Harley Quinn Davidson Thank you.
icesk8er I'm glad that you're still enjoying it. I agree, a true friendship is one that you can pick up right where you left off the last time you saw each other, whether it was two days, two months or two years ago. And I wanted to display that, here. That the rest of the Glee kids love Quinn and just want her in their lives, but understand that maybe she had to step away for a bit.
progpoet I definitely agree, the best moments between Rachel and Quinn on the show were the little heart to heart moments, those times when nobody else was around and they were just being themselves around each other, vulnerable and open and honest. I really wish there had been more of that. And that's what I'm trying to create with this story. So, I'm glad that you see and appreciate that, when reading it. :)
Denethion Thank you. And yes, Quinn is working at being more open and they're both working at talking things out rather than jumping to conclusions and fighitng.
LaurenKnight13 Thank you.
DameonCain Thank you. Next chapter, that'll happen. I was trying to get it all into one chapter, but it's taken me this long to write this, I didn't want to wait another week or so to post.
gllover22 I'm glad you're still enjoying it. :)
wkgreen Yeah, Quinn is growing up a little and learning that. Though that's not to say that the sex isn't still going to play a part in the developing relationship. ;p
Guest: Thank you.
Mslspatz: Thank you, lady. :) You know what your kind words do to me ;) I'm glad that you liked it.
RikkuKashi, well, welcome to the story. Better late than never, right? Even if you weren't here from the very beginning, you're here now and I appreciate you taking the time out to comment. :) I'm glad that you're enjoying it and I hope you continue to.
Author's Note: So I am having some pretty epic computer problems. I got this typed up but I don't have a proper writing program anymore, I don't have access to spell check or anything like that at the moment, so there might be more than the normal amount of typos or spelling mistakes. For that, I apologize. And I hope to have it taken care of very soon.
Chapter 40
Quinn's shower washed away the lingering remnents of her hangover and left her feeling refreshed and rejuvinated. And ready for whatever it was that Rachel had planned for the day. Which, Quinn was pretty very excited for. She wasn't used to being the one in the relationship that took care of things, planning dates and arranging evenings and making all the plans. She had grown accustomed, over the years, to being courted, to being wooed. And, while she had enjoyed setting everything up on their first date and had taken some pleasure in watching Rachel's smile grow and brigthen when she saw the flowers, the restaurant, she had to admit that she had missed being the one getting flowers and whisked off to a favorite restaurant and she was looking forward to seeing what Rachel had in store for her. Quinn knew that Rachel was no one to do things halfway. She had a penchant for grand gestures and was even more of a romantic than Quinn was.
She had a feeling that she was going to enjoy this give and take with Rachel, the trading off and taking turns of courting each other. It was an unexpected but appealing dynamic, one that Quinn had never been a part of before but so far was enjoying immensely.
She dried off and dressed quickly, then headed out into the apartment in search of Rachel. She found her in the kitchen, flipping french toast onto a plate with one hand, the other held her phone up to her ear.
"Yes, Dad. I remember," she was saying as Quinn slipped up behind her, wrapping her arms around Rachel's waist and pulled her back into her.
"I thought you were going to wait for me?" she murmured, dropping a kiss onto Rachel's shoulder and trying not to feel hurt that her girlfriend had gone ahead and made the call without her. It was ridiculous to be stung by that, they were her parents, she was entitled to have a few minutes of private conversation with them.
"They called first," Rachel said softly, dropping her head back onto Quinn's shoulder and turning her face away from the phone to speak directly into Quinn's ear. "I guess I forgot to tell them after our talk last week. Hey, Dad. Daddy, Quinn's here," she said, turning back to the phone in her hand. "I'm going to put you on speaker now."
"Oh, hello, Quinn."
"Hey, Quinn."
"Hi, guys." She couldn't help but smile at the warmth and enthusiasm in their greetings. "I'm sorry to interrupt."
"No problem. I was just telling Rachel here about...Uh, Rach, what were we talking about again?" Hiriam questioned.
Rachel opened her mouth to answer but said nothing for a long minute. "You know what, I don't even remember."
