Video by LallyintheSky and Should Have Asked For Directions is a story by Dylan Hart.
After watching this it makes me want to re-read the story and I just finished it again in time for the previous episode! It truly is an amazing piece of writing!
Here’s the link to the story for those who haven’t read it!
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7115068/1/bShould_b_bHave_b_bAsked_b_for_bDirections_b
Quinn hasn’t had very many solos and I find it interesting that two of them came directly after a confrontation/discussion with Rachel. Those songs were: “Keep me hanging on” and “Never can say goodbye.” That says everything I need to know about Faberry being canon.
“I’m not going to let you ruin your life my marrying Finn Hudson!” Quinn’s voice was increasing in volume as she tried to talk some sense into Rachel one last time.
The brunette was standing in a wedding dress looking as beautiful as ever, but it was all wrong. Because she was about to marry someone who wasn’t Quinn, and the blonde could no longer take it. “I just want you…I want you to love me back.” She suddenly dropped her voice to barely a whisper.
Rachel’s brows narrowed in confusion. “What did you just say?”
Quinn took a deep breath and was about to speak again when she felt something tugging on her arm. She shook her arm only for it to be grabbed more forcibly by someone. “Hold still or it will hurt more.” A distant voice called to her.
Quinn idly wondered what would hurt more than watching the girl she loved marry someone else. She shook her head of those thoughts and tugged her arm away from the person grasping it.
That’s when she felt a sting and winced in pain, her eyes shot open. An older woman was standing over her, tugging on tubes that were connected to…what were they connected to?
“Where am I?” Quinn’s voice came out hoarse, but the woman must have heard her because she let go of her arm.
“You’ve been in an accident, you’re in the hospital.” The woman answered. “You must have had some kind of dream, because your arms were flailing around and you ripped out your IV.”
Quinn tried to take calming breaths as she pinched her eyes shut. The hospital. The wedding! “How long?”
“Just now, I’ve already fixed it but you have to be more careful.” The woman who Quinn presumed was her nurse replied.
Quinn shook her head. “No, how long have I been here?”
“Three weeks.”
No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!
She moved to set up in bed but was stopped by the nurse. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I have to go. I was supposed to stop a wedding, I can’t be here.” She mumbled more to herself than to the nurse, who was now looking at her strangely.
“You’re not going anywhere, anytime soon.” She sighed, then looked at her patient with compassion. “Quinn, you’ve been badly injured…you’re legs…”
Reality crushed down on Quinn all at once. “I can’t feel my legs!” She screamed hysterically as she thrashed her arms around and ripped out the IV again.
Then she felt a small prick and she descended into unconsciousness again. This time when she dreamed, she wasn’t dreaming about just losing Rachel but about losing everything. She just got back on the Cheerios, she wanted to win Nationals. And the Glee Club was going to Nationals again, and then Yale. And then Rachel. Rachel was married. She lost her chance.
When she woke back up, Santana and Brittany were sitting beside her bed. Brittany jumped to attention as soon as Quinn’s eyes opened. “Quinn! You’re awake!”
As Brittany dove in to hug her, Quinn winced in pain. The taller blonde pulled away apologetically. “Sorry.”
Quinn remained silent; she really didn’t want to talk to anyone. She didn’t want to see anyone but Rachel, and even that would break her heart. So she just remained silent. She was silent every day for the next week, even though everybody but Finn and Rachel came to visit her. She cursed herself, as she thought about how maybe they are on their honeymoon or that they must be too happy to bother thinking about their friend, who was paralyzed and in the hospital.
The weeks turned into a month, and still no sign of Rachel. Though, admittedly, Quinn did sleep a lot. It was easier to not deal with her sea of visitors if she was asleep, so even when she wasn’t she pretended to be.
The doctors came and talked to her about her paralysis. They hoped it would only be temporary and said that she would have to do lots of physical therapy. But really, what was the point? She had already lost everything.
She sighed loudly, as she opened her eyes. She didn’t know what day it was or how long she had been there. But once again, what did it really even matter?
“I can’t begin to imagine what you’re going through, maybe Artie can, but I’ll try. Please talk to me.” Puck said as he walked across the room and over to Quinn’s bed. He took her hand in his and squeezed gently. “Or talk to someone. Everyone is worried about you. We all care.”
