AN:
This is kind of just fluff. Something I am fond of, just a little.
Oh. Little side note. Rachel is not vegan, well she was at one point but not anymore, she's more vegetarian and will eventually be dropping back into the world of omnivores. Sorry if that makes anyone unhappy but it was kind of a side effect to something I wanted to do with this story. Rachel will love animals with a passion though.
Chapter 4:
The Saturday sun dawned in a blaze of bright orange that woke Rachel up as it streamed through the window above the couch where Quinn was holding Brittany. She looked around and found Santana asleep in a chair with her hand clutching Rachel's.
As soon as Rachel tried to move her hand, Santana tightened her grip and her head popped up, her free hand reached up and started rubbing her eyes.
"Are you ok?"
Rachel smiled a little at Santana's quiet question.
"I will be."
Santana grinned.
#RQSB#
Rachel grumbled as Quinn pushed the wheelchair she had been forced into down the sterilized halls of the hospital. Santana was holding open the back door of Quinn's car as they came out the ER doors. Brittany picked her up and placed her in the back seat, this time upright instead of lying down.
The drive to Rachel's house was filled with Rachel complaining about the restrictions placed on her by the hospital, intermingled with proclamations that she could take care of herself. Santana and Quinn tried to suppress grins and giggles as Brittany patiently explained to Rachel multiple times, that the doctors had their reasons, and that she would not have been left alone anyway.
They arrived safely and Santana carried Rachel inside, despite the tiny diva's continuous complaints, while Quinn brought in the blankets and pain medication. The Latina settled the still-talking brunette onto the couch before disappearing into the kitchen. Rachel pouted, thinking she'd been deserted when Brittany and Quinn went upstairs. The diva moodily flipped through the TV channels.
Twenty minutes passed and Rachel was just about to go looking for some food when Brittany came downstairs with an oversized T-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. Quinn followed close behind with a stack of musicals.
Rachel stared at them in shock until Brittany started to undress her.
"Can I have some privacy?" Rachel squeaked as she pulled Brittany's hands away from her clothes.
"Sure," Brittany said with a smile as she bounced off the couch. "C'mon Quinn, let's go help San."
Quinn nodded but turned toward Rachel before following the other blonde into the kitchen.
"If you need help, ask, we're just in the other room." The blonde fixed Rachel with a soft glare so that the small brunette would understand that she was serious.
Rachel nodded to show she understood. After Quinn left the room, a small smile graced Rachel's face as she awkwardly changed into the new, comfortable, clothes.
Someone cared.
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Santana loved to cook. Her middle school home economics teacher had jokingly referred to her as the organic bomb maker.
She had been paired with Puck and the nickname had proved to be an apt description of her time in the class. Santana had taken the recipes they'd been given and improved on them, half the time creating whatever was on the menu for the day even better than the teacher. Puck on the other hand had caused explosions at least twice a week.
After the class, she'd continued cooking and it was now a major stress reliever, as evidenced by the brownies in the oven, the soup made from scratch on the stove, and the scrambled eggs she was adding spices to as she turned off the heat.
"How can we help?" Brittany asked as she hugged Santana and placed a kiss on her cheek.
The Latina turned around as Brittany let go and hummed a few notes with a smile on her face. Quinn giggled from her seat at the counter as she recognized the opening of the Devil Wears Prada.
"Well Quinn can make us egg sandwiches while you get out the ingredients for rice crispy treats."
Brittany squealed and went to the cupboard as Quinn started toasting the bread. Santana stirred and tasted the soup before adding some salt and a quarter cup of water. Brittany came back and Santana walked her through the measuring of ingredients as the Latina made half a dozen grilled cheese sandwiches.
Quinn handed Santana bacon as she took the plate of grilled cheese and cut them into triangles before taking over the rice crispy making from Brittany. The blonde dancer turned off the oven, on Santana's orders, before going into the living room to ask Rachel what she wanted to drink.
Brittany walked back into the kitchen to find Quinn devouring her second bacon and egg sandwich as Santana munched on half of the last one while attempting to stir the rice crispy treat mix. The dancer bit down on the other half of the egg sandwich as she poured Rachel a glass of ice tea. Quinn requested a glass as well while Santana walked over and grabbed a can of Dr. Pepper.
