Heyyy. I just want to warn you all that I'm busy after this chapter for at least two weeks. So have patience for the next chapter. It comes, just wait. For now: have fun reading and although I'm more a winter-person, I wish you all a great summer with lots of sun :)
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"What do you mean 'she left'?!"
"She left school, Quinn. She looked like that time she didn't get a solo. HOR-RI-BLE."
"Shit"
"You could say that, yeah."
"She's supposed to feel happy. It's her birthday after all."
"Yeah well, maybe it's because everyone ignored her today because we're trying to get you two together."
"Hold your sneer, Kurt."
"I don't know if you know but I'm supposed to be her FRIEND, Quinn. I feel like crap."
"You know what, I can't take it anymore. I'm going to her house."
"Wait, you're going to ditch school? Quinn, you never did that!"
"She's more important than school, Kurt."
Quinn puts her mobile phone in her pocket, grabs her books, puts them in her bag and leaves school. She looks at the present she bought. It's a necklace with a small, golden star.
"Well, little star... If you're not coming to school today, I'll just have to come to you." Quinn mumbles to herself.
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"Honey? Please unlock your door..." Hiram Berry helplessly says against a closed bedroom door.
"No" A muffled voice responds back to him. He sighs.
"Leroy, this is absolutely hopeless." He says to his husband, who's frowning next to hem.
"Nonsense. Rachel, sweetheart, why are you upset? You love birthdays!" Leroy tries.
"No one came to me to wish me a happy birthday."
Hiram and Leroy feel their heart ache for their daughter. They don't understand why she doesn't has many friends. When they look at their daughter, they see a talented, friendly, helpful girl. So why would everybody ignore her?
"Why?" Hiram softly asks.
"Because everyone hates me at school." Rachel's voice trembles slightly.
"I'm sure that's not true..." Leroy reassures her.
"No, it is. You don't know half of it.
Leroy and Hiram look at each other with a questioning look.
"What do we not know, Rea?" Hiram asks.
They hear a trembling sigh inside the room.
"We have those ice-cold drink at school. They're called slushy's. I get a slushy facial twice a day. When I'm lucky, just once." She admits.
Hiram's heart breaks. Leroy gasps heartbrokenly.
"It's because I'm hideous. And too small." Rachel says. She sounds like she really believes it. Leroy wants to protest and say she's the most precious person in the world, but then the doorbell rings.
"That must be your friends, Rach!" Hiram tries to sound cheerful, but his voice betrays him. He's shocked about hearing his talented little songbird is bullied by some kids. Leroy walks to the door.
"Don't count on it." Rachel quietly says.
"What about that Quinn girl? You liked her, right?" Hiram asks hopefully
"She was one of them. And she didn't change at all." Rachel bitterly snaps. Hiram doesn't recognize his daughter at all.
"Quinn... she bullied you?" His voice trembles. He feels newfound anger towards that girl.
"I actually thought she was different. I don't know what to believe now." Rachel sighs.
"What did she do?" Hiram asks worriedly.
Rachel laughs humorlessly. "She wrote me a love-letter . She pretended to not know me for weeks while were chatting together. I didn't knew it was her, but she did, and she said nothing about it."
"What if she means it?" Hiram hears his husband opening the door.
"Impossible. She's Quinn Fabray. I'm Rachel Berry. That's like a mouse and an elephant falling in love with each other." Rachel sadly says.
"But kiddo, you're beautiful. Talented. Sweet. You have it all. Why so self-conscious?" Hiram hears a heated conversation at the front door.
"I'm not beautiful." Rachel bits back.
"Oh, Rachel..." Hiram sighs sadly.
The conversation at the front door is now getting louder and louder.
"I'm right back, sweetie." Hiram says. He walks to the door. What he sees there is his husband shouting to some blonde girl in the doorstep.
"How did you eve dare to come here?" Leroy shouts. Hiram sees the girl flinch. Hiram walks up to Leroy and puts a hand on his shoulder.