Quinn scoffed at that. “Really? Then where’s Rachel? Or Finn?” She added his name as an afterthought.
Puck dropped her hand and began pacing across the room. “She blames herself.”
Quinn’s face contorted in confusion. “What?”
Puck stopped pacing and looked at her with tears in his eyes. “She’s hurting and she also won’t talk to anyone about it. It breaks my heart to see my two favorite girls so…broken.”
Quinn released a strangled breath; she swallowed slowly before speaking in an uneven voice. “Why is she hurting? What does she blame herself for?”
“She was texting you…when you got in the accident. She knows it’s all her fault and she hates herself for it.”
Quinn sobbed out loud and Puck rushed to her bed, holding her as tightly as he could without hurting her. “She hasn’t sang a song in glee since it happened and she hasn’t said more than two words to anyone either. She’s like a…”
“Stop!” Quinn wailed, she couldn’t hear anymore. At least when she thought she was losing Rachel, it was because Rachel was happy with Finn. She didn’t want to lose Rachel, and then see the girl so depressed.
She must have cried herself to sleep because when she woke up, Puck was gone. She sat in silence replaying the conversation in her head. Rachel was blaming herself for Quinn’s…condition. How could Rachel hate herself when Quinn didn’t hate her or blame her? Sure she was texting while driving, but that was her own fault not Rachel’s.
“You look like you’re having a serious internal monologue.” Kurt’s voice came from the corner.
Quinn jumped; she hadn’t even realized he was there. She slowly brought her eyes up, leveling him with a questioning look. The last time they truly spoke to each other, they argued about Karofsky. She shook her head at the memory, but remained silent.
Kurt stood from his chair and took a few tentative steps forward. “Last we spoke; you said that nothing would ever make you feel so…depressed. Yet here you are, looking like you are giving up.”
She glared at him before responding. “That was before I lost everything.”
He took another step closer. “The doctors think your paralysis is only temporary. They think that you could be up walking again in time for Nationals. For graduation. And you’re still going to Yale. You haven’t lost everything yet, Quinn.”
She looked away, unable to answer him. Kurt studied her, watching her closely. Realization hit him like a Mack truck going 80. “You are more like Karofsky than I wanted to believe.”
Her eyes darted to his, wild panic in her hazel orbs. He slowly but deliberately continued. “You bullied her, called her names, and drew pornographic photos of her…” He paused to see if she would refute it but all he saw was her trembling lip and tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “You did all that…and you were against this wedding because you are in love with her. It was never about Finn, it was always about Rachel.”
She closed her eyes, allowing the tears to fall freely.
“And you gave up because you think you’ve lost her forever.” He whispered, suddenly closer than she remembered.
Her eyes shot opened. “Of course I lost her…she chose Finn. Every time she came to me for advice, I told her to wait. I told her to wait to sleep with him, to wait to marry him. But she never listened. I asked her point blank if there could be anyone else, but she said it was only Finn. ”
Kurt was silent for several agonizing minutes before he replied. “They didn’t get married.”
Quinn’s eyes narrowed on the boy. He better not be playing her, her heart couldn’t take much more pain.
Kurt bit his lip before continuing. “She refused to start the ceremony without you, and they ran out of time.”
Quinn’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened in shock. The boy smiled at her knowingly. “So you have to get better, get out of here and find a way to get the Rachel Berry that we both know and love back because her moping around is breaking my heart.”
All Quinn could do was nod, though she did so resolutely. She once again had purpose. She was going to make Rachel Berry happy again, and she silently prayed that she would finally get the girl. That Rachel could be her perfect thing, the thing that she would never lose.
Kurt saw the transformation in Quinn’s eyes, the steely determination that set on her features and he smiled to himself before walking away. Before he reached the door, Quinn’s timid voice stopped him. “Do you think I have a chance? To be with her, I mean.”
He took a deep breath before releasing it slowly. “I think that she refused to get married because you weren’t going to be there. I don’t know about you…but to me, that means something.”
And with those words, he disappeared out the door. Quinn let her head drop on her pillow and allowed a small smile to form on her face for the first time since she last saw Rachel. As she closed her eyes and fell into darkness again, she dreamt of all the ways that she would bring Rachel Berry back into the land of the living. And at the end of the dream, she got her girl.