Brittany filled her glass with water and took Rachel her ice tea. Quinn brought out bowls of soup, and after Santana closed the window in the kitchen and put the dirty pans in soapy water, she carried out the plate of grilled cheese.
Throughout the meal the girls talked about favorite foods and dinner options. It was decided, after everyone voiced an appreciation of salmon, that Santana would grill the favored fish for dinner. The Latina half-heartedly protested for all of thirty seconds before giving in. She would do anything for her girls and it wasn't as if cooking was a trial.
After brunch Rachel directed Santana to the credit card reserved for food and snuggled into Brittany as they watched RENT.
The tiny brunette made it through most of the movie, but crashed hard at the end of Roger and Mark's strange cross-country duet.
Quinn stayed with Rachel as Santana and Brittany went to the apartment for extra clothes and school supplies before stopping at the grocery store and getting everything on the list they'd made earlier. It took them six trips to get everything out of the car, most of it groceries.
Rachel was still asleep, so Santana set up the grill and talked Quinn into taking her for propane and to pick up her car. By the time Quinn got back, Brittany had coaxed Rachel awake, so they started on the weekend's homework. Santana started on dinner as soon as she got back. She let the salmon marinate while she worked on homework with the others and around 6:30 Santana fired up the grill.
Half an hour later dinner was served. Santana got so many compliments from the three girls that she started blushing and the compliments soon turned to teasing. Dinner conversation was light and mostly centered the topic of school.
After dinner, Rachel insisted on a walk around the neighborhood, explaining to the trio that she was not an invalid in a slightly antagonistic tone. They had agreed to allow the singer to take a walk as long as all four of them went.
Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Of course you are coming with me," the diva said as she rose from the couch. Only to fall right back down on it because her legs felt like Jell-O.
Brittany giggled slightly as Quinn helped Rachel back up.
The sun was just setting as the foursome walked around the neighborhood and it had completely set by the time they ambled back into the house twenty minutes later.
The leisurely excursion had been just what Rachel needed because she took her pain medication without a fuss and was out fifteen minutes into Wall-E. Brittany snuggled closer to Santana and continued watching as Quinn carried the out cold diva upstairs and tucked her into bed.
Finding a patched lion at the end of the bed and hearing the brunette whimper, Quinn slid the stuffed animal underneath the covers and into Rachel's arms, amazed at the fact that it immediately caused Rachel relax.
The trio finished the movie and locked up for the night before filing into the guestroom Rachel had insisted they use whenever they slept over. Ten minutes later the trio was fast asleep and cuddled together in the middle of the bed.
The house was peaceful through the night for the first time in a long time.
#RQSB#
Rachel woke up slowly, groggy from the pain medication.
Last night flashed through her head in disjointed images as the hot water of the shower woke her up. By the time she had gotten dressed and started down the stairs Rachel had shaken off the loopy after-effects of the codeine the doctors had given her.
Rachel had tried to talk the doctor into giving her morphine or at least something with fewer side effects. She had ground her teeth when he patted her head as if she were five years old and told her not to worry her pretty little head.
Santana had to hold Brittany back as Quinn verbally assaulted the doctor. He had chuckled and shook his head before placing the prescription bottle on the desk and walking out. The only reason the three cheerleaders had not followed the idiot and torn him into itty-bitty pieces was because Rachel had slumped into Santana and professed that she could not stand another minute in the hospital.
The brunette's smile grew as she thought back on all the ways the three girls had shown her that they cared about her. Nobody had shown her this much affection since…
Two minutes later, Rachel gave up on trying to remember the last instance of affection and embraced the happiness of having someone, or rather multiple someones, care about her now.
#RQSB#
Santana woke up on Sunday morning with a smile on her face. She spent twenty minutes watching Brittany and Quinn sleep before tiptoeing through the house and into the backyard.
After an intense workout, the Latina slipped back into the house and woke up Quinn with a kiss before stepping into the shower. Quinn's movements woke Brittany who curled around the other blonde tightly before letting the head cheerleader get out of bed.
