Author's Note: Tumblr ficlet set directly after the ficlet To Cover Up and immediately preceding Won't Spend Another Day Wondering.
They Think We're Lovers Kept Under Covers
They think we're lovers kept under covers
I just ignore it, but they keep saying
We laugh just a little too loud
We stand just a little too close
We stare just a little too long
Maybe they're seeing something we don't.
~Let's Give Them Something To Talk About, Bonnie Raitt
"Just tell Quinn to be more careful in the future."
Rachel's eyes grow wide as she sits in the makeup chair before her performance, and she chokes back a nervous laugh in response to Laura's (correct) assumption that Quinn is responsible for the purple bruises currently marring her neck. There's absolutely no way Rachel can blame them on a curling iron, and frankly, she doesn't want to. She's still floating on the cloud of bliss that had formed the moment her lips had touched Quinn's for the very first time. So maybe she and Quinn had gotten just a tad bit carried away in their efforts to make up for lost time with the kissing after that, but Rachel is proud to wear Quinn's marks on her skin.
Laura is not nearly as enamored with them.
Rachel nods meekly while her skin catches fire, trusting that Laura is talented enough to cover her blush right along with those hickeys, but even as Laura works her magic, Rachel wonders how the woman had so easily guessed that it was Quinn who'd given them to her.
It's true that Rachel has been preoccupied for the last several weeks with her newly realized feelings for Quinn and the uncertainty of what she would do about them, but she hadn't even told Kurt about any of it yet. She knows she didn't purposely tell Laura, but she does tend to chatter when she's in her chair, filling up the empty silence with conversation, and she desperately tries to recall if she'd ever let any mention of her feelings slip in Laura's presence until her mind is so preoccupied with it that she just has to ask, "How…how did you know it was Quinn?"
Laura pauses in her work, gazing down at Rachel with an incredulous expression. "You've mentioned that woman's name practically every day since we started rehearsals. I know what kind of shampoo she uses, her favorite restaurant, and so many other obscure facts about her, your relationship with her, and her relationships with other women that I really shouldn't ever have to know. You've been bitching for days about the woman from the deli who's not nearly good enough for Quinn," she says, quoting the familiar lament back to Rachel before rolling her eyes. "And yesterday was Thursday. Who else would you have been with?"
Rachel's mouth falls open as she stares at Laura, and the heat of her blush intensifies. It's true that she did spend the better part of the last week complaining that the meat-touting trollop that Quinn had gone out with was completely wrong for her—and she was joyfully proven correct on that front—and she can recognize now that she has talked about Quinn in this chair fairly often. But who doesn't occasionally talk about their friends?
"Was it really that obvious?"
A raucous laugh erupts from Laura's mouth. "Oh honey, you might as well have had a neon sign over your head." Rachel frowns at that, crossing her arms huffily. It's an obvious hyperbole—otherwise someone else surely would have noticed and informed her of it. "Lucky for you," Laura continues, scooping out a healthy dollop of concealer, "it seems like Quinn has a thing for colorful signs."
Rachel's lips slowly curl up at the corners until she's smiling goofily because—yeah, Quinn does.
x
She's still smiling—or smiling again—when the curtain closes on the evening's performance. Rachel practically skips off the stage, eager to see Quinn for their (very late) date. Really, they're only going for a light meal after Rachel changes—and then who knows?—but they simply couldn't wait to see one another again after finally declaring their mutual love. Rachel can't even care that Santana tagged along with Quinn to the show.
Her euphoric state is enough to earn a friendly bump on the shoulder from Jessica Foster as they make their way back to their dressing rooms. "Someone is having a really good day," she comments with a smirk. "You've been smiling like a cat in a creamery since you got here."
Rachel generally likes Jessica. She'd been the first person in the cast, other than Brian, to make an effort to befriend her. In fact, she'd been unabashedly welcoming and complimentary in her initial approach—something that doesn't often happen to Rachel when it comes other women, especially ones in the business. They typically tend to judge her appearance or find her personality lacking or hate her for her exceptional talent. Jessica hadn't done any of that, and the teasing that Rachel occasionally has to endure from her is of a much friendlier (if sometimes mildly inappropriate) variety.
So it only takes a few seconds before Rachel decides that her new romance with Quinn is simply too epic and awe-inspiring not to be shared, and there's no reason why Jessica shouldn't be the first in the company—well, after Laura, obviously—to hear the news.
"Something wonderful happened yesterday," Rachel gushes dreamily.
"Did your secret lover finally pop the question?" Jessica asks playfully.
"I don't have a secret lover," Rachel denies reflexively, wondering why Jessica keeps joking about one. "Or, well, I didn't," she corrects with a grin, "until yesterday."
She expects Jessica's eyes to spark with interest before she presses Rachel for the juicy details. The woman can tend to be a tad bit obsessed with sex at times—like Santana but less evil. She doesn't expect furrowed eyebrows, a concerned frown, and to be tugged out of the hall into the relative solitude of a doorway.
"Explain," Jessica demands sharply.
Confused with her reaction, Rachel's grin droops—but only slightly. "Well, you remember my…friend, Quinn," she prompts.