To Be Continued… :)
Disclaimer: I don’t own Glee
Notice how Rachel’s reaction to Quinn’s announcement to the group was pride, similar to Quinn’s reaction when Rachel won MVP last season. Another similiarity was that neither went down to hug the other person when everyone else did the group hug :)
Someone has to do a gif of this! I would but I suck.
Loved the Faberry of tonight’s episode! But I especially love how many gifs and comments and videos made their way onto tumblr already! Love this fandom :)
Will someone please write a fanfic Merlin/Glee crossover where Morgana and Merlin come to Lima in search of the person of prophecy? That person is Quinn and now she will have to decide if she wants to embrace her dark side (with Morgana) or be the good person Rachel is always telling her she is. Of course this would be Faberry, but seeing Morgana and Santana clash with a little bit of a Merlin/Morgana sexual tension could be fun! Anyone? Please?!
Prompt! Head Canon!
Chapter 2
Quinn,
If you’re reading this, you still aren’t convinced. I don’t know how else to convince you other than telling you that I am sorry. Every time I went back, I didn’t know that you were sent here, and how greatly that affected you. But when I learned what was happening, I stopped going back there. For you, for us. I didn’t realize that I was changing things, but now that I know that it’s possible I want us to change what happens to Rachel. I know why you stayed away from her, and honestly, I don’t blame you. But we can change it, and since I can’t help you I have sent you someone else to help.
Don’t make the same mistakes with her that I did. She’s amazing and perfect and she is so much like Rachel it drives me crazy sometimes. Work together and fix things for all of us, give her the chance to have a real family. I told Harmony when she went back that if she was successful she wouldn’t remember anything because she would basically cease to exist. The way she is anyway. Honestly, I don’t think she heard anything beyond the fact that she’d see Rachel. So, I may never get the chance to properly apologize, but if you are successful and we get to keep Rachel, Harmony will have both of us and she will be happy and she deserves that.
Quinn let out a slow and shaky breath when she read the letter with the very familiar writing. The letter was in her mailbox when she got home from her ‘date’ with Rachel. She smiled to herself at the memory. She had a wonderful time with the brunette and looked forward to spending even more time with her.
As she re-read the letter, she remembered coming face to face with Harmony for the first time. The way the girl looked at her, it was unnerving. And upon reading the letter she wondered what kind of life Harmony had in the future and hoped she could fix whatever was wrong between her future self and her daughter.
The ringing of the doorbell brought her from her thoughts. She walked to the front door and opened it, her eyes going wide at the sight of Harmony, Sugar and Rory standing in front of her.
As she led them into the living room, Harmony explained who the other two really were. Quinn shook her head trying to process things before laughing hysterically.
Sugar turned toward Harmony and said. “Wow, she has finally completely lost it.”
Harmony watched Quinn carefully. She was concerned for the blonde. “Quinn?”
Quinn finally calmed down and looked toward Sugar. “It’s so totally obvious you’re Brittany’s daughter.” She smiled. “And the snarky comments you make, it’s not Asperger’s is it? It just screams Santana to me.”
Sugar smiled brightly. “Do you know how hard it has been to fake having Asperger’s? It’s like I have to apologize because I don’t want to offend any of you, but you all are pretty dense sometimes.”
“And to think that when you asked Rachel for singing lessons, I almost got jealous of you.” Quinn smiled.
“Hey, I could have a legitimate chance with her!”
“What?” Harmony huffed.
“Sorry baby, but seriously your moms are hot.” Sugar shrugged unapologetically.
Harmony rolled her eyes and smirked. “Like your moms aren’t hot.”
“Okay, can we please not talk about this? It is really disturbing actually.” Quinn said pinching the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes tightly.
There was a brief moment of awkward silence before Quinn turned her attention on Rory. “So how are you Irish?”
“I’m not; it’s just the character I’m playing.” He replied, dropping the accent.
Her eyes widened. “That is…impressive.”
“Thank you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “If you’re Kurt and Blaine’s son, why the Finn Hudson hero worship?”
He smiled shyly before ducking his head. He spoke while his eyes remained glue to the floor. “I was too intimidated to talk to my dads at first, so I approached Finn. I figured it’d be easier to get into glee if I had someone on my side and Finn is my uncle after all.”
