her mate.
"Get out of my head S," I sigh.
"Put up the barriers Fabgay," San replies. "I'm happy you're finally pulling your head out of your ass though."
"Me too," I agree. We watch B work awhile longer when I ask San, "You really love her, don't you?"
"More than I could ever express."
Moving the nail file up and down, I try to open Rachel's locker after Puck's third failed attempt. I release a faux yawn after the last tumbler goes into place, and swing the metal door open. I turn to Puck with a smug smirk and motion for the items in his arms. He blindly hands the notecards to me first as he gapes at the open locker.
"How did you do that," he asks, completely in awe.
Opening Rachel's chemistry book, I stick in one of the notecards in the middle of the day's chapter, shut it, and grab her calculus book to repeat the action. Putting the card in her english book, I answer, "Never under estimate a girl with a nail file." He arches his eyebrow, about as perfectly as I can. I sigh and add, "And Santana does have her purposes."
"Why didn't she come with instead? I could still be sleeping Q."
"For two reasons," I say, setting Rachel's books precisely where she had them, "Her and Brittany were going at it."
"Morning sex…hot," Puck says, smirking.
Continuing over him, I say, "And you have keys to the school. Rachel's locker is enough breaking and entering for me."
Just as I'm setting the last two items in, the morning bell rings signaling the doors are open for the students. I hurry and shut the locker door, grab Puck's black t-shirt by the collar, and drag him around the corner. I peek around the wall when Puck asks, "What if it gets cold?"
"It won't, because she arrives within the first minute of the bell," I explain to him. Right on cue, Rachel walks up to her locker. She sets her book bag on the floor and I watch as her mini-skirt rides higher in effect. Biting my lip, I remind myself to breathe as Puck sniggers from above my head at me and Rachel starts to turn her combo lock. When she opens the metal door, and sees what I put in there a surprised gasp leaves her mouth. She grabs her coffee first and takes a sip; the warm liquid causing a small smile to form on her lips. Putting the coffee beside her bag, she takes the flowers I got her out next, and brings the stargazer lily and gardenia bouquet to her nose. Inhaling the floral scent deeply, her small smile turns into a full blown grin and she looks around.
I duck quickly back around the corner of the brick wall and throw Puck against the bricks with my arm before she can see us. I smile when I realize we weren't caught. Shifting my duffel bag, I take a deep breath, nod my thanks to Puck, and start to walk to class. Before I can take a couple of steps, Puck grabs my wrist.
"What," I hiss.
"Nothing," he says, dropping my wrist, "I was just wondering where you got the flowers so early?"
"Why?" Have a girl you want to give any to?"
"No," he says, chuckling, "I just know Mama Lopez is gonna beat you when she realizes you messed with her garden, and I don't wanna miss that."
"Shut up, and get to class," I tell him, knowing I was caught and turn to go myself.
Walking into the Chemistry room, I see Rachel with a confused smile and one of the notecards in her hands. I walk quietly over to our table and stand behind her, rereading what I wrote over her shoulder.
When I told you I didn't want you it was the blackest kind of blasphemy.
"What do you have there," I ask, making her jump.
"N-n-nothing," she stutters, shoving the card into the back of her book. Glaring at me she says, "Wait, you're speaking to me again?"
Sitting on the high, metal stool and placing my books on the cool table, I reply, "Well, we are lab partners Berry."
"You didn't yesterday," she remind me, sadly, just as Mr. Stark walks in.
I shrug and say, "It was Monday and you know I hate Mondays. Now if you don't mind I would like to be able to hear what Stark is saying."
She huffs and turns her whole body so that her back is facing me completely. Biting my lip, I try to suppress the proud smile from appearing on my face while I copy what Mr. Stark has written on the white board already and sneak peeks at Rachel while she does the same over her shoulder.
Soon the bell rings ending first period, and Rachel hurries out of the room. I shake, my head, silently laughing to myself while I gather my school supplies at a normal speed. Dropping my pen, I go to grab it, but Mike reaches it first.
"Thanks Mike," I say as I take it from him.
"You're welcome, Quinn. So did you like bite her or something," he chuckles while we head to Calculus.
"No, we'd all know if I had," I answer seriously.
"I know. By the way, I think this is actually an incredible way to apologize, you're going to be making all of us with girlfriends scramble just to keep up."
