Just a bit of a filler this chapter, I feel. I go away soon, and I wanted to get something out before then, because I won't have any internet connection. I seriously don't know how I'll cope! I'm actually going to have to talk to other human beings :O
Dgronison, I think that more of Rachel and Bryony's back story will come out during the story, for sure ;)
For those that were unsure, Bryony is pronounced Brian-ee. Or Brye-o-knee. So you can make sure you are reading it correctly in your heads ; ) Sorry for the confusion.
I'd like to thank those that have said that they don't review often, for signing in and letting me know what they think of the fic. I'd also like to thank everyone who reviews every chapter. How sweet of you. And I'd also like to thank everybody who falls somewhere in-between : )
Contingent upon who you were to ask, day six in the Big Brother house was going well.
When most of the houseguests had awoken, some two hours ago, the handful that had drifted off to sleep before the conclusion of last night's Head Of Household competition, had raced one another upstairs, still sporting bed hair and a little sleep in their eye. Scandalized giggles on their lips. That is, the ones who'd awoken to see that both Rachel and Quinn were missing from their beds anyway.
Like children peeking into their parents' bedroom on Christmas morning, Tina, Kurt, and Brittany had quietly pushed on the HOH room's door, and poked their heads inside, only to be met with a sight that was worthy of a warmed palm over the heart, and a hushed, 'awww.'
And of course, with Kurt around, news of the new sleeping arrangement had traveled swiftly.
In fact, houseguests were still talking about it...
"Oh, you should've seen t-them. All curled up together in t-the HOH bed, like president and f-first lady," Tina gushed over her bowl of slop. "I've n-never seen anything more cute. And that's not even mentioning the p-pictures of Quinn and her daughter. If o-only I'd looked like that at thirteen."
"Yes, though I would've preferred to have seen two hot beefy men snuggling up there, Quinn and Rachel were a pretty close second. You know," Kurt chimed, frivolously waving his hand through the air, "minus the two hot beefy men snuggling part." His eyebrows then slowly furrowed. "And what's more, Quinn's daughter seems to have... impeccable fashion sense for one so young. Give it a couple of years, and she'll be after my spot in the fashion industry."
"Seriously, I f-feel like one of those fangirling s-shippers you always see on Tumblr when it comes to Quinn and Rach - and n-now Beth too!" Tina continued to gush.
"Dude, you should've seen them coming in from the comp last night," Sam said, smiling back on the memory as he carefully took a knife into his sandwich. "They were dripping wet, and probably freezing their butts off. But like, Quinn held Rachel's head in place - like this - and wouldn't quit kissing her cheek! It was totally cute." Glancing around, the surfer suddenly lowered his voice and added, "Bryony was pissed though. Like, stomping through the house and everything. She's definitely gonna bring it for the Veto comp if she gets to play in it."
"Of c-course she'll get t-to play in it. Quinn's definitely gonna nominate her. The two nominees a-and the HOH always get to play for the Veto without fail," Tina pointed out, all too happy to be talking to the handsome surfer. "Or have y-you never watched p-previous seasons of the show?"
Sam smirked. "Sure have. But, like, what if Quinn doesn't nominate her? What if the plan is to backdoor Bryony instead?"
Tina fell silent, pondering the possibility that Quinn was planning to backdoor Rachel's antagonistic ex.
For various different reasons, it was risky - this backdooring business. It was a well-known strategic technique in the Big Brother game, which involved nominating two pawns instead of the real target, so that the real target would be robbed of their guaranteed chance to play in the Veto competition. Subsequently being robbed of the chance to veto themselves off of the block. Under the Head Of Household's instruction, the houseguest to win the Power Of Veto would then save one of the pawns, leaving the HOH to replace the saved houseguest with... the real target.
Bryony in this case.
"No, I don't think she'll g-get backdoored," Tina concluded. "Quinn w-wouldn't risk it, 'cause whoever w-wins the POV might decide not to use it. Then we'll b-be stuck with Bryony for another week, and one of t-the pawns will go home."
"You guys are seriously making my head hurt," Kurt commented. "Listen honey, the only type of backdoor that I'm interested in hearing about is the kind that lives between two butt cheeks."
Sam erupted in a spluttering chuckle.