Quinn grinned at Rory’s explanation. “And Kurt defended you in dodgeball, I’m sure you’re proud.”
He brought his eyes back up to Quinn. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Oh god no, don’t you dare do that.” Quinn chastised.
“Sorry.” He replied, cheeks flushed.
Sugar was bouncing in her seat waiting for the conversation to be over so they could get down to business. “So about Rachel’s birthday, I wanna throw a big party and…”
Quinn looked at her. “I was planning on doing something with Rachel, I already asked her. Finn’s out of town with his mom scouting some college this weekend…”
“On Rachel’s birthday?!” Harmony sounded outraged and almost diva-like.
“I know, right! I really need him out of the picture though, if I’m going to make some kind of move, so…”
“That is so romantic!” Sugar clapped her hands together. “Count us in, whatever you need. I am a very good meddler. Harmony and I can scheme with the best of them.”
“Yeah, if you knew who are moms were…” Harmony smirked as she raised an eyebrow.
Quinn’s breath hitched at the sight. She couldn’t believe the resemblance between herself and the other girl. “Who’s your dad? I mean, the donor. Do you know?”
The words were out of her mouth before she could help herself.
Harmony looked at her mom curiously. “An old friend of Rachel’s, Jesse St. James.”
“Fuck me.”
Every eye in the room was trained on Quinn who flushed instantly. “Sorry, but what in the world possessed us to do that?”
“You always told me that…well, you know my version of you…Rachel wanted someone who was musically talented like her and had her dark hair, though she hoped I’d look like you.”
Quinn nodded because that did sound like Rachel. She couldn’t even stop the smirk that formed on her lips. Then her eyes went wide. “Please tell me it was just his sperm and I didn’t have sex with the boy!”
Mortification crossed Harmony’s face. Her eye’s squeezed shut and her hands flew over her ears. “This is so not happening.”
Sugar was laughing. Rory was humming to himself trying not to pay attention to the conversation.
They were interrupted when Quinn’s phone buzzed with a new message. She saw Rachel’s name light up the screen and smiled immediately.
From Rachel: I had a wonderful afternoon with you Quinn, and look forward to this weekend.
“It’s Rachel isn’t it?” Sugar asked when she noticed how peaceful and happy Quinn looked as soon as her phone buzzed.
Harmony heard Rachel’s name, so she removed her hands from her ears and opened her eyes. She took in Quinn’s appearance and smiled knowing how much Quinn cared about the brunette.
Quinn typed a message, completely oblivious to Sugar’s question or the presence of the three teens.
From Quinn: I had fun with you too, Rach, but next time I buy.
From Rachel: Is that an offer? Because I happen to be free tomorrow.
From Quinn: Tomorrow is perfect, but instead of coffee how about dinner?
From Rachel: Just say the word and I’m there
As Quinn read Rachel’s message, she smiled widely.
From Quinn: I believe I already said the word
From Rachel: If you could see me now, you’d see that I am blushing. I am planning on dinner tomorrow, Quinn. Thank you. And see you tomorrow!
From Quinn: No, Rach, thank you! I look forward to tomorrow, see you.
When Quinn put her phone away, she had a dopey smile on her face and her eyes were sparkling.
“Awwww.” Sugar said as she leaned into Harmony.
Sugar’s response caused Quinn to look at her. “I think I have a date tomorrow…sort of.” She said with a wispy voice.
“Well then, we gotta work overtime with our plan to break up Finchel.”
Quinn groaned, because really that was the worst name ever. She idly wondered what people would call her and Rachel when they got together.
“We’re not going to be too awful to him are we? Cause, he’s my uncle and he’s a really nice guy and…” Rory replied as she ran his fingers through his hair nervously before looking at Sugar and Harmony. “Because I have seen you two in action and it’s like unholy.”
Quinn cackled, drawing the teens’ attention back to her. “Sorry, it’s just that some people called Santana, Brittany and I the unholy trinity and it’d only make sense that our daughter’s inherited that.”
Harmony and Sugar beamed proudly while Rory shook his head. “I’m just saying that if we have to do it that we try not to break any hearts along the way. I don’t want to be responsible for that.”
Quinn smiled knowingly. “You and I both know what happens to Finn in the future, I’d say that whatever the girl’s plan on doing is better than that.”