"What's wrong here? Why are you scaring this kid?" Hiram angrily asks to him.
"This is QUINN, Hiram. You know: that girl that made your daughter's life a living hell." Leroy defends himself, sending a threatening glare to Quinn. Hiram looks at the blonde girl, seeing shame and regret in her eyes. She looks sad. Hiram feels strangely sorry for the girl.
"But she came." Hiram states quietly.
"What?!" Leroy shouts unbelievingly.
"She's the only one who came." Hiram says, now more confidently.
Leroy looks back at Quinn, who's tightening her grip around a small present.
"What's that?" Leroy bitterly asks. He points to the present.
Hiram looks warningly at him, ashamed of his behavior.
"I... I bought her a necklace." Quinn quietly says, blushing furiously.
"What kind of necklace?" Leroy raises an eyebrow to her, tapping impatiently on the ground.
Hiram shakes his head in disapproval.
"It's a star" Quinn looks at the ground.
Hiram feels himself smiling, because he knows how much stars mean to Rachel. He looks at his husband, who's now fighting to keep an angry face. Hiram knows he's getting weak now.
"W-why a star?" Leroy stutters, now unsure of himself.
Quinn looks up. Her eyes are shining slightly now and she smiles.
"It's a metaphor. For her being a star."
Hiram melts slightly and Leroy's angry expression turns into a softer one.
"You think she's a star?" Leroy curiously asks.
"Well, yeah. She's unique." Quinn smiles.
"I'm gonna cry." Hiram mutters. Leroy poked him.
"Well, Quinn... why is our daughter a crying mess; then?"
Quinn looks saddened when Leroy mentions she's crying.
"Because she understood the message I gave her totally wrong." She sighs.
Hiram frowns. "Because you don't feel the way you said in that letter?" He asks.
Leroy looks questionably at him. Hiram just shrugs and looks at Quinn again.
"No, I feel a lot for her. But she doesn't believe me." She shakily answers.
"So you mean it?" Hiram asks.
"Every single word." Quinn nods.
"Well, come in, then." Hiram opens the door for her. Leroy looks wide-eyed at him, mouthing things like 'are you crazy' and 'she's evil', while shaking his head furiously. Quinn hesitantly walks inside.
"She's upstairs. I warn you: she might not let you in." Hiram says. Quinn nods gratefully. Leroy facepalms himself when he sees Quinn walking upstairs.
"You're crazy. I swear: you're crazy." Leroy shakes his head helplessly. Hiram just rolls his eyes.
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Quinn walks shakily upstairs. As she reaches the last step, she hears quiet sobs. She feels her heart break. She walks slowly to the door and takes a deep breath.
"Rach?" She quietly says.
The sobbing stops immediately.
"What do you want." Rachel mumbles back.
Quinn shuffles with one foot across the floor.
"It's your birthday." She softly says.
"Yes, it sure is." Rachel snaps.
"Can you open the door, please?" Quinn asks.
"Why would I?" Rachel asks skeptically.
"Because I have a present for you." Quinn blushes.
"I don't want it. I want my friends." Is the answer.
Quinn sighs. "But I am your friend."
"No you're not."
It hurts when Rachel says it. It's like the last weeks didn't even mean something to the girl.
"I never lied to you, Rach." Quinn quietly says.
Rachel laughs humorlessly.
"Yeah, right. You said to me I was beautiful. That you wanted to be with me. You wanted to change for me."
"And I mean every word I said. You just don't believe me, and I don't know why." Quinn shakily yells.
It's quiet for a while. Quinn hears Rachel clear her throat.
"You are SO beautiful Quinn. You're popular, talented, smart... I'm none of that. I don't see why you'd like me, Quinn. I'm at the bottom of the food chain."
Quinn feels terrible.