And Tina didn't think that she'd even seen anything so dorky, yet so attractive.
"Who won HOH last night, so I can worry about goin' up on the block as I eat my breakfast?" Puck suddenly mumbled, shuffling into the living area like a zombie. He sniffled and sat down on the kitchen stool that neighbored Tina's, pulling the thick blue blanket that draped his bulky shoulders tighter around himself.
Sam frowned as he looked the mohawk-sporting man up and down. "Uh... Quinn won."
Puck's eyebrows arched. "Dude, that's actually... not a bad outcome. I'm happy for her."
"Like, what happened to you bro?"
"He's getting a cold," Emma interjected, sweeping into the kitchen. "Kept many of us awake with his sneezing, last night. Well," the lady-like redhead said, as she turned one of the cooker's rings on, "I'm not going to risk getting infected. You, Puck, are going to eat my special chicken broth, and I don't want to hear another word about it!"
"Fuck, if I'd known I was gonna get special treatment from the house hottie, I would've gotten sick sooner."
In response to the compliment, Emma's lips twitched, a light shade of pink coloring her cheeks. "I better get... started," she murmured, rolling up her sleeves.
Sam, Kurt, and Tina all looked at each other as if to question whether or not they'd just stepped into The Twilight Zone...
Up in the Head of Household room - which Big Brother had decked out, whilst Quinn had showered warmth back into her flesh the night before - all was quiet. Except for the occasional ruffle of the Egyptian silk sheets, and Rachel's slumber-induced wheezing, anyway.
Quinn had stirred five minutes ago. She'd spent nearly all five of those minutes basking in the room's plush aesthetics - marveling at how Big Brother had taken heed of what she'd told them on her audition tape, regarding her dream decor. Even down to the wall stenciling of the electric guitar, which she found to be incredibly sexy, if not a tidbit tacky.
The swanky en suite, the basket full of her favorite snacks, the privacy, the power. Well... those things were great. But what charmed her the most were the framed pictures of her daughter, and the letter that was safely folded up in the bedside drawer, yet to be read.
Yet to be cherished.
The blonde gently chuckled and rolled her eyes at herself, because she could only imagine the bumbling mess that she was going to become once she started to read it. Rachel, who was snuggled into her side, expelling warm even breaths into her chest, would probably -
"Bryony," came a sudden murmur.
Startled out of her imagination, Quinn peered down at the body that was heaped on top of her own, arching an eyebrow at the off-hand utterance.
"Bryony..." quietly sounded out once again.
This time much raspier. Much more under duress.
At the sound of that name, leaving Rachel's lips in such a sensual manner, the grin that had lingered over from Quinn's chuckle slowly faded. She frowned and shifted against the headboard, affording herself a better view of the shorter woman's face, which seemed to be pinched in slight grimace.
"Rachel," she whispered, wanting to swoop in and save the brunette from whatever parallel reality she was currently trapped in. "Wake up, sleepy one."
The coaxing blonde suddenly gasped, tensing up as she felt a warm hand gliding down her back beneath the covers, only ceasing its excursion once it was filled with a bulging handful of... her butt.
"Bryony!" again licked the silence, and in the form of a fully-fledged groan this time.
Quinn's hand darted down, her slender fingers securing themselves around the small hand that had taken to squeezing her ass in sporadic intervals. "Rachel!" she called, firmly.
That seemed to do the trick, because the brunette's dusky eyelids flickered open to reveal two big frowning brown eyes. "W-What happened?" she croaked, attempting to sit up, only to realize that she was lying on top of Quinn, and that her hand was-
Her eyes widened!
She instantly tore her hand away, and glanced up into unreadable hazel eyes. "Jesus, Mary, and Barbra! I'm so sorry!" she groaned, her face contorting into a harrowing grimace as she pulled out of the blonde's warmth. "Please forgive me! I-I had no idea that -"
"Rachel," Quinn drawled, tucking a few strands of hair behind the frenzied woman's ear, "It's not that big of a deal. I knew the dangers when I invited you to sleep up here with me last night," she teased, before raising an impish yet imploring eyebrow. "Tell me; what were you dreaming about?"
Rachel gulped, her mouth drying of all saliva. "Dreaming a-about?"