Rory nodded gravely. The girls’ smiles faltered slightly before they returned.
“I think that all we need to do is get Finn to dump Rachel so that she can crawl to her new best friend for comfort.” Sugar suggested.
“So your idea is to break my mom’s heart?” Harmony asked incredulously.
“Why don’t you just tell Rachel who you are to her, that you guys are basically destined to be together?” Rory asked.
Quinn shook her head. “I want to know that her feelings for me are real and not that it’s something she thinks she’s destined to feel. I would always wonder if we were together for the wrong reasons otherwise.”
Sugar’s eyebrows furrowed. “But isn’t the only reason you like her because you went to the future and realized you were supposed to?”
Quinn smiled gently but once again shook her head. “I care about Rachel because she reached out to me when I was pregnant even though I had previously been awful to her. I care about her because she told me that I was the prettiest girl she’s ever seen but also that I was more than that. I fell for her because she approached me under the bleachers when I was surrounded by the skanks and she told me that she missed me. I think I love her because she always seems to reach out when I need it the most and just recently she stopped me from throwing my life away.”
Harmony smiled proudly. This Quinn talked about Rachel the way her mother did. As she listened to her talk, she saw other differences though. This Quinn seemed happier, she was genuine. She was happy to know this Quinn who seemed to genuinely care about her and she seemed proud of her. She closed her eyes at the thought that this is the mother she should have had, or would have had if Rachel was still alive. Harmony never wanted to change the future more than she did right in that moment; she wanted to have this Quinn in her life forever.
Disclaimer: I don’t own glee
Chapter 1
After Sectionals, Rory, Sugar and Harmony met up at Harmony’s house. They hadn’t been able to spend a lot of time together since they arrived in September. They had been too busy setting up their new identities. Harmony was pacing back and forth in her living room, ranting as Sugar and Rory listened patiently.
“She didn’t even perform! I came back in time to meet her and hoped I could see her doing what Ma always said she did best and I didn’t even get to see her perform!” She looked pointedly at her friends. “She cheated! I still don’t understand it, that wasn’t supposed to happen! Us being here is changing things. We were supposed to change the future not their present.” She nearly stomped her foot but settled for a pout before collapsing on the couch and allowing Sugar to wrap her arms around her.
“We are changing things, but isn’t that what we wanted? I mean, who cares as long as it saves her life in the end? Right?” Rory asked with compassion.
“And Harmony, she made a mistake but she did it out of loyalty to a friend. Either one of us would have done the same. It doesn’t make her a bad person.” Sugar tried to comfort her girlfriend as she held her closer.
Harmony sighed. “It’s just, I always heard so many stories about how amazing she is and how perfect and…”
Sugar smiled, kissed the top of Harmony’s head and replied. “She is a great person, everyone in glee adores her. You should transfer to McKinley and get to know her.”
Harmony sat up quickly, looking hopefully into Sugar’s eyes. “Could I? I thought we had to wait?”
“We gave Quinn her first letter, and she and Rachel seemed friendly when we were singing in the auditorium earlier.” Rory offered.
“Let’s just give Quinn another letter, push things a little faster.” Sugar suggested.
“How?” Harmony asked with a raised eyebrow that looked eerily like Quinn’s.
“I’ll drop it in Quinn’s mailbox on my way home tonight.” Rory said with a smile. “And Puck’s having a New Year’s Eve party, so we have to get you into our group before then so you can join us.”
“Rachel’s birthday is next week; I want to spend time with her…somehow.” Harmony said, sadness lacing her words.
“I’ll have to find a way to get the glee kids to throw a party; we can work to get Quinn and Rachel closer…which means we also have to find a way to break Finn and Rachel up.” Sugar said excitedly, she always loved scheming which she knew she inherited from her Mami Santana.
She was good at scheming too, she leaked the information about Santana being a lesbian so her Mami would finally be out and proud and she and her Mom Brittany could be happy and together. She also hoped that in doing so, she’d break up Finn and Rachel but Finn stepped up and actually made Santana feel better so she had some more planning to do.
From Brittany she inherited her love of parties, and so she was going to help plan Rachel’s 18th birthday party. First she had to become best friends with the girl, should be easy enough right?