"How could I not?" Jessica mutters, still frowning mildly.
Rachel lets the comment go—after all, she has talked about Quinn rather often if Laura is to be believed—and instead focuses on the warm bubbles of pleasure in her belly at the thought of her girlfriend. Her girlfriend! Rachel's grin widens once again. "Yesterday, she and I entered into a beautiful new phase of our relationship."
"So…she popped the question?" Jessica repeats, confused. "Or you did?"
It's Rachel's turn to frown in confusion, wondering why Jessica would even ask that. "No. We kissed. And…and then we confessed our mutual heretofore unspoken love and became girlfriends. The non-platonic kind," she clarifies, just in case, because there still seems to be some traces of bewilderment lingering in Jessica's expression.
Green eyes widen. "You mean you weren't already?"
It's clear that she's genuinely surprised by this information. "You thought we were," Rachel realizes belatedly.
"Well, yeah," Jessica confirms. "I mean, you talk about her all the time, and you're always all over each other whenever she comes to see you. And you don't even bat an eyelash when I flirt with you. I just figured you were together and keeping it on the down low." She snickers then. "Though I did think your version of down low needed some work."
"You flirt with me?" Rachel asks in shock, her brain latching onto that piece of information in utter disbelief.
Jessica waves a dismissive hand through the air. "I flirt with every woman, and I sleep with the ones who flirt back."
Jessica is into women! Rachel can't believe she missed that.
"So you weren't dating Quinn before yesterday?" Jessica verifies.
Rachel drags in a deep, calming breath while her brain fully processes everything. First Laura and now Jessica. Just how blatantly and how long has she been advertising her growing feelings for Quinn Fabray? "I was…kind of slow on the uptake," she admits in mild embarrassment.
Jessica clicks her tongue, shaking her head regretfully. "Damn. I'd have absolutely taken a shot with Quinn if I'd known she was single for real."
"Oh, like hell you would have," Rachel growls instinctively, feeling the (now) familiar burn of jealousy slither through her blood at the thought of Quinn hooking up with some random woman—Jessica totally counts as random in this instance. Rachel straightens her back and stands to her full height as she stares down her friend. She really wishes Jessica didn't have a good three inches on her right now, but it doesn't stop her from jabbing her index finger under Jessica's perfect nose. "You just stay away from my girlfriend," she warns, possibly less playfully than she intends.
Jessica laughs at that, easily batting Rachel's hand away. "Please…like she'd even notice anyone else," she dismisses, completely unoffended. "The way she looks at you is half the reason I thought you were already dating."
A blush crawls up Rachel's neck at the observation, and she nods. Now that she understands exactly what she's seeing when Quinn looks at her, she realizes just how long it's been happening. "I couldn't see it for a long time," she confesses quietly. "You'd understand if you knew our history…"
A short, breathy laugh interrupts her. "I think I know enough of it. You do talk about her a lot."
Rachel sighs. "So I'm discovering."
Jessica's smile turns softer then, and she reaches out to take one of Rachel's hands, giving it a friendly (Rachel thinks) squeeze. "It's been pretty obvious that you two have something really special, Rachel, even if you weren't actually a couple yet. I'm happy you finally figured it out."
"So am I," Rachel agrees with a smile. "Really happy."
The smirk is back on Jessica's face. "I can tell. She must be one hell of a kisser."
Rachel's smile turns smug. "Oh, she is. But you will never, ever get a personal demonstration." No one but Rachel will be sampling Quinn's lips ever again if Rachel has anything to say about it.
Jessica laughs again, shrugging. "A girl can dream. In the meantime, I need to go scrub off this makeup and see who I can get into tonight."
"Oh," Rachel gasps in awareness. "I need to do that too. George will be bringing Quinn backstage any minute now."
"Careful. Those dressing room walls are thin," Jessica teases as they step out of the doorway and move toward the dressing rooms once again.
"We won't be doing that," Rachel admonishes, feeling things other than her face heat at the thought, but it's still too soon for that, and it certainly won't be happening for the first time in her dressing room. "Especially if Santana comes with her," she grumbles.
Jessica's eyebrows arch in interest. "Santana? That's one of the friends from high school, right?"
"Hmm…yeah," Rachel answers distractedly, stopping in front of her dressing room. "She came with Quinn tonight to keep her company. If you'll excuse me, Jessica, I really do need to get changed." She doesn't want to keep Quinn waiting one moment longer than she absolutely needs to. She's already done more than enough of that in her lifetime.
"Of course," Jessica answers breezily, taking a step away. "I'll see you tomorrow, Rachel. Don't let your not-so-secret secret lover wear you out tonight," she advises with a wink.
"She's not my," Rachel begins, trailing off when she realizes that Quinn is, in fact, her not-so-secret secret lover, and that's what Jessica has been teasing her about all this time. "Yeah, yeah she is," she decides, grinning goofily once again.
She can't even care just how not secret her affection for Quinn has obviously been. It's been years in the making, and they'd come so far to get here. Rachel will be perfectly happy to let the whole world to know just how lucky she is to be in love with her very best friend.