Hushing him when we walk into our next class so Rachel doesn't hear. I rush to the desk behind her when I see some kid try to sit there. I glare at him coldly, when he gets the message and hurries to a desk the furthest from us, I sit. Peeking over her shoulder again, I see the second card.
"Don't even try to hide that one. What's it say," I ask, startling her.
She sighs, and reluctantly she turns and reads, "'In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell how ardently I admire and love you.'" As she finishes, her voice turns from irritated to really warm and sweet.
"Who is it from?"
"I have no clue. I found it in my textbook. Maybe it was for the previous owner, and I just happened upon it," she says, with a voice full of hope that it was untrue.
"I don't believe that. This is the second time its happened right? Anyway, the quote is from 'Pride and Prejudice' and isn't that one of your favorite movies?"
"Yes," she drags out, before turning a suspicious glance on me. "But it also is one of your favored books," she says right as Mr. Banner comes in.
'Saved by the teacher,' I think with a relieved exhale, a light chuckle coming behind me from Mike.
The next two periods happen much the same. She reads the third with a tone full of mistrust while she glares skeptically at me, "'I want all of you, forever, you and me, everyday.'"
But one of the most beautiful smiles appears when she reads the fourth card, "'The best love is the kind that awakens the soul; that makes us reach for more, that plants the fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. Thats what I hope to give you forever.'"
When the fourth period bell rings I grab ahold of Rachel's hand so she couldn't run out again, sending shocks through both of us. She looks at our combined hands with a tiny smile then looks inquisitively at me, furrowing her brow.
"Can I join you for lunch," I ask, hopeful.
"I don't see why not," she answers cautiously. Taking her books out of her hands, her brow adorably scrunching more. I lead her to the doorway and let her go first.
Walking silently beside each other, after grabbing Rachel's lunch and our sixth period's book, I notice Azimio coming, a cherry slushy in his hand.
'He wouldn't dare,' I think, scowling.
I watch him pull his arm back, eyes zoned in on an oblivious Rachel who's looking at me trying to figure out why I'm scowling so hard. Just as the red ice begins to leave the cup I move in front of Rachel, taking the slushy directly to my chest, splashes of it hitting my face and actually get into my hair. My gasp for breath from the cold is drowned by the collective intake of breath from the student body, as I try to wipe the slushy off me.
Glaring at Azimio through the stinging corn syrup that managed to get in my eyes, I say dangerously quiet, "Leave." When he doesn't move an inch I shout, "Now!"
He scrambles down the hall as Rachel begins leading me to what I can only assume, the girl's bathroom. I hear a scraping then feel myself being pushed down into a chair. Rachel turns the faucet on then hands me a few wet paper towels.
"Here, clean your face. It's mainly just sticky residue now, most of it dropped to the floor or on your uniform. Do you have another outfit you can wear," I hear her ask gently.
"Yeah," I reply, pulling my phone out of the skirts waistband and hand it over to her. "Can you text Santana and tell her please? She's under 'Satan'."
She takes the phone, and after a few seconds she says, "Done. How's your eyes?"
"Better, I can see now at least."
"That's good Quinn. I'm going to attempt to get the slushy out of your hair, okay?" I nod and she tips my head back carefully, her fingers under my chin taking my breath away with her touch. "I'm sorry I don't have any shampoo or condition," she apologizes. I instantly wave her off and she says, "But you do look beautiful with red hair Quinn," she giggles.
Smiling at the sound and the feeling of her fingers running through my hair, I reply, "I don't know, I always thought pink would be more badass."
"And hot," she husks.
I open my eyes and see that she had started to bend closer. I quickly shut my eyes again and start to lean to meet her when the bathroom door opens, slamming hard against the wall causing us to jump apart. Santana storms in, followed closely behind a seemingly calm Brittany, but one look into her glowing blue eyes tells me otherwise.
'Damn you Santana! You couldn't have waited five more second,' I think, knowing she'd hear me.
She glares at me and replies in thought, 'I didn't know a slushy facial was part of the plan.'
'It wasn't.'
Hearing that Santana begins to pace and rant aloud, "Hijo de puta! Once I find that pendejo, I wills be going all Lima Heights. Whens I'm through with him he'll be praying he and his brother can have spawn of their own." She continues on in spanish for a few minutes, her eyes going brighter with each word until I see her start to shake.