0000000000000000000000
The next day in school, Quinn approached Rachel at her locker. “Morning Rach!”
The brunette looked at the blonde and smiled brightly. “Good morning Quinn!”
“So, I was wondering…since we’re sort of friends.” She said with a smile. “Wanna grab some coffee after glee today?”
“I’d love to, Quinn.”
Quinn stayed standing in front of Rachel, unable to will herself to leave.
“Quinn?” Rachel asked with concern as she leaned forward and placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”
The blonde snapped out of her own thoughts and smiled at the brunette. She rested her hand on top of Rachel’s. “I’m fine, Rachel.”
“How’s the Yale application going?”
“Already sent it in.”
Rachel nodded. “And you’re nervous? You shouldn’t be, you’re very smart and I’m sure whatever you wrote in your essay will show that you have been through adversity and came out better on the other side.”
Quinn felt a tug at her heart; she forced a smile even though all she wanted to do was confess her soul to the brunette. Rachel must have been able to sense Quinn’s internal struggle.
“I’m going to hug you now, okay?” Rachel asked in a soft tone, Quinn only nodded before Rachel’s arms wrapped around her.
Quinn took a deep, shaky breath as Rachel’s arms encompassed her waist. They felt stronger than they looked, and having the brunette hold her felt perfect. She inhaled the scent of the girl’s shampoo but tried not to seem too creepy about it. Finally, before Rachel could pull away, she wrapped her arms around the smaller girl’s neck and pulled her closer.
Rory and Sugar noticed the embrace from down the hall. They took a photo with their phones and the girl shot Harmony a text with the picture attached.
Quinn sat next to Rachel in glee as they chatted about their upcoming plans. Sugar listened intently as the two girls in front of her discussed going to the Lima Bean. After glee, Sugar approached Rachel. Quinn stayed behind to listen to the interaction.
“Rachel, now that we’re in glee together I was hoping that you could give me some singing lessons?”
Rachel beamed at Sugar’s enthusiasm to better herself. “Of course! We can focus on practicing during the break, if you’re free.”
“Sounds great, I’ll give you my number.” Sugar replied as she and Rachel exchanged cell phone numbers.
Sugar happily skipped out of the room, Rachel smiled before going to retrieve her book bag and sheet music. But when she turned around, she saw that Quinn was still in the room.
“Oh, Quinn! You didn’t have to stay behind. We could have met there.”
“I thought we decided on you riding with me?” Quinn raised an eyebrow.
Rachel’s whole face lit up. Quinn grinned in response. The blonde grabbed Rachel’s book bag and threw it over her own shoulder. “I got this, so you lead the way.”
Rachel walked out of the room, as Quinn followed behind. They stopped by their lockers and grabbed their books. Then Quinn led the brunette out to her car. She was still carrying Rachel’s stuff, so she set everything in the backseat before opening the door for Rachel.
“Thank you, Quinn.” Rachel smiled as she climbed into the car; Quinn hurried around to the other side.
The blonde shifted into drive and drove out of the parking lot. Rachel broke the silence immediately. “I always wondered what it’d be like to be friends with you.”
Quinn smirked. “Really?”
“Yes, I always wanted us to be friends, in case you forgot I offered you my friendship several times…and don’t even apologize Quinn, it’s all been forgiven.”
“Why?”
“Why did I forgive you?”
Quinn rolled her eyes. “You forgave me because you’re you, and you’re amazing. I was wondering why you wanted to be my friend.”
Rachel ducked her head shyly, and then looked out the window. “You always seemed regal.”
Quinn chuckled sardonically. “High school royalty. You were being shallow…”
“No.”
Quinn glanced at Rachel, the brunette refused to meet her eyes. She sighed. “Well, I guess I have been called the Ice Queen.”
Rachel turned toward Quinn quickly, resting her hand on the blonde’s. “It wasn’t that either. I never saw you as an Ice Queen. You aren’t heartless Quinn, I always figured that you felt too much and you were just trying to protect yourself.”
Quinn swallowed thickly, blinking her eyes because tears were threatening to fall. She refused to look at the brunette.
“I just thought that maybe I could be the one to displace that mask of yours.” Rachel said quietly as she turned back toward the window.
The rest of the drive was in silence, but Rachel’s hand never moved from atop Quinn’s. And the blonde was reveling in the touch.