"Uh huh. What were you dreaming about? Tell me."
"Well..." In favor of studying the wrinkles that marred the gold sheets, Rachel sat up and avoided the blonde's persistent gaze like her life depended on it, later petting her wild hair down at the back. "I-I must look awful right now," she chuckled, only half joking.
Quinn cleared her throat and narrowed her eyes, because Rachel was coming through loud and clear...
"So, do you dream about Bryony a lot?" she decided to just ask.
Rachel sighed, accepting that she'd been found out. "What did I say whilst I was asleep?" she mumbled, rubbing sleep's lingering heaviness from her eye.
Quinn reached for the sheets, pulled them up to her chin, and scooted further down the mattress until she was lying on her side, peering up at Rachel. She extended a finger out and playfully bopped the adorable brunette's nose, before saying, "the reason that I offered to have you come sleep up here was so that you wouldn't have to share a bedroom with Bryony. And the first word that I hear out of your mouth, this morning, is the name that belongs to she who shall not be named."
The fast blushing brunette sighed, her eyelids closing with the exhalation, like this was the last thing that she wanted to have to deal with right now.
"Why, Rachel, you've desecrated the sanctity of my kingdom!" Quinn goofed, casting her hand out over the luxurious space. "And shall hereby be punished. Do what I'm paying you for and take her to the stocks, guards!" she ordered, snapping her fingers at the empty archway that led into the plush en suite. "Hurry, or you'll all be joining her!"
Despite her chagrin, Rachel opened her eyes. She glanced towards the silly blonde, and chortled fondly. "Evidently the power's already gone to your head."
Beside her, Quinn shrugged. "Are you still attracted to her?" she suddenly asked.
"Quinn, that is merely -"
"I'd understand," the blonde interrupted, lifting her hands before her own face to inspect her cuticles. "Despite the sewage tunnel that appears to be her personality, she's very very beautiful, Rach. So," she said, rolling onto her back and peering up at the ceiling, "if you were having an x-rated dream about her, whilst... cuddling up to me -"
Rachel sunk within her palms, groaning.
"Come out from behind your hands, adorable one," the hazel-eyed blonde whispered.
"Quinn, please believe me when I tell you that even with the two new additions to the house, still nobody - male or female - can hold a candle to you!"
"Thank you," Quinn said, winking at the shorter woman. "But you didn't answer my question."
Deciding that it was time to act like she was twenty-five, instead of six, Rachel allowed her hands to fall away from her face. From there she squared her jaw and prepared her tongue to facilitate the truth: "I can appreciate how it must look, Quinn - me dreaming about her at all. But the answer to your question is no. I am no longer attracted to Bryony, and I haven't been in quite some time."
"Okay."
"My best guess is that she's just on the brain, at the moment, due to how shocked and disgruntled I remain to be over her unwanted presence," the brunette further explained.
Quinn nodded, running her knuckle along Rachel's collarbone. "Alright," she said.
In the minutes that followed, an easy chit-chat settled between the two women, wherein they mused over the happy photographs that adorned numerous surfaces in the room.
Indeed, the chit-chat flowed easily.
At least, it did until Rachel decided that Quinn deserved full disclosure, regarding the dream situation. "Not to drag things all the way back here. But did it occur to you that maybe I wasn't having an x-rated dream about her - that just maybe she and I were fighting?" she confessed.
"You grabbed my butt."
Rachel looked to the sheets.
"And groaned Bryony," Quinn added. "What was I supposed to think?"
"You were supposed to think that for my non-violent nature during waking hours, I sure as hell squeezed the shit out of her throat during that dream."
Quinn snorted, the entire bed trembling as she laughed her lungs into exhaustion. "Oh my God!" she giggled, gasping for air as she pressed a hand to her rolling chest. "It has just become clear to me that I sort of love it when you swear? You do it in this really proper way - it's hilarious!"
"Well don't be fooled. I was born and raised in New York, which means that I can open up a colorful can of curse words whenever the need may arise."
Quinn ruffled her blonde strands, amusement still lingering in her eyes and in her cheeks.
Though it was slowly dying down, in favor of something with a little more weight.
"I'm glad I saved Beth's letter for today, instead of reading it last night," she mused, turning her head so that her gaze would meet Rachel's. "I can't wait to see if she mentions you in it, actually."