"Santana," I try to interrupt her, calmly repeating her name a couple of times before shouting, "Santana!" Stopping immediately, she looks at me, breathing harshly. "Go find Puck and Sam. Tell them what happened then go find Azimio." At my instruction Santana smiles devilishly until I say, "Don't hurt him. Just torment the dick some other way. I know you'll figure something out. And give me the uniform please."
She hands over the uniform, careful to keep red dye off of it, along with a towel, and goes back to B, linking their pinkies together. As they start to leave, Brittany turns back to me.
"Cool eyes Quinn," she says, her own back to normal.
Looking in the mirror behind me, I watch as light gold fades back to hazel. "Thanks, Britt. We'll see you in a little bit," I say to the couple as they walk out the door, and I begin to dry my hair with the towel Santana brought me.
"Bye Q, bye Dwarf," San says hastily as the door swings shut, eager to hunt down Azimio.
"Do you believe they'll actually abstain from hurting him," Rachel asks, concern lacing her voice.
"They wouldn't dare go against a direct order," I answer confidently.
"Not even Santana?"
Turning towards Rachel, and meeting her eyes with mine, I assure her, "Not even Santana."
She nods her head in acceptance, looking away from me and slightly fidgets self-consciously as I continue to stare at her. She clears her throat and asks, "Why wouldn't they dare disobey you?"
"I'm going to change," I say absently and start walking to a stall, leaving the towel on the seat, and ignoring her question. As I lock the stall door I hear her stomp her foot and huff before rummaging through her things. Chuckling quietly to myself, I take off the stained uniform. Sliding the clean skirt up my legs I hear Rachel gasp. "What's going on," I ask with a smirk, already knowing her answer.
"There was another card in my grammar book," she answers in awe.
Zipping my cheer top and steeping out the stall I inquire, "So what's it say Rachel?"
"My heart is, and will always be, yours," she reads off the notecard before looking at me, tears in her eyes.
I hurry to her and wipe the fallen tears with my thumb. She slightly smiles up at me in gratitude, and I wrap her in my arms as I ask, "What's wrong? I thought you liked finding the cards."
"I do," she replies, sniffling, while she curls into me, "its just today has been so amazing."
"Why's that," I can't help but ask, trying so hard not sound proud. She pulls away, and begins pacing as she speaks, leaving me to watch in amusement.
"Due to the fact, that first this morning when I was getting into Daddy's car to come here, there was chalk on my driveway. It was drawings of mainly unicorns, rainbows, and ducks. But, also in the middle were the words 'Are you ready to catch me?'. I have no idea what its supposed to mean, but here look," she explains, pulling out her phone. She shows me a picture of Britt's and mine handy work. Putting her phone away with a tiny smile when I nod, Rachel continues, "Then when I arrive at school and open my locker I see that someone had gotten me coffee and flowers. In spite of the fact that I found the gesture completely sweet, it still vaguely irks me that someone had the audacity to break into my locker. I mean the gifts could have just been a distraction so I wouldn't realize they stole from me."
Seeing her pause to breathe I add, "Or they just left something instead."
"Yes, yes, which brings me to the next point," she says, her smile growing. "In all of my textbooks I find these notecards with such beautiful, endearing quotes on them," she pauses as she looks at me seriously, "but best of all you have started talking to me again as if I actually mean something to you. I have missed you Quinn."
"I've missed you too, Rachel," I say softly just as the bell rings. Once the bell ceases, we hear a piercing scream, and we hurry to look the bathroom door. Opening it, we watch as a petrified Azimio runs down the hallway, crashing into Jacob Ben Israel, and landing awkwardly right on top of him. Rachel and I laugh boisterously, along with everyone else in the hallway, while we retreat back into the bathroom. "Well, I guess they found Azimio," I say between laughs.
"I would say so," Rachel agrees, still cracking up. "Are you ready to go to English?"
Grabbing her hand, and intertwining our fingers, I reply, "Yeah, might as well. We can get the story later in Glee."
Walking into Glee, I see that everyone is there besides two people. "Where's Puck and Sam," I ask.
"They had to finish getting dressed," Brittany answers. I raise my eyebrow at Santana for an explanation as to why the boys weren't already clothed.
"Let's just say Azimio met my two gigantic, very vicious, dogs," she replies, simply as she begins to file her nails.
"Santana!"
"Get your granny panties out your ass. We went to my house first, then came back here, and the boys went back to my house," she explains.
"Sorry it took so long to get back lady bro," Puck says as he and Sam walk in. "It took awhile to get to Santana's house so we wouldn't be seen."