Quinn headed outside to start her own workout regimen as Santana came out of the shower. Brittany pouted until the Latina gave her a kiss and headed downstairs to make breakfast. The blonde slipped into the shower before going downstairs to keep Santana company.
Santana frowned at the Berry's store-bought pancake mix, controlling the impulse to throw it out as she went through the cupboard for pancake ingredients so she could make them from scratch. She had just thrown away the trial batch when Brittany bounced down the stairs; hair still wet, and gave her a kiss on the cheek before setting the table.
Quinn came in from the backyard, still sweaty from exercising. Catching sight of Brittany, a mischievous grin crossed the head Cheerio's face and she chased Brittany around the house, trying to give her a hug.
They both collapsed into a fit of giggles at the bottom of the stairs just as Rachel was stepping down the stairs, making her jump a few to escape their antics. The brunette just grinned and shook her head at them.
Entering the kitchen, Rachel found Santana pouring pancake batter onto a griddle and squealed with delight. She hugged Santana as she whispered in the taller brunette's ear,
"Best breakfast ever."
Rachel tensed as Santana did not respond immediately and started to pull away, but the cheerleader pulled Rachel closer before she could do that. Wrapping her arm around the diva, Santana brought her in as close as possible while still flipping pancakes with the spatula in her other hand.
They stayed like that until the pancakes were done, Rachel cuddled into Santana's side, and both girls with grins splitting their faces. Santana flipped the pancakes onto a plate, and with a kiss to the shorter brunette's forehead, sent her to the counter to eat.
Rachel smiled and shyly stood on tiptoe so she could kiss Santana's cheek.
Brittany came back in and sat down next to Rachel, smothering her own plate of pancakes in butter and syrup. Rachel and Brittany talked in between bites, liberally showering Santana with compliments as they devoured pancake after pancake as fast as they could come off the griddle.
The Latina blushed and just kept making more with a smile on her face and occasionally humming a few bars of whichever song popped into her head.
Quinn bounded down the stairs not long after and hugged Rachel, kissed Brittany and Santana on the cheek, and grabbed the plate of bacon next to the stove.
Breakfast was a fun affair for all. Quinn "guarded" her bacon from Brittany while Santana used the last half of the batter to make fun shapes instead of circles. Rachel called out suggestions to Santana and Brittany couldn't stop grinning. All of them were laughing because of the antics that were going on.
Brittany looked over the girls as she bit into her last pancake. Her family was happy and safe, that was all she really needed.
#RQSB#
After cleaning up the kitchen, the four girls grabbed their homework and headed outside to enjoy the clear autumn air. They crowded around one side of the patio table, offering help to each other when it was needed and generally just enjoying the good weather and each other's company.
By lunch time all the homework was done and Santana had been told to pick out a movie whilst the other three made sandwiches.
Santana smiled as she ran her fingers down the spines of DVDs and VHSs. She stopped at one and smirked as she slid it into the DVD player; it was an older favorite of hers. The previews started as Rachel came out of the kitchen with a plate of PB&J. Brittany and Quinn followed with drinks.
When the DVD menu popped up Rachel glanced quizzically at Santana as Brittany snuggled closer to the Latina.
"Jurassic Park?"
Santana nodded and hit play.
Rachel sat next Quinn on the love seat as Santana and Brittany stretched out on the couch. They whiled away the afternoon watching Jurassic Park and Jaws, debating on how they would have acted and yelling at the people on screen, generally calling them stupid.
After Jaws, Quinn made mac & cheese and the laid back day was complete. The three Cheerios badgered Rachel until she took her pain medication, as the diva had refused to take it after breakfast. Brittany tucked Rachel in while Quinn and Santana talked about what they were going to do the next day.
"We don't have school but coach said practice was from one 'til five," Quinn said as they straightened up the living room.
"We're not leaving Rachel alone." Santana said, carrying the cups into the kitchen.
"She can find something to do for four hours right?" Quinn asked as she placed their bowls in the sink.
"She will. I'm not letting her out of my sight for longer than twenty minutes when we're outside of this house."
Quinn nodded as they heard Brittany come down the stairs. They talked for a little longer before heading to bed.
Brittany curled into Quinn as Santana embraced them both.
The trio fell asleep content, if a little apprehensive about what would happen when school started on Tuesday.
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