Leroy's laughter echoed in the background as Hiriam scoffed loudly.
"Wow, Babygirl," he said, sounding almost sincerely devestated. "It's nice to know that you pay so much attention to your dear old Dad. Can't even remember what I said two minutes ago."
Now it was Rachel's turn to scoff. "Oh, please, you don't remember any better than I do."
"Well, no but I'm a fragile old man. My memory isn't what it used to be. But you, you're young you-"
"Save it, you're not that old."
"Old enough," Leroy chimed in.
"Hey, who's side are you on?" Hiriam objected.
"Yours. I'm always on yours," Leroy said.
"Doesn't sound like it."
"Really? Because I'm pretty sure I was agreeing with you. You said you were old, Rachel said you weren't, I stepped in to defend you."
Quinn laughed along with the others and pulled Rachel more snug against her. She couldn't ever remember hearing her parents joke and banter like this. Even when she was a kid, and their marriage had been good. Or, as good as it got. They'd always spoken corially to each other, never laughing or teasing each other. At least not when the kids were around. And she doubted it was any different when the two of them were alone.
They had never shown anything but perfunctory affection towards each other. Or, their children. Her father had always kissed her mother on the cheek before he left for work in the morning, but even as a child, Quinn had thought that the action had seemed like rote, done because it was expected, not because it was desired. He would give Quinn a hug and tell her he was proud of her when she brought home an A paper or completed a level in piano, but there had never been any real warmth in his words or his actions. Her mom would hug Quinn and murmure soothing words when she fell on the playground and skinned her knee or a kid had said something mean, making her cry, but Quinn had never felt encompassed by love or safety in her mother's arms.
It wasn't something she'd really registered until she'd gotten older and had ventured out into the world a little, and saw how other families interacted. She saw warmth and humour and genuine affection in the faces of her friend's families growing up.
It was something she had strived to emulate in her relationships as soon as she realized that she didn't have to live the life her parents had and she could, in fact, forge her own path and create a life she actually wanted to live. And it was definitely something she looked for in the early stages of a relationship. If her partner wasn't willing to get silly and goofy with her, if they couldn't make her laugh or at least laugh with her, that was an early warning sign. A red-flag that things were going in a direction she didn't want to go.
Quinn was pleased that Rachel seemed to have similiar sensibilities. She had a beautiful, big easy smile and was quick to laugh. She'd perfected a quick wit and a dry sarcasm that Quinn found unexpected but increadibly sexy. And if todays interactions were anything to go by, she'd gotten that from her fathers. Who defintely weren't afraid to laugh and joke and tease each other. The love and affection they had for each other, and for their daughter, travelled easily down the phone line.
It was the kind of relationship she aspired to, ten, twenty, fifty years down the line. The kind of relationship she wanted to build a life, raise kids around.
"Quinn. Hey, Earth to Quinn." She jumpled, startled at the sound of Rachel's voice spoken softly, but directly into her ear. She shook her head, clearing it and glanced up to find Rachel's neck craned to the side, her girlfriend staring fondly at her with her lips quirked up in amusement and one eyebrow raised in questioning. She realized that she had drifted off, gotten so lost in her own musings that she'd forgotten to follow the conversation.
"Sorry, are we boring you?" Leroy teased.
"What? No. Sorry." She stumbled over her reassurances, much to the amusement of the Berry men and her girlfriend. She dipped her head and shook it lightly, letting her hair fall forward in a curtain around her face, hiding not just the blush but the grin that threatened to belie her feigned discomfort.
"I bet she's blushing. Rach, is she blushing?" Hiriam asked.
"I don't know, give me one sec." Rachel reached up with one hand and tugged at a lock of Quinn's hair, but she only turned her head away, blocking Rache's view of her. "Come on, babe, let me see you." She ducked her head to get a look at Quinn's face. Grinning softly, Quinn comlied to Rachel's request, turning her face towards her.