"Oh, Rachel... You don't even know half of how gorgeous you are. And when you sing, I feel all my insides melt. You're such a freakishly good friend, even when people don't deserve your friendship. Like me. I don't deserve YOU. You're not popular, I get that. But I don't give a shit about that. I care about YOU, you crazy little songbird." Quinn honestly says, blushing as she mentions the nickname.
It's silent again.
"Please, Rachel. Just open the door so I can give you the present. Then I'll leave and I'll never talk to you again, if that's what you want." Quinn looks at the floor.
The silence is killing Quinn. She wants to walk away, but then she hears footsteps slowly approach the door, and the door opens. What Quinn sees then, breaks Quinn's heart all over again. Rachel looks at her with tears filled eyes and she sniffles quietly.
"I don't want you to leave." She sniffles. Quinn feels a lump in her throat when she says this.
Then Rachel looks at the present and reaches out for it. Quinn gives it to her and watches silently how Rachel carefully opens the present. She snorts at this, because her grandma opens her presents just like that. Recycling paper. Rachel looks up at her with a frown. Quinn smiles at her and Rachel looks away again. Quinn sighs. Rachel carefully pulls out the small box. As she opens it, Quinn sees a small tear roll down her cheek. Rachel looks at the star-necklace and traces it with a finger. Then she looks up.
"It's a little star." She says, innocently like a child. Quinn feels herself melt.
"Yes, it is, little star." She whispers back.
Rachel's head snaps up at her at the nickname.
"You called me little star again." Rachel whispers.
"I can stop." Quinn blushes.
"No, I like it." Rachel blushes back. She looks at the star-necklace again. An awkward silence follows.
Quinn realizes something.
"Oh, I brought you something else, too." She says excitedly. Rachel curiously looks at her. Quinn opens her bag and grabs something. She looks at Rachel before she slowly pulls out a crown. Rachel recognizes it immediately.
"Is that..." Rachel gasps.
"Yeah, it is." Quinn looks at the prom queen crown she received this year. She saw it on her desk and realized she doesn't deserve it at all.
"I realized something when I looked at it." Quinn quietly says, grabbing the crown somewhat tighter in her hand. Rachel looks at her worriedly.
"I realized someone else deserves it so much more than me. Rachel, I know you wanted this so badly. I took it away from you." Quinn sadly says.
"No, you won it. I didn't." Rachel shrugs as matter of a fact.
"But..." Quinn says while putting the crown on Rachel's head. "...You looked so freaking beautiful. You're always beautiful, little star." Quinn smiles while stroking some bangs away from Rachel's face.
Rachel blushes. "I... I don't know what to say..."
Quinn smiles. "You don't need to say anything. It's somewhat a 'I'm sorry for your birthday'" gift.
Rachel frowns. "Why? You didn't do anything."
"Uhhmm.. Well, I might be the reason why nobody showed up. They wanted to get us two together." Quinn blushes.
"Fabray! You could've said that sooner, BEFORE I was a crying mess!" Rachel gasps.
"You're not a mess, you're beautiful." Quinn innocently smirks.
Rachel wants to say something back, but she closes her mouth and blushes. At that moment, her dads walk in and they gasp.
"Oh my god, honey! You look so beautiful! I'm gonna cry... Leroy, grab the camera!" Hiram says, while wiping his eyes. Rachel rolls her eyes as Hiram hugs her tightly and cracks a smile to Quinn, who's looking awkwardly at them. Leroy comes back with a camera.
"Come on! Let's take a photo!" Hiram excitedly yelps.
They get together. Quinn doesn't move. Leroy looks at her.
"What are you waiting for, Quinn? Get in!" He says, smiling at her. A real smile.
Quinn smiles happily and stands close to Rachel, who looks at her with the most beautiful smile Quinn has ever seen. That's how the photo turned out to be: Hiram and Leroy pulling Rachel and Quinn flush against each other while Rachel and Quinn look at each other with the brightest smiles in the whole world.
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This was it again. Review, follow, favorite... I appreciate it all.