When they got to their destination, Quinn opened the door for Rachel and took her hand to help her out of the car. It was completely unnecessary to do so, but neither girl said anything about it. Quinn also held the door of the Lima Bean open for Rachel, the brunette smiled shyly. Once they were inside, Quinn dismissed herself to go to the bathroom. She needed to regroup. The drive there had been intense, at least for her. She was taking deep breaths.
After giving herself a peptalk, she walked back out of the bathroom and looked for Rachel. The brunette was sitting at a table and waved her over.
“I got you a caramel latte, with whip cream and cinnamon.” Rachel said as she slid the drink across the table. “You ordered it before when we were all here together a while back.”
Quinn looked into Rachel’s warm, brown eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.
“Did I remember wrong?” Rachel asked worriedly.
Quinn shook her head, and grabbed the drink. “No, this is perfect.” She replied before taking a drink to reassure the girl.
“Wait…Quinn, that’s hot!” Rachel tried to warn the blonde, but it was too late.
Quinn’s eyes widened as she sat the drink down quickly. Her mouth was on fire. She swallowed several times, but it didn’t help at all.
Rachel had leapt from her seat and approached the counter to order milk and some ice water. She brought them back to Quinn.
“I heard that milk helps with soothing, though this is soy so I don’t know if that affects the outcome, so if you prefer the water I brought that too, though I suggest you at least try the milk first.”
Quinn nodded as she took the milk and sipped on it. It seemed to help a little, so she gulped it. She chugged the entire glass to Rachel’s amusement. The brunette tilted her head and watched as Quinn swallowed the remaining mouthful.
“I feel like an idiot.” Quinn choked out. The milk took away the severity of the burn but her mouth still hurt so much.
Rachel shook her head with a smile. “You’re not an idiot Quinn.”
The petite diva sat down again, looking compassionately across the table at the blonde. “Did the milk help at all?”
Quinn grinned and nodded. “Yes, thank you.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Quinn spoke again. “So, you’re giving Sugar singing lessons?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. “Do you even think it’d help?”
“Practice always helps Quinn, you have improved so much since you first joined glee.” Rachel’s face morphed into an unreadable expression before she rushed to continue. “I am so sorry, that was meant as a compliment. I hope you don’t take offense…”
Quinn reached across the table and grabbed the brunette’s hands in her own. “I understood what you meant, Rach. And I’m not offended.” She smiled. “So you think I’m improving?”
“Oh, Quinn! I love your voice, when we sang our duet together, it was beautiful.” Rachel rolled her eyes at Quinn’s smirk. “And not just because I was singing too.”
Quinn laughed, causing the brunette to smile brightly. “I like the sound of your laugh; I hope to hear it more often. I really am glad you seem to be happier now Quinn.”
The laughing stopped, but Quinn’s smile was still on her face. The blonde watched Rachel intently. She was silent while she let the brunette continue. “Have I told you how proud I am of your performance at Sectional’s? You all stepped up and it was really spectacular.”
Quinn’s eyes narrowed as she studied the brunette. Then she finally broke her silence. “You actually sound sincere.”
Rachel’s eyebrows furrowed. “Of course I’m sincere. People see you a certain way Quinn, and people see me a certain way too. I’m not as selfish as everyone thinks I am. You are all my friends and although I would have loved to be up there with you, I was proud of how amazing the performance was.”
“I don’t think you’re selfish…all the time.” She added with a smirk, causing the brunette to crack a smile.
They stopped talking as they enjoyed a comfortable silence; Rachel was sipping at her drink while Quinn stuck to the ice water. They were startled by the arrival of someone stopping next to their table. “Hello?” The unfamiliar voice sounded nervous.
Rachel and Quinn both glanced up at the intruder. “Harmony?” Rachel greeted warily when she saw the girl standing in front of them.
Quinn’s eyes went wide. “H-H-Harmony?”
“Quinn, this is Harmony. I’m sure you recognize her from Sectionals.” She turned toward the standing brunette again. “Which you were fantastic at by the way. You are really talented.”
Harmony smiled genuinely. “Thank you.”
Rachel slid over in her booth. “Would you like to join us?”