Quinn just shook her head as Rachel crowed about how red she was into the phone, tuning out the gentle teasing, she turned her attention to the breakfast that Rachel was now burning, distracted as she was by the phone call. She pressed a light kiss to the side of Rachel's neck and released her grip, gently easing the spatula out of Rachel's hand and nudging her aside. She turned off the stove and scraped the now-charred pieces of bread into the garbage then ran the pot under the faucet before placing it into the dishwasher.
The remaining french toast smelled delicious and looked so tempting all golden brown and steaming on the plate beside the stove. She moved the plate over the island and then glanced back over at Rachel. "Syrup?" she asked, moving towards the fridge. She glanced back over her shoulder in time to catch Rachel's answering nod. She grabbed the syrup, a container of orange juice and a basket of strawberries from the fridge and them made her way over to the island, where Rachel had set out two places.
"So, what are you girls up to today?" Hiriam asked, once the rest of them had stopped laughing, though he still sounded a little winded from his efforts.
"Rachel is taking me out on a date," Quinn said.
"Where to?"
"I don't know, she won't tell me."
:"Ooh, a surprise date. Sounds romantic. Is it romantic, Rach?"
"Nice try."
"Okay. But, what's the dress code, at least?"
Rachel cast a glance over at Quinn, taking in her outfit. "What she's wearing is fine."
"You're not getting any more of me than Quinn did."
"Sorry, kid. I tried."
"Valient effort," Quinn said, "Much appreciated."
They moved around the kitchen and each other easily, gathering condiments and utensils before sitting opposite each other, a couple of pieces of toast and some fresh fruit laid out on the plates before them.
"How's the play coming?" Leroy asked as they settled down to breakfast.
"Good. Casting is just about set. We're still debating over a couple of people, but we'll make the calls first thing Monday morning, and then we can set about rehearsing."
"That's so exciting," Hiriam said. "There's just something about building a play from the ground up. Rachel's done a few workshops over the years, so we're familiar with the drill, but taking it one step further back, and starting with the writing of the play. That's something else."
"It's kind of amazing," Quinn agreed. "And, a little surreal. I mean, my writing partner and I, we wrote half of this play in coffee shops and via text messages back and forth. Late night phone calls and weird, disjointed dinner conversations. To see it all come together into this cohesive piece, with characters and actions it's just..." She shook her head and laughed lightly at herself for not being able to come up with the words to describe how this whole process felt. It wasn't the first play she'd workshopped, but it was the first play she'd written that made it to New York. That was a pretty big deal. Even if opening night was also closing night, it would still be an accomplishment. There were so many plays that never even made it that far. She was well aware of the opportunity she was being afforded.
"Well, I think it's incredible, what you're doing," Hiriam said. "And I hope that it goes well for you. Because I for one, can't wait to come to the city and see your play."
"You don't have to-"
"Nonesense. Of course we do," Leroy cut her off. "So make sure you save us a seat-"
"Front row, center, seats," Hiriam interjected.
"On opening night."
"All right," Quinn said, struggling to keep her voice steady as she agreed. "Thank you." Never before had she been offered such unwavering, nonchalant support. Her mom tried, she really did, but she also worried. When Quinn told her she was starting a new play, her mom wanted to know if she had a back-up plan, or if she had enough savings to hold her over until the next new play, just in case this one didn't pan out. She knew that her mom was just being practical, but sometimes she just wanted her to have faith, in her daughter's abilities, in her hard earned skills.
"And to think, when you make it big, we can say that we knew you way back when," Leroy said. "You know, H. If she does get famous and we ever need to make a quick buck, we can always sell some of her old stories. I'm pretty sure Rachel still has a copy of that literary magazine her senior English class put out. You had a couple of short stories in there too, didn't you Quinn?"
A couple? She certainly hoped not. Having one in there was bad enough, but multiples? She shuddered at the thought. Submitting entries had been a course requirement, so she knew that she had at least one in there, but she'd never actually taken a copy so she didn't know which one. Or ones, apparently.
"Oh, God, you kept that?" she turned to Rachel in surprise.
"Of course. I gave copies to everyone I knew. Didn't you?"
"No way. Those stories were horrible"
"I'm sure they were fine, Quinn."