"You shouldn't have had to worry about that, because you shouldn't have switched to scare Azimio," I scold in a low voice so only they would hear. Seeing their crestfallen faces I add, "Thank you."
"It was Satan's idea," Sam informs me while he goes to sit beside Mercedes, placing a kiss on her cheek when he reaches her.
"Shut it Trouty. I know its hard to keep them Steven Tyler lips shut, but you could at least attempt to," San says as Rachel and I sit next to each other beside her.
Mr. Schue walks in soon after we all sit down. "Any volunteers today," he asks, and when I raise my hand and ask if I could, he seems surprised. "Go ahead, Quinn. You're more than welcome to."
I go tell the rest of the band member what I'm singing while Puck grabs as electric guitar. I go stand in the middle of the room, looking at anyone besides Rachel, and begin to speak after taking a slow deep breath.
"For the past few days I have been hiding from my emotions and avoiding the most extraordinary person I've ever met. I've had my reasons that have seemed legitimate until I realized that this person was worth more to me than a few 'what ifs'. All day I've subtly saying sorry by leaving gifts and surprises for her to find. But now I hope this says sorry and so much more. Rachel I hope this makes your day even better." Meeting Rachel's watery eyes, I motion for the music to start, and I begin to sing.
"Before I fall too fast kiss me quick, but make it last. So I can see how badly this will hurt me when you say goodbye." Softly singing the last word I look down, keeping the possibility in my mind no matter how unlikely. "Keep it sweet, keep it slow. Let the future pass and don't let go. But tonight I could fall too soon into this beautiful moonlight." Smiling at the memory of finding Rachel for the first time at the boulder and walking her home under the moon. When the song progresses to the chorus I see sing at full volume.
"But you're so hypnotizing. You've got me laughing while I sing," I let a chuckle out while still singing. "You've got me smiling in my sleep, and I can see this unraveling. Your love is where I'm falling, But please don't catch me," I sing softly again. Looking at Rachel I see her tears falling, but a smile on her face, Brittany holding her hand.
"See this heart won't settle down, like a child running scared from a clown. I'm terrified of what you do. My stomach screams just when I look at you." She frowns at the line, but smiles again as I continue serenading her, "Run far away so I can breathe, even though you're far from suffocating me. I can't set my hopes too high, 'cause every 'Hello' ends with a 'Goodbye'." Santana walks down to me and starts singing back for the chorus, "But you're so hypnotizing. You've got me laughing while I sing, you've got me smiling in my sleep. And I can see this unraveling. Your love is where I'm falling, but please don't catch me."
Before I start the next verse Brittany brings Rachel down to in front of me and goes to stand on my other side. I grab both of Rachel's hand and look straight into her eyes as I sing lightly, Santana and Brittany 'ahhing' in the background, "So now you see why I'm scared. I can't open up my heart without a care, but here I go, it's what I feel, and for the first time in my life I know its real."
"But you're so hypnotizing, you've got me laughing while I sing, you've got me smiling in my sleep," I sing, placing my hands on Rachel's waist when the band picks up the tempo. I spin her around in my arms so that they're wrapped securely around her waist and I sing while rocking us, "And I can see this unraveling. Your love is where I'm falling, so please don't catch me." When I finish the chorus the band goes silent and I dip Rachel. "If this is love please don't break me," I sing very softly, before whispering in her ear, "I'm giving up so just catch me."
As everyone, besides Finn, claps, some even whistling, I bring Rachel back to standing position. "Meet me at the boulder at 6:30, we have a date to finish," I say with a wink before walking out the room. Remembering something, I pop my head back in and say, "If you read the notecards in the order you found them, it reads as a letter Rach."
AN: There you have it Quinn's plan. I hope you found her apology worthwhile. Thank you all for the reviews, favorites, and follows. If there are any questions that you would like for Rachel to ask Quinn or that you feel I haven't answered properly but Quinn can let me know and I'll use them in the next chapter. The more questions I get the more likely I can update sooner. Speaking of which I don't know exactly when I will be able to update. My aunt is coming home tomorrow from her month long trip and wants to redo the entire house. I will write whenever I possibly can and try to update sooner rather than later, but I just wanted to give you all fair warning.
The song used in this chapter is Demi Lovato's Catch Me.
The quotes come from:
1st-New Moon
2nd-Pride and Prejudice
3rd-The Notebook
4th-The Notebook
5th-Sense and Sensibility