Harmony was sitting beside Rachel instantly. She never took her eyes off the brunette; likewise Quinn never took her eyes off of Harmony.
“I was hoping to have competed against you directly.” Harmony said to Rachel.
Rachel took a deep breath. As she released it slowly, she spoke. “I made a few mistakes, for which I was rightfully punished.”
Harmony grinned at the answer, and nodded in understanding. She turned her attention on Quinn only to lock eyes with the intensity of her hazel gaze. “You were great up there.”
Quinn nodded with a smile. “Thank you. So were you.” She finally turned toward Rachel briefly before her eyes settled back on Harmony’s. “How do you and Rachel know each other?”
“We met at the NYADA mixer at the beginning of the year.” Harmony answered easily.
“Actually, her performance at said mixer caused Kurt and I to have a mini meltdown in my car.”
Harmony and Quinn both snapped their eyes toward the brunette. “What?” Quinn asked.
Rachel shrugged. “You guys were so amazing…you were so amazing.” She shifted uncomfortably. “It made us realize for the first time that we might not be as good as we thought we were. We are good for Lima but were worried that we weren’t good enough for anything outside of Lima. That’s why we became obsessed with the play and running for president. We thought we needed something better to offer than just our voices.”
Harmony’s words died in her throat as her breathing became labored. Quinn recovered a bit more quickly. “Rachel Barbara Berry! You are more than enough…and talented enough to succeed outside of Lima. I thought I told you that you don’t belong here.”
Rachel giggled uncomfortably. “I assumed that was your way of pushing me away so that you could have Finn.”
“Guess you don’t know me as well as you thought you did.” Quinn smiled slyly, catching the look on Harmony’s face. She frowned. “Are you okay?”
Harmony peeled her eyes away from Rachel and looked at Quinn. “Hmmm?”
“Are you okay?” Quinn repeated.
“Yeah, it’s just…” She turned back to Rachel. “That’s why? Everything you’ve done this year…it’s because of me?”
Rachel nodded briefly. “I guess you could say that.”
Harmony shook away any negative thoughts that had lingered as she realized why Rachel was different than the stories she always heard. She looked from Rachel to Quinn and back again. “I actually should get going. It was nice talking to you, Rachel…Quinn.”
Rachel leaned forward as Harmony climbed out of the booth. “But, I hope I didn’t scare you away.”
Harmony laughed out loud, tears stinging her eyes. “Absolutely not. I just have somewhere I need to be.”
“Harmony, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute?” Quinn asked as she stood up.
“Oh, um…sure.”
They walked away from the table. “How the hell are you here? I’m not crazy right, but you…you’re…”
Harmony studied her. “You’re not crazy, Quinn. I am who you think I am.”
“Then…how?”
“You…well, the you I know…found out a way that maybe we can stop Rachel from dying in the future. We came back to help you.”
“We?”
Harmony smiled. “I’ll explain it all later, how about I stop over tonight and we can talk?”
“But you think it’s possible? I mean, it has to be because you’re here.”
“We’ve already changed so much, look what I made Rachel do. She would never have cheated otherwise.”
Quinn nodded.
“I’ll see you later.” Harmony replied with one last glance at Rachel before she started to walk away. She stopped and turned back toward Quinn. “How did you know?”
“The name could have been a coincidence, but I’d always remember your eyes.” The blonde said with an almost proud looking smile. Harmony barely smiled in return as she nodded and walked away.
Quinn returned to where Rachel was sitting.
“Is she really, okay Quinn? Because she left so quickly.”
“She’s fine Rachel.” Quinn said sitting back down.
“She’s different than I thought she’d be.” Rachel said matter-of-factly.
A blonde eyebrow rose. “How so?”
“She talented, like really talented, and when I first met her I thought she was scary. Intimidating even. Like you actually.” Rachel smirked.
“Haha.”
“But she’s actually quite nice.”
Quinn smiled. She could tell by the idol worship in Harmony’s eyes that the girl loved the idea of Rachel. She vowed right then that Harmony would get to actually know the girl rather than the image of her. And she hoped that Harmony was right and they could save Rachel, because the more she was allowing herself to know the brunette the more she was sincerely falling for her. She sighed as she shook her head slightly. Things were bound to get interesting…
Disclaimer: I don’t own glee, Lima Bean, Yale or NYADA