"Oh, please I was eighteen and angsty, those stories are embarassing."
"You were never angsty."
"Really? Have you forgotten my leather and combat boot phase?"
"A rebellion to be sure, but hardly angsty."
"I smoked cigarettes and pierced my nose."
"You dyed your hair pink, Quinn. Pink. I'm pretty sure that's about as far away from angsty as you can get, color wise."
"She's kind of got a point there," Hiriam said.
"What is this, pick on Quinn day?" she muttered, which earned her a laugh from the other three.
"I was a little concerned by your transformation initially," Rachel said. "But, I have to admit, you really pulled it off. Of course, you'd look good in a burlap sack so..."
"Careful, Babygirl, you're drooling," Leroy teased.
Rachel hastily wiped at her chin, causing Quinn to burst into laughter because not only was it not true, but Leroy couldn't even see her.
"She totally checked, didn't she?"
"Yeah she did."
"I hate you both," Rachel muttured, stabbing at a piece of french toast and popping it into her mouth.
"No you don't," Leroy and Quinn said at the same time, causing a round of laughter for the two of them.
"Children, no fighting," Hiriam abmonished. "Or I'll send you to your rooms with no breakfast."
"Too late," Quinn said, popping the last piece of her toast into her mouth. "This french toast was amazing, Rach."
"Don't talk with your mouthful, Quinn. It's unattractive."
"But, I thought you said that I was so attractive I could make anything look good."
Hiriam and Leroy guffawed loudly as Rachel scowled and rolled her eyes, though it wasn't very effective because the corners of her lips curved up in a smile.
"Careful, Quinn. You're Santana is showing."
She narrowed her eyes, but Rachel only smiled sweetly at her.
"I'm sorry, you're going to have to explain that one to me," Hiriam said.
"Quinn doesn't like it when I point out that she behaves like Santana sometimes."
"Because I don't."
"But you do."
"It's not entirely unheard of for friends to start picking up on each other's traits and behaviours," Leroy pointed out, entirely to rationally for Quinn's liking.
"I know. But, Santana?"
"You make a valid point."
Rachel just shook her head. "She wouldn't be your best friend if you didn't admire her. What's wrong with emulating that from time to time?"
"Yeah? You remember that the next time that I tell you you're acting like Santana."
"What? I never-"
"You've spent more time with her in the past few years that I have. If anyone is picking up traits, it's gotta be you."
Rachel huffed and rolled her eyes. "I hate it when you use logic and reason."
Quinn laughed and leaned forward to press a light peck to her lips. "No you don't."
"No. I don't."
"Awww," the Berry men cooed, reminding Quinn and Rachel that they weren't alone.
"A'right. Enough from the peanut gallery. What's going on with you guys?" Rachel asked.
Quinn sat back in her seat and sipped her orange juice as she listened to Hiriam and Leroy fill them in on the goings on of the past week, people they'd spoken too, stories they'd heard, books they'd started reading. The mundane, day to day stuff that by sharing, connected them.
It was nice to just sit here and talk about recipies and hometown gossip over breakfast and get a window into the lives of Rachel and two of the most important people in the world to her. She couldn't understand how her former lovers hadn't embraced this, because she felt like she was being granted an amazing opportunity. And she hoped that she would continue to be granted it for a long time to come.
Gradually, the conversation wound down. Rachel finished her breakfast as well and the two of them began to move around the kitchen, cleaning up. They said their goodbyes and promised to talk again later as Rachel wiped down the counter and Quinn was putting the last of the plates into the dishwasher.
"That was nice," Rachel said as she hit the end call button on her phone and sidled up behind Quinn. She rested her forehead between Quinn's shoulder blades and wrapped her arms around Quin's waist.
"Yeah, it was." Quinn laid her hands over Rachel's arms, tugging her grip more snugly around her.
"Are you ready for round two?" Rachel asked, opening her palm to offer up her cell phone.
"Round two?"
"Yeah. Your mom. Did you still want to call her this morning?"
Quinn stared at the phone for a moment, apprehensive, then tentatively plucked it from Rachel's fingers.