Rachel's previously twinkling eyes popped in sheer panic, because... what if the beautiful teenager, who graced all of the photos in the room, hated her?
What if Beth saw her as some poon-chasing Jew, whose sole goal in life was to get into her mother's panties?
What if Beth was less liberal than her mother, and was shocked and disgusted by Quinn's less than heterosexual antics in the house?
What if?
"Oh my God. Calm down. I can hear your worry from here!" Quinn stepped in, having whispered in the hopes of its gentle timbre soothing the other woman. "I mean, it's ridiculously sweet that you care what she thinks -"
"Of course I do! She's an important part of your life!" Rachel rambled.
"But would you save yourself the nervous breakdown already?" Quinn chuckled out. "Look, if Beth hates you, she'd never be so rude as to put it in the letter, knowing that you're the closest person to me in here. She'd just ignore your existence altogether, like any other Fabray." The blonde winked, running the back of her hand across Rachel's thigh beneath the covers.
But Rachel was much too far gone to even register the gentle flirtatious touch.
Instead she frowned, and internally berated herself for being so pushy about the letter in the first place. "Perhaps... I was a little overzealous before, when I just assumed that you'd read your letter to me. Maybe only you should read it, like Emma did with hers. After all, it is a personal thing. You should be able to enjoy it without someone looking over your shoulder, and failing to grasp all of the inside jokes."
Following those words, Quinn's hand stopped its descent down the brunette's smooth silken thigh, retreating altogether a moment later. "I just had my hand on your bare thigh," she highlighted, arching an eyebrow.
Rachel's forehead pinched, but for an entirely different reason this time. "You did?" she asked, blinking as though she was questioning the very mattress beneath her.
"Never mind," Quinn said, shaking her head. "You've had a lot to deal with lately, Rach, and you're obviously really concerned about the letter. So how about I read it alone, and if I'm okay with you knowing all of the embarrassing things that I am sure Beth has outed me for, then I'll read it to you too?"
Rachel blew out a long breath and allowed herself a full smile, complete with dimples and everything. "Okay. That sounds like a wonderful plan. I want you to be able to immerse yourself in Beth's words, without having to worry about a second presence in the room. Now then!" she chimed, out of nowhere, "would you like to go downstairs and lord your HOH status over the likes of Bryony and whoever your second nominee is going to be?"
Just then there was a knock at the door.
Both Rachel and Quinn looked at one another, before the blonde smirked and reached for the small remote control. She pointed it at the flat screen TV, and flickered through footage of the living area, the garden, and the laundry room, until live footage of the landing filled the screen.
There she saw Tina patiently waiting just on the other side of the door.
"Oh, it's just Tina," Quinn said, so causally that her boastful delight in the nifty technology was clear. "Come in!" she sang.
Laughter gently jerked Rachel's shoulders around against the headboard. "You, Quinn, are such a show off!"
"What?" The hazel-eyed blonde hunched her shoulder up to her cheek and batted her eyelashes. "I've moved up in the world, which you were sweet enough to help me do."
It was at that point – when Rachel grinned, and Quinn bobbed her tongue out at her – that Tina ushered into the room.
"Nice to see t-that you guys are finally awake," she chirped, passing a picture of Quinn and Beth pulling outrageous faces at one another. The stammering woman sat down at the foot of the bed and poked Rachel's toe, just because. "Everyone's eager t-to congratulate you, Quinn. Except for Bryony, who's w-working out all of her f-frustrations on the shoulder press machine. It s-sounds like she's f-fighting with it… and winning."
Rachel sighed. She was sick of hearing her ex's name already. "Have you given any thought to who you're going to nominate alongside she who shall not be named, Quinn?" she asked, in an obvious attempt to change the subject.
The new Head Of Household took on a pensive look, before she nodded to herself. "I was thinking of Jacob?" Her hazel eyes glided from Rachel's face to Tina's, feeling for their responses.
"That reminds me!" Tina exclaimed, before Rachel could offer any input, "I've b-been meaning to f-fill you guys in a-about Jacob."
Quinn looked at Rachel, and Rachel looked at Quinn.
And then they both looked at Tina, simultaneously urging: "Shoot!"
;)